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.[23] Four religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also shaped 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 after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.Currently, the Indian economy is the world's seventh-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).[18] 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, corruption, malnutrition and inadequate public healthcare. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal republic governed under a parliamentary system and consists of 29 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and a multi-ethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.The earliest authenticated human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago.[35] 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.[36] Around 7000 BCE, the first known Neolithic settlements appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other sites in western Pakistan.[37] These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation,[38] the first urban culture in South Asia;[39] it flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India.[40] 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.During the period 2000–500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age.[41] The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism,[42] were composed during this period,[43] and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain.[41] Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent.[44][42] The caste system arose during this period, creating a hierarchy of priests, warriors, free peasants and traders, and lastly the indigenous peoples who were regarded as impure; and small tribal units gradually coalesced into monarchical, state-level polities.[45][46] On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation.[41] In southern India, a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period,[47] as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions.
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