India through time

People have lived in India for well over a million years. Stone tools, rock shelters and paintings tell us how hunter-gatherers lived long before farming.

How it was ruled

There were no kingdoms. People lived in small bands, probably led by elders and the most experienced hunters.

How people lived

Families moved with the seasons between river valleys, forests and rock shelters. They used fire, made tools of stone and bone, and painted on rock walls.

What people did

Hunting animals, fishing, and gathering fruit, roots, nuts and honey. Making hand-axes, cleavers and, later, tiny sharp blades (microliths) set in wooden handles.

What people ate

Wild animals such as deer and wild cattle, fish, fruit, tubers, seeds and honey.

Trade

Little long-distance trade. Good stone for tools was carried or exchanged between neighbouring groups.

From about 7000 BCE people began to grow crops, keep animals and live in villages, first in the north-west and later across India.

How it was ruled

Village communities, probably led by elders or chiefs. Large walled settlements and craft workshops show growing organisation.

How people lived

People lived in mud-brick or wattle-and-daub houses, sometimes in pits for warmth in cold places. They buried their dead with pots and ornaments.

What people did

Farming wheat, barley, rice and millets; herding cattle, sheep and goats; making polished stone axes, pottery and, later, copper tools.

What people ate

Grains, pulses, milk, meat from domestic animals, fish and wild plants.

Trade

Beads of semi-precious stone, shells and copper moved between regions; marine shells reached far inland.

One of the world's first urban civilisations, with planned cities, drains, standard weights and a script that has not yet been read.

How it was ruled

How the cities were governed is not known: no palaces or royal tombs have been found. Uniform bricks, weights and seals suggest strong shared rules, perhaps by merchants or councils.

How people lived

Towns had grid streets, covered drains, wells and houses built around courtyards. People wore cotton, used beads and bangles, and played games with dice.

What people did

Farming wheat, barley and cotton; herding; and crafts such as bead-making, pottery, metalwork, shell-cutting and seal-carving.

What people ate

Wheat and barley breads, pulses, sesame, dates, milk, fish and meat; millets in Gujarat.

Trade

Trade with Mesopotamia (which called this land Meluhha), Oman and Afghanistan by sea and land; carnelian beads, cotton and timber went out, and metals and lapis lazuli came in.

The age of the Vedas and Upanishads, when tribal societies of the north became settled kingdoms and many ideas of Indian philosophy took shape.

How it was ruled

Early on, tribal chiefs (rajan) ruled with assemblies called the sabha and samiti. Later, kingdoms such as the Kurus and Panchalas grew, and kings held grand rituals.

How people lived

People lived in villages of wattle and mud houses. The household fire, rituals (yajna) and the oral learning of hymns were central; society gradually divided into varnas.

What people did

Cattle-keeping first, then farming with iron ploughs in the Ganga plains; crafts such as chariot-making, weaving and metalwork.

What people ate

Barley and wheat, later rice; milk, ghee and curd; honey; pulses; and meat at some rituals.

Trade

Mostly barter, with cattle as a measure of wealth; trade grew along the rivers as towns appeared.

Large kingdoms and republics, the first cities of the Ganga plains, coins, and the teachings of the Buddha and Mahavira.

How it was ruled

Sixteen great states (mahajanapadas), some ruled by kings and some, like the Vajji confederacy, by assemblies (ganas). Magadha conquered its rivals under Bimbisara, Ajatashatru and the Nanda kings.

How people lived

Cities such as Rajagriha, Shravasti, Kaushambi and Ujjain grew. New religious teachers questioned ritual and caste; monasteries and lay followers spread their ideas.

What people did

Farming with iron tools produced surpluses; guilds of craftsmen and merchants grew; armies and officials were paid with taxes.

What people ate

Rice became a staple in the east; milk products, pulses, sugarcane and fruit.

Trade

Silver punch-marked coins appeared; trade routes linked the Ganga plains with Gandhara in the north-west and the Deccan in the south.

The first empire to unite most of the subcontinent, from Afghanistan to Karnataka, and the age of Emperor Ashoka's message of dhamma.

How it was ruled

Chandragupta Maurya, guided by Chanakya (Kautilya), founded the empire; Ashoka ruled about 268–232 BCE. Provinces were run by princes and officials; the Arthashastra describes a detailed system of taxes, spies and justice.

How people lived

After the Kalinga war (c. 261 BCE) Ashoka turned to dhamma: respect for all sects, kindness to animals, wells and rest-houses on roads, and hospitals for people and animals.

What people did

Farming, mining, spinning and weaving, and state workshops; the army was one of the largest in the ancient world.

What people ate

Rice, wheat, barley, pulses, milk and fruit; Ashoka's edicts announce limits on killing animals for the royal kitchen.

Trade

Royal roads, including the northern route from Pataliputra to Taxila; trade with the Hellenistic west, whose ambassador Megasthenes lived at Pataliputra.

The Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms of Tamilakam, their remarkable poetry, and busy ports trading with Rome and South-East Asia.

How it was ruled

Three crowned dynasties ruled Tamilakam: the Cheras on the west coast, the Cholas in the Kaveri delta and the Pandyas at Madurai, along with many chieftains.

How people lived

Sangam poems describe five landscapes (tinai) — hills, forests, farmland, coast and dry land — each with its own way of life, love and war.

What people did

Rice farming with irrigation in the Kaveri delta, pearl-fishing, weaving, and work in ports.

What people ate

Rice, millets, pepper, fish, meat, honey and toddy feature in Sangam poems.

Trade

Muziris (Kerala) and Arikamedu (Puducherry) traded pepper, pearls and textiles for Roman gold, wine and pottery.

Many kingdoms ruled north and central India; trade on the Silk Road and the sea flourished, and Gandhara and Mathura art was born.

How it was ruled

The Shungas and Kanvas held the Ganga plains; the Satavahanas ruled the Deccan; Indo-Greek, Shaka and Kushana kings ruled the north-west. Kharavela ruled Kalinga.

How people lived

Buddhist monasteries and stupas were built with gifts from merchants and ordinary people; Vaishnava and Shaiva worship grew; Sanskrit and Prakrit literature flourished.

What people did

Farming, guild crafts (weavers, potters, ivory-carvers), and long-distance trade; rock-cut monasteries were carved along trade routes.

What people ate

Rice, wheat, millets and pulses; spices such as pepper were valued both at home and abroad.

Trade

The Kushanas controlled part of the Silk Road; Roman gold coins reached India in exchange for spices, cotton and gems.

The Vakataka kings of the Deccan, allies of the Guptas, under whom the finest paintings of Ajanta were made.

How it was ruled

The Vakataka dynasty ruled much of today's Maharashtra and central India. Queen Prabhavatigupta, a Gupta princess, ruled as regent for her young sons.

How people lived

Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions flourished side by side; courtiers and merchants paid for monasteries carved in rock.

What people did

Farming on the black-soil Deccan plateau, crafts, and the work of artists and stone-carvers.

What people ate

Millets, wheat, pulses, cotton-seed oil and dairy, as in the Deccan today.

Trade

Routes linking the west-coast ports with the interior passed through Vakataka lands.

An age of great achievement in science, mathematics, literature and art, when Aryabhata, Kalidasa and Nalanda flourished.

How it was ruled

Chandragupta I, Samudragupta and Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) built an empire across north India. Local governors, village headmen and merchant guilds had wide powers.

How people lived

Temples in stone began to be built; the Puranas took their present form; the Chinese pilgrim Faxian (c. 405–411 CE) described a peaceful, prosperous land.

What people did

Farming, textiles, metalwork (the rust-free Iron Pillar now at the Qutb complex is from this age), and scholarship.

What people ate

Rice, wheat, pulses, milk products and sweets; Faxian noted that many people did not eat meat.

Trade

Gold coins (dinaras) of high purity; trade with South-East Asia and the Byzantine world.

After the Guptas, King Harshavardhana ruled north India from Kannauj, and the Chinese scholar Xuanzang studied at Nalanda.

How it was ruled

Harsha (606–647 CE) ruled from Kannauj; his southward advance was stopped at the Narmada by the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II.

How people lived

Harsha held great religious assemblies and gave gifts every five years at Prayag; Banabhatta wrote his biography, the Harshacharita.

What people did

Farming, crafts, and the work of monks and scholars at great monastic universities.

What people ate

Rice, wheat, milk, sugar and fruit; Xuanzang describes Indian cooking and cleanliness.

Trade

Contact with Tang China grew through pilgrims and embassies.

Two great southern dynasties that built the temples of Mahabalipuram, Aihole and Pattadakal, and the age of the Tamil bhakti saints.

How it was ruled

The Pallavas ruled from Kanchipuram; the Chalukyas ruled the Deccan from Vatapi (Badami). They fought for generations; the Pandyas ruled from Madurai.

How people lived

The Alvars and Nayanars sang devotional hymns in Tamil to Vishnu and Shiva, open to all castes and to women.

What people did

Farming with tanks and irrigation channels; temple-building gave work to architects, sculptors and craftsmen.

What people ate

Rice, millets, coconut, jaggery and dairy, much as in the south today.

Trade

Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) was a busy port with links to South-East Asia.

Kashmir's great dynasties, Kashmir Shaivism, the Hindu Shahis of Gandhara, and the Buddhist kingdoms of Gilgit.

How it was ruled

In Kashmir, the Karkota, Utpala and Lohara dynasties ruled; Lalitaditya Muktapida (8th century) led wide campaigns. The Hindu Shahis ruled Kabul and Gandhara until Mahmud of Ghazni's invasions around 1001–1026. The Patola Shahis ruled Gilgit.

How people lived

Kashmir was a centre of Sanskrit learning: Abhinavagupta wrote on philosophy and aesthetics, and Kalhana wrote the Rajatarangini, a history of Kashmir (1148–49).

What people did

Farming of rice and saffron, shawl-weaving, and irrigation works such as those of the engineer Suyya under Avantivarman.

What people ate

Rice, vegetables, dairy and, in Kashmir, saffron.

Trade

Routes through Gilgit and the Karakoram linked India with Central Asia and China.

Three great powers fought for two centuries over Kannauj. The Palas ran great Buddhist universities, and the Rashtrakutas carved the Kailasa temple at Ellora.

How it was ruled

The Gurjara-Pratiharas held the north and west, the Palas held Bengal and Bihar, and the Rashtrakutas held the Deccan. Each tried to control Kannauj.

How people lived

Buddhism remained strong in the east; Shaiva and Vaishnava temples multiplied; Sanskrit, Prakrit and Kannada literature flourished.

What people did

Farming, temple and monastery building, textile production, and trade.

What people ate

Rice and fish in the east, wheat and millets in the west and the Deccan.

Trade

Arab merchants on the west coast praised the Rashtrakuta kings; the Pratiharas guarded the north-west against Arab armies from Sindh.

A southern empire with a strong navy, elected village assemblies, great temples and overseas expeditions to Sri Lanka and South-East Asia.

How it was ruled

Vijayalaya took Thanjavur around 850; Rajaraja I (985–1014) and Rajendra I (1014–1044) built an empire. Village assemblies (sabha and ur) managed local affairs; the Uttaramerur inscriptions describe how members were chosen by lot.

How people lived

Temples were centres of worship, learning, music, dance and charity; bronze images of Shiva as Nataraja were made.

What people did

Rice farming with tanks and channels in the Kaveri delta, temple crafts, weaving and seafaring.

What people ate

Rice, lentils, ghee, vegetables, coconut and jaggery; temples ran kitchens that fed many people.

Trade

Merchant guilds such as the Ainnurruvar traded across the Indian Ocean; Chola embassies went to Song China.

Many strong regional kingdoms built magnificent temples while raids from the north-west grew, ending with the battles of Tarain.

How it was ruled

Rajput clans such as the Chauhans, Paramaras and Chandelas, the Chaulukyas (Solankis) of Gujarat, the Senas of Bengal and the Eastern Gangas of Odisha each ruled their own kingdoms.

How people lived

A golden age of temple building; the Paramara king Bhoja was a famous scholar-king; Ramanuja and Basavanna taught in the south.

What people did

Farming, temple and stepwell building, textile weaving, and trade.

What people ate

Regional diets much like today's: wheat and millets in the west, rice and fish in the east.

Trade

Gujarat's ports traded across the Arabian Sea; Mahmud of Ghazni raided temples, including Somnath in 1025.

Deccan and southern kingdoms built star-shaped temples, great tanks and forts, and the bhakti movement of Basavanna and Ramanuja spread.

How it was ruled

The Kakatiyas ruled from Warangal (Queen Rudrama Devi was one of India's few women rulers), the Hoysalas from Dwarasamudra (Halebidu), the Yadavas from Devagiri, and the later Pandyas from Madurai.

How people lived

Basavanna taught a faith without caste in Kannada vachanas; Ramanuja taught Vishishtadvaita; temples were centres of town life.

What people did

Farming with huge tanks (the Kakatiyas built hundreds), temple building, and diamond mining in the Golconda region.

What people ate

Rice, millets, pulses, tamarind and spices; the Kakatiya region grew rice with tank irrigation.

Trade

The Pandya port of Kayal was visited by Marco Polo around 1292; horses were imported by sea.

Five dynasties ruled from Delhi for three centuries, building the Qutb Minar and new cities, while Sufi saints and poets like Amir Khusrau shaped a shared culture.

How it was ruled

The Mamluk (Slave), Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid and Lodi dynasties ruled from Delhi. Land revenue was assigned to officers as iqtas. Razia Sultan (1236–1240) was the only woman to rule from Delhi.

How people lived

Persian became the language of government; Hindavi (early Hindi-Urdu) grew in towns; Sufi saints such as Nizamuddin Auliya drew followers of all faiths.

What people did

Farming paid most taxes; Alauddin Khalji fixed market prices in Delhi; crafts, building and the army employed many.

What people ate

Breads and rice, meat dishes, sweets and sherbets; new dishes such as samosa (sambusa) appear in court records.

Trade

Trade through Gujarat and Bengal ports and overland to Central Asia; Mongol raids were repeatedly pushed back.

The Ahoms ruled Assam for almost six hundred years and stopped the Mughals at Saraighat; Manipur, Tripura and the Koch kingdom flourished nearby.

How it was ruled

Sukaphaa founded the Ahom kingdom in 1228. Ministers and nobles advised the king, and every adult man served the state for part of the year under the paik system.

How people lived

The Ahoms kept detailed chronicles (buranjis); Vaishnavism spread through Sankardev's satras; royal burial mounds (moidams) were built at Charaideo.

What people did

Wet-rice farming, silk (muga and eri), boat-building and soldiering.

What people ate

Rice, fish, greens, bamboo shoots and rice beer.

Trade

Trade with Bengal, Bhutan, Tibet and Burma along the Brahmaputra and mountain passes.

The Vijayanagara empire and the Bahmani and Deccan sultanates ruled the south for over two centuries, from the splendid city of Hampi to Golconda.

How it was ruled

Harihara and Bukka of the Sangama dynasty founded Vijayanagara in 1336; Krishnadevaraya (1509–1529) was its greatest king. The Bahmani Sultanate (1347) later split into five Deccan sultanates: Bijapur, Golconda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar and Berar.

How people lived

Hampi was one of the largest cities in the world, with bazaars, temples and festivals such as Mahanavami; Telugu and Kannada literature flourished at court.

What people did

Farming with tanks and channels, textile weaving, diamond mining at Golconda, and soldiering.

What people ate

Rice, millets, pulses and vegetables; foreign visitors such as Domingo Paes described markets full of grain, fruit and meat.

Trade

Horses came by sea from Arabia and Persia; cotton cloth, spices and diamonds went out through Goa and other ports.

As Delhi weakened, Gujarat, Malwa, Bengal, Kashmir, Mewar and Odisha became strong kingdoms, and saints like Kabir, Guru Nanak and Chaitanya preached devotion.

How it was ruled

Sultanates in Gujarat, Malwa, Jaunpur, Bengal and Kashmir; the Rajput kingdom of Mewar under Rana Kumbha and Rana Sanga; the Gajapati kings of Odisha.

How people lived

The bhakti movement spread in every language: Kabir and Ravidas in Hindi, Guru Nanak (1469–1539) in Punjabi, Chaitanya in Bengal and Odisha, Sankardev in Assam, Namdev and later Tukaram in Marathi.

What people did

Farming, weaving (Gujarat and Bengal textiles were famous), and building forts, mosques and temples.

What people ate

Regional food much as today; Gujarat's and Bengal's ports brought spices and sugar into wide use.

Trade

Cambay and Surat in Gujarat and Chittagong and Satgaon in Bengal were great ports.

From Vasco da Gama's arrival in 1498 to 1818, European companies traded, fought each other, and the English East India Company conquered most of India.

How it was ruled

The Portuguese took Goa (1510); the Dutch, English and French set up trading companies. After Plassey, the English Company defeated Mysore (Tipu Sultan died in 1799) and the Marathas (1818).

How people lived

Port towns such as Madras, Bombay and Calcutta grew; Indian rulers, merchants and bankers dealt with the Europeans, and some prospered while others were ruined.

What people did

Weaving for export, farming, and service in Indian and Company armies (sepoys).

What people ate

New World crops brought by the Portuguese — chilli, potato, tomato, maize, groundnut, cashew — entered Indian kitchens.

Trade

Indian cotton and silk, pepper, indigo and saltpetre went to Europe; the Company's later control of revenue drained wealth out of India.

The Mughal empire was founded, briefly lost to Sher Shah Suri, and then expanded and organised by Akbar.

How it was ruled

Babur won at Panipat (1526) and Khanwa (1527). Sher Shah Suri ruled 1540–1545 and reorganised revenue and coinage. Akbar (1556–1605) built the mansabdari system and a land revenue system with Todar Mal.

How people lived

Akbar's court at Fatehpur Sikri held debates between faiths; his policy of sulh-i-kul (peace with all) and alliances with Rajput kings shaped the empire. Maharana Pratap of Mewar refused to submit (Haldighati, 1576).

What people did

Farming, revenue administration, the imperial army, and workshops (karkhanas) for textiles, carpets and miniature painting.

What people ate

Mughal court food (pulao, kebabs, kormas) mixed Persian, Central Asian and Indian cooking; the Ain-i-Akbari lists khichdi and many other dishes.

Trade

Sher Shah's silver rupiya and the road later called the Grand Trunk Road helped trade; the Portuguese controlled much sea trade.

The Mughal empire at its height built the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort, then strained under long wars in the Deccan.

How it was ruled

Jahangir (1605–1627), Shah Jahan (1628–1658) and Aurangzeb (1658–1707). Aurangzeb expanded the empire furthest but reimposed the jizya tax (1679) and fought long wars against the Marathas, Rajputs and Sikhs.

How people lived

Court culture and architecture reached their peak. The ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed in Delhi in 1675; in 1699 Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa.

What people did

Farming, textiles (Indian cotton was sold worldwide), building, and the army.

What people ate

Rich court cuisine; ordinary people ate grains, pulses and vegetables much as today.

Trade

Surat was the busiest port; English, Dutch and French companies set up trading posts (factories).

Shivaji founded Swarajya with hill forts and a navy; the Peshwas then carried Maratha power across India until Panipat in 1761.

How it was ruled

Shivaji (1630–1680) was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad in 1674 and ruled with a council of eight ministers (Ashtapradhan). After him, Sambhaji, Rajaram and Tarabai resisted the Mughals; from 1713 the Peshwas led the state.

How people lived

Marathi became the language of government; saints such as Tukaram and Ramdas were widely followed; the warkari pilgrimage to Pandharpur continued.

What people did

Farming, soldiering, fort-building, and a navy that guarded the Konkan coast.

What people ate

Jowar and bajra bhakri, rice, pulses, groundnut and simple vegetables.

Trade

Coastal trade from forts such as Sindhudurg and Vijaydurg; chauth and sardeshmukhi levies collected across India.

As Mughal power faded, Hyderabad, Awadh, Bengal, Mysore, Travancore, the Sikh misls and the Jats rose — and the East India Company won Plassey and Buxar.

How it was ruled

Governors became independent rulers: the Nizam of Hyderabad (1724), the Nawabs of Awadh and Bengal. Mysore rose under Hyder Ali; Marthanda Varma built Travancore; the Sikh misls and the Jats of Bharatpur grew strong.

How people lived

Courts at Lucknow, Murshidabad and Hyderabad supported music, poetry and crafts; Nadir Shah's sack of Delhi in 1739 shocked the north.

What people did

Farming, weaving (Bengal's muslin was famous), and service in regional armies.

What people ate

Awadhi and Hyderabadi cuisines took shape in this period.

Trade

European companies competed for Indian textiles and saltpetre; the British won control of Bengal's revenue.

While the Company tightened its grip, Maharaja Ranjit Singh built a powerful Sikh empire in the north-west, and social reformers began to change Indian society.

How it was ruled

Ranjit Singh took Lahore in 1799 and ruled an empire from the Satluj to Peshawar and Kashmir. The Dogra general Zorawar Singh took Ladakh and campaigned into Tibet. The Company annexed Punjab in 1849 and other states under the 'doctrine of lapse'.

How people lived

Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned against sati (abolished 1829); English education was introduced (1835); Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule opened schools for girls in Pune (1848).

What people did

Farming under heavy land revenue (Permanent Settlement in Bengal, ryotwari in the south); Indian handloom weaving declined against British machine-made cloth.

What people ate

Grains, pulses and vegetables; famines became more frequent under Company rule.

Trade

The first railway ran from Bombay to Thane in 1853; the telegraph followed.

Soldiers, peasants, princes and townspeople rose against Company rule across north and central India. It was crushed, but it ended the Company's rule.

How it was ruled

Rebel soldiers proclaimed the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar their leader at Delhi. After the war the British Crown took over India from the Company (Government of India Act, 1858).

How people lived

Leaders included Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Tatya Tope, Nana Saheb, Kunwar Singh, Begum Hazrat Mahal and Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah. British reprisals were brutal.

What people did

Many rebels were sepoys and peasants hit by high land revenue and the loss of crafts.

What people ate

Rumours that new rifle cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat sparked the revolt.

Trade

Disruption of trade and revenue across the north; the British government took over the Company's debts.

Under direct British rule, famines killed millions, Indian thinkers exposed the drain of wealth, and the Indian National Congress was founded.

How it was ruled

A Viceroy ruled British India; about 560 princely states remained under Indian rulers who accepted British supremacy.

How people lived

Reform movements grew: Arya Samaj (1875), Satyashodhak Samaj (1873), Aligarh's college (1875), Ramakrishna Mission (1897); Swami Vivekananda spoke at Chicago in 1893.

What people did

Farming of cash crops for export, railway and plantation work (tea in Assam), and early mills in Bombay and Ahmedabad.

What people ate

Grain was exported even in famine years; the famines of 1876–78 and 1896–1900 killed millions.

Trade

Dadabhai Naoroji showed how Britain drained India's wealth; railways and the Suez Canal (1869) tied India to the world market.

The partition of Bengal sparked the Swadeshi movement; Gandhiji's return brought mass satyagraha, and Jallianwala Bagh turned millions against British rule.

How it was ruled

The British partitioned Bengal in 1905 (reversed in 1911) and moved the capital to Delhi in 1911. Repressive laws such as the Rowlatt Act (1919) followed.

How people lived

People boycotted British goods and burnt foreign cloth; revolutionaries and the Ghadar Party worked abroad; Gandhiji led satyagrahas at Champaran (1917) and Kheda (1918).

What people did

Swadeshi industries started; indigo farmers in Champaran and mill workers in Ahmedabad organised.

What people ate

Food prices rose sharply during the First World War.

Trade

Boycott of British cloth and the growth of Indian textile mills.

From the Salt March to Quit India and the Azad Hind Fauj, the freedom struggle won independence on 15 August 1947 — at the cost of Partition.

How it was ruled

British rule continued with limited provincial self-government under the Government of India Act, 1935. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose formed the Provisional Government of Azad Hind (21 October 1943).

How people lived

The Congress declared Purna Swaraj (complete independence) in 1929. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed in 1931. Dr B. R. Ambedkar fought for the rights of the depressed classes (Poona Pact, 1932).

What people did

Peasants, workers, students and women joined the movement; the Bengal famine of 1943 killed millions.

What people ate

Salt, taxed by the British, became the symbol of the Dandi March (1930).

Trade

Boycotts of British goods; India's economy was strained by the Second World War.

India integrated over 560 princely states, adopted its Constitution, held the world's largest elections, built industries and defended its borders.

How it was ruled

Sardar Patel led the integration of the princely states. The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950; the first general elections were held in 1951–52. States were reorganised on linguistic lines in 1956.

How people lived

Refugees from Partition rebuilt their lives; universal adult franchise gave every adult a vote; the Hindu Code Bills and new laws expanded rights.

What people did

Five-Year Plans built steel plants, dams and the first IITs; the Green Revolution of the late 1960s made India self-sufficient in wheat and rice.

What people ate

Food shortages in the 1960s led to the Green Revolution in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.

Trade

A mostly closed, planned economy with public-sector industries.

India tested its first nuclear device, lived through the Emergency, launched the White Revolution and space programmes, and faced a crisis that led to reform in 1991.

How it was ruled

Sikkim became a State in 1975. A national Emergency was in force from 25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977, suspending civil liberties; the 1977 election brought the first non-Congress government at the Centre.

How people lived

Operation Flood (from 1970) made India the world's largest milk producer; television spread; the Asian Games were held in Delhi in 1982.

What people did

Public-sector industry, the growth of a software industry, and farming boosted by the Green Revolution.

What people ate

Milk, wheat and rice became more widely available.

Trade

A balance-of-payments crisis in 1991 led to economic liberalisation.

Economic reforms, local self-government, nuclear tests, the IT boom, digital public infrastructure, missions to the Moon and Mars, and a growing role in the world.

How it was ruled

The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992) gave constitutional status to panchayats and municipalities. Article 370 was abrogated in 2019 and Jammu & Kashmir was reorganised into two Union Territories.

How people lived

Mobile phones and the internet reached villages; the Right to Information Act (2005) and MGNREGA (2005) changed governance and rural work; Aadhaar and UPI made services and payments digital.

What people did

Services and software exports grew fast; manufacturing, start-ups and infrastructure expanded.

What people ate

The National Food Security Act (2013) gave subsidised grain to most households; millets were promoted as Shree Anna in 2023.

Trade

India opened up to world trade; GST (1 July 2017) created a single national market.