India

This article is about the country. For other uses, see India (disambiguation).

Republic of India Bhārat Gaṇarājya
Motto: Satyameva Jayate (Sanskrit) "Truth Alone Triumphs"
Anthem: Jana Gana Mana (Hindi) "Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People"
National song: Vande Mataram (Sanskrit) "I Bow to Thee, Mother"
Capital	New Delhi 28°36′50″N 77°12′30″E
Largest city by city proper population	Mumbai
Largest city by metropolitan area population	Delhi
Official languages	Hindi English
Recognised regional languages	State level and Eighth Schedule Eighth Schedule Assamese Bengali Boro Dogri Gujarati Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Konkani Maithili Malayalam Manipuri Marathi Nepali Odia Punjabi Sanskrit Santali Sindhi Tamil Telugu Urdu State level Bhujel Garo Khasi Kokborok Lepcha Limbu Magar Mizo Newar Rai Sherpa Sikkimese Sunuwar Tamang all the 8th scheduled languages – except Sindhi, Kashmiri and Dogri
Native languages	424 languages
Religion (2011)	79.8% Hinduism 14.2% Islam 2.3% Christianity 1.7% Sikhism 0.7% Buddhism 0.4% Jainism 0.23% unaffiliated 0.65% other
Demonyms	Indian others
Government	Federal parliamentary republic
• President	Droupadi Murmu
• Vice President	C. P. Radhakrishnan
• Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Rajya Sabha
• Lower house	Lok Sabha
Independence  from the United Kingdom
• Dominion	15 August 1947
• Republic	26 January 1950
Area
• Total	3,287,263 km2 (1,269,219 sq mi) (7th)
• Water (%)	9.6
Population
• 2026 estimate	Neutral increase 1.48 billion (1st)
• 2011 census	Neutral increase 1,210,854,977 (2nd)
• Density	436.1/km2 (1,129.5/sq mi) (30th)
GDP (PPP)	2026 estimate
• Total	Increase $18.902 trillion (3rd)
• Per capita	Increase $12,801 (121st)
GDP (nominal)	2026 estimate
• Total	Increase $4.153 trillion (6th)
• Per capita	Increase $2,813 (148th)
Gini (2022)	Positive decrease 25.5 low inequality
HDI (2023)	Increase 0.685 medium (130th)
Currency	Indian rupee (₹) (INR)
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (IST)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Calling code	+91
ISO 3166 code	IN
Internet TLD	.in (others)

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the world's seventh-largest country by area and the largest by population. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa by 55,000 years ago. Settled life emerged in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. By 1200 BCE, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, diffused into India from the northwest, its earliest hymns containing elements of what would become Hinduism. The pre-existing Dravidian and other languages were gradually superseded in India's northern plains. Across the central stretch of these plains, rapid urbanisation took place, and after 500 BCE a caste-based, hereditary, form of social stratification began to solidify as Hinduism took fuller shape. During this period, Buddhism and Jainism arose, proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity. The subsequent emergence of the loose-knit Maurya and Gupta Empires gave rise to wide-ranging cultural and scientific creativity. However, these eras saw a steady decline in women's status, alongside the eventual institutionalisation of untouchability. In South India, across the first millennium CE, the Middle kingdoms transmitted Dravidian language scripts and cultural traditions to Southeast Asia. Well before the millennium's end, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism had become established on India's southern and western coasts.

Early in the 2nd millennium, Muslim armies from Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains, eventually establishing the Delhi Sultanate, and drawing India into the cosmopolitan networks of medieval Islam. In South India, the Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite culture. During this era, Sikhism emerged in the Punjab, rejecting established religious institutions. The Mughal Empire ushered in two centuries of economic expansion and relative peace, leaving a rich architectural legacy. Through its gradually expanding rule, the British East India Company consolidated territorial control over the subcontinent while transforming India into a colonial economy. British Crown rule began in 1858. Although equality before the law promised to Indians was slow to materialise, technological changes were introduced while modern education and the public life took root. A nationalist movement emerged in India, the first in the non-European British Empire. Noted for nonviolent resistance after 1920, it was a major factor in ending British rule. In 1947, the British Indian Empire was partitioned into the independent dominions of a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. The partition brought large-scale loss of life and unprecedented migration.

The Constitution of India was adopted in 1950 and declared India to be a federal republic governed through a democratic parliamentary system; it guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of press, and religious pluralism. Amendments enacted from 1951 onwards strengthened affirmative action programmes to reduce caste inequality. The reorganization of states in 1956 along linguistic lines, institutionalised regional language pride, and led to the growth of regional literature and cinema. During the 1970s, India reversed agricultural stagnation through the Green Revolution, achieving national food security. The country also altered the regional power balance through support for Bangladesh and enacted constitutional reform to end princely privileges. India's population grew from 361 million in 1951, to approximately 1.464 billion in 2025. Economic reforms of the 1990s integrated India's economy with the world's. By the 2010s, the Indian economy had a stably high rate of growth. A large middle class and a communications boom gained momentum. However, challenges remain, including widening income gaps, gender inequality and environmental degradation. In recent years India has seen a political shift toward majoritarianism. A nuclear-weapon state with high military expenditure, India is among the world's largest economies and a founding member of the United Nations, while its cultural legacy encompasses 45 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. India's megadiverse land features four biodiversity hotspots. Its wildlife is supported in protected habitats and traditionally viewed with cultural tolerance.

Etymology

Main article: Names for India

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English proper noun "India" derives most immediately from the Classical Latin India, a reference to a loosely-defined historical region of Asia stretching from South Asia to the borders of China. Further etymons are: Hellenistic Greek India (Ἰνδία); Ancient Greek Indos (Ἰνδός), or the River Indus; Achaemenian Old Persian Hinduš (an eastern province of the Achaemenid Empire); and Sanskrit Sindhu, or "river," but specifically the Indus river, and by extension its well-settled basin. The Ancient Greeks referred to South Asians as Indoi, 'the people of the Indus'.

The term Bharat (Bhārat; pronounced [ˈbʱaːɾət] ), mentioned in both Indian epic poetry and the Constitution of India, is used in its variations by many Indian languages. A modern rendering of the historical name Bharatavarsha, which applied originally to North India, Bharat gained increased currency from the mid-19th century as a native name for India.

Hindustan ([ɦɪndʊˈstaːn] ) is a Middle Persian name for India that became popular by the 13th century, and was used widely since the era of the Mughal Empire. The meaning of Hindustan has varied, referring to a region encompassing the northern Indian subcontinent (present-day northern India and Pakistan) or to India in its near entirety.

History

Main article: History of India

Ancient India

Based on coalescence of Mitochondrial DNA and Y Chromosome data, the earliest extant lineages of modern humans on the Indian subcontinent had reached there from Africa between 80,000 and 50,000 years ago, and with high likelihood by 55,000 years ago. Neolithic and chalcolithic cultures arose in the western margins of the Indus river basin around Mehrgarh in Balochistan, Pakistan after 7000 BCE. These gradually evolved into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Dholavira, its characteristic features included steatite seals, a written script, urban planning, terracotta human figures and animal statuettes. Between 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, diffused into India from the northwest. Its evidence today is found in the Rig Veda—the scripture associated with the historical Vedic religion, one of the progenitors of what later became Hinduism. The settling of the Ganges river plain took place during the next millennium, when swathes of the river system's adjoining regions were deforested and prepared for agriculture. The Dravidian and other languages of India were supplanted in the north, creating a broad language family-divide, with the Indo-Aryan languages being spoken mainly in the north and west, and the Dravidian in some parts of east India and most of the south.

A second urbanisation took place in India by the middle-first-millennium BCE. In fortified cities in the central Ganges plain, social differentiation by caste, or varna, emerged. Also, by the mid-millennium, two new religions arose: Jainism, based on the teachings of Mahavira, and Buddhism, based on those of the Buddha. Both stressed non-violence and abjured animal sacrifices conducted in Brahmanism and birth into a fixed hereditary varna. By living ethically, lay people could rise socially and morally in these religions. The rise of the two religions was a backdrop to the emergence of the first loose-knit, geographically extensive power in South Asia, the Maurya Empire. During the rule of the founder's grandson, Ashoka (ca. 268–232 BCE), the empire briefly controlled the subcontinent's major urban hubs and arteries, except in the deep south. The empire's period was notable for creativity in art, architecture, inscriptions, and produced texts. Following his conquest of Kalinga, in which his forces caused immense loss of life, Ashoka adopted Buddhism, and subsequently commissioned numerous rock and pillar edicts throughout the Maurya Empire to promote ethical conduct, non-violence, and social welfare.

By the 4th and 5th centuries CE, the Gupta Empire had created a system of administration and taxation in the greater Ganges Plain; this system became a model for later Indian kingdoms. Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion, rather than the management of ritual, began to assert itself. The renewal was reflected in a flowering of art, literature, and science. However, the eras of the two empires also witnessed a steady erosion of women's rights, and, by the end, the institutionalisation of untouchability. In South India, the Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the southern peninsula was ruled by the Cheras and the Cholas, along the western and eastern plains, respectively, of the Kaveri river valley, and the Pandyas farther south along the Vaigai river valley. By the sixth century, the Pallavas had grown into a regional power. Simultaneously, Buddhism and Jainism, which had favoured a conservative transactionalism, were replaced by kingly devotion to the gods of particular places, which became a characteristic of the Bhakti movement. The Pallavas, in particular, traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West and Southeast Asia.

Medieval India

Main article: Medieval India

The Indian early medieval age, from 600 to 1200 CE, was defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity. During this time, as land was cleared for agriculture, pastoral peoples and new non-traditional ruling classes were integrated into caste society. The caste system consequently began to show regional differences. In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were composed in Tamil. They were emulated across India, leading to a resurgence of Hinduism and laying the groundwork for the subcontinent's regional languages. Indian royalty and the temples they supported drew large numbers of citizens to the capital cities, which grew into economic hubs. By the 8th and 9th centuries, South Indian culture and political systems spread across Southeast Asia. In the second half of the first millennium CE, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism established roots on India's southern and western coasts.

After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans—using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity—repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206. The Sultanate, which came to control much of North India and made many forays into South India, initially disrupted Indian elites, but largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs. By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, scholars, mystics, and artisans from those regions into the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north. The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire. Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control a large portion of peninsular India, and influenced South Indian society long after.

Early modern India

In the early 16th century, northern India—then mainly under Muslim rulers—fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors. The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule. Instead, it balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices and diverse and inclusive ruling elites. This led to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule. By departing from tribal bonds and exclusive Islamic identity, particularly under Akbar, the Mughals united their vast empire through personal loyalty to a near-divine emperor, expressed through a shared Persianised culture.

The Mughal state derived most revenue from agriculture. Its economic policies mandated tax payments in a well-regulated silver currency, and integrated peasants and artisans into larger markets. The relative peace the empire maintained across much of the 17th century helped drive India's economic expansion. Mughal ruling classes fostered extensive patronage of the arts, including painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture. Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, gained governing ambitions during Mughal rule. Through collaboration or adversity, the Mughals gave them recognition and military experience. Expanding commerce gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India. From the late 17th century, the Mughal Empire gradually began to disintegrate, and these local elites and communities frequently gained greater autonomy and self-governance.

By the early 18th century, the lines between commercial enterprise and political sovereignty had become increasingly blurred. European chartered companies solidified their presence in India through fortified coastal outposts; most notable was the English East India Company. Its control of the seas, greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to assert its military strength increasingly and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; these factors were crucial in allowing the company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies. Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annexe or subdue most of India by the 1820s. India no longer exported manufactured goods as it long had, but instead supplied the British Empire with raw materials. Many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period. By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British Parliament and having effectively been made an arm of British administration, the East India Company began more consciously to enter non-economic arenas, including education, social reform, and culture.

Modern India

Main article: History of India (1947–present)

The 1848 appointment of Lord Dalhousie as the Governor General of the East India Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state: consolidating and demarcating sovereignty, monitoring the population through censuses, educating citizens and rationalising the beauraucracy. Technological advancements—among them, railways, canals, and the telegraph—were introduced within years of their introduction in Europe, with the East India Company guaranteeing fixed financial returns to attract British private investors. Simultaneously, the proponents of these public works lobbied the British government for support, presenting them as necessities for military logistics and security and Indian social and cultural reform. Thus, the Upper Doab's Ganges Canal—conceived by Proby Cautley under Lord Auckland and completed under Dalhousie—was promoted to Company's Court of Directors in London as both a vital relief response to the Agra famine of 1837–1838 and a revenue-generating irrigation and navigation project. The canal, which brought agricultural prosperity to some areas, ultimately caused soil salinisation in others.

Disaffection with the company also grew during this time, culminating in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which swept across the central Gangetic plain, and extended into Central India. Shaking the foundations of Company rule, the uprising was provoked by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some wealthy landowners and princes. Yet the presumed causes of the uprising did not translate uniformly into actual rebellion. The rebel leaders proclaimed no coherent articles of faith that presaged a new political system. Crucially, many regions of India—including the Punjab, the Madras and Bombay presidencies—did not join the rebellion, thereby ensuring its ultimate defeat; neither did the Bengali intelligentsia, nor the major princely states. After the rebellion was suppressed in 1858, the East India Company was disbanded, and the British government assumed direct administration of India. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest. In the decades following, a more organised public life gradually emerged across India, eventually leading to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885.

Rapid commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century brought severe economic setbacks, leaving many small farmers dependent on the uncertainties of distant markets. This period saw a rise in the frequency of large-scale famines, moreover, despite the risks of infrastructure development being borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for the local population. However, commercial cropping, especially in the newly canal-irrigated Punjab, did increase food production for internal consumption. The expanding railway network provided critical famine relief, notably reduced the cost of moving goods, and helped nascent Indian-owned industry. The famines were systematically documented, leading to the publication of the Indian Famine Codes and reports of the Indian Famine Commissions of 1880, 1897, and 1901.

During World War I, more than one million Indians served and Indian land taxes made substantial financial contributions to the Allied war effort. After the war, the British enacted limited constitutional reforms but also repressive legislation, galvanising Mahatma Gandhi, newly arrived from South Africa, to launch a nonviolent non-cooperation movement. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, ideas from Bolshevism and anarchism electrified a growing militancy across the subcontinent and injected a new urgency into the Congress's civil-disobedience movement. Starting in the mid-1930s, the British introduced legislative reforms including special representation for India's untouchables, and the Government of India Act of 1935, a blueprint for a federated state with extensive provincial autonomy; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections. The next decade was punctuated by escalating crises: the British Viceroy's unilateral declaration of India's entry ino World War II, the resignation of the provincial Congress ministries, the party's 1942 push for non-cooperation, the subsequent jailing of its leaders, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism. After the war, the Muslim League's sweeping success in the 1946 provindial elections was a critical turning point; by securing the Muslim-reserved seats, it established a Muslim mandate for Pakistan that led eventually to the partition of British India. Two new nations, Pakistan and India, came into existence on 14–15 August 1947, accompanied by widespread loss of life and an unprecedented migration.

The Constitution of India was adopted in 1950 and declared India to be a federal republic governed through a democratic parliamentary system; it guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of press, and religious pluralism. Amendments enacted from 1951 onwards strengthened affirmative action programmes to dismantle caste system inequalities. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which redrew provincial boundaries along linguistic lines, institutionalised regional language pride and led to the growth of regional language literature and cinema. In 1971, the creation of Bangladesh altered the regional power balance; the abolition of princely privileges removed the last vestiges of India's feudal order. During this time, India's population was grew rapidly: it rose from 361 million in 1951, to approximately 1.464 billion in 2025, surpassing China's in 2021. Economic reforms of the 1990s integrated India's economy with the world's, reducing government regulations on domestic and foreign private businesses. By the mid-2010s, India's economy was rapidly growing, most notably in information technology services. India had a large, consumption-driven middle class and witnessed a communications boom. However, India's economic growth has been accompanied by widening income gaps, gender inequality, and degradation of the environment. In recent years, India has witnessed a shift toward majoritarianism and Hindu nationalism, altering the traditional secular consensus of the early postcolonial era.

Geography

Geology

Main article: Geology of India

India accounts for the bulk of the Indian subcontinent, lying atop the Indian tectonic plate, a part of the Indo-Australian Plate. India's defining geologic processes began approximately 70 million years ago, when the Indian Plate, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a north-eastward drift caused by seafloor spreading to its south-west, and later, south and south-east. Simultaneously, the vast Tethyan oceanic crust, to its northeast, began to subduct under the Eurasian Plate. The Indian continental crust was obstructed and was sheared horizontally; while its lower crust and mantle slid beneath Eurasia, the upper layer piled up in sheets ahead of the subduction zone. This mountain-building orogeny created the Himalayas. The middle and stiffer layer continued to push into Tibet, causing crustal thickening of the Tibetan Plateau. Immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast crescent-shaped trough that rapidly filled with river-borne sediment and now constitutes the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The original Indian plate makes its first appearance above the sediment in the ancient Aravalli range, which extends from the Delhi Ridge in a southwesterly direction. To the west lies the Thar Desert, whose eastern spread is checked by the Aravallis.

Geography

Main article: Geography of India

The Indian Plate survives as peninsular India, the oldest and geologically most stable part of the country. It extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east. To the south, the peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as Western and Eastern Ghats; the plateau contains the country's oldest rock formations, some over one billion years old. Geographically, India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44′ and 35° 30′ north latitude and 68° 7′ and 97° 25′ east longitude.

Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal. Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi. The Kosi's extremely low gradient, caused by long-term silt deposition, leads to severe floods and course changes. Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent extensive flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal; and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea.

India's coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains. According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of 43% sandy beaches, 11% rocky shores including cliffs, and 46% mudflats or marshy shores. Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India, the latter shared with Bangladesh. India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep coral atolls off the south-western coast, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.

Climate

In Köppen climate classification the regions of India are: Dry-winter, humid sub-tropical (CWa, largely the river plains of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Punjab rivers); Tropical savanna with dry winters (Aw, large parts of peninsular India except the Deccan Plateau and the Western Ghats); Hot semi-arid (BSh, Deccan plateau, parts of Gujarat, eastern Rajasthan, Punjab, and Western Uttar Pradesh); Hot Desert (BWh, northern Gujarat and western Rajasthan); Tropical Monsoon (Am, Western Ghats), Dry winter sub-topical highland (CWb, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, northern Bengal and upper northeast India), Cold desert (BWk, Eastern Ladakh), Tropical rainforest (Af, Sundarbans, Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Warm summer hemiboreal (Dsb, upper Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir below the Himalayas), and Ice cap in the Western Himalayas.

Monsoon weather systems play a significant role in India's climate. In turn, the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau play an important role in creating the South Asian monsoon, which accounts for 75 to 80 per cent of India's annual rain. In winter, the Tibetan Plateau (average altitude 4500 m) acts like a tower of ice and splits the westerlies, both the low-level and, by friction, the high-altitude jet streams. The southern branch rounds the Himalayas. Just beyond, as it slows down and creates a convergence, or backup, the air sinks, creating dry, northeasterly surface winds over India. This maintains dry, cool, Indian winters. After these winds slow down, sub-tropical westerlies guide extratropical Western disturbances from the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East across northwestern India, bringing rain for winter crops and replenishing the glaciers in the Karakorams.

By May, the sun bakes the Tibetan Plateau. Rising warm air generates a high-altitude anticyclone. This creates the Tropical Easterly Jet Stream over southern India, which draws moisture-laden southwesterly surface winds off the Indian Ocean. The Western Ghats intercept these winds, which release their moisture as orographic rain, leaving a large swath of peninsular India in the mountains' rain shadow. India’s interior plains rely on monsoon depressions for their rain. These low-pressure storm systems form over the Bay of Bengal and are steered clockwise and inland by the anticyclonic jet stream. They cause summer rainfall across India from June to September. However, rainfall fluctuates in cycles, alternating between active phases characterised by heavy rain and dry breaks.

Biodiversity

Main articles: Forestry in India and Wildlife of India

India is a megadiverse country, a term employed for 17 countries that host high biological diversity and contain many species indigenous, or endemic, to them. India is the habitat for 8.6% of all mammals, 13.7% of bird species, 7.9% of reptile species, 6% of amphibian species, 12.2% of fish species, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species. Fully a third of Indian plant species are endemic. India also overlaps four of the world's 34 biodiversity hotspots, or regions that display significant habitat loss in the presence of high endemism.

India's densest forests, such as the tropical moist forest of the Andaman Islands, the Western Ghats, and Northeast India, occupy about 3% of its land area. Moderately dense forest, whose canopy density is between 40% and 70%, occupies 9.39% of India's land area. It predominates in the temperate coniferous forest of the Himalayas, the moist deciduous sal forest of eastern India, and the dry deciduous teak forest of central and southern India. India has two natural zones of thorn forest, one in the Deccan Plateau, immediately east of the Western Ghats, and the other in the western part of the Indo-Gangetic plain, now turned into rich agricultural land by irrigation, its features no longer visible. Among the Indian subcontinent's notable indigenous trees are the astringent Azadirachta indica, or neem, which is widely used in rural Indian herbal medicine, and the luxuriant Ficus religiosa, or peepul, which is displayed on the ancient seals of Mohenjo-daro, and under which the Buddha is recorded in the Pali canon to have sought enlightenment.

Many Indian species have descended from those of Gondwana, the southern supercontinent from which India separated more than 100 million years ago. India's subsequent collision with Eurasia set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic changes later caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms. Still later, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographic passes flanking the Himalayas. This lowered endemism among India's mammals, which stands at 12.6%, contrasting with 45.8% among reptiles and 55.8% among amphibians. Among endemics are the vulnerable hooded leaf monkey and the threatened Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats.

According to the IUCN Red List, India contains 1,021 threatened animal species—99 mammal, 82 bird, 105 reptile, 139 amphibian, 332 fish, 10 mollusk, and 254 other invertebrate—727 threatened plant species, and 4 threatened fungi species. Among them are the endangered Bengal tiger and the Ganges river dolphin. Critically endangered species include the gharial, a crocodilian; the great Indian bustard; and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which has become nearly extinct by having ingested the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle. Before they were extensively used for agriculture and cleared for human settlement, the thorn forests of Punjab were mingled at intervals with open grasslands that were grazed by large herds of blackbuck preyed on by the Asiatic cheetah; the blackbuck, no longer extant in Punjab, is now severely endangered in India, and the cheetah is extinct. The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Indian wildlife. In response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was expanded substantially. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988. India hosts more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries and eighteen biosphere reserves, four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; its eighty-nine wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.

Government and politics

Main articles: Politics of India, Government of India, State governments of India, and Local government in India

India is a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. There are six recognised national parties in the country, including the Indian National Congress (generally, "the Congress") and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); there are over 50 regional parties. The Congress is considered the ideological centre in Indian political culture; the BJP is right-wing to far-right.

Following independence on 15 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru served as prime minister of the Dominion of India, remaining caretaker until 1951, shortly after India became a republic in 1950. Led by Nehru, the Congress won the 1951, 1957, and 1962 general elections comfortably. After Nehru died in May 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri became prime minister. Shastri died in January 1966, shortly after signing the Tashkent Peace Declaration. The Congress chose Indira Gandhi as prime minister, leading the party to election victories in 1967 and 1971. In 1975, she declared a state of emergency, suspending civil liberties, which led to Congress being voted out in 1977. Congress returned to power in 1980. Following a military operation at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984. Indira Gandhi's son, Rajiv Gandhi, succeeded her and won the late 1984 elections. During the general election campaign of 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Sri Lankan Tamil separatist. Congress emerged from the elections as the largest party, and P. V. Narasimha Rao formed a minority government that completed a full five-year term. After the 1999 elections, the BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee led a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition and became the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a five-year term. The NDA was defeated in 2004 by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Manmohan Singh served as prime minister with external support, returning with increased, independent numbers in 2009. In 2014, the BJP led by Narendra Modi won an absolute majority, in the Indian parliament, and expanded it in 2019. The party joined an NDA coalition after losing its single-party majority in the 2024 general election. Modi remains the longest-serving non-Congress prime minister.

The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent Assembly of India between 1946 and 1949, despite the political disruptions of the Partition. The Government of India Act 1935 was used as a model and framework. Long passages from the Act were included. The constitution describes a federal state with a parliamentary system of democracy. The federal structure was notable for the strength of the central government, which exclusively controlled defence, foreign affairs, railways, ports, and currency. The President, the constitutional head of state, has reserve powers for taking over the administration of a state. The central legislature has two houses: the Lok Sabha, whose delegates are directly elected by the people in general elections every five years, and the Rajya Sabha, whose members are nominated by the elected representatives in the states. The Constitution also includes features not found in the 1935 Act. The definition of fundamental rights is based on the Constitution of the United States, and the constitutional directives, or goals of endeavour, are based on the Constitution of Ireland. An Indian institution recommended by the constitution is the panchayat or village committees. Untouchability is illegal (Article 17) and caste distinctions are derecognised (Articles 15(2) and 16(2)). The promulgation of the Indian Constitution transformed India into a republic within the Commonwealth.

The prime minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power. Appointed by the president, the prime minister is supported by the party or political alliance with a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament. The executive of the Indian government consists of the president, the vice-president, and the Union Council of Ministers—with the cabinet being its executive committee—headed by the prime minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of one of the houses of parliament. In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature; the prime minister and their council are directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament. Civil servants act as permanent executives, and all decisions of the executive are implemented by them.

India has a three-tier unitary independent judiciary comprising the supreme court, headed by the Chief Justice of India, 25 high courts, and a large number of trial courts. The supreme court has original jurisdiction over cases involving fundamental rights and over disputes between states and the centre and has appellate jurisdiction over the high courts. It has the power to both strike down Union or State laws which contravene the Constitution and invalidate any government action it deems unconstitutional.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of India

India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories. All states, as well as the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments following the Westminster system. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the central government through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis. Over a quarter of a million local government bodies operate at the city, town, district, block, and village levels.

States

• Andhra Pradesh
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Assam
• Bihar
• Chhattisgarh
• Goa
• Gujarat
• Haryana
• Himachal Pradesh
• Jharkhand
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Manipur
• Meghalaya
• Mizoram
• Nagaland
• Odisha
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Sikkim
• Tamil Nadu
• Telangana
• Tripura
• Uttar Pradesh
• Uttarakhand
• West Bengal

Union territories

• Andaman and Nicobar Islands
• Chandigarh
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
• Jammu and Kashmir
• Ladakh
• Lakshadweep
• National Capital Territory of Delhi
• Puducherry

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of India

India remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations after becoming a republic in 1950. It strongly supported decolonisation in Africa and Asia in the 1950s, and played a leading role in the Non-Aligned Movement. Following a period of cordial relations in the 1950s, India and China went to war in 1962, resulting in a decisive military defeat for India. By 1967, however, India was able to fend off Chinese excursions into Sikkim.

India has had uneasy relations with its western neighbour, Pakistan. The two went to war in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999. Three wars were fought over the disputed territory of Kashmir. After the 1965 war, India began to pursue close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union. By the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was India's largest arms supplier. China's nuclear test of 1964 and threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965 war caused India to produce nuclear weapons. India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and carried out additional underground testing in 1998. India has signed neither the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty nor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, calling both flawed and discriminatory. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy and possesses a nuclear triad as a part of its "Minimum Credible Deterrence" doctrine.

Since the end of the Cold War, India has increased its economic, strategic, and military cooperation with the United States and the European Union. In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at the time and was not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce; India subsequently signed co-operation agreements involving civilian nuclear energy with Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

Economy

Main article: Economy of India

Economic history

The economic history of colonial India and early postcolonial India began with colonial extraction and ended with state planning. During British rule, the Indian subcontinent underwent deindustrialisation. After India's independence in 1947, it adopted a socialist-oriented economic model that relied on government-owned heavy industries and five-year plans which took their cues from those of the Soviet Union of the 1930s. Although the Green Revolution of the 1960s eventually helped India to attain some self-sufficiency in food, India's economic growth in real terms remained low. A balance of payments crisis in 1991 forced the government's hand and led it to embrace economic deregulation. The reduction in the government's control over the economy opened the domestic market to foreign direct investment and sped up the growth of private enterprise.

Modern economy

Today, India is a large emerging market with strong local buying. Its expanding economic output ranks among the largest in the world both by market exchange rates and purchasing power parity. Although agricultural production remains the main source of employment for nearly half the population, the service sector predominantly drives the overall economy. India relies on financial technology, information systems, and professional services both for its export earnings and urban development. Recent government initiatives have emphasized physical infrastructure and manufacturing programmes designed to increase indigenous industrial capacity.

India's rapid economic expansion is counterbalanced by disparities in wealth, employment, and regional growth. The per capita income remains low relative to other large emerging economies, and shows large imbalances in the distribution of wealth. The official labour market struggles to generate enough stable jobs to account for the expanding, youthful workforce; this leaves a large proportion of the population to rely on informal employment. Significant gaps exist in regional growth within India: less developed states lag considerably behind advanced cities in human capital development and how swiftly their governments can clamp down on those who flout rules and regulations.

Industries

Main articles: Industry in India and Energy in India

India is a worldwide centre for information technology and business services, which add 7.5% to GDP and over 35% to services sold abroad. This sector is sustained by a large English-speaking skilled labour force, with revenues surpassing $300 billion in Fiscal Year 2026. Although the industry once relied on basic call centres and simple software fixes, it has shifted toward cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and international tech hubs. Bangalore has grown from a cheap offshore site into a top centre for corporate research, making it one of the largest technology hubs outside Silicon Valley.

India's automotive sector comprises 7.1% of its economy. It produces 28 million vehicles every year of which the vast majority are two-wheelers (77%) followed by passenger cars (18%). In 2022, 8 per cent of Indian households owned a car, 55 per cent owned a bicycle, and 54 per cent a motor cycle or scooter. In 2023, India became the third-largest automobile market in the world, with buyers, many of whom are in their 30s, increasingly preferring SUVs.

India's pharmaceutical sector relies on a vast network of production facilities focused on low-cost manufacturing. Thousands of individual factories and domestic firms comprise this sector and together make India the main worldwide source of generic medications and vaccines by volume. However, the sector faces supply line vulnerabilities, especially a reliance on China for over 70% of its raw active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Although India faces international quality-control audits in its factories, adverse outcomes have dropped from 12 per cent in 2015 to 8 per cent in 2025, and 80% of those were in small firms not the top 20 companies.

India's total installed electricity capacity exceeds 532 GW, with non-fossil and renewable energy sources contributing more than 283.5 GW, or roughly 53%. The country's usage of coal is a major cause of India's greenhouse gas emissions, but its renewable energy capacity is growing. India emits about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This equates to about 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person per year, which is half the world average. Increasing access to electricity and clean cooking with liquefied petroleum gas have been priorities for energy in India.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of India

India's population was 361 million in 1951. It grew to approximately 1.464 billion in 2025, surpassing China's population in 2021. 1,210,193,422 residents were reported in the 2011 provisional census report. The median age was 28.7 in 2020. Medical advances made in the last 50 years as well as increased agricultural productivity brought about by the "Green Revolution" have caused India's population to grow rapidly, though India's decennial rates of growth are decreasing: its population grew by 17.64% from 2001 to 2011, compared to 21.54% growth in the previous decade (1991–2001). The first post-colonial census, conducted in 1951, counted 361 million people. The life expectancy at birth has increased from 49.7 years in 1970–1975 to 72.0 years in 2023. The under-five mortality rate for the country was 113 per 1,000 live births in 1994, and had declined to 41.1 per 1,000 live births by 2018.

The 2011 census reported a human sex ratio of 940 females per 1,000 males. Female infanticide in India, and lately female foeticide, have created lopsided gender ratios; the number of missing women in the country quadrupled from 15 million to 63 million during the period 1964–2014, faster than the population growth during the same period. According to an Indian government study, an additional 21 million girls are unwanted and do not receive adequate care. Despite a government ban on sex-selective foeticide, the practice persists.

Migration from rural to urban areas has been an important dynamic in India's recent history. The number of people living in urban areas grew by 31.2% between 1991 and 2001. In 2001, over 70% lived in rural areas. The level of urbanisation increased further from 27.81% in the 2001 census to 31.16% in the 2011 census. The overall population growth rate slowed because rural growth declined sharply after 1991. In the 2011 census, there were 53 million-plus urban agglomerations in India, among them Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, in decreasing order by population.

Languages

Main article: Languages of India

Languages of India belong to several language families. The 2011 Census of India, the last conducted by the Indian government, gives the following breakdown:

Language families and speakers in India
Rank	Language family	Sub-family	Number of languages	Number of speakers	Percentage of speakers
1	Indo-European	Indo-Aryan	21	945,052,555	78.05%
	Iranian	1	21,677	0%
	Germanic	1	259,678	0.02%
2	Dravidian		17	237,840,116	19.64%
3	Austro-Asiatic		14	13,493,080	1.11%
4	Tibeto-Burman		66	12,257,382	1.01%
5	Semito-Hamitic		1	54,947	0%

There are also small numbers of speakers of Tai–Kadai, Andamanese, and minor language families and isolates.

The Constituent Assembly of India chose the official language of India's federal government in September 1949 after three years of debate between two opposing camps. Hindi language protagonists wanted Hindi in the Devanagari script to be the sole "national language" of India whereas delegates from South India preferred English to have a place in the Constitution. The compromise reached declared (i) Hindi to be the "official language" of India's federal government; (ii) English to be an associate official language for 15 years during which Hindi's formal lexicon would be developed; and (iii) the international form of Hindu–Arabic numerals to be the official numerals. The compromise resolution became articles 343–351 of India's constitution, which came into effect on 26 January 1950. In 1965, after bitter opposition from South India to Hindi becoming the sole official language, a compromise was reached whereby English would continue to be an "associate official language" indefinitely.

The Eighth Schedule of India's Constitution also recognises 22 languages, including Hindi but not English, which the government must develop. These are sometimes called "scheduled languages". This list includes major regional languages, but also others—such as Sanskrit, which no longer has first language speakers in India, and Urdu, which is not region-specific—because of their value to India's cultural heritage. In 1950, there were 14 scheduled languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. In the following decades constitutional amendments added others: Sindhi (1967), Nepali, Manipuri, and Konkani (1992), Maithili, Dogri, Santali and Bodo (2004).

Religion

Main article: Religion in India

Hinduism is the majority faith followed by nearly 80% of the population; Islam is the largest minority at over 14%. India also has populations of Christians and Sikhs in the tens of millions, Buddhists and Jains fewer than 10 million, and historical populations of Zoroastrians in the tens of thousands and Jews less than ten thousand.

As of the 2011 census, India's last census, Hindus comprised a majority in 28 of India’s 35 states and union territories; this included the four most populous states: Uttar Pradesh (total population: 200 million; Hindu population: 80% of the state's total), Maharashtra (112 million, 80%), Bihar (104 million, 83%) and West Bengal (91 million, 71%). Muslims are in the majority in Lakshadweep Islands (60,000, 97%) and Jammu and Kashmir (8.6 million, 68%). Indian Christians make up about 2.3% of India's population. Saint Thomas Christians number around 8.7 million, whereas Indian Catholics number 11.8 million. Nearly 33% of Adivasi (or Scheduled Tribes of India's Constitution) are Christian. They are concentrated in three hill states of the northeast, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Nagaland, where they constitute between 70% and 90% of the population. As per the 2011 census, Sikhs comprised less than 2% of India's population, though they were a majority in Punjab state, where more than 87% of Sikhs were farmers. Indian Buddhists number 8.45 million, with 77%, or 6.5 million, living in the state of Maharashtra. Indian Jains number 4.45 million, and Zoroastrians (Parsis), 60,000. As of 2019, there were 3,000 Jews in India, down from 28,000 in 1950. Other religions in India (and population in the 2011 census) are Sarnaism (4.96 million) and Gondi-Koyapunem (1.03 million) and Sari dharma (510,000).

In 1951—India's first postcolonial census—the percentage breakdown of India's religions was: Hindu (84.1%), Muslims (9.8%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists (0.7%) and Jains (0.5%); sixty years later, in India's last census (2011), the percentages were: Hindus (79.8%), Muslims (14.2%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.7%), Buddhists (0.7%) and Jains (0.4%) In absolute numbers, during the period 1951–2011, India's religious groups grew in the following manner: Hindus (304 million to 966 million), Muslims (35 million to 172 million), Christians (8.3 million to 28 million), Sikhs (6.82 million to 20.83 million), Buddhists (2.67 million to 8.44 million) and Jains (1.66 million to 4.45 million). In the decade 1951–1961, the population growth by religions was: Hindus (20.7%), Muslims (32.7%), Christians (29%), Sikhs (10.3%), Buddhists (5.9%), Jains (3.7%); in the decade 2001–2011, the growth was: Hindus (16.7%), Muslims (24.7%), Christians (15.7%), Sikhs (16.1%), Buddhists (4.8%), and Jains (2.2%). All religions have registered declining growth rates.

Birth rates, population growth, and access to education influence how communities mobilise politically to preserve their places of worship, to manage charitable trusts, and to protect their family laws. Differences in states' laws, especially those prohibiting religious conversion—usually from Hinduism to other faiths—colour the daily lives of minority communities. Providing constitutional protections for minorities in the face of majoritarian pressure remains a fraught challenge. India is a secular state and guarantees the fundamental right to freedom of religion ("Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship").

Education

Main article: Education in India

See also: History of education in the Indian subcontinent

In 1911, there were three primary schools for every ten villages in British India. Early literacy was low: It was 5% in 1891 (9% for men and 1% for women) and 7% in 1921 (12% for men and 2% for women). Historically, local diversity limited literacy growth in India because caste and religious fragmentation reduced private spending. Literacy rates rose to 18% in 1951 (27% for men and 9% for women) and 41% in 1981 (53% for men and 29% for women). By 2011, literacy reached 74.04% (82.14% for men and 65.46% for women). They ranged from Kerala's 93.91% to Bihar's 63.82%. Meanwhile, rural gains reached twice the level of urban, narrowing the rural-urban gap from 21.2 percentage points in 2001 to 16.1 in 2011.

The central, state, and local governments manage education in India. Every child between the ages of 6 and 14 has a right to education, which is free and compulsory. Traditionally, children had spent eight years in primary school before moving on to high school. In 2020, the National Education Policy changed this division to one based on developmental stages: a foundational stage: five years of pre-school and standards 1–2, for ages 3–8; a preparatory stage: standards 3–5; a middle stage: standards 6–8; and a secondary stage: standards 9–12. Critics argue that the new plan, although progressive, suffers from public underfunding and inadequate school infrastructure.

The first universities in India were founded in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras in 1857, the last year of East India Company rule. India now has one of the world's largest post-secondary education systems. Recent college reforms envisage offering more flexible degrees, creating online learning tools, and inviting foreign universities to set up campuses in India. However, large gaps remain between rural and urban areas. School quality, campus building conditions, and computer access vary substantially based on a student's gender and family's wealth. Poor job prospects for graduates and uneven rule enforcement across different states have faced criticism from researchers and the public alike.

Health

Main article: Health in India

Since its 1947 independence, India has significantly reduced historically endemic diseases, though some remain intractable. The country was certified smallpox-free in April 1977 following two years of surveillance after its last Variola major case. It was officially certified polio-free by the World Health Organisation on 27 March 2014, after successfully completing three consecutive years without recorded cases of wild poliovirus. In contrast, cholera remains endemic to Ganges-Meghna Delta estuaries, resulting in seasonal outbreaks caused by monsoons and water supply network shortcomings. Tuberculosis is a major concern; India bears a quarter of the global tuberculosis disease burden. Historical malaria cases have dropped from millions to hundreds of thousands annually, but India experiences localised seasonal increases caused by drug-resistant variants of the Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax vectors.

Patients in India often face a stark choice: use basic, free, publicly funded health care or pay high out-of-pocket fees for better-equipped care from private doctors and hospitals. This divide is particularly severe outside cities, as public clinics in rural areas rarely have enough doctors or nurses to meet local demands. When serious medical emergencies occur, poorer families are often forced to sell land or take out high-interest loans to pay for private care. This resulting medical debt pushes approximately 55 million people into poverty every year.

Long-term exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution adds a major environmental risk to public health in India. Particulate matter emissions from vehicles and factories are linked to a rise in chronic respiratory diseases, strokes, and cardiovascular disease, together adding an estimated 1.7 million premature deaths annually. India's early COVID-19 lockdown bought time to rapidly increase local testing and protective gear production; however, later waves of the virus overwhelmed the healthcare system, leading to severe shortages of oxygen and intensive care beds. Post-pandemic epidemiological studies estimate that cumulative excess deaths in India reached between 3.2 and 4.7 million.

Culture

Main article: Culture of India

Society

Main articles: Caste system in India, Gender inequality in India, and Islam in India

Although sometimes applied to other cultures and religions, caste is a fundamental social institution of India, most fully developed among Hindus. All Hindus fall broadly into four castes, or varnas: Brahmin, or priests, at the top; below them Kshatriya, or warriors; further below, Vaishya, or merchants and farmers; and at the bottom, Shudra, or the service class. Outside the caste system, and of traditional Hinduism, lie people formerly called "outcastes" or "untouchables," and now scheduled caste (a term used in India's constitution) or Dalit, a later self-description of pride, meaning "broken" or "downtrodden". Each caste is further divided into sub-castes, or jātis, many of which are tied to occupations. However, the custom of endogamy, or marrying within one's subcaste, makes caste a hereditary label rather than one of occupational choice and has entrenched the caste system. The Constituent Assembly of India abolished untouchability in 1947, the Republic of India did more formally in 1950, and India has since enacted other anti-discrimination laws and social welfare initiatives related to caste. Still, caste-based inequality, discrimination, segregation, and violence persist.

Multi-generational patrilineal joint families have been the norm in India, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas. A very large majority of Indians have their marriages arranged by their parents or family elders. Marriage is thought to be for life; and the divorce rate is extremely low, less than one in a thousand. Many women marry before reaching 18, which is their legal marriageable age; child marriages are not uncommon, especially in rural areas. In large parts of Hindu northern India, moreover, a form of territorial exogamy is observed in which a bride marries out of her natal village, and her parents do not visit her in her married home; the annual rite raksha bandhan, during which married women return to their natal homes, has served both to affirm bonds with their natal families and offer a recourse in times of marital stress.

Modern Indian Muslim society is highly diverse, divided by local languages, distinct cultural backgrounds, and internal social classes. However, Indian Muslims have much lower college enrollment, less access to banking services, and far fewer formal jobs than average. Additionally, due to safety worries and unfair housing practices, many urban Muslims have been forced to move into separated neighbourhoods that often lack basic public services. Still, Muslim families regularly see higher rates of child survival compared to other religious and social groups. The Saint Thomas Christians, also known as Syrian Christians, trace their history to the arrival ashore in South India of St Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century CE, though inscriptions place their origins to the mid-first-millennium CE; they spread along the Malabar Coast of the state of Kerala, and have their distinctive liturgical traditions. Indian Catholics date their presence to 1500 soon after the arrival of Vasco da Gama in Calicut. Sikhism is a monotheistic tradition founded by Guru Nanak in the late 15th-century Punjab; it grew into a tight-knit fellowship under later gurus, the last guru ceding authority to the holy book Guru Granth Sahib.

Buddhism, founded by the Buddha in the mid-5th century BCE in the middle Ganges plain, eventually spread beyond India to Southeast Asia and East Asia, even as it waned in its homeland; nevertheless, its statues and stupas—stone realisations of the Buddha—remain prominent across the subcontinent, drawing pilgrims from around the world. Jainism, anciently contemporaneous with Buddhism, has two main sects, Śvetāmbara, whose monks and nuns wear robes and use bowls to receive alms, and Digambara, whose monks go naked and cup their hands for alms. Jains today, regardless of sect, have aligned themselves with environmentalism. The Parsis follow Zoroastrianism; they arrived on India's western coast from Iran late in the first millennium CE and rose in trade and industry, becoming early leaders of Indian nationalism. The Qissa-i Sanjan records their legendary arrival and welcome in India. Judaism, which had become established in India by the 8th-century CE, was never subject to antisemitism from Hindus, Christians, or Parsis, nor to ethnic tensions from Indian Muslims; it has preserved distinctive Indo-Judaic customs.

India has had a long history of religious pluralism that shapes its modern society. A large majority of Indian Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs participate in customs, or adhere to beliefs, that were once unique to Hinduism (e.g. karma). Muslims, India's largest religious minority, have contributed significantly to a synthetic Indo-Islamic religious culture. Sufism, the heterodox mystical movement in Islam found receptiveness among adherents of the medieval regional Shaivite and Vaishnavite traditions of Bhakti. Sikh gurdwaras and Sufi dargahs often attract both visitors and worshippers from other religions. India has monastic traditions such as that of Jain ascetics some of whom practice an extreme form of nonviolence (ahimsa) and Buddhist communities that have preserved ancient styles of meditations. This religious diversity coexists with religious endogamy—people rarely marry outside their faith. There is also religious segregation in housing—religious groups cluster by choice or necessity. Thus, India's religious picture has both rich intermixing and clear divisions.

Visual art

Main articles: Indian art, Indian painting, and Architecture of India

India has a very ancient tradition of art, which has exchanged many influences with the rest of Eurasia, especially in the first millennium. During this period Buddhist art spread with Indian religions to Central, East and Southeast Asia, the last also greatly influenced by Hindu art. Thousands of seals from the Indus Valley civilisation of the third millennium BCE have been found, usually carved with animals, but also some with human figures. The Pashupati seal, excavated in Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, in 1928–29, is the best known. Virtually no art survives from a long period following the Indus Valley Civilisation. Almost all surviving ancient Indian art thereafter is in various forms of religious sculpture in durable materials, or coins. There was probably originally far more in wood, which is lost. In north India Mauryan art is the first imperial movement.

Over the following centuries a distinctly Indian style of sculpting the human figure developed, with less interest in articulating precise anatomy than ancient Greek sculpture but showing smoothly flowing forms expressing prana ("breath" or life-force). This is often complicated by the need to give figures multiple arms or heads, or represent different genders on the left and right of figures, as with the Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva and Parvati.

Most of the earliest large sculpture is Buddhist, either excavated from Buddhist stupas such as Sanchi, Sarnath and Amaravati, or is rock cut reliefs at sites such as Ajanta, Karla and Ellora. Hindu and Jain sites appear rather later. In spite of this complex mixture of religious traditions, generally, the prevailing artistic style at any time and place has been shared by the major religious groups, and sculptors probably usually served all communities. Gupta art, at its peak c. 300 CE – c. 500 CE, is often regarded as a classical period whose influence lingered for many centuries after; it saw a new dominance of Hindu sculpture, as at the Elephanta Caves. Across the north, this became rather stiff and formulaic after c. 800 CE, though rich with finely carved detail in the surrounds of statues. But in the South, under the Pallava and Chola dynasties, sculpture in both stone and bronze had a sustained period of great achievement; the large bronzes with Shiva as Nataraja have become an iconic symbol of India.

Ancient paintings have only survived at a few sites, of which the crowded scenes of court life in the Ajanta Caves are some of the most important. Painted manuscripts of religious texts survive from eastern India from the 10th century onwards, most of the earliest being Buddhist and later Jain. These significantly influenced later artistic styles. The Persian-derived Deccan painting, starting just before the Mughal miniature, between them give the first large body of secular painting, with an emphasis on portraits, and the recording of princely pleasures and wars. The style spread to Hindu courts, especially among the Rajputs, and developed a variety of styles, with the smaller courts often the most innovative, with figures such as Nihâl Chand and Nainsukh. As a market developed among European residents, it was supplied by Company painting by Indian artists with considerable Western influence. In the 19th century, cheap Kalighat paintings of gods and everyday life, done on paper, were urban folk art from Calcutta, which later saw the Bengal School of Art, reflecting the art colleges founded by the British, the first movement in modern Indian painting.

Mathematics

Main articles: Indian mathematics and Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics

Significant mathematics began in India in the first millennium BCE. The Śulba Sūtras (literally, "Aphorisms of the Chords" in Vedic Sanskrit) (c. 700–400 BCE) contain the earliest extant verbal expression of the Pythagorean theorem (although very likely it had been known to the Old Babylonians.) All mathematical works were orally transmitted until approximately 500 BCE; thereafter, they were transmitted both orally and in manuscript form. The oldest extant mathematical document produced on the Indian subcontinent is the birch bark Bakhshali manuscript from the 7th century CE.

During the classical period of Indian mathematics (400 CE to 1200 CE), Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Bhaskara II, Varāhamihira, and Madhava made important contributions. The decimal number system in use today was first recorded in Indian mathematics. Indian mathematicians made early contributions to the study of the concept of zero as a number, negative numbers, arithmetic, and algebra. Trigonometry was further advanced in India, and the modern definitions of sine and cosine were developed there. These mathematical concepts were transmitted to the Middle East, China, and Europe. A later landmark in Indian mathematics was the development of the series expansions for trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, and arc tangent) by mathematicians of the Kerala school in the 15th century CE. Their work, completed two centuries before the invention of calculus in Europe, provided the first example of a power series. In the modern era, Srinivasa Ramanujan made fundamental contributions to number theory.

Music

Main article: Music of India

India contains a wide array of musical practices, including many different folk musics from different regions. Indian classical music has Vedic origins, and split in the 13th century into the two main traditions of Hindustani and Carnatic music. Hindustani is associated with North India and is more improvisational, featuring instruments such as the sitar and tabla, and Carnatic is South Indian and more focused on written compositions such as the kriti, while both styles contain common elements such as the raga melodic framework and tala rhythmic meter. Indian music has influenced western genres, including rock and jazz musicians during the 1960s counterculture.

Indian film music is music written for Indian cinema, generally composed by music directors and sung by playback singers. Modern Indian pop takes influences from classical, folk, and western pop music.

Dance

Main article: Dance in India

Dance in India draws heavily on Indian classical dance traditions. Many of these in turn arose in temples or other religious contexts. However, their sponsorship and promotion have continued in secular, modern India. India also has local and modern dance traditions. Whether a dance is classical is determined by the Sangeet Natak Academi, the Indian government's organisation for performing arts. Although more dances could perhaps meet the criteria for classical, the Akademi has chosen eight.

Classical Dances of India

Dance	Origin state	Region	Type or origin	Musical accompaniment
Bharatanatyam	Tamil Nadu	South India	Temple dance	Cinna Melam, Carnatic music
Kathak	Uttar Pradesh	North India	Historical dance	Hindustani music
Kathakali	Kerala	South India	Dance-drama	Madhalam drum ensembles; Sopana vocal music
Kuchipudi	Andhra Pradesh	South India	Dance-drama	Carnatic music ensemble
Manipuri	Manipur	Northeast India	Temple/ritual dance	Ensemble comprising Pung Cholom, flutes, trumpets, Tambura, Pena, and cymbals
Mohiniattam	Kerala	South India	Dance-drama	Carnatic ensemble
Odissi	Odisha	East India	Temple dance	Ensemble of Hindustani music instruments: pakhavaj, sitar, flute, cymbals, harmonium
Sattriya	Assam	Northeast India	Dance-drama	Borgeet accompanied by khol drums and cymbals.

The best-known classical dance is Bharatanatyam, which began as temple dances performed by Tamil devadasis. Identified with "prostitutes and courtesans", their dancing was formally banned in 1947. Concurrently, the dance was rehabilitated as a "pure" art form, with Rukmini Devi Arundale as a prominent figure. A devdasi who went on to attain national and international prominence was Thanjavur Balasaraswati. Some sources consider the dance-dramas Chhau of Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha and Yakshagana of Karnataka to also belong to the classical tradition.

Local dance traditions vary widely across India. In addition to the dance-dramas Chhau and Yakshagana, they include dance-dramas Raslila of western Uttar Pradesh and Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu; calendrical and festival dances such as the Bhangra of Punjab, especially at Vaisakhi, the onset of spring, and Garba of Gujarat during Navratri; and tribal or Adivasi dances, such as those of the Santal and Toda people, the latter, for example, in honour of the god Ön who brought buffalo to earth.

Among 20th-century directions is the modern dance of Uday Shankar in which classical styles were employed but not adhered to rigidly. Examples are dance-dramas based on the ancient Indian animal fables, Panchatantra, and Nehru's mid-century meditation on Indian history, The Discovery of India. Dance has been an essential aspect of Indian films from the first talkies of the 1930s. Individual and group dances in Bollywood, for example, show a broad range of influences, including classical, local, and Western popular dance. Towards the end of the 20th century, innovations in British South Asian music and dance, such as Post-Bhangra, fed back into dance in India.

Clothing

Main article: Clothing in India

From ancient times until the advent of the modern era, the most widely worn traditional dress in India was draped. For women, it took the form of a sari, a single piece of cloth many yards long. The sari was traditionally wrapped around the lower body and the shoulder. In its modern form, it is combined with an underskirt, or Indian petticoat, and tucked in along the waistband for more secure fastening. It is also commonly worn with an Indian blouse, or choli, which serves as the primary upper-body garment; the sari's end passes over the shoulder, covering the midriff and obscuring the upper body's contours. For men, a similar but shorter length of cloth, the dhoti, has served as a lower-body garment.

The use of stitched clothes became widespread after Muslim rule was established by the Delhi Sultanate (c. 1300 CE) and continued by the Mughal Empire (c. 1525 CE). Among the garments introduced during this time and still commonly worn are: the shalwars and pyjamas, both styles of trousers, and the tunics kurta and kameez. Shalwars are atypically wide at the waist but narrow to a cuffed bottom. A drawstring holds them up, causing them to pleat at the waist. When the pants are cut quite narrow, on the bias, they are called churidars. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. Its side seams left open below the waistline. The kurta is traditionally collarless and made of cotton or silk; it is worn plain or with embroidered decoration, such as chikankari; and typically falls to either just above or just below the wearer's knees.

In the last 50 years, fashion in India has changed a great deal. In urban northern India, the sari is increasingly no longer everyday wear, though it remains popular on formal occasions. Younger urban women rarely wear the traditional shalwar kameez, favouring churidars or jeans. In office settings, ubiquitous air conditioning allows men to wear sports jackets year-round. For weddings and formal occasions, men in the middle and upper classes often wear bandhgala, or short Nehru jackets, with pants, with the groom and his groomsmen sporting sherwanis and churidars.

Cuisine

Main article: Indian cuisine

A typical Indian meal is built on a plain cereal, complemented by savoury dishes. The cooked cereal could be steamed rice; chapati, a thin unleavened bread; idli, a steamed breakfast cake; or dosa, a griddled pancake. The savoury dishes might include lentils, pulses, vegetables, meat, poultry and fish commonly spiced with ginger and garlic, but also coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom and others. In some instances, the ingredients may be mixed during the cooking process. India has distinctive vegetarian cuisines, each a feature of the geographical and cultural histories of its communities. About 20% to 39% of India's population consists of vegetarians. Although meat is eaten widely, the proportional consumption of meat is low.

The most significant import of cooking techniques into India during the last millennium occurred during the Mughal Empire, spreading into northern India from regions to its northwest, along with dishes such as pilaf. Onions, garlic, almonds, and spices were added to the simple yogurt marinade of Persia. Rice was partially cooked and layered alternately with sauteed meat, the pot sealed tightly, and slow cooked according to another Persian cooking technique, to produce biryani, a feature of festive dining in many parts of India.

The diversity of Indian food served worldwide has been partially concealed by the dominance of Punjabi cuisine. The popularity of tandoori chicken—cooked in a tandoor oven, which had traditionally been used for baking bread in the rural Punjab and the Delhi region, especially among Muslims, but which is originally from Central Asia—dates to the 1950s, and was caused in large part by an entrepreneurial response among people from the Punjab who had been displaced by the 1947 partition.

Sports

Main article: Sport in India

Sport in modern India is a nexus of both little-known, indigenous traditions and commercial sporting events that now have a worldwide reach. Traditional sports such as kabaddi and kho-kho have experienced a resurgence, attracting large television audiences; on the other hand, kushti wrestling in rural akharas—often regarded by its practitioners as not so much a sport as a physical and moral regimen—has continued to survive away from the exposure of broadcasting. Cricket is India's most watched sport, and a multi-billion dollar industry. The widespread popularity of chess among youth in southern India culminated in 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju of Chennai winning the undisputed World Chess Champion title in 2024.

British intervention reshaped India's athletic landscape. It introduced cricket, football and field hockey and institutionalised polo—a sport whose history is a case of reverse migration from ancient northeastern India to the West. Today, at the rural grassroots level, government initiatives like "Khelo India" have democratised athletics for traditionally overlooked youth. Rural soccer programs have employed teamwork to break down old caste barriers. State initiatives such as the Target Olympic Podium Scheme have expanded resources for female athletes; meanwhile, the prominent international victories of figures like boxer Mary Kom and badminton player P. V. Sindhu have challenged traditional gender stereotypes in sports.

India has won eight men's cricket ICC tournament titles: two Cricket World Cups, three T20 World Cups, and three Champions Trophy titles. India has won a record eight men's field hockey gold medals in the summer Olympics, the last in 1980.

Armed forces

3rd Bengal Light Cavalry

The 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, also known as the 3rd Bengal Native Cavalry, was a locally recruited regiment of the East India Company's Bengal Army. Raised in 1797, the regiment took part in conflicts throughout British India, serving with distinction in the Second Anglo-Maratha War, the First Anglo-Afghan War and the First Anglo-Sikh War, earning various battle honours.

11th Indian Cavalry Brigade

The 11th Indian Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service in the Indian Army during the First World War. It took part in the Mesopotamian campaign and was broken up soon after the end of the war.

29th Indian Brigade

The 29th Indian Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service with the Indian Army during the First World War. Formed in October 1914, it raided Sheik Saiad en route to Egypt, defended the Suez Canal in early 1915, before taking part in the Gallipoli Campaign (April to December 1915).

5th Battalion, 4 Gorkha Rifles

The 5th Battalion the 4th Gorkha Rifles, is an infantry battalion of the 4 Gorkha Rifles (4 GR), a Rifle regiment of the Indian Army. The 5th Battalion the 4th Gorkha Rifles (GR), was raised in January 1963, in the wake of the Chinese Offensive, in Arunachal Pradesh, and Ladakh, India, from bases in Tibet, in 1962.

Arunachal Scouts

The Arunachal Scouts is a mountain infantry regiment of the Indian army based in Arunachal Pradesh. This unit specializes in cold-weather warfare and mountain warfare, counterinsurgency, jungle warfare, long-range penetration, manoeuvre warfare, raiding with small unit tactics, and reconnaissance in difficult to reach and dangerous terrain.

Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services)

The Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) (abbreviated: DOO (C&S)) is an authority under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India. Its primary work is to management, give instructions and make coordination of government ordnance production public companies.

First Indian National Army

The First Indian National Army (First INA) was the Indian National Army as it existed between February and December 1942. General Mohan Singh was the leader of the First Indian National Army. It was formed with Japanese aid and support after the Fall of Singapore and consisted of approximately 12,000 of the 40,000 Indian prisoners of war who were captured either during the Malayan campaign or surrendered at Singapore.

INAS 312

The INAS 312 is an Indian naval air squadron based at INS Rajali.

Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO: ) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 October 1932 as an auxiliary air force of British India which honoured India's aviation service during World War II.

Indian Armed Forces

The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force. Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by the Central Armed Police Forces, the Indian Coast Guard, and the Special Frontier Force and various inter-service commands and institutions such as the Strategic Forces Command, the Andaman and Nicobar Command, and the Integrated Defence Staff.

Indian Army during World War II

The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army, began the war in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men. By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in August 1945.

Indian National Army

The Indian National Army (INA, sometimes Second INA; Azad Hind Fauj; 'Free Indian Army') was a Japanese-allied and -supported armed force constituted in Southeast Asia during World War II and led by Indian anti-colonial nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose. It consisted primarily of British Indian Army POWs taken by Japan.

Manipur Levy

The Manipur Levy was the first standing army established in Manipur Kingdom. It was formed during the Manipur national struggle against Burmese rule, which occurred during the period known as the Chahi-Taret Khuntakpa (1819–1826 CE).

No. 3 Squadron IAF

The No. 3 Squadron IAF nicknamed as Cobras was a fighter unit of the Indian Air Force (IAF) which operated as a Close Air Support (CAS) and reconnaissance unit. Previously based at NAL Air Force Station, it came under the Western Air Command, and formed the 46 wing of the IAF.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is an Indian right-wing Hindutva volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of Hindutva organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family"), which has developed a presence in all facets of Indian society and includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling political party under Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India.

Sikkim Scouts

The Sikkim Scouts is a regiment of the Indian Army based in and recruited from the state of Sikkim. Raised in 2013 and made operational in 2015, it is the newest Indian Army regiment. The regiment was formed along the lines of the Ladakh Scouts and Arunachal Scouts, as it is similarly recruited from a mountainous border area and is dedicated to border defence and mountain warfare.

1 Field Regiment (India)

1 Field Regiment (Meiktila) is part of the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army. It is the first field artillery unit with Indian officers.

10th Indian Division

The 10th Indian Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army during World War I. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914 with three infantry brigades of Indian Expeditionary Force F. After taking part in the Actions on the Suez Canal, the division was dispersed as its brigades were posted away.

130 AD Regiment (India)

130 Air Defence Regiment is part of the Corps of Army Air Defence of the Indian Army.

151 Air Defence Regiment (India)

151 Air Defence Regiment (Self Propelled) is part of the Corps of Army Air Defence of the Indian Army. It consists of 1511, 1512 and 1513 air defence batteries.

161st Indian Infantry Brigade

The 161st Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. As part of the arrangements for the independence and partition of British India the brigade was allocated to India and became the 161st Infantry Brigade in the army of the newly independent India.

17 (Parachute) Field Regiment (India)

17 Parachute Field Regiment (Zojila & Poongli Bridge) is part of the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army.

195 Field Regiment (India)

195 Field Regiment (Banwat) is part of the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army.

20th Indian Infantry Division

The 20th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army in the Second World War, formed in India, and took part in the Burma Campaign during the Second World War. After the war, the bulk of the division was deployed to French Indochina to oversee the handover from Japanese to French rule.

21st Kohat Mountain Battery (Frontier Force)

The 21st Kohat Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery unit of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1851 as the No. 2 Horse or Punjab Light Field Battery, Punjab Irregular Force. It became the 21st Kohat Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) in 1903.

22 Medium Regiment (India)

22 Medium Regiment (Sittang and Yenang Yaung) is part of the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army. It was raised in 1920 as 8 Pack Artillery Brigade.

23rd Peshawar Mountain Battery (Frontier Force)

The 23rd Peshawar Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) was an artillery unit of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1853 as the Peshawar Mountain Train. It became the 23rd Peshawar Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) in 1903.

33rd Indian Mountain Regiment, Royal Indian Artillery

The 33rd Indian Mountain Regiment, Royal Indian Artillery was an artillery regiment of the Indian Army during World War II, which fought in the Burma Campaign and South-East Asia.

40 Field Regiment (India)

40 Field Regiment (Asal Uttar), nicknamed the Roaring Forty is part of the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army.

42nd Armoured Regiment (India)

42nd Armoured Regiment is an armoured regiment of the Indian Army Armoured Corps of the Indian Army.

51st Armoured Regiment (India)

51st Armoured Regiment is an armoured regiment which is part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army.

51st Indian Infantry Brigade

The 51st Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service in the Indian Army during the Second World War. It took part in the Arakan Campaign and in the immediate post-war period reoccupied Malaya.

56 Field Regiment (India)

56 Field Regiment (Jitra) is part of the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army.

61st Cavalry (India)

The 61st Cavalry Regiment is a horse-mounted cavalry regiment of the Indian Army. It is notable for being one of the largest, and also one of the last, operational non mechanised horse-mounted cavalry units in the world.

65th Armoured Regiment (India)

65th Armoured Regiment, is an armoured regiment which is part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army.

66th Armoured Regiment (India)

66th Armoured Regiment is an armoured regiment which is part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army.

7th Indian Infantry Division

The 7th Infantry Division is a war-formed infantry division, part of the British Indian Army that saw service in the Burma Campaign.

Air Defence Command (India)

Air Defence Command was a proposed unified tri-services command of the Indian Armed Forces. The command would be headed by a three-star Indian Air Force officer.

Air Force Academy (India)

Indian Air Force Academy, Dundigal is a Defence Service training institute located in Medchal-Malkajgiri district from Hyderabad, in the Indian state of Telangana.

Andaman and Nicobar Command

The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is a integrated tri-services command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Sri Vijaya Puram in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India. It was created in 2001 to safeguard India's strategic interests in Southeast Asia and the Strait of Malacca by increasing rapid deployment of military assets in the region.

Armed Forces Tribunal

The Armed Forces Tribunal is a military tribunal in India, established under the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007.

Army Medical Corps (India)

The Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the Indian Army, which primarily provides medical services to all Army personnel, serving and veterans, along with their families. Along with the branches in the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, it forms part of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS).

Army Welfare Housing Organisation

Army Welfare Housing Organisation is a society formed in December 1978 under the Indian Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860. The aim and objective of the Organisation is to construct houses for serving/retired Army personnel and their widows in selected.

Battles and operations of the Indian National Army

Battles and operations involving the Indian National Army (INA) during the Second World War took place in the South-East Asian theatre in the South-East Asian theatre. The INA’s involvement spanned espionage activities during the Malayan campaign in 1942, participation in the Japanese Ha-Go and U-Go offensives in the Upper Burma and Manipur, and later defensive engagements during the Allied Burma campaign.

Bidar Air Force Station

Bidar Air Force Station, (ಬೀದರ್ ಏರ್ ಫೋರ್ಸ್ ಸ್ಟೇಷನ್) (बीदर वायु सेना स्टेशन), is a second largest flight training center in India. It is established by the Indian Air Force and It was founded during World War II and has been a training center for Indian Air Force pilots since 1963.

Bihta Air Force Station

The Bihta Air Force Station is an Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Bihta in the state of Bihar, India. The military airfield lies 40 km southwest of the state capital, Patna, and is spread over an area of around 900 acre.

Bombay Engineer Group

The Bombay Engineer Group, or the Bombay Sappers as they are informally known, are a regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Bombay Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency army of the British Raj.

Canteen Stores Department (India)

The Canteen Stores Department, (CSD), is a solely owned Government of India Enterprise under Ministry of Defence and has its depot in all major military bases operated by the Indian Armed Forces.

Corps of Army Air Defence

The Corps of Army Air Defence (abbreviated as AAD), is an active corps of the Indian Army and a major combat support arm tasked with air defence of the country from foreign threats. The AAD is responsible for the protection of Indian air space from enemy aircraft and missiles, especially below 5,000 feet.

Defence Cyber Agency

The Defence Cyber Agency (DCyA) is an integrated tri-services agency of the Indian Armed Forces. Headquartered in New Delhi, the agency is tasked with handling cyber security threats. The DCyA draws personnel from all three branches of the Armed Forces.

Defence Space Agency

The Defence Space Agency (DSA) is an integrated tri-services agency of the Indian Armed Forces headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The agency is tasked with operating the space warfare and satellite intelligence assets of India.

Department of Military Affairs

Department of Military Affairs (DMA) is the department in charge of military matters within the Indian Ministry of Defence. Headed by the Chief of Defence Staff, as its ex-officio secretary, the DMA provides integration between the Indian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence.

Eastern Command (India)

The Eastern Command is one of the six operational commands of the Indian Army. It is headquartered in Vijay Durg (formerly known as Fort William) in the city of Kolkata in the state of West Bengal. The Eastern Command was formed on 1 November 1920.

Eastern Fleet (India)

The Eastern Fleet is a Naval fleet of the Indian Navy. It is known as the Sunrise Fleet.

Flag Officer Sea Training (India)

The Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) is a training organisation in the Indian Navy. FOST is the authority responsible for the operational sea training of all personnel of Indian Naval and Coast Guard ships and submarines.

Future of the Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force has been undergoing a modernization program to replace and upgrade outdated equipment since the late 1990s to meet modern standards. For that reason, it has started procuring and developing aircraft, weapons, associated technologies, and infrastructures.

Gurugram Air Force Station

Gurugram Air Force Station, of the Indian Air Force's Western Air Command, is located in Gurugram city in Haryana state of India. It is located 28 km south of New Delhi.

History of the Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force was established on 8 October 1932 independently of the army and navy and in a similar format to the British Royal Air Force. It had been a recommendation of the Skeen Committee, which had been tasked to look into demands for the Indianisation of the Indian army.

History of the Indian Navy

Maritime powers in the Indian subcontinent have possessed navies for many centuries. Indian dynasties such as the Chola Empire used naval power to extend their influence overseas, particularly to Southeast Asia. The Marakkar Navy under Zamorins during 15th century and the Maratha Navy of the Maratha Confederacy during the 19th and 18th centuries fought with rival Indian powers and European powers.

Home Guard (India)

The Home Guard of India is a volunteer force tasked to be an auxiliary to the State/UT police forces. The Home Guards Organisation was reorganised in India in 1966 after the Sino-Indian War with the People's Republic of China, though it existed in smaller units individually in some places.

I Corps (India)

The I Corps is a military field formation of the Indian Army. The Corps is headquartered at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. It was raised on 1 April 1965. It was still being raised when it was despatched to the front in 1965. Raised as the First Strike Corps of the Indian Army, it was launched into operations in the Sialkot sector.

INAS 310

The INAS 310 is an Indian naval air squadron based at INS Hansa. Earlier it was shifted from INS Hansa to INS Sardar patel but later it was re-shifted to INS Hansa.

INAS 313

The Indian Naval Air Squadron 313 (INAS 313) is a maritime reconnaissance squadron of the Indian Navy based at Chennai. The squadron was commissioned on 22 July 2019 and operates the Dornier 228 twin-turboprop aircraft under the Eastern Naval Command of the Navy.

INAS 314

The Indian Naval Air Squadron 314 (INAS 314) is a naval squadron of the Indian Navy based at Naval Air Enclave (NAE) Porbandar. The squadron was commissioned on 29 November 2019 by Vice Admiral MS Pawar.

INAS 315

The INAS 315 was an Indian naval air squadron based at INS Hansa, Goa.

INAS 322

The INAS 322 is an Indian naval air squadron based at INS Garuda, Kochi.

Indian Armed Forces in Jammu and Kashmir

Indian Armed Forces in Jammu and Kashmir encompass the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, tri-service units such as the Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD), and paramilitary organisations of the Central Armed Police Forces such as the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Sashastra Seema Bal and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Each three wings of India's military have their special forces deployed in the region including Indian Army's Para SF, the Indian Navy MARCOS and the Indian Air Force's Garud Commando Force.

Indian Army

The Indian Army (IA) (ISO: ) is the land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS).

Indian Army Pioneer Corps

The Indian Army Pioneer Corps or Pioneers is the operational logistics arm of the Indian Army. Though not a combat arm, the Pioneer Corps provide disciplined and well trained manpower where civilian labour is either not available or its employment is not desirable for reasons of security.

Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir

Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir, India, it includes security operations such as Operation Rakshak, which began in 1990, Operation Sarp Vinash in 2003 and Operation Randori Behak in 2020. Other operations include humanitarian missions such as Operation Megh Rahat and operations with a social aim such as Operation Goodwill and Operation Calm Down.

Indian Army ranks and insignia

The Indian Army, the land component of the Indian Armed Forces, follows a certain hierarchy of rank designations and insignia derived from the erstwhile British Indian Army (BIA).

Indian Labour Corps

The Indian Labour Corps was a labour corps recruited from the British Raj during World War I. Recruitment began on a voluntary basis in 1915, but by 1917 the British Government was requiring that localities provide quotas of men.

Indian Medical Service

The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. Originating during the East India Company's period of rule, it was organised into a single unified service in 1896, served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947.

Indian National Army in popular culture

The Indian National Army (INA) and its leader Subhash Chandra Bose are popular and emotive topics within India. From the time it came into public perception in India around the time of the Red Fort Trials, it found its way into the works of military historians around the world.

Indian Navy

The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO: ) is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates significantly in the Persian Gulf Region, the Horn of Africa, the Strait of Malacca, and routinely conducts anti-piracy operations with other navies in the region.

Indian Navy amphibious vessel acquisition project

The procurement of Landing Platform Docks (LPD) by the Indian Navy is an initiative of the Indian Navy (IN) to procure a series of landing platform docks, specific vessels dedicated to amphibious warfare, as part of the service's strategy to augment its capabilities of amphibious warfare, disaster-response, humanitarian assistance and auxiliary duties.

Indian Platoon

The Indo-Fijian Platoon was the only Indo-Fijian military unit created in Fiji and existed from 1934 to 1941. The platoon was eventually disbanded following a dispute over pay.

Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry

The Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAK LI) is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was the first regiment that was raised in independent India and was formed by amalgamating various voluntary resistance groups from different parts of Jammu and Kashmir to beat back the raiders in 1947–48.

Judge Advocate General's Department (India)

The Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Department is the legal branch of the Indian Military. It deals with military related disciplinary cases and litigation and assists in providing legal assistance to the army in human rights matters and the rule of law among other things.

Lorik Sena

The Lorik Sena was a caste-based private army of Yadav (Ahir) Community with its headquarters in Jaitipur village of the Nalanda district of Bihar. The majority of its members hailed from the Yadav community, who were organised by its founder Baiju Yadav, to launch an armed struggle against Maoists and other communities such as Bhumihars, Rajputs.

Maritime Theatre Command

Maritime Theatre Command (MTC), previously referred to as Peninsular Command, is a proposed integrated tri-services command of the Indian Armed Forces whose responsibilities may include the command and control of the entire Indian naval fleet and coastal defence operations. It is envisioned to include assets from all the branches of the Indian military.

Ministry of Defence (India)

The Ministry of Defence (MoD; Rakṣā Mantrālaya) is a ministry of the Government of India responsible for matters relating to the defence of India and the Indian Armed Forces. The ministry provides the policy framework and resources required by the armed forces to discharge their responsibilities for the defence of the country.

Naga Regiment

The Naga Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It is among the youngest regiments of the Indian Army - the first battalion was raised in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand in 1970. The regiment recruits mainly from Nagaland, in northeast India.

Nair Brigade

The Nair Brigade was the army of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore in India. Nairs are a warrior community of the region. The personal bodyguard of the king Marthanda Varma (1706–1758) was also called Thiruvithamkoor Nair Pattalam (Travancore Nair Army).

National Cadet Corps (India)

The National Cadet Corps (NCC) is the youth wing of the Indian Armed Forces with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. It is open to school and college students voluntarily as a Tri-Services Organisation, comprising the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

National Hydrographic Office

The National Hydrographic Office, formerly the Indian Naval Hydrographic Department (INHD), headed by the Chief Hydrographer to the Government of India, is an Indian government agency responsible for hydrographic surveys and nautical charting in India. Its headquarters National Hydrographic Office is located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand beside the Principal Controller of Defense Accounts Office (Air Force).

Navy Day (India)

Navy Day in India is celebrated on 4 December every year to recognize the achievements of the Indian Navy and its role in the country. 4 December was chosen as on that day in 1971, during Operation Trident, the Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels including PNS Khaibar, defeating the Pakistani Navy.

No. 1 Squadron IAF

No. 1 Squadron nicknamed The Tigers the oldest squadron of the Indian Air Force operates as a multirole (air superiority and electronic warfare) unit. Part of the 40 Wing of the Indian Air Force under Central Air Command, it is based at AFB in Gwalior.

No. 101 Squadron IAF

The No. 101 Squadron nicknamed as Falcons is an Indian Air Force fighter aircraft squadron which is equipped with the Dassault Rafale and is based at the Hasimara Air Force Station.

No. 106 Squadron IAF

No. 106 Squadron IAF nicknamed as Lynxes is a squadron of the Indian Air Force. It was raised on 1 May 1957 with eight newly inducted PR.57 English Electric Canberras in the strategic photo-reconnaissance role. Initially positioned at Bareilly, later the squadron moved to Agra.

No. 108 Squadron IAF

No. 108 Squadron (Hawkeyes) was a fighter squadron of Indian Air Force. The squadron was equipped with MiG-21M and was based at Pathankot Air Force Station. The squadron was number plated in December 2017.

No. 17 Squadron IAF

No. 17 Squadron also known as The Golden Arrows Squadron nicknamed as The Golden Arrows is a squadron of the Indian Air Force stationed at the Ambala Air Force Station as part of the Western Air Command. The squadron was number-plated in 2016, but was resurrected in Ambala on 11 September 2019 with the Dassault Rafale.

No. 2 Squadron IAF

No.2 Squadron also known as The Winged Arrows Squadron nicknamed as Winged Arrows is a unit dedicated to CAS in the Indian Air Force. No. 2 Squadron falls under the Eastern Air Command.

No. 22 Squadron IAF

No. 22 Squadron (Swifts) was a CAS unit based out of Hasimara AFS. Along with No. 222 Squadron IAF Tiger Sharks, No. 22 Squadron forms a part of the 16 Wing of the IAF. The squadron operated the MiG-27 till December 2017 and the squadron number-plated since then.

No. 32 Squadron IAF

No. 32 Squadron (Thunderbirds) is a fighter squadron of Indian Air Force. It was equipped with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21Bison and was based at Jodhpur Air Force Station as part of South Western Air Command. The squadron was number plated in December 2016.

No. 35 Squadron IAF

No. 35 Squadron IAF (Rapiers) was an electronic warfare and air superiority squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF). It was based at Bakshi Ka Talab Airforce Station, No. 35 Squadron came under the Central Air Command; and along with No. 108 Squadron formed an operational wing of the IAF., it was equipped with MiG-21M aircraft.

No. 37 Squadron IAF

No. 37 Squadron (Black Panthers) is a fighter squadron and was equipped with MiG-21 M and based at Jodhpur Air Force Station.

No. 45 Squadron IAF

No. 45 Squadron Indian Air Force nicknamed as Flying Daggers is a Fighter Squadron internally based at the Sulur AFS. The squadron operates the indigenous HAL Tejas fighter from 1 July 2016. The squadron was initially based at Bengaluru and later shifted to its main base in Sulur AFS from 1 June 2018.

No. 47 Squadron IAF

No. 47 Squadron IAF nicknamed as Black Archers is a fighter squadron equipped with MiG-29UPGs based at Adampur Air Force Station.

No. 7 Squadron IAF

No. 7 Squadron IAF also known as The Battle Axes Squadron nicknamed as Battle Axes is a specialized ground attack combat squadron of the Indian Air Force that operates as a Special Munitions Delivery and air superiority unit.

No. 77 Squadron IAF

No. 77 Squadron IAF nicknamed as Veiled Vipers is a unit of the Indian Air Force assigned to Western Air Command. This tactical airlift aircraft will be able to undertake quick deployment of Special Forces in all weather conditions, including airdrops and landings on unprepared or semi-prepared surface even in complete darkness.

Northern Command (India)

The Northern Command is a Command of the Indian Army. It was originally formed as the Northern Army of the British Indian Army in 1908. It was scrapped upon India's independence in 1947 and later re-raised in 1972. Currently, the XIV Corps (Leh), XV Corps (Srinagar), I Corps (Mathura) and XVI Corps (Nagrota) are under its control.

President's Bodyguard (India)

The President's Bodyguard (PBG) is an elite household cavalry regiment of the Indian Army. It is the senior-most regiment in the order of precedence of the units of the Indian Army. The primary role of the President's Bodyguard is to escort and protect the President of India.

Rashtriya Indian Military College

The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; founded as the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) is a military school for boys and girls situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for the National Defence Academy, Indian Naval Academy and subsequently the Indian Armed Forces.

Razakars (Hyderabad)

The Razakars were a paramilitary wing of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM; ), an Islamic political party in the Hyderabad princely state of British India. Formed in 1938 by MIM leader Bahadur Yar Jung, the organisation expanded considerably during the leadership of Qasim Razvi around the time of the partition of India.

Royal Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force (1932–1945) and the Royal Indian Air Force (1945–1950) were the air forces of British India. Granted the 'Royal' prefix in March 1945 during the final months of the Second World War, the Royal Indian Air Force continued as the air force of the Dominion of India until it became a republic in 1950, when the Indian president became India's head of state; replacing the British monarch.

Royal Indian Navy

The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of the erstwhile British Raj and its successor Dominion of India. Along with the presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India.

South Western Command (India)

The South Western Command of the Indian Army was established on 15 April 2005 and became fully operational on 15 August 2005. It was established in response to the emerging threats and opportunities on the Western Indo-Pak border and is headquartered at Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Southern Air Command (India)

The Southern Air Command (SAC) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, which is on the southwestern side of India. This is one among the seven commands of IAF. This command was started on 19 July 1984 and is relatively new among the other commands.

Special forces of India

India has several special forces (SF) units, with the various branches of the Indian Armed Forces having their own separate special forces units. The Para SF of the Indian Army, MARCOS of the Indian Navy and the Garud Commando Force of the Indian Air Force.

Thanjavur Air Force Station

Thanjavur Air Force Station is an Indian Air Force base serving the city of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located south-west of the city in Pilaiyarpatti and near the village of Ravusapatti. The air force base was expected to start functioning by 2012.

The Air Force School

The Air Force School (TAFS), formerly known as Air Force Central School (AFCS), is a high school in Delhi, India. It was founded in 1955 by Chief of Air Staff Subroto Mukherjee. The school was established in temporary wartime barracks at Wellingdon Camp, on 18 July 1955 to educate children of the Indian Air Force personnel.

Western Naval Command

The Western Naval Command is one of the three command–level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As the senior–most of the three formations, the command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Arabian Sea and western parts of the Indian Ocean and the naval establishments on the west coast of India.

Women in the Indian Armed Forces

Women in the Indian Armed Forces serve primarily in combat service support branches and in non combatant roles. In 2018, female officers made up 13.09% of the Indian Air Force, 6% of the Indian Navy, and 3.8% of the Indian Army, increases from 8.5%, 3%, and 3% respectively in 2014.

Women's Royal Indian Naval Service

The Women’s Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS) was the naval section of the Women's Auxiliary Corps (India) (WAC(I)). It was established during the Second World War as a branch of the Royal Indian Navy.

See also

• Greater India
• Outline of India

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• Plofker, Kim (2009). Mathematics in India: 500 BCE–1800 CE. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12067-6..
• Raghavendra, M. K. (2026). "The geopolitics of Kannada language cinema". In Gehlawat, Ajay; Beaster-Jones, Jayson (eds.). Routledge Handbook of South Asian Cinemas. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003497912-11. ISBN 978-1-032-80366-1.
• Roger, Delphine. "The Middle East and South Asia (in Chapter: History and Culture of Food and Drink in Asia)". In Kiple & Ornelas (2000), pp. 1140–1150.
• Rowland, Benjamin (1970). The Art and Architecture of India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-056102-9.
• Stillwell, John (2004). Mathematics and its History. Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics (2 ed.). Springer, Berlin and New York, 568 pages. doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-9281-1. ISBN 978-0-387-95336-6..
• Tarlo, E. (1996). Clothing Matters: Dress and Identity in India. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-78976-7. Retrieved 24 July 2011.

External links

Government

• Official website of the Government of India
• Government of India Web Directory

General information

• India Archived 11 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• India web resources provided by GovPubs at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries
• India from BBC News
• File:Internet-web-browser.svg Wikimedia Atlas of India
• icon Geographic data related to India at OpenStreetMap
• Key Development Forecasts for India from International Futures