Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu

In the early medieval era, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism put down roots on India’s southern and western coasts.[37] Muslim armies from Central Asia intermittently overran India’s northern plains,[38] eventually establishing the Delhi Sultanate, and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan networks of medieval Islam.[39] In the 15th century, the Vijaya

nagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India.[40] In the Punjab, Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion.[41] The Mughal Empire, in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace,[42] leaving a legacy of luminous architecture.[h][43] Gradually expanding rule of the British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial e

conomy, but also consolidating its sovereignty.[44] British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly,[45] but technological changes were introduced, and ideas of education, modernity and the public life took root.[46] A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule.[47] In 1947 the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions, a