Evidence indicates that possibly during the Neolithic, the inhabitants of the subcontinent were assimilated by the invading Dravid tribes, who probably came from the west. According to the archaeological discoveries of the Indus Valley, the civilization developed by the Dravidians is comparable in splendor to the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Until the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, Dravid India suffered the first of a series of invasions by tribes, from the Indo-European linguistic group, known as Indo-Aryans.
The Taj Mahal, mausoleum of the wife of a 17th-century Mongol emperor, was built by some 20,000 workers from 1631 to 1648 in Agra, a city in northern India. This huge building topped with domes was built in an Indo-Islamic style, using white marble and inlaid gems. At each corner is a minaret, and the outer walls are adorned with passages from the Quran, the Muslim holy book. The bodies of the Emperor and his wife lie in a crypt.
Almost all that is known with certainty about the political situation is that during the first millennium BC. 16 autonomous states were established. The most important kingdoms were Avanti, Vamsas and Magadha, which in the middle of the 6th century BC. became the ruling kingdom. During the reign of its first great king Bimbisara (543-491 BC), Buddha and Vardhamana Jnatiputra or Nataputta Mahavira, founders of Buddhism and Jainism respectively, preached and taught in Magadha.
In the year 321 BC Chandragupta took control of Magadha, founded the Maurya dynasty of Indian kings, extended his sovereignty over most of the subcontinent, and made Buddhism the dominant religion.
The city of Madras is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, India, and the main port of the Bay of Bengal. It was a small village until 1640, but from then on it developed a lot as an urban center.
Of the dynasties that appeared in the period following the fall of the Mauryas, the Sunga remained in power the longest, for more than a century. The main event of this period (184-72 BC) was the persecution and decline of Buddhism, and the triumph of Brahmanism, with which the caste system was firmly established in the social structure.
In 320, a maharajah of Magadha named Chandragupta I conquered neighboring territories and founded a new imperial regime and the Gupta dynasty. His grandson Chandragupta II (reigned 375–413) expanded his kingdom, subjugating the entire subcontinent north of the Narmada River. The period was one of lasting peace, continued economic growth, and intellectual successes. Hinduism has experienced a strong renaissance by assimilating some characteristics of Buddhism.
Mumbai, India's largest and most cosmopolitan city, is also a major port. It is a naval and transport hub, as well as the center of industries as important as cinema.
After a prolonged period of infighting, a new power, solidly united under Islam, emerged in western Asia. This new power was Khurasan, formerly a Samanid province that Mahmud of Gazni (who reigned from 999 to 1030) had turned into an independent kingdom. By 1025 Mahmud had annexed the Punjab region to his empire.
The luckiest of the Muslim rulers after Mahmud was Muhammad of Gur, whose reign began in 1173. Regarded as the royal founder of Muslim power in India, he subjugated the entire Indo-Gangetic plain west of Benares. After the death of Muhammad of Gur, Qutb-ud-Din Aybak, his viceroy in Delhi and a former slave, proclaimed himself sultan. The so-called Slave Dynasty lasted until 1288.
The city of Kolkata is the second largest metropolitan area in India and one of the largest cities in the world. Located in eastern India, Kolkata is an important financial, port and industrial center.
In 1398, when the Mongol conqueror Tamerlane led his armies into India, he encountered little organized resistance. Babur, a descendant of Tamerlane and the founder of the great Mongol dynasty, proclaimed himself emperor of Muslim domains, and controlled a large part of India.
The Mongol Empire reached its cultural peak under the reign of Sah Yahan (1628-1658), which coincided with the golden age of Indian Saracen architecture, the best example of which is the Taj Mahal.
In the first half of the 18th century, the Mongol Empire effectively ceased to exist as a state. The political chaos of the period was marked by the rapid decline of centralized authority. Numerous kingdoms and small principalities were created, and the governors of the imperial provinces formed large independent states. In 1764, the Mongol Emperor regained his throne. However, his authority was purely nominal, as was his successors. The country, which for a long time was the scene of a colonial rivalry between the maritime powers of Europe, was increasingly falling under British rule.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Portuguese monopoly of trade with the Indies, maintained for more than a century, ended due to the action of the East India Company. Two years earlier, Queen Elizabeth I had granted a forum to the first English East India Company. The company's negotiations with the Mongol Emperor Jahangir were successful, and by 1612 the English had founded their first trading post in the Gulf of Khambhat.
The dispute between the French and the British for dominion over India developed as an extension of the Seven Years' War in Europe. In the course of hostilities, the British effectively ended French plans for political control of the subcontinent. According to the provisions of the peace agreement that followed the war, French territory in India was reduced to a few outposts.
The disunity between various Indian kingdoms and principalities paved the way for British domination of the entire subcontinent and contiguous regions, particularly Burma. As the malaise in India grew, a conspiratorial movement grew among the sepoys, the Indian troops employed by the British East India Company. A general uprising, known as the revolt of the sepoys, began in 1857.
Once the rebellion had been quelled, the British Parliament passed the Act for the Better Government of India in 1858, which transferred the administration of India from the East India Company to the British Crown. In 1876 the British government, then led by Benjamin Disraeli, proclaimed Queen Victoria Empress of India.
In the last years of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, Indian nationalism began to seriously threaten the British position. A series of associations dedicated to the fight against the British mandate had been created. Of these, the most influential was the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885. This organization, which had the support of many prominent Hindus and Muslims, accelerated the trend toward national unification. Culturally, the famous poet and educator Rabindranath Tagore made lasting contributions to the unity of India.
Political struggles continued after World War I. In response to the great increase in nationalist activity, the British Parliament passed the Rowlatt Acts, which suspended civil rights and established martial law in areas where there were riots and uprisings. These laws precipitated a wave of violence and disorder. In this period of turmoil, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a Hindu social and religious reformer, urged Indians to meet British repression with passive resistance (Satyagraha). The result ended with the slaughter of Amritsar. The movement against the British gained greater importance. The most salient feature of this phase of the struggle was Gandhi's policy of non-violence, instituted in 1920. Combined with parliamentary methods of struggle, the movement proved to be an effective weapon in the struggle for independence.
In 1935, after a series of conferences in London between British and Indian leaders, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act. This law provided for the establishment of autonomous legislative bodies in the provinces of British India, the creation of a central government representative of princely provinces and states, and the protection of Muslim minorities. In addition, the law provided for a bicameral national legislature and an executive arm under the control of the British government. Largely influenced by Gandhi, the Indian people approved the measures, which became effective in 1937. Many members of the Indian National Congress, however, continued to insist on complete independence.
The plan for federation proved unfeasible because of the antagonism between Indian princes and the radicals in the Indian National Congress, as well as Muslim demands that Hindus would have too much influence on national legislation. As an alternative, the Muslim League advocated the creation of an independent Muslim state (Pakistan). This proposal met with violent Hindu opposition.
With the outbreak of World War II, the Viceroy of India, Victor Alexander John Hope, declared war on Germany on behalf of India. This step, taken in accordance with the 1937 Constitution, but without consulting the Indian chiefs, alienated Gandhi and important sectors of the Indian National Congress. Influential groups within Congress, who supported Gandhi's stance, intensified the campaign for immediate self-government as their price for cooperation in the war. The Indian National Congress resumed the civil disobedience campaign in 1940.
After a new wave of anti-British agitation, in 1942 the British government sent proposals aimed at satisfying nationalist demands. However, this failed because of the objections of the heads of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League.
The civil disobedience movement was restarted in 1942. Gandhi, Nehru and thousands of their followers were imprisoned and the Indian National Congress outlawed.
In 1945, Nehru was released from prison and a new wave of anti-British riots and demonstrations swept the country. Negotiations were unsuccessful and British Viceroy Archibald Wavell announced the formation of an emergency provisional government; an interim executive council, led by Nehru and which included representatives from all the major political groups. However, rivalry between Muslims and Hindus increased in some regions.
In 1947, the British Prime Minister announced that his government would relinquish power in India. Political tension has increased across the territory, with serious possibilities for a disastrous civil war between Hindus and Muslims. After consulting the Indian leaders, the viceroy recommended to the British government the immediate division of India, as the only way to avoid a catastrophe.
On 15 August 1947, as stipulated in the Independence Act, it was established that India and Pakistan would be independent states within the Commonwealth, with the right to withdraw or remain within it. The Indian government chose to stay inside.
The new states of India and Pakistan were created based on religious criteria. The areas inhabited by Hindus were destined for India and those with a majority Muslim population for Pakistan. Due to the fact that the majority of the population is Hindu, most of the territories were included, during the division, within the Indian Union, as the country was called.
After the transfer of power, the Constituent Assembly entrusted executive responsibility to a council of ministers, with Nehru as prime minister.
To preempt border disputes, a boundary commission with a neutral (British) chairman was established before the division. In Punjab, the demarcation line included nearly two million Sikhs, traditionally anti-Muslims, under Pakistani jurisdiction. There was a massive exodus of Muslims from Union territory to Pakistan and of Sikhs and Hindus from Pakistan to Union territory, which produced constant riots that worsened relations between the two states.
Kashmir, a princely state inhabited mainly by Muslims but ruled by a Hindu, has become a major focus of conflict between India and Pakistan. Muslim insurgents supported by invading coreligionists from Pakistan's North-Western Frontier Province proclaimed the establishment of a provisional government in Kashmir; thereupon, the Hindu Maharajah of this state, announced his entry into the Indian Union. In approving the Maharaja's decision, the Indian government sent troops to the capital of Kashmir, Calcutta, the main objective of the insurgents. Hostilities quickly escalated and in 1948, the Indian government filed a complaint with the UN Security Council, in which it accused Pakistan of aiding Muslim insurgents.
Peacemaking efforts by the Security Council finally succeeded in 1949, when both India and Pakistan accepted a proposed referendum on the political future of Kashmir, which was held under UN auspices.
Although India and Pakistan agreed in 1949 to a line demarcating their respective zones of occupation in Kashmir, the two nations were unable to resolve their differences over the terms of the plebiscite.
India's Constituent Assembly passed a republican Constitution for the Union in 1949. One of its features is a clause outlawing the concept of an "untouchable" caste, an ancient custom that had condemned some 40 million Hindus to social degradation. and economical. The Constituent Assembly was reconstituted into a provisional Parliament and Jawaharlal Nehru was elected prime minister.
The results of the first general elections in the Republic of India were announced in 1952. The Indian National Congress, the ruling party, won almost every constituent state. Rajendra Prasad was elected president.
Talks between India and Pakistan on the provisions of a plebiscite for Kashmir ended in 1953 without reaching an agreement. The Kashmir Constituent Assembly unanimously approved accession to the Republic of India in early 1954.
In 1957, India declared the state of Kashmir an integral part of the Republic of India, despite Pakistan's complaints to the UN.
During the Tibetan uprising of 1959, some 9,000 Tibetan refugees sought political asylum in India. After that, there were several border clashes between Chinese and Indian troops and the former penetrated into Indian territory. A conference to end the dispute, which took place in 1960, ended without adopting any positive solution.
During 1962 the border disputes between China and India became increasingly tense. Earlier this year, the Indians were unable to stop the Chinese advance, which ended when Beijing announced a unilateral ceasefire in late November.
In 1964, Nehru, who had been prime minister since independence, died. Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded him. Pakistan continued to apply for the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir, where in 1965 incidents involving Pakistani guerrillas and Indian troops precipitated an undeclared war between the two states. Hostilities continued until negotiations between Shastri and the Pakistani president, with Soviet mediators, which in 1966 resulted in a troop withdrawal agreement.
After Shastri's death, Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, was elected to be the new prime minister. Civil war erupted in Pakistan as the national government, dominated by West Pakistanis, clamped down on Bangladeshi efforts to achieve autonomy for East Pakistan. Although millions of Bangladeshi refugees crossed the border into India, relations between India and West Pakistan deteriorated. In December, India joined the war in aid to East Pakistan and was the first country to recognize the new nation of Bangladesh.
Economic conditions in India worsened in the mid-1970s. Unemployment grew and accusations of government corruption intensified. The candidate supported by Indira Gandhi, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, was elected president.
In 1975, Indira Gandhi was found guilty of corruption during the 1971 election campaign. She faced the loss of her parliamentary seat and declared a state of emergency. She centralized power in her own hands and implemented tough measures to foster economic development and lower the national birth rate. Her methods, especially press censorship and the system to enforce sterilization of the people as part of birth control, produced great resentment.
In 1977, Indira Gandhi called for general elections in which she lost her seat in Parliament and the Congress Party was unable to gain a majority in the legislature for the first time since 1952. The Janata Party won about half of the seats in Parliament and its leader, Morarji R. Desai, was appointed prime minister.
In 1979, after more than two years in power, the Janata government lost its parliamentary majority. The elections that took place in 1980 gave a major victory to Gandhi and her party in Congress, which returned to the position of prime minister. Her eldest son, Rajiv Gandhi, held a seat in Parliament.
To assuage Sikh demands for autonomy for Punjab, where they are a majority, Indira Gandhi supported the presidential candidacy of Zail Singh, who in 1982 became India's first Sikh head of state. However, agitation for autonomy continued with a series of terrorist incidents, and in 1983, Gandhi placed Punjab under a presidential mandate. On October 31, Indira Gandhi was murdered by Sikh members of her personal guard, and Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as prime minister.
The election as president of Ramaswami Venkataraman appeared to consolidate Gandhi's position. During the 1991 election campaign, Rajiv Gandhi was murdered by a Tamil terrorist. Outraged voters gave the Congress Party a parliamentary majority and P.V. Narasimha Rao, a Gandhi follower, became prime minister. In 1996, he was replaced by H.D. Dewe Gowda (a member of the Third Front) and this one, a year later, by Inder Kuman Gujral (an activist for the Janata Dal).
In the early 1990s, tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir increased. From 1989 onwards in the state of Jammu and Kashmir there are sporadic fights between the Indian army and the militant Muslim separatists, who want both the formation of an independent state and to join Pakistan.
In July 1997, a member of the untouchable caste, Kocheril R. Narayanan, was elected President of the Republic.
Indian Civilization