This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012)

Dhenkanal
—  city  —
Dhenkanal Location of Dhenkanal in Orissa and India
Coordinates	20°40′N 85°36′E / 20.67°N 85.6°E / 20.67; 85.6Coordinates: 20°40′N 85°36′E / 20.67°N 85.6°E / 20.67; 85.6
Country	India
State	Orissa
District(s)	Dhenkanal
Member of Parliament	Tathagata Satapathy
Population • Density	57,677 (2001[update]) • 1,865 /km2 (4,830 /sq mi)
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	30.92 square kilometres (11.94 sq mi) • 80 metres (260 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 759001 • Telephone • +06762

Dhenkanal (Oriya: ଢେଙ୍କାନାଳ) is a city and a municipality in Dhenkanal district in the state of Orissa, India.

Geography[link]

Dhenkanal is located at 20°40′N 85°36′E / 20.67°N 85.6°E / 20.67; 85.6.^[1] It has an average elevation of 80 metres (262 feet).

Demographics[link]

As per the 2001 India census,^[2] Dhenkanal had a population of 57,651. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Dhenkanal has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 84% and female literacy is 74%. In Dhenkanal, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Notable people[link]

• Nandini Satpathy^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}
• Suparno Satpathy^{[6][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]}
• Kalpana Dash^{[21][22][23][24][25]}
• Harmohan Patnaik ^[26][27][28]
• Devendra Satpathy ^[29][30][31]
• Brig.Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo ^{[29][32][33][34][35][36][37]}
• Baishnab Charan Patnaik^[29][38][39]
• Surendra Mohan Patnaik^[40][41]
• Braja Kishore Dhal^[42][43]
• Sudhir Kumar Samal^{[44][45][46][47]}
• Nabin Chandra Narayan Das^{[48][44][49][50][51]}
• Prafulla Kumar Bhanja^[52][53][54]
• D. N. Patnaik^{[55][56][57][58][59][60]}
• Haladhar Mishra^[46][61][40]
• Tathagata Satpathy^[62][63][64]
• Amiya Kumari Padhi^[65][66]
• Gati Krushna Misra^[67][68]

Hospitals[link]

• Kalinga Eye Hospital, Dhenkanal.^[69]
• District Headquarter Hospital

Colleges[link]

• Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Dhenkanal
• Dhenkanal College, Dhenkanal
• Orissa Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dhenkanal
• Women's College, Dhenkanal
• Evening College, Dhenkanal
• Devendra Satpathy Memorial Collage, Koelipongi
• Women's Polytechnique, Dhenkanal
• Dhenkanal Law College, Dhenkanal
• Bajirout Industrial Training Institute, Dhenkanal
• District Institute for Education and Technology (DIET), Dhenkanal
• Synergy Institute of Engineering & Technology(SIET)
• e-Tech Residential College, +2 Science, Dhenkanal
• Vidyarthee Residential College, +2 Science, Similai, Dhenkanal
• Sai Kripa Residential College
• I.G.I.T., Saranga

Tourist Places[link]

• Mahima Ashram, Joranda
• Dandadhar Water Reservoir
• Ananta Sayana of Vishnu on the bank of River Brahmani, Saranga
• Ashtasambhu Temple, Kuaonlo
• Mamu Bhanaja Cave, Latagarh
• Ramachandi Temple, Nadhera
• Naganath Temple, Nagena
• Ganeshkhol, Karmul
• Mahakaleshwar Temple, Haripur
• Jibankhol, Odapara
• Paschimeshwar Temple, Bhaapur
• Science Centre and Park, Kapilash

Schools[link]

• I.G.I.T. Campus High School, Sarang
• Gididihi UP/ME School, Godidihi
• Brajanath Badajena High School
• Montfort School
• Government Girls High School
• Soudamini Smruti Bidyapitha
• Laxmidhar Municipal High School
• Balaram High School
• Police High School
• Aurobinda Bidya Mandir
• Swaraswati Shishu Mandir
• Mani Devi High School, Chainpur
• Balarampur High School, Balarampur
• Bedapada High School, Bedapada
• Minaketan High School, Babandha
• Kunjakanta U.G.M.E. School
• K. P. High School, Govindpur
• SAI Public School Kapilas, Krushnakumarpur, Dhenkanal
• SarangDhar HighSchool, Kamakhyanagar, Dhenkanal
• Dandimal High School, Dandimal
• Indipur High School, Indipur, Dhenkanal
• D P S, Banamaliprasad, Dhenkanal
• Gerge School, Dhenkanal
• Sankarpur High School, Sankarpur, Dhenkanal

Temples[link]

• Sanischar Mandir, Godidihi
• Sidha Ramachandi, Godidihi & Nadhara
• Baladevajeu Mandir (Deula Sahi)
• Kunjakanta Mandir (Kunjakanta)
• Sundarasuni Mandir (Bypass Chawk)
• Dakhinakali Mandir (Dakhinakali Road)
• Kapilash Temple
• Sita-ram Mandir, Saptasajya-Dhenkal
• Mahima Alekha Gadi, Joranda
• Shiva Mandir, Jeebankhol (Jharagadia )
• Sai Temple, Datatreya, Kapilas Road
• Matrupitha, Barada
• Parmeswar Temple (Hatura)

Politics[link]

Current MLA from Dhenkanal Assembly Constituency is Nabin Nanda of NCP, who won the seat in State elections of 2009. Previous MLAs who represented Dhenakanal in Orissa State Assembly are given below along with their party affiliations:

•                 : Baishnab Charan Pattnaik and Madan Dehury
•                 : Sankar Pratap Mahendra Bahadur and Kalia Dehury
• 1962–1967: Ratna Prava Devi (Ganatantra Parisad)
• 1967–1971: Ratna Prava Devi (Swatantra Party)
• 1971–1975: Surendra Mohan Pattnaik (INC)
• 1977–1980: Nandini Satpathy (Janata Party)
• 1980–1985: Nandini Satpathy (CFD)
• 1985–1990: Nandini Satpathy (Independent)
• 1990–1995: Tathagata Satpathy (Janata Dal)
• 1995–2000: Nabin Ch. Narayan Das(INC)
• 2000–2004: Krushna Chandra Patra (BJP)
• 2004–2009: Sudhir Kumar Samal (INC)
• 2009–       : Nabin Nanda (NCP)

and until 1962, Gondia was a part of Dhenkanal constituency.

Dhenkanal is a part of Dhenkanal (Lok Sabha constituency).^[70] Currently, Tathagata Satapathy of BJD is representing Dhenkanal in the 15^th Lok Sabha. The complete list of Members of Parliament who represented this constituency over the years are:

• 1952–1957: Sarangadhar Das (Socialist)
• 1957–1962: Surendra Mohanty (Ganaparishad)
• 1962–1967: Baishnab Charan Patnaik (Congress)
• 1967–1971: Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo (Swatantra)
• 1971–1977: Debendra Satpathy (Congress)
• 1977–1980: Debendra Satpathy (Lok Dal)
• 1980–1984: Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo (Congress)
• 1984–1989: Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo (Congress)
• 1989–1991: Bhajamana Behera (Janata Dal)
• 1991–1996: Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo (Congress)
• 1996–1998: Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo (Congress)
• 1998–1999: Tathagata Satapathy (BJD)
• 1999–2004: Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo (Congress)
• 2004–2009: Tathagata Satapathy (BJD)
• 2009–       : Tathagata Satapathy (BJD)

References[link]

v t e State of Orissa Capital: Bhubaneswar State symbols Animal: Sambar Bird: BhadaBhadalia Flower: Ashoka Tree: Ashwatha Governance Governors Chief Ministers Legislative Assembly Political parties Raj Bhavan High Court Police Topics Arts Cinema Cuisine Culture Economy Education Election Flora and Fauna Geography History Literature People Politics Tourism Districts Angul Balasore Bargarh Bhadrak Balangir Boudh Cuttack Debagarh Dhenkanal Gajapati Ganjam Jagatsinghpur Jajpur Jharsuguda Kalahandi Kandhamal Kendrapara Kendujhar Khordha Koraput Malkangiri Mayurbhanj Nabarangpur Nayagarh Nuapada Puri Rayagada Sambalpur Subarnapur Sundargarh Cities Balasore Baripada Berhampur Bhadrak Bhubaneswar Cuttack Puri Rourkela Sambalpur Orissa Portal

Dhenkanal can refer to:

• Dhenkanal district
• Dhenkanal (princely state)
• Dhenkanal, India

This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Expression error: Unexpected > operator Expression error: Unexpected <= operator Expression error: Unexpected <= operator

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]

The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West and South-East Asia.^[38][39] In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women.^[40][27] By the 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had created in the greater Ganges Plain a complex system of administration and taxation that became a model for later Indian kingdoms.^[41][42] Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion rather than the management of ritual began to assert itself.^[43] The renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture, which found patrons among an urban elite.^[42] Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made significant advances.^[42]

Medieval India[link]

The granite tower of Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola I.

The Indian early medieval age, 600 CE to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity.^[44] 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.^[45] When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal.^[45] When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south.^[45] No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond his core region.^[44] 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.^[46] The caste system consequently began to show regional differences.^[46]

In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language.^[47] They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent.^[47] 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.^[48] Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation.^[48] By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in South-East Asia, as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Java.^[49] Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; South-East Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages.^[49]

After 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.^[50] The sultanate was to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs.^[51][52] 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 the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north.^[53][54] The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire.^[55] Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India,^[56] and was to influence South Indian society for long afterwards.^[55]

Early modern India[link]

Scribes and artists in the Mughal court, 1590–1595

In the early 16th century, northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers,^[57] fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors.^[58] The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices^[59][60] and diverse and inclusive ruling elites,^[61] leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule.^[62] Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status.^[61] The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture^[63] and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency,^[64] caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.^[62] The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion,^[62] resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture.^[65] 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.^[66] Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India.^[66] As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs.^[67]

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.^[68][69] The East India Company's control of the seas, greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to increasingly flex its military muscle and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these factors were crucial in allowing the Company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies.^{[70][68][71][72]} 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 the 1820s.^[73] India was now no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British empire with raw materials, and many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period.^[68] By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself effectively made an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture.^[74]

Modern India[link]

The British Indian Empire, from the 1909 edition of The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Areas directly governed by the British are shaded pink; the princely states under British suzerainty are in yellow.

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 the East India Company rule in India 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.^{[75][76][77][78]} However, disaffection with the Company also grew during this time, and set off 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.^[79][80] Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company and to 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.^[81][82] In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885.^{[83][84][85][86]}

Jawaharlal Nehru (left) became India's first prime minister in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi (right) led the independence movement.

The rush of technology and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks—many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets.^[87] There was an increase in the number of large-scale famines,^[88] and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians.^[89] There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption.^[90] The railway network provided critical famine relief,^[91] notably reduced the cost of moving goods,^[91] and helped nascent Indian-owned industry.^[90] After World War I, in which some one million Indians served,^[92] a new period began. It was marked by British reforms but also repressive legislation, by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a non-violent movement of non-cooperation, of which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol.^[93] During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections.^[94] The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in World War II, the Congress's final push for non-cooperation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism. All were capped by the advent of independence in 1947, but tempered by the bloody partition of the subcontinent into two states: India and Pakistan.^[95]

Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a sovereign, secular, and democratic republic.^[96] In the 60 years since, India has had a mixed bag of successes and failures.^[97] It has remained a democracy with civil liberties, an activist Supreme Court, and a largely independent press.^[97] Economic liberalisation, which was begun in the 1990s, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies,^[98] and increased its geopolitical clout. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture.^[97] Yet, India has also been weighed down by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban;^[97] by religious and caste-related violence;^[99] by Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies;^[100] and by separatism in Jammu and Kashmir.^[101] It has unresolved territorial disputes with China, which escalated into the Sino-Indian War of 1962;^[102] and with Pakistan, which flared into wars fought in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999.^[102] The India–Pakistan nuclear rivalry came to a head in 1998.^[103] India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's new nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved.^[104]

Geography[link]

A topographic map of India

India comprises the bulk of the Indian subcontinent and lies atop the minor Indian tectonic plate, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Australian Plate.^[105] India's defining geological processes commenced 75 million years ago when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a north-eastward drift across the then-unformed Indian Ocean that lasted fifty million years.^[105] The subcontinent's subsequent collision with, and subduction under, the Eurasian Plate bore aloft the planet's highest mountains, the Himalayas. They abut India in the north and the north-east.^[105] In the former seabed immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough that has gradually filled with river-borne sediment;^[106] it now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain.^[107] To the west lies the Thar Desert, which is cut off by the Aravalli Range.^[108]

The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, which is 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 the east.^[109] 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;^[110] the plateau contains the nation's oldest rock formations, some of them 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^[e] and 68° 7' and 97° 25' east longitude.^[111]

The Kedar Range of the Greater Himalayas rises behind Kedarnath Temple, which is one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines.

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 the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains.^[112] 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.^[112]

Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal.^[113] Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's extremely low gradient often leads to severe floods and course changes.^[114] 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;^[115] and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea.^[116] 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.^[117] 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.^[118]