History of India

Pre-independence Main article: History of South Asia

The people of India have had a continuous civilization since 2600 BC, when the inhabitants of the Indus River valley developed an urban culture based on commerce and sustained by agricultural trade. This civilization declined between the 19th and 17th centuries BC, probably due to ecological changes. See: Indus Valley civilization

During the 2nd millennium BC, pastoral, Indo-European-speaking tribes migrated from the northwest into the subcontinent. As they settled in the middle Ganges River valley, they adapted to antecedent cultures. See: Aryan invasion, Vedic civilization

The political map of ancient and medieval India was made up of myriad kingdoms with fluctuating boundaries. In the 4th and 5th centuries, northern India was unified under the Gupta Dynasty. During this period, known as India's Golden Age, Hindu culture and political administration reached new heights.

Islam spread across the subcontinent over a period of 500 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans[?] invaded India and established sultanates in Delhi. In the early 16th century, descendants of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal (Mogul) Dynasty, which lasted for 200 years. From the 11th to the 15th centuries, southern India was dominated by Hindu Chola and Vijayanagar Dynasties. During this time, the two systems -- the prevailing Hindu and Muslim -- mingled, leaving lasting cultural influences on each other.

British Colonial Period

The first British outpost in South Asia was established in 1619 at Surat on the northwestern coast. Later in the century, the British East India Company opened permanent trading stations at Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta, each under the protection of native rulers.

The British expanded their influence from these footholds until, by the 1850s, they controlled most of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In 1857, a rebellion in north India led by mutinous Indian soldiers caused the British Parliament to transfer all political power from the East India Company to the Crown. Great Britain began administering most of India directly, while controlling the rest through treaties with local rulers.

In the late 1800s, the first steps were taken toward self-government in "British India" with the appointment of Indian councilors to advise the British viceroy and the establishment of provincial councils with Indian members; the British subsequently widened participation in legislative councils. Beginning in 1920, Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi (also known as Mahatma Gandhi, a title similar to the Christian concept of sainthood) transformed the Indian National Congress party into a mass movement to campaign against British colonial rule. The movement eventually succeeded in bringing about independence by means of parliamentary speech, nonviolent resistance and noncooperation.

Independence and Partition

On August 15, 1947, India became a dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations, under the leadership of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims led the British to partition British India, creating East and West Pakistan, where there were Muslim majorities. India became a secular republic within the Commonwealth after promulgating its constitution on January 26, 1950.

After independence, the Congress Party, the party of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, ruled India under the influence first of Nehru and then his daughter Indira Gandhi and grandson Rajiv Gandhi, with the exception of two brief periods in the 1970s and 1980s.

Prime Minister Nehru governed the nation until his death in 1964. He was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri, who also died in office. In 1966, power passed to Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, who served as Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977. In 1975, beset with deepening political and economic problems, Ms. Gandhi declared a state of emergency[?] and suspended many civil liberties. Seeking a mandate at the polls for her policies, she called for elections in 1977, only to be defeated by Moraji Desai[?], who headed the Janata Party[?], an amalgamation[?] of five opposition parties.

In 1979, Desai's Government crumbled. Charan Singh[?] formed an interim government, which was followed by Ms. Gandhi's return to power in January 1980. On October 31, 1984, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated, and her son, Rajiv Gandhi, was chosen by the Congress (I)--for "Indira"--Party to take her place. His government was brought down in 1989 by allegations of corruption and was followed by V.P. Singh[?] and then Chandra Shekhar[?].

In the 1989 elections, although Rajiv Gandhi and Congress won more seats in the 1989 elections than any other single party, he was unable to form a government with a clear majority. The Janata Dal[?], a union of opposition parties, was able to form a government with the help of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the right and the communists on the left. This loose coalition collapsed in November 1990, and the government was controlled for a short period of time by a breakaway Janata Dal group supported by Congress (I), seating Chandra Shekhar[?] as Prime Minister. That alliance also collapsed, resulting in national elections in June 1991.

On May 27, 1991, while campaigning in Tamil Nadu on behalf of Congress (I), Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, apparently by Sri Lankan Tamil extremists. In the elections, Congress (I) won 213 parliamentary seats and put together a coalition, returning to power under the leadership of P.V. Narasimha Rao[?]. This Congress-led government, which served a full 5-year term, initiated a gradual process of economic liberalization and reform, which has opened the Indian economy to global trade and investment. India's domestic politics also took new shape, as traditional alignments by caste, creed, and ethnicity gave way to a plethora of small, regionally based political parties.

The final months of the Rao-led government in the spring of 1996 were marred by several major political corruption scandals, which contributed to the worst electoral performance by the Congress Party in its history. The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged from the May 1996 national elections as the single-largest party in the Lok Sabha but without enough strength to prove a majority on the floor of that Parliament. Under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the BJP coalition lasted in power 13 days. With all political parties wishing to avoid another round of elections, a 14-party coalition led by the Janata Dal emerged to form a government known as the United Front, under the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, H.D. Deve Gowda. His government lasted less than a year, as the leader of the Congress Party withdrew his support in March 1997. Inder Kumar Gujral replaced Deve Gowda as the consensus choice for Prime Minister of a 16-party United Front coalition.

In November 1997, the Congress Party again withdrew support for the United Front. New elections in February 1998 brought the BJP the largest number of seats in Parliament--182--but fell far short of a majority. On March 20, 1998, the President inaugurated a BJP-led coalition government with Vajpayee again serving as Prime Minister. On May 11 and 13, 1998, this government conducted a series of underground nuclear tests, prompting U.S. President Clinton and Japan to impose economic sanctions[?] on India pursuant to the 1994 Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act[?].

In April 1999, the BJP-led coalition government fell apart, leading to fresh elections in September. The National Democratic Alliance-a new coalition led by the BJP-gained a majority to form the government with Vajpayee as Prime Minister in October 1999.

Timeline (approximate):

3000 BC -- Civilizations at Mohenjadaro[?] and Harappa

2600 BC - 1900 BC -- Unified Indus Valley Civilisation, or Harappan Civilisation.

1900 BC -- Indus Valley Civilisation begins to fragment into regional cultures.

1500 BC -- Migration of Indo-Aryan peoples

500 BC -- Buddhism and Jainism

322 BC - 200 BC -- Mauryan Empire[?]

320 - 500 -- Gupta Empire

1206-1520 -- Delhi Sultanate[?]

1526-1826 -- Mughal Empire

1757-1946 -- Colonial India[?]

1857 -- Sepoy Mutiny

Religions in India:

Hinduism--Buddhism--Jainism--Islam--Sikhism--Christianity

Historical Figures and Topics:

Buddha--Ashoka--Chandragupta Maurya--Akbar--Tipu Sultan--Rani Lakshmi Bay--Mohandas Gandhi--Jawaharlal Nehru--Subhas Chandra Bose--Black Hole of Calcutta

See also: India