Background / History

• India is presently a Sovereign Democratic Republic country
• The Indus Valley civilization flourished on the Indian subcontinent from c. 2600 B.C. to c. 2000 B.C.
• Dates back at least 5,000 years
• Aryans from the northwest invaded about 1500 B.C. They introduced Sanskrit and the Vedic religion, a forerunner of Hinduism
• Buddhism was founded in the 6th century B.C.
• Asoka (c. 269–232 B.C.), one of the great ancient kings of the Mauryan dynasty unified most of the Indian subcontinent for the first time.
• Arab incursions started in the 8th century followed by Turkish invasion in the 12th century . European traders entered beginning in the late 15th century
• By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands.
• Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism under Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru led to independence in 1947.