Indian people

{{Short description|none}} {{other uses|Indian (disambiguation)}} {{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Indians | image = border|300px | image_caption = Countries with a significant population with Indian ancestry. {{Legend|#000000|India}} {{Legend|#804d00|+ 1,000,000}} {{Legend|#bd7100|+ 100,000}} {{Legend|#ff9933|+ 10,000}} {{Legend|#ffcf9e|+ 1,000}} {{legend|#a0a0a0|No data}} | population = {{circa|'''1.4 billion'''}} | popplace = Indian diaspora: {{Circa|35,421,987|lk=yes}} (November 2024 estimate, including people of Indian origin)<ref>{{Cite web |website=mea.gov.in |publisher=Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. |title=Population of Overseas Indians |url=https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008153753/https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm |access-date=2023-10-09 |archive-date=8 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref> | region1 = {{flagicon|US}} United States | pop1 = 5,160,203 | ref1 = <ref name="ACS 2023">{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2023.B02018 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=2024-09-21 |title=US Census Data |archive-date=19 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241119032031/https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2023.B02018 |url-status=live }}</ref> | region2 = {{flagicon|United Arab Emirates}} United Arab Emirates | pop2 = 4,360,000 | ref2 = <ref>{{Cite web|title=UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE) POPULATION STATISTICS 2025 web|url=https://www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/uae-population-statistics/}}</ref> | region3 = {{flag|Saudi Arabia}} | pop3 = 1,884,476-2,594,947 | ref3 = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Saudi Arabia 2023 Census |url=https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008153753/https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm |archive-date=8 October 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Indians Overseas Census |url=https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008153753/https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm |archive-date=8 October 2023 }}</ref> | region4 = {{flagicon|Malaysia}} Malaysia | pop4 = 2,019,600 | ref4 = <ref name="penerangan Malaysia">{{cite web| title =Population by States and Ethnic Group| url =http://pmr.penerangan.gov.my/index.php/info-terkini/19463-unjuran-populasi-penduduk-2015.html| date =2015| website =penerangan.gov.my| publisher =Department of Information, Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, Malaysia| access-date =7 August 2023 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160212125740/http://pmr.penerangan.gov.my/index.php/info-terkini/19463-unjuran-populasi-penduduk-2015.html| archive-date =12 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> | region5 = {{flag|Myanmar}} | pop5 = 2,009,207 | ref5 = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Indians Overseas Census |work=Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India |url=https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008153753/https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm |archive-date=8 October 2023}}</ref> | region6 = {{flagicon|UK}} United Kingdom | pop6 = 1,927,150 {{Flag|England}}: 1,843,248 – 3.3% | ref6 = <ref name=2021census>{{cite web|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021|title=Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021|publisher=Office for National Statistics|access-date=29 November 2022|archive-date=22 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922140157/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021|url-status=live}}</ref> {{Flag|Scotland}}: 52,951 – 1.0%<ref name="2022census_Scot">{{cite web |url=https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/media/trbdxzme/scotland-s-census-2022-ethnic-group-national-identity-language-and-religion-chart-data.xlsx |title=Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion - Chart data |author= |date=21 May 2024 |website=Scotland's Census |publisher=National Records of Scotland |access-date=21 May 2024 |archive-date=21 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521173147/https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/media/trbdxzme/scotland-s-census-2022-ethnic-group-national-identity-language-and-religion-chart-data.xlsx |url-status=live }} [https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/search-the-census#/search-by Alternative URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514142653/https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/search-the-census#/search-by |date=14 May 2021 }} 'Search data by location' > 'All of Scotland' > 'Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion' > 'Ethnic Group'</ref> {{Flag|Wales}}: 21,070 – 0.7%<ref name=2021census/> Northern Ireland: 9,881 – 0.5%<ref name=NICensus2021>{{cite web|url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-ms-b01.xlsx|title=MS-B01: Ethnic group|publisher=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency|date=22 September 2022|access-date=7 January 2023|archive-date=12 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812142657/https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-ms-b01.xlsx|url-status=live}}</ref> | region7 = {{flagicon|Canada}} Canada | pop7 = 1,858,755 | ref7 = <ref name="Canada Census">{{cite web| title =''Census Profile.'' 2021 Census of Population| url =https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?LANG=E&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1&DGUIDlist=2021A000011124&HEADERlist=31&SearchText=Canada| date =29 March 2023| website =statcan.gc.ca| publisher =Statistics Canada| access-date =7 August 2023| archive-date =2 November 2023| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20231102133907/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?LANG=E&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1&DGUIDlist=2021A000011124&HEADERlist=31&SearchText=Canada| url-status =live}}</ref>{{efn|name="notecanadapopulation2021"}} | region8 = {{flagicon|Sri Lanka}}Sri Lanka | pop8 = 1,614,000 | ref8 = <ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/attach/lu6091.pdf|title=Population of Overseas Indians (Compiled in December, 2017)|work=Ministry of External Affairs|access-date=22 January 2023|date=2017-12-21|archive-date=19 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319104604/https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/attach/lu6091.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="statistics Sri Lanka">{{cite web| title =''A2: Population by ethnic group according to districts.'' Sri Lanka Census of Population and Housing| url =http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=pop42&gp=Activities&tpl=3| date =2012| website =statistics.gov.lk| publisher =Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka| access-date =7 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310011932/http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=pop42&gp=Activities&tpl=3|archive-date=10 March 2018}}</ref> | region9 = {{flagicon|South Africa}} South Africa | pop9 = 1,697,506 | ref9 = <ref name="statssa">{{cite web| title =Community Survey 2016 – Statistical Release| url =http://cs2016.statssa.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/NT-30-06-2016-RELEASE-for-CS-2016-_Statistical-releas_1-July-2016.pdf| page =31| date =2016| location =Pretoria| website =statssa.gov.za| publisher =Statistics South Africa| access-date =7 August 2023| archive-date =7 January 2024| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20240107012017/http://cs2016.statssa.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/NT-30-06-2016-RELEASE-for-CS-2016-_Statistical-releas_1-July-2016.pdf| url-status =live}}</ref> | region10 = {{flagicon|Nigeria}} Nigeria | pop10 = 1,000,000 | ref10 = <ref name="aljazeera">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/12/2/africans-decry-discrimination-in-india|title=There are only 50,000 Nigerians living in India, but there are over a million Indians living in Nigeria|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=28 August 2022|archive-date=3 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103185624/https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2013/12/2/africans-decry-discrimination-in-india|url-status=live}}</ref> | region11 = {{flagicon|Mauritius}} Mauritius | pop11 = 894,500 | ref11 = <ref name="auto1"/> | region12 = {{flagicon|Oman}} Oman | pop12 = 796,001 | ref12 = <ref name="moia">{{cite web |url = https://mea.gov.in/images/attach/NRIs-and-PIOs_1.pdf |title = Population of Overseas Indians |publisher = Ministry of External Affairs (India) |date = 31 December 2016 |access-date = 28 May 2016 |archive-date = 25 December 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181225053337/http://mea.gov.in/error.htm?aspxerrorpath=/images/attach/NRIs-and-PIOs_1.pdf |url-status = live }}</ref> | region13 = {{flagicon|Australia}} Australia | pop13 = 700,000 | ref13 = <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/indians-are-becoming-visible-australia-never | title=Indians are becoming visible in Australia like never before | publisher=Lowy Institute | date=28 May 2021 | access-date=14 September 2021 | archive-date=21 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321144422/https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/indians-are-becoming-visible-australia-never | url-status=live }}</ref> | region14 = {{flagicon|Kuwait}} Kuwait | pop14 = 700,000 | ref14 = <ref>{{cite news |author= |title=Kuwait MP seeks five-year cap on expat workers' stay |url=http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/kuwait-mp-seeks-five-year-cap-on-expat-workers-stay-1.1284513 |newspaper=Gulf News |date=30 January 2014 |archive-date=28 March 2014 |access-date=25 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328170436/http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/kuwait-mp-seeks-five-year-cap-on-expat-workers-stay-1.1284513 |url-status=live }}</ref> | region15 = {{flagicon|Qatar}} Qatar | pop15 = 650,000 | ref15 = <ref name=pop>{{cite web |url=http://priyadsouza.com/population-of-qatar-by-nationality-in-2017/ |title=Population of Qatar by nationality - 2017 report |access-date=7 February 2017 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225053320/http://priyadsouza.com/population-of-qatar-by-nationality-in-2017/ }}</ref> | region16 = {{flagicon|Nepal}} Nepal | pop16 = 600,000 | ref16 = <ref name=IndianEmbassyNepal>{{cite web|url=https://www.indembkathmandu.gov.in/page/about-india-nepal-relations/|title=About India-Nepal Relations|website=Embassy of India, Kathmandu, Nepal|date=February 2020|access-date=29 August 2020|archive-date=12 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912101420/http://www.indembkathmandu.gov.in/page/about-india-nepal-relations/}}</ref> | region17 = {{flagicon|Bangladesh}}Bangladesh | pop17 = 500,000-1,000,000 | ref17 = <ref>{{cite web | url=https://scroll.in/article/664305/dhaka-has-a-question-what-about-the-illegal-indian-immigrants-in-bangladesh | title=Dhaka has a question: what about the illegal Indian immigrants in Bangladesh? | publisher=Scroll.in | date=16 May 2014 | access-date=25 October 2023 | archive-date=10 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410234609/http://scroll.in/article/664305/dhaka-has-a-question-what-about-the-illegal-indian-immigrants-in-bangladesh | url-status=live }}</ref> | region18 = {{flagicon|Germany}} Germany | pop18 = 161,000-1,000,000+ | ref18 = <ref>[http://www.bib-demografie.de/DE/Aktuelles/Presse/Archiv/2017/2017-03-01-zuwanderung-aussereuropaeische-Laender-fast-verdoppelt.html Immigration from outside Europe almost doubled] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209232407/http://www.bib-demografie.de/DE/Aktuelles/Presse/Archiv/2017/2017-03-01-zuwanderung-aussereuropaeische-Laender-fast-verdoppelt.html |date=9 December 2017 }}. Federal Institute for Population Research. Retrieved 1 March 2017</ref><ref name="moia"/> | region19 = {{flagicon|Trinidad and Tobago}} Trinidad and Tobago | pop19 = 468,524 | ref19 = <ref name="moia"/> | region20 = {{flagicon|Thailand}} Thailand | pop20 = 465,000 | ref20 = <ref name="moia"/> | region21 = {{flagicon|Bahrain}}Bahrain | pop21 = 400,000 | ref21 = <ref name="moia"/> | region22 = {{flagicon|Guyana}} Guyana | pop22 = 327,000 | ref22 = <ref name="moia"/> | region23 = {{flagicon|Fiji}}Fiji | pop23 = 315,000 | ref23 = <ref name="moia"/> | region24 = {{flagicon|Réunion}} Réunion ''(Overseas France)'' | pop24 = 297,300 | ref24 = <ref name="POI">{{cite web |title=Population of Overseas Indians |url=https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm |date=15 February 2023 |website=mea.gov.in |publisher=Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008153753/https://www.mea.gov.in/population-of-overseas-indians.htm |archive-date=8 October 2023 |access-date=29 October 2023}}</ref> | region25 = {{flagicon|Singapore}} Singapore | pop25 = 250,300 | ref25 = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nptd.gov.sg/Portals/0/Homepage/Highlights/population-in-brief-2015.pdf|title=Population in Brief 2015|work=Singapore Government|date=September 2015|access-date=14 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216110141/http://www.nptd.gov.sg/Portals/0/Homepage/Highlights/population-in-brief-2015.pdf|archive-date=16 February 2016}}</ref> | region26 = {{flagicon|Netherlands}} Netherlands | pop26 = 240,000 | ref26 = <ref name="moia"/> | region27 = {{flagicon|Italy}} Italy | pop27 = 197,301 | ref27 = <ref name="moia"/> | region28 = {{flagicon|NZ}} New Zealand | pop28 = 155,178 | ref28 = <ref name="stats.govt.nz">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-culture-identity/asian.aspx],|title=[Stats NZ|website=stats.govt.nz|access-date=11 December 2017|archive-date=28 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728013617/http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-culture-identity/asian.aspx}}</ref> | region29 = {{flagicon|Suriname}} Suriname | pop29 = 148,000 | ref29 = <ref name="moia"/> | region30 = {{flagicon|Indonesia}} Indonesia | pop30 = 120,000 | ref30 = <ref name="moia"/> | region31 = {{flag|Philippines}} | pop31 = 120,000<ref name="mea.gov.in">{{Cite web |date=31 December 2018 |title=Population of Overseas Indians |url=https://mea.gov.in/images/attach/NRIs-and-PIOs_1.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225053337/http://mea.gov.in/error.htm?aspxerrorpath=%2Fimages%2Fattach%2FNRIs-and-PIOs_1.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2018 |access-date=18 April 2019 |publisher=Ministry of External Affairs (India)}}</ref> | region32 = {{flagicon|Israel}} Israel | pop32 = 85,000 | ref32 = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indembassyisrael.gov.in/pages?id=xboja&subid=wdLwb|title=Indian Community in Israel|website=indembassyisrael.gov.in|access-date=13 March 2021|archive-date=21 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821175133/https://www.indembassyisrael.gov.in/pages?id=xboja&subid=wdLwb|url-status=live}}</ref> | region33 = {{flagicon|France}} France | pop33 = 58,983 | ref33 = <ref name="europa.eu">{{cite web| title =Population on 1 January by age group, sex and country of birth| url =https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop3ctb/default/table?lang=en| year =2023| publisher =Eurostat| access-date =7 August 2023| archive-date =16 November 2023| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20231116230504/https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/MIGR_POP3CTB/default/table?lang=en| url-status =live}}</ref> | region34 = {{flagicon|Japan}} Japan | pop34 = 46,000 | ref34 = <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_00036.html |title=令和5年6月末現在における在留外国人数について |access-date=18 November 2023 |archive-date=9 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109111757/https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_00036.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | region35 = {{flagicon|Brazil}} Brazil | pop35 = 27,432 | ref35 = <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nepo.unicamp.br/observatorio/bancointerativo/numeros-imigracao-internacional/sincre-sismigra/ |title=Immigrants in Brazil (2025, in Portuguese) |access-date=20 August 2021 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819004608/https://www.nepo.unicamp.br/observatorio/bancointerativo/numeros-imigracao-internacional/sincre-sismigra/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | region36 = {{flagicon|Portugal}} Portugal | pop36 = 24,550+ | ref36 = <ref>[https://observador.pt/2021/09/14/portugal-assina-acordo-com-india-sobre-recrutamento-de-trabalhadores-indianos/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114011824/https://observador.pt/2021/09/14/portugal-assina-acordo-com-india-sobre-recrutamento-de-trabalhadores-indianos/ |date=14 November 2022 }} Portugal signs agreement with India on labour recruitment of Indian citizens, Observador with Lusa Agency, in Portuguese. Retrieved 14.12.2022.</ref> | region37 = {{flagicon|Jamaica}} Jamaica | pop37 = 21,584 | ref37 = <ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jamaica/|title= CIA World Factbook (Jamaica)|publisher= United States Government|access-date= 15 May 2007|archive-date= 11 January 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210111023238/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jamaica|url-status= dead}}</ref> | region38 = {{flagicon|Ireland}} Ireland | pop38 = 20,000+ | ref38 = <ref>{{cite web| website = irelandindiacouncil.ie |publisher=Ireland India Council|url=http://www.irelandindiacouncil.ie/community.php |title = Indian Community In Ireland | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180120101750/http://www.irelandindiacouncil.ie/community.php | archive-date = 20 January 2018 }}</ref> | region39 = {{flagicon|Poland}} Poland | pop39 = 9,900 | ref39 = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.pl/web/udsc/cudzoziemcy-w-polsce-po-2020-r|title=Cudzoziemcy w Polsce po 2020 r. - Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców - Portal Gov.pl|website=Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców|access-date=30 January 2023|archive-date=31 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331155632/https://www.gov.pl/web/udsc/cudzoziemcy-w-polsce-po-2020-r|url-status=live}}</ref> | region40 = {{flagicon|Cayman Islands}} Cayman Islands | pop40 = 2,081 | ref40 = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eso.ky/UserFiles/right_page_docums/files/uploads/chapter_10_-_labour_force_and_employment.xlsx|title=Labour Force Indicators by Sex, 2014- 2019|website=eso.ky|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307225411/https://www.eso.ky/UserFiles/right_page_docums/files/uploads/chapter_10_-_labour_force_and_employment.xlsx|archive-date=7 March 2022}}</ref> | languages = Languages of India, including: {{hlist|Assamese | Awadhi | Bagheli | Bengali | Bhil|Bhojpuri | Bodo | Braj Bhasha | Bundeli | Chhattisgarhi|Dogri | English | French | Garhwali|Gondi| Gujarati | Haryanvi|Hindi | Indo-Portuguese creoles | Kannauji | Kashmiri | Kannada |Khandeshi|Kodava|Konkani | Kumaoni|Kurukh|Kutchi|Ladakhi | Magahi|Maithili | Malayalam | Marathi | |Meitei<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meitei |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mni/25 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Ethnologue |language=en |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124092829/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mni/25 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Manipuri language {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manipuri-language |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en |quote=Manipuri language, Manipuri Meiteilon, also called Meitei (Meetei), a Tibeto-Burman language spoken predominantly in Manipur, a northeastern state of India. |archive-date=11 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711165900/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manipuri-language |url-status=live }}</ref>|Nepali | Odia | Portuguese | Punjabi | Rajasthani|Sanskrit | Santhali | Sindhi | Tamil | Telugu | Tripuri | Tulu | Urdu | Western Pahari}} | religions = '''Majority:'''{{hlist| 15px Hinduism }} '''Minorities:'''{{hlist| 15px Islam |15px|class=skin-invert Christianity | 15px|class=skin-invert Sikhism | 15px Buddhism | 10px Jainism | 15px Zoroastrianism | 15px|class=skin-invert Judaism | Irreligion| Others}} }}

'''Indian people''' or '''Indians''' are the citizens and nationals of the Republic of India or people who trace their ancestry to India. While the demonym "Indian" applies to people originating from the present-day India, it was also used as the identifying term for people originating from what is now Bangladesh and Pakistan prior to the Partition of India in 1947.<ref name="Stern2001">{{cite book |last1=Stern |first1=Robert W. |title=Democracy and Dictatorship in South Asia: Dominant Classes and Political Outcomes in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh |date=2001 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-97041-3 |page=6 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Henry Newman |title=The Calcutta Review |date=1921 |publisher=University of Calcutta |page=252 |language=en |quote=I have also found that Bombay is India, Satara is India, Bangalore is India, Madras is India, Delhi, Lahore, the Khyber, Lucknow, Calcutta, Cuttack, Shillong, etc., are all India.}}</ref> The term "Indian" does not refer to a single ethnic group, but is used as a social construct for the various ethnic groups in or from India.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chandra Ford |author2=Nina T Harawa |date=29 April 2010 |title=A new conceptualization of ethnicity for social epidemiologic and health equity research |journal=Soc Sci Med |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=251–258 |doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.04.008 |pmc=2908006 |pmid=20488602}}</ref>

In 2022, the population of India stood at 1.4 billion people. According to United Nations forecasts, India overtook China as the world's most populous country by the end of April 2023, containing 17.50 percent of the global population.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 April 2023 |title=India to overtake China as world's most populous country in April 2023, United Nations projects |url=https://www.un.org/en/desa/india-overtake-china-world-most-populous-country-april-2023-united-nations-projects#:~:text=Smith%20Mehta%2Funsplash.-,India%20to%20overtake%20China%20as%20world's%20most%20populous%20country%20in,the%20world's%20most%20populous%20country |access-date=27 April 2023 |publisher=United Nations |archive-date=5 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905025340/https://www.un.org/en/desa/india-overtake-china-world-most-populous-country-april-2023-united-nations-projects#:~:text=Smith%20Mehta%2Funsplash.-,India%20to%20overtake%20China%20as%20world's%20most%20populous%20country%20in,the%20world's%20most%20populous%20country |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ellis-Petersen |first1=Hannah |last2=Ellis-Petersen |first2=Hannah |date=2023-04-24 |title=India overtakes China to become world's most populous country |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/india-overtakes-china-to-become-worlds-most-populous-country |access-date=2023-07-12 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621224331/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/india-overtakes-china-to-become-worlds-most-populous-country |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65380148 "India's population to surpass China this week - UN"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230714190919/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65380148 |date=14 July 2023 }}. BBC. April 24, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2023.</ref> The Indian overseas diaspora also boasts large numbers, particularly in Arab states of the Persian Gulf and in the Western world (especially the Anglosphere), as well as historic descendant populations in various countries that were part of the British Empire (particularly in the Caribbean and South Africa) due to the Indian indenture system.<ref name="moia" />

Particularly in North America and the Caribbean, the terms "Asian Indian" and "East Indian" are sometimes used to differentiate Indians from the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Although the misidentification of Indigenous Americans as Indians occurred during the European colonization of the Americas, the term "Indian" is still used as an identifier for indigenous populations in North America and the Caribbean. This usage is growing rarer, as terms such as indigenous, Amerindian, and specifically First Nations in Canada, and Native American in the United States, are widely used in official discourse, census, and law. ==Ethnonym== {{Main|Names for India}} The name ''Bhārata'' has been used as a self-ascribed name by people of the Indian subcontinent and the Republic of India since 1949.<ref>Article 1 of the English version of the Constitution of India: "India that is Bharat shall be a Union of States."</ref> The designation ''"Bhārata"'' appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, ''Bhārata Gaṇarājya''. The name is derived from the ancient Vedic and Puranas, which refer to the land that constitutes India as ''Bhārata varṣam'' and uses this term to distinguish it from other ''varṣa''s or continents.<ref name="pargiter">{{Citation|title=Ancient Indian Historical Tradition|last=Pargiter|first=F. F.|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|place=Delhi|year=1922|page=131}}</ref> The ''Bhāratas'' were a Vedic tribe mentioned in the Rigveda, notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings.<ref name="schmidt1980">Schmidt, H.P. ''Notes on Rgveda 7.18.5-10''. Indica. Organ of the Heras Institute, Bombay. Vol.17, 1980, 41–47.</ref> India is named after legendary Emperor Bharata who was a descendant of the Bhāratas tribe, scion of Kuru Dynasty who unified the Indian subcontinent under one realm.<ref>National Council of Educational Research and Training, History Text Book, Part 1, India</ref>

: "The country (''varṣam'') that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called ''Bhāratam''; there dwell the descendants of Bharata." -Vishnu Purana<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil/1_sanskr/3_purana/visnup_u.htm |title=Visnu-Purana |access-date=2008-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609150505/http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil/1_sanskr/3_purana/visnup_u.htm |archive-date=9 June 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://is1.mum.edu/vedicreserve/puranas/vishnu_purana.pdf|title=Reading the Vedic Literature in Sanskrit|website=is1.mum.edu|access-date=11 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231114/http://is1.mum.edu/vedicreserve/puranas/vishnu_purana.pdf|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

In early Vedic literature, the term ''Āryāvarta'' (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त) was in popular use before ''Bhārata''. The Manusmṛti (2.22) gives the name ''Āryāvarta'' to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".<ref>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|year= 1990| page= [https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/70 70]|editor=K.S. Gautam|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India}}</ref><ref>Michael Cook (2014), ''Ancient Religions, Modern Politics: The Islamic Case in Comparative Perspective'', Princeton University Press, p.68: "Aryavarta [...] is defined by Manu as extending from the Himalayas in the north to the Vindhyas of Central India in the south and from the sea in the west to the sea in the east."</ref>

While the word Indian and India is derived from Greek {{lang|grc|Ἰνδία}} (''Indía''), via Latin ''India''. ''Indía'' in Koine Greek denoted the region beyond the Indus ({{lang|grc|Ἰνδός}}) river, since Herodotus (5th century BC) {{lang|grc|ἡ Ἰνδική χώρη}}, ''hē Indikē chōrē''; "the Indian land", {{lang|grc|Ἰνδός}}, ''Indos'', "an Indian", from Old Persian ''Hinduš'' and medieval term Hindustani.<ref name=A>Hudson, John C., ed., Goode's World Atlas 20th Edition Chicago, Illinois, USA:2000—Rand McNally Map Page 203 Major Languages of India—map of the ethnolinguistic groups of India</ref> The name is derived ultimately from ''Sindhu'', the Sanskrit name of the river Indus, but also meaning "river" generically.<ref name=cheung>{{cite book|first=Martha Pui Yiu|last=Cheung|chapter=Zan Ning (919–1001 CE), To Translate Means to Exchange|title=An Anthology of Chinese Discourse on Translation: From Earliest Times to the Buddhist Project|year=2014|orig-date=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-63928-2|pages=179, 181}}</ref>

==History== {{Main|History of India|Greater India}}

=== Ancient era === {{See also|Peopling of India}}{{Multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center | align = left | direction = vertical | width = 200 | image1 = Mohenjo-daro Priesterkönig.jpeg | caption1 = Priest-King, Indus Valley civilisation | image2 = IVC-major-sites-2.jpg | caption2 = Major sites and extent of the Indus Valley Civilization. | image3 = Cave 26, Ajanta.jpg | caption3 = Buddhist rock-cut architecture, 2nd century BC }} thumb|Ashoka pillar, erected by Emperor Ashoka in about 250 BC. It has been adopted as emblem of India.

The ''history of India'' includes the prehistoric settlements and societies in the Indian subcontinent; the blending of the Indus Valley Civilization<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Leshnik|first=Lawrence S.|date=1968|title=The Harappan "Port" at Lothal: Another View|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=70|issue=5|pages=911–922|doi=10.1525/aa.1968.70.5.02a00070|jstor=669756|issn=0002-7294}}</ref> and Indo-Aryan culture into the Vedic Civilization; the development of Hinduism as a synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions; the rise of sixteen oligarchic republics known as Mahajanapadas; the rise of the Śramaṇa movement; the birth of Jainism and Buddhism in the 6th century BCE,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brow.on.ca/Books/Religion/Religion3.html|title=Religion -- Chapter 3|website=brow.on.ca|access-date=11 December 2017|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228123746/http://www.brow.on.ca/Books/Religion/Religion3.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and the onset of a succession of powerful dynasties and empires for more than two millennia throughout various geographic areas of the subcontinent, including the growth of Muslim dynasties during the medieval period intertwined with Hindu powers; the advent of European traders resulting in the establishment of British India; and the subsequent independence movement that led to the Partition of India and the creation of the Republic of India.

The Indian people established during the ancient and medieval periods to the early eighteenth century some of the greatest empires and dynasties in South Asian history like the Maurya Empire, Satavahana dynasty, Gupta Empire, Rashtrakuta dynasty, Chalukya Empire, Chola Empire, Karkota Empire, Pala Empire, Vijayanagara Empire, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, Maratha Confederacy and the Sikh Empire. The first great empire of the Indian people was the Maurya Empire having Patliputra (near present-day Patna, Bihar) as its capital. The Empire conquered major parts of South Asia in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka alongside their senior advisor, Acharya Chanakya, the world's pioneer of the fields of political science and economics. The next great ancient empire of the Indian people was the Gupta Empire. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known as the classical or "Golden Age of India". During this period, aspects of Indian civilisation, administration, culture, and Hinduism and Buddhism spread to much of Asia, while the Chola Empire in the south had flourishing maritime trade links with the Roman Empire during this period. The ancient Indian mathematicians Aryabhata, Bhāskara I and Brahmagupta invented the concept of zero and the Hindu–Arabic numeral system during this period.<ref>The Earth and Its Peoples by Richard Bulliet, Pamela Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson p.192</ref> During this period Indian cultural influence spread over many parts of Southeast Asia which led to the establishment of Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia.<ref>The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia: From early times to c. 1800, Band 1 by Nicholas Tarling p.281</ref>

=== Medieval era === During the early medieval period the Rashtrakuta dynasty governed most of the central India from the 8th to 10th centuries and the Amoghavarsha of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty was described by the Arab traveller Sulaiman al-Tajir as one of the four great kings of the world.<ref>The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond; Acyuta Yājñika, Suchitra Sheth, Penguins Books, (2005), p.42, {{ISBN|978-0-14400-038-8}}</ref> The medieval south Indian mathematician Mahāvīra lived in the Rashtrakuta dynasty and was the first Indian mathematician who separated astrology from mathematics and who wrote the earliest Indian text entirely devoted to mathematics.<ref>The Math Book: From Pythagoras to the 57th Dimension, 250 Milestones by Clifford A. Pickover: page 88</ref> The greatest maritime empire of the medieval Indians was the Chola dynasty. Under the great Rajaraja Chola I and his successor Rajendra Chola I the Chola dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in South Asia and Southeast Asia.<ref name=kulke115>Kulke and Rothermund, p 115</ref><ref name=keay215>Keay, p 215</ref> The power of the Chola Empire was proclaimed to the eastern world by the expedition to the Ganges which Rajendra Chola I undertook and by the occupation of cities of the maritime empire of Srivijaya in Southeast Asia, as well as by the repeated embassies to China.<ref name="sastri158">K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, ''A History of South India'', p 158</ref>

During the late medieval period the great Vijayanagara Empire ruled most of southern India from the 14th to 16th centuries and reached its peak during the reign of Sri Krishnadevaraya<ref>Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture by John Stewart Bowman p.270</ref> The medieval Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics flourished during this period under such well known south Indian mathematicians as Madhava ({{Circa|1340|1425}}), who made important contributions to trigonometry and calculus, and Nilakhanta (c. 1444–1545), who postulated on the orbitals of planets.<ref name="planet">"History of Science and Philosophy of Science: A Historical Perspective of the Evolution of Ideas in Science", editor: Pradip Kumar Sengupta, author: Subhash Kak, 2010, p91, vol XIII, part 6, Publisher: Pearson Longman, {{ISBN|978-81-317-1930-5}}</ref>

=== Modern era === The Mughal Empire consolidated much of the Indian subcontinent under a single realm. Under the Mughals, India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial expansion and greater patronage of culture, greatly influencing Indian society.<ref name="Thackston">{{cite book|title=The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor|publisher=Modern Library|isbn=978-0-375-76137-9|author=Zahir ud-Din Mohammad|author-link=Babur|editor=Thackston, Wheeler M.|editor-link=Wheeler Thackston|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/babarinizam00babu/page/ xlvi]|date=10 September 2002|quote=In India the dynasty always called itself {{transliteration|fa|Gurkani}}, after {{lang|chg-Latn|Temür}}'s title {{transliteration|fa|Gurkân}}, the Persianized form of the Mongolian {{lang|mn-Latn|kürägän}}, "son-in-law", a title he assumed after his marriage to a Genghisid princess.|title-link=Baburnama}}</ref> The Mughal Empire balanced and pacified local societies through new administrative practices{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2008|p = 115}}{{sfn|Robb|2001|pp = 90–91}} and had diverse and inclusive ruling elites,{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 17}} leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule.{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2008|p = 152}} Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, the Pathans, the Jats and the Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience.<ref name="AsherTalbot2006">{{cite book | author1=Catherine Ella Blanshard Asher | author2=Cynthia Talbot | title=India before Europe | year= 2006 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-80904-7 | page=265}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author1=Burjor Avari | title=Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and Presence in the Indian Subcontinent |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hGHpVtQ8eKoC&q=%22Hindu+Jats%22+rebellion+mughals&pg=PA131 | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-0-415-58061-8 | pages=131–| year=2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author1=Erinn Banting | title=Afghanistan: The people |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fl8cd15sc7wC&q=pashtuns+mughal+empire+rebel&pg=PA9| isbn=978-0-7787-9336-6 | year=2003 | publisher=Crabtree Publishing Company }}</ref>{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|pp = 23–24}}

Following the death of Aurangzeb in the early 18th century, the empire saw the emergence of autonomous regional powers such as Marathas, the Rajputs and various ''de facto'' independent Mughal governors and other Hindu and Muslim princely states, though they all continued to recognise the Mughal emperor as their suzerain.<ref>Western India in the Nineteenth Century: A Study in the Social History by Ravinder Kumar p.5</ref> The period also saw the emergence of the British East India Company who took control of large parts of the empire, though they nominally ruled and traded under the authority of the emperor and nominally considered him as their suzerain. The regions under Company rule witnessed a period of rapid development of infrastructure, economic decline and major famines.{{sfn|Robb|2001|pp=151–152}}<ref>Metcalf, B.; Metcalf, T.R. (2006), ''A Concise History of Modern India'' (2nd ed.), pp. 94–99.</ref> During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for Indian independence movement was launched, the Indian subcontinent gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, after the British provinces were partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan and the princely states all acceded to one of the new states.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOQkpcVcd9AC&pg=PT139|title=Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia|page=139|first=James|last=Minahan|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-660-7|year=2012}}</ref><ref name="yourarticlelibrary">{{cite web|url=http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/economics/indian-economy-during-british-rule/39741/|publisher=yourarticlelibrary.com|title=Indian Economy During British Rule|access-date=6 January 2017|date=2014-05-08|archive-date=31 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231080124/http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/economics/indian-economy-during-british-rule/39741/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ali2017">{{cite web |last1=Ali |first1=Afsar |title=Partition of India and Patriotism of Indian Muslims |url=https://www.milligazette.com/news/15756-partition-of-india-and-patriotism-of-indian-muslims |work=The Milli Gazette |date=17 July 2017 |access-date=8 March 2019 |archive-date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226001542/https://www.milligazette.com/news/15756-partition-of-india-and-patriotism-of-indian-muslims/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Culture== {{Main|Culture of India}}

India is one of the world's oldest civilisations.<ref name="asaw">{{cite book |last1=Kenoyer |first1=Jonathan Mark |author-link1=Jonathan Mark Kenoyer |last2=Heuston |first2=Kimberley |date=May 2005 |title=The Ancient South Asian World |url=http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryWorld/Ancient/Other/~~/dmlldz11c2EmY2k9OTc4MDE5NTE3NDIyOQ== |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-517422-9 |oclc=56413341 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120093649/http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryWorld/Ancient/Other/~~/dmlldz11c2EmY2k9OTc4MDE5NTE3NDIyOQ%3D%3D |archive-date=20 November 2012 }}</ref> The Indian culture, often labelled as an amalgamation of several various cultures, spans across the Indian subcontinent and has been influenced and shaped by a history that is several thousand years old.<ref>John Keay (2011), ''India: A History'', 2nd Ed - Revised and Updated, Grove Press / Harper Collins, {{ISBN|978-0-8021-4558-1}}, see Introduction and Chapters 3 through 11</ref><ref>Mohammada, Malika (2007), The foundations of the composite culture in India, Aakar Books, {{ISBN|81-89833-18-9}}</ref> Throughout the history of India, Indian culture has been heavily influenced by Dharmic religions.<ref name="Finding Lost">Nikki Stafford [https://archive.org/details/findinglostunoff0000staf/page/174  Finding Lost], ECW Press, 2006 {{ISBN|1-55022-743-2}} p. 174</ref> They have been credited with shaping much of Indian philosophy, literature, architecture, art and music.<ref name="Om Prakash">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzpYb5UOeiwC|page=3 |chapter=1 |title=Cultural History of India |publisher=New Age International Limited Publications |year=2005 |isbn=978-81-224-1587-2}}</ref> Greater India was the historical extent of Indian culture beyond the Indian subcontinent. This particularly concerns the spread of Hinduism, Buddhism, architecture, administration and writing system from India to other parts of Asia through the Silk Road by the travellers and maritime traders during the early centuries of the Common Era.<ref>Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, by Keat Gin Ooi p.642</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Hindu-Buddhist Architecture in Southeast Asia by Daigorō Chihara p.226</ref> To the west, Greater India overlaps with Greater Persia in the Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountains.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=978-0-521-88782-3&ss=exc |title=Justice, Punishment and the Medieval Muslim Imagination |series=Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization |last=Lange |first=Christian |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-88782-3 |date=2008-07-10 }}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Lange: Greater Persia (including Khwārazm, Transoxania, and Afghanistan)."</ref> During medieval period, Islam played a significant role in shaping Indian cultural heritage.<ref name="Usha">{{cite book |last = Sharma |first = Usha |title = Cultural and Religious Heritage of India |publisher=Mittal Publications, 2004 |isbn = 978-81-7099-960-7 |year = 2004 }}</ref> Over the centuries, there has been significant integration of Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs with Muslims across India.<ref name="Dunn">{{cite book |last = E. Dunn |first = Ross |title = The adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveller of the fourteenth century |year = 1986 |publisher = University of California Press, 1986 |isbn = 978-0-520-05771-5 |url = https://archive.org/details/adventuresofibnb00ross_0 }}</ref><ref name="Tharoor">{{cite book |last = Tharoor |first = Shashi |title = India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond |publisher=Arcade Publishing, 2006 |isbn = 978-1-55970-803-6 |year = 2006 }}</ref>

===Religion=== {{Main|Religion in India|Hinduism|Buddhism|Jainism|Sikhism|Islam|Christianity|Sanamahism|Irreligion in India}} [[File:Coin of Vikramaditya Chandragupta II with the name of the king in Brahmi script 380 415 CE.jpg|thumb|180px|Goddess Lakshmi on gold coinage issued under Gupta Empire, c. 380 AD]] [[File:Fireworks Diwali Chennai India November 2013 b.jpg|thumb|180px|Diwali is a major Indian festival, which is known as festival of lights.]] [[File:Barsana Holi Festival.jpg|thumb|180px|Holi is a major Indian festival of colors celebrated every spring.]] India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, collectively known as Indian religions.<ref name="Finding Lost"/> Indian religions, also known as Dharmic religions, are a major form of world religions along with Abrahamic ones. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third and fourth-largest religions respectively, with over 1 billion followers altogether,<ref name="googleil">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XC9bwMMPcwC&q=hinduism%20one%20billion&pg=PA359 |page=359 |chapter=45 |title=What Is Hinduism?: Modern Adventures Into a Profound Global Faith |publisher=Himalayan Academy Publications |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-934145-00-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nrn.org.np/speeches/rmshakya.html |title=Non Resident Nepali – Speeches |publisher=Nrn.org.np |access-date=1 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225084929/http://www.nrn.org.np/speeches/rmshakya.html |archive-date=25 December 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese/forum/story/2008/03/080323_tibet_analysis |title=BBCVietnamese.com |publisher=BBC |access-date=1 August 2010 |archive-date=3 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403205322/http://www.bbc.co.uk/vietnamese/forum/story/2008/03/080323_tibet_analysis.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> and possibly as many as 1.5 or 1.6 billion followers.<ref name="googleil"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm |title=Religions of the world: numbers of adherents; growth rates |publisher=Religioustolerance.org |access-date=1 August 2010 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125003953/https://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Throughout India's history, religion has been an important part of the country's culture. Religious diversity and religious tolerance are both established in the country by the law and by custom; the Constitution of India has declared the right to freedom of religion to be a fundamental right.<ref>{{cite book|last=Basu|first=Durga Das|author-link=Durga Das Basu|title=Introduction to the Constitution of India|edition=21|year=2013|publisher=LexisNexis|isbn=978-81-803-8918-4|page=124}}</ref>

Atheism and agnosticism have a long history in India and flourished within Śramaṇa movement.<ref>Johannes Quack (2014), Disenchanting India: Organized Rationalism and Criticism of Religion in India, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199812615}}, page 50 with footnote 3.</ref> The ''Cārvāka'' school originated in India around the 6th century BCE and is one of the earliest form of materialistic and atheistic movement in ancient India.<ref>Ramkrishna Bhattacharya (2011), Studies on the Cārvāka/Lokāyata, Anthem Press, {{ISBN|978-0857284334}}, pages 26–29</ref><ref>KN Tiwari (1998), Classical Indian Ethical Thought, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120816077}}, page 67; Roy W Perrett (1984), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1398916 The problem of induction in Indian philosophy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214053530/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1398916 |date=14 December 2020 }}, Philosophy East and West, 34(2): 161-174; {{harv|Bhattacharya|2011|pp=21–32}}; {{harv|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1957|pp=187, 227–234}}; Robert Flint, {{Google books|7es0AQAAIAAJ|Anti-theistic theories|page=463}}, Appendix Note VII - Hindu Materialism: The Charvaka System; William Blackwood, London;</ref><ref name=vvraman>V.V. Raman (2012), Hinduism and Science: Some Reflections, Zygon - Journal of Religion and Science, 47(3): 549–574, Quote (page 557): "Aside from nontheistic schools like the Samkhya, there have also been explicitly atheistic schools in the Hindu tradition. One virulently anti-supernatural system is/was the so-called Charvaka school.", {{doi|10.1111/j.1467-9744.2012.01274.x}}</ref> Sramana, Buddhism, Jainism, Ājīvika and some schools of Hinduism like Samkhya consider atheism to be valid and reject the concept of creator deity, ritualism and supernaturalism.<ref name="wayoflife">{{Cite book | last = Chakravarti| first = Sitansu| title = Hinduism, a way of life| publisher = Motilal Banarsidass Publ.| year = 1991| page = 71| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=J_-rASTgw8wC&pg=PA71| isbn = 978-81-208-0899-7| access-date=9 April 2011}}</ref><ref name="Joshi">{{cite journal |last=Joshi |first=L.R. |year=1966 |title= A New Interpretation of Indian Atheism |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=16 |issue=3/4 |pages=189–206|doi= 10.2307/1397540 |jstor=1397540}}</ref><ref name=moor>{{cite book|author1= Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan|author2= Charles A. Moore|title= A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy|publisher= Princeton University Press|year= 1957|edition= Twelfth Princeton Paperback printing 1989|pages= [https://archive.org/details/sourcebookinindi00radh/page/227 227–249]|isbn= 978-0-691-01958-1|url= https://archive.org/details/sourcebookinindi00radh/page/227}}</ref> India has produced some notable atheist politicians and social reformers.<ref name="secularism">{{cite book|author=Phil Zuckerman|title=Atheism and Secularity|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1hbaAHsAlUC&pg=RA1-PA139|access-date=7 September 2013|date=21 December 2009|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35182-2|chapter=Chapeter 7: Atheism and Secularity in India}}</ref><ref>''Oxford Dictionary of World Religions'', p. 259</ref>

Although approximately 80% of the citizens of India are Hindus, the country has a substantial population of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and adherents of tribal faiths.<ref name="censusindia.gov.in">{{cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Social_and_cultural/Religion.aspx |title=Census of India – Socio-cultural aspects |publisher=Censusindia.gov.in |access-date=3 February 2011 |archive-date=17 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150817063509/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Social_and_cultural/Religion.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Zoroastrianism and Judaism each has several thousands of Indian adherents, and also have an ancient history in India.<ref name="Hodivala 1920 88">{{harvnb|Hodivala|1920|p=88}}</ref> India has the largest population of people adhering to Zoroastrianism and Baháʼí Faith in the world, even though these two religions are not native to India.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Smith | first=Peter | title = An introduction to the Baha'i faith | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year = 2008 | page = 94 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7zdDFTzNr0C&pg=PA94 | isbn = 978-0-521-86251-6 }}</ref> Many other world religions also have a relationship with Indian spirituality, such as the Baháʼí Faith which recognises Buddha and Krishna as manifestations of the God Almighty.<ref>{{cite book|last=Enroth|first=Ronald|title=A Guide to New Religious Movements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pRLlwZoPJ94C&pg=PA160|year=2005|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=978-0-8308-2381-9|page=160}}</ref> Despite the strong role of religion in Indian life, atheism and agnostics also have visible influence along with a self-ascribed tolerance to other people. According to the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism report, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were not religious, 3% were convinced atheists, and 3% were unsure or did not respond.<ref name=gallup2012>{{cite web|title=Global Index Of Religion And Atheism |url=http://redcresearch.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RED-C-press-release-Religion-and-Atheism-25-7-12.pdf |publisher=WIN-Gallup |access-date=3 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016062403/http://redcresearch.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RED-C-press-release-Religion-and-Atheism-25-7-12.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2012 }}</ref>

Traditionally, Indian society is grouped according to their caste. It is a system in which social stratification within various social sections defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups are often termed ''jāti'' or castes. Within a ''jāti'', there exists exogamous groups known as gotras, the lineage or clan of an individuals.<ref>{{cite book |title=Islamization in Modern South Asia: Deobandi Reform and the Gujjar Response |first=David Emmanuel |last=Singh |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2012 |page=199 |isbn=978-1-61451-246-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upk5AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA199}}</ref> Caste barriers have mostly broken down in cities but still exists in some form in rural areas.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Impact of Positive Discrimination in Education in India: Evidence from a Natural Experiment |first=Guilhem |last=Cassan |publisher=Paris School of Economics and Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquee |date=September 2011 |url=http://www.parisschoolofeconomics.com/cassan-guilhem/stuff/area_restriction_removal.pdf |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-date=23 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623201304/https://perso.unamur.be/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Most Indian states are majority Hindu. However, Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep are majority Muslim; Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya are majority Christian, Punjab is majority Sikh, and Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh are majority non-Hindu but do not have a single religious majority group. In most non-Hindu majority Indian states and union territories, Hindus constitute a large minority. Although participants in the Indian census may choose to not declare their religion, there is no mechanism for a person to indicate that he/she does not adhere to any religion. Due to this limitation in the Indian census process, the data for persons not affiliated with any religion may not be accurate. India contains the majority of the world's Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Zoroastrians and Baháʼí. Christianity is widespread in northeast India, parts of southern India, particularly in Kerala and among various populations of Central India. Muslims are the largest religious minority. India is also home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A5XRAAAAMAAJ&q=india+third+largest+muslim|title=Indian and Foreign Review|access-date=6 May 2015|year=1965}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/USCIRF%20Annual%20Report%202015%20(2).pdf|title=UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM-Annual Report 2015|access-date=15 November 2015|archive-date=6 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906190852/https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/USCIRF%20Annual%20Report%202015%20(2).pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/USCIRF%202014%20Annual%20Report%20PDF.pdf|title=15th anniversary retrospective:UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM|access-date=15 November 2015|archive-date=18 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818175055/https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/USCIRF%202014%20Annual%20Report%20PDF.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Family=== thumb|150px|Indian bride in traditional wedding attire Historically, India had a prevailing tradition of the ''joint family system'' or ''undivided family''. Joint family system is an extended family arrangement prevalent throughout the Indian subcontinent, particularly in India.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Talwar|first1=Swati|title=Meaning of HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)|url=http://taxpaisa.com/meaning-huf-hindu-undivided-family/|publisher=Taxpaisa.com|access-date=29 June 2014|archive-date=2 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502190119/http://taxpaisa.com/meaning-huf-hindu-undivided-family/}}</ref> The family is headed by a patriarch, the oldest male, who makes decisions on economic and social matters on behalf of the entire family. The patriarch's wife generally exerts control over the household, minor religious practices and often wields considerable influence in domestic matters. A patrilineal joint family consists of an older man and his wife, his sons and unmarried daughters, his sons' wives and children. Family income flows into a common pool, from which resources are drawn to meet the needs of all members, which are regulated by the heads of the family.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Hindu Joint Family: The Norms and the Numbers |author1=Henry Orenstein |author2=Michael Micklin |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=39 |issue=3/4 |quote=Autumn, 1966 |jstor=2754275 |pages=314–325 |doi=10.2307/2754275|year=1966 }}</ref> However, with modernisation and economic development, India has witnessed a break up of traditional joint family into more nuclear families and the traditional joint family in India accounted for a small percent of Indian households.<ref name=rs1>{{cite book |title=Dynamics of Change in the Modern Hindu Family |year=1993 |publisher=South Asia Books |author=Raghuvir Sinha |isbn=978-81-7022-448-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Indian Families |url=http://www.factsaboutindia.org/indian-families.html |publisher=Facts About India |access-date=11 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110730125635/http://www.factsaboutindia.org/indian-families.html |archive-date=30 July 2011 }}</ref>

Arranged marriages have been the tradition in Indian society. Marriage is considered a union of the two families rather than just the individuals, the process involved in an arranged marriage can be different depending on the communities and families. Recent survey study found that fewer marriages are purely arranged without consent and that the majority of surveyed Indian marriages are arranged with consent.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Is Education Associated with a Transition towards Autonomy in Partner Choice? A Case Study of India |author1=Manjistha Banerji |author2=Steven Martin |author3=Sonalde Desai |year=2008 |publisher=University of Maryland & NCAER |url=http://ihds.umd.edu/IHDS_papers/PartnerChoice.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214920/http://ihds.umd.edu/IHDS_papers/PartnerChoice.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}</ref> The study also suggested that Indian culture is trending away from traditional arranged marriages, they find that the marriage trends in India are similar to trends observed over last 40 years where arranged marriages were previously common, particularly in China and Japan.<ref name="auto"/>

===Dress=== India's clothing styles have continuously evolved over the course of history. Cotton was first cultivated in Indian subcontinent around the 5th millennium BC.<ref>Stein, Burton (1998). ''A History of India''. Blackwell Publishing. {{ISBN|0-631-20546-2}}, p. 47</ref> Dyes used during this period are still in use, particularly indigo, red madder, lac and turmeric.<ref name="Harrapa">{{cite web|title=Harrapa clothing|url=http://a.harappa.com/content/what-did-indus-people-wear-and-what-material-were-their-clothes-made|website=harappa.com|access-date=15 December 2017|archive-date=2 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202002203/http://a.harappa.com/content/what-did-indus-people-wear-and-what-material-were-their-clothes-made|url-status=live}}</ref> Silk was woven around 2450 BC and 2000 BC.<ref name=nat>{{cite journal|last=Abbott |first=Phill |title=Rethinking silk's origins: Nature News |journal=Nature |date=17 February 2009 |volume=457 |issue=7232 |page=945 |doi=10.1038/457945a |pmid=19238684 |s2cid=4390646 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Good |first1=I.L. |last2=Kenoyer |first2=J.M. |last3=Meadow |first3=R.H. |title=New evidence for early silk in the Indus civilization |journal=Archaeometry |volume=50 |pages=457–466 |year=2009 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00454.x |issue=3 |bibcode=2009Archa..51..457G |url=https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:14117751 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=6 July 2021 |access-date=11 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706174011/https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/14117751 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 11th century BC ''Rig-veda'' mentions dyed and embroidered garments known as ''paridhan'' and ''pesas'' respectively and thus highlights the development of sophisticated garment manufacturing techniques during this period.<ref>{{cite book |last = Verma |first = S.P. |title = Ancient system of oriental medicine |publisher = Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. |year = 2005 |isbn = 978-81-261-2127-4 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pAyz6c-pmrcC }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In the 5th century BCE, Greek historian Herodotus describes the richness of the quality of Indian textiles.<ref>{{cite book |last = Beveridge |first = Henry |title = A comprehensive history of India |publisher = Blackie and son|year= 1867 |isbn = 978-81-85418-45-2}}</ref> By the 2nd century AD, cotton, muslins and silk textiles manufactured in India were imported by the Roman Empire and was one of the major exports of ancient India to other parts of the world along with Indian spices and Wootz steel.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book |last = Jayapalan |first = N.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TCKserudM2AC |title = Economic History of India |publisher = Atlantic Publishers & Distributors|year= 2008 |isbn = 978-81-269-0697-0}}</ref> Traditional Indian clothing greatly varies across different parts of the country and is influenced by local culture, geography and climate. Women traditionally wear Sari, Gagra Choli, Angarkha, Phiran, Shalwar Kameez, Gharara and Bandi with Dupatta or Ghoonghat worn over head or shoulder to complete the outfit.<ref>Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1951) "Indian Costume.", p.11</ref> Men traditionally wear Angarkha, Achkan, Bagalbandi, Kurta, Kameez, Phiran, Sherwani and Koti for upper garment, lower garment includes Dhoti, Churidar, Shalwar, and Lungi. Pagri is usually worn around head to complete the outfit.<ref>Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1951) "Indian Costume.", p.12</ref> In urban centres, people often wear western clothing and variety of other contemporary fashion.<ref name="Indian Fashion">{{cite book|author=Arti Sandhu|title=Indian Fashion: Tradition, Innovation, Style|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63seBQAAQBAJ|access-date=4 June 2012|year=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=978-18478-8780-1|page=126}}</ref>

===Cuisine=== {{Main|Indian cuisine|Indian cookbooks|Thali}} [[File:Vegetarian Curry.jpeg|right|thumb|180px|Vegetarian ''Thali'' meal with ''naan'', ''daal'', ''raita'' and ''papad'']] Indian food varies from region to region. Staple foods of Indian cuisine include a variety of lentils (dal), whole-wheat flour (aṭṭa), rice and millet (kutki, kodra, bājra), which has been cultivated in Indian subcontinent since 6200 BCE.<ref name="Achaya">{{cite book|author=K T Achaya|title=The Story of Our Food|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bk9RHRCqZOkC|access-date=18 June 2015|year=2003|publisher=Universities Press|isbn=978-81-7371-293-7}}</ref><ref name=harris>{{cite book|author=Harris, David R.|title=The Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism in Eurasia|publisher= Psychology Press|year=1996|isbn=978-1-85728-538-3|page=565}}</ref> Over time, segments of the population embraced vegetarianism during Śramaṇa movement<ref>Padmanabh S Jaini (2001), Collected papers on Buddhist Studies, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120817760}}, pages 57–77</ref><ref>Padmanabh S Jaini (2000), Collected papers on Jaina Studies, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120816916}}, pages 3–14</ref> while an equitable climate permitted a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains to be grown throughout the year. A food classification system that categorised any item as ''saatvic'', ''raajsic'' or ''taamsic'' developed in Ayurveda tradition.<ref>''Autobiography of a Yogi'', Paramahansa Yogananda, Self Realization Fellowship, 1973, p. 22</ref><ref>Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad Gita Translation and Commentary, Arkana, 1990 p. 236</ref> The Bhagavad Gita prescribed certain dietary practices. During this period, consumption of various types of meat became taboo, due to being considered sacred or impure.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-17-07.html |title=Chapter 17, Verse 8,9,10 |publisher=Bhagavad-Gita |access-date=31 August 2011 |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506124659/https://bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-17-07.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Sharpes2006">{{cite book|author=Donald K. Sharpes|title=Sacred Bull, Holy Cow: A Cultural Study of Civilization's Most Important Animal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_KxhuShJSEC&pg=PA208|access-date=4 June 2012|year=2006|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-7902-6|page=208}}</ref> Indian cuisines use numerous ingredients, deploy a wide range of food preparation styles, cooking techniques and culinary presentation depending on geographical location.<ref>{{cite book |title=On food and cooking |author=Harold McGee |isbn=978-0-684-80001-1 |year=2004 |publisher=Scribner |url=http://www.curiouscook.com/site/on-food-and-cooking.html |archive-date=20 July 2017 |access-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720074708/http://www.curiouscook.com/site/on-food-and-cooking.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Performing arts=== {{Main|Music of India|Dance in India|Indian theatre|Indian classical drama}} [[File:Kathakali -Play with Kaurava.jpg|thumb|Kathakali is one of traditional Indian theater and is based on Indian classical dramas.]] The oldest preserved examples of Indian music are the melodies of the ''Samaveda'' (1000 BC) that are still sung in certain Śrauta sacrifices; this is the earliest account of Indian musical hymns.<ref>{{cite book | author=Emmie te Nijenhuis|author-link=Emmie te Nijenhuis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NrgfAAAAIAAJ | title=Indian music, Part 2, Volume 6 | publisher=BRILL | isbn=978-90-04-03978-0 | year=1974}}</ref> The Samaveda, and other Hindu texts, heavily influenced India's classical music tradition, which is known today in two distinct styles: Hindustani music and Carnatic music. Both the Hindustani and Carnatic music systems are based on the melodic base known as Rāga, sung to a rhythmic cycle known as Tāla. These principles were refined in the nātyaśāstra (200 BC) and the dattilam (300 AD).<ref>A Study of Dattilam: A Treatise on the Sacred Music of Ancient India, 1978, p. 283, Mukunda Lāṭha, Dattila</ref>

The nātyaśāstrais an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written during the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE in classical India and is traditionally attributed to the Sage Bharata.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Natyashastra|publisher=Sanskrit Documents|url=http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/natya01.pdf|access-date=17 November 2015|archive-date=16 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916043357/http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/natya01.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Natya Shastra'' is incredibly wide in its scope. While it primarily deals with stagecraft, it has come to influence music, classical dance, and literature as well. It covers stage design, music, dance, makeup, and virtually every other aspect of stagecraft.

Indian drama and theatre has a long history alongside its music and dance. One of the earliest known theatre play is Mṛcchakatika composed by Śudraka. Followed by Aśvaghoṣa's Śāriputraprakaraṇa and Bhāsa's ''Swapnavāsavadatta'' and ''Pancharātra''. Most notable works are Kālidāsa's ''Abhijñānaśākuntala'', ''Vikramorvaśīya'' and ''Mālavikāgnimitra''. Harsha's ''Ratnavali'', ''Priyadarsika'', and ''Naganandam'', other notable ancient dramatists include Bhatta Narayana, Bhavabhuti, Vishakhadatta, Thirayattam<ref>"Thirayattam" (Folklore Text- Malayalam, Moorkkanad apeethambaran), State Institute of language, Kerala. {{ISBN|978-81-200-4294-0}}</ref> and Viswanatha Kaviraja.<ref>{{cite book | title = Nātyakalpadrumam|page=6 | author = Māni Mādhava Chākyār | publisher = Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi | year = 1996 | title-link=Nātyakalpadrumam | author-link=Māni Mādhava Chākyār }}</ref>

Notable fable story-plays Panchatantra, Baital Pachisi, Kathasaritsagara, Brihatkatha and Jataka tales were performed in folk theatres since ancient period.<ref>Burton, Richard F. (2002). ''Vikram and the Vampire Or Tales of Hindu Devilry'' pg xi. Adamant Media Corporation</ref> Jataka tales has become part of Southeast and East Asian folklore with the spread of Buddhism. These literature's were also influential in development of One Thousand and One Nights during medieval period.<ref>{{citation|title=The Arabian Nights: A Companion|first=Robert|last=Irwin|publisher=Tauris Parke Paperbacks|year=2003|isbn=978-1-86064-983-7|page=65}}</ref>

===Contribution and discoveries=== {{Main|List of Indian inventions and discoveries|history of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent}} Indian people have played a major role in the development of the philosophy, sciences, mathematics, arts, architecture and astronomy throughout history. During the ancient period, notable mathematics accomplishment of India included Hindu–Arabic numeral system with decimal place-value and a symbol for zero, interpolation formula, Fibonacci's identity, Brahmagupta's theorem, the first ''complete'' arithmetic solution (including zero and negative solutions) to quadratic equations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.algebra.com/algebra/about/history/|title=History of Algebra|access-date=5 October 2014|archive-date=11 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111040653/http://www.algebra.com/algebra/about/history/|url-status=live}}</ref> Chakravala method, sign convention, madhava series, and the sine and cosine in trigonometric functions can be traced to the ''jyā'' and ''koti-jyā''.<ref>Boyer, Carl B. (1991). ''A History of Mathematics'' (Second ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. {{ISBN|0-471-54397-7}}, p. 210.</ref> Notable military inventions include war elephants, crucible steel weapons popularly known as Damascus steel and Mysorean rockets.<ref>Narasimha Roddam (2 April 1985) Rockets in Mysore and Britain, 1750–1850 A.D., National Aeronautical Laboratory and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560017 India, Project Document DU 8503,{{cite web|url=http://www.nal.res.in/pdf/pdfrocket.pdf |title=Rockets in Mysore and Britain, 1750-1850 A.D. |access-date=2011-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303205010/http://www.nal.res.in/pdf/pdfrocket.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2012 }}</ref> Other notable inventions during ancient period include chess, cotton, sugar, fired bricks, carbon pigment ink, ruler, lac, lacquer, stepwell, indigo dye, snake and ladder, muslin, ludo, calico, Wootz steel, incense clock, shampoo, palampore, chintz, and prefabricated homes.

Indian cultural aspects, religions, philosophy, arts and architecture have developed over several millennia and have spread through much of Asia in peaceful manner.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Many architectural structures of India such as Sanchi Stupa, Taj Mahal and Mahabodhi Temple are UNESCO World Heritage Sites today.<ref name=India>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/in |title=Properties Inscribed on the World heritage List |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=1 October 2010 |archive-date=12 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112070501/http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/in/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In modern times, Indian people have continued to contribute to mathematics, sciences and astrophysics. Among them are Satyendra Nath Bose, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Meghnad Saha, Homi J. Bhabha, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, and notable Nobel Prize recipients C. V. Raman, Har Gobind Khorana, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar who is notable for currently accepted theory on the later evolutionary stages of massive stars, including black holes.<ref name="britannica">{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/416856/Nobel-Prize | title=Nobel Prizes-Britannica | access-date=6 May 2015 | archive-date=29 April 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429230820/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/416856/Nobel-Prize | url-status=live }}</ref>

===National personification=== Bharat Mata (Hindi, from Sanskrit {{lang|sa|भारत माता}}, ''Bhārata Mātā''), ''Mother India'', or ''Bhāratāmbā'' (from {{lang|sa|अम्बा}} ''ambā'' 'mother') is the national personification of India as a mother goddess.

The image of Bharat Mata formed with the Indian independence movement of the late 19th century. A play by Kiran Chandra Bandyopadhyay, ''Bhārat Mātā'', was first performed in 1873. She is usually depicted as a woman clad in an orange or saffron sari holding a flag and sometimes accompanied by a lion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiatogether.org/manushi/issue142/bharat.htm|title=Life and Times of Bharat Mata - Manushi, Issue 142|website=indiatogether.org|access-date=11 December 2017|archive-date=14 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514175721/http://indiatogether.org/manushi/issue142/bharat.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Sports === {{Main|Sport in India}} [[File:Glimpse of India vs Nepal Match during 4th Asian Kho Kho Championship.jpg|left|thumb|India vs Nepal at the 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship]] Sports in India are mainly in two categories: traditional sports and global sports. Traditional sports like ''gilli danda'', ''kho kho, kabaddi'' are quite popular. On the other hand, Indians are highly enthusiastic about the game of cricket, to the extent that it is treated as a religion in itself.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cricket is a Religion in India |url=https://www.sportspundit.com/cricket/articles/5500-cricket-is-a-religion-in-india |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=Sports Pundit |language=en |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324170751/https://www.sportspundit.com/cricket/articles/5500-cricket-is-a-religion-in-india |url-status=live }}</ref> Sports like hockey, volleyball, football are quite popular while polo, golf and tennis are preferred sports for affluent sections of the society. In recent times with government support Olympic sports like shooting, archery, wrestling, javelin throw, swimming, badminton have gained prominence in the Indian society.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nair |first=Abhijit |date=2021-04-25 |title=In which sports has India competed at the Olympics? |url=https://thebridge.in/olympics-facts/which-sports-india-competed-olympics-21137 |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=thebridge.in |language=en}}</ref>

==Indian diaspora== {{further|Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India}} thumb|350px|right|A world map showing the estimated distribution and concentration of people of Indian descent or ancestry by country. {{col-begin}} {{col-break}} {{Legend|#000000|India}} {{Legend|#804d00|+ 1.000.000}} {{Legend|#bd7100|+ 100.000}} {{col-break}} {{Legend|#ff9933|+ 10.000}} {{Legend|#ffcf9e|+ 1.000}} {{legend|#a0a0a0|No data}} {{col-end}} {{Infobox Chinese | title = Little India | pic = India Square JC jeh.JPG | piccap = People of Indian origin have achieved a high demographic profile in metropolitan areas worldwide, including India Square, in the heart of Bombay, Jersey City, New Jersey, US,<ref>Kiniry, Laura. "Moon Handbooks New Jersey", Avalon Travel Publishing, 2006. pg. 34 {{ISBN|1-56691-949-5}}</ref> home to the highest concentration of Asian Indians in the Western Hemisphere<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2014/04/neighborhood-spotlight-journal-square/|title=Neighborhood Spotlight: Journal Square|author=Laryssa Wirstiuk|newspaper=Jersey City Independent|date=April 21, 2014|access-date=December 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630085618/http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2014/04/neighborhood-spotlight-journal-square/|archive-date=30 June 2018}}</ref> and one of at least 24 enclaves characterized as a ''Little India'' which have emerged within the New York City Metropolitan Area, with the largest metropolitan Indian population outside Asia, as large-scale immigration from India continues into New York.<ref name=IndianImm2013>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2013/LPR/immsuptable2d.xls|title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2013 Supplemental Table 2|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=2015-05-11|archive-date=12 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712214124/https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2013/LPR/immsuptable2d.xls|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=IndianImm2012>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2012/LPR/immsuptable2d.xls |title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2012 Supplemental Table 2 |publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security |access-date=2015-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222152450/http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2012/LPR/immsuptable2d.xls |archive-date=2014-12-22 }}</ref><ref name=IndianImm2011>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/yearbook/2011/immsuptable2d.xls|title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2011 Supplemental Table 2|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=2015-05-11|archive-date=7 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707193758/https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/yearbook/2011/immsuptable2d.xls|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=IndianImm2010>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/yearbook/2010/immsuptable2d.xls |title=Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2010 Supplemental Table 2 |publisher=Department of Homeland Security |access-date=2015-05-11 |archive-date=7 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707181534/https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/yearbook/2010/immsuptable2d.xls |url-status=live }}</ref> }}

Indo-Aryan migrations and emigrations have been historically present in the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years and have produced ethnic groups which derive their ancestry from India. One notable example being the Romani people, where most trace their ancestry to Rajasthan. However their historically strong presence in Europe, their ethnic and linguistic divide from the Indian subcontinent, and their assimilation with Slavic and other European backgrounds, results in historians constituting them as a separate ethnicity compared to ethnicities classified as Indian or Desi.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mendizabal |first1=Isabel |last2=Valente |first2=Cristina |last3=Gusmão |first3=Alfredo |last4=Alves |first4=Cíntia |last5=Gomes |first5=Verónica |last6=Goios |first6=Ana |last7=Parson |first7=Walther |last8=Calafell |first8=Francesc |last9=Alvarez |first9=Luis |last10=Amorim |first10=António |last11=Gusmão |first11=Leonor |last12=Comas |first12=David |last13=Prata |first13=Maria João |date=2011-01-10 |title=Reconstructing the Indian Origin and Dispersal of the European Roma: A Maternal Genetic Perspective |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |article-number=e15988 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0015988 |doi-access=free |pmid=21264345 |pmc=3018485 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...615988M |issn=1932-6203 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ena |first1=Giacomo Francesco |last2=Aizpurua-Iraola |first2=Julen |last3=Font-Porterias |first3=Neus |last4=Calafell |first4=Francesc |last5=Comas |first5=David |date=2022-11-01 |title=Population Genetics of the European Roma—A Review. |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA745719999&sid=sitemap&v=2.1&it=r&p=HRCA&sw=w&userGroupName=anon~cabfd6e2&aty=open-web-entry |journal=Genes |language=English |volume=13 |issue=11 |pages=NA|doi=10.3390/genes13112068 |doi-access=free |pmid=36360305 |pmc=9690732 }}</ref>

However the current and historically accurate consensus of the Indian diaspora and by extension the South Asian diaspora, is generalized as individuals whose families or themselves migrated to other parts of the world during or after the British Raj.<ref name="The Indian Diaspora">{{cite web|title=Executive Summary - The Indian Diaspora|url=http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/part1-exe.pdf|website=Indiandiaspora.nic.in|access-date=15 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304222045/http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/part1-exe.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="India and its Diaspora">{{cite web|title=India and its Diaspora|url=http://moia.gov.in/accessories.aspx?aid=10|website=Moia.gov.in|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023255/http://moia.gov.in/accessories.aspx?aid=10|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

Article 9 of India's constitution prohibits Indian citizens from holding citizenship from other countries. As a substitution the Indian government created the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status, which gives former Indian citizens and their descendants permanent residency status in the country. Many members of the Indian diaspora are not OCI holders, with only 4 million people holding OCI status as of 2022. As a result the Indian diaspora statistics posted by the Indian government may not reflect the statistics posted by the respective country of residency, or could lead to discrepancies as to how many members there are within the Indian diaspora in any given country or territory.

===United Kingdom=== {{Main|British Indians}} The British Indian community had grown to number over one million. According to the 2001 UK Census, 1,053,411 Britons had full Indian ancestry (representing 1.8% of the UK's population). An overwhelming majority of 99.3% resided in England (in 2008 the figure is thought to be around 97.0%). In the seven-year period between 2001 and 2009, the number of Indian-born people in the UK increased in size by 38% from 467,634 to around 647,000 (an increase of approximately 180,000).<ref name="2009 estimates">{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Population-by-country-of-birth-and-nationality-Oct08-Sep09.zip |title=Estimated population resident in the United Kingdom, by foreign country of birth (Table 1.3) |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=September 2009 |access-date=8 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114061243/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Population-by-country-of-birth-and-nationality-Oct08-Sep09.zip |archive-date=14 November 2010 }}</ref>

===Canada=== {{Main|Indo-Canadians}} There are approximately 1.86 million people of Indian origin or ancestry in Canada, the majority of which live in Greater Toronto and Vancouver, with growing communities in Alberta and Quebec.{{efn|2021 census: Statistic includes all persons with ethnic or cultural origin responses with ancestry to the nation of India, including "Anglo-Indian" (3,340), "Bengali" (26,675), "Goan" (9,700), "Gujarati" (36,970), "Indian" (1,347,715), "Jatt" (22,785), "Kashmiri" (6,165), "Maharashtrian" (4,125), "Malayali" (12,490), "Punjabi" (279,950), "Tamil" (102,170), and "Telugu" (6,670).<ref name="canadapopulation2021">{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Statistics Canada |date=2022-10-26 |title=Ethnic or cultural origin by gender and age: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601 |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca |archive-date=26 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026230217/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810035601 |url-status=live }}</ref>|name="notecanadapopulation2021"}} Roughly 5.1% of the total Canadian population is of Indian ancestry, a figure higher than both the United States and Britain.{{efn|name="notecanadapopulation2021"}} South Asian Canadians account for 7.1% of Canada's population. According to Statistics Canada, Indo-Canadians are one of the fastest-growing visible minority groups in Canada, making up the second-largest group of non-European descent in the country after Chinese Canadians.

The Indo-Canadian community can trace its history in Canada back 120 years to 1897 when a contingent of Sikh soldiers visited the western coast of Canada, primarily British Columbia which at the time was very sparsely populated and the Canadian government wanted to settle to prevent a takeover of the territory by the United States.

===South Africa=== {{Main|Indian South Africans}} More than a million people of South Asian descent live in South Africa, with their ancestors having left colonial India mostly as indentured labourers, and with smaller numbers emigrating later as "Passenger Indians", in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are concentrated around the city of Durban. Under the now-defunct Apartheid system, they were classified as part of the 'Indian' race.<ref name="Pillay2019">{{cite book |last1=Pillay |first1=Kathryn |title=The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity |year=2019 |isbn=978-981-13-2897-8 |pages=77–92 |chapter=Indian Identity in South Africa |doi=10.1007/978-981-13-2898-5_9 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Today, they are perceived as "black people" within South Africa's broad-based black economic empowerment policies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=White People, Foreign Nationals, Permanent Residents, Do Not Qualify for a Benefit under the B-BBEE Act: It is Illegal Conduct – The Department of Trade Industry and Competition |url=https://www.thedtic.gov.za/white-people-foreign-nationals-permanent-residents-do-not-qualify-for-a-benefit-under-the-b-bbee-act-it-is-illegal-conduct/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=www.thedtic.gov.za |archive-date=6 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250206132033/https://www.thedtic.gov.za/white-people-foreign-nationals-permanent-residents-do-not-qualify-for-a-benefit-under-the-b-bbee-act-it-is-illegal-conduct/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Tanzania=== {{Main|Indians in Tanzania}} Approximately 60,000 people of Indian origin reside in Tanzania, predominantly in urban areas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tanzania: A Key Partner for India in the Western Indian Ocean Region {{!}} Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses|url=https://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/Tanzania-Partner-for-India-in-the-Western-Indian-Ocean-Region-131023|access-date=2024-02-21|website=www.idsa.in}}</ref>

===United States=== {{Main|Indian Americans|Indians in the New York City metropolitan area}} [[File:74th St shopping Jax Hts jeh.jpg|thumb|Little India on 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, has developed into a pan-South Asian business district.]] According to the American Community Survey of the United States Census Bureau, the Indian American population in the United States grew from almost 1.67 million in 2000 to 3.1 million in 2010 which is the third-largest Asian American community in the United States after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans.

===Caribbean=== {{Main|Indo-Caribbean people|Indo–Trinidadians and Tobagonians|Indo-Guyanese|Indo-Surinamese|Indo-Caribbean Americans|British Indo-Caribbean people|Indo-Canadians#Indians from the Caribbean|Indians in the Netherlands|Indians in France}} {{See also|Hinduism in the West Indies|Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago|Hinduism in Guyana|Hinduism in Suriname|Caribbean Hindustani|Indo-Caribbean music}} After slavery was abolished in the European colonies, Indians were hired under the Indian indenture system to become indentured laborers to fill the need for cheap labor and for their skills in agriculture. In the English-speaking Caribbean and Suriname, Indians primarily came from the Hindi Belt, especially the Awadh region in central and eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Bhojpur region of eastern Uttar Pradesh, western Bihar, and northwestern Jharkhand, along with a significant minority who came from South India, and a smaller minority who came from other parts of India. They arrived from the late 1830s to the early 1920s as indentured laborers to work primarily on sugarcane estates, as well as on cocoa, rice, banana, coconut, and coffee estates after indentureship. After the first wave of migration of indentured laborers, more Indians from Gujarat, Sindh, Kutch, Punjab, Bengal, and South India came to the Caribbean for business and professional occupations from the 1930s till present-day. There are more than a million Indo-Caribbean people. In Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname they are the largest ethnic groups. The Indians from the Bhojpuri and Awadhi-speaking areas of the Hindi Belt made up the majority of Indians in the Anglo-Caribbean and Suriname. Hence, their dialect of Hindustani, known as Caribbean Hindustani collectively, is based mostly on Bhojpuri and Awadhi, and it became the ''lingua franca'' of the early Indians. Also, since they formed the largest group of Indians, the traditions and culture from the Bhojpur and Awadh regions became the dominant culture for the Indians in those countries. France sent southern Indians to its colonies in the Caribbean as indentured laborers, hence there are also many residents of Indian descent in Guadeloupe, Martinique, and French Guiana, mostly of southern Indian descent. Many Indo-Caribbean people have migrated to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, and France, and few of them have even seasonally migrated to the neighboring Latin American and other Caribbean countries as migrant workers. A majority of Indo-Caribbean are Hindus, while there is significant minority of Christians and Muslims, along with smaller numbers of recently arrived Indian Jains, Sikhs, Buddhist, and Baháʼís. Indo-Caribbean people are known as the descendants of the jahajis or girmityas.<ref name=britain1>{{cite web|title=Forced Labour|year=2010|publisher=The National Archives, Government of the United Kingdom|url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/india/forced.htm|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=9 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609001014/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/india/forced.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=New System of Slavery|author=Hugh Tinker|year=1993|isbn=978-1-870518-18-5|publisher=Hansib Publishing, London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=A Question of Labour: Indentured Immigration Into Trinidad & British Guiana, 1875-1917|author=K Laurence|publisher=St Martin's Press|year=1994|isbn=978-0-312-12172-3}}</ref><ref name=sl1>{{cite web|title=St. Lucia's Indian Arrival Day|year=2009|publisher=Caribbean Repeating Islands|url=http://repeatingislands.com/2009/05/07/st-lucia%E2%80%99s-indian-arrival-day/|access-date=21 June 2025|archive-date=24 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424085806/https://repeatingislands.com/2009/05/07/st-lucia%E2%80%99s-indian-arrival-day/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Indian indentured labourers|publisher=The National Archives, Government of the United Kingdom|year=2010|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/indian-indentured-labour.htm|access-date=25 July 2019|archive-date=12 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111212175352/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/indian-indentured-labour.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Genetics== {{Main|Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia}} Recent genome studies appear to show that South Asians are a mixture of two major ancestral components, one component restricted to South Asia and the other component shared with Central Asia, West Asia, and Europe.<ref name=Metspalu2011>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2011.11.010 |title=Shared and Unique Components of Human Population Structure and Genome-Wide Signals of Positive Selection in South Asia |year=2011 |last1=Metspalu |first1=Mait |last2=Romero |first2=Irene Gallego |last3=Yunusbayev |first3=Bayazit |last4=Chaubey |first4=Gyaneshwer |last5=Mallick |first5=Chandana Basu |last6=Hudjashov |first6=Georgi |last7=Nelis |first7=Mari |last8=Mägi |first8=Reedik |last9=Metspalu |first9=Ene |last10=Remm |first10=Maido |last11=Pitchappan |first11=Ramasamy |last12=Singh |first12=Lalji |last13=Thangaraj |first13=Kumarasamy |last14=Villems |first14=Richard |last15=Kivisild |first15=Toomas |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=89 |issue=6 |pages=731–44 |pmid=22152676 |pmc=3234374 |display-authors=1}}</ref><ref name=Moorjani2013>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.07.006 |title=Genetic Evidence for Recent Population Mixture in India |year=2013 |last1=Moorjani |first1=Priya |last2=Thangaraj |first2=Kumarasamy |last3=Patterson |first3=Nick |last4=Lipson |first4=Mark |last5=Loh |first5=Po-Ru |last6=Govindaraj |first6=Periyasamy |last7=Berger |first7=Bonnie|author7-link=Bonnie Berger |last8=Reich |first8=David |last9=Singh |first9=Lalji |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=93 |issue=3 |pages=422–438 |display-authors=1 |pmid=23932107 |pmc=3769933}}</ref>

==Notes== {{notelist}} {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Indian People}} Category:Indian people Category:Demographics of India Category:Ethnic groups in India Category:Ethnic groups in South Asia