India

INDIA

History

• India's history dates back 4,000 years
• Conquers that invaded were absorbed into Indian life creating a very diverse culture
• Indian civilization began in the Indus Valley- Aryans spread down from Iran pushing the native Indians toward the south
• Greeks & Persians moved in but could not conquer the Aryans and so two great empires emerged
• Later, the Mongls and Muslims entered India; the Muslims were more effective, creating the Mughal Empire throughout India
• Muslims brought new customs that often conflicted with the native Hindus
• Europeans arrived in India in the 1500's looking for spices & cloth
• They established trade relations with the rulers of India
• British East India Company gained control over India's trade with Europe in 1757
• In 1857 the British government put down a revolt and established direct rule
• Called the raj, which lasted 90 years
• Britis rule brought some benefits but most Indians did not like it
• Mohandas Gandhi began nonviolent resistance- a protest movement that does not use violence to achieve its goals
• Eventually, Britain gave in and India was free as of August 14, 1947
• Freedom brought division- Pakistan and Bangladesh chose to separate from India because of religious reasons
• This separation caused violence to break out between the two groups

Government

• India is the world's largest democracy as of 1950
• It reflects both the American and British systems: a federation of states led by a strong, central government with a prime minister as the head of the government (determined by the majority party in parliament)
• Factors that influence Indian politics are religion, culture, and ethnicity
• Most people are Hindu however there are over 150 million Muslims in India
• Muslims and other minorities play a key role in Indian politics

Economy

• Promoting economic growth and raising the standard of living are two of India's main goals
• 2/3 of India's people rely on farming for their livelihood
• Most farms are very small and families struggle to survive on what they grow
• Land reform- a more balanced distribution of land, is one solution that India has tried to put into effect
• 5% of the families own 25% of theland which makes them powerful politically- they very easily have stopped land reform from occuring
• The Green Revolution-1960's: new farming techniques and higher-yielding grain varieties improved production increasing crop yields- great for many people, the peasant poor were not belped by it at all

Industry

• Cotton textiles (cloth) have been a major product for many years
• Right after independence other industries began: iron and steel, machinery and food products
• Mumbai is India's most prosperous city and leading commercial area

Life Today

• Even as it is modernizing many Indians follow the traditional ways: marriage & family are the center of daily life
• Arranged marriages are very common
• Large families with several generations living the same house

Education

• Because most Indians still work on farms or small craft industrieseducation isn't as important
• In the cities where people work in factories and offices it is stressed but there ate still very low literacy rates

Culture

• Languages- there are 18 major language groups with over 1000 languages/dialects spoken
• Hindu & English are the most widely spoken
• Hinduism- makes up about 80% of the population
• Beliefs of Hinduism: many gods, reincarnation (rebirth of souls after death), karma (moral consequences of a person's actions- helps to determine how a person is reincarnated)
• The caste system- the Aryan system of social classes
• Caste system is made of 4 basic castes: Brahmans (priests & scholars), Kshatriyas (rulers & warriors), Vaisyas (farmers & merchants), and Sudras (artisans & laborers)
• Over time the castes were further divided and another group as added- the Dalits, the Untouchables
• The Dalits were completely outside the caste system and were the lowest status in Indian society- eliminated by the Indian constitution
• Hindus believe that each person is born into a caste and has a certain moral duty (dharma) that is specific to that caste
• During reincarnation is the only time you can change castes