Etymology

Main article: Names of India

The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu.
The latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local
appellation for the Indus River.[14] The ancient Greeksreferred to the Indians as Indoi (),
which translates as "the people of the Indus". [15]
The geographical term Bharat (pronounced [bartt] (

listen)), which is recognised by

the Constitution of India as an official name for the country,[16] is used by many Indian
languages in its variations. The eponym of Bharat is Bharata, a theological figure that Hindu
scriptures describe as a legendary emperor of ancient India.
Hindustan ([ndt sttan] (

listen)) was originally a Persian word that meant "Land of the

Hindus"; prior to 1947, it referred to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan.
It is occasionally used to solely denote India in its entirety.[17][18]
History

Main articles: History of India and History of the Republic of India

Ancient India
The earliest authenticated human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago.
[19]

Nearly contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites have been found in many parts of the

Indian subcontinent, including at theBhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh.[20] Around

7000 BCE, the first known Neolithic settlements appeared on the subcontinent
in Mehrgarh and other sites in western Pakistan.[21] These gradually developed into
the Indus Valley Civilisation,[22] the first urban culture in South Asia;[23] it flourished during
25001900 BCE in Pakistan and western India along the river valleys of Indus
and Sarasvati.[24] Centred on cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira,
and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged
robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade. [23]

Map of Vedic period.

During the period 2000500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent
transitioned from the Chalcolithic to theIron Age.[25] The Vedas, the oldest scriptures
of Hinduism,[26] were composed during this period,[27] and historians have analysed these to
posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain.[25] Most historians
also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into
the subcontinent.[28][26] The caste system arose during this period, which created a hierarchy
of priests, warriors, free peasants and traders, and lastly the indigenous peoples who were
regarded as impure; and small tribal units gradually coalesced into monarchical, state-level
polities.[29][30] On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the
existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation. [25] In southern India, a progression to
sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this
period,[31] as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions. [31]

Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 6th century

In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of
the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies
and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas.[32][33] The emerging urbanisation
and the orthodoxies of this age also created heterodox religious movements, two of which

became independent religions. Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama

Buddha attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling
the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India. [34][35]
[36]

Jainism came into prominence during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira.[37] In an age of

increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal,[38] and both
established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom
of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire.[39] The
empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far
south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous
areas.[40][41] The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined
management of public life as forAshoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy
of the Buddhist dhamma.[42][43]
The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE,
the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas,
dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West and South-East
Asia.[44][45] In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to
increased subordination of women.[46][39] By the 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had
created in the greater Ganges Plain a complex system of administration and taxation that
became a model for later Indian kingdoms.[47][48] Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism
based on devotion rather than the management of ritual began to assert itself. [49] The
renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture andarchitecture, which found patrons
among an urban elite.[48] Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian
science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematicsmade significant advances.[48]