India saw the first people more than 500 thousand years ago. Already in the 3rd millennium BC, statehood arose here, in the Indus Valley, and in the 2nd millennium BC, important ethnic changes took place. From the north, in the interfluve of the Indus and the Ganges, tribes of tall, fair-haired Aryans (Aryans) invaded and subjugated the local peoples. In the 1st millennium BC, the Aryans created their own state, one of whose princes was Gautama (Buddha) – the distributor of a new religion. At the same time, India waged exhausting wars of independence, now with Persia, now with Alexander the Great. With the collapse of the Macedonian state, the Indian kingdom experienced its first flowering. By 236 BC, the great Magadhian Empire was formed, which managed to unite almost the entire territory of the modern states of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. However, already from the second century BC, the formidable empire fell into decay. A significant part of its lands was seized by neighboring states. One of them was the kingdom of the Kushans. After its collapse in the first centuries of our era, the Magadha empire began to gain strength again, which in the 4th-5th centuries already controlled most of the Hindustan peninsula. Check a2zdirectory for old history of India.
Short-term association (since the 6th century) was replaced by feudal fragmentation, which stopped only by the 13th century in connection with the emergence of a strong Delhi Sultanate. Its rulers entered into a struggle with Buddhism and began to spread Islam. The sultanate repulsed the raids of the Mongol-Tatars, but could not cope with the separatism of large feudal lords, who ruined the country at the end of the 14th century. The economic backwardness increased, there was no defense capability, and opportunities for new conquests of India opened up. At the end of the 15th century, the first European colonizers appeared on its shores. In the 16th century, almost the entire peninsula became the prey of the Mongol conqueror Babur. In the 17th century, France and Great Britain fought for the possession of South India. In the first half of the 18th century, the power of the Mongol dynasty weakened so much that that could no longer protect the Indian people from other invasions. An attempt by local princes to organize an alliance capable of resisting the conquerors did not bring success.
By the middle of the 19th century, Great Britain had colonized all of India; the liberation uprising of 1857-1859 failed. The dominion of the British crown remained until 1946, when, under the pressure of the Indian public, led by M. Gandhi, she was granted the right of dominion (self-government). At the same time, the first government headed by J. Nehru was formed. The next year (1947) the British finally left India. However, the country could not maintain unity. The sectarian war split it into three states: Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
January 26, 1950 India was proclaimed a democratic republic.
In 1951, the first general elections were held in the country.
In 1954, India annexed the French colony of Pondicherry.
In 1961, India became one of the founders of the non-aligned movement. In the same year, the Portuguese colonies of Goa, Daman, and Diu were annexed to India.
Kaziranga National Park
The park is located in the state of Asom (the old name is Assam), covers an area of 688 sq. km. and contains rainforests, full-flowing rivers, and vast grasslands grazing with herds of wild elephants. The park is best known for the world’s largest population of the one-horned Indian rhinoceros. Tigers, as natural enemies of the rhinoceros, are also found here, as are many other species of Indian wildlife. Visitors to the park can get around in jeeps or, more traditionally, on the backs of elephants. The park was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.
The original bird sanctuaries are also interesting – Govind Sagar, Keoloadeo Gana, Kanha, Point Calimer, Pulikat, Vedanthangal, Nal Sarovar. Unique tiger reserves are located in the Sunderbans and Similipal.
