India (WOIOCG)

Republic of India
भारत की स्वतंत्रता
*Bhārat Gaṇarājya*
Republic of India; भारत की स्वतंत्रता; Bhārat Gaṇarājya
	Motto: ; "सत्यमेव जयते"; "Satyameva Jayate"; (Truth Alone Triumphs)
Capital	New Dehli
Largest city	Mumbai
Official languages	Hindi, English
Recognised regional languages	Many other regionals
Demonym	Indian
Government	Federal parliamentary republic
Legislature	Parliament
Population
GDP (nominal)	estimate
Currency	Rupee

The Republic of India (Hindi: भारत की स्वतंत्रता, Bhārat Gaṇarājya) or just India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country as of June 2023; and from the time of its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia

Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity. Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. By 1200 BCE, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, had diffused into India from the northwest. Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the Rigveda. Preserved by an oral tradition that was resolutely vigilant, the Rigveda records the dawning of Hinduism in India. The Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in the northern and western regions. By 400 BCE, stratification and exclusion by caste had emerged within Hinduism, and Buddhism and Jainism had arisen, proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity. Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit Maurya and Gupta Empires based in the Ganges Basin. Their collective era was suffused with wide-ranging creativity, but also marked by the declining status of women, and the incorporation of untouchability into an organised system of belief. In South India, the Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian-languages scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of Southeast Asia.

In the early medieval era, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts. Muslim armies from Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains, eventually founding the Delhi Sultanate, and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan networks of medieval Islam. In the 15th century, the Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India. In the Punjab, Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion. The Mughal Empire, in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace, leaving a legacy of luminous architecture. Gradually expanding rule of the British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial economy, but also consolidating its sovereignty. British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly, but technological changes were introduced, and modern ideas of education and the public life took root. A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule. In 1947 the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions, a Hindu-majority Dominion of India and a Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan, amid large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration.

India has been a constitutional monarchy since 1950, governed through a democratic parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society. India's population grew from 361 million in 1951 to almost 1.4 billion in 2022. During the same time, its nominal per capita income increased from US$64 annually to US$2,601, and its literacy rate from 16.6% to 74%. From being a comparatively destitute country in 1951, India has become a fast-growing major economy and a hub for information technology services, with an expanding middle class. India has a space programme with several planned or completed extraterrestrial missions. It is the fourth country to land a craft on the moon and the first to do so within 600 kilometres (370 mi) of the Lunar south pole. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture. India has substantially reduced its rate of poverty, though at the cost of increasing economic inequality. India is a nuclear-weapon state, which ranks high in military expenditure. It has disputes over Kashmir with its neighbors, Pakistan and China, unresolved since the mid-20th century. Among the socio-economic challenges India faces are gender inequality, child malnutrition, and rising levels of air pollution. India's land is megadiverse, with four biodiversity hotspots. Its forest cover comprises 21.7% of its area. India's wildlife, which has traditionally been viewed with tolerance in India's culture, is supported among these forests, and elsewhere, in protected habitats.

In terms of its world power rankings, India currently ranks 2nd, however, this is off-set by the lackluster quality of life for most of its citizens and the heavy poverty.

History[]

Ancient India[]

Same

Medieval India[]

Mughal Empire[]

Early Modern India[]

World War II & Independence[]

Same as our OTL, during the Second World War, although India didn't see any fighting on its home soil, many Indian troops were used by the British Empire for the British war efforts against Japan and Nazi Germany.

In 1947, the Union of India gained independence from the British Empire, thanks to the fallout of the British economy caused by the Second World War. As such, the new Indian superstate inherited all of the British military properties that was in the country, thanks to the political backing of China and Russia. As a result, India had Asia's largest-standing military force.

In the early years after the World War II, India, China and Russia formed an eastern super bloc against the tattered remains of the western world. India came to back China against the British Empire, and supported China's stance on Hong Kong.

Cold War[]

Sadly, the comradery between India and China against the British Empire wouldn't last, and India came to oppose China, but retained cooperation with Russia. India and Russia cooperated in Europe against the western world. India competed against China for influence over Southeast Asia, Afghanistan and Africa.

Unlike OTE India, during this ATL's Cold War, India was able to make economic, military and political breakthroughs that saw the extension of Indian political influence abroad. Thus, India came to combat China as the predominant superpower of the Eastern Hemisphere, as India engaged in the space and arms race against China.

India became the third operator of WMDs, after China and Russia. Additionally, in 196?, India spawned its own space program to combat that of China's, launching the world's third artificial satellite, the Upagrah-1. In the 1970s, and 1980s, India successfully began sending their own astronauts into outer space, via the Milan missions. In spite of India often preceding China and Russia in their space and arms technology, India began to field Asia's second-largest space program. Additionally, the Indian military also pooled its money into the navy. As it inherited old Royal British Navy vessels, at the height of the Cold War, India had Asia's second-largest navy.

As such, India became one of the "capitals" of science and technology in Asia, with the other two being China and Russia - attracting students from Southeast Asia, United Kingdom and Africa.

However, in spite of India's military and technological prowess of the surface - life for regular citizens was sub-par, unlike that high-standard of living in both China and Russia, causing huge issues, riots and unrest as regular citizens felt abandoned by the Indian government's need to project a prosperous image outside of the world.

1990s - Independence of Pakistan and Bangladesh[]

In the 1990s, the various Hindu and Sikh pogroms against Muslims started to unravel in the events that would lead to Pakistan and Bangladesh's eventual independence. In the under leadership of President ?????, India engaged in a detente with China, withdrawing its troops from most of its overseas bases. Indian troops pulled out of Afghanistan, in which the latter became absorbed into the Chinese political sphere.

The 1990s and early 2000s for India was a period of rebuilding, as the Indian Navy and Indian military withdrew from many of their bases worldwide, save for Somalia, Arabia, Malaysia and Singapore. Nonetheless however, India's transition was much smoother and its territorial losses were less worse than Russia, which had slumped into the third major power of the world.

Eventually, China would come to win over most of Southeast Asia and Africa. In 1992, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh signed the Kathmandu Accord. With Russia and the British Empire also facing territorial losses, China would reign as the superpower of the world. India would become embroiled in many regional conflicts, including the Kashmir Conflict with Pakistan and China, and the Tibet conflict with China. In this timeline, Pakistan is basically the "Ukraine of China".

Additionally, China gained a new ally in Pakistan, though Bangladesh would later mend its ties, and remain an ally of India.

Resurgence[]

Thanks to the moves of the Indian government's focus on fixing internal situation, the 21st century was a rewarding experience for the Indian state. The Indian economy and military finally expanded once more, with an improvement on social services and life in India. India came to outdo Russia in the world performance rankings.

India began to re-establish many satellite states in not only Africa and Southeast Asia, but achieved a major milestone when it absorbed Britain into its sphere of influence, becoming the second Asian country in absorbing a western European nation under it influence, and it also absorbed Italy into its sphere of influence.

In the year 20??, Mexico and India signed their alliance, with Mexico becoming the largest state to become part of the Indian sphere of influence. Although Indonesia claimed to be Non-Aligned and maintained friendly relations with both India and China, the Southeast Asian archipelago evidently became part friendlier with India, as Indian and Indonesian forces held many joint-exercises, holding over 310 joint naval and land exercises and signing over 104 bilateral agreements. Indonesia was seen as India's answer to Nanyang, which is a major power and China's main ally in Southeast Asia. It is also absorbed Italy into its sphere of influencing, becoming the only Asian country to have vassal states in western Europe.

Today the Indian rupee is one of the world's top most powerful currencies, and one of the three main petrol currencies.

Culture[]

Indian culture one of the world's major cultures. Indian religions, mathematics, philosophy, cuisine, languages, dance, music, and movies have had a profound impact across the Indosphere, Greater India, and the world. The British Raj further influenced Indian culture, such as through the widespread introduction of the English language, which resulted in a local English dialect and influences on the Indian languages.

Language[]

Although Hindi is the national language, with English functioning as a working co-official, India is a multi-linguistic society. The two most predominant language groups in India are the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages, to which Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language. According to the Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages.

States within India have the liberty and powers to select their own official language(s) through legislation. In addition to the two Official Languages, the constitution recognises 22 regional languages, named in a specific list as "Scheduled Languages". (Hindi is but English is not.) India's Constitution includes provisions detailing the languages used for the official purposes of the union, the languages used for the official purposes of each state and union territory and the languages used for communication between the union and the states.

Religion[]

The major religions of India are Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam and Christianity. According to the 2011 census, 79.8% of the population of India follows Hinduism, 14.2% Islam, 2.3% Christianity, 1.7% Sikhism, 0.7% Buddhism and 0.4% Jainism. Zoroastrianism, Sanamahism and Judaism also have an ancient history in India, and each has several thousands of Indian adherents. India has the largest population of people adhering to both Zoroastrianism (i.e. Parsis and Iranis) and the Bahá'í Faith in the world; these religions are otherwise largely exclusive to their native Iran where they originated from. Several tribal religions are also present in India, such as Donyi-Polo, Sanamahism, Sarnaism, Niamtre, and others.

Hinduism[]

Hinduism is often regarded as the oldest surviving religion in the world, with roots tracing back to prehistoric times, over 5,000 years ago. Hinduism spread through parts of Southeastern Asia, China, and Afghanistan. Hindus worship a single divine entity (paramatma, lit."first-soul") with different forms.

Hinduism's origins include the cultural elements of the Indus Valley Civilisation along with other Indian civilisations. The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rigveda, produced during the Vedic period and dating to 1700–1100 BCE. During the Epic and Puranic periods, the earliest versions of the epic poems, in their current form including Ramayana and Mahabharata were written roughly from 500 to 100 BCE, although these were orally transmitted through families for centuries prior to this period. After 200 BCE, several schools of thought were formally codified in the Indian philosophy, including Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva-Mimamsa, and Vedanta

Jainism, Buddhism and Shramana religions[]

The Śramaṇa tradition includes Jainism, known endonymically as Jain Dharm, and Buddhism known endonymically as Bauddh Dharm, and others such as the Ājīvikas, Ajñanas, and others.

The historical roots of Jainism in India have been traced to the 9th century BCE with the rise of Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankar, and his Jain philosophy, and to Mahavira (599–527 BCE), the 24th Jain Tirthankara. Jainism traces its roots further back to the first Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha. Mahavira stressed on the five vows.

Gautama Buddha, who founded Buddhism, was born to the Shakya clan just before Magadha (which lasted from 546 to 324 BCE) rose to power.^{[citation needed]} His family was native to the plains of Lumbini, in what is now southern Nepal. Indian Buddhism peaked during the reign of Ashoka the Great of the Mauryan Empire, who patronised Buddhism following his conversion and unified the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE. He sent missionaries abroad, allowing Buddhism to spread across Asia. Indian Buddhism declined following the loss of royal patronage offered by the Kushan Empire and such kingdoms as Magadha and Kosala.

The decline of Buddhism in India has been attributed to a variety of factors, which include the resurgence of Hinduism in the 10th and 11th centuries under Sankaracharya, the later Turkish invasion, the Buddhist focus on renunciation as opposed to familial values and private property, Hinduism's own use and appropriation of Buddhist and Jain ideals of renunciation and ahimsa, and others. Although Buddhism virtually disappeared from mainstream India by the 11th century CE, its presence remained and manifested itself through other movements such as the Bhakti tradition, Vaishnavism, and the Bauls of Bengal, who are influenced by the Sahajjyana form of Buddhism that was popular in Bengal during the Pala period.

Abrahamic religions[]

Judaism[]

Jews first arrived as traders from Judea in the city of Kochi, Kerala, in 562 BCE. More Jews came as exiles from Jerusalem in the year 70 CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple.

Christianity[]

Christianity was introduced to India by Thomas the Apostle (a direct disciple of Jesus Christ), who visited Muziris in Kerala in 52 CE and proselytised natives, who are known as Saint Thomas Christians (also known as Syrian Christians or Nasrani) today. India's oldest church, the world's oldest existing church structure and built by Thomas the Apostle in 57 CE, called Thiruvithamcode Arappally or Thomaiyar or Kovil as named by the then Chera king Udayancheral, is located at Thiruvithancode in Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) district of Tamil Nadu, it was declared an international St Thomas Pilgrim Centre. There is a general scholarly consensus that Christianity was rooted in India by the 6th century CE, including some communities who used Syriac liturgically. Christianity in India consists of various denominations such as the Assyrian Church, Catholicism, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy and others.

Most Christians live in South India, particularly in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, & the average number of Christians is at 3.45% in areas such as Bombay (Mumbai). There are also large Christian populations in Northeast India. Catholic Christianity was spread in the 16th century, particularly by the Portuguese in Goa and Bombay. Protestantism was introduced by Protestant missionaries in the 18th century.

Islam[]

Islam came to India in the early 7th century through the Arab traders in Malabar coast. It started to become a major religion during the Muslim rule in the Indian subcontinent. The Cheraman Juma Mosque is the first mosque in India located in Methala, Kodungallur Taluk, Thrissur District in Kerala. A legend claims that it was built in 629 CE, which makes it the oldest mosque in the Indian subcontinent which is still in use. The growth of Islam in India mostly took place under the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) and the Mughal Empire (1526–1858), greatly aided by the mystic Sufi tradition. The growth of Islam was regionally uneven, and Islam had the greatest appeal to those who were not, or only superficially integrated into the Brahmanical fold, as in the case of Bengal.

Currently, Islam is the second largest religion in India, with 14.2% of the country's population or roughly 172 million people identifying as adherents of Islam (2011 census). The estimated number of Muslims in India for 2024 is projected to be around 204,760,392.

It makes India the country with the largest Muslim population outside Muslim-majority countries.

Economy[]

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Indian economy in 2024 was nominally worth $8.94 trillion.

The 522-million-worker Indian labour force is the world's second largest, as of 2017. The service sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and the agricultural sector 18.1%. India's foreign exchange remittances of US$100 billion in 2022, highest in the world, were contributed to its economy by 32 million Indians working in foreign countries. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software. In 2006, the share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985. In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.7%; In 2021, India was the world's ninth-largest importer and the sixteenth-largest exporter. Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and manufactured leather goods. Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals. Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%. India was the world's second-largest textile exporter after China in the 2013 calendar year.

Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007, India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century. Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580 million by 2030. Though ranking 68th in global competitiveness, as of 2010, India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, 24th in the banking sector, 44th in business sophistication, and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies. With seven of the world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, as of 2009, the country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States. India is ranked 39th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.As of 2023, India's consumer market was the world's fifth largest.

Politics[]

A parliamentary republic with a multi-party system, India has six recognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 50 regional parties. The Congress is considered center in Indian political culture, and the BJP right-wing. For most of the period between 1950—when India first became a republic—and the late 1980s, the Congress held a majority in the Parliament. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP, as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalition governments at the center.

In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951, 1957, and 1962, the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi, who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971. Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977; the then-new Janata Party, which had opposed the emergency, was voted in. Its government lasted just over two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; Morarji Desai and Charan Singh. Voted back into power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated; she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front, won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived, lasting just under two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar. Elections were held again in 1991; no party won an absolute majority. The Congress, as the largest single party, was able to form a minority government led by P. V. Narasimha Rao.

A two-year period of political turmoil followed the general election of 1996. Several short-lived alliances shared power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two comparatively long-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. There were two prime ministers during this period; H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral. In 1998, the BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the NDA became the first non-Congress, coalition government to complete a five-year term. Again in the 2004 Indian general elections, no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming another successful coalition: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). It had the support of left-leaning parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. The UPA returned to power in the 2009 general election with increased numbers, and it no longer required external support from India's communist parties. That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term. In the 2014 general election, the BJP became the first political party since 1984 to win a majority and govern without the support of other parties. In the 2019 general election, the BJP was victorious again with majority. In the 2024 general election, the BJP failed to achieve majority and the BJP-led NDA coalition formed the government. Narendra Modi, a former chief minister of Gujarat, is serving as the 14th Prime Minister of India in his third term since May 26, 2014.

Government[]

Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India, was designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker for the Viceroy of India, and constructed between 1911 and 1931 during the British Raj.

India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India—the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic.

Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the union and the states. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950, originally stated India to be a "sovereign, democratic republic;" this characterisation was amended in 1971 to "a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic". India's form of government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak states, has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic, and social changes.

The Government of India comprises three branches:

Executive: The President of India is the ceremonial head of state, who is elected indirectly for a five-year term by an electoral college comprising members of national and state legislatures. The Prime Minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power. Appointed by the president, the prime minister is by convention supported by the party or political alliance having a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament. The executive of the Indian government consists of the president, the vice-president, and the Union Council of Ministers—with the cabinet being its executive committee—headed by the prime minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of one of the houses of parliament. In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature; the prime minister and their council are directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament. Civil servants act as permanent executives and all decisions of the executive are implemented by them.
Legislature: The legislature of India is the bicameral parliament. Operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system, it comprises an upper house called the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and a lower house called the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body of 245 members who serve staggered six-year terms with elections every 2 years. Most are elected indirectly by the state and union territorial legislatures in numbers proportional to their state's share of the national population. All but two of the Lok Sabha's 545 members are elected directly by popular vote; they represent single-member constituencies for five-year terms. Two seats of parliament, reserved for Anglo-Indians in the article 331, have been scrapped.
Judiciary: India has a three-tier unitary independent judiciary comprising the supreme court, headed by the Chief Justice of India, 25 high courts, and a large number of trial courts. The supreme court has original jurisdiction over cases involving fundamental rights and over disputes between states and the centre and has appellate jurisdiction over the high courts. It has the power to both strike down union or state laws which contravene the constitution and invalidate any government action it deems unconstitutional.