India: Country Profile
Rock shelters from the Stone Age are the first signs of human life in India. Until the colonization of India by the British in the 19th century, various kingdoms ruled fractions of India, most notably the Mogul Empire. The Taj Mahal is the shining example of India’s glorious Mogul past. Europeans first came to India for trade, but soon the British took advantage of the fractious nature of the empires and declared India a colony of the British Empire.
The Indian struggle for independence is famous for its leader, Mahatma Gandhi, and his use of peaceful methods of civil disobedience to protest the colonization of India by the British. In 1947, India gained its independence without violent struggle and is currently the largest democracy in the world based on population. Gandhi’s methods of peaceful civil disobedience inspired Martin Luther King during the American Civil Rights movement.
Indian culture is steeped in tradition and marked by its diversity. There are eighteen official languages and more than 200 languages are spoken throughout India. India also contains significant populations of Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian worshippers.
Perhaps one of India’s most recognized arts is its film industry, the largest producer of films in the world. More films are produced in India than in the United States each year. The film industry, “Bollywood,” produces up to 1,000 films per year! Bollywood films tend to be emotional dramas filled with bright colors, song and dance.
The geographical landscape of India is as varied as its people. The southern part of the country is a highly fertile plateau. Meanwhile, the north is a mixture of rocky desert and the largest flat plain in the world. The north also contains part of the Himalayan mountain range.
