India: Historical Background

The Indian subcontinent is the site of a civilization as ancient as any in the world.
City states arose in North India, along the Indus River, at about the same time as
the early civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates at Sumer and other locations. Over the
centuries, India was invaded by many different peoples, all of whom left their
imprint.
Hinduism developed out of a multiplicity of local gods, goddesses, and heroes.
Gradually this multiplicity was given a coherent framework, in which the individual
deities were seen as manifestations of a greater unity. Nonetheless, multiplicity
remained a major feature of Hinduism, as it is of Indian culture in general.
Local deities were identified with cyclical forces of nature, as is common in an
agricultural society-- birth, death, planting; and with the fertility of land, herds, and
human beings.
Gradually the belief arose that all these gods were manifestation of the One-
Brahma. The physical world in all its variety was seen as a dream of Brahma; it
comes into existence, ends, and is reborn in great cycles, as are human souls in the
shorter cycles of human lifetimes. This cyclical idea, which reflects the cycles of
seasons and fertility, repeats endlessly. The human soul, which is eternal, is reborn,
or reincarnated. The actions of the individual in this life accumulate as karma,
which affects the status one will achieve in the next life. The ultimate goal is
maksha, or the achievement of spiritual perfection which will enable the soul to
achieve release from the wheel of life, and attain oneness with Brahma.
 THE LIST OF PRESIDENTS OF INDIA

Rejendra Prasad Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Zakir Husain Varahagiri Venkata

Giri
1950-1962 1962-1967 1967-1969 1969-1974

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Neelam Saniva Zail Singh Ramaswamy

Reddy Venkataraman
1974-1977 1977-1982 1982-1987 1987-1992
Shankar Dayal Sharma Kocheril Raman Avul Pakir Pratibha Patil
Narayanan Jainulabdeen
Abdul Kalam
1992-1997 1997-2002 2000-2007 2007-2012

Pranab Mukherjee Ram Nath Kovind

2012-2017 current president

Government of India
The Government of India (IAST: Bhārata Sarakāra), often abbreviated as GoI,
is the union government created by the constitution of India as the legislative,
executive and judicial authority of the union of 29 states and seven union
territories of a constitutionally democratic republic. It is located in New Delhi,
the capital of India.