India: History, Culture and Religion

India is a big country. We can see that in their territory, population, and
variety in their beliefs and philosophies. This is because with the years India
has being growing and mixing their culture with many others from foreign
countries. With this, the principals from their religions were established. That
is why India is a country characterized by its history, culture and religion.

The Hindus civilization occupied what are now the countries of Pakistan
and the west of India and developed on the riverside of the Indus River valley.
It was made up of a large number of towns and cities. The rivers were of great
importance for this civilization, reason why they were considered sacred. This
civilization was crossed by the Indus and Ganges rivers, which at certain times
of the year, flooded the land fertilizing the fields. The strengthening of
agriculture was the basis on which urbanism developed around the Indus
River. There was no national unity, but many independent kingdoms, under
the authority of the King. The main advance of the Indus civilization was its
urban architecture, with brick buildings and an efficient sewer system. Also,
they elaborated the decimal system which established the numerical symbols
and they produced steel to make their weapons and armor. India, throughout
its history, has been colonized by different countries. But one of the most
important invasions was the ones from the Europeans. The European colonial
era of India began in 1498 with the landing of the Portuguese navigator Vasco
de Gama on the Malabar coast. Goa became the most important base of
Portugal in India, but the Dutch, the Danish and the French fought for control
of trade with Asia. These countries had taken advantage of the internal rivalry
of India to take possession of this territory. Eliminated France of India by the
treaty of Paris, Great Britain manages to expand its possessions in Asia thanks
to the quarrels between the Hindu princes. Nowadays, India has become an
important nation in Asia that has impressed by its good global economic
contribution despite not being the most advanced society. Having spent so
much time under other countries weakened them although it doesn´t destroy
them since they have advanced in subjects such as Science and Electronics.

India is a country full of unique customs. One of them is the system of

hierarchy used within the family in which the father is the most important and
women are seen as companions. Commonly, men and women do not interact,
mainly for religious reasons. Older people throughout society are highly
respected and are the first to be greeted. Their food is also a characteristic in
their culture, known for being tasty and spicy. Architecture in India is related
to its culture and religion. It is known that at the beginning its buildings were
made of clay and as time went on and new mines and quarries were
discovered, gold and stone were used. Another big characteristic of India is
their caste system. Once B. R. Ambedkar say about caste system that, “Caste
is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which
prevents the Hindus from comingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled
down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of the mind”. But the reality is that there
are 4 original castes which have evolved. The castes are: Brahmana,
consisting of those who work in education and teaching; Kshatriya, which
administration, maintenance of law and order, and defense; Vaishya, engage
in commercial activity as businessmen; and Shudra, work as semi-skilled and
unskilled laborers.
 Hinduism is the main religion in India. The doctrine followed in Hinduism
is based on the four Vedic texts that are composed of hymns, prayers,
ceremonies, etc. The religion of Hinduism arose from the need of the Indians
to concretize a belief to direct the admiration they felt toward all aspects of
life. Any animal, concept, situation, could become the fruit of praise and take
the form of god. The second main religion in India is the Buddhism. The
doctrine of Buddhism is to get rid of the suffering caused by human greed
through a series of guidelines that are common in different religions such as
not having bad thoughts or lying, being nice, caring for the body, doing
meditation, etc. This greed does not refer only to material possession, but also
to the desire to feel and to experience. The suffering that Buddhists try to
wage is not that of illness or death, but the dissatisfaction or confusion that
life provokes. In addition to these religions are many other minorities that
cause that, despite the policies of religious tolerance, there also happens
religious violence. Religious violence in India includes the violence of followers
of a religious group against followers or institutions of another religious group,
often in the form of riots.

India is a country characterized by its history, culture and religion. Also,

is a very varied country, full of unique customs and traditions that characterize
it. Even though their society is divided and poverty in the lower castes
characterizes it, we can also see the great advances they have made over the
years and the importance of it and in day. And as Mark Twain said: “India is
the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of
history, the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition”.
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