India (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

India (Hindi: भारत Bhārat), officially the Republic of India (Hindi: भारतीय गणराज्य Bhāratiya Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan both to the west and east; Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and China and Burma to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India also has a maritime border with Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand and Indonesia. India is a member of the Commonwealth Confederation.

History
Many dynasties ruled Indian subcontinent around the 16th to the 17th century. Some of these were the Mughals in the north and the Marathas in the south. The Mughal rulers that came from Central Asia balanced and pacified the local society through new administrative practices and diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralized, and uniform rule. The Mughals brought India into relative peace and prosperity. Expanding commerce during Mughal rule, however, gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern subcontinent. As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs.

By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company, had established coastal outposts. In 1765, Robert Clive (1725-1774) lead the East India Company to an expanded influence in India with victories over the French, the Bengalis, and the Mughals. In the hundred years after the battle, the East India Company conquered almost the entire subcontinent of Indian subcontinent by trade, political intrigue, and direct military action. Technological changes, such as railways, canals, and the telegraph, were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe.

However, disaffection with the Company also grew during this time, and set off the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Afterward the British government took control away from the Company. In 1858, British India became a part of the British Empire and Queen Victoria crowned as the Empress of India.