Indian people

Indian people
Allice Hunter · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	India (people)
Population	~1.4 billion (2024 est.)
Regions	South Asia, Indian Ocean, Gulf Cooperation Council states, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia
Languages	Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Sanskrit
Religions	Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism
Related	South Asia, Dravidian peoples, Indo-Aryan peoples, Adivasi

Indian people are the inhabitants and citizens of the Republic of India and members of a broad transnational South Asian ethnolinguistic community with roots across the Indian subcontinent, Himalayas, Deccan Plateau, and Indus Valley. Over millennia they have been shaped by interactions with neighboring populations such as Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Central Asians, Mongols, and Europeans, and by indigenous developments linked to archaeological cultures like the Indus Valley civilization and the Vedic period. Today Indian people participate in global networks centered on cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Chennai.

Origins and Demography

Genetic, archaeological, and linguistic studies connect Indian people to ancient populations associated with the Indus Valley civilization, postglacial migrations through the Himalayas, and expansions of Indo-European speakers; recent population genetics cite admixture between ancestral northern steppe-related groups and local hunter-gatherer lineages, alongside southward movements of Dravidian-linked groups. Demographic data from the Census of India show rapid urbanization in metropolitan areas including Greater Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Bengaluru Urban Agglomeration, while states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu remain population centers. Life expectancy, fertility, and literacy rates vary across states documented in reports by the Registrar General of India and the United Nations.

Ethnic and Linguistic Diversity

Indian people comprise a mosaic of Indo-Aryan peoples, Dravidian peoples, Austroasiatic peoples, and Tibeto-Burman peoples, alongside numerous indigenous Adivasi groups and smaller communities such as Parsis and Anglo-Indians. The Indian Constitution recognizes multiple scheduled languages and cultural rights; principal languages include Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, and Punjabi, with literary traditions tied to texts like the Mahabharata, Ramayana, and classical poetry in Sanskrit. Regional identities linked to entities such as Punjab, Kerala, Assam, Gujarat, and Rajasthan interact with pan-Indian movements like those associated with the Indian independence movement.

Religion and Belief Systems

Religious affiliations among Indian people include adherents of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism, as well as indigenous tribal beliefs and reform movements such as those associated with Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj. Pilgrimage circuits connect sacred sites like Varanasi, Rameswaram, Amritsar, Bodh Gaya, and Shravanabelagola, while festivals celebrated broadly include Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, Christmas, Vaisakhi, and Pongal. Religious pluralism in institutions such as All India Muslim Personal Law Board and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has shaped public life and legal debates including decisions of the Supreme Court of India.

Culture: Traditions, Arts, and Cuisine

Cultural expressions among Indian people encompass classical arts like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, and Carnatic music as well as popular forms such as Bollywood cinema centered in Mumbai and regional film industries including Tollywood (Telugu cinema), Kollywood, and Mollywood. Visual arts range from ancient Ajanta Caves murals to modern work by painters associated with the Bengal School of Art and contemporary figures exhibited at institutions like the National Gallery of Modern Art. Cuisine reflects regional diversity with dishes such as biryani, idli, dhokla, sambar, and dal makhani, and culinary techniques influenced by historic trade links with Persia, Arabia, and Europe.

Society, Caste, and Social Structure

Social organization includes kinship systems, community institutions, and hierarchies historically associated with varna and caste categories; reform movements and legislation including the reservation system, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes provisions, and activism by leaders such as B. R. Ambedkar have contested and reshaped social stratification. Civil society organizations, trade unions, and movements like the Dalit movement and regional parties such as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam address inequalities, while urban civil-society networks operate in municipal contexts like Bengaluru City Corporation and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Migration and Diaspora

Large-scale emigration began during the British Raj with indentured laborers sent to colonies in the Caribbean, Mauritius, Fiji, and South Africa; later waves involved professionals relocating to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and United Arab Emirates. Diaspora communities maintain ties through organizations such as the Overseas Indian Affairs (former agency) and cultural institutions in cities like London, New York City, Toronto, and Dubai. Return migration and remittances influence home regions including states with high outmigration such as Kerala and Punjab.

Politics, Economy, and Contemporary Issues

Indian people participate in a multiparty polity featuring national parties like the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as regional parties such as the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, and All India Trinamool Congress. Economic transformation since reforms linked to the 1991 economic liberalisation in India has expanded sectors including information technology centered in Bengaluru and finance in Mumbai while challenges persist in areas covered by development programs from the NITI Aayog and welfare schemes debated in the Parliament of India. Contemporary issues involve debates over secularism, citizenship as in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, environmental conflicts around projects in the Western Ghats and Sundarbans, labor migration, public health responses to events like the COVID-19 pandemic, and jurisprudence at the Supreme Court of India.

Category:Ethnic groups in India