India: Encyclopedia II - India

Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in present-day India. The first known permanent settlements appeared over 9,000 years ago, and gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which began around 3300 BC and peaked between 2600 BC and 1900 BC. It was followed by the Vedic Civilisation. From around 550 BC, many independent kingdoms came into being.

In the north, the Maurya dynasty, which included Aşoka The Great, contributed greatly to India's cultural landscape. From 180 BC, a series of invasions from Central Asia followed. This led to the establishment of the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian kingdoms in the northern Indian Subcontinent, and finally the Kushan Empire. From the 3rd century AD, the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient India's "Golden Age".

In the south, several dynasties, including the Chalukyas, Cheras, Cholas, Kadambas, Pallavas and Pandyas prevailed during different periods. Science, engineering, art, literature, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings.

Following the Islamic invasions from Central Asia and Persia in the beginning of the second millennium AD, much of north and central India came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate, and later the Mughal dynasty, who gradually expanded their reign to much of the Indian subcontinent. Nevertheless, several indigenous kingdoms flourished, especially in the relatively sheltered south, one of which was the Vijayanagara Empire.

During mid-second millennium AD, several European countries, including Portugal, Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom, who initially wanted to trade with India, took advantage of the fractured kingdoms fighting each other, to establish colonies in the country. An 1857 insurrection against the British East India Company failed, known locally as the First War of Indian Independence, and in British and some Western literature as the Indian Mutiny, Sepoy Mutiny or Sepoy Rebellion. After it was put down, much of India came under the direct administrative control of the crown of the British Empire.

In the early 20th century, the prolonged, non-violent struggle for independence was led by Mahatma Gandhi, widely regarded as the "Father Of The Nation". The struggle culminated on 1947-08-15, when India gained full independence from British rule, and became a republic on 1950-01-26.

As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation, India has had its share of sectarian violence and insurgencies in various parts of the country. Nonetheless, it has held itself together as a vibrant democracy. It has unresolved border disputes with China (which escalated into the brief Sino-Indian War in 1962), and with Pakistan, which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and in 1999 in Kargil (at the northern fringe of Jammu and Kashmir State). India is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations. In 1974, India conducted an underground nuclear test, making it an unofficial member of the "nuclear club". This was followed up with a series of five more tests in Operation Shakti in 1998.

Significant economic reforms beginning in 1991 have transformed India into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and added to its global clout.