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In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas.^[84][85] The emerging urbanisation gave rise to non-Vedic religious movements, two of which became independent religions. Jainism came into prominence during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira.^[86] Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India.^[87][88][89] In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal,^[90] and both established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire.^[91] The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent except the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas.^[92][93] The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.^[94][95]

In the early medieval era, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism put down roots on India's southern and western coasts.^[41] Muslim armies from Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains,^[42] eventually establishing the Delhi Sultanate, and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan networks of medieval Islam.^[43] In the 15th century, the Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India.^[44] In the Punjab, Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion.^[45] The Mughal Empire, in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace,^[46] leaving a legacy of luminous architecture.^[h][47] Gradually expanding rule of the British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial economy, but also consolidating its sovereignty.^[48] British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly,^[49][50] but technological changes were introduced, and ideas of education, modernity and the public life took root.^[51] A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule.^[52] 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.^[53]

India has been a federal republic since 1950, governed in a democratic parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society. India's population grew from 361 million in 1951 to 1.211 billion in 2011.^[54] During the same time, its nominal per capita income increased from US$64 annually to US$1,498, and its literacy rate from 16.6% to 74%. From being a comparatively destitute country in 1951,^[55] India has become a fast-growing major economy and a hub for information technology services, with an expanding middle class.^[56] It has a space programme which includes several planned or completed extraterrestrial missions. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture.^[57] India has substantially reduced its rate of poverty, though at the cost of increasing economic inequality.^[58] India is a nuclear-weapon state, which ranks high in military expenditure. It has disputes over Kashmir with its neighbours, Pakistan and China, unresolved since the mid-20th century.^[59] Among the socio-economic challenges India faces are gender inequality, child malnutrition,^[60] and rising levels of air pollution.^[61] India's land is megadiverse, with four biodiversity hotspots.^[62] Its forest cover comprises 21.7% of its area.^[63] India's wildlife, which has traditionally been viewed with tolerance in India's culture,^[64] is supported among these forests, and elsewhere, in protected habitats.