OBJECTIVE TWO:         To provide some introductory definitions of
                                           “civilization” and “culture” together with a brief
                                           overview of the seven basic periods to be covered
                                           by the CD-ROM (including maps for each period)

OBJECTIVE THREE:     To make students aware that India is not simply
                                           one civilization and culture but, rather, a set of
                                           civilizations and cultures

MODULE 1:    PRESENT-DAY INDIA (1)

INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS

The nation-state of India attained independence from the British on August 15, 1947, and The Constitution of the new Sovereign Democratic Republic of India came into effect on January 26, 1950. Over half a century has now elapsed since independence, and present-day India has emerged as the second largest nation-state in our contemporary world.

THE PEOPLE OF INDIA

The Census of India for 2001 indicates that the total population of the country had passed the one billion mark, at 1,027,015,247. Over 16 percent of the total population of the world lives in India. China and India combined account for well over one-third of the population of the planet. Between the Census of 1991 and 2001, more than 180 million people were added to the population of India (more than the entire population of Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the world). Moreover, given the relative youthfulness of India's population (over 50 percent under age 25), the population of India will probably surpass that of China at some point in the early decades of this century, making India, then, the largest single nation-state in the world.

To these figures should also be added another 20 million for the Asian Indian "diaspora," that is, Asian Indians--"NRI-s" ("non-resident Indians") or "PIO-s" (persons of Indian origin)--who do not reside in India, with the largest groupings to be found in the Persian Gulf region (3.3 million), Myanmar (2.9 million), the United States (1.7 million), the United Kingdom (1.2 million), and South Africa (1 million), with smaller numbers in nearly every other country in the world.

India has one of the largest military establishments in the world and is a declared nuclear power.  Its GNP (Gross National Product) is one of the highest among nation-states by virtue of its size, but its per capita income of 450 US dollars (according to 2000 World Bank figures) is very near the bottom among nation-states.  India ranks fifteenth in industrial production and has a middle class of between 150 million to 200 million persons. India is third in the world in its number of technical and scientific personnel.  Literacy has reached 65.4 percent (75.9 percent of males and 54.2 percent of females), an increase of over 10 percent in the last decade.  The sex ratio in the 2001 census is 933 females for each 1000 males.

Much of India's population still endures massive poverty and social deprivation.  This grouping includes the so-called "Scheduled Castes" (usually referred to as "untouchables," making up 15% of the total population), "Scheduled Tribes" (indigenous tribal groups making up about 7.5% of the population), and "Other Backward Classes" (groups higher than "untouchables" and "tribals" but lower than the high or "forward" castes and numbering anywhere from 25% to 50% of the total population.  Forward or high castes make up about 18% of the population, including such high caste groups as Brahmins (3.5% of the population), Rajputs (3.9%), Bhumihars (2.02%), Vaishya-Banias (1.8%), Kayasthas (1.07%), Jats (1%), and coinciding to a large extent with the growing middle class.