West India (Western India) or the Western region of India consists of the states of Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra, along with the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.^{[citation needed]} It is highly industrialized, with a large urban population. Most of Western India was part of the Maratha Empire before colonization by the British. The regions became part of India upon independence, and took their current form after the States Reorganization Act of 1956. The states are roughly bounded by the Thar Desert in the northwest, the Vindhya Range in the north and the Arabian Sea in the west. A major portion of Western India shares the Deccan Plateau with South India. Before the partition of India, Sindh and Balochistan were also included in this region.

Parts of Gujarat were the site of Indus Valley Civilization. Sites have been uncovered in Gujarat at Lothal, Surkotada, and around Ghaggar river in Rajasthan. The Western Indian region was ruled by the Maurya Kingdom, Gurjars, Rajputs, Satavahanas, Western Satraps, Indo Greeks etc. in the ancients times. During the medieval age, the region came under Persian influence and also under Mughal rule. Later, the Maratha Empire which arose in western Maharashtra came to dominate a major portion of the Indian sub-continent. However its defeat by the British in the Anglo-Maratha wars left most of India under colonial rule. The region then experienced great upheavals during the struggle for Indian Independence. Gandhi's Dandi March took place in Gujarat. The region became part of independent India in 1947, and the present state boundaries were drawn based on linguistic considerations in 1956.

India (ⁱ/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), 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;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. 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.

Eric S. Margolis (born 1942 or 1943) is an American-born journalist and writer. For 27 years, ending in 2010, he was a contributing editor to the Toronto Sun chain of newspapers, writing mainly about the Middle East, South Asia and Islam. He contributes to the Huffington Post and appears frequently on Canadian television broadcasts, as well as on CNN. A multinational, he holds residences in New York, Paris, and Banff, Canada. Margolis is the owner of Canadian vitamin manufacturer Jamieson Laboratories.

Margolis was born in New York City in 1947 to Henry M. Margolis, and Nexhmie Zaimi, an American-Albanian. His father was a New York businessman, restaurant owner, theatrical producer and investor, while his mother was a journalist and author. Eric Margolis holds degrees from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, the University of Geneva and New York University. During the Vietnam War he enlisted in the U.S. Army.^{[citation needed]}

Margolis writes a regular column for the Huffington Post and also writes for Dawn, an English language Pakistani newspaper, the Gulf Times in Qatar, the Khaleej Times in Dubai, New York Times and The American Conservative . He appears regularly on such television outlets as CNN,Fox, CBC,British Sky Broadcasting News, NPR, and CTV. He is a regular guest on the TV Ontario's The Agenda''.

Stephen Knapp (born 1947, Worcester, Massachusetts) is an American artist best known for his use of the medium of lightpainting He has gained an international reputation for large-scale works of art held in museums, public, corporate, and private collections, which are executed in media as diverse as light, kiln-formed glass, metal, stone, mosaic, and ceramic.

Knapp has written and lectured on architectural art glass, the collaborative process, and the integration of art and architecture. His work has appeared in many publications including Art and Antiques, Architectural Record, ARTnews, Ceramics Monthly, The Chicago Sun Times, Honoho Geijutsu, Identity, Interior Design, Interiors, The New York Times, Nikkei Architecture, Progressive Architecture, Sculpture (magazine), and 90+10.

Stephen Knapp was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1947, graduated from Worcester Academy in 1965, and received his B.A. from Hamilton College in 1969. For nearly a decade after graduating from college, he worked as a fine art photographer, selling his work to corporate and private collectors in the United States and abroad. During this early stage in his career Knapp worked closely with Polaroid Corporation on their 20x24 camera, creating large scale instant photographs.

Salman Khan (pronunciation : [səlˈmaːn ˈxaːn]; born Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan on 27 December 1965) is an Indian film actor. He has starred in more than 80 Hindi films.

Khan, who made his acting debut with a minor role in the drama Biwi Ho To Aisi (1988), had his first commercial success with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), for which he won a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. He went on to star in some successful Hindi films of those times, such as Saajan (1991), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), Karan Arjun (1995), Judwaa (1997), Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya (1998) and Biwi No.1 (1999), having appeared in the highest earning films of seven separate years during his career.

In 1999, Khan won a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his extended appearance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), and since then has starred in several critical and commercial successes, including Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Tere Naam (2003), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), No Entry (2005), Partner (2007), Wanted (2009), Dabangg (2010), Ready (2011) and Bodyguard (2011), which has become the second highest-grossing Bollywood film of all-time. Khan has thus established himself as one of the most successful actors of Hindi cinema.