Main article: 

Clothing in India

Women in sari at an adult literacy class in Tamil Nadu

A man in dhoti and wearing a woollen shawl, in Varanasi

From ancient times until the advent of the modern, the most widely worn traditional dress in India
was draped.[460] For women it took the form of a sari, a single piece of cloth many yards long.
[460]
 The sari was traditionally wrapped around the lower body and the shoulder. [460] In its modern
form, it is combined with an underskirt, or Indian petticoat, and tucked in the waist band for more
secure fastening. It is also commonly worn with an Indian blouse, or choli, which serves as the
primary upper-body garment, the sari's end—passing over the shoulder—serving to cover the
midriff and obscure the upper body's contours.[460] For men, a similar but shorter length of cloth,
the dhoti, has served as a lower-body garment. [461]

Women (from left to right) in churidars and kameez (with back to the camera), jeans and sweater, and
pink Shalwar kameez

The use of stitched clothes became widespread after Muslim rule was established at first by
the Delhi sultanate (ca 1300 CE) and then continued by the Mughal Empire (ca 1525 CE).
[462]
 Among the garments introduced during this time and still commonly worn are:
the shalwars and pyjamas, both styles of trousers, and the tunics kurta and kameez.[462] In
southern India, the traditional draped garments were to see much longer continuous use. [462]
Shalwars are atypically wide at the waist but narrow to a cuffed bottom. They are held up by a
drawstring, which causes them to become pleated around the waist. [463] The pants can be wide
and baggy, or they can be cut quite narrow, on the bias, in which case they are called churidars.
When they are ordinarily wide at the waist and their bottoms are hemmed but not cuffed, they are
called pyjamas. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic,[464] its side seams left open below the waist-
line.[465] The kurta is traditionally collarless and made of cotton or silk; it is worn plain or with
embroidered decoration, such as chikan; and typically falls to either just above or just below the
wearer's knees.[466]
In the last 50 years, fashions have changed a great deal in India. Increasingly, in urban northern
India, the sari is no longer the apparel of everyday wear, though they remain popular on formal
occasions.[467] The traditional shalwar kameez is rarely worn by younger urban women, who
favour churidars or jeans.[467] In white-collar office settings, ubiquitous air conditioning allows men
to wear sports jackets year-round.[467] For weddings and formal occasions, men in the middle- and
upper classes often wear bandgala, or short Nehru jackets, with pants, with the groom and
his groomsmen sporting sherwanis and churidars.[467] The dhoti, once the universal garment of
Hindu males, the wearing of which in the homespun and handwoven khadi allowed Gandhi to
bring Indian nationalism to the millions,[468] is seldom seen in the cities.[467]

Cuisine
Main article: Indian cuisine

South Indian vegetarian thali, or platter

Railway mutton curry from Odisha

The foundation of a typical Indian meal is a cereal cooked in a plain fashion and complemented
with flavourful savoury dishes.[469] The cooked cereal could be steamed rice; chapati, a thin
unleavened bread made from wheat flour, or occasionally cornmeal, and griddle-cooked dry;
[470]
 the idli, a steamed breakfast cake, or dosa, a griddled pancake, both leavened and made from
a batter of rice- and gram meal.[471] The savoury dishes might include lentils, pulses and
vegetables commonly spiced with ginger and garlic, but also with a combination of spices that
may include coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamon and others as informed by culinary
conventions.[469] They might also include poultry, fish, or meat dishes. In some instances, the
ingredients might be mixed during the process of cooking. [472]
A platter, or thali, used for eating usually has a central place reserved for the cooked cereal, and
peripheral ones for the flavourful accompaniments, which are often served in small bowls. The
cereal and its accompaniments are eaten simultaneously rather than a piecemeal manner. This
is accomplished by mixing—for example of rice and lentils—or folding, wrapping, scooping or
dipping—such as chapati and cooked vegetables or lentils. [469]
0:14
A tandoor chef in the Turkman Gate, Old Delhi, makes Khameeri roti (a Muslim-influenced style
of leavened bread).[473]

India has distinctive vegetarian cuisines, each a feature of the geographical and cultural histories
of its adherents.[474] The appearance of ahimsa, or the avoidance of violence toward all forms of
life in many religious orders early in Indian history, especially Upanishadic
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, is thought to have contributed to the predominance of
vegetarianism among a large segment of India's Hindu population, especially in southern India,
Gujarat, the Hindi-speaking belt of north-central India, as well as among Jains.[474] Although meat
is eaten widely in India, the proportional consumption of meat in the overall diet is low. [475] Unlike
China, which has increased its per capita meat consumption substantially in its years of
increased economic growth, in India the strong dietary traditions have contributed to dairy, rather
than meat, becoming the preferred form of animal protein consumption. [476]
The most significant import of cooking techniques into India during the last millennium occurred
during the Mughal Empire. Dishes such as the pilaf,[477] developed in the Abbasid caliphate,[478] and
cooking techniques such as the marinating of meat in yogurt, spread into northern India from
regions to its northwest.[479] To the simple yogurt marinade of Persia, onions, garlic, almonds, and
spices began to be added in India.[479] Rice was partially cooked and layered alternately with the
sauteed meat, the pot sealed tightly, and slow cooked according to another Persian cooking
technique, to produce what has today become the Indian biryani,[479] a feature of festive dining in
many parts of India.[480] In the food served in Indian restaurants worldwide the diversity of Indian
food has been partially concealed by the dominance of Punjabi cuisine. The popularity
of tandoori chicken—cooked in the tandoor oven, which had traditionally been used for baking
bread in the rural Punjab and the Delhi region, especially among Muslims, but which is originally
from Central Asia—dates to the 1950s, and was caused in large part by an entrepreneurial
response among people from the Punjab who had been displaced by the 1947 partition of India.
[474]

Sports and recreation

Main article: Sport in India

Girls play hopscotch in Jaora, Madhya Pradesh. Hopscotch has been commonly played by girls in rural
India.[481]

Several traditional indigenous sports such as kabaddi, kho kho, pehlwani and gilli-danda, and

also martial arts such as Kalarippayattu and marma adi, remain popular. Chess is commonly
held to have originated in India as chaturaṅga;[482] in recent years, there has been a rise in the
number of Indian grandmasters.[483] Viswanathan Anand became the Chess World Champion in
2007 and held the status until 2013.[484] Parcheesi is derived from Pachisi, another traditional
Indian pastime, which in early modern times was played on a giant marble court by Mughal
emperor Akbar the Great.[485]
Cricket is the most popular sport in India.[486] Major domestic competitions include the Indian
Premier League, which is the most-watched cricket league in the world and ranks sixth among all
sports leagues.[487] Other professional leagues include the Indian Super League (football) and
the Pro Kabaddi league.[488][489][490]
Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar about to score a record 14,000 runs in Test cricket while playing against
Australia in Bangalore, 2010

India has won two ODI Cricket world cups, the 1983 edition and the 2011 edition, as well as
becoming the inaugural Twenty20 International Cricket Champions in 2007 and has eight field
hockey gold medals in the summer olympics[491] The improved results garnered by the Indian
Davis Cup team and other Indian tennis players in the early 2010s have made tennis increasingly
popular in the country.[492] India has a comparatively strong presence in shooting sports, and has
won several medals at the Olympics, the World Shooting Championships, and the
Commonwealth Games.[493][494] Other sports in which Indians have succeeded internationally
include badminton[495] (Saina Nehwal and P. V. Sindhu are two of the top-ranked female
badminton players in the world), boxing, [496] and wrestling.[497] Football is popular in West
Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the north-eastern states.[498] India has hosted or co-hosted
several international sporting events: the 1951 and 1982 Asian Games; the 1987, 1996,
and 2011 Cricket World Cup tournaments; the 2003 Afro-Asian Games; the 2006 ICC
Champions Trophy; the 2009 World Badminton Championships; the 2010 Hockey World Cup;
the 2010 Commonwealth Games; and the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Major international
sporting events held annually in India include the Maharashtra Open, the Mumbai Marathon,
the Delhi Half Marathon, and the Indian Masters. The first Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix featured
in late 2011 but has been discontinued from the F1 season calendar since 2014. [499] India has
traditionally been the dominant country at the South Asian Games. An example of this
dominance is the basketball competition where the Indian team won three out of four
tournaments to date.[500]

See also

 India portal

 Asia portal

 Administrative divisions of India

 Outline of India

Notes
1. ^ Originally written in Sanskritised Bengali and adopted as the national anthem in its Hindi
translation.
2. ^ "[...] Jana Gana Mana is the National Anthem of India, subject to such alterations in the
words as the Government may authorise as occasion arises; and the song Vande
Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be
honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it." [5]
3. ^ Written in a mixture of Sanskrit and Sanskritised Bengali.
4. ^ According to Part XVII of the Constitution of India, Hindi in the Devanagari script is
the official language of the Union, along with English as an additional official language.[1][6]
[7]
 States and union territories can have a different official language of their own other than
Hindi or English.
 5. ^ Not all the state-level official languages are in the eighth schedule and not all the
scheduled languages are state-level official languages. For example, the Sindhi
language is an 8th scheduled but not a state-level official language.
6. ^ Kashmiri and Dogri language are the official languages of Jammu and Kashmir which is
currently a union territory and no longer the former state.
7. ^ Different sources give widely differing figures, primarily based on how the terms
"language" and "dialect" are defined and grouped. Ethnologue lists 461 tongues for India
(out of 6,912 worldwide), 447 of which are living, while 14 are extinct. [13][14]
8. ^ "The country's exact size is subject to debate because some borders are disputed. The
Indian government lists the total area as 3,287,260 km2 (1,269,220 sq mi) and the total
land area as 3,060,500 km2 (1,181,700 sq mi); the United Nations lists the total area as
3,287,263 km2 (1,269,219 sq mi) and total land area as
2,973,190 km2 (1,147,960 sq mi)."[16]
9. ^ See Date and time notation in India.
10. ^ The Government of India also regards Afghanistan as a bordering country, as it
considers all of Kashmir to be part of India. However, this is disputed, and the region
bordering Afghanistan is administered by Pakistan. Source: "Ministry of Home Affairs
(Department of Border Management)"  (PDF). Archived from the original  (PDF) on 17
March 2015. Retrieved  1 September 2008.
11. ^ "A Chinese pilgrim also recorded evidence of the caste system as he could observe it.
According to this evidence the treatment meted out to untouchables such as the
Chandalas was very similar to that which they experienced in later periods. This would
contradict assertions that this rigid form of the caste system emerged in India only as a
reaction to the Islamic conquest." [42]
12. ^ "Shah Jahan eventually sent her body 800 km (500 mi) to Agra for burial in the Rauza-i
Munauwara ("Illuminated Tomb") – a personal tribute and a stone manifestation of his
imperial power. This tomb has been celebrated globally as the Taj Mahal." [50]
13. ^ The northernmost point under Indian control is the disputed Siachen Glacier in Jammu
and Kashmir; however, the Government of India regards the entire region of the former
princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, including the Gilgit-Baltistan administered by
Pakistan, to be its territory. It therefore assigns the latitude 37° 6′ to its northernmost
point.
14. ^ A forest cover is moderately dense if between 40% and 70% of its area is covered by its
tree canopy.
15. ^ A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographical region which has more than 1,500 vascular
plant species, but less than 30% of its primary habitat. [201]
16. ^ In 2015, the World Bank raised its international poverty line to $1.90 per day. [345]
17. ^ According to estimates by the U. N. Population Division, India's population is expected
to overtake China's sometime in 2023.[358]
18. ^ Besides specific religions, the last two categories in the 2011 Census were "Other
religions and persuasions" (0.65%) and "Religion not stated" (0.23%).

References
1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d National Informatics Centre 2005.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b c d "National Symbols | National Portal of India". India.gov.in. Archived
from  the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2017.  The National Anthem of
India Jana Gana Mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was
adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India
on 24 January 1950.
3. ^ "National anthem of India: a brief on 'Jana Gana Mana'". News18. 14 August 2012.
Archived from  the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
4. ^ Wolpert 2003, p. 1.
5. ^ Constituent Assembly of India 1950.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b Ministry of Home Affairs 1960.
7. ^ "Profile | National Portal of India".  India.gov.in. Archived from the original  on 30 August
2013. Retrieved  23 August 2013.
8. ^ "Constitutional Provisions – Official Language Related Part-17 of the Constitution of
India". Department of Official Language  via  Government of India.  Archived  from the
original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved  18 April 2021.
9. ^ Jump up to:a b Khan, Saeed (25 January 2010). "There's no national language in India:
Gujarat High Court". The Times of India. Archived from  the original on 18 March 2014.
Retrieved 5 May  2014.
10. ^ Jump up to:a b "Learning with the Times: India doesn't have any 'national
language'". The Times of India. 16 November 2009. Archived from  the original on 10
October 2017.
11. ^ Jump up to:a b "Hindi, not a national language: Court". Press Trust of India  via  The
Hindu. Ahmedabad. 25 January 2010. Archived from  the original on 4 July 2014.
Retrieved 23 December 2014.
12. ^ "50th Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India (July 2012 to June
2013)"  (PDF). Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority
Affairs,  Government of India. Archived from the original  (PDF) on 8 July 2016.
Retrieved 26 December 2014.
13. ^ Lewis, M. Paul; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2014). "Ethnologue:
Languages of the World  : India"  (17th  ed.). Dallas, Texas:  Ethnologue  by SIL
International. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
14. ^ "Ethnologue  : Languages of the World (Seventeenth edition)  : Statistical
Summaries". Ethnologue by SIL International. Archived from the original  on 17
December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
15. ^ Jump up to:a b "C −1 Population by religious community – 2011". Office of the Registrar
General & Census Commissioner. Archived from  the original on 25 August 2015.
Retrieved 25 August  2015.
16. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Library of Congress 2004.
17. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah; correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia (24 April
2023). "India overtakes China to become world's most populous country". The
Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved  25 April 2023.
18. ^ "Population Enumeration Data (Final Population)".  2011 Census Data.  Office of the
Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original  on 22 May
2016. Retrieved  17 June 2016.
19. ^ "A – 2 Decadal Variation in Population Since 1901"  (PDF).  2011 Census Data.  Office of
the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from  the
original  (PDF)  on 30 April 2016. Retrieved  17 June 2016.
20. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e "World Economic Outlook Database: April 2023".  Imf.  International
Monetary Fund. April 2023. Retrieved  11 April 2023.
21. ^ "Gini Index coefficient".  The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived
from  the original on 7 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July  2021.
22. ^ "Gini index (World Bank estimate) – India". World bank.
23. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022"  (PDF).  United Nations Development
Programme. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September  2022.
24. ^ "List of all left- & right-driving countries around the world". worldstandards.eu. 13 May
2020. Retrieved  10 June 2020.
25. ^ –The Essential Desk Reference, Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 76,  ISBN  978-0-19-
512873-4 "Official name: Republic of India.";
–John Da Graça (2017), Heads of State and Government, London:  Macmillan,
p. 421,  ISBN  978-1-349-65771-1 "Official name: Republic of India; Bharat Ganarajya
(Hindi)";
–Graham Rhind (2017), Global Sourcebook of Address Data Management: A Guide to
Address Formats and Data in 194 Countries,  Taylor & Francis, p.  302, ISBN 978-1-351-
93326-1 "Official name: Republic of India; Bharat.";
–Bradnock, Robert W. (2015), The Routledge Atlas of South Asian Affairs, Routledge,
p. 108,  ISBN  978-1-317-40511-5 "Official name: English: Republic of India; Hindi:Bharat
Ganarajya";
–Penguin Compact Atlas of the World,  Penguin, 2012, p. 140,  ISBN  978-0-7566-9859-
1 "Official name: Republic of India";
–Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary  (3rd ed.),  Merriam-Webster, 1997,
pp.  515–516,  ISBN  978-0-87779-546-9 "Officially, Republic of India";
–Complete Atlas of the World: The Definitive View of the Earth (3rd  ed.), DK Publishing,
2016, p. 54,  ISBN  978-1-4654-5528-4 "Official name: Republic of India";
–Worldwide Government Directory with Intergovernmental Organizations 2013, CQ
Press, 2013, p. 726,  ISBN  978-1-4522-9937-2 "India (Republic of India; Bharat
Ganarajya)"
26. ^ Biswas, Soutik (1 May 2023). "Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or
panic?".  BBC News.  British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 3 May  2023.
27. ^ World Population Prospects 2022: Summary of Results  (PDF). New York: United
Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs. 2022. pp.  i.
28. ^ Jump up to:a b c Petraglia & Allchin 2007, p. 10, "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data
support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ...
Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka."
29. ^ Jump up to:a b Dyson 2018, p. 1, "Modern human beings—Homo sapiens—originated in
Africa. Then, intermittently, sometime between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago, tiny groups
of them began to enter the north-west of the Indian subcontinent. It seems likely that
initially they came by way of the coast. ... it is virtually certain that there were Homo
sapiens in the subcontinent 55,000 years ago, even though the earliest fossils that have
been found of them date to only about 30,000 years before the present."
30. ^ Jump up to:a b Fisher 2018, p. 23, "Scholars estimate that the first successful expansion
of the Homo sapiens range beyond Africa and across the Arabian Peninsula occurred
from as early as 80,000 years ago to as late as 40,000 years ago, although there may
have been prior unsuccessful emigrations. Some of their descendants extended the
human range ever further in each generation, spreading into each habitable land they
encountered. One human channel was along the warm and productive coastal lands of
the Persian Gulf and northern Indian Ocean. Eventually, various bands entered India
between 75,000 years ago and 35,000 years ago."
31. ^ Dyson 2018, p. 28
32. ^ (a) Dyson 2018, pp. 4–5;
(b) Fisher 2018, p. 33
33. ^ Lowe, John J. (2015).  Participles in Rigvedic Sanskrit: The syntax and semantics of
adjectival verb forms.  Oxford University Press. pp. 1–2.  ISBN  978-0-19-100505-3. (The
Rigveda) consists of 1,028 hymns (suktas), highly crafted poetic compositions originally
intended for recital during rituals and for the invocation of and communication with the
Indo-Aryan gods. Modern scholarly opinion largely agrees that these hymns were
composed between around 1500  BCE and 1200 BCE, during the eastward migration of
the Indo-Aryan tribes from the mountains of what is today northern Afghanistan across
the Punjab into north India.
34. ^ (a) Witzel, Michael (2008).  "Vedas and Upanisads". In Gavin Flood (ed.). The Blackwell
Companion to Hinduism. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 68–70. ISBN 978-0-470-99868-7.  It is
known from internal evidence that the Vedic texts were orally composed in northern
India, at first in the Greater Punjab and later on also in more eastern areas, including
northern Bihar, between ca. 1500 BCE and ca. 500–400 BCE. The oldest text, the
Rgveda, must have been more or less contemporary with the Mitanni texts of northern
Syria/Iraq (1450–1350 BCE); ... The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted,
without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that
was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the
classical texts of other cultures; it is in fact something of a tape-recording of ca. 1500–
500 BCE. Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in
old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present. (pp. 68–69) ... The RV
text was composed before the introduction and massive use of iron, that is before ca.
1200–1000 BCE. (p. 70)
(b) Doniger, Wendy (2014),  On Hinduism,  Oxford University Press, pp. xviii,
10,  ISBN  978-0-19-936009-3, A Chronology of Hinduism: ca. 1500–1000 BCE Rig Veda;
ca. 1200–900 BCE Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda (p. xviii); Hindu texts
began with the  Rig Veda ('Knowledge of Verses'), composed in northwest India around
1500 BCE (p. 10)
(c) Ludden 2014, p. 19, "In Punjab, a dry region with grasslands watered by five rivers
(hence 'panch' and 'ab') draining the western Himalayas, one prehistoric culture left no
material remains, but some of its ritual texts were preserved orally over the millennia. The
culture is called Aryan, and evidence in its texts indicates that it spread slowly south-east,
following the course of the Yamuna and Ganga Rivers. Its elite called itself Arya (pure)
and distinguished themselves sharply from others. Aryans led kin groups organized as
nomadic horse-herding tribes. Their ritual texts are called Vedas, composed in
Sanskrit. Vedic Sanskrit is recorded only in hymns that were part of Vedic rituals to Aryan
gods. To be Aryan apparently meant to belong to the elite among pastoral tribes. Texts
that record Aryan culture are not precisely datable, but they seem to begin around 1200
BCE with four collections of Vedic hymns (Rg, Sama, Yajur, and Artharva)."
(d) Dyson 2018, pp. 14–15, "Although the collapse of the Indus valley civilization is no
 longer believed to have been due to an 'Aryan invasion' it is widely thought that, at
roughly the same time, or perhaps a few centuries later, new Indo-Aryan-speaking people
and influences began to enter the subcontinent from the north-west. Detailed evidence is
lacking. Nevertheless, a predecessor of the language that would eventually be called
Sanskrit was probably introduced into the north-west sometime between 3,900 and 3,000
years ago. This language was related to one then spoken in eastern Iran; and both of
these languages belonged to the Indo-European language family. ... It seems likely that
various small-scale migrations were involved in the gradual introduction of the
predecessor language and associated cultural characteristics. However, there may not
have been a tight relationship between movements of people on the one hand, and
changes in language and culture on the other. Moreover, the process whereby a dynamic
new force gradually arose—a people with a distinct ideology who eventually seem to
have referred to themselves as 'Arya'—was certainly two-way. That is, it involved a
blending of new features which came from outside with other features—probably
including some surviving Harappan influences—that were already present. Anyhow, it
would be quite a few centuries before Sanskrit was written down. And the hymns and
stories of the Arya people—especially the Vedas and the later Mahabharata and
Ramayana epics—are poor guides as to historical events. Of course, the emerging Arya
were to have a huge impact on the history of the subcontinent. Nevertheless, little is
known about their early presence.";
(e) Robb 2011, pp. 46–, "The expansion of Aryan culture is supposed to have begun
around 1500 BCE. It should not be thought that this Aryan emergence (though it implies
some migration) necessarily meant either a sudden invasion of new peoples, or a
complete break with earlier traditions. It comprises a set of cultural ideas and practices,
upheld by a Sanskrit-speaking elite, or Aryans. The features of this society are recorded
in the Vedas."
35. ^ (a) Jamison, Stephanie; Brereton, Joel (2020),  The Rigveda, Oxford University Press,
pp.  2, 4, ISBN 978-0-19-063339-4,  The RgVeda is one of the four Vedas, which together
constitute the oldest texts in Sanskrit and the earliest evidence for what will become
Hinduism. (p. 2) Although Vedic religion is very different in many regards from what is
known as Classical Hinduism, the seeds are there. Gods like Visnu and Siva (under the
name Rudra), who will become so dominant later, are already present in the Rgveda,
though in roles both lesser than and different from those they will later play, and the
principal Rgvedic gods like Indra remain in later Hinduism, though in diminished capacity
(p. 4).;
(b) Flood, Gavin  (2020), "Introduction", in Gavin Flood (ed.), The Oxford History of
Hinduism: Hindu Practice: Hindu Practice, Oxford University Press, pp.  4–, ISBN 978-0-
19-105322-1, I take the term 'Hinduism to meaningfully denote a range and history of
practice characterized by a number of features, particularly reference to Vedic textual
and sacrificial origins, belonging to endogamous social units (jati/varna), participating in
practices that involve making an offering to a deity and receiving a blessing (puja), and a
first-level cultural polytheism (although many Hindus adhere to a second-level
monotheism in which many gods are regarded as emanations or manifestations of the
one, supreme being).;
(c) Michaels, Axel  (2017). Patrick Olivelle, Donald R. Davis (ed.). The Oxford History of
Hinduism: Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmaśāstra. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
pp.  86–97.  ISBN  978-0-19-100709-5. Almost all traditional Hindu families observe until
today at least three  samskaras  (initiation, marriage, and death ritual). Most other rituals
have lost their popularity, are combined with other rites of passage, or are drastically
shortened. Although samskaras vary from region to region, from class (varna) to class,
and from caste to caste, their core elements remain the same owing to the common
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(d) Flood, Gavin D. (1996).  An Introduction to Hinduism.  Cambridge University Press.
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56. ^ Chiriyankandath, James (2016), Parties and Political Change in South Asia, Routledge,
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57. ^ Fisher 2018, pp. 173–174: "The partition of South Asia that produced India and West
and East Pakistan resulted from years of bitter negotiations and recriminations ... The
departing British also decreed that the hundreds of princes, who ruled one-third of the
subcontinent and a quarter of its population, became legally independent, their status to
be settled later. Geographical location, personal and popular sentiment, and substantial
pressure and incentives from the new governments led almost all princes eventually to
merge their domains into either Pakistan or India. ... Each new government asserted its
exclusive sovereignty within its borders, realigning all territories, animals, plants,
minerals, and all other natural and human-made resources as either Pakistani or Indian
property, to be used for its national development... Simultaneously, the central civil and
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divided movable government assets according to a negotiated formula: 22.7 percent for
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58. ^ Chatterji, Joya; Washbrook, David (2013), "Introduction: Concepts and Questions", in
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Chatterji  describes how the partition of the British Indian empire into the new nation
states of India and Pakistan produced new diaspora on a vast, and hitherto
unprecedented, scale, but hints that the sheer magnitude of refugee movements in South
 Asia after 1947 must be understood in the context of pre-existing migratory flows within
the partitioned regions (see also Chatterji 2013). She also demonstrates that the new
national states of India and Pakistan were quickly drawn into trying to stem this migration.
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