The Republic of India with capital at Delhi has a population of over 1 billion. With a Muslim presence of 12%, and even less in otherfaiths, the vast majority of Indians are Hindus.

Historically, the Indus valley was settled in the 3rd millenium BCE. The most common theory is that so-called Aryan invaders came from the northwest, circa 1760 BCE, and spread through the northern regions. But lately this view has been contested. The land was successively ruled by the Buddhist empire of Asoka (3rdcentury BCE), the Hindu Gupta dynasty (320-540 CE), the Muslims of the Delhi Sultante (12th century CE) and later by the Mughalempire of Babur and Akbar the Great (16th century CE). A Mughal decline coincided with the rise of European interest in the area. England's East India Company proved to be the dominant European force and India generally fell sway to the British in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1877 Queen Victoria proclaimed herself Empress of India. With the help of Indian nationalists such as Mahatma Gandhi, however, India gained independence and was partitioned with Pakistan in 1947.

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