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INDIAN
FOOD - Background on Indian Food
Indian food, Indian foods, Indian cuisine, curry, Indian
vegetarian food, Indian recipes, Indian spices
Indian civilization is more than 5000 years old and is the largest
democracy in the world. It is the second most populated (nearly 1 billion) and is the
seventh largest country of the world. It is about 1/3 the size of United States. It is
triangular shaped and lies in Southern Asia.It has the Himalayan mountains to its North,
the Arabian Sea to its west, Bay of Bengal to its east and Indian Ocean to its south.
Pakistan is on its west border, Bangladesh and Mayanmar (Burma) to its east and Tibet and
China to its north. Sri Lanka is the teardrop-shaped island hanging off its southern tip.
Its capital city is New Delhi and its people are 72% Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3%
Mongoloid. Its main languages are Hindi and English, plus 15 main languages and over 700
dialects. It consists of 82% Hindus, 11% Muslims, 2% Christians, 2% Sikh, 0.7% Buddhist
and 0.7% Jains.
India is a country
with probably the largest and most diverse mixture of raceseach bring their foods to India
to make up what is now Indian Food. All the five major racial types - Australoid,
Mongoloid, Europoid, Caucasian and Negroid - find representation among the people of
India, who are mainly a mixed race. The people of India belong to diverse ethnic groups.
At various periods of India's long history, successive waves of settlers and invaders
including the Aryans, Parthians, Greeks and Central Asians, Jews and Zorastrians or
Persians came into the country with thir food culture and merged with the local
population. This explains the variety of racial types, cultures and languages in India.
History of India- Background
on Indian Food
India's
first major civilization flourished for a thousand years from around 2500 BC along the
Indus River valley. Its great cities were Mohenjodaro and Harappa (now in Pakistan) where
an advanced urban civilization flourished. Shiva a great symbol of Hinduism is thought to
have been from this culture.
In 1500 and 2000
B.C Aryan invaders from central Asia invaded and secured control of northern India and
pushed the original Dravidian inhabitants south. The Aryan rule was interrupted shortly in
325 BC when Alexander the Great attacked the Indus River region and captured large areas
of North India and ruled till his death in 323 BC. The Aryan rule continued and its Gupta
Empire was the most glorious with its peace and prosperity and is considered as "THE
GOLDEN AGE" in Indian history.
In 1192 Muslim
power arrived in India on a permanent basis and within 20 years the whole of the Ganges
(North India) basin was under Muslim control. The Mughal emperors are the giants of Indian
history and of Muslim rule in India. The built the Taj Mahal, combined Hindi and Arabic
languages to give rise to a new language Urdu, and generally ushered another golden age of
building, arts and literature
British power in
India was initially exercised by the East India Company, which established a trading post
at Surat in Gujarat 9 Western India) in 1612. The British were not the first or the only
European power with a presence in India in the 17th century but they soon
established their dominance over India which lasted about 200 years. Opposition to British
rule began in earnest at the turn of the 20th century.
Gandhi, an
attorney, returned from South Africa to his motherland to question British rule and
insisting on India’s freedom while adopting a policy of passive resistance, or
satyagraha. At the same time WWII dealt a deathblow to colonialism and Indian independence
became inevitable.
Within India,
however, the large Muslim minority resented the impending majority Hindu rule and tensions
began to mount between the two. Faced with a political stand-off and rising tension, the
viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, reluctantly decided to divide the country and set a rapid
timetable for independence. When the dividing line was announced, the greatest exodus in
human history took place as Muslims moved to Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs relocated to
India. The effects of that move are still felt in India and Pakistan today and the
resentment that it caused still divides the two countries.
Pandit Jawahar Lal
Nehru became the first Prime minister of independent India. India became a Republic on
26th January, 1950 and Dr. Rajinder Prashad was nominated as the first President of the
Indian republic.
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This
work is dedicated to my mother Shanta who taught me the tenants of Ayurvedic Cuisine and
Knowledge.
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