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Literacy rates (by district) in India.

Literacy in India is key for socio-economic progress,^[1] and the Indian literacy rate grew to 75.06% in 2011 from 12% at the end of British rule in 1947.^[2][3] Although this was a greater than sixfold improvement, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%,^[4] and India currently has the largest illiterate population of any nation on earth.^[5] Despite government programs, India's literacy rate increased only "sluggishly,"^[6] and a 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-current rate of progress.^[7] The 2011 census, however, indicated a 2001-2011 decadal literacy growth of 9.2%, which is the slower than the growth seen during the previous decade.

There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India: effective literacy rates (age 7 and above) in 2011 were 82.14% for men and 65.46% for women. ^[8] The low female literacy rate has had a dramatically negative impact on family planning and population stabilization efforts in India. Studies have indicated that female literacy is a strong predictor of the use of contraception among married Indian couples, even when women do not otherwise have economic independence.^[9] The census provided a positive indication that growth in female literacy rates (11.8%) was substantially faster than in male literacy rates (6.9%) in the 2001-2011 decadal period, which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing.^[10]

World map of literacy, UNHD 2011 report.

Comparative literacy statistics[link]

Although schooling is free and compulsory from 6–14 years of age, facilities are inadequate and often totally lacking. Approximately 40% of students, mostly girls, drop out by secondary school ... it is estimated that by the year 2020 over 50% of the illiterate population will live in India ...^[11]

The table below shows the adult and youth literacy rates for India and some neighbouring countries in 2002.^[12] Adult literacy rate is based on the 15+ years age group, while Youth literacy rate is for the 15–24 years age group (i.e. youth is a subset of adults).

Reasons for Low Literacy Rate[link]

The absence of adequate school infrastructure like improper facilities and inefficient teaching staff is one of the main factors affecting literacy in India. There is a shortage of 6lakh classrooms to accommodate all the students in 2006-2007.^[22] In addition, there is no proper sanitation in most schools. The study of 188 government-run primary schools in central and northern India revealed that 59% of the schools had no drinking water facility and 89% no toilets.^[23] A Public Report On Basic Education (PROBE) team did surveys and reported that India had very poor infrastructure in 1999 and a 25% rate of teachers being absent from school on any particular day in 2005.^[24] In 600,000 villages and multiplying urban slum habitats, ‘free and compulsory education’ is the basic literacy instruction dispensed by barely qualified ‘para teachers’.^[25] The average Pupil Teacher Ratio for All India is 1:42, implying teacher shortage.^[26] Such inadequacies resulted in a non-standardized school system where literacy rates may differ.^[25] Furthermore, the expenditure allocated to education was never above 4.3% of the GDP from 1951-2002 despite the target of 6% by the Kothari Commission.^[27] This further complicates the literacy problem in India.

Severe caste disparities also exist.^[25] Discrimination of lower castes has resulted in high dropout rates and low enrolment rates. The National Sample Survey Organization and the National Family Health Survey collected data in India on the percentage of children completing primary school which are reported to be only 36.8% and 37.7% respectively.^[28] On 21 February 2005, the Prime Minister of India said that he was pained to note that “only 47 out of 100 children enrolled in class I reach class VIII, putting the dropout rate at 52.78 per cent.”^[26] It is estimated that at least 35 million, and possibly as many as 60 million, children aged 6–14 years are not in school.^[25]

Absolute poverty in India has also deterred the pursuit of formal education as education is not deemed of as the highest priority among the poor as compared to other basic necessities. The MRP-based (mixed recall period) poverty estimates of about 22% of poverty in 2004-05 which translated to 22 out of per 100 people are not meeting their basic needs, much less than meeting the need for education.^[29]

The large proportion of illiterate females is another reason for low literacy in India. Inequality based on gender differences resulted in female literacy rates being lower at 54.2% than that of their male counterparts at 75.8%.^[30] Due to strong stereotyping of female and male roles, Sons are thought of to be more useful and hence are educated. Females are pulled to help out on agricultural farms at home as they are increasingly replacing the males on such activities which require no formal education.^[31] Fewer than 2% of girls who engaged in agriculture work attended school.^[31]

Growth of literacy[link]

The British Period[link]

Literacy in India grew very slowly until independence in 1947. An acceleration in the rate of literacy growth occurred in the 1991-2001 period.

Prior to the British era, India had its own system of education called Gurukul. However, due to the decline of Indian economy during the british rule^{[citation needed]} there was a slow decline of gurukuls which depended largely on donations.

The British started a new style of education which was hugely inappropriate to the Indian condition. Children who usually took part leave during ripening season to help their parents were considered undisciplined. The mess created by British led to steady decline of the literacy rate of India. The following stats available however of the English educated Indians. Between 1881-82 and 1946–47, the number of English primary schools grew from 82,916 to 134,866 and the number of students in English Schools grew from 2,061,541 to 10,525,943. Literacy rates in accordance to British in India rose from 3.2 per cent in 1881 to 7.2 per cent in 1931 and 12.2 per cent in 1947.^[2]

In 2000-01, there were 60,840 pre-primary and pre-basic schools, and 664,041 primary and junior basic schools.^[32] Total enrollment at the primary level has increased from 19,200,000 in 1950-51 to 109,800,000 in 2001-02.^[33] The number of high schools in 2000-01 was higher than the number of primary schools at the time of independence.^[2][32]

In 1944, the Government of British India presented a plan, called the Sergeant Scheme for the educational reconstruction of India, with a goal of producing 100% literacy in the country within 40 years, i.e. by 1984.^[34] Although the 40 year time-frame was derided at the time by leaders of the Indian independence movement as being too long a period to achieve universal literacy,^[34] India had only just crossed the 74% level by the 2011 census.

Post Independence[link]

The provision of universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6-14 was a cherished national ideal and had been given overriding priority by incorporaton as a Directive Policy in Article 45 of the Constitution, but it is still to be achieved more than half a century since the Constitution was adopted in 1949. Parliament has passed the Constitution 86th Amendment Act, 2002, to make elementary education a Fundamental Right for children in the age group of 6–14 years.^[35] In order to provide more funds for education, an education cess of 2 per cent has been imposed on all direct and indirect central taxes through the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004.^[36]

The literacy rate grew from 18.33 per cent in 1951, to 28.30 per cent in 1961, 34.45 per cent in 1971, 43.57 per cent in 1981, 52.21 per cent in 1991, 64.84 per cent in 2001 and 74.04 per cent in 2011.^[37] During the same period, the population grew from 361 million to 1,210 million.

Literacy rate variations between states[link]

The literacy rates of different Indian states in 2001 and 2011.

Kerala is the most literate state in India, with 100% literacy, followed closely by Lakshadweep at 92.28%. Bihar is the least literate state in India with 63.82% literacy. Several other social indicators of the two states are correlated with these rates, such as life expectancy at birth (71.61 for males and 75 for females in Kerala, 65.66 for males and 64.79 for females in Bihar), infant mortality per 1,000 live births (10 in Kerala, 61 in Bihar), birth rate per 1,000 people (16.9 in Kerala, 30.9 in Bihar) and death rate per 1,000 people (6.4 in Kerala, 7.9 in Bihar).^[38]

Every census since 1881 had indicated rising literacy in the country, but the population growth rate had been high enough that the absolute number of illiterates rose with every decade. The 2001-2011 decade is the second census period (after the 1991-2001 census period) when the absolute number of Indian illiterates declined (by 31,196,847 people), indicating that the literacy growth rate is now outstripping the population growth rate.^[39]

Bihar is the only remaining Indian state in the 2011 census where less than 65% of the population was literate.^[39] It is also only one of two states where less than 75% of the male population (the other being Arunachal Pradesh) was literate and only one of two states where less than 55% of the female population (the other being Rajasthan) was literate.^[39] Six Indian states account for about 70% of all illiterates in India: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.^[40] Slightly less than half of all Indian illiterates (48.12%) are in the six Hindi-speaking states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.^[40]

Large variations in literacy exist even between contiguous states. While there are a few states at the top and bottom, most states are just above or below the national average.

Learnings from state literacy efforts in India[link]

Several states in India have executed successful programs to boost literacy rates. Over time, a set of factors have emerged as being key to success: official will to succeed, deliberate steps to engage the community in administering the program, adequate funding for infrastructure and teachers, and provisioning additional services which are considered valuable by the community (such as free school lunches).

Bihar literacy challenges[link]

Bihar has significantly raised the literacy rate as per the 2011 census. Even in Bihar, however, the literacy rate is rising: from 39% in 1991 to 47% in 2001 to 63.8% in 2011.^[39] The Government of Bihar has launched several programs to boost literacy, and its Department of Adult Education even won a UNESCO award in 1981.^[41]

Extensive impoverishment, entrenched hierarchical social divisions and the lack of correlation between educational attainment and job opportunities are often cited in studies of the hurdles literacy programs face in Bihar. Children from "lower castes" are frequently denied school attendance and harassed when they do attend.^[42] In areas where there is no discrimination, poor funding and impoverished families means that children often cannot afford textbooks and stationery.^[42]

When children do get educated, the general lack of economic progress in the state means that government jobs are the only alternative to farm labor, yet these jobs, in practise, require bribes to secure - which poorer families cannot afford.^[42] This leads to educated youths working on the farms, much as uneducated ones do, and leads parents to question the investment of sending children to school in the first place.^[42] Bihar's government schools have also faced teacher absenteeism, leading the state government to threaten withholding of salaries of teachers who failed to conduct classes on a regular basis.^[43] To incentivize students to attend, the government announced a Rupee 1 per schoolday grant to poor children who show-up to school.^[43]

Kerala literacy successes[link]

Kerala has the highest literacy rate among the states of India, followed by the state of Mizoram. State topped the Education Development Index (EDI) among 21 major states in India in year 2006-2007.[143] More than 94% of the rural population has access to primary school within 1 km, while 98% of population benefits one school within a distance of 2 km. An upper primary school within a distance of 3 km is available for more than 96% of the people, whose 98% benefit the facility for secondary education within 8 km. The access for rural students to higher educational institutions in cities is facilitated by widely subsidised transport fares. Kerala's educational system has been developed by institutions owned or aided by the government. In the educational system prevailed in the state, schooling is for 10 years which is subdivided into lower primary, upper primary and high school. After 10 years of secondary schooling, students typically enroll in Higher Secondary Schooling in one of the three major streams—liberal arts, commerce or science. Upon completing the required coursework, students can enroll in general or professional undergraduate programmes. Kerala undertook a "campaign for total literacy" in Ernakulam district in the late 1980s, with a "fusion between the district administration headed by its Collector on one side and, on the other side, voluntary groups, social activists and others".^[44] On February 4, 1990, . The Government of Kerala then replicated the initiative on a statewide level, launching the Kerala State Literacy Campaign.^[44] First, households were surveyed with door-to-door, multistage survey visits to form an accurate picture of the literacy landscape and areas that needed special focus. Then, Kala Jāthas (cultural troupes) and Sāksharata Pada Yātras (Literacy Foot Marches) were organized to generate awareness of the campaign and create a receptive social atmosphere for the program.^[44] An integrated management system was created involving state officials, prominent social figures, local -officials and senior voluntary workers to oversee the execution of the campaign.^[44]

Himachal Pradesh literacy successes[link]

Strong government action and community support made Himachal Pradesh one of India's most literate states by 2001

Himachal Pradesh underwent a "Schooling Revolution" in the 1961-2001 period that has been called "even more impressive than Kerala's."^[45] Kerala has led the nation in literacy rates since the 19th century and seen sustained initiatives for over 150 years, whereas Himachal Pradesh's literacy rates in 1961 were below the national average in every age group.^[45] In the three decadal 1961-1991 period, female literacy in the 15–19 years age group went from 11% to 86%.^[45] School attendance for both boys and girls in the 6-14 year age group stood at over 97% each when measured in the 1998-99 school year.^[45]

A key factor that has been credited for these advances is Himachal's cultural background. Himachal Pradesh is a Himalayan state with lower social stratification than many other states, which enables social programs to be carried out more smoothly. Once the Government of Himachal Pradesh was able to establish a social norm that "schooling is an essential part of every child's upbringing," literacy as a normal attribute of life was adopted very rapidly.^[45] Government efforts in expanding schools and providing teachers were sustained after the 1960s and communities often responded very collaboratively, including with constructing school rooms and providing firewood essential during the Himalayan winters.^[45]

Mizoram literacy successes[link]

Mizoram is the second most literate state in all of India, second only to Kerala, with Serchhip and Aizawl districts being the two most literate districts in India (literacy rate is 98.76% and 98.50%),both in Mizoram ^[39] {Mizoram's literacy rate rose rapidly after independence: from 31.14% in 1951 to 88.80% in 2001.^[46] As in Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram has a social structure that is relatively free of hierarchy and strong official intent to produce total literacy.^[47] The government identified illiterates and organized an administrative structure that engaged officials and community leaders, and manned by "animators" who were responsible for teaching five illiterates each.^[48] Mizoram established 360 continuing education centers to handle continued education beyond the initial literacy teaching and to provide an educational safety net for school dropouts.^[48]

Tamil Nadu literacy successes[link]

Tamil Nadu is the most literate state of India according to the HRD ministry of India's 2003 statistics. One of the pioneers of the scheme is the Madras that started providing cooked meals to children in corporation schools in the Madras city in 1923.The programme was introduced in a large scale in 1960s under the Chief Ministership of K. Kamaraj.The first major thrust came in 1982 when Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. M. G. Ramachandran, decided to universalise the scheme for all children up to class 10.Tamil Nadu’s midday meal programme is among the best known in the country.^[49] Starting in 1982, Tamil Nadu took an approach to promoting literacy based on free lunches for schoolchildren, "ignoring cynics who said it was an electoral gimmick and economists who said it made little fiscal sense."^[50] The then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, MGR launched the program, which resembled a similar initiative in 19th century Japan, because "he had experienced as a child what it was like to go hungry to school with the family having no money to buy food".^[50]

Eventually, the program covered all children under the age of 15, as well as pregnant women for the first four months of their pregnancy. Tamil Nadu's literacy rate rose from 54.4% in 1981 to 80.3% in 2011.^[50] In 2001, the Supreme Court of India instructed all state governments to implement free school lunches in all government-funded schools, but implementation has been patchy due to corruption and social issues.^[50] Despite these hurdles, 120 million receive free lunches in Indian schools every day, making it the largest school meal program in the world.^[51]

Rajasthan literacy successes[link]

Although the decadal rise from 2001-11 was only 7% (60.4% in 2001 to 67.1% in 2011)Rajasthan had the biggest percentage decadal (1991–2001) increase in literacy of all Indian states, from about 38% to about 61%, a leapfrog that has been termed "spectacular" by some observers.^[52] Aggressive state government action, in the form of the District Primary Education Programme, the Shiksha Karmi initiative and the Lok Jumbish programme, are credited with the rapid improvement.^[53] Virtually every village in Rajasthan now has primary school coverage.^[52] When statehood was granted to Rajasthan in 1956, it was the least literate state in India with a literacy rate of 18%.^[53]

Social commentary[link]

In his essay on Social Infrastructure As Important As Physical Infrastructure published in India Development Report 2002, Kirit S. Parikh had pointed out, “With a literacy rate of 65, we have 296 million illiterates, age seven years and above, as per the 2001 census. The number of illiterates today exceeds the population of the country of around 270 million at Independence, age seven and above.”

In his book The Argumentative Indian, Amartya Sen notes, on the basis of investigations by Pratichi Trust, set up with the proceeds of his Nobel award, carried out in West Bengal and Jharkhand, that absenteeism of comparatively well-paid teachers, particularly where bulk of the students come from scheduled castes and tribes, poses a major problem. Students are circumstantially forced to go in for private tuitions.

He concludes, “Sometimes the very institutions that were created to overcome disparities and barriers have tended to act as reactionary influences in reinforcing inequality… The teachers’ unions, which have a very positive role to play in protecting the interests of teachers and have played that part well in the past, are often turning into an influence that reinforces the neglect of the interests of children from desperately underprivileged families. There is evidence of hardening of class barriers that separate the newly affluent teachers from the impoverished rural poor.”

Literacy efforts[link]

The right to education is a fundamental right,^[54] and UNESCO aims at education for all by 2015.^[54] India, along with the Arab states and sub-Saharan Africa, has a literacy level below the threshold level of 75%, but efforts are on to achieve that level. The campaign to achieve at least the threshold literacy level represents the largest ever civil and military mobilization in the country.^[55] International Literacy Day is celebrated each year on 8 September with the aim to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.

Government schemes[link]

National Literacy Mission[link]

The National Literacy Mission, launched in 1988, aimed at attaining a literacy rate of 75 per cent by 2007. It imparts functional literacy to non-literates in the age group of 15–35 years. The Total Literacy Campaign is the principal strategy of the NLM for eradication of illiteracy. The Continuing Education Scheme provides a learning continuum to the efforts of the Total Literacy and Post literacy programmes.^[35]

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan[link]

The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (Hindi for Total Literacy Campaign) was launched in 2001 to ensure that all children in the 6–14 year age-group attend school and complete eight years of schooling by 2010. An important component of the scheme is the Education Guarantee Scheme and Alternative and Innovative Education, meant primarily for children in areas with no formal school within a one kilometre radius. The centrally sponsored District Primary Education Programme, launched in 1994, had opened more than 160,000 new schools by 2005, including almost 84,000 alternative schools.^[35]

Non-governmental efforts[link]

The bulk of Indian illiterates live in the country's rural areas, where social and economic barriers play an important role in keeping the lowest strata of society illiterate. Government programmes alone, however well intentioned, may not be able to dismantle barriers built over centuries. Major social reformation efforts are sometimes required to bring about a change in the rural scenario. Several non-governmental organizations such as ITC, Rotary Club, Lions Club have worked to improve the literacy rate in India.

Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation[link]

Shantha Sinha won a Magsaysay Award in 2003 in recognition of "her guiding the people of Andhra Pradesh to end the scourge of child labour and send all of their children to school." As head of an extension program at the University of Hyderabad in 1987, she organized a three-month-long camp to prepare children rescued from bonded labour to attend school. Later, in 1991, she guided her family’s Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation to take up this idea as part of its overriding mission in Andhra Pradesh. Her original transition camps grew into full-fledged residential "bridge schools." The foundation's aim is to create a social climate hostile to child labour, child marriage and other practices that deny children the right to a normal childhood. Today the MV Foundation’s bridge schools and programs extend to 4,300 villages.^[56]

Definition of literacy[link]

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has drafted a definition of literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."^[57]

The National Literacy Mission defines literacy as acquiring the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic and the ability to apply them to one's day-to-day life. The achievement of functional literacy implies (i) self-reliance in 3 R's, (ii) awareness of the causes of deprivation and the ability to move towards amelioration of their condition by participating in the process of development, (iii) acquiring skills to improve economic status and general well being, and (iv) imbibing values such as national integration, conservation of environment, women's equality, observance of small family norms.

The working definition of literacy in the Indian census since 1991 is as follows:^[58]

• Literacy rate: The total percentage of the population of an area at a particular time aged seven years or above who can read and write with understanding. Here the denominator is the population aged seven years or more.
• Crude literacy rate: The total percentage of the people of an area at a particular time aged seven years or above who can read and write with understanding, taking the total population of the area (including below seven years of age) as the denominator.

See also[link]

• Indian states ranking by literacy rate
• Literacy
• Education in India
• Kerala model
• Speech on Education in India by Keshub Chandra Sen delivered at London on 24 May 1870.
• Ekal Vidyalaya, non-profit charity organization dedicated to education and village development in rural India
• Pratham, an NGO with literacy programmes

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Literacy in India

• National Literacy Mission
• Indian Census
• National Literacy Policies – India
• Need for literacy in India
• Growth of literacy in India
• Literacy in the context of constitution of India
• Find details about Literacy in India
• Literacy as seen in the 2001 census
• Frontline article Education for too few, 5 December 2003
• The Hindu article Two word mantra, 1 February 2004
• Times of India editorial Learn to change, 28 July 2006
• The Statesman editorial Institutionalised sub literacy, 22 August 2006
• Left behind by Bangladesh - The Telegraph report on 2 October 2005
• Provisional Population Totals for Census 2011 31 March 2011

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Republic of India Bhārat Gaṇarājya
Flag Emblem
Motto:  "Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit)    "Truth Alone Triumphs"[1]
Anthem:  Jana Gana Mana    "Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People"[2]
National song: Vande Mataram         "I Bow to Thee, Mother"[a][1]
Area controlled by India is in dark green. Claimed but uncontrolled regions are in light green.
Capital		New Delhi 28°36.8′N 77°12.5′E / 28.6133°N 77.2083°E / 28.6133; 77.2083
Largest city		Mumbai
Official language(s)		Hindi, English Hindi in the Devanagari script is the official language of the Union and English an additional language for official work.[1]
Recognised regional languages		Eighth Schedule Assamese Bengali Bodo Dogri Gujarati Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Konkani Maithili Malayalam Manipuri Marathi Nepali Oriya Punjabi Sanskrit Santali Sindhi Tamil Telugu Urdu
National language(s)		none[3]
Demonym		Indian
Government		Federal parliamentary constitutional republic[1]
-	President	Pratibha Patil
-	Vice President	Mohammad Hamid Ansari
-	Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh (INC)
-	Speaker of the House	Meira Kumar (INC)
-	Chief Justice	S. H. Kapadia
Legislature		Parliament of India
-	Upper house	Rajya Sabha
-	Lower house	Lok Sabha
Independence		from the United Kingdom
-	Declared	15 August 1947
-	Republic	26 January 1950
Area
-	Total	3,287,263 km2 [b](7th) 1,269,219 sq mi
-	Water (%)	9.56
Population
-	2011 census	1,210,193,422[4] (2nd)
-	Density	369.1/km2 (31st) 956.1/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$4.457 trillion[5] (3rd)
-	Per capita	$3,693[5] (129th)
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$1.676 trillion[5] (11th)
-	Per capita	$1,388[5] (140th)
Gini (2004)		36.8[6] (79th)
HDI (2011)		0.547[7] (medium) (134th)
Currency		Indian rupee () (INR)
Time zone		IST (UTC+05:30)
-	Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+05:30)
Date formats		dd-mm-yyyy (AD)
Drives on the		left
ISO 3166 code		IN
Internet TLD		.in other TLDs .ভারত .ભારત .भारत .ଭାରତ‌ .ਭਾਰਤ .இந்தியா .భారత్ بھارت.
Calling code		91

India (ⁱ/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya),^[c] is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;^[d] China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history.^[8] Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

The Indian economy is the world's eleventh-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, illiteracy, corruption, and inadequate public healthcare. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks ninth in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and multiethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Etymology[link]

The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu. The latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River.^[9] The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ινδοί), which translates as "the people of the Indus".^[10] The geographical term Bharat (pronounced [ˈbʱaːrət̪] ( listen)), which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in various subtle guises.^[11] The eponym of Bharat is Bharata, a mythological figure that Hindu scriptures describe as a legendary emperor of ancient India. Hindustan ([ɦɪnd̪ʊˈst̪aːn] ( listen)) was originally a Persian word that meant "Land of the Hindus"; prior to 1947, it referred to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan. It is occasionally used to solely denote India in its entirety.^[12][13]

History[link]

Ancient India[link]

The earliest anatomically modern human remains found in South Asia date from approximately 30,000 years ago.^[14] Nearly contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites have been found in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, including at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh.^[15] Around 7000 BCE, the first known Neolithic settlements appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other sites in western Pakistan.^[16] These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation,^[17] the first urban culture in South Asia;^[18] it flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India.^[19] 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.^[18]

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

During the period 2000–500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age.^[20] The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism,^[21] were composed during this period,^[22] and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain.^[20] Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent from the north-west.^[23][21][24] The caste system, which created a hierarchy of priests, warriors, and free peasants, but which excluded indigenous peoples by labeling their occupations impure, arose during this period.^[25] On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation.^[20] In southern India, a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period,^[26] as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions.^[26]

In the late Vedic period, around the 5th century BCE, the small chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas.^[27][28] The emerging urbanisation and the orthodoxies of this age also led to the resurgence of ancient Shramanic traditions of Buddhism and Jainism,^[29] both of which were independent religions.^[30] Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle;^[29][31] Jainism came into prominence around the same time during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira.^[32] In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal,^[33] and both established long-lasting monasteries.^[27] Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire.^[27] The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas.^[34][35] 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 the Buddhist dhamma.^[36][37]