Classical Indian music, dance, and drama are closely linked. Their roots go back nearly 2,000 years.
Their mastery calls for great discipline and intensive practice. Each has a conventionalized “language”
that demands considerable sophistication on the part of the audience. As with architecture, a number
of regional styles have developed. Folk music and dance also show wide regional variations (Compton?s).
The literature of India covers many fields of knowledge, but religious and philosophical texts are
particularly numerous. The oldest religious texts, the Vedas (beginning with the ‘Rig-Veda’ around 1500
BC, were transmitted only by word of mouth for many centuries before being committed to writing. For
most Hindus the two best-known texts are the great epics, the ‘Ramayana’ and the ‘Mahabharata’,
composed roughly 2,000 years ago. The former recounts the adventures of the god-king Rama and
provides models of proper conduct for both men and women. The latter, the longest poem ever written,
relates a great mythical war involving all the peoples of ancient India. The most important portion of
that epic, the ‘Bhagavadgita’, is the principal Hindu tract on morality and ethics (Compton?s).
Indian Muslim literature covers a wide range of practical subjects. However, the authority of the Koran,
Islam’s holy book, leaves little room for religious speculation. Poetry is particularly admired.
Works Cited
India. Compton?s Encyclopedia Online. 1 November 1999
http://comptonsv3.web.aol.com/ceo99-cgi/article?’fastweb?getdoc+viewcomptons+A+3993+35++India’.
html
India. Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Third Edition. 1 November 1999 .
India. New World Encyclopedia. New York: Pelican, 1995.
MLA. Modern Language Association. 23 October 1999 http://www.mla.org/set_stl.htm.
Fact Summary
Official Name: Republic of India.
Capital: New Delhi.
India: Indus, from Sanskrit Sindhu referring to Indus River.
National Emblem: Adapted from Sarnath Lion Capital of Asoka in 1950. Four lions (one of which is hidden
from view) standing back to back with wheel in the center of the abacus; a bull on the right, a horse
on the left, and the outlines of the other wheels on the extreme right and left. The words Satyameva
jayate (Truth Alone Triumphs) are inscribed below the wheel in the Devanagari script.
Anthem: ‘Jana Gana Mana’ (Lord of the People, of Society, and of the Mind).
NATURAL FEATURES
Borders: Coast, 3,533 miles (5,686 kilometers); land frontier, 9,425 miles (15,168 kilometers).
Natural Regions: Himalaya; Indo-Gangetic Plain; Deccan.
Major Ranges: Himayalas, Karakoram, Vindbya, Aravalli, Satpura, Western and Eastern Ghats.
Major Peaks: Nanda Devi, 25,646 feet (7,817 meters); Kamet, 25,447 feet (7,756 meters); Anai Mudi,
8,842 feet (2,695 meters).
Major Rivers: Ganges, Yamuna (Jumna), Brahmaputra, Narbada, Mahanadi, Godavari, Kaveri.
Notable Lake: Wular.
Major Islands: Andaman, Nicobar, Lakshadweep.
Climate: Three seasons for most of the country–cold season from November to February; hot season
from March to June; rainy season from June to October.
THE PEOPLE
Population (1996 estimate): 952,969,000; 733.1 persons per square mile (288.8 persons per square
kilometer); 26.8 percent urban, 73.2 percent rural (1995 estimate).
Vital Statistics (estimated rate per 1,000 population): Births, 26.5; deaths, 9.8.
Life Expectancy (at birth): Males, 58.7 years; females, 59.8.
Major Languages: Hindi (official), English (official), Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati,
Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese.
Major Religions: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism.
MAJOR CITIES (1991 estimate)
Bombay (9,925,891) Major port and financial and commercial center of India; capital of Maharashtra
state; well known for cotton-textile, film, and printing industry; Victoria Gardens, Brabourne Stadium,
and Marine Drive.
Delhi (7,206,704) Capital of India; political, educational, cultural, and transportation center; Red Fort,
Central Secretariat, Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Qutab Minar, and the National Gallery of
Modern Art.
Calcutta (4,399,819) Major port, capital of West Bengal state; cultural, commercial, religious,
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Madras (3,841,396) Major port and capital of Tamil Nadu state; educational, transportation, cultural
and traditional handicraft center; the Indian Institute of Technology, University of Madras, the Madras
Government Museum, Napier Park, Marina beach, and the Corporation Stadium.
Bangalore (3,302,296) Capital of Karnataka state; leading cultural, educational, industrial, publishing,
and transportation center of south India; Vidhana Saudha, Mysore Government Museum, Lal Bagh, and
Hesaraghatta Lake.
Hyderabad (3,145,939) Capital of Andhra Pradesh state; educational, cultural, industrial, commercial,
and handicraft center; the Char Minar, Mecca Masjid, Salar Jung Museum, and racecourse.
Ahmadabad (2,954,526) Industrial, commercial, financial, and educational city; major cotton-textile
center, Lake Kankaria, Gandhi Ashram, Jama Masjid, Tin Darwaza (Three Gates), and the Tomb of
Ahmad Shah.
Kanpur (1,879,420) Industrial and commercial city; rail and lead junction; Kanpur University, the Indian
Institute of Technology, and a Hindu glass temple, cantonment, and Sati Chaura.
Nagpur (1,624,752) Transportation, industrial, educational, agricultural, and cultural center; British Fort,
Ambajheri Tank, Bhonsla Palace, Kasturchand Park, and Secretariat.
Lucknow (1,619,115) Capital of Uttar Pradesh state; transportation, commercial, educational, cultural,
and handicraft center; Hazratganj, Great Imambara, Rumi Darwaza, Residency, botanical and zoological
gardens.
Pune (1,566,651) Educational, cultural, commercial, and industrial center; Empress Gardens, Wellesley
Bridge, Deccan College, Statue of Shivaji, and Shanwar Wada (Saturday Palace).
ECONOMY
Chief Agricultural Products: Crops–sugarcane, rice, wheat, corn (maize), sorghum, millet, mangoes,
bananas, oranges, lemons, limes, apples oilseeds, pulses, coconuts. Livestock–cattle, goats, water
buffalo, sheep.
Chief Mined Products: Limestone, iron ore, bauxite, manganese, chromium, zinc, copper, lead, gold,
diamonds, coal, crude petroleum, natural gas.
Chief Manufactured Products: Cement, finished steel, steel ingots, refined sugar, fertilizers, paper and
paperboard, bicycles, motorcycles and scooters, cotton cloth.
Foreign Trade: Imports 59 percent, exports 41 percent.
Chief Imports: Fuel oil and refined petroleum products, chemicals, fertilizers, iron and steel, machinery,
vegetable oils, rough diamonds, transport equipment, electrical machinery, foodstuffs.
Chief Exports: Handicrafts, engineering goods, tea, fish, fruits and vegetables, coffee, textile yarn and
fabrics, clothing, leather, precious and semiprecious stones, iron ore, road motor vehicles, works of art,
tobacco, iron and steel.
Chief Trading Partners: United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia.
Monetary Unit: 1 Indian rupee = 100 paisa.
EDUCATION
Public Schools: Lower primary (age 6-10) is free throughout India; secondary (age 11-17) is free in
most areas.
Compulsory School Age: From 6 to 14 in all states except Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh.
Literacy: 52 percent.
Leading Universities: More than 100;