(The following is the complete history of India. We hope that you like reading because this is quite a bit of history - more than we've ever seen for one country!)

Much is known about the history of India. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Indian subcontinent was invaded long ago by tribes,and latter developed an extensive and sophisticated civilization. About 1500 BC nomadic tribes from Central Asia known as Indo-Aryans settled in the upper areas of the Indus, Yamuna, and Ganges plains. The Vedas, a collection of sacred writings dating from about 1200 BC, contain considerable information on Indo-Aryan life and also the beginnings of Hinduism. During the 1st millennium BC, the Indo-Aryans established autonomous states, of which the most important was Kosala, which is in the region occupied by what is now Oudh. Another kingdom, Magadha, which occupied the territory of what is now Bihar, became the dominant state of India by the mid-6th century BC. After conquering the lands west of the Indus River, they crossed the Indus in 326 and marched through the Punjab region of present-day Pakistan to the Beas River. There he was forced to turn back when the army revolted and refused to go farther. Alexander's empire disintegrated rapidly after he died in 323 BC, but the Hellenistic states that survived in what is now Afghanistan continued to influence Indian culture. In about 321 BC a leader named Chandragupta succeeded to the throne of the native Kingdom of Magadha, founding the Maurya dynasty of Indian kings. He defeated the ruler of a Hellenistic kingdom on the plains of the Punjab in about 305, and then rapidly extended his empire to include most of northern and central India and parts of Afghanistan and Baluchistan. The Maurya dynasty endured until 184 BC, during which time Buddhism became the dominant religion of the empire. Following the Mauryas, the Sunga Empire ruled for more than a century. This period saw the decline of Buddhism and the triumph of Brahmanism, and the caste system became part of the Indian social structure From 230 BC to the 3rd century AD various dynasties controlled different parts of the region. In 320 a Magadha raja named Chandragupta I , founded the Gupta dynasty, which eventually conquered all of the subcontinent north of the Narmada River. Under the Gupta dynasty Indian culture reached new heights, and Hinduism experienced a golden age. Toward the close of the 5th century, Hunnish invaders conquered the Gupta Empire. At the beginning of the 11th century, a new Islamic power, Khorasan, gained power under Mahmud of Ghazni in western Asia, taking over many western Indian cities. Muhammad of Ghur began his reign in 1173 and eventually controlled all of the Gangetic plain west of Benares (now Varanasi). Alauddin of the Khalji dynasty ajoined the Indian realm by conquering the Deccan. In 1398 the Mongol destroyed Delhi, massacring its inhabitants, but he left the area on his own and the Lodi dynasty of kings took power. In 1526 , a descendant of Tamerlane and the founder of the great Mughal dynasty, defeated the Lodi army, proclaiming himself emperor of the Muslim dominions. The Mughal Empire reached its peak of cultural splendor under the rule of (reigned 1628-1658). However, under Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb, the empire declined. In the political chaos of the half-century after the Mughal Empire, petty kingdoms and principalities, such as Hyderabad,came about. Beginning in the late 1490s the Portuguese won a monopoly of the profitable Indian maritime trade. The Dutch East India Company broke the monopoly early in the 17th century. After negotiations, in 1612 the English founded their first Indian trading post, eventually gaining control over the Dutch. In 1773 the East India Company became a semi-official agency of the British government, which ultimately conqured the entire subcontinent and surrounding regions using its superior military power, as well as brutality and manipulation. The British policy of ajoining Indian territories caused profound hostility. In 1857 the sepoys, native troops employed by the English East India Company, began a general, sometimes bloody, uprising, known as the Sepoy Rebellion. By mid-1858 the rebels had fallen. However, the Sepoy Rebellion resulted in the transfer of the control of India from the East India Company to the British crown, which started important reforms. Regardless, the poor condition of the masses, popular resentment over the country's colonial status, and a growing spirit of nationalism remained issues of concern. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, nationalist associations were formed, the most important being the Indian National Congress. Hostile demonstrations against British rule became more frequent, and there was a popular boycott of British goods. However, the formation in 1906 of the Muslim League, which was generally pro-British, to some extent diverted attention from nationalism to Hindu-Muslim conflicts. Following the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918) both Hindus and Muslims rallied to the British cause. After the war, a Hindu social and religious reformer, called for a campaign of controlled resistance against British repression. In early 1930 Gandhi led a movement against the government salt monopoly, and his imprisonment resulted in riots. In 1931 the British government arranged a truce with Gandhi, but bitter Hindu-Muslim conflicts and the world economic crisis, which had begun in 1929, completely disrupted the economy of India during the early 1930s. In 1935 British legislation known as the Government of India Act provided for the begining of independent legislative bodies in the provinces of British India. The plan proved unworkable, however, and a Muslim League proposal for creation of an independent Muslim state (Pakistan) met with violent Hindu opposition. On the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945), the viceroy of India declared war on Germany without consulting Indian leaders, alienating important sections of the Indian National Congress. Meanwhile, the Muslim League, many of the princely states, and certain members of the Indian National Congress had endorsed the British war effort. After unsuccessful proposals by the British, the civil disobedience movement resumed in 1942, and the National Congress was outlawed. In 1945 and 1946 discussions between India and Great Britain took place. The negotiations were fruitless, but a representative interim executive council was eventually formed. Nonetheless, struggle between Muslims and Hindus increased. Fear of a Muslim-Hindu civil war led to the 1947 Indian Independence Act, establishing India and Pakistan as independent areas of the Commonwealth of Nations. For the subsequent history of Pakistan, As a result of the division of the country, areas inhabited mostly by Hindus were allocated to India, including most of the 562 princely states in existence, as well as other various territories. The first Constituent Assembly, in December 1946, was boycotted by the delegates of the Muslim League, and Nehru became the country's first prime minister. After partition, a multitude of Muslims from India into Pakistan and of Sikhs and Hindus from Pakistan into India took place, often accompanied by violence. Hostilities between the two countries grew serious over the status of the princely states, Kashmir in particular. The status of Kashmir was a recurring point of conflict and had yet to be settled in the mid-1990s. In 1948 Gandhi was assassinated, and , the founder of Pakistan, died as well. The Indian Constituent Assembly approved a republican constitution for India in late 1949. All-India Congress leader was elected the first president of the republic in 1950. The Constituent Assembly became a provisional parliament, and Jawaharlal Nehru was elected prime minister. Under Nehru a five-year national development plan was announced. The first general elections in the Indian Republic during 1951 and 1952 left the Indian National Congress with a majority in parliament, and Rajendra Prasad remained as president. Throughout the 1950s India took an active role in the international politics of Asia, attempting to remain neutral in most conflicts. In 1964 Nehru died. He was succeeded Shastri asprime minister. In 1966 Shastri died suddenly, and Nehru's daughter was chosen to be the new prime minister. After some political disorder Gandhi and her faction, from that time called the New Congress Party, won the elections of 1971. Economic conditions in India worsened during the mid-1970s. Gandhi was convicted in 1975 of corruption, and she declared a national state of emergency. The government used mass imprisonment and press censorship to qiuet political opposition. In the 1977 election the Janata Party, a coalition formed to oppose Gandhi's regime won a majority, and its head was named prime minister. However, in 1978 Gandhi formed Congress-Indira , which became the main opposition party in the House of the People. Elections in early 1980 resulted in a major victory for Gandhi and her Congress-Indira Party. She resumed the office of prime minister demanding autonomy for the Indian state of Punjab continued to be a concern, and Gandhi brought Punjab under president's rule in 1983. In 1984 a holy temple was the site of the killing of hundreds of Sikhs by police. Indira Gandhi was shot and killed by Sikh members of her personal guard later that year. Her son became the new prime minister, and he was reaffirmed by parliamentary elections in 1984. Gandhi agreed to expand the boundaries of Punjab. Reports of corruption weakened the Congress-Indira Party, however, as did Gandhi's inability to deal effectively with Punjab and Kashmir. From 1989 to 1993 there were several quick turnovers in leadership, continued sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslims, and a number of natural disasters. The 1996 elections brought further unrest to India, particularly surrounding the issues of Jammu and Kashmir. Ultimately the leftist coalition United Front formed a government under Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda. After the Congress-I Party pulled its support from the coalition, Gowda resigned and Inder Kumar Gujral, also of the United Front coalition, became prime minister. Elections in early 1998 gave the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the most parliamentary seats and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, leader of the BJP, became prime minister at the head of a coalition government.