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INDIA is a
country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country
by geographical area, the second-most populous
 country, and the most populous democracy in the world.
Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian
Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east,
India has a coastline of 7,517 kilometres
(4,700 mi).[14] It is bordered by Pakistan to the
west;[15] People's Republic of China (PRC), Nepal, and
Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the
east. India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, the
Maldives, and Indonesia in the Indian Ocean.
Home to the Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of
historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian
subcontinent was identified with its commercial and
cultural wealth for much of its long history.[16] Four
major religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism
originated there, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism,
Christianity and Islam arrived in the first millennium
CE and shaped the region's diverse culture. Gradually
annexed by the British East India Company from the early
eighteenth century and colonised by the United Kingdom
from the mid-nineteenth century, India became an
independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for
independence that was marked by widespread nonviolent
resistance.
India is a republic consisting of 28 states and seven
union territories with a parliamentary system of
democracy. It has the world's twelfth largest economy at
market exchange rates and the fourth largest in
purchasing power. Economic reforms since 1991 have
transformed it into one of the fastest growing
economies; however, it still suffers from high levels of
poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition. A pluralistic,
multilingual, and multiethnic society, India is also
home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of
protected habitats.
HISTORY
History of India History of the Republic of India Stone
Age rock shelters with paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters
in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human
life in India. The first known permanent settlements
appeared over 9,000 years ago and gradually developed
into the Indus Valley Civilisation,dating back to
3300 BCE in western
 India. From around 550 BCE, many
independent kingdoms and republics known as the Mahajanapadas were established across the country.
Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra,
sixth century
In the third century BCE, most of South Asia was united
into the Maurya Empire by Chandragupta Maurya and
flourished under Ashoka the Great. From the third
century CE, the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period
referred to as ancient "India's Golden Age. Empires in
Southern India included those of the Chalukyas, the
Cholas and the Vijayanagara Empire. Science, technology,
engineering, art, logic, language, literature,
mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy
flourished under the patronage of these kings.
Following invasions from Central Asia between the 10th
and 12th centuries, much of North India came under the
rule of the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire.
Under the rule of Akbar the Great, India enjoyed much
cultural and economic progress as well as religious
harmony. Mughal emperors gradually expanded their
empires to cover large parts of the subcontinent.
However, in North-Eastern India, the dominant power was
the Ahom kingdom of Assam, among the few kingdoms to
have resisted Mughal subjugation. The first major threat
to Mughal imperial power came from a Hindu Rajput king
Maha Rana Pratap of Mewar in the 14th century and later
from a Hindu state known as the Maratha confederacy,
that dominated much of India in the mid-18th century.
From the 16th century, European powers such as Portugal,
the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom
established trading posts and later took advantage of
internal conflicts to establish colonies in the country.
By 1856, most of India was under the control of the
British East India Company. A year later, a nationwide
insurrection of rebelling military units and kingdoms,
known as India's First War of Independence or the Sepoy
Mutiny, seriously challenged the Company's control but
eventually failed. As a result of the instability, India
was brought under the direct rule of the British Crown.
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