The Republic of India
Most of the princely states were absorbed by India without conflict. In 1947, however, warfare broke out between Pakistani and Indian forces in Kashmir. A cease-fire in 1949 left the eastern part of that state occupied by India. In 1950 India proclaimed itself a republic. During the next 11 years it absorbed the French and Portuguese enclaves.
Under Nehru India adopted a neutralist policy in world affairs. However, armed conflict with China over disputed border areas developed in 1962 and continued intermittently. Nehru died in 1964 and was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri. Fighting broke out again in Kashmir between India and Pakistan in 1965; the conflict ended after three weeks.
Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, became prime minister in 1966, at a time of widespread internal conflict. There were demands for new states based on ethnic and linguistic lines. Although several were created, the demands of all groups were not met. Many of the states had unstable governments, and a number of the governments were dissolved, the states being placed directly under the federal government.
India's large, rapidly growing population was a major problem. Although family-planning measures had long received government support, results were disappointing. Agricultural production was unable to keep up with population growth throughout much of the 1960's, and India experienced periodic food shortages.
In 1971 a rebellion in East Pakistan against West Pakistan caused some 10 million Bengalis to flee to India. Partly to relieve this refugee burden, India attacked and destroyed the West Pakistani forces; East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh. In 1972 India signed a peace treaty with Pakistan (the former West Pakistan). In 1974 India exploded a nuclear device, becoming the sixth nation to rank as a nuclear power.
In the early 1970's, Gandhi sought to consolidate her power, and enacted authoritarian measures to curtail political opposition. In 1977 her Congress party was defeated in the national elections. Gandhi stepped down and the new leadership restored democratic freedoms. The new government proved ineffective, however, and in the elections of 1980 Gandhi was returned to power.
During the 1980's and early 1990's, India was beset with strife among various ethnic groups, especially between the Sikhs and the Hindus and between Muslims and Hindus. In 1984 Sikh extremists assassinated Gandhi. Neither Rajiv Gandhi, Indira's oldest son, who served as prime minister, 1984–89, nor later prime ministers were able to end the ethnic conflict. Rajiv was assassinated in 1991 by Tamil extremists while campaigning. In 1992 hundreds died in rioting between Hindus and Muslims after a radical Hindu group demolished a historic mosque.
After several governments ruled for very short periods in the mid-1990's, the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), a Hindu party, formed a coalition government in 1998. Within months, it fulfilled one of its major campaign promises: it established India as a nuclear weapons state by conducting five underground nuclear tests. In May, 1999, Pakistani forces crossed into Indian-held territory in Kashmir, starting a border conflict that ended with a Pakistani withdrawal several weeks later. In 2004 India's southeastern coast was struck by a major tsunami that killed more than 10,000 people. Several bombs exploded on commuter trains in Mumbai in July 2006, killing more than 180 people and injuring hundreds more. The Indian government accused Pakistan-based militants of involvement in the attack.
