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India’s history is as tangled and absorbing as you'd expect from a country this vast and diverse — a place that gave rise to one of the world’s earliest civilizations and the birthplace of four major global religions. Over the centuries, it’s seen an endless parade of dynasties, monarchs, and empires, more than even the most obsessive historian could count. Broadly speaking, India’s past splits in two: the history of the Aryan north, shaped by waves of invaders from Central Asia, and the more self-contained, homegrown story of the Dravidian south.
Long before skyscrapers and smartphones, the Indian Subcontinent saw some of the world’s earliest human settlements — dating back to the Stone Age (around 400,000–200,000 BC). These early communities were made up of seminomadic hunters and gatherers, gradually shifting to settled village life. Over the next few thousand years, they started using copper and bronze, making pottery, domesticating animals, and trading with nearby regions.
By 2500 BC, these scattered villages had evolved into one of the world’s first urban civilizations: the Indus Valley Civilization, also known as the Harappan Civilization. It covered a wide area of modern-day southern Pakistan and parts of western India, thriving alongside ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.
The best-known cities — Harappa in the north and Mohenjo Daro in the south — were impressively organized. They had:
There were no flashy palaces or royal tombs, but plenty of religious figurines. This suggests the society may have been led by priests, not kings — more spiritual than imperial, with a focus on trade and agriculture.
The civilization lasted for around a thousand years before collapsing around 1700 BC, likely due to major flooding. A mysterious end, for a remarkably advanced society.
India’s written history starts with the arrival of the Aryans — chariot-riding pastoralists from Central Asia — around 1500 BC. They helped finish off the fading Indus Valley Civilization and brought with them Sanskrit, sacrificial rituals, and the Vedas, India’s oldest sacred texts.
The Aryans were originally nomadic, but settled into farming as they moved east. They clashed with local peoples, referred to as Dasas, who were gradually pushed to the bottom of a rigid caste system:
By 1000 BC, this social order was firmly in place. Religious texts like the Upanishads, and epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana, took shape during this time.
By 500 BC, small kingdoms dominated north India. Magadha rose fastest. King Bimbisara (543-491 BC), a contemporary of the Buddha, expanded its reach. His son Ajatashatru moved the capital to Pataliputra and subdued rivals in the Ganges valley.
In the 4th century BC, the Nanda dynasty took over and pushed south into Kalinga and the Deccan. After Mahapadma Nanda’s death, succession struggles left a power vacuum — setting the stage for India’s first empire.
Alexander the Great crossed the Indus in 326 BC, defeated local rulers, and swept through Punjab. But his two-year campaign left more chaos than control. After his death, Greek rule in India crumbled.
Chandragupta Maurya, a young leader from Magadha, took his chance. Around 320 BC, he overthrew the Nanda dynasty, drove out the Greeks, and founded the Mauryan Empire. Inspired by Alexander’s ambition, Chandragupta built an army said to number 500,000.
His son Bindusara expanded south to Mysore. But it was Ashoka, Chandragupta’s grandson, who took the empire to its peak.
Ashoka began as a ruthless conqueror. Then, after a brutal campaign in Kalinga, he converted to Buddhism and embraced dharma — a moral code based on nonviolence and justice. His rule blended compassion with control. He sent out missionaries, built stupas, and engraved edicts on pillars across the empire.
At its height, the Mauryan Empire stretched from Afghanistan to Assam, Kashmir to Karnataka. Only the southern kingdoms — Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas — remained out of reach.
After Ashoka’s death in 232 BC, the empire declined fast. The last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha, was assassinated in 184 BC by his own general, ending nearly 140 years of imperial rule.
After the Mauryan Empire collapsed, northern India broke into small kingdoms and saw a steady stream of invaders from Central Asia. Historians sometimes call it a “Dark Age,” but that’s misleading — it was chaotic politically, yes, but rich in trade and culture.
It’s messy history — more migration than military conquest — but these groups left a mark, especially the Kushans, who ruled large parts of northern India.
Despite the political churn, this was a boom time for trade:
So yes, the map kept changing — but so did ideas, art, and commerce. It was far from dark.
While the north was busy fending off invaders, the south was building empires of its own.
From the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD, the Satavahana dynasty — based between the Godavari and Krishna rivers (in today’s Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra) — expanded across central and southern India. They lasted until the mid-3rd century, when rivals like the Pallavas carved up their territory.
Further south, three powerful kingdoms — Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras — thrived in what’s now Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They developed independently from the north, with a society organized by region (hills, coasts, forests) rather than caste — though brahmins still held status.
Their economy ran on:
By the 1st century BC, the three kingdoms were at war with each other. That infighting opened the door for the Pallavas, who seized the Chola capital Kanchipuram around 325 AD. They went on to dominate Tamil Nadu for centuries, ruling until the 9th century AD.
India’s second great empire rose in the north around AD 320, when Chandra Gupta I (not to be confused with the earlier Mauryan ruler) united lands in the Gangetic plain. Like the Mauryas, the Guptas ruled from Magadha and expanded fast — thanks to a mix of conquest, alliances, and trade control.
This era — along with the later reign of Harsha Vardhana (606–647) — is often called India’s Classical Age, known for political stability and cultural brilliance.
The Guptas supported Vedic rituals but also embraced bhakti (devotional worship) of Vishnu, Shiva, and Shakti — traditions still central to Hinduism today.
Under Kumara Gupta (r. c.415–455), peace held. But his successor Skanda Gupta (r. c.455–467) had to fend off the White Huns, nomadic invaders from Central Asia. He held them off, but trade routes were hit hard, and the economy faltered. By AD 550, the empire had collapsed, with only fragments lingering into the 7th century.
While the north reeled from invasions and fragmentation, the south was building its own legacy — through war, trade, art, and religion.
Three major kingdoms defined the early part of this period:
They fought often, but none could dominate for long.
In 753, the Rashtrakutas replaced the Chalukyas and even briefly held Kanauj in the north. The Pallavas fell a century later to combined attacks by the Cholas and Pandyas.
The Cholas, rising in the 9th century, reshaped the map:
Their decline came after defeating the Chalukyas — sparking the rise of the Hoysalas (near modern Mysuru) and Yadavas (in Devagiri), both of whom chipped away at Chola power. By the 13th century, the Pandyas were back on top.
Despite constant conflict, this was the classical age of the south:
After the death of Harsha Vardhana in 647, north India splintered into rival kingdoms. For a time, three powers dominated the struggle for control of the Gangetic plain: the Pratiharas from western India, the Palas of Bihar and Bengal, and the Rashtrakutas from the Deccan. The Rashtrakutas even seized Kanauj in 916, a key political and trade center.
This tripartite struggle drained all three dynasties. None had the strength to stop Mahmud of Ghazni, who raided north India 17 times between 1000 and 1027, looting cities like Mathura, Kanauj, and Somnath. After his invasion in 1018, the region’s old powers faded, making way for smaller, independent kingdoms.
New regional states rose across the north and east:
Meanwhile, a new warrior elite was emerging in the west: the Rajputs. Their origins remain debated, but they likely descended from earlier invaders — Huns, Shakas, and Gurjaras — who assimilated and claimed noble Hindu status. By the 10th century, several Rajput clans had established regional kingdoms:
Despite their military strength, the Rajputs were divided. When Muhammad of Ghor took control of the Ghaznavid territories in Punjab at the end of the 12th century, they failed to unite. In 1191, Prithviraj Chauhan briefly defeated him at the Battle of Tarain. But the next year, Muhammad returned with a larger force, crushed the Rajputs, and had Prithviraj executed. He left his generals behind to finish what he started.
The door to Turkish rule in India was now wide open.
The assassination of Muhammad of Ghor in 1206 shattered his empire, but his Turkish general, Qutb-ud-din Aibak — a former slave — took control of his Indian territories. Aibak became the first ruler of the so-called Slave Dynasty, founding what would become the Delhi Sultanate, the dominant power in north India for over three centuries.
This marked a major turning point. Islam, not Hinduism, became the religion of the ruling elite. And Delhi, not Kanauj or Pataliputra, became the political and cultural heart of the north.
Aibak’s son-in-law Iltutmish (r. 1211–36) expanded the sultanate from Sind to Bengal. But after his death, instability returned — until Ghiyas-ud-din Balban (r. 1246–87) imposed order and fended off repeated Mongol raids from the northwest.
The Slave Dynasty ended in 1290, replaced by the Khalji dynasty. Its strongest ruler, Ala-ud-din Khalji (r. 1296–1315), crushed the Mongols after they twice besieged Delhi. He then launched expeditions into Gujarat, Rajasthan, and the Deccan, though mostly to raise money rather than build lasting control.
The Tughluqs took power in 1320. Under Muhammad bin Tughluq (r. 1325–51), the sultanate reached its widest extent — rivaling Ashoka’s empire. But high taxes and erratic decisions led to rebellion, and in the south, the new Vijayanagar kingdom rose as Delhi’s authority weakened.
Firoz Shah Tughluq (r. 1351–88) brought temporary stability, but after his death, succession struggles returned. In 1398, Timur (Tamerlane) invaded from Central Asia and sacked Delhi, leaving the city in ruins. By the early 1400s, the Delhi Sultanate was just one of several Muslim states in north India.
The fragile sultanate was taken over by Khizr Khan in 1414, starting the short-lived Sayyid dynasty, followed by the Lodi dynasty in 1451. Sikander Lodi (r. 1489–1517) brought a brief revival, expanding into Bihar and Jaunpur.
But his son, Ibrahim Lodi, couldn’t hold it together. Facing rebellion, one of his rivals called in Babur, the ruler of Kabul. At the Battle of Panipat in 1526, Babur defeated and killed Ibrahim — bringing the Delhi Sultanate to an end, and setting the stage for the Mughal Empire.
The Mughal Empire began almost by accident. Babur, a Central Asian warlord from Uzbekistan — and descendant of both Timur and Genghis Khan — spent most of his life fighting over territory in Afghanistan. India only came into focus when he heard how weak the Delhi Sultanate had become under the Lodis.
In 1526, Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat, taking Delhi and Agra. But his hold on power remained shaky until he crushed a powerful Rajput army under Rana Sanga at Kanwaha in 1527, and then saw off a coalition of Afghan chiefs. He died in 1530, just four years after his conquest, having laid the groundwork for a dynasty that would shape India for centuries.
Babur’s son Humayun proved less stable. He gained ground in Malwa and Gujarat, only to lose it while distracted by courtly indulgences. In 1539, he was driven into exile by Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan general from Bihar, who briefly restored Afghan rule in north India.
Humayun returned fifteen years later, with Persian support, and defeated the Sur dynasty in 1555 — just in time to fall down the stairs of his library and die the following year, leaving the throne to his teenage son.
At just 13 years old, Akbar became emperor, but his reign got off to a strong start thanks to his regent, Bairam Khan. Bairam crushed the army of Hemu, a Hindu general, at the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556, securing the throne.
By 1560, Akbar had taken full control. Over the next 45 years, he turned the Mughal state into a powerful, multi-ethnic empire:
Akbar wasn’t just a military tactician — he was a savvy ruler. He knew Hindu support was essential, so he brought Rajput nobles into his administration, scrapped the jizya (tax on non-Muslims), and ended tolls on Hindu pilgrimages.
His policies of religious tolerance and inclusion helped create a more stable, united empire. When he died in 1605, the Mughal Empire was stronger than ever — ready for its golden age under his grandson, Shah Jahan.
Jahangir (r. 1605–27) inherited a vast and wealthy empire from Akbar and added to it through military campaigns and diplomacy. He was a paradox: a hard-drinking, often cruel ruler, yet also a refined patron of art and architecture.
His son Shah Jahan took the throne in 1628. A brilliant commander, he’s better known for his architectural legacy. In Agra, he commissioned the Taj Mahal, the world’s most famous mausoleum, and later founded Shahjahanabad (now Old Delhi), marking the return of the Mughal capital to Delhi in 1648.
But during Shah Jahan’s reign, a new threat emerged in the south: the Marathas, led by the charismatic Shivaji, began carving out their own kingdom in Maharashtra. Shah Jahan’s son Aurangzeb was sent to check them — but his campaigns were undermined by palace intrigue, especially from his older brother, Dara Shikoh, the emperor’s favored heir.
When Shah Jahan fell ill in 1658, the succession crisis turned violent. Aurangzeb defeated Dara in battle, imprisoned his father in Agra Fort, and took the throne.
Aurangzeb ruled for nearly 50 years (1658-1707), expanding Mughal control deeper into the south than ever before. His reign saw the annexation of Bijapur and Golconda, and by 1698 the Mughals controlled almost the entire Indian peninsula.
But expansion came at a cost. Aurangzeb reversed many of Akbar’s policies of religious tolerance:
By the late 1600s, the empire was overstretched. The Marathas remained unconquered, guerrilla warfare drained the treasury, and once-loyal Rajput allies had turned hostile.
After Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, his son Bahadur Shah ruled briefly. What followed was nearly a century of decline:
By the mid-18th century, the empire that Babur built and Akbar consolidated had become a hollow shell — still impressive in name, but powerless in practice.
India’s trading wealth had tempted European powers ever since Vasco da Gama landed on the Malabar Coast in 1498. Over the next century, Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, and even Danish companies set up trading posts along the coast, shipping out textiles, sugar, and indigo.
In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted a royal charter to the East India Company. Its first ships reached Surat in 1608, and within decades the Company had set up a network of 27 trading posts — including:
European rivalries turned violent in India during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48). English and French trading companies clashed along the south coast, backing rival claimants to the Nizam of Hyderabad. These minor wars simmered until 1763, when the Treaty of Paris ended most French ambitions in India.
Meanwhile, the British made a massive power grab in the east. In 1757, Robert Clive defeated the Nawab of Bengal at Plassey, and by 1765, the British had been granted control over tax collection in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa by the powerless Mughal emperor.
Between 1765 and 1805, the Company expanded aggressively. After defeating Tipu Sultan of Mysore and subduing the Nizam of Hyderabad, Britain became the dominant force in the south. The three Maratha Wars (1774-1818) crushed the last serious Indian military threat.
By the early 19th century, the British had secured their dominance across the Subcontinent. Most independent kingdoms were brought into line via treaties, forming the princely states — semi-autonomous allies who pledged loyalty to the British in return for military protection and the illusion of sovereignty.
These states stretched from Hyderabad to Kashmir, while the British governed directly from Calcutta, now their capital. The old imperial heart of India, Delhi, slipped into decline — its full political revival wouldn’t come until 1911.
By 1857, British rule in India was hanging by a thread. Decades of war, annexations under the Doctrine of Lapse, and interference in religion and culture had stirred deep resentment. English replaced Persian as the official language, sati and child marriage were outlawed, and Indian soldiers were sent overseas, risking loss of caste. Many saw this as a slow attack on Hindu and Muslim traditions.
The trigger came when new rifle cartridges, rumored to be greased with cow and pig fat, were issued to Indian troops. On May 10, 1857, sepoys at Meerut revolted. The next day, they seized Delhi.
The uprising spread fast — Lucknow, Kanpur, and much of north-central India fell. The British were caught off guard but soon regrouped. Delhi and Kanpur were retaken in September, and Lucknow in March 1858.
The British responded with brutal reprisals. The revolt was crushed, but its impact was huge: the East India Company was dissolved, and the British Crown took direct control.
After the 1857 uprising, the British dissolved the East India Company and took direct control of India. The British Raj began — India was now a crown colony, run from London with a viceroy in Calcutta.
India’s economy was reshaped for British interests. Railways and industry expanded, but agriculture lagged. British goods dominated markets. Indian National Congress was founded in 1885, demanding self-rule by 1905. In 1906, Muslims formed the All-India Muslim League.
Reforms followed:
Mahatma Gandhi rose as the leader of a nonviolent resistance movement. His Salt March (1930) spurred protests, leading to the 1935 Government of India Act — still short of full independence.
Tensions grew between Congress and the Muslim League, led by Jinnah. By 1940, the League demanded a separate Muslim state: Pakistan.
During World War II, India supported Britain militarily. But demands for independence peaked. In 1942, Gandhi launched the Quit India movement; Jinnah pushed his "two nations" theory.
By 1947, Britain accepted independence was inevitable. Efforts to keep India united failed. Partition was agreed — India was split into India and Pakistan. The division of Punjab and Bengal triggered mass violence and migration: over ten million displaced, more than a million killed.
Gandhi, devastated by the bloodshed, was assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu extremist. The Raj ended, but at a terrible cost.
Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, led the country from Independence in 1947 until his death in 1964. He laid the foundations of a democratic, secular state, introduced universal adult suffrage, and steered India through its early industrial and agricultural development. In 1951, with 173 million eligible voters, India held the world’s largest democratic election.
At Independence, 562 princely states remained technically autonomous. Nehru’s deputy, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, worked to integrate them into the Indian Union — through diplomacy and, when needed, force. The Muslim nizam of Hyderabad resisted; Indian troops were sent in. French territories like Pondicherry joined in the 1950s, but Portugal refused to give up Goa until 1961, when Nehru ordered its annexation.
The most serious issue was Kashmir. Its Hindu maharaja, ruling over a Muslim-majority population, wavered between India and Pakistan. In October 1947, tribal fighters from Pakistan invaded. The maharaja chose to join India, prompting Indian troops to be airlifted into the valley.
Though war was never formally declared, the conflict became known as the First Indo-Pakistan War. A UN-brokered ceasefire in 1948 left Pakistan in control of part of Kashmir — a division that remains unresolved.
Nehru championed nonalignment, seeking unity with other Asian nations. But tensions with China complicated things:
Despite setbacks, Nehru remained immensely popular. His death in 1964 closed a defining chapter in India’s post-independence history.
After Nehru’s death in 1964, India fought the Second Indo-Pakistan War. Pakistan’s Ayub Khan tried to provoke unrest in Kashmir. India struck back, pushing forces to the edge of Lahore before a ceasefire. PM Lal Bahadur Shastri died soon after, and in 1966, Indira Gandhi, Nehru’s daughter, became prime minister.
Initially picked as a figurehead, Indira quickly took control. After winning in 1971, she launched a populist socialist agenda:
Meanwhile, the Green Revolution made India self-sufficient in food by the early 1970s.
In 1971, civil war in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) triggered a refugee crisis. On December 4, India attacked both East and West Pakistan. Two weeks later, Pakistan surrendered — a major military victory for India.
Facing unrest and corruption scandals, Gandhi declared a State of Emergency in 1975:
She lost the 1977 election, but returned in 1980 after the Janata Party collapsed.
In 1984, Sikh militants occupied the Golden Temple. Gandhi ordered Operation Blue Star to clear them — damaging the shrine and enraging Sikhs.
On October 31, her Sikh bodyguards assassinated her. Delhi erupted in anti-Sikh riots. Thousands were killed, many with the help of Congress officials.
After Indira Gandhi’s assassination, her son Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister in December 1984, riding a wave of sympathy. Just two weeks earlier, the Bhopal gas disaster had claimed thousands of lives — exposing serious cracks in India’s regulatory systems.
Rajiv, seen as “Mr Clean,” pushed modernization but soon lost credibility. Scandals and rising unrest gave way to a Janata Party-led coalition under V.P. Singh in 1989, backed by the rising BJP, led by L.K. Advani.
Singh faced crises in Punjab and Kashmir, but it was Ayodhya that broke his government. The BJP demanded the Babri Masjid, built by Babur on the supposed birthplace of Rama, be replaced with a Hindu temple.
In 1990, Advani launched a high-profile march to Ayodhya. Singh had him arrested; the BJP withdrew support, collapsing the government.
As elections loomed, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in May 1991 by Tamil Tigers, retaliating for Indian peacekeeping efforts in Sri Lanka. P.V. Narasimha Rao took over, forming a new Congress-led coalition and launching bold economic reforms — cutting trade barriers and welcoming foreign companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and KFC.
Meanwhile, the BJP surged in popularity, doubling its parliamentary seats and reviving calls to build Rama’s temple in Ayodhya.
In December 1992, Hindu extremists demolished the Babri Masjid, sparking nationwide riots. Bombay and Gujarat saw brutal violence targeting Muslim communities. Months later, coordinated bomb blasts hit Bombay, killing 260 — widely seen as revenge.
Amid the chaos, the BJP expanded its influence, stoking nationalist anger and launching the Swadeshi campaign — opposing Congress’s economic liberalization and foreign companies.
The BJP became the largest party in 1996 but couldn’t form a majority. Its government collapsed in 13 days. A United Front coalition ruled briefly before falling in 1998, clearing the way for the BJP’s return under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In May 1998, India conducted nuclear tests; Pakistan responded. Both faced global backlash and US-led sanctions.
In 1999, militants crossed into Kargil in Kashmir. India drove them out in a short war, boosting Vajpayee’s popularity. The BJP won that year’s elections in a landslide. Congress suffered its worst defeat since independence.
In 2000, Vajpayee created three new states: Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttarakhand.
Meanwhile, India’s tech sector exploded. Bangalore, Hyderabad ("Cyberabad"), Gurgaon, and Noida emerged as software and outsourcing hubs. But the rural poor saw little benefit. The growing digital divide highlighted widening inequality.
Tensions with Pakistan surged in 2001 after attacks on Srinagar’s Assembly and India’s Parliament. In 2002, a train fire in Godhra killed 58 Hindus. Gujarat riots followed, killing nearly 2,000, mostly Muslims.
More attacks in Jammu in May 2002 pushed India and Pakistan close to war. Over a million troops were deployed before US diplomacy de-escalated the crisis.
In 2003, the Archaeological Survey of India, under BJP control, claimed evidence of a Hindu temple beneath the Babri Masjid. The finding bolstered the BJP’s Hindu nationalist stance and deepened religious divides.
Riding an economic boom, the BJP called early elections in 2004 — and lost. Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi, won the most seats. She declined the top job, passing it to Manmohan Singh, a respected reformist and India’s first Sikh prime minister.
Under Singh, the economy surged. Growth hit 9.4% in 2007. India launched its first commercial space rocket. But beneath the optimism, problems loomed.
A wave of terror attacks hit India between 2005-08, culminating in the Mumbai attacks (26/11), where Pakistani gunmen killed 164 people. The assault shocked the world.
Singh was re-elected in 2009 — the first PM since Nehru to win consecutive terms. That year, the creation of Telangana was approved; it became India’s 29th state in 2014.
From 2010, corruption scandals — especially during the Commonwealth Games — shook public trust. In 2011, Anna Hazare launched hunger strikes demanding anti-graft laws. A weak bill passed, but public anger remained.
In 2012, a blackout left 700 million without power, exposing government failures. That same year, the Delhi gang rape triggered nationwide protests. Weeks later, three girls were raped and murdered in Maharashtra — but the media barely noticed until locals blocked highways in protest.
By 2014, Singh’s second term ended in disillusionment. Corruption, rural neglect, and rising inequality left voters ready for change.
In 2014, Narendra Modi led the BJP to a sweeping victory, ending a decade of Congress rule. Marketed as business-friendly and anti-corruption, the BJP launched Digital India and other growth-focused programs. Falling oil prices and China’s slowdown helped India’s economy surge.
In 2016, the sudden demonetization of ₹500 and ₹1000 notes caused chaos. While touted as an anti-corruption move, it hit small businesses and the poor hardest. Growth slowed, but recovered by 2018.
The BJP won again in 2019, increasing its majority. With over 900 million voters, it was the largest election ever. Congress failed to win even 10% of seats.
India weathered Covid-19 better than expected, but the 2020 farm laws triggered mass protests and were later repealed.
Despite strong growth (6.4% in 2023), inequality persists. Muslims, Christians, and critics face growing pressure. A 2018 Supreme Court ruling decriminalized homosexuality — one progressive bright spot.
Kashmir, the Northeast, and Naxalite areas remain tense. Gender violence is rampant, especially in rural regions. A nationwide blackout in 2012, the Delhi gang rape, and the 2023 on-air killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed exposed deep systemic issues.
In early 2019, India nearly went to war with Pakistan. Relations with Nepal soured too, with accusations of an Indian blockade pushing it closer to China.
In 2023, Rahul Gandhi was expelled from parliament. But soon after, Congress won Karnataka, leaving BJP with no southern state governments.
India’s future still looks bright — but rising inequality, sectarianism, and authoritarianism could dim the glow.
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