21st Century India

India was suppressed by centuries of Muslim and British foreign rule. But after independence in 1947, its founders succeeded in welding together the ancient land into a strong, united, modern nation. The Hindu religion survived intact and thrives today in the world’s largest democracy.

Note to Students, Parents and Teachers

This Educational Insight is the fifth and final chapter in our series on Hindu history for use in US primary and secondary schools. In these few pages, we give a broad overview of India since independence. Reporting on recent history is always a challenge since historians lack the chronological and emotional distance to impartially judge key people, trends and events. But clearly, the foremost accomplishment is that India has remained a united, democratic country since 1947. It escaped the fate of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and neighboring Pakistan, each of which split up. It is also notable that modern India continues to be what India has always been: a deep source of wisdom and practical spirituality valued by societies around the world. This lesson was written and designed by the editorial staff of HINDUISM TODAY in collaboration with Dr. Shiva Bajpai, Professor Emeritus of History, California State University, Northridge.

Academic reviewers: Dr. Klaus Klostermaier, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Manitoba; Dr. Jeffrey D. Long, Chair, Department of Religious Studies, Elizabethtown College; Dr. Anantanand Rambachan, Professor of Religion, St. Olaf College; Dr. Michael K. Ward, Visiting Lecturer in History, California State University, Northridge. Educational Consultant: Justin Stein, PhD student, University of Toronto, and former middle school teacher in New York.