The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. India
Republic in southern Asia . Its capital is New Delhi , and its largest city is Calcutta . 1 ‡ India is the second most populous country in the world, after China . 2 ‡ British control of India began in 1757 and did not end until the dissolution of the British regime , or Raj, in 1947, when India was divided into India and Pakistan . 3 ‡ Mahatma Gandhi led the movement for Indian independence through passive resistance to British rule. He was killed by a fanatic in 1948. 4 ‡ The country is marked by conflict between the Hindu and Muslim populations and violence between castes . 5 ‡ Despite world disapproval, in 1998 India successfully conducted nuclear bomb tests. Pakistan did the same two weeks later. (See Kashmir .) 6
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
