Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago.^[28][29][30] Their long occupation, predominantly in isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity.^[31] Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE.^[32] By 1200 BCE, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, had diffused into India from the northwest.^[33][34] Its hymns recorded the dawning of Hinduism in India.^[35] India's pre-existing Dravidian languages were supplanted in the northern regions.^[36] By 400 BCE, caste had emerged within Hinduism,^[37] and Buddhism and Jainism had arisen, proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity.^[38] Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit Maurya and Gupta Empires.^[39] Widespread creativity suffused this era,^[40] but the status of women declined,^[41] and untouchability became an organized belief.^[l][42] In South India, the Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian language scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of Southeast Asia.^[43]

In the early mediaeval era, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts.^[44] Muslim armies from Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains.^[45] The resulting Delhi Sultanate drew northern India into the cosmopolitan networks of mediaeval Islam.^[46] In south India, the Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture.^[47] In the Punjab, Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion.^[48] The Mughal Empire, in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace,^[49] leaving a legacy of luminous architecture.^[m][50] Gradually expanding rule of the British East India Company followed. It turned India into a colonial economy but consolidated its sovereignty.^[51] British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly,^[52][53] but technological changes were introduced, and modern ideas of education and public life took root.^[54] A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged. Noted for nonviolent resistance it became the major factor in ending British rule.^[55][56] In 1947, the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions,^{[57][58][59][60]} a Hindu-majority dominion of India and a Muslim-majority dominion of Pakistan. A large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration accompanied the partition.^[61