History ---
The earliest civilization was in the Indus Valley (now in Pakistan), which lasted from 3250 to 1500 B.C.
Aryans came in from the North, bringing with them the Hindu religion.
In 567 B.C. Gautama Buddha was born, who founded later the Buddhist religion. Also at around this time Mahavira lived, who started the Jain Religion.
In the 4th century B.C., Ashoka led the Mauryan Empire to take over almost all of what is now modern India.
They were followed by the Guptas in the north, while in the south several different Hindu empires grew, trading with Europe and Asia till the end of the 1100s.
In the 15th century the Sikh religion was born in the Punjab, in northern India.
In 1192, Mohammed of Ghori, a ruler from Afghanistan, came into India. One of his generals became the first Sultan of Delhi. During this time the Muslim religion, Islam, was introduced into India.
The Dehli Sultanate gradually took control of more and more of North India over the next 200 years.
Timur came from Turkey in 1398 to attack India. Soon the Mughals, who were from Iran, came in and took control in the north. In the meantime in the south, in 1336, the Hindu Vijayanagar Empire was set up and became very strong.
The Europeans - Portuguese, French, Dutch, Danish and British - started arriving in the early 1600s. The British eventually controlled most of India and finally made it one of their colonies.
India got its independence from Britain in 1947 after a long struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi. In this process, India became two countries, the other being Pakistan. It is noted that in 1971, Pakistan was split further into two nations, a new one being Bangladesh (the former East Pakistan).
Since independence India has made huge progress and has maintained a system of the largest democracy in the world.