The people of present-day India have a continuous civilization since
2500 BC, when the inhabitants of the Indus River valley develop an urban
culture based on commerce and sustained by agricultural trade. This civilization
declines around 1500 BC, probably due to ecological changes. During the second
millennium BC Aryan and Dravidian tribes migrate from the northwest into the
subcontinent. As they settle in the middle Ganges River valley, they adapt to
antecedent cultures. Between 273 BC and 232 BC it is united in the Principality
of Magadha. In the upcoming
centuries Magadha loses control, but in the 4th century most of Northern India
is reunited in Magadha. During this period, known as India's Golden Age, hindu
culture and political administration reached new heights. Around 500 the Huns destroy the
Magadha state. Between 606 and 647 Kanaudsh is in control of India, followed by
a desintegration of India.
In the
4th and 5th centuries northern India is unified under the Gupta Empire. In 1193 a feudal
rule by Afghan sultans starts and last until the 14th century. In the early
16th century, descendants of Genghis Khan sweep across the Khyber Pass and
establish the Empire of the Great Mogul in 1526, also
known as the Empire of Hind, which lasted for 200 years. Hind controls most of
todays India. From the 11th to the 15th centuries, southern India was dominated
by Hindu Chola and Vijayanagar dynasties. During this time, the two systems,
the prevailing Hindu and Muslim, mingled, leaving lasting cultural influences
on each other. During the upcoming centuries foreign powers, especially
Portugal, the Netherlands, England and France acquire settlements at the coast.
The first British outpost in South Asia is established in 1619 at Surat on the
northwestern coast. Later in the century, the East India Company opens
permanent trading stations at Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, each under the protection
of native rulers. The Mogul empire falls down to the surroundings of Delhi.
Since
1757 the United Kingdom establishes a colony in the east of India (Bengalen),
which after a war with France starts to include large parts of India. The
British expand their influence until, by the 1850s, they controll most of
present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In 1857, a rebellion in north India
led by mutinous Indian soldiers causes Britain to transfer all political power
from the East India Company to the Crown. After the final collapse of the Mogul
state in 1858, the United Kingdom formally annexes the Empire and creates
British India, also styled the Empire of India since 1876. Britain begins
administering most of India directly while controlling the rest through
treaties with feudal local rulers. In the late 1800s, the first steps are taken
toward self-government in British India with the appointment of Indian
councilors to advise the British viceroy and the establishment of provincial
councils with Indian members. Beginning in 1920, Indian leader Mohandas K.
Gandhi transforms the Indian National Congress (INC) political party into a
mass movement to campaign against British colonial rule. The party uses both
parliamentary and nonviolent resistance and noncooperation to achieve
independence. In 1937 Burma is seceded from
India.
The
United Kingdom grants India independence government in 1947: British India,
together with acceded states, is partitioned into the Dominion of India and the
Dominion of Pakistan. Shortly after
the division the freedom leader Mahatma Gandhi is assasinated in 1948. At that
moment Jawaharlal Nehur, of Gandhi's Indian National Congress, becomes prime
minister. India became a republic within the Commonwealth after promulgating
its constitution in 1950. India is a semi-federal state, with weak provincial
legislatures and a strong central government. After independence, the Indian
National Congress (INC), the party of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru,
rules India under the influence first of Nehru and then his daughter and
grandson, with the exception of two brief periods in the 1970s and 1980s. Nehru
governs India until his death in 1964. During his rule India annexes the former
Portuguese India in 1961. He is
succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri, who also died in office.
In 1966
power passes to Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi. She is prime minister from
1966 to 1977. In 1975, beset with deepening political and economic problems,
Gandhi declares a state of emergency and suspends many civil liberties. In the
same year India acquires in 1975 Sikkim. Seeking a
mandate at the polls for her policies, she calls for elections in 1977, only to
be defeated by Moraji Desai, who heads the Janata Party (People's Party, JP),
an amalgam of five opposition parties.
Moraji
Desai of the Janata Dal becomes prime minister. In 1979 Desai's government
crumbles. Charan Singh of the Janata Secular Party (JSP) forms an interim
government, which is followed by Gandhi's return to power in 1980. In 1984
Gandhi is assassinated and her son, Rajiv Gandhi, was chosen by the INC (I)
("Indira") Party to take her place. His Congress government is
brought down in 1989 by allegations of corruption and is followed by opposition
coalition governments headed by V.P. Singh and then Chandra Shekhar.
In the
1989 elections Rajiv Gandhi and the INC win more seats than any other single
party, but he is unable to form a government with a clear majority. The Janata
Dal, a union of opposition parties, then joins with the Hindu-nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, a breakaway group of the JP) on the right and the
communists on the left to form the government. This lose coalition collapses in
1990 and the INC, supported by a breakaway Janata Dal group, returns to power
for a short period, with Chandra Shekhar as prime minister. That alliance also
collapses, resulting in national elections in 1991. Rajiv Gandhi is murdered
during his campaign, apparently by Tamil extremists from Sri Lanka. In the
elections INC becomes the largest party and returns to power at the head of a
coalition, under the leadership of P.V. Narasimha Rao.
Several
major political corruption scandals, contribute to the worst electoral performance
by the INC in its history in 1996. The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party
(Indian People's Party, BJP) becomes the single-largest party in parliament.
The BJP government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee lasts only 13 days. A grand
coalition led by the Janata Dal (People's Party, JD) known as the United Front
form a government under H.D. Deve Gowda. When the INC withdraws its support,
Inder Kumar Gujral replaces Deve Gowda as the consensus choice for prime
Minister at the head of a 16-party United Front coalition. After new elections
in 1998 the BJP becomes the largest party and forms a coalition government
under Vajpayee. This coalition falls apart and new elections in 1999 improve
the position of the BJP. Vajpayee forms a new coalition. His government is
succesful in reforming the economy and improvingt he relations with Pakistan.
Unexpectedly the BJP loses the 2004 elections and the INC onder Sonia Gandhi
can lead a new government.
from: http://www.electionworld.org/history/india.htm