India

Country of s. Asia, a dependency of Great Britain. It consists mainly of a peninsula projecting s. into the Indian Ocean. The n. part is occupied by the s. slopes of the Him a lay as. To this succeeds a low plain, drained and watered by the Ganges, the Brahmapootra, and the Indus, and then a plateau bordered on either side by the ranges of the Ghauts. The climate is hot, moist, and in the low lands unhealthy. Rice is the principal product, but much wheat, sugar, and cotton are raised. Much of the agriculture is carried on by the aid of irrigation, for which extensive works have been carried out. Calcutta is the capital. British India, or the Indian Empire, has an area of 964,992 sq. m.; pop., 1891, 221,172,952. The total area, including the native states, is 1,560,159 sq. m.; pop., 1891, 287,223,431. Ab. three-fourths of these are Hindus; ab. 50,000,000 are Mohammedans. Little was known in the W. about India before the expedition of Alexander the Great, 327325 B.C.; he conquered the Punjab. Buddhism sprung up ab. 520 B.C.; Brahmanism came later. The first Mohammedan invasion (Mahmud of Ghazni) occurred 1001. and that of Timur 1398. 1889 was $94,759,262. It has a very complete railroad system, having, in 1892, 6,030 miles of line in operation. The capital is Indianapolis, situated near the center of the State. This region was a part of the territory claimed by the French previous to the surrender of their American po e ions 1763. When Ohio was organized as a separate territory, 1800, all the region w. and n. of Ohio was organized 1802 into the territory of I. Mich. and Ill. were afterward organized out of this territory. Since the admi ion of I. to the Union in 1816 its growth has been rapid. Pop., 1890, 2,192,404, or 60.3 per sq. m.