From mount Kailash in the north to the southern peninsula of Kanyakumari, from Arunachal in the east to Sapta-Sindhu in the west, Jambu-Dvipa was known as Bharat-varsha long before it was called "India".
Indian sub-continent has seen many war-lord, kings and emperors come and go. Over time, India has been divided into hundreds of provinces, kingdoms and states. Several times, it has been united under powerful rulers of great renown. Empires and kings have come and gone. More than political or linguistic or religious unity, India and its people are forever united by their history and culture. We share our love for food, spices, clothes, eternal ideals, ideologies, myriad myths, countless childhood stories, music and love for a vibrant lifestyle. Indian unity lives on in its literature, art, religious rituals, pilgrimage sites etc.
Look at the maps below to understand the why, where and when of how India has changed across the vastness of TIME !
Simpler map of Vedic Indian kingdoms
Map of 600BC India with its 16 MahaJanpadas (republics) of that time
Pre Mongol kingdoms across Asia
World during the Age of Discovery
Gif of pre-colonial Indian Empires
Europeans in India between 16-18th Centuries
Indian kingdoms and empires at 1800AD
Customs hedge that divided India between British and non-British states
Language families of Indian subcontinent