South Asia

==History==
{{For-multi|a topical guide|Outline of South Asian history|a chronological guide|Timeline of South Asian history}}

===Pre-history===
The history of core South Asia begins with evidence of human activity of ''[[Anatomically modern humans|Homo sapiens]],'' as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including ''[[Homo erectus]]'' from about 500,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bongard-Levin |first=G. M. |title='A History of India |year=1979 |location=Moscow |publisher=Progress Publishers |page=11 |isbn=0-7147-1336-8}}</ref> The earliest prehistoric culture have roots in the mesolithic sites as evidenced by the rock paintings of [[Bhimbetka rock shelters]] dating to a period of 30,000 BCE or older,{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Doniger|2010|p=66}}: "Much of what we now call Hinduism may have had roots in cultures that thrived in South Asia long before the creation of textual evidence that we can decipher with any confidence. Remarkable cave paintings have been preserved from Mesolithic sites dating from {{Circa|30,000 BCE}} in [[Bhimbetka rock shelters|Bhimbetka]], near present-day Bhopal, in the Vindhya Mountains in the province of Madhya Pradesh."}} as well as neolithic times.{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xvii}}: "Some practices of Hinduism must have originated in Neolithic times (c. 4000 BCE). The worship of certain plants and animals as sacred, for instance, could very likely have very great antiquity. The worship of goddesses, too, a part of Hinduism today, maybe a feature that originated in the Neolithic."}}

===Ancient era===
[[File:Indus Valley Civilization, Mature Phase (2600-1900 BCE).png|thumb|left|[[Indus Valley civilisation]] during 2600–1900 BCE, the mature phase]]

The [[Indus Valley civilization]], which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of South Asia from {{Circa|3300}} to 1300 BCE in present-day [[Pakistan]], [[Northern India]] and [[Afghanistan]], was the first major civilization in South Asia.{{sfn|Thapar|1966|p=23}} A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the [[Mature Harappan]] period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.{{sfn|Thapar|1966|p=24}} According to anthropologist [[Gregory Possehl|Possehl]], the Indus Valley civilization provides a logical, if somewhat arbitrary, starting point for South Asian religions, but these links from the Indus religion to later-day South Asian traditions are subject to scholarly dispute.{{sfn|Possehl|2002|p=141–156}}
[[File:Mauryan_Empire_ca._265_BCE.png|thumb|right|Maurya Empire in 250 BCE]]
[[File:Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma Adoring Kali LACMA M.80.101 (2 of 7).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Trimurti]] is the [[Triple deity|trinity]] of [[Para Brahman|supreme divinity]] in [[Hinduism]], typically [[Brahma]] the creator, [[Vishnu]] the preserver, and [[Shiva]] the destroyer]]

The Vedic period, named after the Vedic religion of the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryans]],{{refn|group=note|Michaels: "They called themselves ''arya'' ("Aryans," literally "the hospitable," from the Vedic ''arya'', "homey, the hospitable") but even in the Rgveda, ''arya'' denotes a cultural and linguistic boundary and not only a racial one."{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}}} lasted from {{Circa|1900}} to 500 BCE.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=32}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=3-4}} The Indo-Aryans were [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]]-speaking pastoralists{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=30-35}} Linguistic and archaeological data show a cultural change after 1500 BCE,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}} with the linguistic and religious data clearly showing links with Indo-European languages and religion.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=33}} By about 1200 BCE, the Vedic culture and agrarian lifestyle were established in the northwest and northern Gangetic plain of South Asia.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=41-48}}{{sfn|Stein|2010|p=48-49}} Rudimentary state-forms appeared, of which the [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]]-Pañcāla union was the most influential.{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=6}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=51-53}} The first recorded [[State (polity)|state-level society]] in South Asia existed around 1000 BCE.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} In this period, states Samuel, emerged the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of Vedic texts, which merged into the earliest Upanishads.{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=25}} These texts began to ask the meaning of a ritual, adding increasing levels of philosophical and metaphysical speculation,{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=25}} or [[Hinduism#Roots of Hinduism|"Hindu synthesis"]].{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}

Increasing urbanisation of South Asia between 800 and 400 BCE, and possibly the spread of urban diseases, contributed to the rise of ascetic movements and of new ideas which challenged the orthodox [[Brahmanism]].{{Sfn|Flood|1996|pp=81–82}}{{Failed verification|date=June 2020}} These ideas led to [[Sramana]] movements, of which Mahavira ({{Circa|549}}–477 BCE), proponent of [[Jainism]], and [[Buddha]] ({{Circa|563|483}}), founder of [[Buddhism]], was the most prominent icons.<ref name="World Religions">{{cite book |first=Jacob |last=Neusner |year=2009 |title=World Religions in America: An Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&pg=PA183 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=978-0-664-23320-4 |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418085646/https://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&pg=PA183 |archive-date=18 April 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Greek army led by [[Alexander the Great]] stayed in the [[Hindu Kush]] region of South Asia for several years and then later moved into the Indus valley region. Later, the [[Maurya Empire]] extended over much of South Asia in the 3rd century BCE. Buddhism spread beyond south Asia, through northwest into Central Asia. The [[Bamiyan Buddhas]] of Afghanistan and the [[Edicts of Ashoka|edicts of Aśoka]] suggest that the Buddhist monks spread Buddhism (Dharma) in eastern provinces of the [[Seleucid Empire]], and possibly even farther into West Asia.{{Sfn| Gombrich|2006|p=135}}{{Sfn|Trainor|2004|pp=103, 119}}{{sfn|Neelis|2011|pp=102–106}} The Theravada school spread south from India in the 3rd century BCE, to Sri Lanka, later to Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Guy|2014|pp=9–11, 14–15, 19–20}} Buddhism, by the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE, was prominent in the Himalayan region, Gandhara, Hindu Kush region and Bactria.{{sfn|Neelis|2011|pp=114–115, 144, 160–163, 170–176, 249–250}}<ref name=deborahkh>{{cite book |last=Klimburg-Salter |first=Deborah |title=The Kingdom of Bamiyan: Buddhist art and culture of the Hindu Kush |year=1989 |publisher=Istituto Universitario Orientale & Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente |isbn=978-0-87773-765-0 |oclc=25902336}} (Reprinted by Shambala)</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Barbara|last=Crossette|title=So Close to Heaven: The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4iCQAAAAMAAJ |year=1996|publisher=Vintage|isbn=978-0-679-74363-7|pages=84–85}}</ref>

From about 500 BCE through about 300 CE, the Vedic-Brahmanic synthesis or "Hindu synthesis" continued.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} Classical Hindu and Sramanic (particularly Buddhist) ideas spread within South Asia, as well as outside South Asia.<ref>{{cite book |first1=HJ |last1=Klimkeit |first2=R |last2=Meserve |first3=EE |last3=Karimov |first4=C |last4=Shackle |chapter=Religions and religious movements |date=2000 |editor-first1=CE |editor-last1=Boxworth |editor-first2=MS |editor-last2=Asimov |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9yTFnuWQKvkC |publisher=UNESCO |pages=79–80 |isbn=978-92-3-103654-5}}</ref>{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=193–228, 339–353, specifically pp.&nbsp;76–79 and 194–199}}{{sfn|Guy|2014|pp=10–11}} The [[Gupta Empire]] ruled over a large part of the region between the 4th and 7th centuries, a period that saw the construction of major temples, monasteries and universities such as the [[Nalanda]].{{sfn|Michell|1977|p=18, 40}}<ref name=scharfe2002p144>{{cite book|first=Hartmut|last=Scharfe|title=Handbook of Oriental Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7s19sZFRxCUC|year=2002|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-12556-8|pages=144–153|access-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126123255/https://books.google.com/books?id=7s19sZFRxCUC|archive-date=26 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Craig|last=Lockard|title=Societies, Networks, and Transitions: Volume I: A Global History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJPlCpzOY_QC|year=2007|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0-618-38612-3|page=188|access-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126122832/https://books.google.com/books?id=yJPlCpzOY_QC|archive-date=26 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> During this era, and through the 10th century, numerous cave monasteries and temples such as the [[Ajanta Caves]], [[Badami cave temples]] and [[Ellora Caves]] were built in South Asia.<ref>{{cite book|first=Walter M.|last=Spink|title=Ajanta: History and Development, Volume 5: Cave by Cave|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UPqUHXlwXdcC|year=2005|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-15644-9|pages=1–9, 15–16|access-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629134751/https://books.google.com/books?id=UPqUHXlwXdcC|archive-date=29 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/243 |title=Ellora Caves – UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209142802/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/243 |archive-date=9 December 2016 |url-status=live }}, Quote:"Ellora, with its uninterrupted sequence of monuments dating from A.D. 600 to 1000, brings the civilization of ancient India to life. Not only is the Ellora complex a unique artistic creation and a technological exploit but, with its sanctuaries devoted to Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, it illustrates the spirit of tolerance that was characteristic of ancient India."</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Lisa|last=Owen|title=Carving Devotion in the Jain Caves at Ellora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vHK2WE8xAzYC|year=2012|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-20629-8|pages=1–10|access-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205083836/https://books.google.com/books?id=vHK2WE8xAzYC|archive-date=5 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Medieval era===
[[File:Rajendra map new.svg|thumb|Outreach of influence of early medieval [[Chola dynasty]]]]

Islam came as a political power in the fringe of South Asia in 8th century CE when the Arab general [[Muhammad bin Qasim]] conquered [[Sindh]], and [[Multan]] in Southern Punjab, in modern-day Pakistan.<ref name="infopak">{{cite web|url=http://www.infopak.gov.pk/History.aspx |title=History in Chronological Order |publisher=Government of Pakistan |access-date=9 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723113602/http://www.infopak.gov.pk/History.aspx |archive-date=23 July 2010 }}</ref> By 962 CE, Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in South Asia were under a wave of raids from Muslim armies from Central Asia.<ref name=mrpislam>See:
* {{cite book |last1=Pirbhai |first1=M. Reza |title=Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context |year=2009 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-17758-1}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Richards |first1=J. F. |title=The Islamic frontier in the east: Expansion into South Asia |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |date=October 1974 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=91–109 |doi=10.1080/00856407408730690}}
* {{cite book |last1=Shokoohy |first1=Mehrdad |title=Bhadreśvar: The Oldest Islamic Monuments in India |year=1988 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-08341-7}}; see discussion of earliest raids in Gujarat</ref> Among them was [[Mahmud of Ghazni]], who raided and plundered kingdoms in north India from east of the Indus river to west of Yamuna river seventeen times between 997 and 1030.<ref name=pj03/> Mahmud of Ghazni raided the treasuries but retracted each time, only extending Islamic rule into western Punjab.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heathcote |first1=T. A. |year=1995 |title=The Military in British India: The Development of British Forces in South Asia:1600–1947 |publisher=Manchester University Press |pages=5–7 |isbn=978-1-78383-064-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Barnett |first=Lionel D. |title=Antiquities of India: An Account of the History and Culture of Ancient Hindustan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LnoREHdzxt8C&pg=PA1 |year=1999 |orig-year=First published 1913 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors |pages=73–79|isbn=9788171564422 }}</ref>

[[File:Timur defeats the sultan of Delhi.jpg|thumb|left|[[Timur]] defeats the [[Sultan of Delhi]], Nasir-u Din Mehmud, in the winter of 1397–1398]]

The wave of raids on north Indian and western Indian kingdoms by Muslim warlords continued after Mahmud of Ghazni, plundering and looting these kingdoms.<ref>Richard Davis (1994), Three styles in looting India, History and Anthropology, 6(4), pp 293–317, {{doi|10.1080/02757206.1994.9960832}}</ref> The raids did not establish or extend permanent boundaries of their Islamic kingdoms. The Ghurid Sultan [[Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad]] began a systematic war of expansion into [[North India]] in 1173.<ref>Muhammad B. Sam Mu'izz Al-Din, T. W. Haig, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. VII, ed. C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W. P. Heinrichs and C. Pellat, (Brill, 1993)</ref> He sought to carve out a principality for himself by expanding the Islamic world,<ref name=pj03/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=C. E. |author-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor-last1=Boyle |editor-first1=J. A. |year=1968 |chapter=The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000–1217) |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-iran/political-and-dynastic-history-of-the-iranian-world-ad-10001217/024AA8933D346C06170E0D72EA6D71A4 |volume=5 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=161–170 |isbn=978-0-521-06936-6}}</ref> and thus laid the foundation for the Muslim kingdom that became the [[Delhi Sultanate]].<ref name=pj03>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Peter |author-link=Peter Jackson (historian) |year=2003 |title=The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt2tqOpVRKgC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=3–30 |isbn=978-0-521-54329-3}}</ref> Some historians chronicle the Delhi Sultanate from 1192 due to the presence and geographical claims of Mu'izz al-Din in South Asia by that time.<ref>[http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/southasia_timeline.htm History of South Asia: A Chronological Outline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211053208/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/southasia_timeline.htm |date=11 December 2013 }} Columbia University (2010)</ref>

The Delhi Sultanate covered varying parts of South Asia and was ruled by a series of dynasties: Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid and Lodi dynasties. [[Muhammad bin Tughlaq]] came to power in 1325, launched a war of expansion and the Delhi Sultanate reached it largest geographical reach over the South Asian region during his 26-year rule.<ref name=ebmit>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396460/Muhammad-ibn-Tughluq Muḥammad ibn Tughluq] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427052630/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396460/Muhammad-ibn-Tughluq |date=27 April 2015 }} Encyclopædia Britannica</ref> A Sunni Sultan, Muhammad bin Tughlaq persecuted non-Muslims such as Hindus, as well as non-Sunni Muslims such as Shia and Mahdi sects.<ref>Firoz Shah Tughlak, [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924073036737#page/n393/mode/2up Futuhat-i Firoz Shahi – Autobiographical memoirs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019003453/http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924073036737#page/n393/mode/2up |date=19 October 2016 }}, Translated in 1871 by Elliot and Dawson, Volume 3 – The History of India, Cornell University Archives, pp 377–381</ref><ref name=vsoxfordmbt>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Vincent A. |author-link=Vincent Arthur Smith |year=1919 |title=The Oxford History of India |url=https://archive.org/stream/oxfordhistoryofi00smituoft#page/252/mode/1up |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=249–251 |oclc=839048936}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Schimmel |first1=Annemarie |author-link=Annemarie Schimmel |year=1980 |title=Islam in the Indian Subcontinent |location=Leiden |publisher=E.J. Brill |pages=20–23 |isbn=978-90-04-06117-0}}</ref>

Revolts against the Delhi Sultanate sprang up in many parts of South Asia during the 14th century.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} In the northeast, the [[Bengal Sultanate]] became independent in 1346 CE. It remained in power through the early 16th century. The state religion of the sultanate was Islam.<ref name="Lewis2011">{{cite book |first=David |last=Lewis |author-link=David Lewis (academic) |title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lH40gT7xvYC&pg=PA44 |year=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=44 |isbn=978-1-139-50257-3 |quote=In 1346 ... what became known as the Bengal Sultanate began and continued for almost two centuries.}}</ref><ref name="Hussain2003">{{cite book |last1=Hussain |first1=Syed Ejaz |year=2003 |title=The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (A.D. 1205–1576) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qFyd95ECLwkC |publisher=Manohar |page=325 |isbn=978-81-7304-482-3 |quote=The rulers of the Sultanate Bengal are often blamed for promoting Islam as state sponsored religion.}}</ref> In [[South India]], the Hindu [[Vijayanagara Empire]] came to power in 1336 and persisted until the middle of the 16th century. It was ultimately defeated and destroyed by an alliance of Muslim [[Deccan sultanates]] at the [[battle of Talikota]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kulke |first1=Hermann |author-link1=Hermann Kulke |last2=Rothermund |first2=Dietmar |author-link2=Dietmar Rothermund |title= A History of India |year=2004 |orig-year=First published 1986 |edition=4th |publisher= Routledge |isbn= 978-0-415-32919-4 |pages=187, 191–192}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Nilakanta Sastri|first= K. A.|title= A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar|year=1955|orig-year=reissued 2002|publisher= Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|location= New Delhi|isbn= 978-0-19-560686-7|author-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |pages=216, 239–250}}</ref>

About 1526, the Punjab governor Dawlat Khan Lodī reached out to the Mughal [[Babur]] and invited him to attack Delhi Sultanate. [[Babur]] defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi in the [[Battle of Panipat (1526)|Battle of Panipat]] in 1526. The death of Ibrahim Lodi ended the Delhi Sultanate, and the [[Mughal Empire]] replaced it.<ref name=eblodi>
[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/345985/Lodi-dynasty#ref222519 Lodi Dynasty] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427010347/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/345985/Lodi-dynasty#ref222519 |date=27 April 2015 }} ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2009)</ref>

===Modern era===
[[File:Emperor Shah Jahan and Prince Alamgir (Aurangzeb) in Mughal Court, 1650.jpg|thumb|Emperor [[Shah Jahan]] and his son Prince [[Aurangzeb]] in Mughal Court, 1650]]

The [[modern era|modern history period]] of South Asia, that is 16th-century onwards, witnessed the establishment of the Mughal empire, with Sunni Islam theology. The first ruler was Babur had Turco-Mongol roots and his realm included the northwest and [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] regions of South Asia. The southern and northeastern regions of South Asia were largely under Hindu kings such as those of Vijayanagara Empire and [[Ahom kingdom]],<ref>{{cite book|first=Guptajit|last=Pathak|title=Assam's history and its graphics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdjO3XVk0MAC&pg=PA124|year=2008|publisher=Mittal|isbn=978-81-8324-251-6|page=124}}</ref> with some regions such as parts of modern [[Telangana]] and [[Andhra Pradesh]] under local Sultanates namely [[Deccan sultanates]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=Clifford Edmund |author-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |year=2014 |orig-year=First published 1996 |title=The New Islamic Dynasties |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SaMkDQAAQBAJ |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |pages=179–180 |isbn=978-0-7486-9648-2}}</ref>{{sfn|Maddison|2003|pp=259–261}}

The Mughal Empire continued its wars of expansion after Babur's death. With the fall of the Rajput kingdoms and Vijayanagara, its boundaries encompassed almost the entirety of the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="borocz">{{cite book|first=József|last=Böröcz|author-link=József Böröcz|title=The European Union and Global Social Change|page=21|publisher=[[Routledge]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d0SPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21|access-date=26 June 2017|isbn=978-1-135-25580-0|date=10 September 2009}}</ref> The Mughal Empire was marked by a period of artistic exchanges and a Central Asian and South Asian architecture synthesis, with remarkable buildings such as the [[Taj Mahal]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Catherine Blanshard Asher|title=Architecture of Mughal India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ctLNvx68hIC|year=1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-26728-1|pages=1–2|access-date=27 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518184418/https://books.google.com/books?id=3ctLNvx68hIC|archive-date=18 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Maddison|2003|pp=259–261}}<ref name="harrison">{{cite book|title=Developing cultures: case studies|author=[[Lawrence Harrison (academic)|Lawrence E. Harrison]], [[Peter L. Berger]]|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2006|page=158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RB0oAQAAIAAJ|isbn=978-0-415-95279-8|access-date=28 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328092359/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RB0oAQAAIAAJ|archive-date=28 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, this time also marked an extended period of [[Religious violence in India#Mughal Empire|religious persecution]].<ref>{{cite book|first=John F.|last=Richards|author-link=John F. Richards|title=The Mughal Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC|year=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-56603-2|pages=97–101|access-date=27 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529043831/https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC|archive-date=29 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Two of the religious leaders of [[Sikhism]], [[Guru Arjan]] and [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]] were arrested under orders of the Mughal emperors after their revolts and were executed when they refused to convert to Islam.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175032/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }}, Journal of Punjab Studies, 12(1), pages 29–62; Quote (p. 29): "most of the Sikh scholars have vehemently presented this event as the first of the long series of religious persecutions that Sikhs suffered at the hands of Mughal authorities.";<br />{{cite book| first=Pashaura| last=Singh| title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbPXAAAAMAAJ| year=2006| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-567921-2| pages=23, 217–218| access-date=27 December 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330183644/https://books.google.com/books?id=fBPXAAAAMAAJ| archive-date=30 March 2017| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Chris |last=Seiple |title=The Routledge handbook of religion and security|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|year=2013|isbn=978-0-415-66744-9|page=96}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=Pashaura|last1=Singh|first2=Louis|last2=Fenech|title=The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-969930-8|pages=236–238, 442–445}}</ref> Religious taxes on non-Muslims called ''jizya'' were imposed. Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh temples were desecrated. However, not all Muslim rulers persecuted non-Muslims. [[Akbar]], a Mughal ruler for example, sought religious tolerance and abolished jizya.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Annemarie|last1=Schimmel|author-link1=Annemarie Schimmel|first2=Burzine K.|last2=Waghmar|title=The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture|url=https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Reaktion|isbn=978-1-86189-185-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne/page/35 35], 115–121|access-date=27 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Matthew |last=White |author-link= |date=2011 |title=The Great Big Book of Horrible Things |publisher=W. W. Norton |page=234 |isbn=978-0-393-08192-3 |quote=The Mughals traditionally had been tolerant of Hinduism ... Aurangzeb, however ... prohibited Hindus from riding horses or litters. He reintroduced the head tax non-Muslims had to pay. Aurangzeb relentlessly destroyed Hindu temples all across India.|title-link=The Great Big Book of Horrible Things }}</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/oxfordhistoryofi00smituoft#page/436/mode/2up/search/aurangzeb The Oxford History of India] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326090422/https://archive.org/stream/oxfordhistoryofi00smituoft#page/436/mode/2up/search/aurangzeb |date=26 March 2016 }}, Oxford University Press, page 437</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Bowman|title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYoHOqC7Yx4C |year=2005|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-50004-3|pages=282–284}}</ref>

[[File:British Indian Empire 1909 Imperial Gazetteer of India.jpg|thumb|left|British Indian Empire in 1909. [[British India]] is shaded pink, the [[princely state]]s yellow.]]

After the death of Aurangzeb and the collapse of the Mughal Empire, which marks the beginning of modern India, in the early 18th century, it provided opportunities for the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], [[Sikh Empire|Sikhs]], [[Mysore Kingdom|Mysoreans]] and [[Nawabs of Bengal]] to exercise control over large regions of the Indian subcontinent.<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of State and Religion in India|first1=Ian|last1=Copland|first2=Ian|last2=Mabbett|first3= Asim|last3= Roy|first4=Kate|last4=Brittlebank|first5=Adam|last5=Bowles|page=161|display-authors=3|publisher=Routledge|year=2012}}</ref><ref>''History of Mysore Under Hyder Ali and Tippoo Sultan'' by Joseph Michaud p. 143</ref> By the mid-18th century, India was a major [[proto-industrialization|proto-industrializing]] region.<ref name="voss">{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Tirthankar |author-link=Tirthankar Roy |editor1=Lex Heerma van Voss |editor2=Els Hiemstra-Kuperus |editor3=Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk |year=2010 |chapter=The Long Globalization and Textile Producers in India |title=The Ashgate Companion to the History of Textile Workers, 1650–2000 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |page=255 |isbn=978-0-7546-6428-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f95ljbhfjxIC&pg=PA255}}</ref>{{sfn|Maddison|2003|pp=259–261}}

Maritime trading between South Asia and European merchants began after the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama returned to Europe. British, French, Portuguese colonial interests struck treaties with these rulers and established their trading ports. In northwest South Asia, a large region was consolidated into the Sikh Empire by [[Ranjit Singh]].<ref>{{cite book |author=J. S. Grewal |author-link=J. S. Grewal |year=1990 |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |publisher=Cambridge University Press |series=The New Cambridge History of India |volume=II.3 |pages=99,103 |isbn=978-0-521-26884-4 |quote=In 1799, a process of unification was started by Ranjit Singh virtually to establish an empire ... Before his death in 1839 Rajit Singh's authority over all the conquered and subordinated territories between the river Satlej and the mountain ranges of Ladakh, Karakoram, Hindukush and Sulaiman was recognized.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Patwant|last=Singh|title=Empire of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vr4VAQAAIAAJ |year=2008|publisher=Peter Owen|isbn=978-0-7206-1323-0|pages=113–124}}</ref> After the defeat of the [[Nawab of Bengal]] and [[Tipu Sultan]] and his French allies, the [[British Empire]] expanded their control to the Hindu Kush region. By the 19th century, [[Company rule in India|British traders]] had conquered much of South Asia using [[Divide and rule|divide-and-rule]] tactics, with the region experiencing significant [[De-industrialisation of India|de-industrialisation]] in its first few decades of British rule.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last1=Sullivan |first1=Dylan |last2=Hickel |first2=Jason |title=How British colonialism killed 100 million Indians in 40 years |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/12/2/how-british-colonial-policy-killed-100-million-indians |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=Al Jazeera |type=Opinion |language=en}}</ref> Control of the region was [[British Raj|transferred]] to the British government after the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], with the British cracking down to some extent afterwards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Indian Uprising of 1857 and its aftermath |url=https://www.lhistoire.fr/english-version/the-indian-uprising-of-1857-and-its-aftermath |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=www.lhistoire.fr |language=fr}}</ref> An increase of famines and extreme poverty characterised the colonial period, though railways built with British technology eventually provided crucial famine relief by increasing food distribution throughout India.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=97}}<ref name=":1" /> Introduction of Western political thought inspired a growing Indian intellectual movement. By the 20th century, the British rule begin to be challenged by the [[Indian National Congress]] under the leadership of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] to seek full independence from the British rule.<ref name="D Demy 2017 p. 644">{{cite book | last=D | first=J.M.S.P. | last2=Demy | first2=T.J. | title=War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict [3 volumes] | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | year=2017 | isbn=979-8-216-16317-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRnOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT644| page=644}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McLane |first=John R. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13x1cv8 |title=Indian Nationalism and the Early Congress |date=1977 |publisher=Princeton University Press|jstor=j.ctt13x1cv8 }}</ref>

Britain, under pressure from Indian freedom fighters, increasingly gave self-rule to British India. By the 1940s, two rival camps emerged among independence activists: those who [[Muslim nationalism in South Asia|favored a separate nation]] for Indian Muslims, and those who [[Composite nationalism|wanted a united India]]. As [[World War II]] raged, over 2 million Indians fought for Britain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC – History – British History in depth: Britain, the Commonwealth and the End of Empire |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/endofempire_overview_01.shtml |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> After the war, the process of independence took place and Britain granted independence to the vast majority of South Asians in 1947,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tharoor |first=Shashi |title=The Partition: The British game of 'divide and rule' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/8/10/the-partition-the-british-game-of-divide-and-rule |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> though this coincided with the [[partition of India]] into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan, which resulted in significant violence and hardened religious divides in the region for some months.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Dalrymple |first=William |date=2015-06-22 |title=The Mutual Genocide of Indian Partition |language=en-US |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

===Contemporary era===
India and Pakistan clashed several times in the decades after Independence, with disputes over [[Kashmir]] playing a significant role.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-01-25 |title=India and Pakistan came close to nuclear war: Pompeo |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64396138 |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref> In 1971, the eastern half of Pakistan seceded with help from India and became the People's Republic of Bangladesh after the traumatic [[Bangladesh Liberation War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=What has been the Impact of the Creation of Bangladesh? {{!}} History Today |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/head-head/what-has-been-impact-creation-bangladesh |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=www.historytoday.com}}</ref> This, along with India and Pakistan gaining nuclear weapons soon afterwards, increased tensions between the two countries.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The nuclear arsenals of China, India and Pakistan are growing |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/08/11/the-nuclear-arsenals-of-china-india-and-pakistan-are-growing |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> The [[Cold War]] decades also contributed to the divide, as Pakistan aligned with the West and India with the [[Soviet Union]]; modern legacies of this divide include the majority of India's modern-day weaponry being Russian in origin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sen |first=Somdeep |title=Why is India standing with Putin's Russia? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/3/14/why-is-istandwithputin-trending-in |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/09/20/russia-and-india-new-chapter-pub-87958 Russia and India: A New Chapter] https://carnegieendowment.org/ Rajan Menon, Eugene Rumer</ref>

Pakistan has been beset with [[Terrorism in Pakistan|terrorism]], [[Poverty in Pakistan|economic issues]] and [[Military coups in Pakistan|military dominance of its government]] since Independence,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mir |first=Asfandyar |date=2023-02-28 |title=Pakistan's Twin Crises |language=en-US |work=Foreign Affairs |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/pakistan/pakistans-twin-crises |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0015-7120}}</ref> with none of its Prime Ministers having completed a full 5-year term in office.<ref>{{Cite web |title=No Pakistani prime minister has completed a full term in office |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/9/factbox-no-pakistani-prime-minister-has-completed-a-full-tenure |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> India has grown significantly,<ref>{{Cite web |title=India's rise is beyond doubt |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/India-s-rise-is-beyond-doubt |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Nikkei Asia |language=en-GB}}</ref> having slashed its rate of extreme poverty to below 20%.<ref name=":2" /> Bangladesh, having struggled greatly for decades due to conflict with and economic exploitation by Pakistan,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-10 |title=There are lessons for Pakistan in the 1971 secession of Bangladesh |url=https://arab.news/cm7f4 |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Arab News PK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bangal |title=Bangladesh Liberation War: Economic Exploitation |url=https://www.virtualbangladesh.com/the-basics/history-of-bangladesh/independence/history-prelude-independence/economic-exploitation/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Virtual Bangladesh |language=en-US}}</ref> is now one of the fastest-growing countries in the region, beating India in terms of [[GDP per capita]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Bangladesh's economic miracle is in jeopardy |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/03/01/bangladeshs-economic-miracle-is-in-jeopardy |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sinha |first=Shishir |date=2023-05-07 |title=Per capita GDP for Bangladesh higher than India till 2022 |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/world/per-capita-gdp-for-bangladesh-higher-than-india-till-2022/article66823548.ece |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=BusinessLine |language=en}}</ref> Afghanistan has gone through several invasions and Islamist regimes, with many of its refugees having gone to Pakistan and other parts of South Asia and bringing back cultural influences such as [[cricket]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-04 |title=A historical timeline of Afghanistan |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/asia-jan-june11-timeline-afghanistan |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-02-01 |title=From refugee camps to Kabul: The story of Afghan cricket |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-24614257 |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref> Religious nationalism has grown across the region, with human rights violations causing millions of Hindus and Christians to flee Pakistan and Bangladesh,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kumar |first=Navtan |date=2019-11-30 |title=Hindus under attack in Bangladesh, Pakistan, face annihilation |url=https://sundayguardianlive.com/news/hindus-attack-bangladesh-pakistan-face-annihilation |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=The Sunday Guardian Live |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-01 |title=The Past has yet to Leave the Present: Genocide in Bangladesh |url=https://hir.harvard.edu/the-past-has-yet-to-leave-the-present-genocide-in-bangladesh/ |first1=Kimtee |last1=Kundu |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Harvard International Review |language=en}}</ref> and [[Hindutva|Hindu nationalism]] having grown in India with the election of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Muqtedar Khan on Why Religious Nationalism Is Poisoning South Asia |url=https://thediplomat.com/2023/08/muqtedar-khan-on-why-religious-nationalism-is-poisoning-south-asia/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=The Diplomat |first1=Sudha |last1=Ramachandran |date=August 21, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> A recent phenomenon has been that of India and China [[Sino-Indian border dispute|fighting on their border]], as well as vying for dominance of South Asia, with China able to use its superior economy to attract countries surrounding India.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Limited Hard Balancing: Explaining India's Counter Response to Chinese Encirclement |language=en-US |publisher=Air University |work=Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs |date=April 24, 2023 |author=Tanveer Ahmad Khan |url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/JIPA/Display/Article/3371481/limited-hard-balancing-explaining-indias-counter-response-to-chinese-encircleme/ |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref>

{{further|War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts}}