India

INDIA. - This name refers both to the historical region of South Asia corresponding to the triangular peninsula, comprised between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, with the low plateau of lands that connect it to its northern mountainous margin (Mt. Sulaiman, Himalayas), and to the political unit that was constituted there with the English conquest (Indian Empire), and, after the Second World War, to the larger of the two independent States that are consolidating there (Indian Union and Pakistan).

I. GEOGRAPHY.

The Indian territory, extending over more than 20° in latitude, consists essentially of three great natural units: the arc of majestic elevations that bounds it toward the north (and in which, although the highest sectors remain outside it, several peaks exceed 7000 m.); the peninsula proper, which is also an elevated land, but with forms now flattened and worn, though raised at the margins (Ghats, or "hills": 2670 m. in the west), which in turn loom precipitously over the coasts; and the alluvial belt stretched between the one and the other region by the Indus (Punjab) and the Ganges (Hindustan properly so called), very humid in the east, progressively drier toward the west, where it ends in a sandy desert (Thar). The climate naturally varies from zone to zone, but, on the whole, has tropical and subtropical characteristics (high and constant temperatures) and seasonal rains (Apr.-Nov.) connected with the monsoon regime. The quantity and regularity of these precipitations are, however, related above all to the arrangement of the elevations with respect to the direction of the winds; and thus, from sectors that figure among the rainiest in the world (Cherrapunji, in Assam, averages 12,000 mm. annually), one passes to arid districts (Punjab, Sind), where the annual amounts vary so greatly as sometimes to cause serious famines (about one half of the territory of I. still remains under this threat). In any case, the harvests and the existence of the great mass of the population depend strictly on the behavior of the rains and on the possibility of irrigating the lands (the frequency of irrigation, which is 10% of cultivated surfaces in the east, rises to 75% in Sind). Similarly, to the most luxuriant tropical vegetation (jungle) of Hindustan and the Tarai, where the fauna also appears exuberant (great felines, many animals harmful to man), there are opposed elsewhere (lower Indus) steppes and zones bare of trees, and even wholly desolate tracts.

The racial and ethnic picture of the Indian population appears among the most complicated, because of the variety of crossings, whose effects, combining with those of the division into castes, explain the great number of groups that modern scholars recognize there. To a basic distinction between Dravidians (the more ancient element remaining on the plateau) and Indo-Aryans (who penetrated later into the country and still prevail in Hindustan), dear to tradition, no discriminating racial significance is attributed any longer. Less uncertain is the linguistic ground: of the more than 200 different speeches brought to light by the censuses, the Indo-European ones absorb about 60% of the inhabitants of the entire Indian region, with absolute predominance of Hindustani, which became with political independence the official language of the State. Equally notable are the religious divisions, to which is due, in substance, the secession of Muslim Pakistan.

The Indian population is among the most prolific on earth, but famines, epidemics and deaths greatly reduce its demographic surplus. The maximum densities are found in the Indus basin and along the eastern coasts; the minimum in the north-western zones. The large urban centers are numerous: of the 41 that exceed 100,000 inhabitants, two are millionaire cities (Calcutta with 4.5 million, Bombay with 1.5) and four exceed half a million (Madras, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Delhi). Delhi, the capital, counted 522,000 inhabitants in the last census (1941).

The prevailing occupation is agriculture, still practiced, on the whole, with backward systems, but in continuous progress (irrigation, mechanization), and increasingly varied in its products. Rice, wheat and sorghum dominate among the cereals; cotton, jute (for which I. has almost a world monopoly) and oil seeds (peanut, sesame, rapeseed, flax, castor) among the industrial plants; tea and coffee among the shrub crops. The cultivation of sugar cane and tobacco is also notable. The livestock patrimony is conspicuous (with its 136 million head of cattle, and 46 million of goats, I. holds two world records), but breeding is far from its immense possibilities, which can be repeated for silviculture, which likewise disposes of large reserves and timber of great value. Coal and iron are present in numerous and rich deposits, nor are manganese, mica, copper, gold, petroleum, precious stones, etc. lacking, but the development of industries is still limited, except for the textile branch (cotton-milling and jute-milling). Nevertheless great progress has been made in the last thirty years; the tendency to free itself in this regard from the necessity of resorting to the importation of manufactured goods is evident.

Internal communications dispose of numerous, excellent ordinary roads and of a good railway network (65,200 km.); this nevertheless remains isolated from the very fine Asiatic territories. International trade is entrusted for 9/10 to the three great ports of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.

The new Indian State has gathered within itself more than half a thousand distinct political-administrative units of the ceased Anglo-Indian Empire: the absorption and unification of this mosaic of governments will still require much time and many efforts. In the meantime, independent I. continues to form part, by the will of its members, of the British Commonwealth. The Indian constitution evolves toward democratic-republican forms on elective bases.

Giuseppe Caraci

II. POLITICAL HISTORY.

I. FROM THE ORIGINS TO THE MUSLIM CONQUEST

The sources for the history of I. during the Hindu period are above all epigraphy, numismatics and the accounts of foreign travelers, especially Chinese; Indian literatures, with small exceptions, do not contain properly historical texts. Later the rich historiography of Muslim I. comes into play, written in the Persian language. The natural bases of the history of the peninsula are represented on the one hand by its inaccessibility from every side other than the sea and the passes of the north-western frontier; on the other hand by its natural division into three great regions: the Indo-Gangetic plain, the Deccan, the extreme south. The historical development of each of these zones was to a great extent independent.

1. Prehistory and protohistory

I. begins to be inhabited by man in the early Pleistocene. From the Paleolithic period a quantity of sites remain in the Deccan and in southern I.; the use of quartzite constitutes the principal characteristic of the Indian Paleolithic. The Neolithic period is distinguished by an abundant but rough pottery; contrary to the later periods, the dead were buried and not cremated. Neolithic sites are found in almost the whole country, but especially in the north. From the Neolithic one passes directly to the Iron Age; there are no traces in I. of a Bronze civilization.

In the period of transition between the Neolithic and the Iron Age, in the first half of the 3rd millennium B.C., the first great Indian civilization appears, the civilization of the Indus (v. MOHENJO-DARO).

After the end of this civilization, darkness descends again upon Indian history. It is known only that in a later epoch (2nd millennium B.C.) the Arya (or Indo-Europeans) penetrated into I. from the north-west, driving the Dravida towards the south and for the most part submerging the Munda, the two groups of populations that previously occupied the peninsula. Theirs is a civilization of herders and cultivators, living in small villages and divided among numerous tribes. Limited at first to the basin of the Indus, they extended slowly until they occupied the whole basin of the Ganges and a good part of the Deccan. With the passing of time this amorphous Aryan population crystallized into a series of small States. Its social structure also modified slowly, evolving among other things the system of the four castes (varya), which from then on constituted the pivot of Indian society. One thus passes from the age of the Vedas to that of the Brāhmaṇa and then to that which is depicted in the two great epic poems: the Mahābhārata (v.) and the Rāmāyana (v.: first half of the 1st millennium B.C.); an aristocratic, chivalric and warrior society, traversed by a great ferment of religious renewal, which gives rise to the lofty speculations of the Upaniṣad.

2. Hindu period

At the end of the 6th century B.C., with the rise of the two great movements of religious reform, Buddhism (v.) and Jainism (v.), the I. of the north emerges from the darkness of protohistory. Divided into a certain number of kingdoms (traditionally sixteen) and of aristocratic republics, it sees the rise and expansion of the Kingdom of Magadha (present-day Bihar). In the first half of the 5th century B.C. the whole basin of the Ganges is subject to Magadha. At the same time, around 516, the basin of the Indus was conquered by the Achaemenids and remained for almost two centuries a satrapy of the Persian Empire. There then begins that profound Iranian influence in the Valley of the Indus, which, having later assumed a religious aspect with the advent of Islām, will lead in the 20th century to the detachment of the region from I. The 4th century sees the decadence of Magadha and the passing incursion of Alexander the Great, not into I. but into the Indian provinces of Persia. At the end of the century a sudden movement of national unification leads Candragupta, founder of the Maurya dynasty (321 B.C.), to subjugate a good part of I. and to obtain from Seleucus the cession of the basin of the Indus and of Afghanistan. The Greek Megasthenes visits his court and leaves a brilliant description of it.

The statistical data, listed in the following table, are to be considered approximate, given the recent constitution of the Indian Union.

The successors of Candragupta, Bindusāra (297-74) and Aśoka (274-36), from their capital Pāṭaliputra (present-day Patna) dominate the whole peninsula except the extreme south; for the first and only time the north and the Deccan are unified under an Indian king. Aśoka, a peaceful king, carried out active work of Buddhist propaganda. His edicts, carved in stone at the four corners of I., are a monument of his religious zeal and of his political moderation. His Empire, which passed into Buddhist tradition as a true golden age, could not however survive; only fifty years after the death of Aśoka, in 184 B.C., the Maurya give way to the Śuṅga, whose kingdom, limited to the middle basin of the Ganges, marks a first reaction of Brahmanism. Then Magadha, weakened by its imperial effort, ceases for a long time to be a political center, and indeed submits to the influence of the Andhra of the Deccan. In the meantime, however, the Greeks of Bactria had appeared in the basin of the Indus, who after 180 B.C. established there a domain of their own in India. Continually torn by internal struggles and divided among various kings, the middle basin of the Indus nevertheless constituted the refuge of the Greeks when around 130 the nomads drove them out of Bactria. The Indo-Greek Kingdoms of the Panjab and of Afghanistan, which lasted until the first years after Christ, introduced into I. the artistic influence

Greek artistic influence, which would later give rise to the Indo-Greek art of Gandhāra; through the same channel Greek astronomy also entered I. Taxila was a largely Greek city, as its ruins still testify. But the Greeks were pursued into I. by the very populations that had driven them out of Bactriana. The Śakas, who founded ephemeral kingdoms in the northwest, managed to hold out until the 4th century A.D., with the Persian title of kṣatropa, in central I. The Parthians too made their appearance. In the 1st century A.D., however, Parthians and Greeks were swept away by the Kuṣāṇa, a dynasty of Śaka origin, which formed a strong state straddling the Hindu Kush from the Syr Darya to the Ganges. In their kingdom, artistic and religious influences from Iran, Central Asia, I., the Roman Empire and even China intersected. Their greatest sovereign, Kanishka (78-103 [?]), was a great patron of Buddhism, and Buddhism and Hellenistic art helped to bring to flower the stupendous art of Gandhāra. In the 3rd century the Kuṣāṇa Empire declined and disappeared from the Indus basin. I. withdrew once more into itself, and the following century saw the sudden reassertion of the power of Magadha. The Gupta dynasty (from 320), especially through the work of its second sovereign Samudragupta (325-75), once again unified the Ganges basin and central I. as far as Gujarat, without however having the strength to penetrate into the Indus basin and the Deccan. A Vaishnavite dynasty, but tolerant of other religions, the Guptas mark the apogee of Indian civilization; Sanskrit literature flourished, culminating with the greatest poet of I., Kālidāsa; art shook off foreign influence and found its way in the purest Indian tradition. But the Guptas did not last long either. They wore themselves out in the second half of the 5th century in repelling the invasion of the so-called Hephthalite Huns from the northwest. By the middle of the following century the Huns, who for a moment seemed about to overwhelm northern I., had been definitively repelled. But after their disappearance the Gupta Empire too was no more than a memory of the past. Once again a sovereign, Harṣa (606-47), attempted the unification of the north; at his court resided the most famous of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, Hsüan-tsang. But Harṣa had no successors; and after his death the era of the great regional states began in northern I., states that pursued a policy of pan-Indian balance rather than an imperial policy. Kanauj took the place of Pāṭaliputra as the metropolis of the north. There reigned the Gurjara-Pratihāra (805-1040), who came from central I., who wore themselves out in a continuous struggle with the enemies of the south and the east, and who received the coup de grâce from the Muslim invasion of Maḥmūd of Ghaznī in 1019. After decades of confusion they were succeeded by the Gāhadāvāla, whose historical function was for a time the defense against the now imminent Muslim danger, until they failed in their mission; at the end of the 12th century Kanauj passed into Muslim hands. The supreme resistance against the invaders was instead the work of the Cāhamāna, a Rajput dynasty extending toward the northeast to include the territory of Delhi, whose position as metropolis of I. dates from them. The last king, the heroic Prthivirājā III (1179-92), for many years held his own against the invader at the head of treacherous coalitions of Indian princes, until his defeat and death on the field of Taraori (1192) marked the passage of northern I. under Muslim dominion. The Hindu military resistance, overwhelmed in the Ganges plain, took refuge among the hills and deserts of Rajasthan. There the various Rajput princes maintained their proud independence for centuries. Tenacious, brave to the point of folly, they were nevertheless devoid of political qualities and incapable of holding together. Yet the Muslims never managed to subdue them by arms, and only the emperor Akbar succeeded in the second half of the 16th century in drawing them to himself by the magnetism of his powerful personality and by the chivalrous trust he showed toward them. For a century the Rajput princes were among the best generals of the Mughal Empire.

The other great regional kingdom of northern I. was Bengal and Bihar, where the Pāla (ca. 765-12th century) mark a final reflowering of art, Sanskrit literature and Buddhism, before the latter definitively disappeared from I. Then arose the great monastery-universities of Nālanda and Vikramaśīla, from which Buddhism radiated toward Tibet. The Pāla were followed by the Sena, Shaivites, who however around 1200 fell almost without resistance before a few Muslim troops.

After the fall of the Guptas, central I. and Gujarat lived their own life under local dynasties. Malwa, which had belonged to the Gurjara, then passed under the Paramāra (9th-12th century), a cultured dynasty, some of whose kings were poets of no small fame. In Gujarat some small dynasties (Valabhi, etc.), which reigned there from the 6th to the 10th century, gave way in 974 to the Solanki, Shaivites, but protectors of the Jains, whose literature and art (temples of Abu) reached their apogee precisely in that period and in that region. In 1232 the Solanki were dethroned by the Vaghela, who in 1297 in turn vanished before the Muslim conquest.

After the decline of the Maurya, the Deccan saw the rise in the 2nd or 1st century B.C. of the power of the Sāṭavāhana or Andhra, who for three centuries cut the figure of a great power in the western Deccan and later in the eastern Deccan, sometimes extending their influence even north of the Vindhya Mountains. Under them commerce with the Roman Empire flourished. Buddhism and Brahmanism were impartially protected, while the Prakrit dialects reached their greatest splendor as literary languages. Once the Andhra had fallen, the Deccan, free from interference from the north, remained in a state of impotence and political fragmentation, which came to an end only around 550 A.D. with the rise of the Cālukya. From their capital of Badami this dynasty subjected the whole Deccan as far as the Gulf of Bengal and even attempted, though without success, to interfere in the north. One of their branches (the Eastern Cālukya), transplanted in 632 to the mouths of the Godavari, lasted there until 1070, when it merged, through a marriage, with the Cola. The Cālukya, Shaivites and Vaishnavites, were also protectors of Jainism and distinguished themselves for their enlightened mechanism; under their rule were created the most beautiful parts of that cycle of paintings in the caves of Ajanta, which represent perhaps the highest expression of Indian art. In 753 the Cālukya were overthrown by the Rāṣṭrakūṭa, a truly imperial dynasty, which attempted the conquest of the south (coming very close to success) and intervened with arms in the struggles between the Gurjara and the Pāla in the north. It was precisely this dispersion of efforts that produced in 973 the fall of the dynasty. There remain of them, however, imperishable monuments: the grandiose rock-cut temples at Ellora. After them the era of regional kingdoms and the balance of forces begins in the Deccan too. In the west there was a Cālukya restoration, which lasted until the end of the 12th century. In present-day Mysore the Hoysala-Ballāla established themselves by fighting against the Cālukya and the Pāṇḍya. The Muslim conquest appeared in the Deccan a century later than in northern I. The Yādava, who succeeded the Cālukya, failed to hold it back, and in 1312 the Deccan passed under Muslim dominion. This lasted a long time; but during and after the Mughal conquest of the Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan (1686-87), the Hindu recovery set out from the western regions of the country. Through the work of the national hero Sivaji (d. 1680) arose the kingdom, soon become a confederation, of the Maratha. And the Maratha confederation was for almost the whole of the 18th century the most important factor in Indian history, and was not destroyed until 1805 and 1818 by the English armies, technically too superior.

The south of the peninsula, which remained purely Dravidian in race and language, had from time immemorial been divided into three kingdoms: the Cera in the southwest, the Pāṇḍya in the extreme south, the Cola in the southeast. The first had only local importance; not so the second, which had a long and troubled existence (around 1300 they were masters of almost all of southern I.) and died out completely only in the 17th century. The Cola were the imperial dynasty of the south. Having been displaced for a long time by a foreign dynasty, the Pallava, under whom Dravidian art was born and had its first flowering, the Cola recovered in the second half of the 9th century, coming in the 11th century to assert their sovereignty over all of southern I., over Ceylon and even over the coasts of the Malacca Peninsula. Exhausted by the immense effort, the Cola, great builders of marvelous temples, disappeared in 1279 before a resurgence of the Pāṇḍya. Then came fragmentation, complicated by the Muslim invasion of 1310. The foreign danger, however, produced the coalescence of all Dravidian forces around a new State, risen on the ruins of the Hoysala-Ballāla Kingdom, which took its name from the new capital Vijayanagar, founded around 1336. The historical mission of Vijayanagar was the defense of the south against the Muslims of the Deccan, a task it fulfilled for more than two centuries with alternating victories and defeats, until it was overwhelmed by a Muslim coalition in 1565 (battle of Talikota); but in the meantime Islam in the Deccan had lost its power of expansion and Dravidian civilization was by then safe. Southern I. knows no Muslim period, but passes directly from the Hindu period to the English one.

II. FROM THE MUSLIM CONQUEST TO THE MOĞUL DYNASTY (711-1526)

In 711 Muḥammad b. Qāsim occupied Sind and southern Panǧāb as far as Multān. The region remained under Arab governors, whom the dismemberment of the caliphate rendered practically autonomous. The Muslims subjected the local populations to tribute, collected as usual through the native administration. Unlike the other countries conquered by the Arabs, conversions were few and Islam remained in the minority in I. A peaceful Arab penetration, coming from the sea, was meanwhile taking place on the Malabar coast, with the establishment there of commercial colonies.

A new phase of the conquest occurs with the Afghan dynasty of the Ghaznavids (962-1186). Subuktigin (976-97) occupied the region west of the Indus, placing the capital at Peśāwar. Maḥmūd (998-1030) pushed, in a successive series of expeditions, into Kašmīr, into Hindustān and into Guǧārāt; he occupied Panǧāb permanently, transferring the capital of the province to Lahore.

In 1186 the Ghaznavids were supplanted in I. by the Ghorids (1148-1215). With them the Muslim conquest made further progress. Muḥammad Gōrī occupied between 1186 and 1206 all of Hindustān, transferring the capital to Delhi.

At the death of Muḥammad Gōrī, his governors, slaves of Turkish origin, divided the kingdom among themselves. The most important State was Delhi, where five dynasties succeeded one another: the "slave kings" (1106-90); the Ḥalǧī (1290-1320); the Tuǧluq (or Taǧlaq; 1320-1413); the Sajjid (1414-51); the Lōdī (1451-1526). To these dynasties must be added the Afghans, who from 1539 to 1544 temporarily took back power from the Moǧul. The sultans of Delhi exercised for a long time a supremacy over the other States. Iltutmiš, of the first dynasty, subdued the governors of Sind and Bengal; there were in this period numerous incursions of the Mongols of Čingiz Ḥān, who however did not stop in I. The Ḥalǧī advanced into the Deccan, conquering Dawlatābād; the Tuǧluq, with Muḥammad, pushed even further into the south, transferring the capital to Dawlatābād. At the death of Muḥammad (1551) the State again fell into fragmentation; the invasion of Timūr Lang in the years 1398-99 contributed to the decline. While only the territory surrounding Delhi remained to the sultans of Delhi, independent dynasties formed in the following regions: Bengal (1338-1576); Gawnpūr (1394-1476); Mālwā (1401-1530); Kašmīr (1334-1587); Guǧārāt (1396-1572); Ḥāndēš (1399-1599). In the Deccan the Bahmanid dynasty formed (1347-1526), which in its last period fragmented in turn into five States: Berār (ʿImād Šāhī, 1484-1572); Aḥmadnagar (Nizām Šāhī, 1490-1595); Bidar (Barīd Šāhī, 1492-1609); Biǧāpūr (ʿĀdil Šāhī, 1489-1686); Golkonda (Quṭb Šāhī, 1512-1687).

III. THE MOĞUL DYNASTY (1526-1858)

The Moǧul (Muǧal) dynasty was founded by the Mongol Bābar, a descendant of Timūr Lang and ruler of a State in Afghānistān. He invaded I. in 1526, defeating at Pānīpat the last ruler of the Lōdī dynasty of Delhi. At his death (1530) all of northwestern I., with its center at Āgra, was in his power. His son Humājūn (1530-56) lost the kingdom at the hands of the Afghans (1539-54; v. above) and only in 1555 managed to recover part of it. The work was completed by his son Akbar (1556-1605): after a new victory at Pānīpat over the Indian forces (1556), he took possession of all of northern I., pushing south as far as Aḥmadnagar. Akbar was a patron and tolerant ruler; he abolished the special tax on the Hindus (ǧīṣjah), placing them on the same fiscal footing as the Muslims; he protected Hinduism, even attempting to establish a new unitary religion (tanshīd ilāhī or dīn ilāhī); he hosted Portuguese Jesuit missions. His son Gāhānǧār (1605-27) had to face externally the war against the Persians and internally numerous revolts of his sons. Under him the English East India Company obtained the first authorizations to establish commercial trading posts, which were then rapidly to develop. Šāh Gāhān (1627-58) continued with varying fortune the war against Persia and pushed forward into the Deccan. Here his son Awrangzib distinguished himself, who, having supplanted him on the throne (1658-1707), conquered the States of Biǧāpūr and Golkonda: all of I. was in his power, except the northern extremity, and the Moǧul Empire had reached its greatest extent. Awrangzib pursued an orthodox religious policy, persecuting the Hindus and thus reopening a dissension that was to be an important cause of the crisis of the State.

After the death of Awrangzib, the Mughal Empire declined rapidly, fragmenting into autonomous states, of which the most important were the Sikhs in the Panjab and the Marathas in the Deccan. Under Muhammad Shah (1719-48) the provinces of Hyderabad, Agra, Awadh, Bengal, and Rohilkhand became centers of autonomous governments. Nadir Shah of Persia invaded I. in 1739, sacking Delhi and occupying the provinces west of the Indus. A second invasion was conducted from Afghanistan by Ahmad Shah Durrani (1756-57), who through Sind and the Panjab reached Delhi once again. Meanwhile the English East India Company had extended its trading posts, of which the principal ones were Madras (1640), Bombay (1662), and Calcutta (1698). Competition with the French Company, which had its most important bases at Pondicherry and Chandernagore, led to penetration on the political and military plane. The English prevailed with the Peace of Paris (1763). In 1765 Shah Alam (1759-1806) recognized the Company's financial administration of the provinces of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. At this point the English government intervened: with the "Regulating Act" of 1773 and the "Pitt's Act" of 1784 it assumed control of the Company and appointed its governor-general. While the authority of the Mughal emperors (Akbar II, 1806-37; Bahadur Shah, 1837-57) remained nominal, the English conquest expanded: the Marathas were defeated (1803, 1817); Assam (1825), Coorg (1834), Sind (1843), and the Panjab (1849) were conquered. Under the government of Lord Dalhousie, numerous princely states of the interior were annexed. This intensified the discontent of the natives. In 1837 the Bengal troops (sipahi) rebelled, taking as their leader the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah. The revolt was bloodily suppressed, Bahadur Shah was deposed, and on Nov. 1, 1858 the British crown assumed direct government of I., definitively replacing the East India Company.

In general: H. M. Elliot - J. Dowson, The history of I. as told by its own historians, 8 vols., London 1867-77; W. A. Smith, The Oxford history of I., 2nd ed., ibid. 1923; The Cambridge history of I., III. Turks and Afghans, Cambridge 1928; IV. The Mughal period, ibid. 1937 (fundamental); J. Allan - C. Wolseley Haig - H. H. Dodwell, Cambridge shorter history of I., ibid. 1934; G. Dunbar, A history of I. from the earliest times to the present day, London 1936 (German trans., Munich-Berlin 1937); V. Vacca,

L'I. musulmana, Milan [1941]; L. Suali, Storia moderna dell'I., 2 vols., Milan [1941] (with annotated bibl.); W. H. Moreland - A. C. Chatterjee, A short history of I., 2nd ed., London 1945; H. G. Rawlinson, A concise history of the Indian people, 3rd ed., ibid. 1946; R. C. Majumdar - H. C. Raychaudhuri - K. Datta, An advanced history of I., 2nd ed., ibid. 1948; R. Grousset, L'Inde, Paris 1949.

On the period 711-1526: I. Prasad, L'Inde du VIIᵉ au XVIᵉ siècle (E. Cavaignac, Histoire du monde, 8, 1), Paris 1930. On the conquest and the Islamic religious penetration: M. T. Titus, Indian islam, Oxford 1930. On Mahmud of Ghazna: M. Nasim, The life and times of Indian Mahmud of Gazna, Cambridge 1931. On Muhammad Tughluq: M. Husain, The rise and fall of Muhammad b. Tughluq, London 1938. On Timur Lang: H. Melzig, Timur, New York 1940.

On the Mughal period: P. Kennedy, History of the great Moghuls, 2 vols., Calcutta 1902-11; S. M. Edward - H. L. O. Garret, Mughal rule in I., London 1930; Ibn Hasan, The central structure of the Mughal empire, Oxford 1936. On Babur: F. Grenard, Vie de Baber, conquérant de l'Inde, Paris 1930; Memoir, ed. A. S. Beveridge, 2 vols., London 1931. On Humayun: Gulbadan Bagam, Humayun-ama, ed. and trans. A. S. Beveridge, ibid. 1902. On Akbar: V. Smith, Akbar, the great Mughal, 2nd ed., Oxford 1919; L. Binyon, Akbar, 3rd ed., New York 1935. On Jahangir and Shah Jahan: W. H. Moreland, From Akbar to Aurangzib, London 1923. On Aurangzib: J. Sarkar, History of Aurangzib, 2nd ed., 5 vols., Calcutta 1923-30. On the decline of the Mughal empire: W. Irvine - J. Sarkar, Later Moghuls, 2 vols., Calcutta 1921-22; L. Sarkar, The fall of the Mughal empire, 2 vols., ibid. 1932-34. On the Marathas: J. Grant Duff, A history of the Mahrattas, ed. S. M. Edwardes, 2 vols., Oxford 1921. On the Sikhs: J. Clark Archer, The Sikhs, Princeton 1946. On English expansion up to 1838: J. R. Seeley, The expansion of England, London 1883 (Italian trans., Bari 1838); A. Lyall, The rise and expansion of the British dominion in I., 9th ed., London 1926; E. Thompson - G. T. Garratt, Rise and fulfilment of British rule in I., ibid. 1934; P. J. Griffiths, The British in I., ibid. 1946; H. Furber, John Company at work, Cambridge 1948.

Sabatino Moscati

IV. HISTORY AFTER 1858

Once the storm had passed, from 1858 a few decades of absolute outward calm followed, which nevertheless marked the advent of a new political world. The autonomous imperial policy of the viceroys ceased, both because of the tighter control by the English government, made possible by the telegraph, and because English dominion had reached the natural frontiers of I. The last attempts in that direction were the Afghan war of 1878-80; the conquest of Upper Burma (1885) and its annexation to I., a gross error that was eliminated only in 1936; and the almost useless expedition into Tibet, willed by Lord Curzon in 1904. Under English dominion, chiefly through the Western-style university education it introduced, a new intelligentsia of lawyers and professionals was meanwhile developing, while the old nobility, the princes of the vassal states, now become loyal supporters of England, slowly declined in all prestige among the populations. In the last decades of the past century the new classes, excluded from any share in public affairs by the paternal but autocratic government of the viceroys, began timidly to make their voice heard. The organ of their demands was the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, which for many years limited itself to requesting reforms in a liberal sense. The leaven of the new times and the progressive pressure from below induced the English government to grant a first series of reforms in 1909 and a second in 1919; reforms always partial, insufficient, and behind the times. During the First World War the Congress, by then oriented toward autonomy (svara) and later toward complete independence (purna svara), had fallen under the influence of a man of genius, M. K. Gandhi, who organized it for active struggle with two typically Indian instruments: non-violence and non-cooperation. The struggle, complicated by a growing tension between the Hindu and the Muslim communities, took on highly dramatic aspects especially between 1928 and 1934, and had as its consequence a third series of reforms (1935), which instituted provincial autonomy, with local parliaments and ministries, while the central government remained for the moment almost autocratic. The Congress, after some hesitation, assumed power in most of the provinces (1937), renouncing it however at the outbreak of the Second World War (1939).

The struggle continued during the war years, alternating campaigns of civil disobedience with periods of truce, while more active elements sought to intensify it by collaborating with Japan. Meanwhile the Muslims, increasingly discontented with the Congress's attitude toward them, rallied around the Muslim League, demanding a separate state of their own. Once the war was over and the impossibility of holding I. subject any longer had become clear, the new British Labour government yielded to the inevitable, while the Congress in turn, every attempt at agreement having failed, resigned itself to the secession of the areas inhabited predominantly by Muslims. Thus on 15 Aug. 1947 two new states were born: the Indian Union and Pakistan (v.). The Union had to overcome a very grave initial crisis caused by an outbreak of religious fanaticism that forced millions of Hindus to emigrate from Pakistan and millions of Muslims to leave I., amid terrible scenes of massacre and looting; an indirect victim of it was Gandhi himself, assassinated by a Hindu fanatic. With the Constitution of Jan. 1950, I. adopted a republican federal form of government, maintaining a vague connection with the British Commonwealth. The question of the feudal states of the Indian princes was resolved in the sense of their suppression or their transformation into a few large federal units. The agrarian problem was tackled in a series of courageous reforms. Relations with Pakistan still await settlement, above all because of the question of Kashmir, disputed between the two states. In foreign policy the government of Pandit Nehru, in power since 1947, seeks to maintain a balance on the Asian plane between the Soviet bloc and the Western one; whatever the outcome of the attempt, the fact remains that I. has immediately assumed a leading role in Asian politics.

Luciano Petech

III. THE NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

They are treated under the entries: BRAHMANISM; HINDUISM; INDIANISM; JAINISM; SIKHISM; VEDISM.

IV. HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY.

I. EVANGELIZATION

Legends relate that Christianity was introduced into I. by the apostle St. Thomas (v. below). According to more reliable data, it penetrated there in the 4th century through Christians who, during the persecution of the king of Persia Shapur II (313-81), took refuge in Malabar (v. MALABARESE), giving rise to the Christian Church of the Syro-Chaldean rite, known under the name of "Christians of St. Thomas." They formed a separate community, a kind of caste of their own, holding the same rank as the nairs (nobles of the region), thus managing to preserve the Christian Church over the course of the centuries. In the 14th century some Franciscans, Giovanni da Monte Corvino, Odorico da Pordenone and Giovanni Marignoli, while going to China, came into contact with the Christians of St. Thomas. Four other Franciscans destined for China suffered martyrdom at Tana, Salsette.

The Catholic missions of the modern era began with the arrival of the Portuguese (1498) at Calicut. Secular priests, Franciscans and some Dominicans founded mission stations in the places occupied by the Portuguese. The center was first Cochin, then Goa. With the erection of the diocese of Goa (1534), an archdiocese in 1557, with the suffragans of Cochin (1557) and Mylapore (1606), and with the arrival of St. Francis Xavier and the Jesuits in 1542, missionary activity began to be better organized. It was limited, however, in the first place to the Portuguese possessions around Goa and Bassein, where a small territory was under Portuguese rule, and to the cities where the Portuguese had erected forts and factories. From the territories occupied in the 16th century, the Mohammedans and Hindu priests were expelled and the pagodas destroyed. The work of converting the natives was in the hands of the Franciscans, the Dominicans and the Jesuits, and from 1572 of the Augustinians. In other territories under the rule of native princes the fruits of the apostolate were very scanty. Greater successes were had, instead, only on the southern coast. In the Fishery, the caste of the Parava, 20,000 in all, had placed itself under Portuguese protection. The Parava were baptized by the vicar general of Goa, Miguel Vaz, in 1536. St. Francis Xavier was sent to instruct them and to organize the mission. In 1546 the same Xavier converted on the coast of Travancore the caste of the Macuas (Macavan). The two missions were continued by the Jesuits. The missionary activity undertaken by the Jesuits in the kingdom of the Great Mogul did not have the hoped-for result of the conversion of the emperor Akbar, but led only to the founding of some Christian communities in the north. The most conspicuous missionary success of the 16th century was the union of the Christians of St. Thomas, brought about by the archbishop Aleixo de Menezes (1594-1610), in the Synod of Diamper (1599). For them the diocese of Angamale was erected, transferred in 1605 to Cranganore, first as a suffragan of Goa, then in 1608 elevated to an archdiocese.

In the 17th century the mission of the Jesuits in the interior of southern I., in non-Portuguese territory, had great successes thanks to the method of adaptation of Roberto de Nobili and his successors, especially in Madura and at Trichinopoli. The other missions, however, outside the possessions and the sphere of influence of the Portuguese, did not obtain great results. Despite the erection of the apostolic vicariate of Bidjapur (1637), to which were added the kingdoms of Golkonda and, later, of the Great Mogul, under the native apostolic vicars Matteo de Castro (1637-77) and Custodio de Pinho (d. 1697), as also of the apostolic vicariate of Canara (1671) under the native Tommaso de Campo (d. 1683), and notwithstanding the arrival of the Discalced Carmelites (1615), the Capuchins (1639) and the Theatines (1642), great numerical successes were not obtained. With these facts arose the first difficulties and the first struggles between Padroadists, dependent on the Portuguese Padroado, and Propagandists, sent by the S. Congregation of Propaganda Fide. The occupation of the Portuguese castles of southern I. by the Dutch destroyed the Portuguese missions, but not those of the Italian Carmelites; just as the Christians of the interior, subject to native princes, of the Jesuit mission, preserved the faith. Toward the end of the 17th century and in the course of the 18th century they suffered not a little because of the wars and the persecutions of the princes. The Christians of St. Thomas apostatized in 1653; a large part of them returned to the union through the work of the Carmelites, especially of the apostolic vicar Giuseppe di S. Maria Sebastiani. The separated ones became for the most part Jacobites. For the united ones the apostolic vicariate of the Serra or of Malabar was created under the native vicar Alessandro de Campo (1663-87). The apostolic vicariates of Malabar and of the Great Mogul passed toward the end of the 17th century into the hands of the Carmelites. The flourishing mission of the Jesuits extended widely, including also Taniore, Mysore and the Carnatic; at the beginning of the 18th century it had to suffer much because of the painful controversy of the Malabar rites. Against the method of adaptation of de Nobili, oppositions had again arisen, although Gregory XV in 1623 had approved 4 Malabar usages proposed by de Nobili. The apostolic visitor Charles Maillard de Tournon, appointed in 1701, issued in 1704 a decree condemning several practices tolerated by the Jesuits. The decree was approved by Rome. The Jesuits contested it, until the peremptory decision by Benedict XIV in 1744. The question brought sensible damages and continuous agitations to the mission. The expulsion (1760) and the suppression (1773) of the Society of Jesus and the grave persecutions by the Indian princes in the second half of the 18th century, first of all that of Tipu Sahib of Mysore in 1784, caused a grave decline in the southern missions. The missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions replaced the Jesuits from 1776, at least in a part of the territory, without however managing to stem the regression. The mission of Tibet, entrusted in 1703 to the Capuchins, succeeded at the beginning, especially under Orazio Penna di Billi (d. 1745), in establishing itself, but in 1745 the expulsion of the missionaries put an end to everything. The Capuchins subsequently undertook the not very fruitful mission of northern I., which in 1784 was detached from the apostolic vicariate of the Great Mogul.

The revival of the missions began in the 19th century under Gregory XVI. The erection of new apostolic vicariates from 1832 and the practical, if not de iure, elimination of the dioceses of the Padroado Cranganore, Cochin and Mylapore by the brief Multa praeclare (1838), led to the so-called Goan schism. The question was in part resolved with the Concordat of 1857, introducing the double jurisdiction, and better still with the Concordat of 1886, reestablishing the dioceses of Cochin and Mylapore, creating that of Damao, and with the agreement of 1928, incorporating Damao into the archdiocese of Goa and suppressing the double jurisdiction. The dioceses of the Portuguese Padroado, which through the expulsion and the abolition of all the religious Orders (1832-34) had suffered very grave damages, were reorganized and reformed by new energetic archbishops and bishops. At present, under Portuguese bishops, with a clergy for the most part native, they have prosperous Christian communities.

In the apostolic vicariates it was a matter first of all of infusing new life into the existing Christian communities, of widening the field of activity and, competing with the English government and the Protestant missions, of giving to the development of schools the importance required. To the Carmelites, Capuchins, Paris Foreign Missions and Jesuits (returned in 1836) were added other Orders and congregations: the Sylvestrines (1842)

and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (1847) in Ceylon, the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (1848) in Vizagapatam, the Congregation of the Holy Cross (1853) in Bengal, the Foreign Missions of Milan (1855) in Hyderabad and Bengal, the Mill Hill Missionaries (1875) in Madras, the Salvatorians (1889) in Assam; then in the 20th century the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Dominicans, the Lazarists, the Verbiti, the Franciscans and the Premonstratensians. Women's congregations too entered the mission in very great numbers, mainly for schools, hospitals and dispensaries. The mission among the pagans developed on a larger scale only toward the end of the 19th century, penetrating especially into the regions inhabited by the aborigines, and among the depressed castes and the pariahs. Famous among all was the mission of the Jesuit Constant Lievens (1856-93), with extraordinary results among the Khols of Chota Nagpur. Among the higher castes, only a modest success of the Jesuits among the Brahmins of Trichinopoly is to be noted. Generally, difficulties that are well-nigh insurmountable hinder conversion: the harsh laws of caste, which exclude Christians from family rights and advantages; the fascinating splendor of the Hindu religion, intimately bound up with the whole of cultural life; Islam in northern India; the ideas with which the ruling classes are imbued in their studies in Europe; in recent times national pride and the communist danger are added to these.

In 1886 Leo XIII established the ecclesiastical hierarchy with 7 ecclesiastical provinces and 17 dioceses. Through the work of the apostolic delegation from 1884 and of the provincial councils held in all the ecclesiastical provinces, a greater uniformity was obtained in the government of the missions, in ecclesiastical discipline and in the administration of the Sacraments. Moreover, from this period the Catholic Church grew considerably in esteem in southern India through the influence of the Orders and Congregations, including contemplative ones, of the schools and charitable works, of scientific studies, of Catholic congresses, through the formation of an indigenous clergy and of an elite of laypeople who seek to make their influence felt in public life, often with excellent results. The further development of the hierarchy in recent years has led in India, Ceylon included, to 13 ecclesiastical provinces with 48 dioceses and 5 apostolic prefectures.

The Syro-Malabarians, until the end of the 19th century under the direction of the Carmelites, had their own organization. In 1887 two apostolic vicariates had been erected for the faithful of the Syro-Malabar rite, but under Latin bishops; in 1896 three vicariates were constituted with indigenous bishops of their own rite, in 1911 another vicariate was added, and in 1923 the ecclesiastical province of Ernakulam was erected with the suffragan sees of Trichur, Kottayam and Changanacherry. From the Jacobite Church in 1930 two bishops, with numerous clergy and many faithful, united with Rome; for them the archdiocese of Trivandrum was erected in 1933 with the suffragan see of Tiruvalla.

The new political situation created in 1947 by the formation of the two independent States, India and Pakistan, places the mission before new problems. In Pakistan the Church forms a negligible minority. In 1950 two ecclesiastical provinces were erected, Karachi and Dacca, and the archbishop of Karachi was appointed apostolic delegate of Pakistan. In Hindu India the new constitution guarantees religious freedom; the erection of the apostolic internunciature (1948) in Delhi, the capital of the State, has made possible a closer cooperation between the government and the Catholic Church.

Giovanni Rommerskirchen

II. ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION

The ecclesiastical circumscriptions of I[ndia], excluding Pakistan, are the following and depend on various dicasteries of the Roman Curia.

1. By the S. Congregation of Propaganda Fide:

AGRA, in 1820 erected as an apostolic vicariate under the name of Tibet-Hindustan, in 1886 elevated to an archdiocese, entrusted to the Capuchins. - AHMEDABAD, in 1934 a mission, in 1949 a diocese, entrusted to the Jesuits. - AJMER, in 1892 an apostolic prefecture of Rajputana, in 1913 the diocese of Ajmer, from 1949 entrusted to the secular clergy. - ALLAHABAD, in 1845 the apostolic vicariate of Patna, in 1886 a diocese under the name of Allahabad from 1887, from 1946 entrusted to the secular clergy. - BANGALORE, erected a diocese in 1940, entrusted from 1942 to the secular clergy. - BELLARY, erected a mission in 1928, a diocese in 1949, entrusted to the Franciscans. - BEZWADA or VIJAYAYADA, in 1933 a mission, in 1937 a diocese, entrusted to the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (Milan). - BOMBAY, from 1720 part of the apostolic vicariate of the Great Mogul, in 1886 an archdiocese, entrusted to the Jesuits. - CALCUTTA, in 1834 the apostolic vicariate of Bengal, in 1886 an archdiocese, entrusted to the Jesuits. - CALCUT, in 1923 a diocese, entrusted to the Jesuits. - COCHIN, in 1558, a diocese. - COIMBATORE, in 1845 an apostolic pro-vicariate, in 1850 an apostolic vicariate, in 1886 a diocese, entrusted from 1940 to the secular clergy. - CUTTACK, in 1928 a mission, in 1937 a diocese entrusted to the Lazarists. - DELHI and SIMLA, erected in 1910 as the archdiocese of Simla from 1937 under the name of Delhi and Simla, entrusted to the Capuchins. - GORAKPUR, in 1946 an apostolic prefecture, entrusted to the Capuchins. - GUNTUR, in 1940 a diocese, entrusted to the secular clergy. - HYDERABAD, in 1845 the apostolic vicariate of Hyderabad, in 1886 a diocese, entrusted to the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (Milan). - INDORE, in 1935 an apostolic prefecture, entrusted to the Society of the Divine Word. - JHANSI, in 1940 an apostolic prefecture, entrusted to the Capuchins. - JUBBULPORE or JABALPUR, in 1932 an apostolic prefecture, entrusted to the Premonstratensians. - KOTTAR, in 1930 a diocese, entrusted to the secular clergy. - KRISHNAGAR, in 1870 the apostolic prefecture of Central Bengal, in 1886 the diocese of Krishnagar, entrusted to the Salesians. - KUMBAKONAM, in 1899 a diocese, entrusted from 1930 to the secular clergy. - LUCKNOW, in 1940 a diocese, entrusted to the Capuchins. - MADRAS, in 1831 an apostolic vicariate, in 1886 an archdiocese, entrusted to the Salesians. - MADURA, or MADHURAI, in 1938 a diocese, entrusted to the Jesuits. - MANGALORE, in 1845 an apostolic vicariate, in 1886 a diocese, entrusted from 1928 to the secular clergy. - MYSORE, in 1850 apostolic vicariate, in 1886 diocese, entrusted to the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. — NAGPUR, in 1887 diocese, entrusted to the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales of Annecy. — NELLORE, in 1928 diocese, entrusted to the Society of St. Joseph of Mill Hill. — PATNA, in 1845 apostolic vicariate, in 1886 diocese of Patna, from 1887 with the name of Allahabad, in 1919 new diocese of Patna, entrusted to the Jesuits. — PONDICHERRY, in 1836 apostolic vicariate of the Coromandel Coast, in 1850 name of Pondicherry, in 1886 archdiocese, entrusted to the Society for Foreign Missions of Paris. — POONA, in 1854 apostolic vicariate, in 1886 diocese, entrusted from 1949 to the secular clergy. — QUILON, in 1845 apostolic vicariate, in 1886 diocese, entrusted from 1937 to the secular clergy. — RANCHI, in 1927 diocese, entrusted to the Jesuits. — SALEM, in 1930 diocese, entrusted from 1949 to the secular clergy. — ST. THOMAS OF MYLAPORE, in 1906 diocese. — SHILLONG, in 1889 apostolic prefecture of Assam, in 1934 diocese with the name of Shillong, entrusted to the Salesians. — SIRKIM, in 1931 apostolic prefecture, entrusted to the Canons Regular of St. Maurice. — TRICHINOPOLY or TIRUCHIRAPALLY, in 1836 apostolic vicariate of Madura, in 1886 diocese with the name of Trichinopoly, entrusted from 1938 to the secular clergy. — TRIVANDRUM OF THE LATINS, in 1937 diocese, entrusted to the Discalced Carmelites. — TUTICORIN, in 1923 diocese, entrusted to the secular clergy. — VERAPOLY, in 1659 apostolic vicariate of Serra of Malabar, in 1845 apostolic vicariate of Verapoly, in 1886 archdiocese, entrusted to the secular clergy. — VIJAYAPURAM, in 1920 diocese, entrusted to the Discalced Carmelites. — VIZAGAPATAM or VISAKHAPATNAM, in 1850 apostolic vicariate, in 1886 diocese, entrusted to the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales of Annecy.

2. From the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs:

GOA, in 1533 diocese, in 1558 archdiocese.

3. From the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Church:

a) for the Syro-Malabarians: CHANGANACHERRY, in 1896 apostolic vicariate, in 1923 diocese. — ERNARULAM, in 1896 apostolic vicariate, in 1923 archdiocese. — KOTTAYAM, in 1911 apostolic vicariate, in 1923 diocese. — PALAI, in 1950 diocese. — TRICHUR, in 1896 apostolic vicariate, in 1923 diocese. — b) for the Syro-Malabarians: TIRUVALLA, in 1933 diocese. — TRIVANDRUM, in 1933 archdiocese.

III. LEGAL STATUS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN INDIA

In its new Constitution, the new Republic declares itself a secular federal State and, disregarding any religious or racial consideration, grants equal rights to all citizens. These are declarations and concessions of great importance, when one reflects that of its 319 million inhabitants a large majority, namely 260 million, profess Hinduism and the rest is made up of minorities divided as follows: 35 million Muslims, 100,000 Parsis, 7 and a half million Buddhists, 3 and a half million Sikhs, 1 and a half million Jains, 4 and a half million Catholics and 3 million dissident Christians (Orthodox and Protestants).

Here, then, are the rights sanctioned by the Constitution for the members of the various confessions, including the Catholic one:

1. Freedom of worship and of proselytism

In the part entitled Fundamental Rights it is established: "Within the limits of order, morality and public health... all persons enjoy freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice and propagate religion" (Constitution of India, part 3, art. 25 [1]). And furthermore: "The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them" (loc. cit., art. 15 [1]). "No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be excluded from or discriminated against in respect of any employment or office under the State" (loc. cit., art. 16 [2]). The above is solemnly confirmed by the words spoken on 6 July 1949 by the first extraordinary envoy and plenipotentiary minister of the Indian Republic to the Holy See when presenting his credentials to the Holy Father: "The government and the people of I. assure His Holiness that all those who are religiously dependent on the Roman Pontiff will be able to live securely in the new State, openly professing their faith without any fear, and will also be able to occupy in society the positions due to their own merits" (AAS, 41 [1949], pp. 369-70).

2. Recognition of juridical personality

Again in the part of the Constitution dedicated to the specification of fundamental rights it is established that: "Within the limits of order, morality and health... every religious community or any section thereof shall have the right to: a) establish and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes; b) manage its own affairs in matters of religion; possess and acquire movable and immovable property; c) administer such property in accordance with law" (loc. cit., art. 26). Consequently every diocese (vicariate, prefecture or mission) can obtain recognition of juridical personality, by means of an application for registration (Register of Joint Stock Companies and Cooperative Societies). The certificate obtained will attest that the religious community has been recognized as a juridical entity with Indian nationality, independently of the nationality of its members or administrators.

3. Freedom of teaching

The new Constitution also recognizes for religious and linguistic minorities, and therefore also for Catholics, the freedom to open schools, which will be recognized by the State if they meet a need: "All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice" (loc. cit., art. 30 [1]). There is also mention of financial aid to be distributed without discrimination: "The State, in granting aid to educational institutions, shall not discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on religion or language" (loc. cit., art. 30

[2]). As for religious instruction, art. 28 excludes it from State schools, requires that the pupil not be obliged to take part in it in confessional schools, and demands, if he is a minor, the consent of his parents.

4. Marriage

The Constitution explicitly does not legislate on this point. What was in use under the English regime remains in force: the ministers of the various cults are authorized to celebrate the rite of matrimonial unions; once the celebration has taken place, the obligation remains of notification to the competent civil authorities.

Throughout the Constitution there shines a broad spirit of tolerance and a humane understanding in advocating the concepts of fraternity, justice and dignity of the person. Since the Indian Republic is a federation of States enjoying wide autonomy, it is not impossible that in one State or another the freedoms sanctioned by the Constitution may be interpreted, in concrete cases, with a certain elasticity to the detriment of minorities. The future therefore of the Church in I. (where there are currently about sixty dioceses) depends on how or by which men the Constitution will be applied in the individual regions.

5. Juridical condition in Burma and Ceylon

Burma and Ceylon are also under the pontifical representation of Delhi. The apostolic inter-nuncio for I. is at the same time apostolic delegate of the Island of Ceylon and of Burma. In these last two States, however, the juridical condition of the Church is somewhat different. Quite good in Ceylon, where, as in the other British dominions, the Catholic Church has freedom of worship and of proselytism, juridical personality and freedom of teaching; not equally so in Burma.

In the Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Burma it is stated that all religions (therefore also the Catholic one) may be embraced and professed with the greatest freedom, provided that religion does not serve as a pretext for meddling in the political affairs of the Republic. The official religion of the Republic is Buddhism. The policy of the government of the Republic with regard to ministers of religions who come from foreign lands is to treat them like all other foreigners, that is, not to permit them to enter Burma except for very special reasons and only when it is absolutely impossible to find local ministers who can attend to the care of the followers of any religion.

This policy, since it came into force, from Jan. 1949, has made practically impossible the entry of new foreign missionaries into Burma.

Proselytism is free; it is prohibited only in schools that are recognized by the government. The juridical personality of the Church is not yet well defined; practically until today the Catholic Church had always been considered as a moral entity that could own property. Now only native ministers can possess, buy or sell goods in the name of the Church.

In government schools the teaching of the Catholic religion during regular lesson hours is prohibited. In private schools one may do as one wishes.

The State no longer subsidizes mission schools as was done before independence. It is the government's intention to have all schools under its direct jurisdiction and it is working to this end, but for now it does not have sufficient personnel and premises, therefore it permits and recognizes private schools, though without subsidizing them.

In practice the population, even the pagan one, prefers to send its children to Christian schools and particularly to Catholic schools, which are most flourishing.

Pompeo Bargna

V. CHRISTIAN ANTIQUITIES.

The problem of the introduction of Christianity into I. is closely linked with the study of the Acts of St. Thomas, a text elaborated in a Syrian milieu and imbued with Gnostic and also pre-Manichaean concepts. This apocryphal text, by the historical data it contains, leads back to the middle of the 1st century and to northwestern I., during the domination of the Parthian king Gundophar, of the house of the Sūrēn, who certainly reigned from 19 and after the year 45. No other document of Christianity in those regions during and after the same period exists, nor has it left there any archaeological trace whatsoever. Another tradition, documented only much later, connects the preaching of St. Thomas with the communities existing in southern I., in the Coromandel and in the Malabar, during the early Middle Ages. When it was born and on what bases, no one can know, inasmuch as, if in the 6th century Cosmas Indicopleustes speaks of Christian communities in southern I. and Ceylon, he does not connect them at all with the name of the Apostle.

How such communities were formed one can imagine by thinking of the intense maritime traffic existing with the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf: Christian groups may have passed into southern I. coming both from Egypt or from the eastern regions of the Roman Empire, and from the Sāsānid regions of Mesopotamia and Babylonia. The recent excavations of Virapatnam (falsely called Arikamedu) document the existence of a colony of Roman culture flourishing already in 20-50 of the Christian era: the relations are made precise also through the numerous finds of imperial coins from the 4th century onward (while only a few are found in northern I.) and citations in Tamil texts. That Christian-Oriental (Nestorian) elements had the upper hand there is proved by the subsequent development of events, the documents and the archaeological remains, amid the uncertainty of the most ancient sources and the constant ambiguity about the value of the term "I." during the Middle Ages. Certain it is that around 525 Cosmas finds at Καλλιάνα a bishop consecrated to the see of Seleucia, as in Ceylon the clergy likewise came from Persia. He recalls no trace of Christianity on the Malabar coast. The community instead of the Coromandel and especially of the Kērala (Travancore) prospered vigorously, probably with the support of the local sovereign. There are in fact two documents to that effect: the first is an act of King Vīra-Rāghava-Chakravartin for the merchant Iravikkorran, the second of King Stanu-Rovi-Gupta in which a Marvan-Sapir-Yso (perhaps Maran Sabrišo = our lord [Bishop Sabrišo]) transfers a piece of land in the surroundings of Quilon to the community of the Church of Tarasa. But the date of the documents is uncertain. Burnell dated the first to 774, while Venkayya assigns it to the 14th century. It certainly seems that a strong Christian group coming from Persia arrived in I. in the 8th century, contemporaneous with the immigration of the Parsis: it was led by a Thomas of Kana (Knāyi Thōmā) and the identity of the name may have helped the formation of the legend of a preaching of St. Thomas in southern I. It is precisely from the 8th century that the most ancient archaeological documents of Christianity in I. date: they are crosses all analogous to one another, which proves the derivation of one from another, all bearing the same inscription in Pahlavi, which proves the derivation from Persia. From this inscription, of which there is not yet a wholly reliable and definitive text in every detail, it emerges that the archetype was carved by an Afras ('pr's) son of Śāhārbukht (?) the Syrian (swry'y). Two of these crosses are found at Kōṭṭayam, a large one and a small one, and the latter is the oldest of all; two others are, one at Katamarran and the other at Maṭṭuchīra: that is, they are all on the western part of I. The only one on the eastern part is that at the shrine of St. Thomas at Meilapore, now a suburb of Madras. The second cross of Kōṭṭayam, besides the Pahlavi inscription, also bears one in Syriac, in Estrangelo characters, reproducing Gal. 6, 14. The crosses are carved on rectangular tablets ending at the top in a semicircle: only the smallest of Kōṭṭayam, instead of a semicircular form, has that of a pointed arch. The inscription is engraved on the edge of the tablet, which is raised with respect to the central field. In this field is depicted an arch supported by two columns, beneath which stands the cross, whose arms end in trefoils: above the cross a dove descends vertically. The cross rests on a mound formed by three steps, and from the point of support two leafy branches extend upward and the streams of two of the four rivers of paradise descend. It is a symbolism that is found again in the Christian sculptures of Mesopotamia and Armenia.

Little information is available about the Christians of I. during the Middle Ages, and it is generally concentrated around the shrine of St. Thomas at Meilapore: only Abū Śāliḥ records the title of two churches at Kūlam (Quilon), one dedicated to the Virgin and the other to St. George, and a church of the Virgin at Fahṣūr, evidently a bad transcription by the copyist of the only surviving codex, perhaps for Palūr or Parūr. The Portuguese invasion led to the mutilation or destruction of the ancient Nestorian monuments, thus causing precious archaeological documents to disappear.

Ugo Monneret de Villard

VI. ART.

Evidence of a very ancient Indian artistic civilization, dating back to 3000 B.C., and therefore contemporaneous with Egyptian and Babylonian civilization, has been found in the Indus valley. An art that reveals notable contacts with the Sumerian one and of which above all a great quantity of seals engraved in majolica, ivory or stucco, terracotta figurines and pottery with predominantly arabesque decorations have come down to us.

On the other hand, no true monuments remain, even for the immediately following centuries, and this is due principally to the fact that the Indians must have used above all wood and bamboo for their constructions. A true Indian art is therefore determinable only from the 3rd century B.C., with the introduction of Buddhism into the country by King Aśoka. The first artistic manifestations of this period reveal a strong Persian influence.

Buddhism was certainly decisive for the evolution of sculpture, which, starting from the representation of the divinity as a sum of spiritual powers (with the consequent multiplication of arms, eyes, legs, etc.) and passing through a Hellenistic-Bactrian influence (1st-3rd centuries A.D.), would arrive at the monstrous inspired by the Brahmanic doctrine of metempsychosis.

The testimonies of painting are not numerous, though it must have flourished in the adornment of sumptuous palaces; one of the most beautiful surviving examples is that of the frescoes of Ajānṭā of the 7th century. Well documented, on the other hand, is the miniature of books on palm leaves of the 13th century and on paper from the 15th century to our own days. The industrial arts were also highly developed, favored by the division of society into castes.

Of particular importance is architecture, which, albeit approximately, can be distinguished into the following periods.

1. Buddhist period

It runs from about the 4th century B.C. (Maurya dynasty, 326-185 B.C.) to the 4th century A.D. It is characterized by the colossal temples called stupas and dagoba, intended to preserve relics and formed by a stone base on which rises a grandiose and massive domed construction often crowned by terraces; the vibara (monasteries) and the ciaityas (temples for gatherings of the faithful), carved into the rock and rich in squat columns, sculptures, and decorations. One of the characteristics of this period, in fact, is the growing plastic elaboration and the definitive replacement of wood and bamboo with stone.

2. Gupta or Brahmanic period

It runs from about the 4th century A.D. to the 7th century A.D. It is characterized by temples with a square plan, also carved into the rock and preceded by a pronaos with columns; the Buddhist dagoba in this period evolves toward the characteristic pagoda.

3. Hindu period

It runs from the 7th to the 9th century A.D., with styles generally derived from the preceding one, characterized by an upward accentuation of all constructions and by an ever more marked interpenetration of sculpture with architecture. One distinguishes the northern style, with towers of curved lines; the southern one, with straight lines; and the central one, with a fusion of the two types.

4. Medieval period

It runs from the 9th century onward, and is documented almost exclusively in the south (in the rest of the country the architectural flowering comes to an end with the 13th century), tending at first toward a simplification of form (9th-11th centuries, the classical age of southern architecture) and then, in the 14th century, arriving at a kind of baroque, which would become ever more accentuated until it exhausted itself in a stratified elaboration of ornamental details of an entirely scenographic suggestiveness.

5. Modern Indo-Christian art

On the basis of the principle that "Indian art must offer its beautiful garment to the Christian idea" and that "the conception and the building that will result from it will be a new thing; a thing different from Indian temples; but Indian and Catholic" (C. Costantini, v. bibl.), one may here cite some examples of this missionary adaptation of the country's architectural tradition. An entirely modern simplicity characterizes the cathedral of Patna, while Indian influences mingled with Saracen reminiscences are visible in the Anglican church of Dornakal, arising precisely in a region where the Muslim contribution was perceptible. A fine model for a Christian temple in Indian style was commissioned by the Spanish Jesuit H. Heras, who was among the most zealous proponents of the new ideas concerning the missionary adaptation of Indian art.

In painting, a flowering of Christian art has occurred only recently, since in general the painting of the churches is of European origin or type. Poetically realistic and in the wake of Indian tradition are the paintings of the Goan Angelo Da Fonseca, even if in them there is no lack of reminiscences of a Western art, which at times recalls that of the Pre-Raphaelites. Another Indian painter is Alfredo Thomas. The minor arts, producing the varied ecclesiastical furnishings, are highly developed.

VII. SCHOOL SYSTEM.

The impetus for the progress of education in I. was given by the following decisions:

1) By the decree of Macaulay issued in 1813, with which the introduction of the English language into the schools was established. This decree opened the way for the missions. 2) By the memorandum of Macaulay issued in 1835, with which the Urdu language was abolished, maintained only in the Delhi College. 3) By the decree of William Bentinck issued in 1835, with which the norms were established for the education of the Indian people, which was to take place through the European classics. Moreover, the entry of missionaries was facilitated. 4) By the founding, by Syed Ahmed Khan in 1862, of the scientific society whose purpose was education through the Oriental classics. Syed Ahmed Khan aspired to a school based on morality, on the Muslim religion, and on coexistence between pupils and teachers. 5) By the proposal of Nawab Imadul Mulk in 1884 to found in every village an Urdu primary school, an Anglo-Urdu school for every 10,000 inhabitants, and a higher school in each province. 6) By the school reform of Lord Curzon in 1896-97. 7) By the school reform of the year 1907 carried out by Arthur Mayhew and Akbar Hyderi, who followed the advice of Molvi Abdul Haq and of Nawab Imadul Mulk. 8) By the founding of the University of Osmania in 1917. 9) By the government decree issued in 1920, with which it was established that the school must be free from all official interference. 10) By the recommendations of Brahmo Samaj concerning the education of women in 1926.

Thanks to these principal decisions, I., at the moment of the declaration of independence, found itself with 168,013 state elementary schools, well-organized Middle English, Middle Vernacular and High Schools, and three types of university: central government universities, universities dependent on the Indian States, and private universities. Among the most famous are those of Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Punjab, Allahabad, Benares Hindu, Mysore, Patna, Osmania, Dacca, Rangoon, Lucknow, Delhi, Nagpur and Andhra. It also found 22 colleges for the training of secondary-school teachers, 34 intermediate colleges for medicine, 141 intermediate colleges for commerce, 13 intermediate colleges for law, 2 art schools, numerous schools with unrecognized diplomas such as the Jole's Sanscrit Schools of the Pandits for Hindus, Maktabs for Muslims, 2,424 private schools, and the following Catholic missionary schools: 1,326 catechism and prayer schools, 4,260 elementary schools, 271 lower secondary schools, 200 upper secondary schools, 41 normal schools, 122 vocational schools, to which must be added those of Ceylon: 573 catechism and prayer schools, 698 elementary schools, 121 lower secondary schools, 6 normal schools and 38 vocational schools.

The education of the indigenous Catholic clergy is provided for in 4 novitiates, in 27 minor seminaries and in 11 major seminaries. There are also schools for catechumens. - See plates CXII-CXV.