is now Pakistan into northwestern India.
Between 1500 and 1200 BC tribes of
people known as Aryans invaded northwestern
India and spread eastward.
The Mauryan Empire, which lasted
from about 321 to 185 BC, united most
of what is now India. The Hindu Gupta
Dynasty ruled from about AD 320 to
540. The Guptas encouraged literature,
music, drama, painting, and sculpture.
Muslim Rule
Muslims began invading India in the
700s. In 1206 they set up a sultanate, or
kingdom, centered in Delhi. The greatest
of all theMuslim states in India was the
Mughal Empire, which defeated the
Delhi sultanate in 1526. By the late
1600s it had spread over almost all of
India.
British Rule
Meanwhile, in 1498 the Portuguese
navigator Vasco da Gama sailed to India.
The Dutch, the British, and the French
soon challenged Portugal for trade with
India. By 1849 Great Britain’s East
India Company ruled almost all of
India. After a rebellion by Indian soldiers,
the government of Britain took
direct control of India in 1858.
British rule brought peace and some
economic growth. However, many Indians
wanted their own government. In
1885 some of the people formed a
political party called the Indian National
The Clock Tower and the Golden Temple in
Amritsar, India, are important buildings of
the Sikh religion.
Facts About
INDIA
Population
(2008 estimate)
1,147,996,000
Area
1,222,559 sq mi
(3,166,414 sq
km)
Capital
New Delhi
Form of
government
Republic
Major cities
Greater Mumbai
(Greater Bombay),
Delhi,
Kolkata (Calcutta),
Bangalore,
Chennai
(Madras)
124 India BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Congress. In 1920 Mahatma Gandhi, a
leader of the Congress party, began urging
Indians to resist British rule. He
asked them to protest British laws peacefully,
not violently.
Independence
India won full independence in 1947.
However, some of its land was set aside
to create the Muslim country of Pakistan.
Fighting soon broke out between
India and Pakistan. After a war in 1971,
East Pakistan became the new country
of Bangladesh. India and Pakistan continued
to fight over the territory called
Kashmir into the 21st century.
Within India, ethnic and religious conflicts
led to the assassinations of two
prime ministers, Indira Gandhi in 1984
and her son Rajiv in 1991. India also
faced a growing population and widespread
poverty. Despite those problems,
the country maintained a democratic
government. It also developed nuclear
technology and a strong computer
industry. In 2004 Manmohan Singh
became the first Sikh to serve as India’s
prime minister.
#More to explore
Caste • Delhi • Gandhi, Mahatma
• Ganges River • Himalayas • Hinduism
• Indus River • Indus Valley Civilization
• Mauryan Empire • Mughal Empire
• Pakistan
about
2500 BC 321 BC 320 AD 1526 1858 1947 1984
The Indus
Valley
civilization
extends into
India.
The Mauryan
Empire begins.
The Gupta
Dynasty takes
power.
The Mughal
Empire begins.
The British
government
takes over
India.
India gains
independence.
Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi
is assassinated.
T I M E L I N E
Indian women celebrate Pongal, a Hindu
festival. During Pongal people offer rice
boiled in milk to the gods.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA India 125
Indiana
The U.S. state of Indiana calls
itself the Crossroads of America
because it sits in the heart of the
Midwest. Indiana’s people are often
called Hoosiers, though it is unclear
where the name came from. Indiana
took its name from the word Indian;
with the addition of the letter a, it
means “Indian land.” The state capital
is Indianapolis.
Geography
Indiana borders Lake Michigan and the
state of Michigan on the north, Ohio on
the east, Kentucky on the south, and
Illinois on the west. The Ohio River
forms the southern border, and the
Wabash River forms part of the western
border.
The landscape of Indiana is generally
flat. The northern third has a gently
rolling landscape. In the northwest,
windblown sand dunes rise along Lake
Michigan. A larger plains area in the
middle of the state has rich soil, making
it great for farming. The land changes
along the Ohio River in the southcentral
and southwestern parts of the
state. This region has many sharp ridges,
rounded hills, and deep valleys. Indiana
has warm summers and cool winters.
Northern cities along Lake Michigan
receive much heavier snowfall than other
parts of the state.
People
The majority of Indiana’s residents are
white, native-born Americans. Most
trace their ancestry back to England,
Scotland, Ireland, and Germany. African
Americans are the largest minority
group, making up more than 8 percent
of the population. Five of Indiana’s cities
have populations of more than
100,000.
Indianapolis is the largest city in Indiana.
It is located near the center of the
state. Other large cities are FortWayne,
Evansville, South Bend, and Gary. The
state’s institutions of higher education
include Indiana University, with its
main campus at Bloomington, and Purdue
University, with its main campus at
West Lafayette. The University of Notre
Dame, near South Bend, is a wellknown
Roman Catholic university.
126 Indiana BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Economy
Indiana is among the nation’s top
manufacturing states. The main products
