|
India pokes out from the bottom of the Indian Subcontinent, dominating the region and taking up more than three million square kilometres of space and making it the seventh largest country in the world, with the second largest population (just behind neighbour China). The country has land borders to China, Nepal and Bhutan in the north, Bangladesh and Myanmar (Burma) to the east and Pakistan to the west, as well as coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Not surprisingly, the huge country is home to a wide variety of different geographies, from the mountainous north, through the deserts and on to the tropical coastlines – with everything in between. India has seen itself become one of the fastest growing economies in the world with the purchasing power to match, and whilst the people are not yet enjoying the standard of life that one would associate with such a rich economy, things are certainly picking up. The first major civilisation of India came about around 2500BC and reigned for around a thousand years before collapsing – the next people to arise in the region saw the introduction of Hinduism and the associated spirituality, and whilst invaders from the north managed to take Northern India and force the natives to the south, it wasn’t too long until the priests of Hinduism were back in places of power. From 500BC Buddhism began to take hold in the region, and it wasn’t until Hinduism began to see something of a revival from 40 to 600AD that the religion began to lose its grip on the nation. The invasion of the Huns splintered the north of India into many Hindu kingdoms, and things remained this way until the 10th century when the Muslims invaded – it took the Muslims a while to establish a foothold in India, and the south of the country remained unaffected by all the goings on in the north, whilst forging their own trading links with the Romans and Egyptians. The Muslims established Delhi as something of a political and economic capital of the region, which lead to the city becoming the capital of modern India, and by the 1520s a new people had invaded, the Moghuls, and they held control of the north of the country until the 18th century. When this time rolled about, the British Empire had taken a large interest in the country – whilst there were already trading posts set up, the British decided to take full control of the country, introducing the railway system and governing the entire country – something no alien power had managed to do in history. By the late 1800s, the people wanted their independence – it wasn’t until after the First World War, however, that Mahatma Gandhi and his campaign of nonviolent protest came about that the wheels of independence were truly set in motion. By the end of the Second World War, independence seemed inevitable as British colonialism was flailing – the British agreed to hold talks on giving India it’s freedom, but concerns were raised by the Muslim population of the country over the fact that a new, independent country would be Hindu dominated – the British solution was to split the country into India and Pakistan, though this proved to be not ideal, as Pakistan was located on both sides of India, owing to the locations of the majority of the Muslim populace. Once the divisions were announced, the largest mass exodus in human history occurred, which saw an estimated ten million people move from one country to the other, to be where they felt they belonged – this exodus saw the deaths of an estimated 250,000 people. Gandhi was left downcast by the split, as he had always foreseen a united India, and in 1948 he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic. India saw its first democratic elections in 1951 and has since followed a path of reform and secularism, with many outdated Hindu traditions removed from law or modernised – one factor of Hindu life that has survived reform, however, comes in the shape of the caste system, where people are born and assigned a certain role and place in life. Whilst India is very much on the up, a lot of critics cannot see how the country will truly become modernised without the abolishment of the caste system. Relations with Pakistan have remained frosty over the years, and violent clashes have erupted, most notably in 1965 and 1971 – at the end of the 1971 clashes, East Pakistan became Bangladesh and disputes between Pakistan and India over Kashmir boiled over. The late 80s saw India embracing new technologies and encouraging foreign investment in a way it had never done before – this set the country on a path it has been on ever since, and the economy is growing faster nearly every year as a result. The embracing of new technologies lead to a somewhat controversial occurrence in 1998 when India tested its first nuclear weapons. These nuclear tensions encouraged Pakistan to fast track their own nuclear program, and in 2002 the standoff over Kashmir threatened to escalate into all out war, with both sides touting the use of nukes. With US and UK intervention, however, historic talks were held with Kashmir separatists and a ceasefire between Pakistan and India was declared – the region is still dangerous, but the threat of war has thankfully taken a backseat. In December of 2004 India was hit by the Indian Ocean Tsunami, killing over 20,000 people and displacing a further 300,000 – efforts to restore these regions and rebuild were swift to be implemented and most are now accessible to tourists and locals alike. India is home to a magical quality that simply isn’t present in most other countries – nowhere in the world is there such an assault on the senses as in this country, and the abject poverty and slums that are located in such a prosperous nation are a bizarre thought to behold. Standards of living are on the up though, and it is predicted that poverty levels will be seriously reduced over the next decade. Economically speaking, India is on the constant up and would be a fantastically interesting place for any potential off plan buyer to put their money. The standards of healthcare in India are generally quite limited, and even basic medicines can be hard to come by. Health insurance is essential. Mobile phone coverage stretches across major towns and cities, and is not present elsewhere. Landlines are widely available and lines are of a decent standard. Internet cafes are spread throughout the country.
|
|
