India
India
This
article is about the Republic of India. For other uses, see India
(disambiguation).
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Republic of India
Bhārat Gaṇarājya
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15 August 1947
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26 January 1950
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9.6
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HDI (2015)
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Indian rupee (₹) (INR)
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India, officially the Republic
of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya),[e] is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most
populous country (with over 1.2 billion people),
and the most populous democracy in the
world. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares
land borders with Pakistan to the
west;[f] China, Nepal,
and Bhutan to the northeast; and Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian
Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India's Andaman and
Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
The Indian subcontinent was
home to the urban Indus Valley
Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE. In the following
millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social
stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first
millennium BCE, and Buddhism and Jainism arose. Early political
consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires; the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced
cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived,
and Sikhism emerged, all adding to the
region's diverse culture.
Much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate; the south was united under
the Vijayanagara Empire.
The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire. In the mid-18th century, the
subcontinent came under British East India Company
rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist
movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance and
led to India's independence in 1947.
In 2015, the Indian economy was the world's seventh
largest by nominal GDP and third
largest by purchasing power
parity.[14]Following market-based
economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies and is
considered a newly industrialised
country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition,
and inadequate public
healthcare. A nuclear weapons state and regional
power, it has the third
largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth
in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal constitutional
republic governed under a parliamentary system and
consists of 29 states
and 7 union territories. It is a pluralistic,
multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.
Etymology
Main
article: Names of India
The name India is
derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu.[17] The latter term
stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu,
which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River.[18] The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ἰνδοί),
which translates as "The people of the Indus".[19]
The geographical term Bharat (Bhārat, pronounced [ˈbʱaːrət̪] (
listen)), which is recognised by
the Constitution of India as
an official name for the country,[20] is used by many Indian languages in its variations.
It is a modernisation of the historical name Bharatavarsha, which
traditionally referred to the Indian subcontinent and gained increasing
currency from the mid-19th century as a native name for India.[21][22] Scholars believe it
to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium
B.C.E.[23]It is also traditionally
associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata.[24] Gaṇarājya (literally, people's State)
is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for "republic"
dating back to the ancient times.[25][26][27]
listen)), which is recognised by
the Constitution of India as
an official name for the country,[20] is used by many Indian languages in its variations.
It is a modernisation of the historical name Bharatavarsha, which
traditionally referred to the Indian subcontinent and gained increasing
currency from the mid-19th century as a native name for India.[21][22] Scholars believe it
to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium
B.C.E.[23]It is also traditionally
associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata.[24] Gaṇarājya (literally, people's State)
is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for "republic"
dating back to the ancient times.[25][26][27]
Hindustan ([ɦɪnd̪ʊˈst̪aːn] ( listen)) is a Persian name for India dating back to the
3rd century B.C.E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then. Its
meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety.[21][22][28] Currently, the name
may refer to either the northern part of India or the entire country.[28]
listen)) is a Persian name for India dating back to the
3rd century B.C.E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then. Its
meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety.[21][22][28] Currently, the name
may refer to either the northern part of India or the entire country.[28]
History
Main
articles: History of India and History of
the Republic of India
Ancient
India
The earliest
authenticated human remains
in South Asia date to about 30,000 years
ago.[29] Nearly
contemporaneous Mesolithic rock
art sites have been found in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, including
at the Bhimbetka rock
shelters in Madhya Pradesh.[30] Around 7000 BCE,
the first known Neolithic settlements
appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other sites in western
Pakistan.[31] These gradually
developed into the Indus Valley
Civilisation,[32] the first urban
culture in South Asia;[33] it flourished
during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India.[34] Centred around
cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of
subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in crafts production and
wide-ranging trade.[33]
During the period
2000–500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent
transitioned from the Chalcolithic to
the Iron Age.[35] The Vedas,
the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism,[36] were composed
during this period,[37] and historians have
analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain.[35] Most historians
also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into
the subcontinent.[38][36] The caste system arose during this period,
creating a hierarchy of priests, warriors, free peasants and traders, and
lastly the indigenous peoples who were regarded as impure; and small tribal
units gradually coalesced into monarchical, state-level polities.[39][40] On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from
this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political
organisation.[35] In southern India,
a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this
period,[41] as well as by
nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions.[41]
Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad,
Maharashtra, 6th century
In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the
small states and chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western
regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were
known as the mahajanapadas.[42][43] The emerging
urbanisation gave rise to non-Vedic religious movements, two of which became
independent religions. Jainism came into prominence during the life of its
exemplar, Mahavira.[44] Buddhism, based on
the teachings of Gautama Buddha attracted
followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the
life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India.[45][46][47] In an age of
increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal,[48] and both
established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century
BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed
or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire.[49] The empire was once
thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south,
but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous
areas.[50][51] The Mauryan kings
are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public
life as for Ashoka's renunciation of militarism and
far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.[52][53]
The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200
BCE and 200 CE, the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively
with the Roman Empire and
with West and South-East Asia.[54][55] In North India,
Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased
subordination of women.[56][49] By the 4th and 5th
centuries, the Gupta Empire had
created in the greater Ganges Plain a complex system of administration and
taxation that became a model for later Indian kingdoms.[57][58] Under the Guptas, a
renewed Hinduism based on devotion rather than the management of ritual began
to assert itself.[59] The renewal was
reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture,
which found patrons among an urban elite.[58] Classical Sanskrit
literature flowered as well, and Indian science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made
significant advances.[58]
Medieval
India
The granite tower of Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola I.
The Indian early medieval
age, 600 CE to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity.[60] When Harsha of Kannauj, who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic
Plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by
the Chalukya ruler
of the Deccan.[61]When his successor
attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal.[61] When the Chalukyas
attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn
were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south.[61] No ruler of this
period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond
his core region.[60] During this time,
pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing
agricultural economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new
non-traditional ruling classes.[62] The caste system
consequently began to show regional differences.[62]
In the 6th and 7th
centuries, the first devotional hymns were
created in the Tamil language.[63] They were imitated
all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development
of all modern languages of the
subcontinent.[63] Indian royalty, big
and small, and the temples they patronised, drew citizens in great numbers to
the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well.[64] Temple towns of
various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another
urbanisation.[64] By the 8th and 9th
centuries, the effects were felt in South-East Asia, as South Indian culture
and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Java.[65] Indian merchants,
scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; South-East
Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries
and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages.[65]
After the 10th century,
Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast
armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's
north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206.[66] The sultanate was
to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India.
Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left
its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs.[67][68] By repeatedly
repulsing Mongol raiders in
the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on
West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned
men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into the
subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north.[69][70] The sultanate's
raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for
the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire.[71] Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the
military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of
peninsular India,[72] and was to
influence South Indian society for long afterwards.[71]
Early
modern India
Writing the will and
testament of the Mughal king court in Persian, 1590–1595
In the early 16th
century, northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers,[73] fell again to the
superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors.[74] The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local
societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new
administrative practices[75][76] and diverse and
inclusive ruling elites,[77] leading to more
systematic, centralised, and uniform rule.[78] Eschewing tribal
bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar,
the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a
Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status.[77] The Mughal state's
economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture[79] and mandating that
taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[80] caused peasants and
artisans to enter larger markets.[78] The relative peace
maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in
India's economic expansion,[78]resulting in greater
patronage of painting,
literary forms, textiles, and architecture.[81] Newly coherent
social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions
during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both
recognition and military experience.[82] Expanding commerce
during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites
along the coasts of southern and eastern India.[82] As the empire
disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own
affairs.[83]
By the early 18th
century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being
increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the
English East India Company,
had established coastal outposts.[84][85] The East India
Company's control of the seas, greater resources, and more advanced military
training and technology led it to increasingly flex its military muscle and
caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these
factors were crucial in allowing the company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the
other European companies.[86][84][87][88] Its further access
to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its
army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1820s.[89] India was then no
longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying
the British Empire with
raw materials, and many historians consider this to be the onset of India's
colonial period.[84] By this time, with
its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself
effectively made an arm of British administration, the company began to more
consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and
culture.[90]
Modern
India
The British Indian
Empire, from the 1909 edition of The
Imperial Gazetteer of India. Areas directly governed by the
British are shaded pink; the princely states under British suzerainty are in yellow.
Historians consider
India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1885. The
appointment in 1848 of Lord
Dalhousie as Governor General of the East India Company set the
stage for changes essential to a modern state. These included the consolidation
and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the
education of citizens. Technological changes—among them, railways, canals, and
the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe.[91][92][93][94] However,
disaffection with the company also grew during this time, and set off the Indian Rebellion
of 1857. Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including
invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment
of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of
northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule.[95][96] Although the
rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India
Company and to the direct administration of India by
the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited
British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and
landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest.[97][98] In the decades
following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to
the founding of the Indian National
Congress in 1885.[99][100][101][102]
Jawaharlal Nehru (left) became India's
first prime minister in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi (right) led the
independence movement.
The rush of technology
and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century
was marked by economic setbacks—many small farmers became dependent on the
whims of far-away markets.[103] There was an
increase in the number of large-scale famines,[104] and, despite the
risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little
industrial employment was generated for Indians.[105] There were also
salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab,
led to increased food production for internal consumption.[106] The railway network
provided critical famine relief,[107] notably reduced the
cost of moving goods,[107] and helped nascent
Indian-owned industry.[106]
After World War I, in
which approximately one million
Indians served,[108] a new period began.
It was marked by British reforms but
also repressive legislations,
by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a nonviolent movement of non-co-operation,
of which Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol.[109] During the 1930s,
slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National
Congress won victories in the resulting elections.[110] The next decade was
beset with crises: Indian participation
in World War II, the Congress's final push for non-co-operation, and
an upsurge of Muslim nationalism. All were capped by the advent of independence
in 1947, but tempered by the partition of India into
two states: India and Pakistan.[111]
Vital to India's
self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950,
which put in place a secular and democratic republic.[112] In the 60 years
since, India has had a mixed record of successes and failures.[113] It has remained a
democracy with civil liberties, an active Supreme Court, and a largely
independent press.[113] Economic
liberalisation, which was begun in the 1990s, has created a large urban middle
class, transformed India into one
of the world's fastest-growing economies,[114] and increased its
geopolitical clout. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an
increasing role in global culture.[113] Yet, India is also
shaped by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban;[113] by religious and caste-related
violence;[115] by Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies;[116] and by separatism
in Jammu and Kashmir and in Northeast
India.[117] It has unresolved
territorial disputes with China[118] and with Pakistan.[118] The India–Pakistan
nuclear rivalry came to a head in 1998.[119] India's sustained
democratic freedoms are unique among the world's newer nations; however, in
spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged
population remains a goal yet to be achieved.[120]
Geography
Main
article: Geography of India
A topographic map of
India
India comprises the bulk
of the Indian subcontinent, lying atop the Indian tectonic plate, and part of the Indo-Australian Plate.[121] India's defining
geological processes began 75 million years ago when the Indian plate, then
part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a north-eastward drift caused by seafloor spreading to
its south-west, and later, south and south-east.[121] Simultaneously, the
vast Tethyn oceanic crust, to its northeast, began to subduct under the Eurasian plate.[121] These dual
processes, driven by convection in the Earth's mantle, both created the Indian Ocean and caused the Indian continental crust eventually to
under-thrust Eurasia and to uplift the Himalayas.[121] Immediately south
of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough that rapidly filled with
river-borne sediment[122] and now constitutes
the Indo-Gangetic Plain.[123] Cut off from the
plain by the ancient Aravalli Range lies
the Thar Desert.[124]
The original Indian plate
survives as peninsular India,
the oldest and geologically most stable part of India. It extends as far north
as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These
parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the
coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in
Jharkhand in the east.[125] To the south, the
remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and
east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats;[126] the plateau
contains the country's oldest rock formations, some over one billion years old.
Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6°
44' and 35° 30' north latitude[g] and 68° 7' and 97°
25' east longitude.[127]
The Kedar Range of the
Greater Himalayas rises behind Kedarnath Temple (Indian state of Uttarakhand), which is one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines.
India's coastline
measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423
kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres
(1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains.[128] According to the
Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of the
following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudflats or marshy shores.[128]
Major Himalayan-origin
rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal.[129] Important
tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's extremely low gradient
often leads to severe floods and course changes.[130] Major peninsular
rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of
Bengal;[131] and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea.[132] Coastal features
include the marshy Rann of Kutch of
western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the
latter is shared with Bangladesh.[133] India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral
atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.[134]
The Indian climate is strongly influenced by
the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and
culturally pivotal summer and winter monsoons.[135] The Himalayas
prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping
the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar
latitudes.[136][137] The Thar Desert
plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon
winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall.[135] Four major climatic
groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid,
and montane.[138]
Biodiversity
Main
article: Wildlife of India
Shola highlands are found
in Kudremukh National Park, Chikmagalur which is part of the Western
Ghats.
India lies within the Indomalaya ecozone and
contains three biodiversity hotspots.[139] One of 17 megadiverse countries,
it hosts 8.6% of all mammalian, 13.7% of all avian, 7.9% of all reptilian, 6%
of all amphibian, 12.2% of all piscine, and 6.0% of all flowering plant
species.[140][141] About 21.2% of the
country's landmass is covered by forests (tree canopy density >10%), of
which 12.2% comprises moderately or very dense forests (tree canopy density
>40%).[142] Endemism is high among plants, 33%, and
among ecoregions such
as the shola forests.[143] Habitat ranges from
the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East India to the coniferous
forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the moist
deciduous sal forest
of eastern India; the dry deciduous teak forest
of central and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of
the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain.[144] The medicinal neem,
widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies, is a key Indian tree. The
luxuriant pipal fig tree,
shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded
Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment.
Many Indian species
descend from taxa originating in Gondwana, from which
the Indian plate separated
more than 105 million years before present.[145] Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards and collision with the Laurasian landmass set off a mass
exchange of species. Epochal volcanism and
climatic changes 20 million years ago forced a mass extinction.[146] Mammals then
entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes flanking the
rising Himalaya.[144] Thus, while 45.8%
of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians are endemic, only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5%
of birds are.[141] Among them are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats.
India contains 172 IUCN-designated threatened
animal species, or 2.9% of endangered forms.[147] These include the Asiatic lion, the Bengal tiger, the snow leopard and the Indian white-rumped
vulture, which, by ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-laced cattle, nearly became
extinct.
The pervasive and
ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically
endangered Indian wildlife. In response the system of national parks and protected areas,
first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted
the Wildlife
Protection Act[148] and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial
wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments
added in 1988.[149] India hosts more than
five hundred wildlife sanctuaries and thirteen
biosphere reserves,[150]four of which are part of
the World
Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five
wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.[151]
Politics
Main
article: Politics of India
A parliamentary joint
session being held in the Sansad Bhavan.
India is the world's most
populous democracy.[152] A parliamentary
republic with a multi-party system,[153] it has six recognised national
parties, including the Indian National
Congress and the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), and more than 40 regional
parties.[154] The Congress is
considered centre-left in Indian political culture,[155] and the BJP right-wing.[156][157][158] For most of the
period between 1950—when India first became a republic—and the late 1980s, the
Congress held a majority in the parliament. Since then, however, it has
increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP,[159] as well as with
powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalitions at
the centre.[160]
In the Republic of
India's first three general elections, in 1951, 1957, and 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy
victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly
became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in
1966, by Indira Gandhi, who
went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971. Following
public discontent with the state of emergency she
declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977; the then-new Janata Party, which had opposed the emergency,
was voted in. Its government lasted just over three years. Voted back into
power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira
Gandhi was assassinated; she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the
general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989
when a National Front coalition,
led by the newly formed Janata Dal in
alliance with the Left
Front, won the elections; that government too proved relatively
short-lived, lasting just under two years.[161] Elections were held
again in 1991; no party won an absolute majority. The Congress, as the largest
single party, was able to form a minority government led
by P. V. Narasimha Rao.[162]
The Rashtrapati Bhavan is
the official residence of the president of India.
A two-year period of
political turmoil followed the general election of 1996. Several short-lived
alliances shared power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in
1996; it was followed by two comparatively long-lasting United Front coalitions,
which depended on external support. In 1998, the BJP was able to form a
successful coalition, the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA). Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
the NDA became the first non-Congress, coalition government to
complete a five-year term.[163] In the 2004 Indian
general elections, again no party won an absolute majority, but the
Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming another successful
coalition: the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA). It had the support of left-leaning
parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. The UPA returned to power in the 2009 general
election with increased numbers, and it no longer required
external support from India's communist
parties.[164] That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime
minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to
be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term.[165] In the 2014 general
election, the BJP became the first political party since 1984 to win
a majority and govern without the support of other parties.[166] The Prime Minister of India is Narendra Modi, who was formerly Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Government
Main
articles: Government of India and Constitution of India
India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed
under the Constitution of India,
which serves as the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional
republic and representative
democracy, in which "majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law". Federalism in India defines the power
distribution between the federal government and the states.
The government abides by constitutional checks and balances.
The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950,[167] states in its preamble that
India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.[168] India's form of
government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong
centre and weak states,[169] has grown
increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic,
and social changes.[170][171]
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The federal government
comprises three branches:
·
Executive:
The President of India is
the head of state[175] and is elected
indirectly by a national electoral college[176] for a five-year
term.[177] The Prime Minister of
India is the head of government and
exercises most executive power.[178] Appointed by the
president,[179] the prime minister
is by convention supported by the party or political alliance holding the
majority of seats in the lower house of parliament.[178] The executive
branch of the Indian government consists of the president, the vice-president,
and the Council
of Ministers—the cabinet being
its executive committee—headed by the prime minister. Any minister holding a
portfolio must be a member of one of the houses of parliament.[175] In the Indian
parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature; the
prime minister and his council are directly responsible to the lower house of
the parliament.[180]
·
Legislative: The legislature of India is the bicameral parliament.
It operates under a Westminster-style parliamentary
system and comprises the upper house called the Rajya Sabha ("Council of
States") and the lower called the Lok Sabha ("House of the
People").[181] The Rajya Sabha is
a permanent body that has 245 members who serve in staggered six-year terms.[182] Most are elected
indirectly by the state and
territorial legislatures in numbers proportional to their
state's share of the national population.[179] All but two of the
Lok Sabha's 545 members are directly elected by popular vote; they represent
individual constituencies via
five-year terms.[183] The remaining two
members are nominated by the president from among the Anglo-Indian community, in case the
president decides that they are not adequately represented.[184]
·
Judicial: India has a unitary three-tier independent judiciary[185] that comprises the Supreme Court,
headed by the Chief Justice of
India, 24 High Courts,
and a large number of trial courts.[185] The Supreme Court
has original jurisdiction over
cases involving fundamental
rights and over disputes between states and the centre; it has appellate
jurisdiction over the High Courts.[186] It has the power
both to declare the law and to strike down union or state laws which contravene
the constitution,[187] as well as to
invalidate any government action it deems unconstitutional.[188]
Subdivisions
Main
article: Administrative
divisions of India
See
also: Political
integration of India
A clickable map of the 29
states and 7 union territories of India
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India is a federation
composed of 29 states and 7 union territories.[189] All states, as well
as the union territories of Puducherry and the National
Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and
governments, both patterned on the Westminster model.
The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the centre through
appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States
Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis.[190] Since then, their
structure has remained largely unchanged. Each state or union territory is
further divided into administrative districts.
The districts in turn are further divided into tehsils and ultimately into villages.
Foreign relations and military
Main
articles: Foreign
relations of India and Indian Armed Forces
Narendra Modi meets Vladimir Putin at the 6th BRICS summit. India and Russia share
extensive economic, defence, and technological ties.
Since its independence in
1947, India has maintained cordial relations with most nations. In the 1950s,
it strongly supported decolonisation in Africa and Asia and played a
lead role in the Non-Aligned Movement.[191] In the late 1980s,
the Indian military twice intervened abroad at the invitation of neighbouring
countries: a peace-keeping
operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990; and an
armed intervention to prevent a 1988 coup d'état
attempt in Maldives. India has tense relations with
neighbouring Pakistan; the two nations have gone
to war four times: in 1947, 1965, 1971,
and 1999. Three of these wars were fought over the disputed territory of Kashmir, while the
fourth, the 1971 war, followed from India's support for the independence of
Bangladesh.[192] After waging the
1962 Sino-Indian War and
the 1965 war with Pakistan, India pursued close military and economic ties with the
Soviet Union; by the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was its largest
arms supplier.[193]
Aside from ongoing
strategic relations with
Russia, India has wide-ranging defence relations
with Israel and France.
In recent years, it has played key roles in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and
the World Trade
Organisation. The nation has provided 100,000 military and police personnel
to serve in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. It
participates in the East Asia Summit, the G8+5, and other multilateral forums.[194] India has close
economic ties with South America,[195] Asia, and Africa;
it pursues a "Look
East" policy that seeks to strengthen partnerships with
the ASEAN nations, Japan, and South Korea that
revolve around many issues, but especially those involving economic investment
and regional security.[196][197]
INS Vikramaditya,
the Indian Navy's biggest warship.
China's nuclear test of 1964,
as well as its repeated threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965
war, convinced India to develop nuclear weapons.[198] India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and
carried out further underground testing in
1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty nor the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, considering both to be flawed and
discriminatory.[199] India maintains a
"no first use" nuclear policy and is
developing a nuclear triad capability
as a part of its "minimum
credible deterrence" doctrine.[200][201] It is developing a ballistic
missile defence shield and, in collaboration with Russia, a fifth-generation fighter jet.[202] Other indigenous
military projects involve the design and implementation of Vikrant-class aircraft carriers and Arihant-class nuclear submarines.[202]
Since the end of the Cold War, India has increased its economic,
strategic, and military co-operation with the United States and
the European
Union.[203] In 2008, a civilian
nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United
States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at the time and was not party
to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it received waivers from the International
Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers
Group, ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and
commerce. As a consequence, India became the sixth de facto nuclear
weapons state.[204] India subsequently
signed co-operation agreements involving civilian nuclear
energy with Russia,[205] France,[206] the United
Kingdom,[207] and Canada.[208]
The President of India is
the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces; with 1.325 million active
troops, they compose the world's
third-largest military.[209] It comprises the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force; auxiliary organisations
include the Strategic Forces
Command and three paramilitary
groups: the Assam Rifles, the Special Frontier
Force, and the Indian Coast Guard.[210] The official Indian defence
budget for 2011 was US$36.03 billion, or 1.83% of GDP.[211] For the fiscal year
spanning 2012–2013, US$40.44 billion was budgeted.[212] According to a 2008 SIPRI report, India's annual military
expenditure in terms of purchasing power stood at US$72.7 billion.[213]In 2011, the annual
defence budget increased by 11.6%,[214] although this does
not include funds that reach the military through other branches of government.[215] As of 2012, India
is the world's largest arms importer; between 2007 and 2011, it accounted for
10% of funds spent on international arms purchases.[216] Much of the
military expenditure was focused on defence against Pakistan and countering
growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.[214]
Economy
Main
article: Economy of India
See
also: Economic History
of India and Economic
development in India
A farmer in Rajasthan milks his cow. Milk is India's largest crop by
economic value. Worldwide, as of 2011, India had the largest herds
of buffalo and cattle, and was the largest producer of milk.
According to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the Indian economy in 2015 was nominally
worth US$2.183 trillion; it is the 7th-largest economy by market exchange
rates, and is, at US$8.027 trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power
parity, or PPP.[14] With its average
annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the past two decades, and reaching 6.1%
during 2011–12,[217] India is one of the world's
fastest-growing economies.[218] However, the
country ranks 140th in the world in nominal
GDP per capita and 129th in GDP
per capita at PPP.[219]Until 1991, all Indian
governments followed protectionist policies
that were influenced by socialist economics. Widespread state intervention and regulation largely
walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute balance of
payments crisis in 1991 forced the nation to liberalise
its economy;[220] since then it has
slowly moved towards a free-market system[221][222] by emphasising both
foreign trade and direct investment inflows.[223] India's recent
economic model is largely capitalist.[222] India has been a
member of WTO since 1 January 1995.[224]
The 486.6-million worker Indian labour force is the world's
second-largest, as of 2011.[210] The service sector
makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and the agricultural sector
18.1%. India's foreign exchange remittances were US$70 billion in year 2014,
the largest in the world, contributed to its economy by 25 million Indians
working in foreign countries.[225] Major agricultural
products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and
potatoes.[189] Major industries
include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining,
petroleum, machinery, and software.[189] In 2006, the share
of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985.[221] In 2008, India's
share of world trade was 1.68%;[226] In 2011, India was
the world's tenth-largest
importer and the nineteenth-largest
exporter.[227] Major exports
include petroleum products, textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering
goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures.[189] Major imports include
crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals.[189] Between 2001 and
2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports
grew from 14% to 42%.[228] India was the
second largest textile exporter after China in the world in calendar year 2013.[229]
Averaging an economic
growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007,[221] India has more than
doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century.[230]Some 431 million Indians
have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number
around 580 million by 2030.[231] Though ranking 51st
in global
competitiveness, India ranks 17th in financial market
sophistication, 24th in the banking sector, 44th in business sophistication,
and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies, as of 2010.[232] With 7 of the
world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, the
country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after
the United States, as of 2009.[233] India's consumer
market, the world's eleventh-largest,
is expected to become fifth-largest by 2030.[231]
Driven by growth, India's
nominal GDP per capita has
steadily increased from US$329 in 1991, when economic liberalisation began, to
US$1,265 in 2010, and is estimated to increase to US$2,110 by 2016; however, it
has remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is expected to
remain so in the near future. However, it is higher than Pakistan, Nepal,
Afghanistan, Bangladesh and others.[234]
According to a 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers report,
India's GDP at purchasing power parity could overtake that of the United States
by 2045.[235] During the next
four decades, Indian GDP is expected to grow at an annualised average of 8%,
making it potentially the world's fastest-growing major economy until 2050.[235] The report
highlights key growth factors: a young and rapidly growing working-age
population; growth in the manufacturing sector because of rising education and
engineering skill levels; and sustained growth of the consumer market driven by
a rapidly growing middle class.[235] The World Bank
cautions that, for India to achieve its economic potential, it must continue to
focus on public sector reform, transport infrastructure,
agricultural and rural development, removal of labour regulations, education, energy security,
and public health and
nutrition.[236]
In 2016, the Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU) released a list of the Top 10 cheapest
cities in the world, based on the cost of 160 products and services, of which
four were in India: Bangalore (2nd), Mumbai (3rd), Chennai (6th) and New Delhi (8th).[237]
Sectors
A small hydro-electric
dam on the Ganges Canal at
Nagla Kabir, UP. The electricity
sector in India has an installed capacity of 205.34 Gigawatt (GW), the world's fifth largest.
Coal-fired plants account for 56% of India's electricity capacity, renewal hydropower for 19%.
India's telecommunication
industry, the world's fastest-growing, added 227 million subscribers
during the period 2010–11,[238] and after the first
quarter of 2013, India surpassed Japan to become the third largest smartphone
market in the world after China and the US.[239]
The Indian
automotive industry, the world's second fastest growing, increased
domestic sales by 26% during 2009–10,[240] and exports by 36%
during 2008–09.[241] India's capacity to
generate electrical power is 250 gigawatts, of which 8% is renewable.
At the end of 2011, the Indian IT
industry employed 2.8 million professionals, generated revenues
close to US$100 billion equalling 7.5% of Indian GDP and contributed 26% of
India's merchandise exports.[242]
The pharmaceutical
industry in India is among the significant emerging markets for
global pharma industry. The Indian pharmaceutical market is expected to reach
$48.5 billion by 2020. India's R & D spending constitutes 60% of the biopharmaceutical industry.[243][244] India is among the
top 12 biotech destinations of the world.[245][246] The Indian biotech
industry grew by 15.1% in 2012–13, increasing its revenues from 204.4 Billion
INR (Indian Rupees) to 235.24 Billion INR (3.94 B US$ – exchange rate June
2013: 1 US$ approx. 60 INR).[247] However, hardly 2%
of Indians pay income taxes.[248]
Poverty
Main
article: Poverty in India
Despite impressive
economic growth during recent decades, India continues to face socio-economic
challenges. In 2006, India contained the largest number of people living below the
World Bank's international poverty line of US$1.25 per day,[249] the proportion
having decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005;[250] under its later
revised poverty line, it was 21% in 2011.[h][252] 30.7% of India's
children under the age of five are underweight.[253] According to a Food and
Agriculture Organization report in 2015, 15% of the population
is undernourished.[254][255] The Mid-Day Meal Scheme attempts
to lower these rates.[256] Since 1991, economic
inequality between India's states has consistently grown: the
per-capita net state domestic
product of the richest states in 2007 was 3.2 times that of the
poorest.[257] Corruption in India is
perceived to have increased significantly,[258] with one report
estimating the illegal capital flows since independence to be US$462 billion.[259]
India has the highest
number of people living in conditions of slavery, 18 million, most of whom are in bonded labour.[260] India has the
largest number of child labourers under
the age of 14 in the world with an estimated 12.6 million children engaged in
hazardous occupations.[261][262][263]
Demographics
Main
article: Demographics of India
See
also: Languages of India and Religion in India
Children prepare for a
traditional dance in Tripura.
With 1,210,193,422
residents reported in the 2011 provisional census report,[264] India is the
world's second-most populous country. Its population grew by 17.64% during
2001–2011,[265] compared to 21.54%
growth in the previous decade (1991–2001).[265] The human sex
ratio, according to the 2011 census, is 940 females per 1,000 males.[264] The median age was
24.9 in the 2001 census.[210] The first
post-colonial census, conducted in 1951, counted 361.1 million people.[266] Medical advances
made in the last 50 years as well as increased agricultural productivity
brought about by the "Green Revolution"
have caused India's population to grow rapidly.[267] India continues to
face several public health-related challenges.[268][269]
Life expectancy in India
is at 68 years, with life expectancy for women being 69.6 years and for men
being 67.3.[270] There are around 50
physicians per 100,000 Indians.[271] The number of
Indians living in urban areas has grown by 31.2% between 1991 and 2001.[272] Yet, in 2001, over
70% lived in rural areas.[273][274] The level of
urbanisation increased from 27.81% in 2001 Census to 31.16% in 2011 Census. The
slowing down of the overall growth rate of population was due to the sharp
decline in the growth rate in rural areas since 1991.[275] According to the
2011 census, there are 53 million-plus urban agglomerations in India;
among them Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, in decreasing order by population.[276] The literacy rate
in 2011 was 74.04%: 65.46% among females and 82.14% among males.[277]The rural urban literacy
gap which was 21.2 percentage points in 2001, dropped to 16.1 percentage points
in 2011. The improvement in literacy rate in rural area is two times that in
urban areas.[275] Kerala is the most
literate state with 93.91% literacy; while Bihar the least with 63.82%.[277]
India is home to two major language
families: Indo-Aryan (spoken
by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (spoken
by 24% of the population). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan language
families. India has no national language.[278] Hindi, with the
largest number of speakers, is the official language of the government.[279][280] English is used
extensively in business and administration and has the status of a
"subsidiary official language";[4] it is important in education,
especially as a medium of higher education. Each state and union territory has
one or more official languages, and the constitution recognises in particular
22 "scheduled languages". The Constitution of India recognises 212 scheduled tribal
groups which together constitute about 7.5% of the country's population.[281] The 2011 census
reported that the religion in India with
the largest number of followers was Hinduism (79.8% of the population),
followed by Islam (14.23%);
the remaining were Christianity (2.30%), Sikhism (1.72%), Buddhism (0.70%), Jainism (0.36%)
and others[c] (0.9%).[8] India has the
world's largest Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Zoroastrian,
and Bahá'í populations,
and has the third-largest Muslim
population—the largest for a non-Muslim majority country.[282][283]
Culture
Main
article: Culture of India
The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar commemorates the
enlightenment of Gautama Buddha.
Indian cultural history
spans more than 4,500 years.[284] During the Vedic period (c. 1700 – 500 BCE), the
foundations of Hindu philosophy, mythology, theology and literature were laid, and many beliefs
and practices which still exist today, such as dhárma, kárma, yóga,
and mokṣa, were established.[19] India is notable
for its religious diversity,
with Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, and Jainism among the nation's major
religions.[285] The predominant
religion, Hinduism, has been shaped by various historical schools of thought,
including those of the Upanishads,[286] the Yoga Sutras,
the Bhakti movement,[285] and by Buddhist philosophy.[287]
Art
and architecture
Main
article: Architecture of India
Much of Indian architecture,
including the Taj Mahal, other works
of Mughal architecture,
and South Indian
architecture, blends ancient local traditions with imported styles.[288] Vernacular
architecture is also highly regional in it flavours. Vastu shastra, literally "science of
construction" or "architecture" and ascribed to Mamuni Mayan,[289] explores how the
laws of nature affect human dwellings;[290] it employs precise
geometry and directional alignments to reflect perceived cosmic constructs.[291] As applied in Hindu temple
architecture, it is influenced by the Shilpa Shastras, a series of foundational
texts whose basic mythological form is the Vastu-Purusha mandala, a
square that embodied the "absolute".[292] The Taj Mahal,
built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by orders of
Emperor Shah Jahan in
memory of his wife, has been described in the UNESCO World
Heritage List as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one
of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".[293] Indo-Saracenic
Revival architecture, developed by the British in the late 19th
century, drew on Indo-Islamic
architecture.[294]
Literature
Main
article: Indian literature
The earliest literary
writings in India, composed between 1700 BCE and 1200 CE, were in the Sanskrit
language.[295][296] Prominent works of
this Sanskrit literature include epics such
as the Mahābhārata and
the Ramayana, the dramas of Kālidāsa such as the Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The
Recognition of Śakuntalā), and poetry such as the Mahākāvya.[297][298][299] Kamasutra, the famous book about sexual intercourse also
originated in India. Developed between 600 BCE and 300 CE in South India, the Sangam literature,
consisting of 2,381 poems, is regarded as a predecessor of Tamil literature.[300][301][302][303] From the 14th to
the 18th centuries, India's literary traditions went through a period of
drastic change because of the emergence of devotional poets such as Kabīr, Tulsīdās, and Guru Nānak. This period was characterised by a
varied and wide spectrum of thought and expression; as a consequence, medieval
Indian literary works differed significantly from classical traditions.[304] In the 19th
century, Indian writers took a new interest in social questions and
psychological descriptions. In the 20th century, Indian literature was
influenced by the works of
Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore,[305]who was a recipient of
the Nobel Prize in
Literature.
Performing
arts
.jpg)
A Kuchipudi dance
performance is accompanied by Carnatic vocalisations.
Main
articles: Music of India and Dance in India
Indian music ranges over various
traditions and regional styles. Classical music encompasses
two genres and their various folk offshoots: the northern Hindustani and
southern Carnatic schools.[306] Regionalised
popular forms include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the bauls is
a well-known form of the latter. Indian dance also features diverse folk
and classical forms. Among the better-known folk dances are
the bhangra of
Punjab, the bihu of
Assam, the chhau of
Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand, garba and dandiya of Gujarat, ghoomar of Rajasthan, and the lavani of Maharashtra. Eight dance
forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance
status by India's National Academy of
Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil
Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniyattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, manipuri of Manipur, odissi of Odisha, and the sattriya of Assam.[307] Theatre in India melds music, dance, and
improvised or written dialogue.[308] Often based on
Hindu mythology, but also borrowing from medieval romances or social and
political events, Indian theatre includes the bhavai of Gujarat, the jatra of West Bengal, the nautanki and ramlila of North India, tamasha of Maharashtra, burrakatha of Andhra Pradesh, terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and the yakshagana of Karnataka.[309]
Motion
pictures, television
Main
articles: Cinema of India and Television in India
The Indian film industry produces the world's
most-watched cinema.[310] Established
regional cinematic traditions exist in the Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, and Telugu languages.[311] South Indian cinema
attracts more than 75% of national film revenue.[312]
Television broadcasting
began in India in 1959 as a state-run medium of communication, and had slow
expansion for more than two decades.[313][314] The state monopoly on television broadcast
ended in the 1990s and, since then, satellite channels have increasingly shaped
popular culture of Indian society.[315] Today, television
is the most penetrative media in India; industry estimates indicate that as of
2012 there are over 554 million TV consumers, 462 million with satellite
and/or cable connections, compared to other forms of mass media such as press
(350 million), radio (156 million) or internet (37 million).[316]
Cuisine
Main
article: Indian cuisine
An assortment of Indian spices
Indian cuisine
encompasses a wide variety of regional and traditional cuisines, often
depending on a particular state (such
as Maharashtrian cuisine). Staple foods of Indian cuisine include pearl millet (bājra), rice, whole-wheat flour (aṭṭa), and a
variety of lentils, such as masoor (most
often red lentils), toor (pigeon peas), urad (black gram), and mong (mung beans). Lentils may be used whole,
dehusked—for example, dhuli moong or dhuli urad—or
split. Split lentils, or dal, are used extensively.[317] The spice trade between India and Europe is often cited by historians as
the primary catalyst for Europe's Age of Discovery.[318]
Society
Main
article: Culture of India
Traditional Indian
society is sometimes defined by social hierarchy. The Indian caste system embodies
much of the social stratification and many of the social restrictions found in
the Indian subcontinent. Social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous
hereditary groups, often termed as jātis, or "castes".[319] India declared
untouchability to be illegal[320] in 1947 and has
since enacted other anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives. At
the workplace in urban India and in international or leading Indian companies,
the caste related identification has pretty much lost its importance.[321][322]
Family values are
important in the Indian tradition, and multi-generational patriarchal joint
families have been the norm in India, though nuclear families are becoming
common in urban areas.[323] An overwhelming
majority of Indians, with their consent, have their
marriages arranged by their parents or other elders in the
family.[324] Marriage is thought
to be for life,[324] and the divorce
rate is extremely low.[325]As of 2001, just 1.6
percent of Indian women were
divorced but this figure was rising due to their education and economic
independence.[325] Child marriages are common, especially in
rural areas; many women wed before reaching 18, which is their legal
marriageable age.[326] Female
infanticide and female foeticide
in the country have caused a discrepancy in the sex ratio, as
of 2005 it was estimated that there were 50 million more males than
females in the nation.[327][328] However a report
from 2011 has shown improvement in the gender ratio.[329] The payment of dowry,
although illegal,
remains widespread across class lines.[330] Deaths resulting from dowry, mostly from bride burning, are on the rise.[331]
Many Indian festivals are
religious in origin. The best known include Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Thai Pongal, Holi, Durga Puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas,
and Vaisakhi.[332][333]India has three national
holidays which are observed in all states and union territories
– Republic Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti. Other sets of holidays,
varying between nine and twelve, are officially observed in individual states.
Clothing
Main
article: Clothing in India
Cotton was domesticated in India by 4000
BCE. Traditional Indian dress varies
in colour and style across regions and depends on various factors, including
climate and faith. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as the sari for
women and the dhoti or lungi for
men. Stitched clothes, such as the shalwar kameez for women and kurta–pyjama combinations or European-style
trousers and shirts for men, are also popular.[334] Use of delicate
jewellery, modelled on real flowers worn in ancient India, is part of a
tradition dating back some 5,000 years; gemstones are also worn in India as
talismans.[335]
Sports
Main
article: Sport in India
During a twenty four-year
career, Sachin Tendulkar has
set many batting records, including most runs in both tests and ODIs and most
number of centuries in both tests and ODIs, making him one of the most
successful cricketers ever.
In India, several
traditional indigenous sports remain fairly popular, such as kabaddi, kho kho, pehlwani and gilli-danda. Some of the earliest forms of
Asian martial arts,
such as kalarippayattu, musti yuddha, silambam, and marma adi, originated in India. Chess,
commonly held to have originated in India as chaturaṅga, is regaining widespread
popularity with the rise in the number of Indian grandmasters.[336][337] Pachisi, from which parcheesi derives, was played on a giant
marble court by Akbar.[338]
The improved results
garnered by the Indian Davis Cup team and
other Indian
tennis players in the early 2010s have made tennis increasingly
popular in the country.[339] India has a comparatively
strong presence in shooting sports, and has won several medals
at the Olympics, the World
Shooting Championships, and the Commonwealth Games.[340][341] Other sports in
which Indians have succeeded internationally include badminton[342] (Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu are two of the top ranked
female badminton players in the world), boxing,[343] and wrestling.[344] Football is popular in West Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the north-eastern states.[345] India is scheduled
to host the 2017 FIFA U-17
World Cup.[346]
Field hockey in India is
administered by Hockey India. The Indian
national hockey team won the 1975 Hockey World Cup and have, as of 2016,
taken eight gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, making it the
sport's most successful team in the Olympics.
India has also played a
major role in popularising cricket. Thus, cricket is,
by far, the most popular sport in India. The Indian national
cricket team won the 1983 and 2011 Cricket World
Cup events, the 2007 ICC World
Twenty20, shared the 2002 ICC
Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka, and won 2013 ICC
Champions Trophy. Cricket in India is administered by the Board
of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI); the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, the Irani Trophy, and the NKP Salve
Challenger Trophy are domestic competitions. The BCCI also
conducts an annual Twenty20 competition
known as the Indian Premier League.
India has hosted or
co-hosted several international sporting events: the 1951 and 1982 Asian Games; the 1987, 1996, and 2011 Cricket World
Cup tournaments; the 2003 Afro-Asian Games;
the 2006 ICC
Champions Trophy; the 2010 Hockey
World Cup; and the 2010 Commonwealth
Games. Major international sporting events held annually in India
include the Chennai Open, the Mumbai Marathon, the Delhi Half Marathon,
and the Indian Masters.
The first Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix featured in late 2011
but has been discontinued from the F1 season calendar since 2014.[347]
India has traditionally
been the dominant country at the South Asian Games. An example of this
dominance is the basketball
competition where Team India won
three out of four tournaments to date.[348]
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