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Indian Society and Culture

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    India General information India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich

    cultural heritage. It has achieved all-round socio-economic progress during the last 62years of its Independence. India has become self-sufficient in agricultural productionand is now one of the top industrialized countries in the world and one of the fewnations to have gone into outer space to conquer nature for the benefit of the people. It

    covers an area of 32,87,263 sq. km, extending from the snow-covered Himalayanheights to the tropical rain forests of the south. As the 7th largest country in the world,India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea,which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayasin the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into theIndian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west.

    Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 8 4'and 37 6' north, longitudes 68 7' and 97 25' east and measures about 3,214 km from

    north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to westbetween the extreme longitudes. It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km. The totallength of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman & NicobarIslands is 7,516.6 km.

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    GEOGRAPHY

    LocationThe Indian peninsula is separated from mainlandAsia by the Himalayas. The Country is surrounded by theBay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west, and

    the Indian Ocean to the south. Geographic CoordinatesLying entirely in the Northern

    Hemisphere, the Country extends between 8 4' and 37 6'latitudes north of the Equator, and 68 7' and 97 25'longitudes east of it.

    Border CountriesAfghanistan and Pakistan to the north-west; China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north; Myanmar tothe east; and Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal. SriLanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea,formed by Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.

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    TerrainThe mainland comprises of four regions, namely the greatmountain zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert region,and the southern peninsula.

    ClimateThe climate of India can broadly be classified as a tropicalmonsoon one. But, in spite of much of the northern part of Indialying beyond the tropical zone, the entire country has a tropicalclimate marked by relatively high temperatures and dry winters.There are four seasons:

    winter (December-February)

    summer (March-June)

    south-west monsoon season (June-September) post monsoon season (October-November)

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    PopulationIndia's population, as on 1

    March 2001 stood at 1,028 million (532.1

    million males and 496.4 million females).

    Ethnic GroupsAll the five major racial

    types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid,

    Caucasian, and Negroid find representationamong the people of India.

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    India geographical regions The map shows

    important physical

    characteristics ofIndia. The mountains,

    deserts, coastal lines,

    plains and river basins

    can be observed.

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    Physical Features

    The mainland comprises four regions, namely, the great mountainzone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert region and thesouthern peninsula.

    The Himalayas comprise three almost parallel ranges interspersed withlarge plateaus and valleys, some of which, like the Kashmir and Kulluvalleys, are fertile, extensive and of great scenic beauty. Some of thehighest peaks in the world are found in these ranges. The high altitudesadmit travel only to a few passes, notably the Jelep La and Nathu Laon the main Indo-Tibet trade route through the Chumbi Valley, north-east of Darjeeling and Shipki La in the Satluj valley, north-east ofKalpa (Kinnaur). The mountain wall extends over a distance of about2,400 km with a varying depth of 240 to 320 km. In the east, betweenIndia and Myanmar and India and Bangladesh, hill ranges are muchlower. Garo, Khasi, Jaintia and Naga Hills, running almost east-west,join the chain to Mizo and Rkhine Hills running north-south.

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    The plains of the Ganga and the Indus, about 2,400 km long and 240 to320 km broad, are formed by basins of three distinct river systems - theIndus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. They are one of the world'sgreatest stretches of flat alluvium and also one of the most densely

    populated areas on the earth. Between the Yamuna at Delhi and theBay of Bengal, nearly 1,600 km away, there is a drop of only 200metres in elevation.

    The desert region can be divided into two parts - the great desert andthe little desert. The great desert extends from the edge of the Rann ofKuchch beyond the Luni River northward. The whole of theRajasthan-Sind frontier runs through this. The little desert extendsfrom the Luni between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northernwastes. Between the great and the little deserts lies a zone of absolutelysterile country, consisting of rocky land cut up by limestone ridges.

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    India physical

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    The Peninsular Plateau is marked off from the plains of the Ganga andthe Indus by a mass of mountain and hill ranges varying from 460 to1,220 metres in height. Prominent among these are the Aravalli,Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta. The Peninsula is flanked on the

    one side by the Eastern Ghats where average elevation is about 610metres and on the other by the Western Ghats where it is generallyfrom 915 to 1,220 metres, rising in places to over 2,440 metres.Between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea lies a narrow coastalstrip, while between Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal there is abroader coastal area. The southern point of plateau is formed by theNilgiri Hills where the Eastern and the Western Ghats meet. The

    Cardamom Hills lying beyond may be regarded as a continuation ofthe Western Ghats.

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    Rivers

    The rivers of India can be classified into four groups viz., Himalayanrivers, Deccan rivers, Coastal rivers, and Rivers of the inlanddrainage basin.

    The Himalayan Rivers are formed by melting snow and glaciers andtherefore, continuously flow throughout the year. During the monsoonmonths, Himalayas receive very heavy rainfall and rivers swell,causing frequent floods. The Deccan Rivers on the other hand are rainfed and therefore fluctuate in volume. Many of these are non-perennial. The Coastal streams, especially on the west coast are shortin length and have limited catchment's areas. Most of them are non-perennial. The streams of inland drainage basin of western Rajasthanare few. Most of them are of an ephemeral character

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    The main Himalayan river systems are those of the Indus and the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna system. The Indus, which is one of the great rivers of the world, rises nearMansarovar in Tibet and flows through India, and thereafter through Pakistan, andfinally falls in the Arabian Sea near Karachi. Its important tributaries flowing in IndianTerritory are the Sutlej (originating in Tibet), the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab, and the

    Jhelum. The Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna is another important system of which theprincipal sub-basins are those of Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda, which join at DevPrayag to form the Ganga. It traverses through Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, andWest Bengal. Below Rajmahal hills, the Bhagirathi, which used to be the main course inthe past, takes off, while the Padma continues eastward and enters Bangladesh. TheYamuna, the Ramganga, the Ghaghra, the Gandak, the Kosi, the Mahananda and theSone are the important tributaries of the Ganga. Rivers Chambal and Betwa are theimportant sub-tributaries, which join Yamuna before it meets the Ganga. The Padma andthe Brahmaputra join inside Bangladesh, and continue to flow as the Padma or Ganga.The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet, where it is known as Tsangpo and runs a long distancetill it crosses over into India in Arunachal Pradesh under the name of Dihang. NearPassighat, the Debang and Lohit join the river Brahmaputra and the combined river runsall along the Assam in a narrow valley. It crosses into Bangladesh downstream ofDhubri.

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    The principal tributaries of Brahmaputra in India are the Subansiri, JiaBhareli, Dhansiri, Puthimari, Pagladiya and the Manas. TheBrahmaputra in Bangladesh receives the flow of Tista, etc., and finallyfalls into Ganga. The Barak River, the Head stream of Meghna, rises in

    the hills in Manipur. The important tributaries of the river are Makku,Trang, Tuivai, Jiri, Sonai, Rukni, Katakhal, Dhaleswari, Langachini,Maduva and Jatinga. Barak continues in Bangladesh till the combinedGanga-Brahmaputra join it near Bhairab Bazar.

    In the Deccan region, most of the major river systems flowinggenerally in east direction fall into Bay of Bengal. The major eastflowing rivers are Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Mahanadi, etc.Narmada and Tapti are major West flowing rivers.

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    The Godavari in the southern Peninsula has the second largest riverbasin covering 10 per cent of the area of India. Next to it is the Krishnabasin in the region, while the Mahanadi has the third largest basin. Thebasin of the Narmada in the uplands of the Deccan, flowing to the

    Arabian Sea, and of the Kaveri in the south, falling into the Bay ofBengal are about the same size, though with different character andshape.

    There are numerous coastal rivers, which are comparatively small.While only handful of such rivers drain into the sea near the delta ofeast cost, there are as many as 600 such rivers on the west coast.

    A few rivers in Rajasthan do not drain into the sea. They drain into saltlakes and get lost in sand with no outlet to sea. Besides these, there arethe Desert Rivers which flow for some distance and are lost in thedesert. These are Luni and others such as, Machhu, Rupen, Saraswati,Banas and Ghaggar.

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    GOVERNMENT

    Country Name - Republic of India; BharatGanrajya

    Government Type - Sovereign SocialistDemocratic Republic with a Parliamentarysystem of Government.

    CapitalNew Delhi Administrative Divisions - 28 States and 7

    Union Territories.

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    India population density Each red dot indicates

    30,000 population.

    Watch the denserregions - they are

    agriculturally fertile.

    The less dense regions

    are mountains anddeserts.

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    Religions - According to the 2001 census, out ofthe total population of 1,028 million in the

    Country, Hindus constituted the majority with80.5%, Muslims came second at 13.4%, followedby Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and others.

    Languages - There are 22 different languages thathave been recognised by the Constitution of India,of which Hindi is an Official Language. Article343(3) empowered Parliament to provide by lawfor continued use of English for official purposes.

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    Ancient History Ancient History

    India's history and culture is dynamic, spanning back to the beginning of human civilization. Itbegins with a mysterious culture along the Indus River and in farming communities in the southernlands of India. The history of India is punctuated by constant integration of migrating people with thediverse cultures that surround India. Available evidence suggests that the use of iron, copper andother metals was widely prevalent in the Indian sub-continent at a fairly early period, which isindicative of the progress that this part of the world had made. By the end of the fourth millenniumBC, India had emerged as a region of highly developed civilization.

    The Indus Valley Civilization

    The History of India begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization, more precisely known asHarappan Civilization. It flourished around 2,500 BC, in what today is Pakistan and Western India. Itwas home to the largest of the four ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India andChina. Nothing was known about this civilization till 1920s when the ruins of the two old cities, viz.Mohenjodaro and Harappa were unearthed. The ruins of buildings and other things like householdarticles, weapons of war, gold and silver ornaments, seals, toys, pottery wares, etc., show that some

    four to five thousand years ago a highly developed Civilization flourished in this region. The Indus valley civilization was basically an urban civilization and the people lived in well-planned

    and well-built towns and cities-well planned and scientifically laid. They had wide roads and a well-developed drainage system. The houses were made of baked bricks and had two or more storeys.

    The highly civilized Harappans knew the art of growing cereals, wheat, barley, vegetables and fruitsand ate mutton, pork and eggs as well. They wore cotton as well as woollen garments. By 1500 BC,the Harappan culture came to an end.

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    Excavation site

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    Vedic civilization

    The Vedic civilization is the earliest civilization in the history of ancient Indiaassociated with the coming of Aryans. It is named after the Vedas, the earlyliterature of the Hindu people. The Vedic Civilization flourished along theriver Saraswati, in a region that now consists of the modern Indian states ofHaryana and Punjab. Vedic is synonymous with Aryans and Hinduism, whichis another name for religious and spiritual thought that has evolved from theVedas. The largely accepted view is that a section of Aryans reached thefrontiers of the Indian subcontinent around 2000 BC and first settled in Punjaband it is here, in this land, where the hymns of Rigveda were composed.

    The Aryans lived in tribes and spoke Sanskrit, which belonged to the Indo-European group of languages. Gradually, the Aryans intermingled with thelocal people and a historic synthesis was worked out between the Aryan tribes

    and the original inhabitants. This synthesis broadly came to be known asHinduism. The Ramayana and Mahabharata were the two great epics of thisperiod.

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    The Buddhist Era

    Buddha was born in BC 560 and died at the age of eightyin BC 480. Buddha, whose original name was SiddharthaGautama, was the founder of Buddhism, the religion and

    the philosophical system that evolved into a great culturethroughout much of southern and eastern Asia. During thelife time of Lord Gautam Buddha, sixteen great powers(Mahajanpadas) existed in the 7th and early 6th centuriesBC. Among the more important republics were the Sakyas

    of Kapilavastu and the Licchavis of Vaishali. Besides therepublics, there were monarchical states, among which theimportant ones were Kaushambi (Vatsa), Magadha, Kosalaand Avanti.

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    Alexander's Invasion

    In 326 BC, Alexander invaded India, after crossing theriver Indus he advanced towards Taxila. He thenchallenged king Porus , ruler of the kingdom between the

    rivers Jhelum and Chenab. The Indians were defeated inthe fierce battle, even though they fought with elephants,which the Macedonians had never before seen. Alexandercaptured Porus and, like the other local rulers he haddefeated, allowed him to continue to govern his territory.

    Alexander and his army reached the mouth of the Indus inJuly 325 BC, and turned westward for home.

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    The Mauryan Empire

    The period of the Mauryan Empire (322 BC-185 BC) marked a newepoch in the history of India. It was a period of unification of theterritories when politics, art, trade and commerce elevated India to aglorious height. Moreover, Indian contact with the outside world was

    established effectively during this period. The confusion following the death of Alexander gave Chandragupta

    Maurya an opportunity to occupy the provinces of Punjab and Sindh.He later overthrew the power of Nandas at Magadha with the aid ofKautilya, and founded a glorious Mauryan empire in 322 BC.Chandragupta, who ruled from 324 to 301 BC, thus, earned the title ofliberator and the first emperor of Bharata. Chandragupta left his throneto his son Bindusar in 301 BC. Bindusar conquered the Highland ofDeccan during his reign of 28 years and gave his throne to his sonAshoka in 273 BC. Ashoka emerged not only as the most famous kingof the Maurya dynasty, but is also regarded as one of the greatest kingof India and the world.

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    His empire covered the whole territory from Hindu Kush to Bengaland extended over Afghanistan, Baluchistan and the whole of Indiawith the exception of a small area in the farthest south. The valleys ofNepal and Kashmir were also included in his empire.

    The most important event of Ashoka's reign was the conquest ofKalinga (modern Orissa) which proved to be the turning point of hislife. The Kalinga war witnessed terrible manslaughter and destruction.The sufferings and atrocities of the battlefield lacerated the heart ofAshoka. He made a resolve not to wage war any more. He realised thewickedness of worldly conquest and the beauty of moral and spiritualtriumph. He was drawn to the teachings of Buddha and devoted his lifeto the conquest of men's heart by the law of duty or piety. He evolved apolicy of Dharma Vijaya, 'Conquest by Piety'.

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    Ashokas empire

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    Gupta Dynasty

    The Gupta period has been described as the Golden Age of Indianhistory. The first famous king of the Gupta dynasty was Ghatotkacha'sson Chandragupta I. He married Kumaradevi, the daughter of the chiefof the Licchavis and received Pataliputra in dowry. From Pataliputra,

    he started conquering many neighbouring states with the help of theLicchavis. He ruled over Magadha (Bihar), Prayaga and Saketa (eastUttar Pradesh). His kingdom extended from the river Ganges toAllahabad. Chandragupta I also got the title of Maharajadhiraja (Kingof Kings) and ruled for about fifteen years.

    Chandragupta I was succeeded by Samudragupta in about 330 A.D.,who reigned for about fifty years. He was a great military genius and issaid to have commanded a military campaign across the Deccan, andalso subdued the forest tribes of the Vindhya region.

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    Guptas empire

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    Vikramaditya Samudragupta's successor Chandragupta II,

    also known as Vikramaditya, conquered the

    extensive territories of Malwa, Gujarat andKathiawarThe Guptas in this periodengaged in sea trade with the countries ofthe west. It was most probably during his

    reign that Kalidas, the greatest Sanskrit poetand dramatist, as well as many otherscientist and scholars flourished.

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    Harshavardhana

    With the commencement of the 7th century, Harshavardhana (606-647A.D.) ascended the throne of Thaneshwar and Kannauj on the death ofhis brother, Rajyavardhana. By 612 Harshavardhana consolidated hiskingdom in northern India.

    In 620 A.D. Harshavardhana invaded the Chalukya kingdom in theDeccan, which was then ruled by Pulakesin II. But the Chalukyaresistance proved tough for Harshavardhana and he was defeated.Harshavardhana is well known for his religious toleration, ableadministration and diplomatic relations. He maintained diplomaticrelations with China and sent envoys, who exchanged ideas of theChinese rulers and developed their knowledge about each other.

    The Chinese traveller, Hiuen Tsang, who visited India during his reign,has given a vivid description of the social, economic and religiousconditions, under the rule of Harsha spoke highly of the king. Harsha'sdeath, once again, left India without any central paramount power.