India

Where the name comes from

India comes through Greek and Persian names for the Indus River, ultimately from Sindhu, its ancient Sanskrit name.

First people

The Indus civilization thrived across today’s India and Pakistan in the third millennium BCE; later societies spoke many Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages.¹

Known for

India is known for the Taj Mahal, built in the 1600s by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, and as the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.²

Outside contact

The British East India Company expanded after Plassey in 1757, and the British Crown ruled from 1858.¹

The modern country

India became independent at Partition in 1947, then joined more than 550 princely states to the former British provinces; its constitution made it a republic in 1950.^3,4