What is India? What is Indian? I like to start with words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The name India is derived from Indus, from the Old Persion word Hindu. The ancient greeks referred to Indians as Indoi, or “the people of the Indus”.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The geographical term Bharat is recognized by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country. In Hindu scriptures, Bharat is an emperor, an ancestor of the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata. Hei s the son of Dushyanta and Shankuntala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a global perspective, India is one of the largest and most populous countries in the world. It’s described as “South Asian”, which I’m not a huge fan of but will have to go along with\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s where the Taj Mahal<\/strong> is located \u2013 a mausoleum built by the Mughal (what *was* the Mughal empire?] ruler Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Maha, who died in childbirth in 1631. [What else was happening in 1631? The Thirty Years’ War in Central Europe, between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, which ended in the Peace of Westphalia. Galileo’s younger brother died.) Construction was completed in 1653, which was when New Amsterdam (pre-NYC) was incorporated. in Agra, a city in UP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s where Gandhi<\/strong> was from. Gandhi lived 1869\u20131948 and was the face of the Indian independence movement against British rule. He was born in Gujarat, studied law in London. He practiced law in South Africa. He was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s a thread:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why was Mohandas Gandhi assassinated? Lots of people seem to have different interpretations. What *seems* to be clear is that he was killed by a Hindu nationalist who felt he was "too soft", or "too accommodating of Muslims". A lot of vague, junky takes to sift through…<\/p>— Visakan Veerasamy (@visakanv) September 26, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote>