India, which is officially known as the Republic of India is known to be a Sovereign Country that is situated in South Asia. It is also important to note here that the country of India is the seventh largest country of the world as far as the geographical area is concerned.

As far as the history of India is concerned, it could be said that to trace the history of India, we have to go back to the Stone Age as it has been agreed upon by the archaeologists as well as by the historians that the rock shelters with paintings, which are found at the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (World Heritage Site) that is situated in Madhya Pradesh (a state that adorns Central India) are the earliest known traces of human life as far as the country of India is concerned.

It is to be noted here that the first permanent settlements of India dates back to 9000 years ago and it is these permanent settlements that adorned the Western region of India that gradually developed or came to be known much later as the Indus Valley Civilization and the Indus Valley Civilization dates back to the year 3300 BCE.

This civilization was very soon followed by the Vedic civilization and the most important aspect that is associated with the Vedic civilization is that that they laid down the foundation for Hinduism as well as the other cultural aspects of the Indian Society of that time.

At around 550 BCE, several independent kingdoms as well as republics, who were known as the Mahajanapadas got set up across the whole country.

It is also to be noted that the empire that was built by the Maurya Dynasty, which was then ruled by emperor Ashoka was responsible for uniting most of the South Asia and this took place in the third century BCE. It is also required to mention here that from the 180 BCE, many invasions took place from the central region of Asia and these invasions include in themselves, the invasion that was led by the Indo- Scythians, Kushans, Indo- Parthians and the Indo- Greeks from the north western region of the Indian subcontinents.

The Gupta Dynasty, managed or supervised the affairs of the period, which is today referred to as the India?s Golden Age. However the northern region at this time, was ruled by a few kingdoms whereas the affairs of the South India were taken care of by several dynasties, which were the Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Pallavas and the Cholas and it is also important to state here that under these dynasties, literature, astronomy, engineering, science, art and philosophy flourished to a great extent as they received great patronage from these dynasties.

The 10th as well as the 12th century witnessed many invasions especially from the Central Asia and at this point of time, major portions of North India came to be ruled by the Delhi Sultanate and at a much later period, this region of India came under the rule of the Mughal Dynasty. The Mughal emperors were busy to expand their kingdoms and they also succeeded in their mission to conquer major portions of the subcontinent. However, in spite of the rule of the Mughal Dynasty, other kingdoms such as the Vijaynagara Empire flourished and it is to be noted that in the 17th as well as in the 18th century the Maratha Empire came to the rule.

In the 26th century, the European countries, such as Portugal, France, Netherlands and the United Kingdom arrived at this country as traders and these countries took the advantage of the not so well developed relations between the kingdoms of India to set up their own colonies in this country and by the year 1856, majority of the country of India came under the rule of the British East India Company and a year later, there was the Sepoy Mutiny, that challenged the rule of the British and it is also referred to as the First War of Independence. You are also required to know in this respect that eventually India came under the control of the British Crown as a colony of the British Empire.

The Indian National Congress was responsible for a nationwide struggle as far as the independence of India was concerned and there were several other political organizations, who lend their support to this movement. There were mass campaigns and protests that was led by Mahatma Gandhi as well as by the many renowned political leaders of India. However, in the year 1947 on the 15th of August, India gained independence from the dominance of the British and this independence also saw the separation as well as the emergence of a new state, known as Pakistan. Thus it could be said that India lost its major Muslim areas.

In the year 1950 on the 26th of January, India became a republic and there was also the emergence of a new constitution.

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