The known history of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period lasted from 2600-1900 BCE. This Bronze Age civilization collapsed at the beginning of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic period, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plains and which witnessed the rise of major kingdoms known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born in the 6th century BCE, who propagated their Shramanic philosophies among the masses.

Later, successive empires and kingdoms ruled the region and enriched its culture - from the Achaemenid Persian empire around 543 BCE, to Alexander the Great in 326 BCE. The Indo-Greek Kingdom, founded by Demetrius of Bactria, included Gandhara and Punjab from 184 BCE; it reached its greatest extent under Menander, establishing the Greco-Buddhist period with advances in trade and culture.

The subcontinent was united under the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. It subsequently became fragmented, with various parts ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next ten centuries. Its northern regions were united once again in the 4th century CE, and remained so for two centuries thereafter, under the Gupta Empire. This period, of Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known among its admirers as the "Golden Age of India." During the same time, and for several centuries afterwards, Southern India, under the rule of the Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas and Pandyas, experienced its own golden age, during which Indian civilization, administration, culture, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of Asia.

Beginning in the mid-18th century and over the next century, India was gradually annexed by the British East India Company. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the First War of Indian Independence, after which India was directly administered by the British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid development of infrastructure and economic decline.

The first major movement against the British Company's high handed rule resulted in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the "Indian Mutiny" or "Sepoy Mutiny" or the "First War of Independence". After a year of turmoil, and reinforcement of the East India Company's troops with British soldiers, the British overcame the rebellion. The nominal leader of the uprising, the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, was exiled to Burma, his children were beheaded and the Moghul line abolished. In the aftermath all power was transferred from the East India Company to the British Crown, which began to administer most of India as a colony; the Company's lands were controlled directly and the rest through the rulers of what it called the Princely states. There were 565 princely states when the Indian subcontinent became independent from Britain in August 1947.

At Barrackpore (now Barrackpur) near Calcutta on March 29, 1857, in the afternoon, Lieutenant Baugh, Adjutant of the 34th Native Infantry, was informed that several men of his regiment were in an excited state. Further, it was reported to him that one of them, Mangal Pandey, had raged in front of the regiment's barracks on the parade ground, armed with a loaded musket, calling upon the men to rebel and threatening to shoot the first European he set his eyes on. Baugh immediately buckled on his sword, placed loaded pistols in his holsters, mounted his horse, and galloped to the lines. Pandey, who heard the hoof-beat of the approaching horse, took position behind the station gun, which was in front of the quarter-guard of the 34th, took aim at Baugh and fired. He missed Baugh, but the bullet struck his horse in the flank, and both horse and rider were brought down. Baugh quickly disentangled himself, and, seizing one of his pistols, advanced towards Pandey and fired. He missed. Before Baugh could draw his sword, Pandey attacked him with a talwar (a traditional Indian heavy sword) and, closing with the adjutant, slashed him on the shoulder and neck and brought him to the ground. It was then that another sepoy, Shaikh Paltu, intervened and tried to restrain Pandey even as he tried to reload his musket. The Englishman, Sergeant-Major Hewson, had arrived on the ground, summoned by a native officer, prior to Baugh. He had ordered the jemadar in command of the quarter-guard to arrest Mangal Pandey. To this, the jemadar expostulated that he could not take Pandey on alone. At this, Hewson ordered him to fall in his guard with loaded weapons. In the meantime, Baugh had arrived on the field shouting 'Where is he? Where is he?' Hewson called out to Baugh, 'Ride to the right, Sir, for your life. The sepoy will fire at you!' At that point Pandey fired, with the consequences outlined in the last paragraph. Hewson had charged towards Pandey as he was fighting with Lieutenant Baugh. He then locked into combat with Pandey and was knocked to the ground from behind by a blow from Pandey's musket. The sound of the firing had brought other sepoys from the barracks; they remained mute spectators. At this juncture, Shaikh Paltu, while trying to defend the two Englishmen, called upon the other sepoys to assist him. Assailed by other sepoys, who threw stones and shoes at his back, he called on the guard to help him hold Pandey, but they threatened to shoot him if he did not let go of Pandey. On the order of the Jemadar of the troops, a man called Ishwari Prasad, the sepoys advanced and struck at the two prostrate officers. They then threatened Shaikh Paltu and ordered him to release Pandey, whom he had been vainly trying to hold back. However, Paltu continued to hold Pandey until Baugh and the sergeant-major had had time to rise. Himself wounded by now, Paltu was obliged to loosen his grip. He backed away in one direction and Baugh and Hewson in another, while being struck with the butt ends of the guards' muskets. In the meantime, report of the incident had been carried to the commanding officer General Hearsey, who then galloped to the ground with his two sons. Taking in the scene, he rode up to the guard, drew his pistol and ordered them to do their duty by seizing Mangal Pandey. The General threatened to shoot the first man that disobeyed. The men of the guard fell in, and followed Hearsey in the direction where Pandey was still shouting and expostulating. Pandey, then realizing the situation he had gotten his colleagues into, put the muzzle of the musket to his breast and discharged it by pressing the trigger with his foot. He collapsed, burned and bleeding but not mortally wounded. He recovered and was brought to trial less than a week later. When asked whether he had been under the influence of any substances, he admitted to having used bhang (cannabis) and opium of late. He pleaded to not knowing what he was doing when intoxicated. He stated steadfastly that he had mutinied on his own accord and that none had played any role in egging him on. When asked to defend himself, he said "I did not know what I was doing. I did not know whom he had wounded and whom he had not wounded. "What more shall I say? I have nothing more to say. I have no evidence." He was sentenced to death by hanging along with the Jemadar. His execution was scheduled for April 18, but was carried out ten days prior to that date. The Jemadar Ishwari Prasad joined him on the gallows on April 21.

Mangal Pandey (c. July 19, 1827–8 April 1857) (Hindi: मंगल पांडे) was a sepoy (soldier) in the 34th Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) of the English East India Company. He is widely seen in India as one of its first freedom fighters. The Indian Government has issued postage stamps commemorating him as freedom fighter and his life and actions have been adapted to the silver screen.

Mangal Pandey was born in the village of Nagwa in district Ballia (Uttar Pradesh), that time, administrative headquarter of Ghazipur in a Bhumihar Brahmin family of Saryupareen Brahmin division.[2] He joined the English East India Company's forces in 1849 at the age of 22, as per this account. Pandey was part of the 5th Company of the 34th B.N.I. regiment and is primarily known for attacking the officers of that regiment in an incident that was the first act of what came to be known as the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 or the First War of Indian Independence. It is said that Mangal Pandey was a devout Hindu and that he practiced his religion diligently, although there are no sources to confirm this.

The first step toward Indian independence and western-style democracy was taken with the appointment of Indian councilors to advise the British viceroy, and with the establishment of provincial Councils with Indian members the councillors' participation was subsequently widened in legislative councils. From 1920 leaders such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi began mass movements to campaign against the British Raj. Subash Chandara Bose was another freedom fighter who formed army forces against British rule.Bhagat Singh was also an Indian freedom fighter, considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He is often referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh (the word shaheed means "martyr"). Veerapandiya Kattabomman was also another freedom fighter who started his freedom movement against British rule by refusing to pay tax to British Government. Revolutionary activities against the British rule also took place throughout the Indian sub-continent, and these movements succeeded in bringing Independence to the Indian sub-continent in 1947. One year later, Gandhi was assassinated. However, he did live long enough to free his homeland.

Along with the desire for independence, tensions between Hindus and Muslims had also been developing over the years. The Muslims had always been a minority, and the prospect of an exclusively Hindu government made them wary of independence; they were as inclined to mistrust Hindu rule as they were to resist the Raj. In 1915, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi came onto the scene, calling for unity between the two groups in an astonishing display of leadership that would eventually lead the country to independence. The profound impact Gandhi had on India and his ability to gain independence through a totally non-violent mass movement made him one of the most remarkable leaders the world has ever known. He led by example, wearing homespun clothes to weaken the British textile industry and orchestrating a march to the sea, where demonstrators proceeded to make their own salt in protest against the British monopoly. Indians gave him the name Mahatma, or Great Soul, first suggested by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. The British promised that they would leave India by 1947. British Indian territories gained independence in 1947, after being partitioned into the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. Following the division of pre-partition Punjab and Bengal provinces, rioting broke out between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in several parts of India, including Punjab, Bengal and Delhi, leaving some 500,000 dead. Also, this period saw one of the largest mass migrations ever recorded in modern history, with a total of 12 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims moving between the newly created nations of India and Pakistan.