verely limited by the Hindu prohibition against their slaughter. Among the country's rich mineral resources are coal, zinc, iron, manganese, mica, bauxite, and lead. India is the world's second most populous country (after China). The ethnic composition is complex, but two major strains predominate: the Aryan, in the north, and the Dravidian, in the south. More than 1,500 languages and dialects are spoken; Hindi (spoken throughout the north) and English (used in politics and commerce) are the official languages, and 14 other languages are recognized by the constitution. The population is overwhelmingly Hindu, but there are significant numbers of Muslims (more than 10% of the population), Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, and Parsis. About 80% of the population are rural. The caste system, under which people are socially classified at birth, is an important facet of Hinduism, and thus a dominant feature of Indian life; the 1950 constitution abolished the lowest caste, known as untouchables.Today's Indian Government - How It Came Into Being?The Indus Valley Civilization (2500-1500 B.C.) was the first to flourish on the Indian subcontinent (in present-day Pakistan). It fell c.1500 B.C. to Aryan invaders from the northwest, which dominated the area for 2,000 years and developed Hinduism, the socioreligious system that is the basis of India's institutions and culture. Under the Maurya dynasty (325-183 B.C.)-Especially Asoka (323 B.C.), who established Buddhism as the state religion-Indian culture had its first great flowering. A golden age of Hindu culture was achieved under the Gupta dynasty, in the 4th-5th century A.D. considered India's classical period. By the 10th century, Muslim armies from the north were raiding India, and in 1192 the Delhi Sultanate, the first Muslim kingdom in India, was established. The small Muslim kingdoms that succeeded it were swept away by Babur, a great Muslim invader from Afghanistan, who established the ...
