Military history of India

India has a long military history dating back to over 6000 years. Ancient Indian texts speak of bomb like devices used in warfare, as well as gliding objects (Vimana). Concrete evidence proves the the fact that anceint India used boats in warfare although mainly for commercial benefit. The ancient Indians had an extremely advanced honor code atleast 5000 years old which prevented the murder of civilians and the destruction of land, forests, libraries, commercial buildings, colleges, schools, residences, etc. India has been a peaceful nation and has never conquered the lands of others, although Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, Romans, British, Dutch, French, Mughals, and other groups have invaded India because of India's flourishing economy. Indian made steel weapons were also popular in the ancient world because of their quality and durability. Indian is not known for their military as much as they are for their other huge contributions to the world like the base ten number system, the concept of zero and negatives, algebra, modern mathematics, chess, the Sanskrit language (the base language of all European tongues), and numerous other acheivements.

Although, martial Arts finds it's roots in India. The world's oldest martial arts system is found in India's southern state of Kerala, and is called Kalaripayit. Martial Arts was passed from India to China, and eventually to the rest of the world.

Kalari Payit: [Image: [1]]

However, an entire "warrior ethnic group" was formed by the descendants of Mongolian warlords who invaded India. They are known as the Rajputs. They had an advanced military which they used to try to defend India from the Islamic invaders from the west and won. The Muslims attacked numerous times and eventually conquered the whole of India. In the process millions were sold into slavery, millions more were murdered and a even higher number of that were forcibly converted to Islam. Almost the entire India was ruled by the Mughals for about a thousand years but the rebellious Indian spirit never dwindled. Many Indian rulers faught and lost to the Muslims.

Rajput Armor: [Image: [2]]

Later, the Mughals lost their land to the British, who also wanted a taste of the Indian economy.

Independent India was formed on 1947-08-15 after being split into numerous nations (Myanmar, Bhutan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indionesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan) over the course of about 1500 years.

What was once India (other than China and Japan): [Image: [3]]

Independent India has seen three wars with the US as well as China backed Pakistan (1947-48, 1965, 1971) all of which were started by Pakistan and won by India. The first war took place after Pakistani soldiers and armed tribesmen invaded the independent nation of Kashmir. When the forces almost reached the capital (Srinagar) the Maharaja, Hari Singh, and the democratically elected Prime Minister of Kashmir, Sheik Abdulla, signed an agreement with India in which all Kashmiri lands were ceded to India. India sent their troops in shortly after and secured majority of the new Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The second war was also over Kashmir but Pakistan ceded all of their eastern territory to China. In the third war, Bengalis who were being massacred by East Pakistanis were liberated by India and given their own nation of Bangladesh. One war was also faught against China (1962) which the Chinese won, which led India to revamp the entire military system. It also fought a brief border skirmish with now Pakistan in the Indian state of Kashmir in 1999. There was no actual winner of the war.

The Indian military today ranks as the world's fourth best after the US, China, and Israel. India is cooperating with Israel to produce better weaponry and just recently signed a 10 year defence agreement with the US. The Indian military is forced to deal with Islamic terrirists from and backed by Pakistan's ISI and other government groups, rebels in a significant number of Indian territories (many of which are also backed by Pakistan's ISI), and must guard it's border with Pakistan because of Pakistan's hostility. Terrorist attacks in India make it one of the world's least safe countries to live in.