India

Welcome to our India Page containing information about India and her rich cultural diversity, customs and traditions! As you may know, India is a vast country with a diverse culture, unparalleled anywhere in the world, that a single site cannot do justice to her. You will find, from these pages, links to cool sites on the Web where you can find a wealth of information. Hopefully, this will aid you in your quest for knowledge on India. As always, your comments and suggestions about these pages are most welcome!

Overview

A federal republic of southern Asia and member of the Commonwealth, India is situated on a peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean, with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east. Separated from the rest of Asia by the immense Himalayan ranges in the north, India is roughly a third of the land mass of the United States. India is a land of great rivers, along the banks of which much of Indian civilization flourished. Ganga is one of India’s most important rivers while it was along the banks of Indus the world’s first major civilization flourished.

Modern India became independent of British Raj (rule) at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947. The official name of India is Bharat (in Hindi) and Republic of India (in English). The main official languages of India are Hindi & English. Being a secular country, India has no official religion, but is a mix of many religions. New Delhi is the capital of India but is Mumbai (formerly Bombay) that is known as the business capital of India.

History

India has had an existence that goes back to several thousand years. It has been determined, through archaelogical excavations, that the Indian sub-continent has been inhabitated by man beginning from 40,000 and 20,000 BC. The Indus Valley civilization was the world’s first major civilization. Learn more about India’s long history by visiting History page. You can also take a look at the Decisive Dates in India’s history.

Culture

The site of one of the oldest civilizations in the world, India has a ancient and diverse culture stretching back to more than 5000 years. Successive years of migration have been absorbed into the culture giving it a distinct physical, religious and racial variety as well as a rich linguistic diversity. It has also been considered the oldest and the most resilient cultures in the world. Modern India presents a picture of unity in diversity where people of different faiths and beliefs live together in peace and harmony. Discover more about India’s diverse culture by visiting Culture page.

Religion

India remains one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. Apart from her many religions and sects, India is home to innumerable castes and tribes, as well as to more than a dozen major and hundreds of minor linguistic groups from several totally different language families. Religion, an inseparable part of Indian life, permeates every aspect of life, from common-place daily chores to education and politics. Secular India is home to Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other innumerable religious traditions with Hinduism being the dominant faith, practised by over 80% of the population. Learn more about India’s many religions by visiting Religion page.

Government

India is a union of 29 states and seven union territories. She is a Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government. The architects of India’s constitution, though drawing on many external sources, were most heavily influenced by the British model of parliamentary democracy. In addition, a number of principles were adopted from the U.S. Constitution, including the separation of powers among the major branches of government, the establishment of a Supreme Court, and the adoption, albeit in modified form, of a federal structure (a constitutional division of power between the central and state governments). Discover more about India’s democratic form of governance by visiting Government page.

Economy

Since becoming independent in 1947, India has transformed herself into a dominant economic powerhouse.The seventh largest and second most populous country in the world, India has a a well-developed infrastructure and a highly diversified industrial base. Today India can boast of having a pool of scientific and engineering personnel that is the third largest in the world. A series of ambitious economic reforms aimed at deregulating the country and stimulating foreign investment has moved India firmly into the front ranks of the rapidly growing Asia Pacific region and unleashed the latent strengths of a complex and rapidly changing nation. Discover more about India’s vibrant economy through Economy page.

Earliest physical proof of India’s heritage can be found at the sites of the ancient cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa, two cities that belong to the Indus Valley civilization. These excavations, have shown that people at the time had a sophisticated lifestyle, a highly developed sense of aesthetics and an astonishing knowledge of town planning. The people of this civilization also had a script language – however attempts to decipher it have, unfortunately, largely been unsuccessful. At its height, the Indus civilization extended nearly a million square kilometres across the Indus river valley, and though it existed at the same time as the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Sumer, it far outlasted them.

Records of Indian people and their culture are also found in the four Vedas, ancient books of knowledge. The Rig Veda, the first of the Vedas, is the oldest book humanity possesses. It is supposed to have been written in 1500 BC. The other Vedas, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Athar Veda, all date back to 1000 BC. The Vedas are written in Sanskrit and were brought to India by the Aryans. They were nomadic people who came to India from various places and settled along the banks of of the Indus. However, Aryans were conquerors and they soon took over the north and moved to the east. Dravidians migrated to the south.

Over a period of time, the Aryan and Dravidian cultures began to merge and a new civilization began to surface. Aryan thought blended with the philosophy of the older civilization. A combination of socio-economic divisions that existed within the society of the two cultures gave rise to a stratified, hierarchical caste system that governs Indian society today. The term Hindu, signifying the people of the land of the Indus, a highly organized civilization that discovered the use of iron and built cities across the north of India, now applies to a comprehensive Indian culture.

One distinctive feature of these times, which later on led to their downfall, was the division of the land into smaller (and more manageable) pieces. India was divided into several territorial states, who had their own kings with a measure of autonomy. The most powerful of these states was Pataliputra (now called Patna), was ruled over by the Nandas. In 326 BC, Alexander, the Greek emperor, invaded India and ruled over most of north India. However, Alexander was more of a soldier than a king. Instead of staying back to consolidate his conquest, he left India and died shortly thereafter in Babylon. Seven years after the invasion, Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Empire, routed the Nandas and took over their throne. He was assisted by the brilliant Brahmin statesman, Chanakya, with whose help he established a vast empire which was spread all across India until Kabul (in present day Afghanistan).

The best known Mauryan emperor was Emperor Ashoka, Chandragupta’s grandson. During his reign, only the southern tip of India and Kalinga (now Orissa) was not a part of the Mauryan empire. After a victorious but devastating battle at Kalinga, in which thousands of people were slaughtered, he was deeply shocked and distressed. He adopted non-violence and became a Buddhist. His creed advocated non-violence and vegetarianism which certainly influenced the Hindus, the majority of whom do not eat meat anymore. The Ashoka pillar at Sarnath has been adopted by India as its national emblem and the Dharma Chakra on the Ashoka Pillar adorns the National Flag.

Fifty years after Ashoka’s death, the Mauryan empire disintegrated and faded away. North India was in a state of confusion, however in the South the Andhra kings became powerful and they reached northward, occupying the holy city of Ujjain. Later India was again invaded by the Greeks and their interaction with Indian cultures gave rise to the Greco-Buddhist art. According to many historians, image worship in India came from Greece. India was later invaded by the Scythians who established what is now known as Gujarat.

The fourth century was the age of the Guptas who ruled over India for 150 years, during which the established a powerful and widespread empire, completing the Mauryan design of unity and consolidated the whole of India under the governance of a centralized state. This period, the Gupta period, is often termed as the Golden Age of the arts in ancient India. Its emperors were responsible for an incredible flourishing of Indian art, literature and learning. They created schools and universities where learning and cultural & scientific developments were encouraged. The great university of Nalanda was established during this time. The Puranas, the Panchtantra Tales, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata were rewritten and edited during this time. Kalidasa, the great Sanskrit poet and playwright, wrote his famous Shakuntala at the court of Chandragupta Vikramaditya. Bharata’s Natyashastra, the great treatsie on the dance, music and theatre traditions of India was written during this period.

The Guptas were defeated by the White Huns in the sixth century. A barbarous tribe, they were quickly defeated by another tribe, the Gurjaras, who settled in Rajasthan and Gujarat. India soon turned into a fragmented nation with dozens of small states. In 606 AD, Harshvardhana dominated much of North India and proclaimed himself Emperor of Five Indias. Amongst the more important dynasties after Harshvardhana are the Pratihara, ancestors of todays Rajputs. In the South the scene was different with the Pallavas, of present day Tamil Nadu, and the Chalukyas, fighting each other to gain control. After them, the Cholas ruled for over 500 years and dominated the whole of the east coast to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). It was during this period that arts, crafts, painting and architecture achieved a summit of perfection.

Indians were avid travellers and settled in distant lands. The Cholas encouraged and organized expeditions through which the religion and culture of the land was carried beyond India’s borders. The ancient name for Java is Yava Dvipa, the Island of Millet – the Indian word for millet is Java. Cambodia was once called Kambhoja, named after the Indian city in ancient Gandhara in today’s Kabul region. The epic, Ramayana, is a part of mythology of Thailand and Indonesia, Balinese and Thai dance forms are of Indian origin.

At this time, India was largely fragmented with the Cholas ruling over the South, Palas over Bihar and Bengal by the Sena dynasty. Prithviraj Chauhan was the flamboyant ruler of Delhi, who despite routing the Afghans in 1191, is largely remembered as the most romantic king in Indian history. He fell in love with the daughter of his most bitter rival, Jaichandra, and carried her off despite the opposition. A year later, Muhammad Ghur returned and in the battle that ensued, Prithviraj lost his life and the battle. Ghur’s lieutenant, Qutb-uddin Aibak later ruled India and founded India’s first Muslim ruling dynasty. He ruled over India for fourteen years, consolidating his power by annexing the territories of Delhi and eventually defeating Jaichandra. His son-in-law constructed the famous Qutb Minar, a mosque and minaret, in his memory.

The Delhi Sultanate, as it was known, was ruled by the Kiljis, and then the Tughlaqs. An eccentric ruler, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq decide that Delhi was unsafe as a capital and transferred the entire city to Dualatabad, a good thousand miles south of Delhi. He had to come all the way back again because the people were unhappy with the change. he introduced copper coins but failing to control counterfeit coinage, had to give up on the scheme. Most of his experiments ended in a disaster and by the time he died, he had lost most of the India he had conquered.

After his death, the Sultanate was in a disarray and it lost all its power. It was then that Timur of Samarkahand chose to invade India. A barbarian, he butchered people mercilessly but fortunately returned as quickly as he came. The Tughlaqs tried to make a comeback but were ousted by the Sayyids who were then defeated by the Lodis. Sikander Lodi was peace-loving man and a poet and a musician. He spent most of his life making improvements to his territories.

At the battle of Panipat, Babar, the Mughal, defeated the last of the Lodis. Panipat was a major battlefield where India defended itself against many invaders: the Afghans, the Mughals and the British. Babar laid the foundation of the Mughal empire that ruled India for nearly 350 years until 1857. Babar’s grandson Akbar fought many battles to prove he was fit to be king. His closest neighbors, the Sisodia and the Rajputs of Mewar, remain un cowed despite the fact that Akbar took their stronghold at Chittor. A terrible battle, every man went to his death in defending his kingdom, all the women performed the rite of jauhar (collective death by fire) to protect their honor. During his reign, Akbar achieved a political unification of nearly the whole of India by frequent annexations and matrimonial alliances. A liberal at heart, he married the princess of Amber, a Rajput. His grandson was Shah Jahaan, who is famous for building the Taj Mahal at Agra. However he spent most of the last years of his life imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb.

A fanatic anti-Hindu, Aurangzeb destroyed temples replacing them with mosques and banned Hindus from celebrating their festivals. having a talent to alienate everybody, he re-imposed jizya, tax on unbelievers, that had been abolished by Akbar. Many Hindus bowed to Islam to avoid this exorbitant tax. His fighting with the Rajputs and Marathas cost him much. The great Maratha leader, Shivaji, gave Hindus the much needed faith in themselves. He constantly fought the Mughals, the Portuguese and the British. The nascent nationalism of the Marathas acted as a magnet for the Hindu rulers who joined the fight against the Mughals in the Deccan. Later on, the Marathas posed a significant threat to the British supremacy.

Aurangzeb’s lack of political diplomacy soon disintegrated the Mughal empire led to the rule of Nadir Shah, the Persian invader. After plundering India, he left with all the wealth of Delhi. The last of the Mughal, Bahadur Shah, lived his reign as a prisoner of the British who had by then assumed control in Delhi. India was then ruled by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the English. The British ruled over all of India and divided India into governable districts, reorganized the Indian administrative system, created India railway system (which remains the largest in the world today), improved the postal system, and undertook major public works.

In 1857, Indian soldiers in the British army revolted in what is called the Revolt of 1857 and succeeded in bringing together all of the princely states and civilians against the British. This is largely believed to be India’s first war of independence. Mangal Pandey, a lone but brave dissident, fired at his officers in amove that was then considered insignificant. This led to mutinies all over India and soldiers marched to Delhi and proclaimed Bahadur Shah as the Emperor of India. In retrospect, had the Indians been better organized they could have easily driven out the British. However, the mutiny led to great massacres all over India by the British in which thousands of people lost their lives. The Revolt of 1857 succeeded in shaking the British complacency and making the considerably less secure and arrogant. The Queen’s Proclamation in 1858 assured the rights of people and princes of India and guaranteed religious non-interference.

The Revolt managed to sow the seeds of national consciousness and the beginnings of a more organized national movement. In 1915, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi came onto the scene, calling for unity of the country in an astonishing display of leadership that would eventually lead the country to independence. The profound impact Gandhi had on India and his ability to gain independence through a totally non-violent mass movement made him one of the most remarkable leaders the world has ever known. He led by example, wearing homespun clothes to weaken the British textile industry and orchestrating a march to the sea (the Dandi March), where demonstrators proceeded to make their own salt in protest against the British monopoly. Indians gave him the name Mahatma, or Great Soul. The British had to bow down to the calls for independence and they would leave India by 1947.

Independence came at great cost. While Mahatma Gandhi was for India gaining independence as a united country, Mohammed Ali Jinnah was fronting a Muslim one through a group called the Muslim League. Jinnah advocated the division of India into two separate states: Muslim and Hindu. When the British left, they created the separate states of Pakistan and Bangladesh, and violence erupted when stranded Muslims and Hindu minorities in the areas fled in opposite directions. Within a few weeks, half a million people had died in the course of the greatest migration of human beings in the world’s history. Mahatma Gandhi vowed to fast until the violence stopped, which it did when his health was seriously threatened. The irony of this incident is that today India has a far greater size of Muslim population than Pakistan.

Today, as the world’s largest democracy, India is poised to realize its potential as an international economic power.

Modern day Indian culture has been influenced by foreign invaders, settlers and colonizers. This has often left people wondering as to the origins of Indian culture. The present theory is that Dravidians were the original settlers who were chased to the south by the Aryans during their migrations from Central Asia. With time however, their traditions merged and as a result, throughout India today, traditions are quite similar.

India is rich in her ceremonial greetings. Each gesture is meaningful and bears its own name: Namaste, Vanakkam, Swagattam, Sat Sri Akal and many more, signifying respect and welcome, blessings and greetings. The most universal is the soft-spoken Namaste. Swagattam or welcome is expressed in a hundred different ways appropriate to a land as rich, vast and varied as India. As someone once said, “If there is one place on the face of the earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began to dream of existence, it is India.”

Languages

With over 1600 languages and dialects, India’s linguistic diversity is extreme. Three-fourths of the population speak languages belonging to the Indo-Aryan group of the Indo-European family, all of which ultimately descend from Sanskrit. These include Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu, all enjoying official status. Nearly one-fourth of all Indians speak languages belonging to the Dravidian family, among which Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu have official status. Hundreds of additional languages, grouped in several families, account for less than 5 percent of the population. English, an auxiliary official language, serves as an all-Indian lingua franca.

Linguistic diversity in India had far-reaching political repercussions as the structure was used as a basis for the formation of the first 14 states of the Indian republic. Nine other parts of India have more recently attained statehood and have their own languages. Hindi, is spoken by about 40 percent of the population and covers most of the northen states. School children in Maharashtra learn Marathi, Gujarati in Gujarat, Punjabi in Punjab, Oriya in Orissa, Bengali in Bengal, Malayalam in Kerala, Telugu in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil in Tamil Nadu, Kannada in Karnataka and Kashmiri in Jammu & Kashmir. Assamese is usually spoke in the north-eastern states.

Art

Indian art is a mix of indigenous and outside influences, yet having a unique character and distinctiveness of its own. It has changed with the evolution of a civilization which was full of remarkable innovations in all areas of artistic expression and features spirals and curvaceous lines, vines and tendrils, round-figured goddesses, circular amulets, colored gemstones, arches and domes, hallowed deities, crescent moons, and the globe of the sun. Indian sculptures and paintings depict the diversity, color and spontaneity of this country and are representations of the all-encompassing nature of Indian culture. Art in India is vivid and lively, refined and sophisticated and bold and vigorous at the same time. From being essentially religious in purpose in the beginning, Indian paintings and sculpture have evolved over the years to become a fusion of various traditions which influenced them.

The greatest art dynasties were the Mauryans who ruled over the whole of India during 3 BC. Sculpture has always been the most popular form of art, possibly since it serves not only to satisfy creative urges but can also be used to portray symbols of the empire. In fact, the Mauryan pillar with its four lions has been adopted as the seal of independent India. Examples of Mauryan art can be seen in museums all over India.

During the Gupta dynasty, the cave paintings and sculptures of Ajanta and Ellora were executed in fine detail. Their excellence has been unparalleled in the world. Another fine example of Indian art is the Nataraja, or the dancing Shiva traces its origins to the Pallava dynasty in southern India. Shiva, the Lord of Destruction, is depicted in his performance of his Cosmic Dance of Destruction in which he dances with a composed face in spite of a sense of energy in the posture of his body and the flurry of his hands while the universe around him descends in flames.

In India, one can also find innumerable temples, fortresses and palaces that exhibit excellent examples of Indian architecture through the ages. Sustained invasions however have meant a loss of much of the earlier examples of Indian architecture. Much of what is seen today dates back from the Mughal era. The finest example of pure Hindu skills applied to fort building can be seen in the Gwalior fort. The Mughals built impressive memorials for their dead, as in Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, as well as the famous Taj Mahal at Agra.

Music

India is a country with many different forms of music, the most popular form of which heard today are film songs. However, India also has many unique regional forms of music which can be classified as: devotional and ritual music, seasonal songs and dance, functional and social items, ballads and narrative forms.

Seasonal songs relate to harvests and sowing, or to festivals like Holi and Diwali which are common throughout the country. Ballads, the songs of legendary heroes and heroines, are sung by professional musicians to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Devotional music in India is, perhaps, the next most popular form after film songs. Visiting a church in Goa, Madras or Calcutta you can hear familiar hymns sung in Portugese, Tamil, Bengali, or English. Bhajans (hymns) sung in the different Indian languages are songs sung in praise of various Hindu deities.

Apart from regional forms of music, there are two broad systems of classical music that dominate the scene today. Hindustani music of northern India and Carnatic music which is more popular in the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Dance

Similar to the musical tradition, there are several forms of dance in India that are related to the celebration of festivals and social functions such as marriage and rituals. Classical dance forms in India include Bharatnatyam from Tamil Nadu and South India, Kuchipudi from Andhra Pradesh, Odissi from Orissa, Kathakali from Kerala, Kathak from northern India and Manipuri from the north-eastern state of Manipur.

Most of the classical dance forms seem to have evolved from a single generic source. The Natyashastra is a Sanskrit compilation of the basic components of Indian music, dance and drama. The text is believed to have been written between 2 BC and 2 AD. The text explains the essential ingredients of dance: music, composition, movements, the role of costumes, hastas (hand gestures) and the use of facial and body postures that can be employed to convey expression through the medium of dance. All the classical dances of India follow these codes, though each form has unfolded and blossomed through its own individual expression.

Literature

The earliest known records are the Vedas and the Puranas both of which were not authored by a single author but are a collective pool of the learning, wisdom, religion and philosophy of the great sages of the past. This was followed by the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, both written several centuries before the dawn of the Christian era. Other major works include Shankuntala, Nala-Damayanti, Panchatantra, all of which were written in Sanskrit.

Since the coming of the British, Indian literature underwent a renaissance with the rise of nationalist writers writing in vernacular languages. The freedom struggle produced a number of original writers, among them was the poetess Sarojini Naidu. Famous writers in modern day India include Ruskin Bond, VS Naipaul, Nirad Chaudhari, RK Narayan, Khushwant Singh, Vikram Seth and Salman Rushdie among others.

Engineering & Medicine

Indian mathematicians are credited with introducing the concept of zero to the world. There is plenty of evidence that ancient India had a very strong interest in astronomy. Ayurveda, India’s indigenous form of medicine, is still popular throughout the country and indeed the world. Archaeologists have found ancient India to have a very high degree of town planning in terms of straight roads, sophisticated sewage systems, granary storage and public baths.

Social Issues

Social legislation in India has done much to alleviate the disabilities previously suffered by formerly untouchable castes, tribal populations, women, and other disadvantaged segments of society. Due to its size and nature, it is only natural that the government has not been able to tackle every social problem. This has led to the mushrooming of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to protect and promote the interests of women and children. NGOs run facilities that provide basic health and child care services, run homes for the destitute & distressed and provide education and training opportunities.

Media

In India the print and the electronic media are both very active and free. The publications in the country are in Hindi, English and all vernacular languages. While most of the print media is privately-run, the TV networks are in the hands of the government. In the recent past, the electronic media has come in for a major change with global TV networks making their presence felt.

The Prasar Bharati Act (India’s Communications policy) promises autonomy of the state-run TV networks. It however is being implemented slowly. The most popular foreign TV network is Star TV. Broadcasting out of Hong Kong via satellite it reaches a couple of million households; however it is no match for the reach and popularity of the state-run, Doordarshan.

In spite of being under the British rule for a long period, India borrowed heavily from English and American constitutionswhile framing her own Constitution after independence. The preamble states*:

We, the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens:

• Justice, social, economic and political;
• Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
• Equality of status and of opportunity;
• and to promote among them all Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation

in our Constituent Assembly this twenty-sixth day of November 1949, do hereby Adopt, Enact and Give to ourselves this Constitution.

* The words “Socialist Secular” and “the unity and the integrity of the Nation”, were added by the 42nd Amendment.

As the world’s largest democracy, Indian government rests on: the central parliament and state legislatures, the judiciary and the executive. Each one functions independently, however, all of them are interlinked and operate under the parameters defined by the Constitution.

India’s government consists of a central government and state governments. The central government has exclusive authority, which include foreign policy, defense, communications, currency, taxation on corporations and nonagricultural income, and railroads. State governments have the sole power to legislate on such subjects as law and order, public health and sanitation, local government, betting and gambling, and taxation on agricultural income, entertainment, and alcoholic beverages. On some issues both the union government and state governments may legislate, though a union law generally takes precedence. Among these areas are criminal law, marriage and divorce, contracts, economic and social planning, population control and family planning, trade unions, social security, and education. Matters requiring legislation that are not specifically covered in the listed powers lie within the exclusive domain of the central government.

An exceedingly important power of the union government is that of creating new states, combining states, changing state boundaries, and terminating a state’s existence. The union government may also create and dissolve any of the union territories, which have more limited powers than those of the states. Although the states exercise either sole or joint control over a substantial range of issues, the constitution establishes a more dominant role for the union government.

Parliament

Indian Parliament consists of the Rajya Sabha, (Upper House) and the Lok Sabha (Lower House). Members of the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by the state legislative assemblies on the basis of proportional representation. A third of its members retire every two years; they can however be re-elected. Traditionally, the President appoints twelve members to the Rajya Sabha who have been outstanding in various fields like arts, sports, music, etc. Members to the Lok Sabha are elected directly by the people for a five-year term. Any Indian citizen over 25 years of age is eligible to get voted into the Lok Sabha and any Indian citizen over the age of 18 is eligible to vote.

States are governed in the same manner as the nation. States have a Vidhan Sabha (Legislative assembly) which is similar to the Lok Sabha. Members to the Vidhan Sabha are voted by the people for a period of five years. The leader of the Sabha is the chief minister who appoints his own council of ministers. Every state also has a Governor who is appointed by the President. In case it is required, the Governor can exercise his emergency powers, dismiss the state government and take over functioning of the state. This however rarely happens in practice.

Executive

The President is the constitutional head of Executive of the Union. Real executive power vests in a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as head who aid and advise the President. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, the House of the People. In the states, the Governor, as the representative of the President, is the head of Executive, but real executive power rests with the Chief Minister who heads the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers of a state is collectively responsible to the elected legislative assembly of the state. The Constitution governs the sharing of legislative power between Parliament and the State Legislatures, and provides for the vesting of residual powers in Parliament. The power to amend the Constitution also vests in Parliament. The Union Executive consists of the President, the Vice President and Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President.

Judiciary

Judicial authority in India is exercised through a system of national courts administering the laws of the republic and the states. All judges are appointees of the executive branch of the government, but their independence is guaranteed by a variety of safeguards. Noteworthy among the latter is a provision requiring a two-thirds vote of the national legislature to effect removal from office. At the apex of the judicial system is a Supreme Court, consisting of up to 26 members. Next in authority are the high courts and subordinate courts in each state.

The main purpose of the Supreme Court is to deal between disputes between the central and state governments and in public litigation cases which involve interpretation of the Constitution. Totally autonomous in operation, the Supreme Court has often been used, in recent history, by the people to keep the government in check.

Election Process
The entire election process in India is controlled and conducted by an Election Commission (EC). This is an independent body and it ensures that elections are held in a free and fair manner. The Election Commission fixes and announces the dates for elections.

After counting of votes, the party getting simple majority is declared elected. Majority can be of 2 types:

• Simple Majority (the party with the highest number of votes) and
• Absolute Majority (where the party gets more than 50% of the votes).

A simple majority may, at times lead to paradoxes, in that the elected representative may win only because he has the highest number of votes but he may not have the mandate of the majority of the voting public. This leads to interesting situations in the post-election period!

Political Parties

The Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, led India in the struggle for independence and provided the country’s prime ministers until 1977. In 1969 a group of Congress members left the party to form the small Indian National Congress-Organization (or O), the nation’s first officially recognized opposition party. In early 1977 the Congress-Organization joined with three other parties, Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal, and the Socialist party, to form the Janata party, which won about half of the seats in the House of the People in elections in March 1977. In May the Janata party achieved a solid majority by merging with the Congress for Democracy. In 1978 the Congress party split again, as Indira Gandhi founded the Indian National Congress-Indira (now Congress-I), which swept to victory in parliamentary elections in 1980 and 1984, but lost its majority in 1989, although retaining the largest share of seats. Its major competitors in the 1991 elections included Janata Dal (the largest party in National Front coalition) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1999. Today, the Prime Minister of India is Shri Manmohan Singh, Congress(I) and the President is Abdul Kalaam.

Defence

The President is the supreme commander of all the armed forces. All branches of the armed services of India are made up solely of volunteers. The strength of the regular army is 1,265,000 people. The navy comprises 55,000 personnel and the Air force strength is 110,000, with more than 700 combat aircraft. Having been involved in three wars since independence, India places great importance in its defense. Having two nuclear-weapon states with aggressive intentions as neighbors, India has also developed and tested nuclear weapons. The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has also promised a moratorium on further testing. It is interesting to note that India has never been the aggressor in any war so far. Today India also possesses the technology to produce missiles, fighter planes, tanks and other weapons.

Foreign Policy

India’s foreign policy has been officially one of nonalignment with any of the world’s major power blocs. The country was a founding member of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) and has remained one of its prominent leaders. She plays an important role in global affairs, often as a champion of the causes of the world’s colonially exploited and less developed nations. India has maintained its membership in the Commonwealth (formerly, the British Commonwealth of Nations), and in 1950 it became the first Commonwealth country to change from a dominion to a republic. It was a charter member, even though not yet independent, of the United Nations (as it was of the League of Nations) and has played an active role in virtually all the organs within the United Nations system. In 1985 India joined six neighboring countries in launching the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Today India is a member of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations).

The Indian government supports a mixed economy, most of which is in the control of private enterprise. Under a policy announced in 1956, the government undertook a plan to nationalize entire segments of the economy, while leaving other sectors subject to varying degrees of government planning and control. Nearly 250 corporations are owned by the state today.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the mainstay of the majority of the population in India. A far-seeing agricultural policy initiated in the 60s resulted in a green revolution in India. With extensive cultivable regions, a comprehensive network of irrigation facilities, and valuable stands of timber, today India is not only self-sufficient in foodgrains but also exports its crops. India has the largest area in the world under pulse crops and is also the first in the world to evolve a cotton hybrid.

Banking

India has a well developed banking system that is government-regulated and largely government-owned. The Reserve Bank of India, founded in 1935 and nationalized in 1949, is India’s principal banking institution. It regulates the circulation of bank notes, manages the country’s reserves of foreign exchange, and operates the currency and credit system. Fourteen of the country’s largest commercial banks were nationalized in 1969 and by 1980, most of the country’s commercial banking passed into the public sector. Other banks have been established by the central government to provide credits promoting various types of industry and foreign trade. Many foreign banks maintain branch offices in India, and Indian banks maintain offices in numerous foreign countries. The rupee, India’s basic monetary unit, is divided into 100 paisa (approx. 43 rupees equal U.S.$1).

Manufacturing

India’s manufacturing sector is highly diversified and includes a range of heavy- and high-technology industries, largely under government ownership. Consumer-goods industries are more commonly privately owned. The country’s chief manufactures include textiles, iron and steel, cement, fertilizers, other chemicals, automotive vehicles, ships, bicycles, textile and other machinery, electrical appliances and electronics, and pharmaceuticals. Electricity is generated mainly by thermal and secondarily by hydroelectric installations. Labour unions, generally affiliated with various political parties, are important in the modern sectors of the economy. India’s chief trading partners include the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, and Saudi Arabia.

Mining

Domestically supplied minerals form an important underpinning for India’s diversified manufacturing industry, as well as a source of modest export revenues. The nationalization of many foreign and domestic enterprises and the government initiation and management of others have given the Indian government a predominant role in the mining industry. India ranks among the world leaders in the production of iron ore, coal, and bauxite and produces significant amounts of manganese, mica, dolomite, copper, petroleum, chromium, lead, limestone, phosphate rock, zinc, gold, and silver.

Trade

Initially, stock exchanges did not play the prominent role in India in the way that they do in more affluent capitalist societies. However, today one can find vibrant stock exchanges in most of the largest Indian cities and they facilitate the flow of capital in the form of securities under rules set down by the Ministry of Finance. India’s trade links are worldwide. The United States and the former Soviet Union have been the principal destinations for India’s exports (often, in the latter case, under barter arrangements), while Japan and the countries of the European Community (EC), especially Germany and the United Kingdom, have also been important. The main import sources have been Japan, the United States, the EC, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union. Today, the United States is India’s leading trading partner, receiving about 16 percent of India’s yearly exports and supplying about 10 percent of its imports.

Transportation

India, at independence, had a superior transportation system. In the decades that followed, she built steadily on that base, and railroads in particular formed the sinews that initially bound the new nation together. Although railroads have continued to carry the bulk of goods traffic, there has been a steady increase in the relative dependence on roads and motorized transport. India has a broad network of railroad lines, the largest in Asia and the fourth largest in the world, all of which are publicly controlled. The major Indian ports, including Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, and Vishakhapatnam, are reached by cargo carriers and passenger liners operating to all parts of the world. A comprehensive network of Indian-operated air routes connects the major cities and towns of the country. International connections are maintained by Air India, Indian Airlines, and foreign air-transport services.

There are around 18 languages recognized by the Indian Constitution. These languages are

1. Assamese
2. Bengali
3. Gujrati
4. Hindi
5. Kannada
6. Kashmiri
7. Konkani
8. Malayalam
9. Manipuri
10. Marathi
11. Nepali
12. Oriya
13. Punjabi
14. Sanskrit
15. Sindhi
16. Tamil
17. Telugu
18. Urdu

Hindi is the official and main link language of India. Its homeland is mainly in the north of India, but it is spoken and widely understood in all urban centers of India. It is written in the Devanagri script, which is phonetic and, unlike English, is pronounced as it is written. Hindi is a direct descendant of Sanskrit through Prakrit and Apabhramsha. It has been influenced and enriched by Dravidian, Turkish, Farsi, Arabic, Portugese and English. It is a very expressive language. In poetry and songs, it can convey emotions using simple and gentle words. It can also be used for exact and rational reasoning.

STATES

• Andhra Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Assam
• Bihar
• Chattisgarh
• Delhi
• Goa
• Gujarat
• Haryana
• Himachal Pradesh
• Jammu & Kashmir
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Madhya Pradesh

• Maharashtra
• Manipur
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram
• Nagaland
• Orissa
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Sikkim
• Tamil Nadu
• Tripura
• Uttaranchal
• Uttar Pradesh
• West Bengal

UNION TERRITORIES:

• Andaman and Nicobar Islands
• Chandigarh
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli
• Daman and Diu
• Lakshadweep
• Pondicherry

ABOHAR
ACHALPUR
ADAIPUR
ADILABAD
ADITYAPUR
ADONI
AGARTALA
AGRA
AHMADABAD
AHMADNAGAR
AIZAWL
AJMER
AKOLA
AKOT
ALANDUR
ALIGARH
ALIPURDUAR
ALLAHABAD
ALLEPPEY
ALLINAGARAM
ALWAR
AMALNER
AMBAJOGAI
AMBALA
AMBALASADAR
AMBATTUR
AMBIKAPUR
AMBUR
AMRAVATI
AMRELI
AMRITSAR
AMROHA
ANAKAPALLE
ANAND
ANANTAPUR
ANJAR
ANKLESHWAR
ARA
ARAKKONAM
ARANI
ARCOT
ARUPPUKKOTTAI
ASANSOL
ASHOKNAGAR-KALYANGARH
ATTUR
AURAIYA
AURANGABAD
AVADI
AZAMGARH
BADAGARA
BAGAHA
BAGALKOT
BAHADURGARH
BAHARAMPUR
BAHRAICH
BAIDYABATI
BALAGHAT
BALANGIR
BALESHWAR
BALLARPUR
BALLIA
BALLY
BALRAMPUR
BALURGHAT
BANDA
BANDAR (12)
BANGALORE
BANGAON
BANKURA
BANSBERIA
BANSWARA
BAPATLA
BARAKPUR
BARAN
BARANAGAR
BARASAT
BARAUNI
BARAUT
BARDDHAMAN
BAREILLY (21)
BARELI
BARGARH
BARMER
BARNALA
BARSI
BASIRHAT
BASSEIN
BASTI
BATALA
BATHINDA
BEAWAR
BEGUSARAI
BELA
BELAMPALLI
BELGAUM
BELLARY
BETTIAH
BETUL
BEYPORE
BHADOHI
BHADRAK
BHADRAVATI
BHADRAVATI NEWTOWN
BHADRESWAR
BHAGALPUR (9)
BHAKDAHA
BHANDARA
BHARATPUR
BHARUCH
BHATPARA
BHAVANI
BHAVNAGAR
BHAWANIPATNA
BHAYANDAR
BHILAI
BHILWARA
BHIMAVARAM
BHIND
BHIR
BHIWANDI
BHIWANI
BHOPAL
BHUBANESHWAR
BHUBANESWAR
BHUJ
BHUSAWAL
BID
BIDAR
BIHAR
BIJAPUR
BIJNOR
BIKANER
BILASPUR
BIRNAGAR
BISHNUPUR
BODHAN
BODINAYAKKANUR
BOKARO
BOKAROSTEELCITY
BOLANGIR
BOLPUR
BOLPUR
BOTAD
BRAHMAPUR
BRAJRAJNAGAR
BROACH
BUDAUN
BUDGEBUDGE
BULANDSHAHR
BULDANA
BULSAR
BUNDI
BURHANPUR
BURHAR
BURNPUR
BUXAR
CALCUTTA
CALICUT
CANNANORE
CAWNPORE
CHAIBASA
CHALISGAON
CHAMPDANI
CHANDANNAGAR
CHANDAUSI
CHANDIGARH
CHANDPUR
CHANDRAPUR
CHANGANACHERI
CHANNAPATNA
CHAPRA
CHAS
CHENGALPATTU
CHENNAI
CHHAPRA
CHHATARPUR
CHHINDWARA
CHIDAMBARAM
CHIKMAGALUR
CHILAKALURUPET
CHINGLEPUT
CHINTAMANI
CHIRALA
CHITRADURGA
CHITTAURGARH
CHITTOOR
CHURU
COCHIN
COIMBATORE
CONTAI
COOCHBEHAR
COONOOR
CUDDALORE
CUDDAPAH
CUMBUM
CUTTACK (31)

DABGRAM
DALLIRAJHARA
DALTENGANJ
DAMOH
DANAPUR
DANDELI
DARBHANGA
DARJILING
DATIA
DAVANAGERE
DEHRADUN
DEHRI
DELHI
DELHICANTONMENT
DEOBAND
DEOGHAR
DEORIA
DEWAS
DHAMTARI
DHANBAD
DHAR
DHARMAPURI
DHARMAVARAM
DHAULPUR
DHOLKA
DHOLPUR
DHORAJI
DHRANGADHRA
DHUBURI
DHULE
DHULIA
DIBRUGARH
DIMAPUR
DINDIGUL
DISA
DISHERGARH
DODBALLAPUR
DUMDUM
DURG
DURGAPUR
ELURU
EMMIGANURU
ERODE
ETAH
ETAWAH
FAIZABAD (6)
FARIDABAD
FARIDKOT
FARRUKHABAD (6)
FATEHPUR
FAZILKA
FIROZABAD
FIROZPUR
FIROZPURCANTONMENT
GADAG
GANDHIDHAM
GANDHINAGAR
GANGAGHAT
GANGANAGAR
GANGAPUR
GANGAWATI
GARULIA
GAUHATI
GAYA
GHAZIABAD
GHAZIPUR
GIRIDIH
GODHRA
GOKAK
GONDA
GONDAL
GONDIA
GOPICHETTIPALAIYAM
GORAKHPUR
GUDIVADA
GUDIYATTAM
GUDUR
GULBARGA
GUNA
GUNTAKAL
GUNTUR
GURDASPUR
GURGAON
GURUBAYUR
GUWAHATI
GWALIOR
HABRA
HAJIPUR
HALDWANI
HALISAHAR
HANSI
HANUMANGARH
HAORA
HAPUR
HARDOI
HARIDWAR
HARIHAR
HASSAN
HATHRAS
HAZARIBAG
HIMATNAGAR
HINDAUN
HINDUPUR
HINGANGHAT
HINGOLI
HISAR
HOOGHLYCHINSURA
HOSHANGABAD
HOSHIARPUR
HOSPET
HOWRAH (7)
HUBLIDHARWAR
HUBLI-DHARWAR
HUGLI-CHINSURAH
HYDERABAD
ICHAIKARONJI
ICHALKARANJI
IMPHAL
INDORE
INGRAJBAZAR
ITARSI
JABALPUR
JABALPURCANTONMENT
JAGADHRI
JAGDALPUR
JAGTIAL
JAHANABAD
JAIPUR
JALANDHAR
JALGAON
JALNA
JALPAIGURI
JAMALPUR
JAMMU
JAMNAGAR
JAMSHEDPUR
JANGIPUR
JAORA
JAUNPUR
JAYPUR
JETPUR
JHANSI
JHARIA
JHARSUGUDA
JHUNJHUNUN
JIND
JODHPUR
JORHAT
JULLUNDUR (2)
JULLUNDUR
JUNAGADH
KADAIYANALLUR
KADIRI
KAGAZNAGAR
KAIRANA
KAITHAL
KAKINADA
KALAMASSERY
KALIKATA
KALOL
KALYAN
KAMARHATI
KAMBAM
KAMPTEE
KAMTHI
KANCHIPURAM
KANCHRAPARA
KANNANGAD
KANNAUJ
KANPUR
KANPURCANTONMENT
KAPRA
KAPURTHALA
KARAD
KARAIKAL
KARAIKKUDI
KARIKAL
KARIMNAGAR
KARNAL
KARUR
KARWAR
KASARAGOD
KASGANJ
KASHIPUR
KATIHAR
KATWA
KAVALI
KAYANKULAM
KESHOD
KHADKI
KHAMBHAT

KHAMGAON
KHAMMAM
KHANDWA
KHANNA
KHARAGPUR
KHARAGPURRAILWAYSETTLEMENT
KHARDAHA
KHARGON
KHARGONE
KHURJA
KISHANGANJ
KISHANGARH
KISHANGARHBAS
KOCHBIHAR
KOCHI
KODARMA
KOHIMA
KOLAR
KOLARGOLDFIELDS
KOLHAPUR
KOLKATA
KONNAGAR
KORBA
KOTA
KOTKAPURA
KOTTAGUDEM
KOTTAYAM
KOVILPATTI
KOZHIKODE
KRISHNAGIRI
KRISHNANAGAR
KUKATPALLE
KULTI
KUMARAPALAIYAM
KUMBAKONAM
KUNDLA
KURASIA
KURICHI
KURNOOL
LAKHIMPUR
LALBAHADURNAGAR
LALITPUR
LASHKAR
LATUR
LUCKEESARAI
LUCKNOW
LUCKNOWCANTONMENT
LUDHIANA
MACHILIPATNAM
MADANAPALLE
MADGAON
MADHUBANI
MADHYAMGRAM
MADHYAMGRAM
MADRAS
MADURAI
MAHBUBNAGAR
MAHESANA
MAHOBA
MAHUVA
MAINPURI
MAKRANA
MALAPPURAM
MALAUT
MALEGAON
MALERKOTLA
MALKAJGIRI
MALKAPUR
MANCHERAL
MANDSAUR
MANDYA
MANGALAGIRI
MANGALORE
MANGO
MANJERI
MANMAD
MANNARGUDI
MANSA
MASULIPATAM
MASULIPATNAM
MATHURA
MAUNATHBHANJAN
MAWANA
MAYURAM
MEDINIPUR
MEERUT
MEERUTCANTONMENT
MELAPPALAIYAM
METTUPALAYAM
MHOW
MIDNAPORE
MIRABHAYANDAR
MIRAJ
MIRYALAGUDA
MIRZAPUR
MODINAGAR
MOGA
MOKAMA
MORADABAD
MORBI
MORENA
MORMUGAO
MORVI
MOTIHARI
MUGHALSARAI
MUKTSAR
MUMBAI
MUNGER
MURWARA
MUZAFFARNAGAR
MUZAFFARPUR
MYSORE
NABHA
NADIAD
NAGAON
NAGAPPATTINAM
NAGAPPATTINAM
NAGAUR
NAGDA
NAGERCOIL
NAGINA
NAGPUR
NAIHATI
NAJIBAABAD
NALASOPARA
NALGONDA
NANDED
NANDURBAR
NANDYAL
NANGI
NARASAPUR
NARASARAOPET
NARNAUL
NASHIK
NASIK
NAVADWIP
NAVANAGAR
NAVSARI
NAWABGANJ
NAWADA
NAWALGARH
NEDUMANGAD
NEEMUCH
NELLORE
NEWBARAKPUR
NEWBOMBAY
NEWDELHI
NEYVELI
NIMACH
NIPANI
NIRMAL
NIZAMABAD
NORTHBARAKPUR
NORTHDUMDUM
NOWGONG
ONGOLE
ORAI
OSMANABAD
PALAKODU
PALANI
PALANPUR
PALAYANKOTTAI
PALGHAT
PALI
PALLAVARAM
PALONCHA
PALWAL
PALWANCHA
PANAJI
PANCHUR
PANDHARPUR
PANIHATI
PANIPAT
PANRUTI
PANVEL
PARAMAKKUDI
PARASIA
PARBHANI
PARLI
PATAN
PATHANKOT
PATIALA
PATNA
PATTUKKOTTAI
PAYYANNUR
PHAGWARA
PILIBHIT
PILKHUA
PIMPRI-CHINCHWAD
POLLACHI

PONDICHERRY
PONMALAI
PONNANI
PONNURUNIDUBROLU
POONA
PORBANDAR
PORTBLAIR
PRODDATUR
PUDUKKOTTAI
PULIYANGUDI
PUNE
PUNECANTONMENT
PURI
PURNIA
PURULIYA
PUSAD
QUILON
QUTUBULLAPUR
RABKAVIBANHATTI
RAEBARELI
RAICHUR
RAIGANJ
RAIGARH
RAIPUR
RAJAHMUNDRY (33)
RAJAPALAIYAM
RAJENDRANAGAR
RAJHARA-JHARANDALLI
RAJKOT
RAJNANDGAON
RAJPUR
RAJPURA
RAMANAGARAM
RAMANATHAPURAM
RAMGARH
RAMPUR
RANAGHAT
RANCHI
RANIBENNUR
RANIGANJ
RATANGARH
RATLAM
RATNAGIRI
RAYACHOTI
REWA
REWARI
RISHRA
ROBERTSONPET
ROHTAK
ROORKEE
ROURKELA
ROURKELACIVILTOWNSHIP
RUDRAPUR
SAGAR
SAHARANPUR
SAHARSA
SAHASWAN
SALEM
SAMBALPUR
SAMBHAL
SANGAREDDI
SANGLI
SANGRUR
SANTIPUR
SARDARSHAHR
SARNI
SASARAM
SATARA
SATNA
SAUNDA
SAWAIMADHOPUR
SECUNDERABADCANTONMENT
SEHORE
SEONI
SERAMPORE
SERILUNGAMPALLE
SHAHABAD
SHAHDOL
SHAHJAHANPUR (9)
SHAMLI
SHANTIPUR
SHERTALLAI
SHIKOHABAD
SHILIGURI
SHILLONG
SHIMLA
SHIMOGA
SHIVPURI
SHOLAPUR (5)
SHRIRAMPUR
SIDDHAPUR
SIDDHPUR
SIDDIPET
SIDHPUR
SIKANDARABAD
SIKAR
SILCHAR
SIMLA
SINDRI
SIRSA
SIRSILLA
SITAPUR
SIURI
SIVAKASI
SIWAN
SOLAPUR
SONIPAT
SOUTHDUMDUM
SRIKAKULAM
SRIKALAHASTI
SRINAGAR
SRIRAMPUR
SRIRANGAM
SRIVILLIPUTTUR
SUJANGARH
SULTANPUR
SURAT
SURENDRANAGAR
SURIAPET
TADEPALLEGUDEM
TADPATRI
TALIPARAMBA
TAMBARAM
TANDA
TANUKU
TELLICHERY
TENALI
TENKASI
TEZPUR
THANA
THANESAR
THANJAVUR
THENI-ALLINAGARAM
THRIPPUNITHURA
TIKAMGARH
TINDIVANAM
TINSUKIA
TIRUCHCHIRAPPALLI
TIRUCHENGODU
TIRUNELVELI
TIRUPATI
TIRUPPATTUR
TIRUPPUR
TIRUVALLA
TIRUVANNAMALAI
TIRUVOTTIYUR
TITAGARH
TITAGARH
TONK
TRICHUR
TRIVANDRUM
TUMKUR
TUTICORIN
UDAGAMANDALAM
UDAMALPET
UDAYPUR (3)
UDGIR
UDUPI
UJJAIN
ULHASNAGAR
ULUBARIA
UNJHA
UNNAO
UPLETA
UPPALKALAN
UTTARPARAKOTRUNG
UTTARPARA-KOTRUNG
VADODARA
VALPARAI
VANIYAMBADI
VARANASI
VASAI
VEERAPPANCHATTIRAM
VEJALPUR
VELLORE
VERAVAL
VIDISHA
VIJAYAVADA (2)
VIKRAMASINGAPURAM
VILUPPURAM
VIRAMGAM
VIRAR
VIRUDUNAGAR
VISHAKHAPATNAM
VISNAGAR
VIZIANAGARAM
VRIDDHACHALAM
WARANGAL
WARDHA
YAMUNANAGAR
YAVATMAL
YEMMIGANUR