India is probably the only country
with the largest and most diverse mixture of races. All the
five major racial types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid,
Caucasian and Negroid - find representation among the people
of India.
Languages
India has 17 major
languages and 844 different dialects. The Sanskrit of the
Aryan settlers has merged with the earlier Dravidian
vernaculars to give rise to new languages.
Hindi,
spoken by about 45 per cent of the population, is the national
language. English has also been retained as a language for
official communication.
Indian literature dates back
several millennia to the hymns of the vedic Aryans. The oral
tradition nurtured classical literature, and produced great
works of philosophy and religious doctrine. It also accounted
for compilations of anecdotes like the Panchatantra and
the Jataka tales, as well as epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In southern India,
the creative energies of the Tamil poets found expression in
the great works of Sangam literature. The epic Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar is a masterpiece of this
age. In the north, dramatists like Kalidasa and Bhasa produced
great dramas in Sanskrit.
Religion
Hinduism: The Hindu religion had its
origin in the concepts of the early Aryans who came to India
more than 4,000 years ago. It is not merely a religion but
also a philosophy and a way of life. Hinduism does not
originate in the teachings of any one prophet or holy book. It
respects other religions and does not attempt to seek
converts. It teaches the immortality of the human soul and
three principal paths to ultimate union of the individual soul
with the all-pervasive spirit.
The essence of Hindu
faith is embodied in the Lord's Song, the Bhagavad
Gita: "He who considers this (self) as a slayer or he who
thinks that this (self) is slain, neither knows the Truth. For
it does not slay, nor is it slain. This (self) is unborn,
eternal, changeless, ancient, it is never destroyed even when
the body is destroyed."
Jainism
and Buddhism: In the sixth century before Christ,
Mahavira propagated Jainism. Its message was asceticism,
austerity and non-violence. At about the same time, Buddhism
came into being. Gautama Buddha, a prince, renounced the world
and gained enlightenment. He preached that 'Nirvana' was to be
attained through the conquest of self. Buddha's teachings in
time spread to China and some other countries of South East
Asia.
Islam: Arab traders
brought Islam to South India in the seventh century. After
them came the Afghans and the Mughuls, of whom the most
enlightened was the Emperor Akbar. Akbar almost succeeded in
founding a new religion Din-e-Elahi, based on both
Hinduism and Islam, but it found few adherents.
Islam
has flourished in India through the centuries. Muslim citizens
have occupied some of the highest positions in the country
since independence in 1947.
Sikhism: Guru Nanak, the founder of
Sikhism in the 15th century, stressed the unity of God and the
brotherhood of man. Sikhism, with its affirmation of God as
the one supreme truth and its ideals of discipline and
spiritual striving, soon won many followers. It was perhaps
possible only in this hospitable land that two religions as
diverse as Hinduism and Islam could come together in a third,
namely, Sikhism.
Christianity: Christianity reached India not long after Christ's own
lifetime, with the arrival of St. Thomas, the Apostle. The
Syrian Christian Church in the south traces its roots to the
visit of St. Thomas. With the arrival of St. Francis Xavier in
1542 the Roman Catholic faith was established in India. Today
Christians of several denominations practise their faith
freely.
Zoroastrianism: In
the days of the Old Persian Empire, Zoroastrianism was the
dominant religion in West Asia, and in the form of Mithraism,
it spread over vast areas of the Roman Empire, as far as
Britain.
After the Islamic conquest of Iran, a few
intrepid Zoroastrians left their homeland and sought refuge in
India. The first group is said to have reached Diu in about
A.D 766. The total number of Zoroastrians probably does not
exceed 130,000. With the exception of some 10,000 in Iran,
almost all of them live in India, the vast majority
concentrated in Mumbai. The Parsees excel in industry and
commerce, and contribute richly to the intellectual and
artistic life of the nation.
Judaism: Jewish contact with the Malabar
Coast in Kerala dates back to 973 BC when King Solomon's
merchant fleet began trading for spices and other fabled
treasures. Scholars say that the Jews first settled in
Cranganore, soon after the Babylonian conquest of Judea in 586
BC. The immigrants were well received and a Hindu king granted
to Joseph Rabban, a Jewish leader, a title and a principality.
Land and People
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