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Etymology of India

The name India /'ɪndiə/ is derived from Indus, which is derived from the Old Persian word Hindu, from Sanskrit Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River.[2] The Constitution of India and common usage in Hindi also recognise Bharat (/bʰɑːrət̪/ (help·info)) as an official name of equal status. A third name, هندوستان, Hindustan (/hin̪d̪ust̪ɑːn/ (info)) (Persian: Land of the Hindus), has been in use since the 12th century, though its contemporary use is unevenly applied.

History of India

Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at Bhimbetka 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 Civilization, dating back to 3300 BCE in western India. It was followed by the Vedic Civilisation, which laid the foundations of Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early Indian society. From around 550 BCE, many independent kingdoms and republics known as the Mahajanapadas were established across the country.

The empire built by the Maurya dynasty under Emperor Ashoka united most of modern South Asia in third century BCE, except for the Tamil kingdoms in the south. This Mauryan Empire is normally documented as the first formation of a unified subcontinental country, and it is from Emperor Ashoka's empire that modern India derives most of its national symbology and ideology. From 180 BCE, a series of invasions from Central Asia followed, including those led by the Indo-Greeks, Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthians and Kushans in the northwestern Indian Subcontinent. From the third century CE, the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient India's "Golden Age." While the north had larger, fewer kingdoms, the south had several dynasties such as the Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas and Pandyas, which overlapped in time and space. Science, engineering, art, literature, astronomy, and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings.

Following invasions from Central Asia between the tenth and twelfth centuries, much of north India came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate, and later the Mughal dynasty. Mughal emperors gradually expanded their kingdoms to cover large parts of the subcontinent. Nevertheless, several indigenous kingdoms, such as the Vijayanagara Empire, flourished, especially in the south. From the sixteenth century onwards, several European countries, including Portugal, Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom, started arriving as traders, later taking advantage of the fractious nature of relations between the kingdoms, to establish colonies in the country. By 1856, most of the commerce in India came under control of the British East India Company. A year later, a nationwide insurrection of rebelling military units and kingdoms, known as the Indian rebellion of 1857 broke out. Though dealing a severe blow to non-native commercial interests, it failed because of the lack of coordination between the numerous nobles and kings. As a consequence, in the next 50 years, the British continued to consolidate their commercial hold and attempted to take political control through treaties with the myriad Indian kingdoms. They finally declared most of subcontinent as a part of their own territory and even appointed symbolic governors. Most Indian kingdoms accepted the treaties to accelerate western style developments in a positive way, with a historical anticipation that the non-natives will be absorbed into the society in due course of time. However, friction grew because of unfair exploitation and attempts at political control by the non-natives, particularly the British.

In the early twentieth century, a nationwide movement for self-governance was launched by the Indian National Congress, largely led by Mahatma Gandhi. Millions of protesters engaged in mass campaigns of civil disobedience with a commitment to ahimsa or non-violence. Finally, on 15 August 1947, India emerged as a modern nation-state, but not before losing its Muslim-majority areas which were carved out into the separate nation-state of Pakistan. Three years later, on 26 January 1950, India chose to be a republic, and a new Constitution came into effect.

Since attaining nationhood, India has seen sectarian violence and insurgencies in various parts of the country, but has maintained its unity and democracy. It has unresolved territorial 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. India is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations (as part of British India). In 1974, India conducted an underground nuclear test. This was followed by five more tests in 1998. Significant economic reforms beginning in 1991 have transformed India into one of the fastest-growing economies and an emerging superpower in the world, which have added to its global and regional clout.