Hindustani Empire (Great Empires)

The Hindustani Empire, better known as India is a country in South Asia, a Great Power and a rising superpower.

Name
The Hindustani Empire is also known as India, Indian Empire and Maurya Empire. The full ceremonial name is: " The Maurya Dynasty of the Hindustani Empire of India".

Pre-History
Before the Maurya Empire united India, there were several small and some larger kingdoms and empires. The most prominent was the Nanda Empire, which dominated North India.

Foundation
The last ruler of the Nanda Empire, Dhana Nanda was a tyrannical despot and was hated by the his people. Chandragupta Maurya, a young rebel and his teacher and friend, Chanakya began a rebellion against him. Chandragupta gathered his armies and managed to win a series of battles before besieging the capital of Pataliputra. He managed to conquer the city and kill Dhana Nanda and become emperor himself. At the age of 20 he became the first Maurya Emperor

Expansion and Golden Age
Chandragupta Maurya then proceeded to consolidate his power in the Indian subcontinent. He invaded the satrapies of Arachosia, Gedrosia, Paropamisadae, and Aria, which were part of the Alexandrian Empire. These territories were previously conquered by Alexander the Great. The Alexandrian Empire was a large and vast empire, with many different cultures and peoples, but Alexander managed to hold it together through centralization and improvement of the governance. In 317 BC Chandragupta Maurya decided to invade Alexander's Empire, he attacked with his army at Alexandria Arachosia (present Kandahar). Alexander's troops numbered around 80,000; Chandragupta's troops numbered around 100,000. Chandragupta was naive and overconfident and charged Alexander's army with a frontal attack. Alexander's front troops set up in phalanx formation. The Mauryan army attacked, but the Greek forces managed to withstand their attack and kill many troops. Chandragupta then ordered his army to attack at the flanks, this had more success and he managed to break through the barrier and confront Alexander himself. Chandragupta charged Alexander and the two dueled. Chandragupta was young and strong, but wasn't able to defeat Alexander. Alexander ultimately disarmed him and took him as prisoner. The Maurya forces were quickly diffused and without leader they were quickly defeated and surrendered to Alexander. Now the empire had no leader and was doomed to collapse. But fortunately Chanakya acted as regent and restabilized the empire. In 315 BC Alexander released Chandragupta from prison and let him and his men return to India on the condition that he would never attack his empire again. Bindusara succeeded his father, after his death in 298 BC and he further enlarged the empire into Southern India. Alexander's Empire collapsed with his death in 286 BC. The greatest bloom came when Ashoka ascended the throne. Ashoka eleminated all potential heirs to the Maurya throne and became emperor in 274 BC. Ashoka was ruthless and cunning and was feared by all his subjects. He was determined to extend his empire over all Greater India. Ashoka began a massive expansion of the empire and eventually his empire stretched from Afghanistan to Bangladesh. While on campaign in Southern India, Ashoka witnessed a burning of a city and saw the destruction that he caused. He saw corpses, ruins and people that lost everything they had. Ashoka converted in 264 BC to Buddhism and became a peaceful and caring ruler of his people. Around 260 BC, the Maurya Empire had become the largest and wealthiest empire on Earth, with Pataliputra, with more than 500,000 inhabitants as capital. He constructed many stupas, including the Great Stupa of Sanchi. He also built many hospitals, aquaducts and markets, which made the empire prosper like never before. Ashoka died in 232 BC as a great ruler, loved by his people.

Decline and Fall
Ashoka's descendants weren't able to retain control over all of India and the empire slowly lost its territories. In 185 BC, the last Maurya Emperor, Brihadratha, was deposed by Pusyamitra Sunga, who founded the new Sunga Empire.

Dark Ages
However, the Maurya Dynasty survived and went into hiding somewhere in Sri Lanka. Over time, many empire rose and fell, until the Delhi Sultanate conquered much of India in the name of Islam. Eventually the Mughal Empire came to existence in Afghanistan and invaded and conquered Delhi and India. The Mughal Empire was a rich and large empire, but was criticized for unfair treatment of religions other then Islam. The Mughal Empire was weakened after the British Invasion, but managed to survive. The Mughal Empire became eventually so unstable that a rebellion by the Hindu and Buddhist people broke out.

Revolution and Re-establishment
In March 2011 the rebellion escalated into a large-scale revolution, with Sikandar Maurya and Satyana Khothari as leaders. The revolution quickly grew massively with more than 25% of the Indian people protesting and fighting. The Mughal Empire tried to negotiate, but failed because the Hindu and Budhist people wanted a native Indian government, not foreign people who just came and conquered everything. By January 2012 half of the Mughal Empire was in Indian's hands and by June 2012 90% of the empire was in India's hands. On 12 August the Siege of Delhi began, with Sikandar and Satyana leading the battle themselves. On 28 August 2012, Sikandar and Satyana were crowned Emperor and Empress and the Hindustani Empire was formally proclamated. One day later the United Nations officialy recognized the Hindustani Empire as the only legitimate government of India. The last Mughal stronghold, Kabul was conquered on 16 September and the Mughal Empire was formally dissolved. The Mughal family fled to the Abbasid Caliphate and claims that they are the government of India. Now India is a constitutional monarchy with a fast-devoloping economy. It will be one of the future superpowers of the world and is now a great power and important nation on the world stage. ==Economy == India is currently the ninth largest economy on Earth with a value of 4,950,000,000,000 USD. It has a GDP growth of 15%. The majority of the people work in the service sector with 40%. 30% work in the industrial sector, 25% works in the primary sector. India's main exports are petroleum products, precious stones, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, vehicles, apparel. India's main imports are crude oil, precious stones, machinery, fertilizer, iron and steel, chemicals. Tourism is an important sector for the economy with almost 150 million tourists visiting in a year and with revenue of more than 100 billion USD.

Government
India is a limited, hereditary, constitutional, parlementary and democratic monarchy. The emperor/empress is responsible for all political and military affairs. The parliament with its head, the Prime Minister is responsible for all other affairs. Once in the 5 years a new parliament and/or Prime Minister are chosen by the people. India was formerly an absolute monarchy. The current Emperor and Empress are Sikandar Maurya and Satyana Kothari. The current Prime Minister is Manmohan Singh.

Foreign relations
India has foreign relations with most countries. It first established relations with Europe through trade in the Middle Ages. The Mughal Empire repelled any attempt at colonizing from Europe and denounced Europe for this. India has friendly relations with the Khmer and Nusantaran Empires. India is also a member and permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations.

Demographics
India is the second most populous nation on Earth with more than 1,300,000,000 people residing within its borders. The population growth rate is currently 2%. The main languages that are spoken are Hindi, Urdu, Hindustani and other local languages. Hinduism is the state religion. However, people are allowed to practice the religion they prefer. Religious division in India: Hinduism 70%, Buddhism 10%, Islam 10%, Christianity 2%, Jainism, Sikhism and others 8%.

Military
India has an large standing army comprising of infantry, tanks, submarines, helicopters, destroyers, carriers and atomic weapons. India has a large military budget of 700,000,000,000 USD. India is, by military power, currently the fourth largest. India is also a rising superpower.