India travel guide

Alongside the relatively sudden, and still unexplained collapse of this massive, city building civilization around 1700 BC, there was a movement from central Asia and the Russian Steppes of people known as the Vedas or Indo-Aryans. A tribal, pastoral society, they moved further south into the Ganges Plain where they farmed and settled. Present day Hinduism traces its roots back to this period when the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were written. Famous Indian literature such as Ramayana and Mahabharata emanate from this time, written in Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas. However other schools of thought developed out of this Vedic period, challenging the Vedas, which developed into the current day religions of Sikhism ,Buddhism and Jainism, all practised in India today.

The next few centuries bring emperor after emperor from the East, from Persia and Macedonia, the most famous being Alexander the Great, who established the Macedonian Empire after inheriting the Persian Achaemenid Empire. As you do. And Ashoka the Great, who was the main man of the Mauryan Empire, with its capital city at modern day Patna in Bihar. And in that Bollywood way, after being responsible for mass death and destruction during one of his conquests, he then decided peace should reign and embraced Buddhism, spreading its doctrine throughout his empire.

More drama emerged with Mughals, the Muslim raiders and rulers who moved in to northern India at the beginning of the 8th Century AD, creating stunning Middle Eastern architectural influence, the icing on the cake of which is, of course, the Taj Mahal. The modern day language of Urdu (or Hindustani) originates from this period and indeed, about 14 % of Indians are still Muslim today. Urdu is still spoken in places where there are large Muslim populations, or cities which were bases for Muslim Empires in the past such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Karnataka as well as most big cities. Much of current day Rajasthan, with its Hindu forces known as Rajputs, managed to resist the Mughal forces, and you can see evidence of this steadfast, strong culture throughout Rajasthan with forts, intricately carved Hindu temples, and highly decorative palaces built by Rajput kings and princes. The strong sense of independence is still felt in Rajasthan, with its living culture of literature, art, cuisine and music, all still flying the Rajput flag which began during this golden age emanating from the Rajput-Mughal struggles. Sikhism also started to take hold in the in the Punjab during the Mughal period and about 76% of all Sikhs worldwide still live in this northern state today.

If we were in Bollywood, a change of cast, crew and location would have to take place for the next major influence over the centuries in Indian history. Enter the Europeans. The location is mostly the south of India, for starters, with Portuguese explorer and trader, Vasco de Gamma landing in Kerala in 1498.He, and others to follow, discovered a land of kings and philosophers, poets and scholars, many of whom were fervent students at academies based in Madurai. This is where Tamil literature was created as far back as the 3rd Century AD, known as the Sangam period, in what is now the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Explaining why Kerala claims to have the most highly educated and literate population of India. So, with knowledge came Kerala’s kingdoms, the most significant of which were the Chera Kingdoms from 7th to 9th centuries, which were ousted by the 10th century by the neighbouring Chola and Pandya Kingdoms, all battling over territory for years. Which is why, if you are travelling to Kerala, it is worth visiting the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to get the bigger picture.

When the British took over from the other Europeans in the 1630’s it wasn’t without a battle in southern India, with Kerala kings refusing to be conquered, and the British finally agreeing to a compromise, giving them status of ‘princely states’ of British India, which meant they maintained local autonomy in return for a fixed annual tribute to the British. The main period of British control in the whole of India, known as the British Raj (meaning ‘rule’ in Hindi) was between 1858 and 1947. Yet before the Partition of India in 1947, 562 Princely States existed, famous ones along the tourist trail being at places like Jaipur and Jodphur, Hyderabad and Mysore. Which is why you can still find incredible palaces, boasting wealthy princely heritage in many of them. The glorious art collections in these palaces, not known to many tourists, are often accessible, and bring it home just how wealthy these places were at one point in history.

Many Indians were forced to convert to Christianity during the British colonial period, although this rule stopped in 1859, when Queen Victoria signed a proclamation promising to respect all faiths in India. The remnants of colonialism are still omnipresent in India, seen in the language, plantations, hill stations, elaborate train network, schools and even the parliament, which is based on that of Westminster.

Independence was won, after non-violent resistance under Gandhi, on 15 August 1947, still celebrated as Independence Day throughout the country. There were no celebrations in Pakistan after partition, however, with Hindu-Muslim conflict erupting after independence, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths, particularly over the still disputed state of Kashmir and the creation of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan in 1971. China and India also went to war in 1962 over a border dispute. Though current relations are peaceful, there is still military rivalry and only one land crossing is allowed between the two countries, but not for tourists. Today, most of the disputes within India are over corruption within the police and politics, or the widening divide between the poor and the economically wealthy……but just like many a Bollywood movie, the sequels will no doubt keep on coming.

For more reading, we recommend The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857 by William Dalrymple and India: A history by John Keay