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The Indus
Valley Civilization, one of the oldest in the
world, dates back to 3300 BC. This was followed
by the Vedic Civilization of the Indo-Aryans.
The origin of the Indo-Aryans is under some dispute.
Most scholars today believe in some form of the
Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis, which proposes
that the Aryans, a semi-nomadic people, possibly
from Central Asia or northern Iran, migrated into
the north-west regions of the Indian subcontinent
between 2000 and 1500 BCE. The nature of this
migration, the place of origin of the Aryans,
and sometimes even the very existence of the Aryans
as a separate people are hotly debated. The merger
of the Vedic culture with the earlier Dravidian
cultures (presumably of the descendants of the
Indus Valley Civilization) apparently resulted
in classical Indian culture, though the exact
details of this process are controversial. The
births of Mahavira and Buddha in the 6th century
BCE mark the beginning of well-recorded Indian
history. For the next 1500 years, India produced
its classical civilization, and is estimated to
have had the largest economy of the ancient world
between the 1st and 15th centuries CE, controlling
between one third and one quarter of the world's
wealth up to the time of the Mughals, from whence
it rapidly declined during British rule.
Incursions by Arab and Central Asian armies in
the 8th and 12th centuries were followed by inroads
by traders from Europe, beginning in the late
15th century. The British East India Company was
established in 1600 CE (during the reign of AKBAR
himself) (who reigned India from 1556-1605).From
1757, the British East India Company had begun
colonising parts of India and by 1858, the British
Crown had assumed political control over virtually
all of India. Indian armed forces in the British
army played a vital role in both the World Wars.
Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led,
by Mohandas Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal
Nehru brought independence in 1947. The subcontinent
was partitioned into the Secular Democratic Republic
of India and the smaller Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
A war between the two countries in 1971 resulted
in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation
of Bangladesh. In the 21st century, India has
made impressive gains in economic investment and
output, and stands as the world's largest democracy
with a population exceeding 1 billion, is self
sufficient in terms of food, and is a fast-growing,
economically strong country, with the fourth largest
economy (PPP) in the world.
Human civilizations in India are some of the earliest
recorded, and were contemporaries of civilizations
in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. India's history
essentially includes the entire Indian subcontinent,
including the more recent nations of Pakistan
and Bangladesh. India is also inalienably linked
with the history and heritage of the other South
Asian nations like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.
Outside of South Asia, India's history, culture
and politics often overlap with neighbouring countries
such as Iran, Afghanistan and Turkestan. In turn,
India's culture, economy and politics has had
an influence on the history and culture of the
nations in South East Asia, East Asia and Central
Asia, such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, China,
Tibet and Afghanistan over thousands of years.
After Arab incursions into India during the early
part of the second millennium CE, similar quests
for access to India's fabled wealth strongly influenced
the history of medieval Europe, after the landing
of Vasco Da Gama. Christopher Columbus discovered
America whilst searching for a new route to India,
and the British Empire gained much of its resources
after the incorporation of India as the 'Jewel
in the Crown', from the late 18th century to 1947.
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