The People
Most Indians are of Caucasian ancestry belonging to two chief subdivisions—the fairer-skinned Aryans and the darker-skinned Dravidians. The Aryans, who entered the country from the northwest, settled in northern India sometime between 2000 and 1500 b.c. The Dravidians of southern India may be descendants of people of an ancient civilization that flourished in the north around the Indus Valley before the Aryans arrived. ( )
Indian society, highly diverse, is divided into a great number of cultural groups, which are based mainly on religion, language, caste, and subcaste. There are thousands of castes and subcastes, and each identifies itself with one of the four main castes described in Hindu religious literature—Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. Below the castes in the social order is a class of people called the untouchables, who, historically, have been discriminated against. This discrimination is forbidden by the Indian constitution, but the practice continues. There are large numbers of tribal peoples who are not part of the caste system.
The family is one of the strongest social institutions, especially in rural areas. It is traditionally large, tightly knit, and under the authority of the oldest male. Social life for an Indian family revolves around the celebration of religious events and holidays, and the observing of ceremonies related to family births, marriages, and deaths.
India is the second most populous country on earth; only China's population is larger. India's population increased by 21.34 per cent between 1991 and 2001. Distribution is extremely uneven, ranging from less than 10 persons per square mile (4 per km 2)in parts of the Thar Desert and the Himalayas to more than 7,000 times that much in the union territory of Delhi. About 72 per cent of the people live in rural areas, mainly in small agricultural towns and villages.
India has more than 800 languages and dialects. The constitution declares Hindi the national language, but English is also an official language in government and is widely used. The constitution establishes for use in government 17 other major languages—Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
is primarily the responsibility of the state governments. The union, or central, government coordinates facilities and standards in the states, administers education in the union territories, and controls four universities and certain special schools.
The literacy rate of India is about 50 per cent. The government's long-range aim is to provide free and compulsory education for all children from age 6 through 14. However, only about three-fourths of the school-age children attend school, largely because in rural areas many parents keep their children out of school to help with the farming.
Below the college level, the school system in each state has three basic stages—primary school, middle school, and high school. Depending on the state, primary school lasts four or five years, middle school two or three years, and high school two to five years. In grade school, instruction is in a language of the school's region; in secondary school, students must learn either Hindi or English.
Higher education is provided by numerous institutions—various kinds of colleges, technical institutes, and universities. There are more than 140 universities. English is the principal language in higher education.
Probably no country in the world has given birth to more religions than India. Hinduism and Buddhism originated in India, as did Sikhism and Jainism.
Hinduism. About 80 per cent of the people are Hindus. There are nearly 200 Hindu groups, embracing a wide range of beliefs. Hinduism is interwoven with every aspect of Indian life—social relations, government, law, literature, art, and science.
Islam. About 11 per cent of the Indian people are Muslims. Most Indian Muslims belong to the Sunnite branch.
Christianity. Between 2 and 3 per cent of the people are Christian. About 15 per cent of the Christians are Thomas Christians, who trace their origin to a church they believe was founded in 52 a.d. by the Apostle Thomas. Most other Indian Christians belong to churches established in India by missionaries in modern times. More than half the Christians are Roman Catholic.
Other Religions. Sikhism began in the 16th century as an attempt to unite Hindus and Muslims. Slightly less than 2 per cent of the population are followers. Jainism began in the sixth century b.c. as an attempt to reform Hinduism. Buddhism, though it originated in India, has only a small following. Zoroastrianism began in Persia in ancient times; its Indian followers are called Parsis. Judaism has had a small group in India since the fourth or fifth century A.D
India has a very rich and ancient cultural heritage. Its Sanskrit literature, dating back to about 1500 B.C., ranks among the world's greatest literary achievements. Modern literary figures include the novelists Prem Chand, Qurratulain Hyder, and R. K. Narayan, and the poets Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel Prize in literature, 1913), Nirala, and Nissim Ezekiel.
Indian theater includes traditional Sanskrit plays, drama imported from Western countries, and drama in native languages but in the style of the Western world. Indian classical music emphasizes melody, rhythm, and improvisation. It is based on a melodic form called raga. There are thousands of ragas, each associated with a time of day, a season, or a special occasion. Ravi Shankar, a 20th-century concert musician, created an international audience for such music. Classical Indian dance was revived in the 20th century. India is one of the world's largest producers of motion pictures, which serve as the chief disseminator in India of popular music and dance. The director Salyajit Ray is known internationally.
Traditional art has been influenced largely by Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. In general, Buddhist art has a serene quality while Hindu art is more animated and vigorous. Indian Islamic art is expressed mainly in architecture.
Field hockey is India's national game, and the country regularly wins world championships in the sport. Soccer and cricket are other important spectator sports. Polo is popular with India's upper classes.
