India (Geography)

The Indian landscape can naturally be divided into four areas: the Himalayas
to the north, the Ganges plain, which stretches over most of northern India, the Deccan plateau, which forms the core of India south of the Ganges, and the
coastal plains.
The Himalayas have a major impact on the climate in most of India, as the
mountains shield from the cold of Central Asia. The over 8 km high mountain
range is the highest in the world; it is at the same time among the youngest and
constantly changing. The geological activity means that many areas in northern
India are regularly affected by earthquakes. See also Himalayas.
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song lyrics and singer about this country.
Climate
With the exception of the Himalayas, all of India is in the tropical zone and
is dominated by monsoons. From June to September, the SW monsoon blows over the
subcontinent. Over the warm ocean, the air has absorbed large amounts of water
vapor, which is emitted as rain when the winds are forced up over the coastal
mountains. Most regions receive at least 80% of the annual rainfall during the
summer monsoon. Precipitation varies greatly from the desert areas in the NW,
which are most often outside the range of the monsoon winds, to the coastal
plains and mountain slopes. The village of Cherrapunji in the state of Meghalaya
is located on such a slope and receives more rainfall than anywhere else on
Earth; on average over 11,000 mm per year. At the same time, there are large
differences in summer precipitation from year to year.
In the Himalayas, the rain washes away large amounts of soil and gravel into
the rivers. During the annual floods, the Ganges and its tributaries leave
fertile deposits on the plain. For millennia, these deposits have created the
basis for intensive agriculture, but they also create problems for irrigation
and hydropower plants.
During the summer monsoon, the coasts of India are hit at intervals by
violent storms and tidal waves. It is especially the low-lying areas on the east
coast that are affected.
In January and February, the winter monsoon blows from the NE; it causes only
small amounts of precipitation and provides a cool period. Spring and autumn
between the two rainy periods are characterized by dry and hot
weather. Throughout India south of the Himalayas, spring, summer and autumn are
very hot; temperatures above 50 °C occur every year. Especially in the humid
air of the Ganges plain, the climate can feel very uncomfortable. In winter, it
is still quite warm in southern India, albeit cooler on the Deccan plateau,
while in northern India it can get down to 0 °C.
The natural vegetation is in most places deciduous or evergreen tropical
forest. The agricultural culture of the centuries has reduced the forest area to
13%, and large areas, e.g. Gangessletten, are largely forestless.
Population
According to AllCityPopulation.com, India has the world's second largest population (after China). With 324
residents per. km2 is the country at the same time among the most
densely populated. The population density varies from 13 residents per km2 in
the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh to 9294 in the federal territory of
Delhi.

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population pyramid and resident density about this country.
Every ten years an all-encompassing and very detailed census is held; the
most recent was held in 2001. Only 48% women, which is almost unique in the
world; it reflects the harsh living conditions of women and the population's
preference for boys. Many births and deaths take place without being registered,
but the birth rate was calculated at the census to be 3% and the life expectancy
at 63 years (2003). In the decade up to 1991, the annual population growth was
2.1% against 1.8% in the following decade. Since independence, changing
governments have seen population growth as one of the country's major problems,
and family planning programs have been widely sought. The idea of child
restraint is not fundamentally contrary to Hindu rules of living, but the
programs have, in turn, proved difficult to implement in poor peasant
families, who have often had strong desires to increase the family's workforce
and thus income opportunities. In the mid-1970's, the reactions to an almost
militarily organized sterilization campaign among poor agricultural workers in
northern India contributed to the government imposing a state of emergency and
subsequently having to resign. There has been a growing recognition that the
country's population growth is first and foremost a poverty problem, and with a
rapidly growing middle class, the overall birth rate is steadily declining,
especially in South India. that the government imposed a state of emergency and
subsequently had to resign. There has been a growing recognition that the
country's population growth is first and foremost a poverty problem, and with a
rapidly growing middle class, the overall birth rate is steadily declining,
especially in South India. that the government imposed a state of emergency and
subsequently had to resign. There has been a growing recognition that the
country's population growth is first and foremost a poverty problem, and with a
rapidly growing middle class, the overall birth rate is steadily declining,
especially in South India.
72% of Indians live in the countryside and an increasing proportion live in
the 35 cities with more than 1 million. residents; among them are some of the
world's largest cities. The three largest cities, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi
together have more than 42 million. more than DKK 15 million Indians live
outside the country's borders; many have close contact with the parent country
and contribute with investments and transfers significantly to the Indian
foreign exchange.
With an annual gnsntl. income of approximately DKK 2,800, the Indian population in
2003 is no longer among the absolute poorest in the world. The figure covers
very large differences, as 270 mill. live below the official Indian poverty
line, while up to 300 million. has a standard of living comparable to that of
Europeans. The proportion of the population below the Indian poverty line has
fallen from 54% in 1972 to 26% in 2006.
Industries
Agriculture employs three quarters of the Indian workforce and contributes
25% of GDP. The urban industries, industry and service, contribute with
resp. 24% and 51% of GDP. The figures reflect large differences in productivity
in the various sectors and at the same time the priorities that the government
has set in economic policy since independence. As early as the late 1940's,
ambitious economic plans were launched. Through active state control of the
economy, one would industrialize India, break the economic dependence on
Britain, create economic growth and thus fight the widespread poverty. Since the
1990's, the gradual economic liberalization has meant that there has been less
one-sided focus on industrial production.
Agriculture. approximately 55% of the area is cultivated. Since
independence, the cultivated area has grown by 38%. The main crop is rice,
followed by wheat, millet and a variety of legumes. The main sales crops are
oilseeds, sugar, cotton, jute, tobacco, tea and potatoes.
In the 1960's, the "green revolution" was launched. The government supported
the development and use of high-yielding cereals, primarily wheat, which became
widespread in the northwestern state of Punjab. Later, other parts of the
country joined the program, which was also expanded to include rice and other
crops. The use of the high-yielding cereals requires abundant water supply, and
very extensive expansion of irrigation systems has been a central part of the
green revolution. This also applies to a large growth in the production of
fertilizers and increased use of pesticides. All in all, the new forms of
cultivation require a certain capital base among the peasants, and the
conversion was in the beginning especially a success in the richest regions and
among the already most prosperous peasants. In the 1990's, approximately
Despite the new techniques, productivity in most of agriculture remains low
and poverty is widespread in rural areas. One main reason is the skewed land
distribution. 30% of the rural population does not own land, and a further 30%
own less than 2 ha. The average farm size is approximately 1.7 ha and declining. This
group of millions of poor peasants and farm workers poses a colossal and present
poverty problem in India.
Livestock breeding is an important supplementary source of income for many,
especially smaller farmers. It's about. 185 million cows and buffaloes; they are
used as draft animals, both on fields and country roads, and the coccyxes are
used both as fertilizer and in dried form as fuel. In contrast, the cows give
very little milk. The state supports the development of the dairy farm with
research, processing and advice. Cooperative dairies with almost DKK 9 million
have been established. members who have an increasing sales in the middle class
of the cities. In contrast, slaughter cattle are not bred, as an overwhelming
majority of the Indian population does not eat beef. The country's 185
million. goats and sheep supply partly milk and wool, partly meat to the Indians
who are not vegetarians. They also eat chicken and eggs from approximately 490
million chickens.
Fishing is only a modest part of the economy. Fishermen belong to
the lower castes and are traditionally among the poorest. There is fishing from
small boats along the entire 7000 km long coast and in rivers and lakes. The
government supports both the development of fish farms and of commercial high
seas fishing, and catches are increasing.
Mining. India has 7% of the world's known coal reserves and is among
the world's largest producers. Half come from fields in Bihar and West
Bengal. Oil production is increasing, but rather small. The fields are located
in Assam and offshore off Mumbai. In addition, there are several other minerals,
including iron, copper, gold, zinc and lead.
Industry contributes 24% of GDP. The industrial sector has been
subject to very far-reaching government regulation, and a number of key
industries are directly state-owned. The purpose of the policy has been to
develop an industrial sector that can supply the country with all essential
industrial goods, and a tool has been strict rules for both foreign trade,
investment and production. Since 1991, there has been a significant
liberalization of the rules. This has happened in the light of the collapse of
the close partner of the Soviet Union and the increasing liberalization of
foreign trade worldwide. Production has long been dominated by heavy industry,
machinery and raw material production, but the consumer goods industry is on the
rise. India today occupies a key position when it comes to the global market foroutsourcing,
i.e. those parts of the work areas of international companies which can be
handled by subcontractors with financial advantage. It is estimated that the
area contributes 5% of GDP (2006) and the potential is far greater. The area
includes call centerwhich, for example, handles telephone calls
from customers in, for example, the USA, bookkeeping tasks, transcripts from
doctors' dictaphones, etc. and in general the tasks where IT technology has
broken down the boundaries for where a work task is handled. A prerequisite for
India's position in the field is the relatively low wages, a high technological
level and the presence of highly educated English-speaking young people. The
success of the outsourcing industry has created a new phenomenon with young
people having relatively high disposable incomes without breaking the
traditional Indian maneuvers where young people only move away from home when
they get married. The change in the consumption pattern of young people is part
of the explanation for the strong growth in the number of shopping malls, which
are seen in all major Indian cities. The textile industry traditionally formed
the core of Indian industry,
In addition to the actual industrial sector, there are millions of families
both in the cities and in the countryside, who supplement their income with
small crafts such as spinning, weaving, carpentry and pottery. In addition,
there is a widespread use of the publishing system, ie. ordered
homework with the production of eg matches, small cigarettes, bidies,
and fireworks, often as child labor and under very poor conditions.
Service. Both the public and private service sectors are large and
growing. Together, they employ 24% of the workforce and contribute 51% of
GDP. Many companies in the major industries are state-owned. This applies to
virtually all banks and significant parts of the wholesale trade in agricultural
products, just as the state regulates the prices of a number of agricultural
products, e.g. the major fertilizer industry. The railways and a large part of
the bus transport are also in the public sector. The health care and school
system is predominantly public, but there are a significant number of private
hospitals, schools and universities.
Transport and communication
The Indian road network includes approximately 3.2 million km roads. 1971-2005, the
road network has more than tripled. In the period 2000-05, road traffic has
increased by 7-10% annually, and the number of vehicles has increased by 12% per
year during the same period. The increased prosperity of the large Indian middle
class, together with the liberalization of the economy, has led to a large
growth in the number of passenger cars, from 682,000 in 1971 to 8.2 million. in
2003. In addition, more than DKK 50 million. several two- and three-wheel
two-strokes, especially small motorcycles and scooters. This development
continues with traffic collapses, deteriorating road safety and extensive urban
air pollution as a result. In some cities, such as Delhi, natural gas has
therefore been introduced as a mandatory fuel for buses and rickshaws. As part
of the improvements to the road network, extensive motorway works have been
launched,
However, the backbone of the Indian transport system is the railways. The
first Indian locomotive ran the 34 km from Mumbai to Thane in 1853. In 2002, the
route network was 63,100 km and the number of passengers was 51 million, and new
railways are still being built. Trains are generally slow, but big cities are
connected by an increasing number of express connections. In total, the Indian
railways have over 1 million. employees.
The Indian merchant navy is considerable; approximately half of the tonnage is owned by
the State Shipping Corporation of India. The main port cities are Mumbai,
Kochi-Ernakulam, Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata all with shipyards. Canal and river
traffic are important in the Ganges and Brahmaputra systems as well as in an
extensive network of coastal lakes in the southern Indian state of Kerala, The
Kerala Backwaters.
Indian domestic air traffic is among the fastest growing in the world with an
annual increase in passenger numbers of over 20% (2006). On certain routes,
airlines compete directly with the railways, especially after the introduction
of low-cost airlines. The state-owned airlines Indian (formerly Indian Airlines)
and Air India will be merged in 2007. Foreign air traffic is also growing, aided
by the government's "open skies" policy, which will increase the international
route network considerably, especially from 2007. The chronically congested
airports will continue to be a significant bottleneck for a number of years, but
in almost every Indian metropolis, new airports or upgrades to existing ones are
planned.
In the first decades after independence, communication with the outside world
was handled by more than 23,000 post and telegraph offices. Today there are
155,000 post offices, and they are supplemented by a rapidly growing mobile
network with approximately 5 mio. new users per month as well as widespread internet
access in all major cities.
India (Plant Life)
Throughout India, the native vegetation is heavily affected by deforestation
and cultivation. Along the Malabar coast, however, there are still large areas
with mangrove vegetation and tropical rainforest with palms, bamboo and fig
species. Most of the subcontinent south of the Ganges plain was originally
covered by monsoon forest with teak, mahogany, sandalwood and Dipterocarpus species. In
NW India there is open, deciduous forest and savannah; the arid areas of
Rajasthan have a flora with several species of Arab-African distribution. In
Assam and on the lower slopes of the eastern Himalayas there is dense mountain
rainforest, higher up coniferous forest and shrubs of Rhododendron. In
Sikkim between Bhutan and Nepal, the tree line is approximately 4200 m; the alpine
vegetation is dominated by holarctic genera such as cowslip, stonecrop and
buttercup.
India - wildlife
Along with Bagindia and surrounding islands, India forms the Oriental
region. The border with the Palaearctic region, which is formed by most of Asia
and Europe, is fluid in some places, but is sharply drawn up along the
Himalayas. Several of India's animals are closely related to African species,
such as Indian rhinoceros, Indian elephant and many species
of sunbirds and rhinoceros birds. Others are just subspecies, leopard and
Asian lion (in Gir Forest). In forested reserves, several rare species have
survived, including the Bengal tiger that hunts the many deer species.
Near and in the cities, many monkey species are seen, hulmanaben, and
many scavenger birds, kites and vultures. Birds associated with wetlands
are also common, such as storks, herons, ibises and waders. In total,
approximately 1200 bird species from India.
One fifth of the country's almost 400 snake species are poisonous, eg
the cobras (spectacled snakes). Among other things. in the Ganges and
Brahmaputra live the gavial (or gharial), a long-nosed crocodile species.
India (Ethnography)
The Indian subcontinent has for millennia seen immigrants of different
peoples who have merged over time. India was first united with British
colonization, and the Indian state has made a strenuous effort to cultivate a
common Indian identity. But Indian society is still very divided, partly through
language and religion (see these sections), partly through the caste system.
The casting system
Hinduism has been a unifying force for the country, but its connection to the
caste system has also laid the groundwork for a division of peoples. The system
has existed for more than 2000 years and has spread to other of the country's
denominations.
There are two types of casts, varna and jati. Varna refers
to the ancient four-part Hindu hierarchy: priests (Brahmins); warriors; farmers,
traders and artisans; as well as slaves and servants. Jati are the local groups
that people identify with and live with. There are more than 3000 of these types
of throws. In scope, they range from a few hundred members to several
million. Casting affiliation matters to a person's entire life situation,
whether it's marriage, work, way of life, social circle, diet or status. A
member of a high caste must, for example, be a vegetarian and must not support
himself by physical work.
The casteless (the immovable or the Dalits) are outside
the varna model and thus lowest in the caste hierarchy. They have poorer jobs,
lower income and lower status in Indian society; many of these groups are
registered as Scheduled Castes, and as such enjoy the various
privileges in the form of specially reserved seats at the higher education
institutions, in political bodies and in jobs in the public sector. They make up
approximately 16% (1991) of the population. Their way of life is often different from
that of the casters; many eat meat, for example.
There is movement between the casters. This is done by people from one caste
establishing connections with higher ranking castes, mimicking their way of life
and getting others to do the dirty work. This process is called Sanskritization.
In the big cities, where the caste rules are not followed as slavishly as in
the countryside, the system has softened. Marriages take place across castes,
though that is still the exception. In the past, casting was most often
associated with certain types of jobs. Although today there are many
throw-neutral jobs (e.g. in administration) where lower throws are represented,
the higher throws still dominate the highest positions. Economy, however, has
had a greater impact on status. See also throw.
Tribal people
A third group completely outside the caste system are the tribal or
indigenous peoples of India. A large proportion of these belong to what is
administratively termed Scheduled Tribes; these make up approximately 8.6%
(2011) of the population. A more neutral term is adivasi (Sanskrit 'the
first residents'). These people are very different in appearance, language and
way of life. Most live in a belt from the southern parts of Gujarat and
Rajasthan as well as the northern Maharashtra over Madhya Pradesh and northern
Andhra Pradesh as well as Orissa, where they constitute significant minorities,
to the northeastern states, Nagaland, Mizoram etc. where they are in
majority. In these areas, they most often live in and around the forests whose
resources they live off.
Several groups are extinct with less than 100 members; one of the smallest is
the öngegruppen (onge) in the Andamans with approximately 20 members. But
there are also people who Bhil, Gond and santa players with
more than 5 million. members each. While some of the groups still subsist as
hunters and gatherers, others live off sweatshops or as ordinary peasants and
farm workers. Some groups are nomads. As some have gradually been pushed away
from their lands and forests, seasonal work in the cities has become a vital
necessity for many. Despite this, they have retained much of their cultural
distinctiveness.
As with Scheduled Castes, there is a reservation policy that caters
for tribal people. In addition, areas dominated by these people are allocated
additional resources. However, this relationship has not changed their position
at the bottom of Indian society.
The tribal communities are generally more egalitarian than other Indian
peoples. The position of women is better, and it is normal with bridal price and
not dowry as with the caste Hindus. While some groups are slowly taking over the
Hindu religion and traditions, others are struggling to preserve their
particular identity.
India - language
India is home to approximately 200 different languages, but the majority are
unwritten and only spoken by a few. The Indo-Aryan languages, which are
numerically and culturally the most significant, are spoken by approximately 3/4 of
the population, while the Dravidian languages spoken by almost 1/4.
The most important language in India is Hindi, which is the
official language of the state in line with English. The boundaries of the
Indian states, established in 1953 and beyond, are largely determined by
linguistic criteria, and 22 of the major regional languages (including Hindi)
are thus official state languages. Most recently, Maithili, Dogri, Bodo and
Santali became official in 2003, and another 35 languages are candidates for
this status; many of these, however, are often considered dialects of Hindi.
To the Austro- Asiatic language clan belong the unwritten oral languages
spoken by the tribes of Chota Nagpur, in the highlands of Bihar, Jharkhand and
Orissa, and in the Mahadeo mountains of Madhya Pradesh; the most important of
these languages are santali and mundari. To the
same language clan belong the mon-khmer language khasi and the
languages of the Nicobar archipelago. The Tibeto-Burmese language family is
represented in India by approximately 80 languages and dialects spoken in the
mountainous regions along the northern and eastern borders of India. Andamanian
languages, which are spoken by the indigenous people of the Andaman archipelago
and are an independent language group, have included approximately 12 languages; the
still existing ones are spoken by quite a few.
Important languages in India Where recent counts are
lacking, the number of people who speak the languages is often
estimated.
· Indo-Aryan languages
o Assamese is
spoken by approximately 15 mio. (1995) and Assam.
o Awadhi is
spoken by approximately 20 mio. in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and
outside India of a total of approximately 300,000 in Nepal and the United
States.
o Bengali is
spoken by approximately 70 million (1995) in India and outside India of
approximately 120 mio. (1995) in Bangladesh.
o Bihari includes
three closely related languages, bhojpuri, spoken by
approximately 31 mio. (1991), Maithili, spoken by approximately 22 million,
and magahi, spoken by approximately 10 million, all in Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh; Maithili and Bhojpuri are also spoken in Nepal.
o Gujarati is
spoken by more than 30 million. in Gujarat (1990) and in Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and outside India in the United
Kingdom, Fiji, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Bangladesh, South Africa,
Kenya, Singapore, Pakistan, a total of approximately 39 million (1991).
o Hindi is
spoken by approximately 350 million (1991) in India, Suriname, Mauritius and
Fiji.
o Kashmiri is
spoken by approximately 3.7 million (1991) in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and
Uttar Pradesh.
o Konkani is
spoken by approximately 2 mio. in Goa.
o
Maldivian is spoken by approximately 5000 in the Laccadives and in the
Maldives of approximately 200,000 (1991).
o Marathi is
spoken by approximately 65 million (1995) in and around Maharashtra.
o Nepali is
spoken by approximately 6 mio. in West Bengal, Assam and Sikkim and outside
India of approximately 9 mio. in Nepal and Bhutan.
o Oriya is
spoken by approximately 30 million (1995) in the states of Orissa, Bihar, West
Bengal, Assam and Andhra Pradesh.
o Panjabi,
eastern spoken by approximately 25 mio. (1995) in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi,
Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir and is spoken outside India by
approximately 68,000 in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, United Arab Emirates and
Singapore.
o
Rajasthani, group of languages spoken especially in
Rajasthan; in addition to marwari, spoken by approximately 7
million, mewati, ahirwati, harauti, malvi and nimadi.
o Sanskrit is
spoken by approximately 2000 in India.
o Sindhi is
spoken by approximately 2.5 million in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and
outside India of approximately 15 mio. in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Singapore
(1995).
o Urdu is
spoken by approximately 50 mio. in India and outside India of approximately 80
mio. in Pakistan, Fiji, South Africa, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Germany,
Afghanistan and the United States (1995).
· Dravidian languages
o Kannada is
spoken by approximately 65 million (1991) in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
o
Malayalam is spoken by approximately 35 mio. (1995) in Kerala and the
Laccadives and outside India of approximately 1 mio. in the United Arab
Emirates, Singapore and Fiji.
o Tamil is
spoken by more than 60 million. (1995) in Tamil Nadu and outside India
of approximately 20 mio. Sri Lanka, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and
Fiji.
o Telugu is
spoken by approximately 70 million (1995) in Andhra Pradesh and outside India
of approximately 25 mio. in Fiji, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
· Austro-Asian languages
o
Mundasprog
§
Korku is spoken by over 300,000 in the states of Madhya Pradesh
and Maharashtra.
§
Sora is spoken by nearly 300,000 in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal.
§
Mundari is spoken by approximately 1 mio. in Assam, Bihar, Himachal
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tripura, West Bengal, the Andamans and
Nicobars and outside India in Nepal and Bangladesh.
§
Santali is spoken by approximately 4.8 million (1991) in Assam,
Bihar, Orissa, Tripura and West Bengal and outside India of approximately 1
mio. in Bangladesh and Nepal.
o
Mon-Khmer language
§
Khasi is spoken by more than 450,000 (1990) in the states of
Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West
Bengal.
· Tibeto-Burmese
o Adi, abor-miri tales
of approximately 500,000 (1991) in Assam.
o Bodo is
spoken by approximately 600,000 in Assam and West Bengal.
o
Kuki-chin-naga, group of languages spoken by approximately 500,000 in
India and outside India of approximately 900,000 in Myanmar, India and China.
o Garo is
spoken by approximately 500,000 in eastern India and outside India of
approximately 100,000 in Bangladesh.
o Jingpo or Kachinian is
spoken by approximately 7000 in India and of approximately 550,000 in the valleys
between Burma, India and China.
o Meithei is
spoken by approximately 1 mio. in Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh
and West Bengal.
· Andamanian languages
o The Andaman
language tribe originally included 12 languages. Of these, only four
were counted in 1981: a-pucikwar of 24, jarawa of
250, önge of 106 and sentinel of approximately 50 people. |
India (Religion)
A diversity of religions and religious directions characterizes modern Indian
society. According to the Constitution, India has freedom of religion and no
state religion. This does not mean, however, that religious communities always
live side by side in peace and tolerance; Among other things, there are frequent
violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims. It was also religious affiliation
that, after India's independence in 1947, divided the country into
Hindu-influenced India and the predominantly Islamic state of Pakistan, which
originally also included present-day Bangladesh.
Hinduism is India's largest religious community and includes
approximately 80% of the population. It is the common denominator of a wide variety of
religious views and beliefs and has its origins in the religion of the
indigenous Indian people and the ancient Vedic religion that Aryan tribes
brought with them to India over 3500 years ago.
Islam came with Arab merchants to India as early as the 700's, but it
was not until the Muslim conquests of northern and central India from the 1000's
that Islam became a significant religious factor on the subcontinent. In the
beginning, the Muslim community consisted mainly of the ruling upper class, but
later it was especially people from the lower social classes who converted to
Islam. The Muslims, who are almost all Sunnis, make up approximately 12% of the
population.
Buddhism emerged as a reform movement in northern India around 500
BC, as the Buddha would neither recognize the clergy, ie. the Brahmins, as a
privileged spiritual upper class or the Vedic scriptures as the supreme
religious authority. For more than 1500 years, Buddhism flourished in India, but
Hinduism and Islamic expansion eventually supplanted it from the motherland, and
around 1200 it had largely disappeared from Indian territory. In recent times,
however, Buddhism has experienced a renaissance in India, with millions of
casteless Hindus converting to Buddhism, encouraged by BR Ambedkar's movement
against social injustice against the casteless.
Jainism, which originated around the same time as Buddhism, was
also originally a reform movement aimed at the Vedic ideals. It's about. 3
mio. Jainists in India.
Sikhism, which contains elements from both Hinduism and Islam, was
founded in the 1500's. of the religious preacher Nanak of Punjab. The religion
today has approximately 13 mio. followers.
In the Bombay area there are approximately 120,000 Parsis who are
adherents of a contemporary version of Zarathustraism. A number of population
groups are difficult to classify in religious terms. They are called tribal
people or animists, but often they practice a popular Hinduism.
Christianity, which is mainly prevalent in South and Northeast
India, comprises almost 3% of the population of India.
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