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188-765: The sāqiyah is still used in India , Egypt and other parts of the Middle East , and in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands . It may have been invented in Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Iran , Kush or India . The sāqiyah was mainly used for irrigation, but not exclusively, as the example of Qusayr 'Amra shows, where it was used at least in part to provide water for a royal bathhouse. The Arabic word saqiya ( Arabic : ساقية )

376-619: A "Look East" policy that seeks to strengthen partnerships with the ASEAN nations, Japan , and South Korea that revolve around many issues, but especially those involving economic investment and regional security. China's nuclear test of 1964 , as well as its repeated threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965 war, convinced India to develop nuclear weapons. India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and carried out additional underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither

564-519: A 1988 coup d'état attempt in the Maldives. After the 1965 war with Pakistan, India began to pursue close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union ; by the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was its largest arms supplier. Aside from its ongoing special relationship with Russia , India has wide-ranging defence relations with Israel and France . In recent years, it has played key roles in

752-722: A multi-party system , India has six   recognised national parties , including the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 50   regional parties . The Congress is considered center in Indian political culture , and the BJP right-wing . For most of the period between 1950—when India first became a republic—and the late 1980s, the Congress held

940-508: A stylus and was used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. It is not well understood due to the scarcity of bilingual texts. The earliest inscription in Meroitic writing dates from between 180 and 170 BC. These hieroglyphics were found engraved on the temple of Queen Shanakdakhete . Meroitic Cursive is written horizontally, and reads from right to left. This

1128-435: A "king", but identifying the interred individual and the polity he ruled over remains problematic. At Meroe, the last pyramids as well as non-royal burials are dated to the mid-4th century, which is conventionally thought to be when the kingdom of Kush came to an end. Afterwards began the so-called "post-Meroitic" period. This period saw a decline of urbanism, the disappearance of the Meroitic religion and script as well as

1316-567: A Kushite attack on Primis (Qasr Ibrim), the Kushites sent ambassadors to negotiate a peace settlement with Petronius. The Kushites succeeded in negotiating a peace treaty on favorable terms. Trade between the two nations increased and the Roman Egyptian border being extended to "Hiera Sykaminos (Maharraqa)." This arrangement "guaranteed peace for most of the next 300 years" and there is "no definite evidence of further clashes." It

1504-595: A century until the Assyrian conquest , being dethroned by the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal in the mid-seventh century BC. Following the severing of ties with Egypt, the Kushite imperial capital was located at Meroë , during which time it was known by the Greeks as Aethiopia . From the third century BC to the third century AD, the northernmost part of Nubia would be invaded and annexed by Egypt. Ruled by

1692-427: A comparatively destitute country in 1951, India has become a fast-growing major economy and a hub for information technology services , with an expanding middle class. India has a space programme with several planned or completed extraterrestrial missions . Indian movies , music , and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture. India has substantially reduced its rate of poverty , though at

1880-666: A complex economy based on trade and industry; mastered archery; and developed a complex, urban society with uniquely high levels of female participation. The native name of the Kingdom was recorded in Egyptian as kꜣš , likely pronounced IPA: [kuɫuʃ] or IPA: [kuʔuʃ] in Middle Egyptian , when the term was first used for Nubia, based on the New Kingdom -era Akkadian transliteration of

2068-746: A large army, where he was "ritually installed as the king of Egypt." From Thebes, Tantamani began his attempt at reconquest and regained control of a part of southern Egypt as far as Memphis from the native Egyptian puppet rulers installed by the Assyrians. Tantamani's dream stele states that he restored order from the chaos, where royal temples and cults were not being maintained. After defeating Sais and killing Assyria's vassal, Necho I , in Memphis, "some local dynasts formally surrendered, while others withdrew to their fortresses." Tantamani proceeded north of Memphis, invading Lower Egypt and, besieged cities in

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2256-796: A long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India. In the Punjab , Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion. The Mughal Empire , in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace, leaving a legacy of luminous architecture . Gradually expanding rule of the British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial economy but also consolidating its sovereignty . British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly, but technological changes were introduced, and modern ideas of education and public life took root. A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which

2444-674: A majority in the Parliament . Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP, as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalition governments at the center. In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951 , 1957 , and 1962 , the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru -led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he

2632-545: A multitude of campaigns against enemies ranging from Meroe in the south to Lower Nubia in the north while also donating to temples throughout Kush. King Nastasen ( c. 325) waged several wars against nomad groups and again in Lower Nubia. Nastasen was the last king to be buried at Nuri. His successors built six pyramids at Jebel Barkal and two in the old necropolis of el-Kurru, although the lack of inscriptions prevents identifying their occupants. It seems likely that this

2820-471: A native Egyptian ruler, Psamtik I son of Necho, placed on the throne as a vassal of Ashurbanipal , took control of Thebes. The last links between Kush and Upper Egypt were severed after hostilities with the Saite kings in the 590s BC. Kushite civilization continued for several centuries. According to Welsby, "throughout the Saite, Persian, Ptolemaic, and Roman periods, the Kushite rulers—the descendants of

3008-513: A professor of biochemistry and brewing science at the University of California, Davis, "They must have consumed it because it was rather tastier than the grain from which it was derived. They would have noticed people fared better by consuming this product than they were just consuming the grain itself." Based on engraved plans of Meroitic King Amanikhabali 's pyramids, Nubians had a sophisticated understanding of mathematics as they appreciated

3196-685: A quarter of a million local government bodies at city, town, block, district and village levels. In the 1950s, India strongly supported decolonisation in Africa and Asia and played a leading role in the Non-Aligned Movement . After initially cordial relations with neighbouring China, India went to war with China in 1962 and was widely thought to have been humiliated. This was followed by another military conflict in 1967 in which India successfully repelled Chinese attack. India has had tense relations with neighbouring Pakistan;

3384-447: A saqiya is ' antelayyā -wheel. A manuscript by Ismail al-Jazari featured an intricate device based on a saqiya, powered in part by the pull of an ox walking on the roof of an upper-level reservoir, but also by water falling onto the spoon-shaped pallets of a water wheel placed in a lower-level reservoir . Complex saqiyas consisting of more than 200 separate components were used extensively by Muslim inventors and engineers in

3572-616: A series of containers which lift water from the river to an aqueduct at the top of the wheel. Some famous examples are the norias of Hama in Syria or the Albolafia noria in Cordoba , Spain . However, the names of traditional water-raising devices used in the Middle East , India , Spain and other areas are often used loosely and overlappingly, or vary depending on region. Al-Jazari 's famous book on mechanical devices, for example, groups

3760-431: A third of Indian plant species are endemic. India also contains four of the world's 34 biodiversity hotspots , or regions that display significant habitat loss in the presence of high endemism. According to official statistics, India's forest cover is 713,789 km (275,595 sq mi), which is 21.71% of the country's total land area. It can be subdivided further into broad categories of canopy density , or

3948-714: A time, it was also possibly used to write the Old Nubian language of the successor Nubian kingdoms. The natives of the Kingdom of Kush developed a type of water wheel or scoop wheel , the saqiyah , named kolē by the Kush. The saqiyah was developed during the Meroitic period to improve irrigation. The introduction of this machine had a decisive influence on agriculture especially in Dongola as this wheel lifted water 3 to 8 meters with much less expenditure of labor and time than

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4136-628: A victory for the double kingdom", since Assyria did not take Jerusalem, however the Egyptian and Kushite forces withdrew to Egypt and the Assyrian king Sennacherib appears to have occupied part of the Sinai. The power of the 25th Dynasty reached a climax under Taharqa . The Nile valley empire was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom. New prosperity revived Egyptian culture. Religion,

4324-812: A young and rapidly growing working-age population; growth in the manufacturing sector because of rising education and engineering skill levels; and sustained growth of the consumer market driven by a rapidly growing middle-class. The World Bank cautions that, for India to achieve its economic potential, it must continue to focus on public sector reform, transport infrastructure , agricultural and rural development, removal of labour regulations, education , energy security , and public health and nutrition. Kingdom of Kush The Kingdom of Kush ( / k ʊ ʃ , k ʌ ʃ / ; Egyptian : 𓎡𓄿𓈙 𓈉 kꜣš , Assyrian : [REDACTED] Kûsi , in LXX Χους or Αἰθιοπία; Coptic : ⲉϭⲱϣ Ecōš ; Hebrew : כּוּשׁ Kūš ), also known as

4512-507: Is a Benjamite (Psalms 7:1, KJV). In Greek sources Kush was known as Kous (Κους) or Aethiopia (Αἰθιοπία). The Kerma culture was an early civilization centered in Kerma , Sudan . It flourished from around 2500 BC to 1500 BC in ancient Nubia . The Kerma culture was based in the southern part of Nubia, or " Upper Nubia " (in parts of present-day northern and central Sudan ), and later extended its reach northward into Lower Nubia and

4700-528: Is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India—the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic. Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the union and the states . The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950, originally stated India to be a " sovereign , democratic republic ;" this characterisation

4888-405: Is a notable hafir built by the Kushites. It was built to retain the rainfall of the short, wet season. It is 250 m in diameter and 6.3 m deep. Bloomeries and blast furnaces could have been used in metalworking at Meroë. Early records of bloomery furnaces dated at least to seventh and sixth century BC have been discovered in Kush. The ancient bloomeries that produced metal tools for

5076-465: Is alluded to when describing a yantra used for drawing water from a well. Paddle-driven water-lifting wheels had appeared in ancient Egypt by the 4th century BCE. According to John Peter Oleson , both the compartmented wheel and the hydraulic noria appeared in Egypt by the 4th century BCE, with the saqiya being invented there a century later. This is supported by archeological finds at Faiyum , where

5264-699: Is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity. When Harsha of Kannauj , who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647  CE , attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan. When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal . When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by

5452-597: Is derived from the root verb saqa ( Arabic : سقى ), meaning to "give to drink" or "make (someone/something) drink". From this, the word saqiya (often transliterated as seguia in Morocco or the Maghreb ) has the sense of "one that gives water" or "irrigator". Its general meaning is to denote a water channel for irrigation or for city water supplies, but by extension it applies to a device which provides water for such irrigation. Likewise, Spanish acequia , derived from

5640-470: Is expected to remain so in the near future. According to a 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers ( PwC ) report, India's GDP at purchasing power parity could overtake that of the United States by 2045. During the next four decades, Indian GDP is expected to grow at an annualised average of 8%, making it potentially the world's fastest-growing major economy until 2050. The report highlights key growth factors:

5828-624: Is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period, as well as by nearby traces of agriculture , irrigation tanks , and craft traditions. 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 . The emerging urbanisation gave rise to non-Vedic religious movements, two of which became independent religions. Jainism came into prominence during

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6016-608: Is named aceña, with the exception of the Cartagena area, where it is called a noria de sangre, or "waterwheel of blood". There is also a much rarer type of saqiya which is driven by wind. The saqiya was known in the Kingdom of Kush as Kolē. The Ancient Nubians developed the saqiya to improve irrigation during the Meroitic period . The introduction of this machine had a decisive influence on agriculture as this wheel lifted water 3 to 8 metres with much less labour force and time than

6204-637: Is normally made of galvanized sheet steel and consists of a series of scoops. The modern type dispenses the water near the hub rather than from the top, the opposite of the traditional types. These devices were in widespread use in China, India, Pakistan, Syria and Egypt. Saqiya wheels range in diameter from two to five metres. Though traditionally driven by draught animals , they are also attached to an engine or electric motor. While animal-driven saqiyas can rotate at 2–4 rpm , motorised ones can make as much as 8–15 rpm. Formerly hundreds of thousands were in use in

6392-741: Is often associated with an Aksumite invasion. An Aksumite presence in Meroe is confirmed by two fragmentary Greek inscriptions. The better preserved one referred to military actions and the imposition of a tribute. They probably belonged to Aksumite victory monuments and were dedicated to Ares / Maher , the god of war. Thus, they must have been erected before Aksum's conversion to Christianity in around 340, perhaps by king Ousanas (r. c. 310–330). An inscription from Aksum mentioning Kush as vassal kingdom may also be attributed to Ousanas. The trilingual stele of his successor Ezana describes another expedition which happened after 340. Ezana's army followed

6580-559: Is possible that the Roman emperor Nero planned another attempt to conquer Kush before his death in AD 68. Nero sent two centurions upriver as far as Bahr el Ghazal River in 66 AD in an attempt to discover the source of the Nile, per Seneca , or plan an attack, per Pliny . Kush began to fade as a power by the first or second century AD, sapped by the war with the Roman province of Egypt and

6768-599: Is supported among these forests, and elsewhere, in protected habitats . According to the Oxford English Dictionary (third edition 2009), the name "India" is derived from the Classical Latin India , a reference to South Asia and an uncertain region to its east. In turn the name "India" derived successively from Hellenistic Greek India ( Ἰνδία ), ancient Greek Indos ( Ἰνδός ), Old Persian Hindush (an eastern province of

6956-410: Is the usual term for water-raising devices powered by animals. The term noria is commonly used for devices which use the power of moving water to turn the wheel instead. Other types of similar devices are grouped under the name of chain pumps . A noria in contrast uses the water power obtained from the flow of a river. The noria consists of a large undershot water-wheel whose rim is made up of

7144-722: The Achaemenid Empire ), and ultimately its cognate , the Sanskrit Sindhu , or "river", specifically the Indus River and, by implication, its well-settled southern basin. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi ( Ἰνδοί ), which translates as "The people of the Indus". The term Bharat ( Bhārat ; pronounced [ˈbʱaːɾət] ), mentioned in both Indian epic poetry and

7332-632: The Arabian Sea . Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is shared with Bangladesh. India has two archipelagos : the Lakshadweep , coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea . Indian climate is strongly influenced by

7520-506: The Asiatic cheetah ; the blackbuck, no longer extant in Punjab, is now severely endangered in India, and the cheetah is extinct. The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Indian wildlife. In response, the system of national parks and protected areas , first established in 1935, was expanded substantially. In 1972, India enacted

7708-615: The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty nor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty , considering both to be flawed and discriminatory. India maintains a " no first use " nuclear policy and is developing a nuclear triad capability as a part of its " Minimum Credible Deterrence " doctrine. It is developing a ballistic missile defence shield and, a fifth-generation fighter jet . Other indigenous military projects involve

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7896-475: The Constitution of India , is used in its variations by many Indian languages . A modern rendering of the historical name Bharatavarsha , which applied originally to North India , Bharat gained increased currency from the mid-19th century as a native name for India. Hindustan ( [ɦɪndʊˈstaːn] ) is a Middle Persian name for India that became popular by the 13th century, and

8084-686: The Ganges and the Brahmaputra . According to some current projections, the number and severity of droughts in India will have markedly increased by the end of the present century. India is a megadiverse country , a term employed for 17 countries that display high biological diversity and contain many species exclusively indigenous , or endemic , to them. India is the habitat for 8.6% of all mammals , 13.7% of bird species, 7.9% of reptile species, 6% of amphibian species, 12.2% of fish species, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species. Fully

8272-586: The Himalayas . Immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast crescent-shaped trough that rapidly filled with river-borne sediment and now constitutes the Indo-Gangetic Plain . The original Indian plate makes its first appearance above the sediment in the ancient Aravalli range , which extends from the Delhi Ridge in a southwesterly direction. To the west lies

8460-548: The Indian Rebellion of 1857 . Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule. Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company and

8648-613: The Indus Valley Civilisation , the first urban culture in South Asia, which flourished during 2500–1900  BCE in Pakistan and western India. Centred around 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. During the period 2000–500  BCE , many regions of

8836-410: The Kerma culture and the chronologically succeeding Kingdom of Kush is difficult to determine. The latter polity began to emerge around 1000 BC, 500 years after the end of the Kingdom of Kerma. The first Kushite king known by name was Alara , who ruled somewhere between 800 and 760 BC. No contemporary inscriptions of him exist. He was first mentioned in the funerary stela of his daughter Tabiry ,

9024-655: The Kushite Empire , or simply Kush , was an ancient kingdom in Nubia , centered along the Nile Valley in what is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt . The region of Nubia was an early cradle of civilization, producing several complex societies that engaged in trade and industry. The city-state of Kerma emerged as the dominant political force between 2450 and 1450 BC, controlling the Nile Valley between

9212-559: The Late Bronze Age collapse , the Kushites reestablished a kingdom in Napata (now modern Karima, Sudan ). Though Kush had developed many cultural affinities with Egypt, such as the veneration of Amun , and the royal families of both kingdoms occasionally intermarried, Kushite culture, language and ethnicity was distinct; Egyptian art distinguished the people of Kush by their dress, appearance, and even method of transportation. In

9400-519: The Macedonians and Romans for the next 600 years, this territory would be known in the Greco-Roman world as Dodekaschoinos . It was later taken back by the Kushite king Yesebokheamani . The Kingdom of Kush persisted as a major regional power until the fourth century AD when it weakened and disintegrated from internal rebellion amid worsening climatic conditions and invasions and conquest of

9588-497: The Meroitic alphabet , which was influenced by Egyptian writing systems c.  700–600 BC , although it appears to have been wholly confined to the royal court and major temples. Taharqa and his Judean allies initially defeated the Assyrians at Ashkelon when war broke out in 674 BC. The relatively small Assyrian force had first defeafed Canaanite and Arab tribes in the region and then immediately marched at great speed on Ashkelon, leaving them exhausted. However, in 671 BC,

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9776-479: The Musaeum , at the time the most active Greek research center, may have been involved in its implementation. An episode from Caesar's Civil War in 48 BC tells of how Caesar's enemies employed geared waterwheels to pour sea water from elevated places on the position of the trapped Romans. Philo of Byzantium wrote of such a device in the 2nd century B.C.; the historian Vitruvius mentioned them around 30 B.C.; remains of tread wheel driven, bucket chains, dating from

9964-406: The Nilo-Saharan family, based in part on its syntax, morphology, and known vocabulary. In the Napatan Period Egyptian hieroglyphs were used: at this time writing seems to have been restricted to the court and temples. From the second century BC, there was a separate Meroitic writing system. The language was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphabet : Meroitic Cursive, which was written with

10152-507: The Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south. No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond their core region. During this time, pastoral peoples, whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy, were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes. The caste system consequently began to show regional differences. In

10340-475: The Red Sea . The Kush traded iron products with the Romans, in addition to gold, ivory and slaves. The Butana plain was stripped of its forests, leaving behind slag piles. In about 300 BC, the move to Meroë was made more complete when the monarchs began to be buried there, instead of at Napata. One theory is that this represents the monarchs breaking away from the power of the priests at Napata. According to Diodorus Siculus , Kushite king Ergamenes defied

10528-406: The South Asia Satellite , a gift from India to its neighbouring SAARC countries. In October 2018, India signed a US$ 5.43 billion (over ₹ 400 billion) agreement with Russia to procure four S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile defence systems, Russia's most advanced long-range missile defence system. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Indian economy in 2024

10716-406: The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade Organization . The nation has provided 100,000 military and police personnel to serve in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. It participates in the East Asia Summit , the G8+5 , and other multilateral forums. India has close economic ties with countries in South America , Asia, and Africa; it pursues

10904-406: The Thar Desert , the eastern spread of which is checked by the Aravallis. The remaining Indian Plate survives as peninsular India , the oldest and geologically most stable part of India. It extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in

11092-424: The United Kingdom , and Canada . The President of India is the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces; with 1.45 million active troops, they compose the world's second-largest military . It comprises the Indian Army , the Indian Navy , the Indian Air Force , and the Indian Coast Guard . The official Indian defence budget for 2011 was US$ 36.03 billion, or 1.83% of GDP. Defence expenditure

11280-437: The Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988. India hosts more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries and eighteen   biosphere reserves , four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves ; seventy-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention . A parliamentary republic with

11468-441: The direct administration of India by the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest. In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885. The rush of technology and

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11656-415: The medieval Islamic world . The mechanical flywheel , used to smooth out the delivery of power from a driving device to a driven machine and, essentially, to allow lifting water from far greater depths (up to 200 metres), was employed by ibn Bassal ( fl. 1038–1075), of al-Andalus . The first known use of a crank in a saqiya was featured in another one of al-Jazari's machines. The concept of minimising

11844-412: The shaduf , which was the previous chief irrigation device in the kingdom. The shaduf relied on human energy but the saqiyah was driven by buffalos or other animals. The people of Kerma , ancestors to the Kushites, built bronze kilns through which they manufactured objects of daily use such as razors , mirrors and tweezers . The Kushites developed a form of reservoir , known as a hafir , during

12032-405: The temperate coniferous forest of the Himalayas , the moist deciduous sal forest of eastern India, and the dry deciduous teak forest of central and southern India. Open forest , whose canopy density is between 10% and 40%, occupies 9.26% of India's land area. India has two natural zones of thorn forest , one in the Deccan Plateau , immediately east of the Western Ghats, and the other in

12220-424: The "list of conquered Asiatic principalities" from the Mut temple at Karnak and "conquered peoples and countries (Libyans, Shasu nomads, Phoenicians?, Khor in Palestine)" from Sanam temple inscriptions. However the regions in the southern Levant claimed by Shabataka were seen by Assyria as under their dominion, and imperial ambitions of both the Mesopotamian based Assyrian Empire and Kushite Empire made war with

12408-400: The 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206. The sultanate was to control much of North India and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for

12596-434: The 13th century, and were in everyday use throughout the medieval Islamic world. India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia . It is the seventh-largest country in the world by area and the most populous country . Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to

12784-458: The 16th century BC, Nubia ("Kush") was governed by an Egyptian Viceroy of Kush . Resistance to the early eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian rule by neighboring Kush is evidenced in the writings of Ahmose, son of Ebana , an Egyptian warrior who served under Nebpehtrya Ahmose (1539–1514 BC), Djeserkara Amenhotep I (1514–1493 BC), and Aakheperkara Thutmose I (1493–1481 BC). At the end of the Second Intermediate Period (mid-sixteenth century BC), Egypt faced

12972-526: The 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion, resulting in greater patronage of painting , literary forms, textiles, and architecture . Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas , the Rajputs , and the Sikhs , gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience. Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along

13160-653: The 1820s. India was then no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British Empire with raw materials. Many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period. By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and having effectively been made an arm of British administration, the East India Company began more consciously to enter non-economic arenas, including education, social reform, and culture. Historians consider India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1885. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of

13348-596: The 1980s and the collaboration with Soviet Union for technical know-how, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies , and increased its geopolitical clout. Yet, India is also shaped by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban; by religious and caste-related violence ; by Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies ; and by separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and in Northeast India . It has unresolved territorial disputes with China and with Pakistan . India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among

13536-502: The 25th dynasty inevitable. In 701 BC, Taharqa and his army aided Judah and King Hezekiah in withstanding a siege by King Sennacherib of the Assyrians (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9). There are various theories (Taharqa's army, disease, divine intervention, Hezekiah's surrender or agreeing to pay tribute) as to why the Assyrians failed to take the city. Historian László Török mentions that Egypt's army "was beaten at Eltekeh" under Taharqa's command, but "the battle could be interpreted as

13724-686: The 29th and 31st years of his reign. This is the earliest Egyptian reference to Kush ; the Nubian region had gone by other names in the Old Kingdom. Under Thutmose I , Egypt made several campaigns south. The Egyptians ruled Kush in the New kingdom beginning when the Egyptian King Thutmose I occupied Kush and destroyed its capital, Kerma. This eventually resulted in their annexation of Nubia c.  1504 BC . Around 1500 BC, Nubia

13912-468: The 2nd century B.C., have been found in baths at Pompeii , and Costa, Italy; fragments of the buckets and a lead pipe, from a crank handle operated, chain driven, bilge pump , were found one of the 1st century A.D. Nemi ships , of Lake Nemi ; and a preserved 2nd century A.D. example, used to raise water from a well, to an aquifer in London, has also been unearthed. The term used by Talmudic sources for

14100-535: The 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Maurya Empire . The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent except the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas. The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka 's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of

14288-746: The 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had created a complex system of administration and taxation in the greater Ganges Plain; this system became a model for later Indian kingdoms. Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion, rather than the management of ritual, began to assert itself. This renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture , which found patrons among an urban elite. Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science , astronomy , medicine , and mathematics made significant advances. The Indian early medieval age, from 600 to 1200  CE ,

14476-545: The 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language. They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent . Indian royalty, big and small, and the temples they patronised drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well. Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation. By

14664-585: The 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in Southeast Asia, as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Myanmar , Thailand , Laos , Brunei , Cambodia , Vietnam , Philippines , Malaysia , and Indonesia . Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; Southeast Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages. After

14852-542: The 8th century BC, King Kashta ("the Kushite") peacefully became King of Upper Egypt, while his daughter, Amenirdis , was appointed as Divine Adoratrice of Amun in Thebes . His successor Piye invaded Lower Egypt, establishing the Kushite-ruled Twenty-fifth Dynasty . Piye's daughter, Shepenupet II , was also appointed Divine Adoratrice of Amun. The monarchs of Kush ruled Egypt for over

15040-481: The Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains. According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudflats or marshy shores. Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra , both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal . Important tributaries of

15228-491: The Assyrian King Esarhaddon started the Assyrian conquest of Egypt with a larger and better prepared force. The Assyrians advanced rapidly and decisively. Memphis was taken, and Taharqa fled to Nubia, while his heir and other family members were taken to the Assyrian capital Nineveh as prisoners. Esarhaddon boasted how he "deported all Aethiopians from Egypt, leaving not one to pay homage to me" However,

15416-528: The BJP became the first political party since 1984 to win a majority and govern without the support of other parties. In the 2019 general election , the BJP was victorious again with majority. In the 2024 general election , the BJP failed to achieve majority and the BJP-led NDA coalition formed the government . Narendra Modi , a former chief minister of Gujarat , is serving as the 14th Prime Minister of India in his third term since May 26, 2014. India

15604-646: The BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee , the NDA became the first non-Congress, coalition government to complete a five-year term. Again in the 2004 Indian general elections , no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming another successful coalition: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). It had

15792-682: The Black Land ( Kmt )". According to Kendall, "foreign lands" in this regard seems to include Lower Egypt while "Kmt" seems to refer to a united Upper Egypt and Nubia. Piye 's successor, Shabataka , defeated the Saite kings of northern Egypt between 711 and 710 BC and installed himself as king in Memphis . He then established ties with Sargon II of the Neo-Assyrian Empire . After the reign of Shabaka , Pharaoh Taharqa 's army undertook successful military campaigns, as attested by

15980-601: The Buddha is recorded in the Pali canon to have sought enlightenment. Many Indian species have descended from those of Gondwana , the southern supercontinent from which India separated more than 100 million years ago. India's subsequent collision with Eurasia set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic changes later caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms. Still later, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographic passes flanking

16168-762: The Buddhist dhamma . The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200  BCE and 200  CE , the southern peninsula was ruled by the Cheras , the Cholas , and the Pandyas , dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West and Southeast Asia . In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women. By

16356-685: The Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated ; she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi , who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year . The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front , won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived, lasting just under two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar . Elections were held again in 1991 ; no party won an absolute majority. The Congress, as

16544-479: The Delta, a number of which surrendered to him. The Assyrians, who had maintained only a small military presence in the north, then sent a large army southwards in 663 BC. Tantamani was decisively routed, and the Assyrian army sacked Thebes to such an extent it never truly recovered. Tantamani was chased back to Nubia, but he continued to try and assert control over Upper Egypt until c.  656 BC . At this date,

16732-476: The East India Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state. These included the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens. Technological changes—among them, railways, canals, and the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe . However, disaffection with the company also grew during this time and set off

16920-943: The Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi ; the latter's extremely low gradient, caused by long-term silt deposition, leads to severe floods and course changes. Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari , the Mahanadi , the Kaveri , and the Krishna , which also drain into the Bay of Bengal; and the Narmada and the Tapti , which drain into

17108-555: The Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and winter monsoons . The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide

17296-462: The Himalayas. This had the effect of lowering endemism among India's mammals, which stands at 12.6%, contrasting with 45.8% among reptiles and 55.8% among amphibians. Among endemics are the vulnerable hooded leaf monkey and the threatened Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172 IUCN -designated threatened animal species , or 2.9% of endangered forms. These include

17484-401: The Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs. By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into

17672-459: The Kingdom of Kush became a client Kingdom, which was similar to the situation under Ptolemaic rule of Egypt. Kushite ambition and excessive Roman taxation are two theories for a revolt that was supported by Kushite armies. The ancient historians, Strabo and Pliny, give accounts of the conflict with Roman Egypt. Strabo describes a war with the Romans in the first century BC. According to Strabo,

17860-498: The Kushite army led by Piye , in order to enhance the efficiency of Kushite archers and slingers . After leaving Thebes, Piye's first objective was besieging Ashmunein . Following his army's lack of success he undertook the personal supervision of operations including the erection of a siege tower from which Kushite archers could fire down into the city. Early shelters protecting sappers armed with poles trying to breach mud-brick ramparts gave way to battering rams . Bowmen were

18048-477: The Kushite city of Meroe. To end the siege Princess Tharbis was given to Moses as a (diplomatic) bride, and thus the Egyptian army retreated back to Egypt. With the disintegration of the New Kingdom around 1070 BC, Kush became an independent kingdom centered at Napata in modern northern Sudan. This more-Egyptianized "Kingdom of Kush" emerged, possibly from Kerma, and regained the region's independence from Egypt. The extent of cultural/political continuity between

18236-402: The Kushites "sacked Aswan with an army of 30,000 men and destroyed imperial statues...at Philae." A "fine over-life-size bronze head of the emperor Augustus " was found buried in Meroe in front of a temple. After the initial victories of Kandake (or "Candace") Amanirenas against Roman Egypt, the Kushites were defeated and Napata sacked. Remarkably, the destruction of the capital of Napata

18424-533: The Kushites chose to enter Egypt at this crucial point of foreign domination is subject to debate. Archaeologist Timothy Kendall offers his own hypotheses, connecting it to a claim of legitimacy associated with Jebel Barkal . Kendall cites the Victory Stele of Piye at Jebel Barkal, which states that " Amun of Napata granted me to be ruler of every foreign country," and "Amun in Thebes granted me to be ruler of

18612-597: The Kushites produced a surplus for sale. Nubian mummies studied in the 1990s revealed that Kush was a pioneer of early antibiotics . Tetracycline was being used by Nubians, based on bone remains between 350 AD and 550 AD. The antibiotic was in wide commercial use only in the mid 20th century. The theory states that earthen jars containing grain used for making beer contained the bacterium streptomyces , which produced tetracycline. Although Nubians were not aware of tetracycline, they could have noticed that people fared better by drinking beer. According to Charlie Bamforth,

18800-726: The Meroitic language belongs. Kirsty Rowan suggests that Meroitic, like the Egyptian language , belongs to the Afro-Asiatic family. She bases this on its sound inventory and phonotactics , which she argues are similar to those of the Afro-Asiatic languages and dissimilar from those of the Nilo-Saharan languages. Claude Rilly proposes that Meroitic, like the Nobiin language , belongs to the Eastern Sudanic branch of

18988-490: The Meroitic period, as seen in the war against Rome around 20 BC. During the Bronze Age , Nubian ancestors of the Kingdom of Kush built speoi (a speos is a temple or tomb cut into a rock face) between 3700 and 3250 BC. This greatly influenced the architecture of the New Kingdom of Egypt . Tomb monuments were one of the more recognizable expressions of Kushite architecture. Uniquely Kushite tomb monuments were found from

19176-537: The Meroitic period. Eight hundred ancient and modern hafirs have been registered in the Meroitic town of Butana . The functions of hafirs were to catch water during the rainy season for storage, to ensure water is available for several months during the dry season as well as supply drinking water, irrigate fields, and water cattle. The Great Hafir, or Great Reservoir, near the Lion Temple in Musawwarat es-Sufra

19364-463: The Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status. The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency, caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of

19552-533: The Nile valley and delta. The historical Middle-Eastern device known in Arabic as saqiya usually had its buckets attached to a double chain, creating a so-called "pot garland". This allowed scooping water out of a much deeper well. An animal-driven saqiya can raise water from 10 to 20 metres depth, and is thus considerably more efficient than a swape or shadoof , as it is known in Arabic, which can only pump water from 3 metres. In Spanish an animal-driven saqiya

19740-518: The Noba were not necessarily Nubian-speakers , but that the term "Noba" was rather a pejorative Meroitic word applied to a large variety of people living outside the Meroitic state. A Meroitic stele found at Gebel Adda from around 300 AD, however, seems to mention a king bearing the Nubian name Trotihi. A bowl from a 4th-century elite burial in el-Hobagi features a Meroitic-Nubian inscription mentioning

19928-615: The Nubian bowmen." The tomb writings contain two other references to the Nubian bowmen of Kush. By 1200 BC, Egyptian involvement in the Dongola Reach was nonexistent. Egypt's international prestige had declined considerably towards the end of the Third Intermediate Period . Its historical allies, the inhabitants of Canaan , had fallen to the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1020 BC), and then

20116-512: The Shaduf, which was the previous irrigation device in the Kingdom. The Shaduf relied on human energy while the saqiya was driven by buffalos or other animals. The sāqiyah might, according to Ananda Coomaraswamy , have been invented in India, where the earliest reference to it is found in the Panchatantra (c. 3rd century BCE), where it was known as an araghaṭṭa ; which is a combination or

20304-669: The XXVth Dynasty pharaohs, and the guardians of the Temple of Amun at Jebel Barkal —could have pressed their 'legitimate' claim for control of Egypt and they thus posed a potential threat to the rulers of Egypt." Herodotus mentioned an invasion of Kush by the Achaemenid ruler Cambyses ( c.  530 BC ). By some accounts Cambyses succeeded in occupying the area between the first and second Nile cataract , however Herodotus mentions that "his expedition failed miserably in

20492-557: The advent of independence in 1947, but tempered by the partition of India into two states: India and Pakistan. Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a secular and democratic republic. Per the London Declaration , India retained its membership of the Commonwealth , becoming the first republic within it. Economic liberalisation, which began in

20680-512: The agricultural sector 18.1%. India's foreign exchange remittances of US$ 100 billion in 2022, highest in the world, were contributed to its economy by 32 million Indians working in foreign countries. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software. In 2006,

20868-495: The arts, and architecture were restored to their glorious Old, Middle, and New Kingdom forms. The Kushite pharaohs built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile valley, including Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, and Jebel Barkal. It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids (many in modern Sudan) since the Middle Kingdom. The Kushites developed their own script,

21056-498: The banking sector, 44th in business sophistication, and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies. With seven of the world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, as of 2009 , the country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States. India is ranked 39th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024. As of 2023 , India's consumer market

21244-619: The beginning of the empire, at el Kurru, to the decline of the kingdom. These monuments developed organically from Middle Nile (e.g. A-group) burial types. Tombs became progressively larger during the 25th dynasty, culminating in Taharqa's underground rectangular building with "aisles of square piers...the whole being cut from the living rock." Kushites also created pyramids, mud-brick temples (deffufa), and masonry temples. Kushites borrowed much from Egypt, as it relates to temple design. Kushite temples were quite diverse in their plans, except for

21432-663: The beginnings of a nonviolent movement of non-co-operation, of which Mahatma Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol. During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections. The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in World War ;II , the Congress's final push for non-co-operation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism . All were capped by

21620-542: The border of Egypt. The polity seems to have been one of several Nile Valley states during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt . In the Kingdom of Kerma's latest phase, lasting from about 1700–1500 BC, it absorbed the Sudanese kingdom of Saï and became a sizable, populous empire rivaling Egypt. Mentuhotep II , the 21st century BC founder of the Middle Kingdom , is recorded to have undertaken campaigns against Kush in

21808-495: The coasts of southern and eastern India. As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs. By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company , had established coastal outposts. The East India Company's control of

21996-452: The commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks, and many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets. There was an increase in the number of large-scale famines , and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians. There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in

22184-625: The contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%. India was the world's second-largest textile exporter after China in the 2013 calendar year. Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007, India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century. Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580 million by 2030. Though ranking 68th in global competitiveness , as of 2010 , India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, 24th in

22372-579: The cost of increasing economic inequality. India is a nuclear-weapon state , which ranks high in military expenditure . It has disputes over Kashmir with its neighbours, Pakistan and China, unresolved since the mid-20th century. Among the socio-economic challenges India faces are gender inequality , child malnutrition , and rising levels of air pollution . India's land is megadiverse , with four biodiversity hotspots . Its forest cover comprises 21.7% of its area. India's wildlife , which has traditionally been viewed with tolerance in India's culture ,

22560-555: The course of the Atbara until reaching the Nile confluence, where he waged war against Kush. Meroe itself is not mentioned, suggesting that Ezana did not attack the town. Aksum's presence in Nubia was likely short-lived. Meroitic texts from as early as the 1st century BC hint to conflicts with the Noba , who lived west of the Nile and were governed by their own chiefs and kings. Perhaps it

22748-482: The decline of its traditional industries. However, there is evidence of third century AD Kushite Kings at Philae in demotic and inscription. It has been suggested that the Kushites reoccupied lower Nubia after Roman forces were withdrawn to Aswan. Kushite activities led others to note "a de facto Kushite control of that area (as far north as Philae) for part of the third century AD. Thereafter, it weakened and disintegrated due to internal rebellion. The fall of Meroe

22936-615: The desert." Achaemenid inscriptions from both Egypt and Iran include Kush as part of the Achaemenid empire. For example, the DNa inscription of Darius I ( r.  522–486 BC ) on his tomb at Naqsh-e Rustam mentions Kūšīyā ( Old Persian cuneiform : 𐎤𐎢𐏁𐎡𐎹𐎠, pronounced Kūshīyā ) among the territories being "ruled over" by the Achaemenid Empire . Derek Welsby states "scholars have doubted that this Persian expedition ever took place, but... archaeological evidence suggests that

23124-581: The design and implementation of Vikrant -class aircraft carriers and Arihant -class nuclear submarines . Since the end of the Cold War , India has increased its economic, strategic, and military co-operation with the United States and the European Union . In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at

23312-507: The early 16th century, northern India, then under mainly Muslim rulers, fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors. The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule. Instead, it balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices and diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule. Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar ,

23500-536: The early mediaeval era, Christianity , Islam , Judaism , and Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts. Muslim armies from Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains, eventually founding the Delhi Sultanate and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan networks of mediaeval Islam . In the 15th century, the Vijayanagara Empire created

23688-518: The east and west. There is some record of conflict between the Kushites and Ptolemies. In 275 or 274 BC, Ptolemy II (r. 283–246 BC) sent an army to Nubia, and defeated the Kingdom of Kush, annexing to Egypt the area later known as Triakontaschoinos . In addition, There was a serious revolt at the end of Ptolemy IV, around 204 BC, and the Kushites likely tried to interfere in Ptolemaic affairs. It has been suggested that this led to Ptolemy V defacing

23876-727: The east. To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau , is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats ; the plateau contains the country's oldest rock formations, some over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44′ and 35° 30′ north latitude and 68° 7′ and 97° 25′ east longitude. India's coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to

24064-596: The effectiveness of the occupation. Dynastic struggles led to the Ptolemies abandoning the area, so "the Kushites reasserted their control...with Qasr Ibrim occupied" (by the Kushites) and other locations perhaps garrisoned. According to Welsby, after the Romans assumed control of Egypt, they negotiated with the Kushites at Philae and drew the southern border of Roman Egypt at Aswan. Theodor Mommsen and Welsby state

24252-505: The emergence of regional elites buried in large tumuli. Princely burials from Qustul ( c. 380–410) and Ballana (410–500) in Lower Nubia are connected to the rise of Nobatia . To its north were the Blemmyes , who in around 394 established a kingdom centered around Talmis that lasted until it was conquered by Nobatia in around 450. The political developments south of the third cataract remain obscure, but it appears that Dongola ,

24440-565: The endangered Bengal tiger and the Ganges river dolphin . Critically endangered species include the gharial , a crocodilian ; the great Indian bustard ; and the Indian white-rumped vulture , which has become nearly extinct by having ingested the carrion of diclofenac -treated cattle. Before they were extensively used for agriculture and cleared for human settlement, the thorn forests of Punjab were mingled at intervals with open grasslands that were grazed by large herds of blackbuck preyed on by

24628-408: The first and fourth cataracts , an area as large as Egypt. The Egyptians were the first to identify Kerma as "Kush" probably from the indigenous ethnonym "Kasu", over the next several centuries the two civilizations engaged in intermittent warfare, trade, and cultural exchange. Much of Nubia came under Egyptian rule during the New Kingdom period (1550–1070 BC). Following Egypt's disintegration amid

24816-496: The fortress of Dorginarti near the second cataract served as Persia's southern boundary." From around 425–300 BC, beginning under the rule of king Amannote-erike , Kush saw a series of kings who revitalized older practices such as the erection of royal steles or royal statues. It was likely also in this period when several older pyramids, among them that of Taharqo, were enlarged. The stele of king Harsiotef , who from around 400 BC ruled for at least 35 years, reports how he fought

25004-437: The genitive kūsi . It is also an ethnic term for the native population who initiated the kingdom of Kush. The term is also displayed in the names of Kushite persons, such as King Kashta (a transcription of kꜣš-tꜣ "(one from) the land of Kush"). Geographically, Kush referred to the region south of the first cataract in general. Kush also was the home of the rulers of the 25th Dynasty . The name Kush , since at least

25192-545: The harmonic ratio. The engraved plans is indicative of much to be revealed about Nubian mathematics. The ancient Nubians also established a system of geometry which they used in creating early versions of sun clocks . During the Meroitic period in Nubian history, the Nubians used a trigonometric methodology similar to the Egyptians. During the siege of Hermopolis in the eighth century BC, siege towers were built for

25380-526: The intermittence is also first implied in one of al-Jazari's saqiya devices, which was to maximise the efficiency of the saqiya. Al-Jazari also constructed a water-raising device that was run by hydropower , though the Chinese had been using hydropower for the same purpose before him. Animal-powered saqiyas and water-powered norias similar to the ones he described have been supplying water in Damascus since

25568-411: The kingdom of Kush by the Noba people who introduced the Nubian languages and gave their name to Nubia itself. Because the Noba and the Blemmyes were at war with the Kushites, the Aksumites took advantage of this, capturing Meroë and looting its gold, marking the end of the kingdom and its dissolution into the three polities of Nobatia , Makuria and Alodia , though the Aksumite presence in Meroe

25756-494: The largest single party, was able to form a minority government led by P. V. Narasimha Rao . A two-year period of political turmoil followed the general election of 1996 . Several short-lived alliances shared power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two comparatively long-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. There were two prime ministers during this period; H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral . In 1998 ,

25944-411: The later capital of Makuria as well as Soba , the capital of Alodia , were founded in that period. Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia eventually converted to Christianity in the 6th century, marking the beginning of medieval Nubia. The Meroitic language was spoken in Meroë and Sudan during the Meroitic period (attested from 300 BC). It became extinct around 400 AD. It is uncertain to which language family

26132-425: The life of its exemplar, Mahavira . 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. In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal, and both established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by

26320-414: The loose-knit Maurya and Gupta Empires based in the Ganges Basin . Their collective era was suffused with wide-ranging creativity, but also marked by the declining status of women, and the incorporation of untouchability into an organised system of belief. In South India , the Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian-languages scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of Southeast Asia . In

26508-419: The majority of India's rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet , tropical dry , subtropical humid , and montane . Temperatures in India have risen by 0.7 °C (1.3 °F) between 1901 and 2018. Climate change in India is often thought to be the cause. The retreat of Himalayan glaciers has adversely affected the flow rate of the major Himalayan rivers, including

26696-551: The most important force components in the Kushite military. Ancient sources indicate that Kushite archers favored one-piece bows that were between six and seven feet long, with a draw strength so powerful that many of the archers used their feet to bend their bows. However, composite bows were also used in their arsenal. Greek historian Herodotus indicated that primary bow construction was of seasoned palm wood, with arrows made of cane. Kushite arrows were often poisoned-tipped . Elephants were occasionally used in warfare during

26884-403: The name of Arqamani on inscriptions at Philae. "Arqamani constructed a small entrance hall to the temple built by Ptolemy IV at selchis and constructed a temple at Philae to which Ptolemy contributed an entrance hall." There is evidence of Ptolemaic occupation as far south as the second cataract, but recent finds at Qasr Ibrim, such as "the total absence of Ptolemaic pottery" have cast doubts on

27072-420: The nation to liberalise its economy ; since then, it has moved increasingly towards a free-market system by emphasising both foreign trade and direct investment inflows. India has been a member of World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995. The 522-million-worker Indian labour force is the world's second largest , as of 2017 . The service sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and

27260-581: The native Egyptian vassal rulers installed by Esarhaddon as puppets were unable to effectively retain full control of the entire country, and Taharqa was able to regain control of Memphis. Esarhaddon's 669 BC campaign to once more eject Taharqa was abandoned when Esarhaddon died in Harran on the way to Egypt, leaving Esarhaddon's successor, Ashurbanipal the task. He defeated Taharqa, driving his forces back into Nubia, and Taharqa died in Napata soon after in 664 BC. Taharqa's successor, Tantamani sailed north from Napata, through Elephantine , and to Thebes with

27448-445: The newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption. The railway network provided critical famine relief, notably reduced the cost of moving goods, and helped nascent Indian-owned industry. After World War I , in which approximately one million Indians served , a new period began. It was marked by British reforms but also repressive legislation , by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by

27636-519: The northwest. Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the Rigveda . Preserved by an oral tradition that was resolutely vigilant , the Rigveda records the dawning of Hinduism in India. The Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in the northern and western regions. By 400  BCE , stratification and exclusion by caste had emerged within Hinduism, and Buddhism and Jainism had arisen, proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity. Early political consolidations gave rise to

27824-420: The oldest archeological evidence of a water wheel has been found, in the form of a saqiya dating back to the 3rd century BCE. A papyrus dating to the 2nd century BCE also found in Faiyum mentions a water wheel used for irrigation, a 2nd-century BC fresco found at Alexandria depicts a compartmented saqiya, and the writings of Callixenus of Rhodes mention the use of a saqiya in the Ptolemaic Kingdom during

28012-442: The priests and had them slaughtered. This story may refer to the first ruler to be buried at Meroë with a similar name such as Arqamani , who ruled many years after the royal cemetery was opened at Meroë. During this same period, the Kushite authority may have extended some 1,500 km along the Nile River valley from the Egyptian frontier in the north to areas far south of modern Khartoum and probably also substantial territories to

28200-420: The proportion of the area of a forest covered by its tree canopy . Very dense forest , whose canopy density is greater than 70%, occupies 3.02% of India's land area. It predominates in the tropical moist forest of the Andaman Islands , the Western Ghats , and Northeast India . Moderately dense forest , whose canopy density is between 40% and 70%, occupies 9.39% of India's land area. It predominates in

28388-399: The region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity . Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. By at least 1200  BCE , an archaic form of Sanskrit , an Indo-European language , had diffused into India from

28576-414: The reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator in the late 3rd century BCE. Early Mediterranean evidence of a saqiya is from a tomb painting in Ptolemaic Egypt that dates to the 2nd century BCE. It shows a pair of yoked oxen driving a compartmented waterwheel. The saqiya gear system is already shown fully developed to the point that "modern Egyptian devices are virtually identical". It is assumed that the scientists of

28764-405: The resurgent Neo-Assyrian Empire (935–605 BC). The Assyrians , from the tenth century BC onwards, had once more expanded from northern Mesopotamia , and conquered a vast empire, including the whole of the Near East , and much of Anatolia , the eastern Mediterranean , the Caucasus and early Iron Age Iran . According to Josephus Flavius, the biblical Moses led the Egyptian army in a siege of

28952-413: The same word, is used to denote an irrigation canal or water channel in Spain. In the Maghreb and Morocco, the related word saqqaya ( Arabic : سقاية ) also denotes a public fountain where residents could take water (similar in function to a sabil ). The English term Persian wheel is first attested in the 17th century (but in the earliest case for a water-driven wheel). The term saqiyah or saqiya

29140-496: The seas, greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to increasingly assert its military strength and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; these factors were crucial in allowing the company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies. Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by

29328-463: The share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985. In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.7%; In 2021, India was the world's ninth-largest importer and the sixteenth-largest exporter . Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and manufactured leather goods. Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals. Between 2001 and 2011,

29516-461: The southern supercontinent Gondwana , began a north-eastward drift caused by seafloor spreading to its south-west, and later, south and south-east. Simultaneously, the vast Tethyan oceanic crust , to its northeast, began to subduct under the Eurasian Plate . These dual processes, driven by convection in the Earth's mantle , both created the Indian Ocean and caused the Indian continental crust eventually to under-thrust Eurasia and to uplift

29704-416: The subcontinent from the north-west. The caste system , which created a hierarchy of priests, warriors, and free peasants, but which excluded indigenous peoples by labelling their occupations impure, arose during this period. On the Deccan Plateau , archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation. In South India , a progression to sedentary life

29892-411: The subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic cultures to the Iron Age ones. The Vedas , the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism , were composed during this period, and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain . Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into

30080-441: The subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north. The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire . Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India, and was to influence South Indian society for long afterwards. In

30268-414: The support of left-leaning parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. The UPA returned to power in the 2009 general election with increased numbers, and it no longer required external support from India's communist parties . That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term. In the 2014 general election ,

30456-424: The time and was not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group , ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce. As a consequence, India became the sixth de facto nuclear weapons state. India subsequently signed co-operation agreements involving civilian nuclear energy with Russia, France,

30644-440: The time of Josephus , has been connected with the biblical character Cush , in the Hebrew Bible ( Hebrew : כּוּשׁ ), son of Ham (Genesis 10:6). Ham had four sons named: Cush, Put , Canaan , and Mizraim (Hebrew name for Egypt). According to the Bible, Nimrod , a son of Cush, was the founder and king of Babylon , Erech , Akkad and Calneh , in Shinar (Gen 10:10). The Bible also makes reference to someone named Cush who

30832-441: The twin existential threats—the Hyksos in the North and the Kushites in the South. Taken from the autobiographical inscriptions on the walls of his tomb-chapel, the Egyptians undertook campaigns to defeat Kush and conquer Nubia under the rule of Amenhotep I (1514–1493 BC). In Ahmose's writings, the Kushites are described as archers , "Now after his Majesty had slain the Bedoin of Asia, he sailed upstream to Upper Nubia to destroy

31020-462: The two nations have gone to war four times: in 1947 , 1965 , 1971 , and 1999 . Three of these wars were fought over the disputed territory of Kashmir , while the third, the 1971 war, followed from India's support for the independence of Bangladesh . In the late 1980s, the Indian military twice intervened abroad at the invitation of the host country: a peace-keeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990; and an armed intervention to prevent

31208-422: The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir , Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi , have elected legislatures and governments following the Westminster system of governance. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the central government through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act , states were reorganised on a linguistic basis. There are over

31396-512: The water-driven wheel and several other types of water-lifting devices under the general term saqiya . In Spain , by contrast, the term noria is used for both types of wheels, whether powered by animals or water current. The saqiya is a large hollow wheel, traditionally made of wood. One type has its clay pots or buckets attached directly to the periphery of the wheel, which limits the depth it can scoop water from to less than half its diameter. The modern version also known as zawaffa or jhallan

31584-476: The west; China , Nepal , and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives ; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand , Myanmar, and Indonesia . Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made

31772-432: The western part of the Indo-Gangetic plain, now turned into rich agricultural land by irrigation, its features no longer visible. Among the Indian subcontinent's notable indigenous trees are the astringent Azadirachta indica , or neem , which is widely used in rural Indian herbal medicine , and the luxuriant Ficus religiosa , or peepul , which is displayed on the ancient seals of Mohenjo-daro , and under which

31960-465: The wife of king Piye . Later royal inscriptions remember Alara as the founder of the dynasty, some calling him "chieftain", others "king". A 7th century inscription claimed that his sister was the grandmother of king Taharqo . An inscription of the 5th century king Amanineteyerike remembered Alara's reign as long and successful. Alara was probably buried at el-Kurru, although there exists no inscription to identify his tomb. It has been proposed that it

32148-519: The words ara (speedy or a spoked[wheel]) and ghaṭṭa "pot" in Sanskrit . That device was either used like a sāqiyah, to lift water from a well while being powered by oxen or people, or it was used to irrigate fields when it was powered in the manner of a water-wheel by being placed in a stream or large irrigation channel. In the latter case we usually speak of a noria as opposed to a sāqiyah. In Ranjit Sitaram Pandit 's translation of Kalhana 's 12th century chronicle Rajatarangini , this mechanism

32336-444: The world in nominal per capita income and 125th in per capita income adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP)—the vast majority of Indians fall into the low-income group. Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. Widespread state intervention and regulation largely walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 forced

32524-437: The world's most populous democracy since the time of its independence in 1947. It is a pluralistic , multilingual and multi-ethnic society . India's nominal per capita income increased from US$ 64 annually in 1951 to US$ 2,601 in 2022, and its literacy rate from 16.6% to 74%. During the same time, its population grew from 361 million to almost 1.4 billion, and India became the most populous country in 2023. From being

32712-404: The world's newer nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved. India accounts for the bulk of the Indian subcontinent, lying atop the Indian tectonic plate , a part of the Indo-Australian Plate . India's defining geological processes began 75 million years ago when the Indian Plate, then part of

32900-559: Was Alara who turned Kush from a chiefdom to an Egyptianized kingdom centered around the cult of Amun . Alara's successor Kashta extended Kushite control north to Elephantine and Thebes in Upper Egypt . Kashta's successor Piye seized control of Lower Egypt around 727 BC. Piye's Victory Stela , celebrating these campaigns between 728 and 716 BC, was found in the Amun temple at Jebel Barkal. He invaded an Egypt fragmented into four kingdoms, ruled by King Peftjauawybast , King Nimlot , King Iuput II , and King Osorkon IV . Why

33088-498: Was a time of unrest and conflict within the royal elite. Aspelta moved the capital to Meroë , considerably farther south than Napata , possibly c.  591 BC , just after the sack of Napata by Psamtik II . Martin Meredith states the Kushite rulers chose Meroë, between the Fifth and Sixth Cataracts , because it was on the fringe of the summer rainfall belt, and the area was rich in iron ore and hardwood for iron working . The location also afforded access to trade routes to

33276-426: Was absorbed into the New Kingdom of Egypt , but rebellions continued for centuries. After the conquest, Kerma culture was increasingly Egyptianized, yet rebellions continued for 220 years until c.  1300 BC . Nubia nevertheless became a key province of the New Kingdom, economically, politically, and spiritually. Indeed, major pharaonic ceremonies were held at Jebel Barkal near Napata. As an Egyptian colony from

33464-457: Was amended in 1971 to "a sovereign, socialist , secular , democratic republic". India's form of government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak states, has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic, and social changes. The Government of India comprises three branches: India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories . All states, as well as

33652-444: Was an alphabetic script with 23 signs used in a hieroglyphic form (mainly on monumental art) and in a cursive form. The latter was widely used; so far some 1,278 texts using this version are known (Leclant 2000). The script was deciphered by Griffith, but the language behind it is still a problem, with only a few words understood by modern scholars. It is not as yet possible to connect the Meroitic language with other known languages. For

33840-428: Was likely short lived. Sometime after this event, the Kingdom of Alodia would gain control of the southern territory of the former Meroitic empire including parts of Eritrea. Long overshadowed by its more prominent Egyptian neighbor, archaeological discoveries since the late 20th century have revealed Kush to be an advanced civilization in its own right. The Kushites had their own unique language and script; maintained

34028-426: Was nominally worth $ 3.94 trillion; it was the fifth-largest economy by market exchange rates and is, at around $ 15.0 trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). With its average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the past two decades, and reaching 6.1% during 2011–2012, India is one of the world's fastest-growing economies . However, due to its low GDP per capita—which ranks 136th in

34216-440: Was not a crippling blow to the Kushites and did not frighten Candace enough to prevent her from again engaging in combat with the Roman military. In 22 BC, a large Kushite force moved northward with intention of attacking Qasr Ibrim . Alerted to the advance, Gaius Petronius , prefect of Roman Egypt, again marched south and managed to reach Qasr Ibrim and bolster its defenses before the invading Kushites arrived. Welsby states after

34404-443: Was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule. In 1947, the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions , a Hindu-majority dominion of India and a Muslim-majority dominion of Pakistan , amid large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration. India has been a federal republic since 1950, governed through a democratic parliamentary system , and has been

34592-438: Was pegged at US$ 70.12 billion for fiscal year 2022–23 and, increased 9.8% than previous fiscal year. India is the world's second-largest arms importer; between 2016 and 2020, it accounted for 9.5% of the total global arms imports. Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean. In May 2017, the Indian Space Research Organisation launched

34780-532: Was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi , who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971 . Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977 ; the then-new Janata Party , which had opposed the emergency, was voted in. Its government lasted just over two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; Morarji Desai and Charan Singh . Voted back into power in 1980,

34968-411: Was the world's fifth largest . Driven by growth, India's nominal GDP per capita increased steadily from US$ 308 in 1991, when economic liberalisation began, to US$ 1,380 in 2010, to an estimated US$ 2,731 in 2024. It is expected to grow to US$ 3,264 by 2026. However, it has remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and

35156-440: Was the increasingly arid climate that forced them to attack the Nile Valley, although they would not manage to break through until the 4th century. The Ezana stele mentioned that they had occupied Kushite towns and were active as far east as the Takeze River , where they harassed Aksumite vassals. These attacks and them breaking oaths they had sworn to Ezana were the main reason for his Nubian expedition. It has been proposed that

35344-736: Was used widely since the era of the Mughal Empire . The meaning of Hindustan has varied, referring to a region encompassing the northern Indian subcontinent (present-day northern India and Pakistan ) or to India in its near entirety. By 55,000 years ago, the first modern humans, or Homo sapiens , had arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa, where they had earlier evolved. The earliest known modern human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago. After 6500  BCE , evidence for domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, and storage of agricultural surplus appeared in Mehrgarh and other sites in Balochistan, Pakistan . These gradually developed into

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