India is a mystical land of seductive images. Hinduism is practised by 85 per cent of Indians, the religious rites and red-letter days woven into the fabric of everyday life. It is also India's vastness that challenges the imagination: the subcontinent is home to one sixth of the world's population, a diverse culture and an intoxicatingly rich history.
Perhaps this is because Indian civilisation can be traced back to at least 2500 BC. The first known civilisation settled along the Indus River in what is now Pakistan. Between 521 and 486 BC, under Darius, the area became part of the Persian Empire. India's two great religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, developed, and various dynasties emerged.
The invasion of the White Huns fragmented northern India, only reunified with the arrival of Muslims from the west. The next major influx was the Moghuls in the 1520s from Central Asia, who maintained effective control of the north until the mid-18th century. But by the time of the British conquest, at the end of the 18th century, the Moghul Empire was already in severe decline. The British, motivated by trade and geopolitics, managed to take effective control of the subcontinent using the telegraph and the railways – both of which they built; for the first time, the many and varied provinces of India were administered by a single alien power.
The indigenous campaign for independence began with the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885, but it made little progress until after the end of World War I, when Mahatma Gandhi led the Congress and began the policy of non-cooperation with the British. The colonial authorities were gradually persuaded that reforms were needed, but the Congress itself was split on a key issue – the Muslims, under Muhammad Ali Jinnah, claimed a separate homeland in provinces such as the Punjab and East Bengal, where they formed a majority, but Gandhi wanted India to be a unified and secular state. Jinnah's view prevailed and in August 1947, the independent states of India and Pakistan came into being (Pakistan was divided into two parts, East and West). Since this time, India has been a democratic republic.
Such a rich history has spawned palaces, temples and monuments. Indeed, the most frequently visited part of India is the Golden Triangle. The unfairly maligned great cities of Mumbai and Kolkata have a bustling, colourful charm, while the holy city of Varanasi or the awe-inspiring temples of Tamil Nadu are worthy objects of pilgrimage. For those who prefer more sybaritic pleasures, tackle the palm-fringed beaches of Goa. And for solitude, India ripples with mountains and hills, from the towering beauty of the Himalayas to pine forests, lakes and babbling streams.
One of the fascinations of India is the juxtaposition of old and new; centuries of history rubbing shoulders with the computer age; and Bangalore's 'Silicon Valley' is as much a part of the world's largest democracy as its remotest village.
