1.
Personal identification number
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A personal identification number is a numeric password used to authenticate a user to a system. PINs may be used with banking systems to authenticate the identity of the cardholder, usually, both a private PIN and public user identifier is required to authenticate a user to the system. In these situations, typically the user is required to provide a user identifier or token. Upon receiving the user ID and PIN, the system looks up the PIN based upon the user ID, the user is granted access only when the number entered matches with the number stored in the system. Hence, despite the name, a PIN does not personally identify the user, PINs may also be used in contexts other than ATM or POS transactions, such as door access, Internet transactions, or to log in to a restricted website. In such cases, the PIN may simply be a password, the PIN originated with the introduction of the ATM in 1967, as an efficient way for banks to dispense cash to their customers. The first ATM system was that of Barclays in London, in 1967, it accepted cheques with machine-readable encoding, rather than cards,1972, Lloyds Bank issued the first bank card to feature an information-encoding magnetic strip, using a PIN for security. In 2006, James Goodfellow, the inventor who patented the first personal identification number, was awarded an OBE in the Queens Birthday Honours, there are several main methods of validating PINs. The operations discussed below are usually performed within a security module. One of the earliest ATM models was the IBM3624, which used the IBM method to generate what is termed a natural PIN, the natural PIN is generated by encrypting the primary account number, using an encryption key generated specifically for the purpose. This key is sometimes referred to as the PIN generation key and this PIN is directly related to the primary account number. To validate the PIN, the issuing bank regenerates the PIN using the above method, natural PINs can not be user selectable because they are derived from the PAN. If the card is reissued with a new PAN, a new PIN must be generated, natural PINs allow banks to issue PIN reminder letters as the PIN can be generated. To allow user selectable PINs it is possible to store a PIN offset value, the offset is found by subtracting natural PIN from the customer selected PIN using modulo 10. For example, if the natural PIN is 1234, and the wishes to have a PIN of 2345. The offset can be stored either on the track data. To validate the PIN, the issuing bank calculates the natural PIN as in the method, then adds the offset. The VISA method is used by many card schemes and is not VISA-specific, the VISA method generates a PIN verification value
2.
Ujjain
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Ujjain is the largest city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the centre of Ujjain district. An ancient city situated on the bank of the Kshipra River. It emerged as the centre of central India around 600 BCE. It was the capital of the ancient Avanti kingdom, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas and it remained an important political, commercial and cultural centre of central India until the early 19th century, when the British administrators decided to develop Indore as an alternative to it. Ujjain continues to be an important place of pilgrimage for Shaivites, Vaishnavites, Ujjain has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under PM Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. Excavations at Kayatha have revealed chalcolithic agricultural settlements dating to around 2000 BCE, chalcolithic sites have also been discovered at other areas around Ujjain, including Nagda, but excavations at Ujjain itself have not revealed any chalcolithic settlements. H. D. Sankalia theorized that the settlements at Ujjain were probably destroyed by the Iron Age settlers. According to Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, Avanti, whose capital was Ujjain, was one of the earliest outposts in central India, around 600 BCE, Ujjain emerged as the political, commercial and cultural centre of Malwa plateau. The ancient walled city of Ujjain was located around the Garh Kalika hill on the bank of river Kshipra and this city covered an irregular pentagonal area of 0.875 km2. It was surrounded by a 12 m high mud rampart, the archaeological investigations have also indicated the presence of a 45 m wide and 6.6 m deep moat around the city. According to F. R. Allchin and George Erdosy, these city defences were constructed between 6th and 4th centuries BCE, dieter Schlingloff believes that these were built before 600 BCE. This period is characterised by structures made of stone and burnt-brick, tools and weapons made of iron, according to the Puranic texts, a branch of the legendary Haihaya dynasty ruled over Ujjain. In the Mauryan period, Ujjain remained the centre of the region. From this period, Northern Black Polished Ware, copper coins, terracotta ring wells, during the reign of his father Bindusara, Ashoka served as the viceroy of Ujjain. Ujjain was subsequently controlled by a number of empires and dynasties, including the Shungas, the Western Satraps, the Satavahanas, the Guptas, the Paramaras shifted the regions capital from Ujjain to Dhar. Raja Bharthari wrote his epics, Virat Katha, Neeti Sataka. The writings of Bhasa are set in Ujjain, and he lived in the city
3.
Madhya Pradesh
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Madhya Pradesh is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, nicknamed the heart of India due to its geographical location in India, Madhya Pradesh is the second-largest state in the country by area. With over 75 million inhabitants, it is the fifth-largest state in India by population and it borders the states of Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the southeast, Maharashtra to the south, Gujarat to the west, and Rajasthan to the northwest. Its total area is 308,252 km², subsequently, the region was ruled by the major dynasties of India. By the early 18th century, the region was divided into small kingdoms which were captured by the British and incorporated into Central Provinces and Berar. This state was the largest in India by area until 2000, in recent years, the states GDP growth has been above the national average. Rich in mineral resources, MP has the largest reserves of diamond, more than 30% of its area is under forest cover. Its tourism industry has seen growth, with the state topping the National Tourism Awards in 2010–11. Isolated remains of Homo erectus found in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley indicate that Madhya Pradesh might have been inhabited in the Middle Pleistocene era, painted pottery dated to the later mesolithic period has been found in the Bhimbetka rock shelters. Chalcolithic sites belonging to Kayatha culture and Malwa culture have been discovered in the part of the state. The city of Ujjain arose as a centre in the region. It served as the capital of the Avanti kingdom, other kingdoms mentioned in ancient epics — Malava, Karusha, Dasarna and Nishada — have also been identified with parts of Madhya Pradesh. Chandragupta Maurya united northern India around 320 BCE, establishing the Mauryan Empire, ashoka the greatest of Mauryan rulers brought the region under firmer control. After the decline of the Maurya empire, the region was contested among the Sakas, the Kushanas, the Satavahanas, Heliodorus, the Greek Ambassador to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra erected the Heliodorus pillar near Vidisha. Ujjain emerged as the predominant commercial centre of western India from the first century BCE, the Satavahana dynasty of the northern Deccan and the Saka dynasty of the Western Satraps fought for the control of Madhya Pradesh during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. The Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni inflicted a defeat upon the Saka rulers and conquered parts of Malwa. Subsequently, the region came under the control of the Gupta empire in the 4th and 5th centuries, and their southern neighbours, the attacks of the Hephthalites or White Huns brought about the collapse of the Gupta empire, which broke up into smaller states. The king Yasodharman of Malwa defeated the Huns in 528, ending their expansion, later, Harsha ruled the northern parts of the state
4.
Post code
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A power-on self-test is a process performed by firmware or software routines immediately after a computer or other digital electronic device is powered on. The results of the POST may be displayed on a panel that is part of the device, output to an external device, or stored for future retrieval by a diagnostic tool. Since a self-test might detect that the systems usual human-readable display is non-functional, in addition to running tests, the POST process may also set the initial state of the device from firmware. In the case of a computer, the POST routines are part of a devices pre-boot sequence and these other duty-specific programs are generally known collectively as option ROMs or individually as the video BIOS, SCSI BIOS, etc. The first memory location the CPU tries to execute is known as the reset vector, in the case of a hard reboot, the northbridge will direct this code fetch to the BIOS located on the system flash memory. For a warm boot, the BIOS will be located in the place in RAM. During the POST flow of a contemporary BIOS, one of the first things a BIOS should do is determine the reason it is executing, for a cold boot, for example, it may need to execute all of its functionality. The POST flow for the PC has developed from a simple, straightforward process to one that is complex. In earlier BIOSes, up to around the turn of the millennium and this design by IBM was modeled after their larger systems, which would perform a complete hardware test as part of their cold-start process. Beginning with the IBM XT, a count was displayed during POST instead of a blank screen. A modern PC with a bus rate of around 1 GHz and a 32-bit bus might be 2000x or even 5000x faster, but it might have more than 3 GB of memory—5000x more. Most clone PC BIOSes allowed the user to skip the POST RAM check by pressing a key, in addition, modern DRAM is significantly more reliable than DRAM was in the 1980s. As part of the sequence the POST routines may display a prompt to the user for a key press to access built-in setup functions of the BIOS. This allows the user to set various options particular to the board before the operating system is loaded. If no key is pressed, the POST will proceed on to the sequence required to load the installed operating system. The original IBM BIOS made POST diagnostic information available by outputting a number to I/O port 80, using a logic analyzer or a dedicated POST card—an interface card that shows port 80 output on a small display—a technician could determine the origin of the problem. Once an operating system is running on the computer the code displayed by such a board may become meaningless, since some OSes, e. g. Linux, the actual numeric codes for the possible stages and error conditions differ from one BIOS supplier to another. Codes for different BIOS versions from a supplier may also vary
5.
Indian Postal Service
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The Department of Posts, trading as India Post, is a government-operated postal system in India. Generally referred to within India as the post office, it is the most widely distributed system in the world. The postal service is under the Department of Posts, which is part of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of the Government of India. As of 31 March 2015, the Indian Postal Service had 154,939 post offices and it had 25,560 departmental Post Offices and 129,379 Gramin Dak Sevak, Branch Post Offices. On average, a post office serves an area of 21.22 square kilometres, because of its reach and presence in remote areas, the Indian postal service is also involved in other services such as small-savings banking and financial services. The country has been divided into 22 postal circles, each headed by a Chief Postmaster General. Each circle is divided into regions, headed by a Postmaster General and these divisions are further divided into subdivisions. In addition to the 22 circles, there is a circle to provide postal services to the Armed Forces of India headed by a Director General. The highest post office in the world is in Hikkim, Himachal Pradesh operated by India Post at a height of 15,500 ft, the British Raj was instituted in 1858, when the rule of the East India Company was transferred to the Crown. By 1861, there were 889 post offices handling nearly 43 million letters, the first superintendent of the post office was appointed in 1870 and based in Allahabad and in 1876, British India became the first non-founding member of the General Postal Union. On 1 April 1882, Post Office Savings Banks opened throughout India, in Madras Presidency, it was limited, in the Bengal Presidency, no POSBs were established in Calcutta or Howrah. Telegraph Act,1885 The Indian Post Office Act 1898, passed by the legislature on 22 March 1898 and it was preceded by Act III of 1882 and Act XVI of 1896. The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933 The worlds first official flight took place in India on 18 February 1911. Henri Pequet, a French pilot, carried about 15 kilograms of mail across the Ganges from Allahabad to Naini, India Post inaugurated a floating post office in August 2011 at Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir. Telegraphy and telephony made their appearance as part of the service before becoming separate departments. The Posts and Telegraphs Departments merged in 1914, dividing on 1 January 1985, since Indian independence in 1947, the postal service continues to function on a nationwide basis, providing a variety of services. The structure of the organization has the directorate at its apex, below it are circle offices, regional offices, in April 1959, the Indian Postal Department adopted the motto Service before Self, it revised its logo in September 2008. The first adhesive stamps in Asia were issued in the Indian district of Scinde in July 1852 by Bartle Frere
6.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
7.
Postal administration
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This is a list of postal entities by country. It includes, The governmental authority responsible for postal matters, the regulatory authority for the postal sector. Postal regulation may include the establishment of policies, postal rates, postal services offered, budgeting for. Where no independent postal regulator has been established, these tasks may be undertaken by the government or the operator and they may be carried out by a single entity or spread out amongst multiple government, quasi-government or private entities. The designated postal operator of that country, notable postal operators other than the designated operator, if any, may also be listed. The following list uses the structure and terminology of the document Status and this document, published in 2009 by the Universal Postal Union, contains data for 162 of the 191 countries and territories that were then UPU members. For these countries, which are marked below, the contents are based on that document. Since this document was published, the UPU has had two changes of membership, On 10 October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles, which shared a UPU membership with Aruba, was dissolved. Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, collectively known as the Caribbean Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten became constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This UPU entity, formerly Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, is now known as Aruba, Curaçao, south Sudan joined the UPU on 4 October 2011. libero. it/fabioalarici/philbur. html
8.
Delhi
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Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT, is a city and a union territory of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east, the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to 2011 census, Delhis city population was about 11 million, Delhis urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundary to include an estimated population of over 26 million people making it the worlds second largest urban area. As of 2016 recent estimates of the economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the top or second most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second wealthiest city after Mumbai in India, with a wealth of $450 billion. Delhi has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and it has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. New Delhi is jointly administered by the government of India and the local government of Delhi. Delhi is also the centre of the National Capital Region, which is a unique interstate regional planning area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985, Delhi ranks among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi, one of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after himself. The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal, according to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort dehali, another theory suggests that the citys original name was Dhillika. The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas, the city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring, aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse, literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, the city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to Mahabharata, this land was initially a huge mass of forests called Khandavaprastha which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha, the earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period, in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight cities have been discovered in Delhi
9.
Haryana
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Haryana is one of the 29 states in India, situated in North India. It was carved out of the state of East Punjab on 1 November 1966 on a linguistic basis. It stands 21st in terms of its area, which is spread about 44,212 km2, as of 2011 census of India, the state is eighteenth largest by population with 25,353,081 inhabitants. The city of Chandigarh is its capital while the NCR city of Faridabad is the most populous city of the state, Haryana is one of the most economically developed regions in South Asia, and its agricultural and manufacturing industries have experienced sustained growth since the 1970s. Since 2000, the state has emerged as the largest recipient of investment per capita in India and it is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south. The river Yamuna defines its border with Uttar Pradesh. Haryana surrounds the countrys capital Delhi on three sides, forming the northern, western and southern borders of Delhi, consequently, a large area of south Haryana is included in the National Capital Region for purposes of planning for development. The name Haryana is found in the works of the 12th-century AD Apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar, the name Haryana has been derived from the Sanskrit words Hari and ayana, meaning the Abode of God. However, scholars such as Muni Lal, Murli Chand Sharma, HA Phadke and Sukhdev Singh Chib believe that the name comes from a compound of the words Hari and Aranya. Vedic state of Brahmavarta is claimed to be located in a new research in south Haryana, manusmriti, a flood time document composed by Manu and Bhrigu is now dated 10,000 years old. Rakhigarhi village in the Hisar district is home to the largest and one of the oldest ancient Indus Valley Civilization sites, evidence of paved roads, a drainage system, a large-scale rainwater collection storage system, terracotta brick and statue production, and skilled metal working have been uncovered. According to archeologists, Rakhigarhi may be the origin of Harappan civilisation, the area that is now Haryana has been ruled by major empires of India. Panipat is known for three seminal battles in the history of India, in the First Battle of Panipat, Babur defeated the Lodis. In the Second Battle of Panipat, Akbar defeated the local Haryanvi Hindu Emperor of Delhi, hemu, had earlier won 22 battles across India from Punjab to Bengal defeating Mughals and Afghans. Hemu had defeated Akbars forces twice at Agra and Battle of Delhi in 1556 to become last Hindu Emperor of India with formal Coronation at Purana Quila in Delhi on 7th Oct.1556, in the Third Battle of Panipat, the Afghan king Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas. Haryana state was formed on 1 November 1966, the commission delivered its report on 31 May 1966 whereby the then-districts of Hisar, Mahendragarh, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Karnal were to be a part of the new state of Haryana. Further, the tehsils of Jind and Narwana in the Sangrur district—along with Naraingarh, Ambala, the commission recommended that the tehsil of Kharad, which includes Chandigarh, the state capital of Punjab, should be a part of Haryana. However, only a portion of Kharad was given to Haryana
10.
Punjab, India
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Punjab is a state in North India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state capital is located in Chandigarh, a Union Territory, after the partition of India in 1947, the Punjab province of British India was divided between India and Pakistan. The Indian Punjab was divided on the basis of language in 1966 and it was divided into 3 parts. Haryanvi speaking areas were carved out as Haryana, Hilly regions, Punjab is the only Sikh majority state in India with Sikhs being 57. 69% of the population. Agriculture is the largest industry in Punjab, Punjab has the largest number of steel rolling mill plants in India, which are located in Steel Town—Mandi Gobindgarh in the Fatehgarh Sahib district. The word Punjab is a compound of the Persian words panj, thus Panjāb roughly means the land of five rivers. The five rivers are the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab, traditionally, in English, there used to be a definite article before the name, i. e. The name is sometimes spelled as Panjab. During the period when the epic Mahabharata was written, around 800–400 BCE, Punjab was known as Trigarta, the Indus Valley Civilization spanned much of the Punjab region with cities such as Rupar. The Vedic Civilization spread along the length of the Sarasvati River to cover most of northern India including Punjab and this civilisation shaped subsequent cultures in the Indian subcontinent. The Punjab region was conquered by many ancient empires including the Gandhara, Nandas, Mauryas, Shungas, Kushans, Guptas, Palas, Gurjara-Pratiharas, the furthest eastern extent of Alexander the Greats exploration was along the Indus River. Agriculture flourished and trading cities such as Jalandhar, Sangrur and Ludhiana grew in wealth, due to its location, the Punjab region came under constant attack and influence from both west and east. Punjab faced invasions by the Achaemenids, Greeks, Scythians, Turks and this resulted in the Punjab witnessing centuries of bitter bloodshed. Its culture combines Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Sikh and British influences, the regions of Azad Kashmir and Jammu have also been historically associated with the Punjab. The Punjab is the Sapta Sindhu region mentioned in the Rig Veda, among the classic books that were wholly or partly composed in this region are the following. The Brahmins of this region are called Saraswata after the legendary Saraswati river region, Hinduism has been prevalent in Punjab since historical times before the arrival of Islam and birth of Sikhism in Punjab. Some of the influential Sikh figures such as Guru Nanak, Banda Singh Bahadur, Bhai Mati Das, many of Punjabs Hindus converted to Sikhism. Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas, many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and so on
11.
Himachal Pradesh
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Himachal Pradesh is a state of India located in Northern India. It is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab and Chandigarh on the west, Haryana on the south-west, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east. The name was coined from Sanskrit him snow and achal mountain, by Acharya Diwakar Datt Sharma, Himachal Pradesh is famous for its natural beauty, hill stations, and temples. Himachal Pradesh has been ranked fifteenth in the list of the highest per capita incomes of Indian states, many perennial rivers flow in the state, and numerous hydroelectric projects set up. Himachal produces surplus hydroelectricity and sells it to states such as Delhi, Punjab. Hydroelectric power projects, tourism, and agriculture form important parts of the states economy, the state has several valleys, and more than 90% of the population living in rural areas. Practically all houses have a toilet and 100% hygiene has been achieved in the state, the villages have good connectivity with roads, public health centres, and now with high-speed broadband. Shimla district has maximum urban population of 25%, according to a 2005 Transparency International survey, Himachal Pradesh was ranked the second-least corrupt state in the country, after Kerala. The history of the area that now constitutes Himachal Pradesh dates to the Indus valley civilisation that flourished between 2250 and 1750 BCE, tribes such as the Koili, Hali, Dagi, Dhaugri, Dasa, Khasa, Kinnar, and Kirat inhabited the region from the prehistoric era. During the Vedic period, several small republics known as Janapada existed which were conquered by the Gupta Empire. After a brief period of supremacy by King Harshavardhana, the region was divided into several local powers headed by chieftains and these kingdoms enjoyed a large degree of independence and were invaded by Delhi Sultanate a number of times. Mahmud Ghaznavi conquered Kangra at the beginning of the 10th century, timur and Sikander Lodi also marched through the lower hills of the state and captured a number of forts and fought many battles. Several hill states acknowledged Mughal suzerainty and paid tribute to the Mughals. The Gurkha people, a tribe, came to power in Nepal in the year 1768. They consolidated their power and began to expand their territory. Gradually, the Gorkhas annexed Sirmour and Shimla, under the leadership of Amar Singh Thapa, the Gurkha laid siege to Kangra. They managed to defeat Sansar Chand Katoch, the ruler of Kangra, however, the Gurkha could not capture Kangra fort which came under Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in 1809. After the defeat, the Gurkha began to expand towards the south of the state, however, Raja Ram Singh, Raja of Siba State, captured the fort of Siba from the remnants of Lahore Darbar in Samvat 1846, during the First Anglo-Sikh War
12.
Uttar Pradesh
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Uttar Pradesh, abbreviated as UP, is the most populous state in the Republic of India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. The state, located in the region of the Indian subcontinent, has over 200 million inhabitants. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces during British rule, Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Bhadohi, Raebareli, Moradabad, Bareilly, Aligarh, Sonbhadra, on 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved out from the Himalayan hill region of Uttar Pradesh. It covers 243,290 square kilometres, equal to 7. 33% of the area of India. Hindi is the official and most widely spoken language in its 75 districts, Uttar Pradesh is the third largest Indian state by economy, with a GDP of ₹9,763 billion. Agriculture and service industries are the largest parts of the states economy, the service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies. Uttar Pradesh was home to powerful empires of ancient and medieval India, the two major rivers of the state, the Ganges and Yamuna, join at Allahabad and then flow as the Ganges further east. Modern human hunter-gatherers have been in Uttar Pradesh since between around 85,000 and 72,000 years ago, the kingdom of Kosala, in the Mahajanapada era, was located within the regional boundaries of modern-day Uttar Pradesh. According to Hindu legend, the divine king Rama of the Ramayana epic reigned in Ayodhya, the aftermath of the Mahabharata yuddh is believed to have taken place in the area between the Upper Doab and Delhi, during the reign of the Pandava king Yudhishthira. The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black and Red Ware and Painted Gray Ware culture, most of the invaders of south India passed through the Gangetic plains of what is today Uttar Pradesh. Control over this region was of importance to the power and stability of all of Indias major empires, including the Maurya, Kushan, Gupta. Following the Huns invasions that broke the Gupta empire, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab saw the rise of Kannauj, during the reign of Harshavardhana, the Kannauj empire reached its zenith. It spanned from Punjab in the north and Gujarat in the west to Bengal in the east and it included parts of central India, north of the Narmada River and it encompassed the entire Indo-Gangetic plain. Many communities in parts of India claim descent from the migrants of Kannauj. Kannauj was several times invaded by the south Indian Rashtrakuta Dynasty, in the Mughal era, Uttar Pradesh became the heartland of the empire. Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun ruled from Delhi, in 1540 an Afghan, Sher Shah Suri, took over the reins of Uttar Pradesh after defeating the Mughal king Humanyun. Sher Shah and his son Islam Shah ruled Uttar Pradesh from their capital at Gwalior, after the death of Islam Shah Suri, his prime minister Hemu became the de facto ruler of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and the western parts of Bengal
13.
Uttarakhand
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Uttarakhand, officially the State of Uttarakhand, formerly known as Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Devbhumi due to many Hindu temples, Uttarakhand is known for its natural beauty of the Himalayas, the Bhabhar and the Terai. On 9 November 2000, Uttarakhand became the 27th state of the Republic of India, being created from the Himalayan, the state is divided into two divisions, Garhwal and Kumaon, with a total of 13 districts. The interim capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun, the largest city in the region, the High Court of the state is in Nainital. Archaeological evidence supports the existence of humans in the region since prehistoric times, the region formed a part of the Kuru and the Panchal kingdoms during the Vedic age of Ancient India. Among the first major dynasties of Kumaon were the Kunindas in the 2nd century BCE who practised a form of Shaivism. Ashokan edicts at Kalsi show the presence of Buddhism in this region. During the medieval period, the region was consolidated under the Kumaon Kingdom, in 1816, most of modern Uttarakhand was ceded to the British as part of the Treaty of Sugauli. The natives of the state are generally called Uttarakhandi, or more specifically either Garhwali or Kumaoni by their region of origin, according to the 2011 Census of India, Uttarakhand has a population of 10,116,752, making it the 19th most populous state in India. Uttarakhands name is derived from the Sanskrit words uttara meaning north, the name finds mention in early Hindu scriptures as the combined region of Kedarkhand and Manaskhand. Uttarakhand was also the ancient Puranic term for the stretch of the Indian Himalayas. Chosen for its allegedly less separatist connotations, the name change generated enormous controversy among many activists for a separate state who saw it as a political act, the name Uttarakhand remained popular in the region, even while Uttaranchal was promulgated through official usage. In August 2006, Union Cabinet of India assented to the demands of the Uttaranchal state assembly, legislation to that effect was passed by the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly in October 2006, and the Union Cabinet brought in the bill in the winter session of Parliament. The bill was passed by Parliament and signed into law by then President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in December 2006, and since January 1,2007 the state has been known as Uttarakhand. Ancient rock paintings, rock shelters, paleolithic stone tools, there are also archaeological remains which show the existence of early Vedic practices in the area. The Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Gurjara-Pratihara, Katyuris, Raikas, Palas, Chands, Parmars or Panwars, at that time, present-day Uttarakhand also served as a habitat for Rishis and Sadhus. It is believed that the sage Vyasa scripted the Hindu epic Mahabharata in the state, among the first major dynasties of Garhwal and Kumaon were the Kunindas in the 2nd century BCE who practised an early form of Shaivism and traded salt with Western Tibet. It is evident from the Ashokan edict at Kalsi in Western Garhwal that Buddhism made inroads in this region, folk shamanic practices deviating from Hindu orthodoxy also persisted here
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Rajasthan
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Rajasthan is Indias largest state by area. Elsewhere it is bordered by the other Indian states, Punjab to the north, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the southeast, and Gujarat to the southwest. Rajasthan is also home to two national reserves, the Ranthambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur and Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar. The state was formed on 30 March 1949 when Rajputana – the name adopted by the British Raj for its dependencies in the region – was merged into the Dominion of India. Its capital and largest city is Jaipur, also known as Pink City, other important cities are Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Kota and Ajmer. Parts of what is now Rajasthan were partly part of the Vedic Civilisation, kalibangan, in Hanumangarh district, was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization. Matsya Kingdom of the Vedic civilisation of India, is said to roughly corresponded to the state of Jaipur in Rajasthan. The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagar, which is said to have named after its founder king Virata. Bhargava identifies the two districts of Jhunjhunu and Sikar and parts of Jaipur district along with Haryana districts of Mahendragarh, bhargava also locates the present day Sahibi River as the Vedic Drishadwati River, which along with Saraswati River formed the borders of the Vedic state of Brahmavarta. Manu and Bhrigu narrated the Manusmriti to a congregation of seers in this area only, the Indo-Scythians invaded the area of Ujjain and established the Saka era, marking the beginning of the long-lived Saka Western Satraps state. Gurjars ruled for many dynasties in this part of the country, up to the tenth century almost the whole of North India, acknowledged the supremacy of the Gurjars with their seat of power at Kannauj. The Gurjar Pratihar Empire acted as a barrier for Arab invaders from the 8th to the 11th century, the chief accomplishment of the Gurjara Pratihara empire lies in its successful resistance to foreign invasions from the west, starting in the days of Junaid. Majumdar says that this was acknowledged by the Arab writers. He further notes that historians of India have wondered at the progress of Muslim invaders in India. Traditionally the Rajputs, Jats, Meenas, REBARI, Gurjars, Bhils, Rajpurohit, Charans, Yadavs, Bishnois, Sermals, PhulMali, all these tribes suffered great difficulties in protecting their culture and the land. Millions of them were killed trying to protect their land, a number of Gurjars had been exterminated in Bhinmal and Ajmer areas fighting with the invaders. Meenas were rulers of Bundi, Hadoti and the Dhundhar region, hem Chandra Vikramaditya, the Hindu Emperor, was born in the village of Machheri in Alwar District in 1501. Hem Chandra was killed in the battlefield at Second Battle of Panipat fighting against Mughals on 5 November 1556, maharana Pratap of Mewar resisted Akbar in the famous Battle of Haldighati and later operated from hilly areas of his kingdom
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Gujarat
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Gujarat is a state in Western India, sometimes referred to as the Jewel of Western India. It has an area of 196,024 km2 with a coastline of 1,600 km, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula, and a population in excess of 60 million. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati-speaking people of India, the state encompasses some sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the worlds first seaports, Gujarat was known to the ancient Greeks, and was familiar in other Western centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages. Modern-day Gujarat is derived from Sanskrit term Gurjaradesa, the Gurjar nation, parts of modern Rajasthan and Gujarat have been known as Gurjaratra or Gurjarabhumi for centuries before the Mughal period. Gujarat was one of the centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. It contains ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal, Dholavira, the ancient city of Lothal was where Indias first port was established. The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, the most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro. Altogether, about 50 Indus Valley settlement ruins have been discovered in Gujarat, the ancient history of Gujarat was enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants. There is clear evidence of trade and commerce ties with Egypt, Bahrain. The early history of Gujarat reflects the grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya who conquered a number of earlier states in what is now Gujarat. Pushyagupta, a Vaishya, was appointed governor of Saurashtra by the Mauryan regime and he ruled Giringer and built a dam on the Sudarshan lake. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of the Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain, in the first half of the 1st century AD there is the story of a merchant of King Gondaphares landing in Gujarat with Apostle Thomas. The incident of the cup-bearer killed by a lion might indicate that the city described is in Gujarat. For nearly 300 years from the start of the 1st century AD, the weather-beaten rock at Junagadh gives a glimpse of the ruler Rudradaman I of the Saka satraps known as Western Satraps, or Kshatraps. Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I founded the Kardamaka dynasty which ruled from Anupa on the banks of the Narmada up to the Aparanta region which bordered Punjab, in Gujarat several battles were fought between the south Indian Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni who defeated the Western Satraps, the Kshatrapa dynasty was replaced by the Gupta Empire with the conquest of Gujarat by Chandragupta Vikramaditya
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Dadra and Nagar Haveli
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Dadra and Nagar Haveli is a union territory in Western India. It is composed of two separate entities, Nagar Haveli, wedged between Maharashtra and Gujarat, and,1 km to the northwest, the smaller enclave of Dadra. The area of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is spread over 491 square kilometres, though landlocked between Gujarat to the north and Maharashtra to the south, it is close to the Western coast of India, and the Arabian Sea can be reached via Vapi in Gujarat. The Union Territory comprises two geographical units. The larger part - Nagar Haveli - spans a roughly c-shaped area upriver from the city of Daman on the coast, at the centre of which, the smaller enclave of Dadra is a short distance to the northwest. Dadra and Nagar Haveli is in the middle of the watershed of the Daman Ganga River. The towns of Dadra and Silvassa lie on the bank of the river. The Western Ghats range rises to the east, and the foothills of the range occupy the portion of the district. Dadra and Nagar Haveli ranks 4th in area among the Union Territories and it is surrounded by Valsad District of Gujarat on the West, North, and East, and by Thane District of Maharashtra on the South and South-East. Maghval is a small village belonging to Gujarat that is located within Nagar Haveli. The nearest railway station is Vapi in Gujarat on the Mumbai-Delhi route, bombay is approximately 180 km from Silvassa. Surat city is about 140 km away, the stretch of the main southern area is hilly terrain especially towards the northeast and east where it is surrounded by ranges of Sahyadri mountains. The central alluvial region of the land is almost plain and the soil is fertile, the river Damanganga rises in the Ghat 64 km from the western coast and discharges itself in the Arabian Sea at the port of Daman after crossing Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Its three tributaries viz. Varna, Pipri and Sakartond join Daman Ganga within the territory, about 43% of the land is under forest cover. However, the reserved forest cohis territory constitutes about 40% of the geographical area. The protected forests constitute 2. 45% of the land area. According to satellite data taken in 2008, DNH has roughly about 114 square kilometres of dense forest and 94 square kilometres open forest. As per Forest Survey of India, DNH has two major forest types, tropical moist deciduous forest and tropical dry deciduous forest, the major produce is khairwood/khair and general timber
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Maharashtra
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Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India and is Indias second-most populous state and third-largest state by area. It is the wealthiest Indian state and it is also the worlds second-most populous sub-national entity. It has over 112 million inhabitants and its capital, Mumbai, has a population of approximately 18 million, Nagpur is Maharashtras second capital as well as its winter capital. Maharashtras business opportunities along with its potential to offer a standard of living attract migrants from all over India. Ancient and medieval Maharashtra included the empires of the Satavahana dynasty, Rashtrakuta dynasty, Western Chalukyas, Mughals, the major rivers of the state are Godavari, and Krishna. The Narmada and Tapti Rivers flow near the border between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Maharashtra is the second most urbanised state in India. The state has several popular Hindu places of pilgrimage including Pandharpur, Dehu and Alandi, other places that attract pilgrims from other parts of India and beyond include Hazur Sahib Gurudwara at Nanded, Sai Baba shrine at Shirdi and Dikshabhumi at Nagpur. Maharashtra is the wealthiest and one of the most developed states in India, as of 2011, the state had a per capita income of ₹1.0035 lakh, more than the national average of ₹0.73 lakh. Its GDP per capita crossed the ₹1.20 lakh threshold for the first time in 2013, however, as of 2014, the GDP per capita reduced to ₹1.03 lakh Agriculture and industries are the largest parts of the states economy. Major industries include chemical products, electrical and non-electrical machinery, textiles, petroleum, Jai Maharashtra The modern Marathi language developed from the Maharashtri Prakrit, and the word Mahratta is found in the Jain Maharashtri literature. The terms Maharashtra, Maharashtri, Marathi and Maratha may have derived from the same root, however, their exact etymology is uncertain. But the Marathas as a people do not seem to be mentioned before the thirteenth or fourteenth century, the most widely accepted theory among the linguistic scholars is that the words Maratha and Maharashtra ultimately derived from a combination of Maha and rashtrika. The word rashtrika is a Sanskritized form of Ratta, the name of a tribe or dynasty of petty chiefs ruling in the Deccan region. Another theory is that the term is derived from Maha and ratha / rathi, an alternative theory states that the term derives from the word Maha and Rashtra. However, this theory has not found acceptance among scholars who believe it to be the Sanskritised interpretation of later writers. Maharashtra was ruled by the Maurya Empire in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, around 230 BCE Maharashtra came under the rule of the Satavahana dynasty for 400 years. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni, in 90 CE Vedishri, son of the Satavahana king Satakarni, the Lord of Dakshinapatha, wielder of the unchecked wheel of Sovereignty, made Junnar, thirty miles north of Pune, the capital of his kingdom. The state was ruled by Western Satraps, Gupta Empire, Gurjara-Pratihara, Vakataka, Kadambas, Chalukya Empire, Rashtrakuta Dynasty, and Western Chalukya before finally
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Chhattisgarh
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Chhattisgarh is one of 29 states located in central India. It is the 10th largest state in India, with an area of 135,194 km2, with a population of 28 million, Chhattisgarh is the 17th most-populated state in the country. A resource-rich state, it is a source of electricity and steel for the country, Chhattisgarh is one of the fastest-developing states in India. The state was formed on 1 November 2000 by partitioning 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh, currently the state comprises 27 districts. The following are the list of the districts of Chhattisgarh State, There are several opinions as to the origin of the name Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh was popularized later during the time of the Maratha Empire and was first used in an official document in 1795. It is claimed that Chhattisgarh takes its name from the 36 ancient forts in the area, however, experts do not agree with this explanation, as 36 forts cannot be archaeologically identified in this region. Another view, more popular with experts and historians, is that Chhattisgarh is the form of Chedisgarh which means Raj or Empire of the Chedis. In ancient times, Chhattisgarh region had been part of the Chedi dynasty of Kaling, in the medieval period up to 1803, a major portion of present eastern Chhattisgarh was part of the Sambalpur Kingdom of Odisha. The northern and southern parts of the state are hilly, while the part is a fertile plain. The highest point in the state is the Bailadila Range, deciduous forests of the Eastern Highlands Forests cover roughly 44% of the state. The state animal is the van bhainsa, or wild water buffalo, the state bird is the pahari myna, or hill myna. The state tree is the Sal found in Bastar division, in the north lies the edge of the great Indo-Gangetic plain. The Rihand River, a tributary of the Ganges, drains this area, the eastern end of the Satpura Range and the western edge of the Chota Nagpur Plateau form an east-west belt of hills that divide the Mahanadi River basin from the Indo-Gangetic plain. The outline of Chhattisgarh is like a sea horse, the central part of the state lies in the fertile upper basin of the Mahanadi river and its tributaries. This area has extensive rice cultivation, the upper Mahanadi basin is separated from the upper Narmada basin to the west by the Maikal Hills and from the plains of Odisha to the east by ranges of hills. The southern part of the lies on the Deccan plateau, in the watershed of the Godavari River and its tributary. The Mahanadi is the river of the state. The other main rivers are Hasdo, Rihand, Indravati, Jonk, Arpa and it is situated in the east of Madhya Pradesh
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Telangana
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Telangana is one of the 29 states in India, located in southern India. Formed in June 2014 as the newest state in India, from the part of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana has an area of 112,077 square kilometres. It is the twelfth largest state in India, and the twelfth most populated state in India and its major cities include Hyderabad, Warangal, Nizamabad, Khammam, Karimnagar and Ramagundam. Telangana is bordered by the states of Maharashtra to the north and north west, Chhattisgarh to the north, Karnataka to the west and Andhra Pradesh to the east and south. Telangana had a history as the Telugu-speaking region of the state of Hyderabad. It joined the Union of India in 1948, in 1956, the Hyderabad state was dissolved as part of the linguistic reorganisation of states and Telangana was merged with former Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh. Following a movement for separation, Telangan was awarded separate statehood on 2 June 2014, Hyderabad will continue to serve as the joint capital city for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for a period of not more than ten years. After Asaf Jahis ceded the Seemandhra region to the British, the rest of the Telugu region retained the name Telingana and the other parts were called Madras Presidencys Circars and Ceded. One of the earliest uses of a similar to Telangana can also be seen in a name of Malik Maqbul, who was called the Tilangani. He was the commander of the Warangal Fort, the Satavahana dynasty became the dominant power in this region. It originated from the lands between the Godavari and Krishna rivers and was based at Amaravathi and Dharanikota, after the decline of the Satavahanas, various dynasties, such as the Vakataka, Vishnukundina, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta and Western Chalukya, ruled the area. The Telangana area experienced its golden age during the reign of the Kakatiya dynasty, rudrama Devi and Prataparudra II were prominent rulers from the Kakatiya dynasty. The dynasty weakened with the attack of Malik Kafur in 1309 and was dissolved after the defeat of Prataparudra by the forces of Muhammad bin Tughluq in 1323, the area came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century, followed by the Bahmani Sultanate. Quli Qutb Mulk, a governor of Golkonda, revolted against the Bahmani Sultanate, on 21 September 1687, the Golkonda Sultanate came under the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after a year-long siege of the Golkonda fort. In 1712, Qamar-ud-din Khan was appointed by emperor Farrukhsiyar as the viceroy of Deccan with the title Nizam-ul-Mulk and he was later recalled to Delhi, with Mubariz Khan appointed as the viceroy. In 1724, Qamar-ud-din Khan defeated Mubariz Khan to reclaim the Deccan suba and he took the name Asif Jah, starting what came to be known as the Asif Jahi dynasty. He named the area Hyderabad Deccan, subsequent rulers retained the title Nizam ul-Mulk and were called Asif Jahi nizams or nizams of Hyderabad. The Medak and Warangal divisions of Telangana were part of their realm, when Asif Jah I died in 1748, there was political unrest due to contention for the throne among his sons, who were aided by opportunistic neighbouring states and colonial foreign forces
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Andhra Pradesh
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Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of the country. The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 162,968 km2, as per 2011 Census of India, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. On 2 June 2014, the portion of the state was bifurcated to form a new state of Telangana. In accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014, Hyderabad will remain the de jure capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of not exceeding 10 years. The new riverfront proposed capital in Guntur district is Amaravati, which is under the jurisdiction of APCRDA, the Gross State Domestic Product of the state in the 2016–2017 financial year at current prices stood at ₹6,800.3 billion. The state has a coastline of 974 km with jurisdiction over nearly 15,000 km2 territorial waters, the second longest among all the states of India after Gujarat. It is bordered by Telangana in the north-west, Chhattisgarh in the north, Odisha in the north-east, Karnataka in the west, Tamil Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east. A small enclave of 30 km2 of Yanam, a district of Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh is composed of two regions, Coastal Andhra, located along the Bay of Bengal, and Rayalaseema, in the inland southwestern part of the state. These two regions comprise 13 districts, with 9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh hosted 121.8 million visitors in 2015, a 30% growth in tourist arrivals over the previous year. The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati is one of the worlds most visited religious sites, a tribe named Andhra has been mentioned in the Sanskrit texts such as Aitareya Brahmana. According to Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig Veda, the Andhras left north India, archaeological evidence from places such as Amaravati, Dharanikota and Vaddamanu suggests that the Andhra region was part of the Mauryan Empire. Amaravati might have been a centre for the Mauryan rule. After the death of emperor Ashoka, the Mauryan rule weakened around 200 BCE, the Satavahana dynasty dominated the Deccan region from the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The Satavahanas have been mentioned by the names Andhra, Andhrara-jatiya and Andhra-bhrtya in the Puranic literature, Dharanikota along with Amaravathi was the capital of the later Satavahanas. Amaravathi became a trade and pilgrimage centre during the Satavahana rule. According to the Buddhist tradition, Nagarjuna lived here, possibly in second, Andhra Ikshvakus were one of the earliest recorded ruling dynasties of the Guntur-Krishna regions of Andhra Pradesh. They ruled the eastern Andhra country along the Krishna river during the half of the second century CE. Puranas called Andhra Ikshvakus Shri Parvatiya Andhras, archaeological evidence has suggested that the Andhra Ikshvakus immediately succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna river valley
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Karnataka
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Karnataka is a state in south western region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, originally known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The capital and largest city is Bangalore, the state covers an area of 191,976 square kilometres, or 5.83 percent of the total geographical area of India. It is the seventh largest Indian state by area, with 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Karnataka is the eighth largest state by population, comprising 30 districts. Kannada, one of the languages of India, is the most widely spoken. Most of these rivers flow out of Karnataka eastward into the Bay of Bengal, though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the generally accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning elevated land. Karu nadu may also be read as karu, meaning black, the British used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna. With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient, the philosophers and musical bards patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary movements which have endured to the present day. Karnataka has contributed significantly to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions, Karnatakas pre-history goes back to a paleolithic hand-axe culture evidenced by discoveries of, among other things, hand axes and cleavers in the region. Evidence of neolithic and megalithic cultures have also found in the state. Gold discovered in Harappa was found to be imported from mines in Karnataka, prior to the third century BCE, most of Karnataka formed part of the Nanda Empire before coming under the Mauryan empire of Emperor Ashoka. Four centuries of Satavahana rule followed, allowing them to large areas of Karnataka. The decline of Satavahana power led to the rise of the earliest native kingdoms, the Kadambas, the Kadamba Dynasty, founded by Mayurasharma, had its capital at Banavasi, the Western Ganga Dynasty was formed with Talakad as its capital. These were also the first kingdoms to use Kannada in administration, as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription, the Western Chalukyas patronised a unique style of architecture and Kannada literature which became a precursor to the Hoysala art of 12th century. Parts of modern-day Southern Karnataka were occupied by the Chola Empire at the turn of 11th century, the Cholas and the Hoysalas fought over the region in the early 12th century before it eventually came under Hoysala rule. At the turn of the first millennium, the Hoysalas gained power in the region, literature flourished during this time, which led to the emergence of distinctive Kannada literary metres, and the construction of temples and sculptures adhering to the Vesara style of architecture. The expansion of the Hoysala Empire brought minor parts of modern Andhra Pradesh, in the early 14th century, Harihara and Bukka Raya established the Vijayanagara empire with its capital, Hosapattana, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the modern Bellary district. The empire rose as a bulwark against Muslim advances into South India, in 1565, Karnataka and the rest of South India experienced a major geopolitical shift when the Vijayanagara empire fell to a confederation of Islamic sultanates in the Battle of Talikota
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Tamil Nadu
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Tamil Nadu is one of the 29 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai, Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Puducherry and the South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The state shares a border with the nation of Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu is the eleventh-largest state in India by area and the sixth-most populous, the state was ranked sixth among states in India according to the Human Development Index in 2011, with the second-largest state economy after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu is the second largest state economy in India with ₹13,842 billion in gross domestic product after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu was ranked as one of the top seven developed states in India based on a Multidimensional Development Index in a 2013 report published by the Reserve Bank of India and its official language is Tamil, which is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. Tamil Nadu is home to natural resources. In addition, its people have developed and continue classical arts, classical music, historic buildings and religious sites include Hindu temples of Tamil architecture, hill stations, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites, and eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Archaeological evidence points to this area being one of the longest continuous habitations in the Indian peninsula, the ASI archaeologists have proposed that the script used at that site is very rudimentary Tamil Brahmi. Adichanallur has been announced as a site for further excavation. About 60 per cent of the epigraphical inscriptions found by the ASI in India are from Tamil Nadu. A Neolithic stone celt with the Indus script on it was discovered at Sembian-Kandiyur near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, according to epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan, this was the first datable artefact bearing the Indus script to be found in Tamil Nadu. Mahadevan claimed that the find was evidence of the use of the Harappan language, the date of the celt was estimated at between 1500 BCE and 2000 BCE. The early history of the people and rulers of Tamil Nadu is a topic in Tamil literary sources known as Sangam literature, numismatic, archaeological and literary sources corroborate that the Sangam period lasted for about six centuries, from 300 BC to AD300. Three dynasties, namely the Chera, Chola and Pandya, ruled the area of present-day Tamil Nadu, the Chera ruled the whole of present-day Kerala and parts of western Tamil Nadu comprising Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Karur, Salem and Erode districts from the capital of Vanchi Muthur. The Chola dynasty ruled the northern and central parts of Tamil Nadu from their capital, Uraiyur, All three dynasties had extensive trade relationships with Rome, Greece, Egypt, Ceylon, Phoenicia, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Persia. Trade flourished in commodities such as spices, ivory, pearls, beads, Chera traded extensively from Muziris on the west coast, Chola from Arikamedu and Puhar and Pandya through Korkai port. A Greco-Roman trade and travel document, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea gives a description of the Tamil country, besides these three dynasties, the Sangam era Tamilakam was also divided into various provinces named nadu, meaning country
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Kerala
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Kerala historically known as Keralam, is an Indian state in South India on the Malabar Coast. It was formed on 1 November 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act by combining Malayalam-speaking regions, spread over 38,863 km2, it is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The region has been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE, the Chera Dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala, though it frequently struggled against attacks by the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, after independence, Travancore and Cochin joined the Republic of India and Travancore-Cochin was given the status of a state in 1949. In 1956, Kerala state was formed by merging Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin, Hinduism is practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. The culture is a synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, developed over millennia, under influences from other parts of India, the production of pepper and natural rubber contributes significantly to the total national output. In the agricultural sector, coconut, tea, coffee, cashew, the states coastline extends for 595 kilometres, and around 1.1 million people in the state are dependent on the fishery industry which contributes 3% to the states income. The state has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English, Kerala is one of the prominent tourist destinations of India, with backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions. The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology, One popular theory derives Kerala from Kera and alam is land, thus land of coconuts, this also happens to be a nickname for the state due to abundance of coconut trees and its use by the locals. The word Kerala is first recorded in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription left by the Maurya emperor Ashoka, the inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra, or son of Chera. This contradicts the theory that Kera is from coconut tree, at that time, one of three states in the region was called Cheralam in Classical Tamil, Chera and Kera are variants of the same word. The word Cheral refers to the oldest known dynasty of Kerala kings and is derived from the Proto-Tamil-Malayalam word for lake, the earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala is the Aitareya Aranyaka of the Rigveda. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two Hindu epics, the Skanda Purana mentions the ecclesiastical office of the Thachudaya Kaimal who is referred to as Manikkam Keralar, synonymous with the deity of the Koodalmanikyam temple. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil cherive-alam or chera alam, the Greco-Roman trade map Periplus Maris Erythraei refers to Keralaputra as Celobotra. According to Hindu mythology, the lands of Kerala were recovered from the sea by the warrior sage Parasurama. Parasurama threw his axe across the sea, and the water receded as far as it reached, according to legend, this new area of land extended from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. The land which rose from sea was filled with salt and unsuitable for habitation, so Parasurama invoked the Snake King Vasuki, out of respect, Vasuki and all snakes were appointed as protectors and guardians of the land
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Puducherry
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Puducherry, formerly known as Pondicherry, is a union territory of India. It was formed out of four exclaves of former French India, namely Pondichéry, Karikal, Mahé and it is named after the largest district, Puducherry. Historically known as Pondicherry, the changed its official name to Puducherry on 20 September 2006. Puducherry lies in the part of the Indian Peninsula. Puducherry is the 29th most populous and the third most densely populated territory in India. It has a GDP of ₹0.21 lakh crore and ranks 27th in India, the earliest recorded history of Puducherry can be traced to the 2nd century CE. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentions a marketplace named Poduke, huntingford suggested this might be a site about 2 miles from the modern Puducherry, which was possibly the location of Arikamedu. Huntingford noted that Roman pottery was found at Arikamedu in 1937, in addition, archaeological excavations between 1944 and 1949 showed that it was a trading station to which goods of Roman manufacture were imported during the first half of the 1st century CE. In 1674, Pondicherry became a French colony of the French colonial empire, the union territory of Puducherry consists of four small unconnected districts, Puducherry district, Karaikal district and Yanam district on the Bay of Bengal and Mahé district on the Arabian Sea. Puducherry and Karaikal have the largest areas and population, and are both enclaves of Tamil Nadu, Yanam and Mahé are enclaves of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala respectively. Some of Puducherrys districts are themselves amalgamations of non-contiguous enclaves, often called pockets in India, the Puducherry district is made of 11 such pockets, some of which are very small and entirely surrounded by the territory of Tamil Nadu. Mahé district is made up of three pockets and this unusual geography is a legacy of the colonial period with Puducherry retaining the borders of former French India. All four districts of Puducherry are located in the coastal region, five rivers in Puducherry district, seven in Karaikal district, two in Mahé district and one in Yanam district drain into the sea, but none originates within the territory. Other religions include Christianity and Islam, Puducherry is a Union Territory of India rather than a state, which implies that governance and administration falls directly under federal authority. The Centre is represented by the Lieutenant Governor, who resides at the Raj Nivas at the Park, the central government is more directly involved in the territorys financial well-being unlike states, which have a central grant that they administer. Consequently, Puducherry has at times, enjoyed lower taxes. According to the Treaty of Cession of 1956, the four territories of former French India territorial administration are permitted to make laws with respect to specific matters, in many cases, such legislation may require ratification from the federal government or the assent of the President of India. Article II of the Treaty states, The Establishments will keep the benefit of the administrative status which was in force prior to 1 November 1954
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Lakshadweep
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Lakshadweep, formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Aminidivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea,200 to 440 km off the south western coast of India. The archipelago is a Union Territory and is governed by the Union Government of India and they were also known as Laccadive Islands, although geographically this is only the name of the central subgroup of the group. Lakshadweep comes from Lakshadweepa, which one hundred thousand islands in Sanskrit. The islands form the smallest Union Territory of India, their surface area is just 32 km2. The lagoon area covers about 4,200 km2, the territorial waters area 20,000 km2, the region forms a single Indian district with 10 subdivisions. Kavaratti serves as the capital of the Union Territory and the region comes under the jurisdiction of Kerala High Court, the islands are the northernmost of the Lakshadweep-Maldives-Chagos group of islands, which are the tops of a vast undersea mountain range, the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge. As the islands do not have any aboriginal groups, different views have been postulated by the scholars about the history of habitation on these islands, archaeological evidence supports the existence of human settlement in the region around 1500 BC. The islands have long known to sailors, as indicated by an anonymous reference from the first century AD to the region in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. The islands were referenced also in the Buddhist Jataka stories of the sixth century BC, the arrival of Muslim missionaries around the seventh century led to the advent of Islam in the region. During the medieval period, the region was ruled by the Chola dynasty, the Portuguese arrived around 1498 and were upstaged by 1545. The region was ruled by the Muslim house of Arakkal. On his death in 1799, most of the region passed on to the British and with their departure, Ten of the islands are inhabited. At the 2011 Indian census, the population of the Union Territory was 64,473, the majority of the indigenous population is Muslim and most of them belong to the Shafi school of the Sunni sect. The islanders are ethnically similar to the Malayali people of the nearest Indian state of Kerala, most of the population speaks Malayalam with Mahi being the most spoken language in Minicoy island. The islands are served by an airport on the Agatti island, the main occupation of the people is fishing and coconut cultivation, with tuna being the main item of export. A mention of the region in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, There are references to the control of the islands by the Cheras in the Sangam Patiṟṟuppattu. Local traditions and legends attribute the first settlement on these islands to the period of Cheraman Perumal, the oldest inhabited islands in the group are Amini, Kalpeni Andrott, Kavaratti, and Agatti. Archaeological evidence suggests that Buddhism prevailed in the region during the fifth and sixth centuries CE, according to popular tradition, Islam was brought to Lakshadweep by an Arab named Ubaidulla in 661 CE
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Odisha
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Odisha (/ɒˈrɪsə, ɔː-, oʊ-/, is one of the 29 states of India, located in the eastern coast. It is surrounded by the states of West Bengal to the north-east, Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west and north-west, Odisha has 485 kilometres of coastline along the Bay of Bengal on its east, from Balasore to Malkangiri. It is the 9th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population and it is also the 3rd most populous state of India in terms of tribal population. Odia is the official and most widely spoken language, spoken by 33.2 million according to the 2001 Census. The ancient kingdom of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in 261 BCE resulting in the Kalinga War, the modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April 1936, as a province in British India, and consisted predominantly of Odia-speaking regions. April 1 is celebrated as Odisha Day, the region is also known as Utkala and is mentioned in Indias national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. Cuttack was made the capital of the region by Anantavarman Chodaganga in c,1135, after which the city was used as the capital by many rulers, through the British era until 1948. Thereafter, Bhubaneswar became the capital of Odisha, the term Odisha is derived from the ancient Prakrit word Odda Visaya as in the Tirumalai inscription of Rajendra Chola I, which is dated to 1025. Sarala Das, who translated the Mahabharata into the Odia language in the 15th century, calls the region Odra Rashtra, the inscriptions of Kapilendra Deva of the Gajapati Kingdom on the walls of temples in Puri call the region Odisha or Odisha Rajya. After a brief debate, the house, Lok Sabha, passed the bill. On 24 March 2011, Rajya Sabha, the house of Parliament, also passed the bill. Prehistoric Acheulian tools dating to Lower Paleolithic era have been discovered in places in the region. Kalinga has been mentioned in ancient texts like Mahabharata, Vayu Purana, the Sabar people of Odisha have also been mentioned in the Mahabharata. Baudhayana mentions Kalinga as not yet being influenced by Vedic traditions, Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty conquered Kalinga in the bloody Kalinga War in 261 BCE, which was the eighth year of his reign. According to his own edicts, in that war about 100,000 people were killed,150,000 were captured, the resulting bloodshed and suffering of the war is said to have deeply affected Ashoka. He turned into a pacifist and converted to Buddhism, by c.150 CE, emperor Kharavela, who was possibly a contemporary of Demetrius I of Bactria, conquered a major part of the Indian sub-continent. He also built the monastery atop the Udayagiri hill, subsequently, the region was ruled by monarchs, such as Samudragupta and Shashanka. It was also a part of Harshas empire, later, the kings of the Somavamsi dynasty began to unite the region
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West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
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Nagaland
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Nagaland /ˈnɑːɡəlænd/ is a state in Northeast India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Burma to the east, the state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur. It has an area of 16,579 square kilometres with a population of 1,980,602 per the 2011 Census of India, each tribe is unique in character with its own distinct customs, language and dress. Two threads common to all are language and religion, Nagaland is one of three states in India where the population is mostly Christian. Nagaland became the 16th state of India on 1 December 1963, agriculture is the most important economic activity and the principal crops include rice, corn, millets, pulses, tobacco, oilseeds, sugarcane, potatoes, and fibres. Other significant economic activity includes forestry, tourism, insurance, real estate, the state has experienced insurgency as well as inter-ethnic conflict since the 1950s. The violence and insecurity have long limited Nagalands economic development, because it had to commit its scarce resources on law, order, and security. In the last 15 years, the state has seen violence and annual economic growth rates nearing 10% on a compounded basis. The state is mostly mountainous except those areas bordering Assam valley which comprises 9% of the area of the state. Mount Saramati is the highest peak at 3,840 metres and it lies between the parallels of 98 and 96 degrees east longitude and 26.6 and 27.4 degrees latitude north. The state is home to a variety of flora and fauna. The ancient history of the Nagas is unclear, tribes migrated at different times, each settling in the northeastern part of present India and establishing their respective sovereign mountain terrains and village-states. The origin of the word ‘Naga is also unclear, a popularly accepted, but controversial, view is that it originated from the Burmese word ‘naka’ or naga, meaning people with earrings. Others suggest it means pierced noses, both naka and naga are pronounced the same way in Burmese. The ancient name of Nagaland is Nakanchi or Naganchi, derived from the Naga language, before the arrival of European colonialism in South Asia, there had been many wars, persecution and raids from Burma on Naga tribes, Meitei people and others in Indias northeast. The invaders came for hunting and to seek wealth and captives from these tribes. When the British inquired Burmese guides about the living in northern Himalayas. This was recorded as ‘Naga’ and has been in use thereafter, with the arrival of British East India Company in the early 19th century, followed by the British Raj, Britain expanded its domain over entire South Asia including the Naga Hills
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Manipur
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Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south, the state covers an area of 22,327 square kilometres and has a population of almost 3 million, including the Meitei, Kuki, Naga, and Pangal peoples, who speak Sino-Tibetan languages. Manipur has been at the crossroads of Asian economic and cultural exchange for more than 2,500 years and it has long connected the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia, enabling migration of people, cultures and religions. During the British Rule, the Kingdom of Manipur was one of the princely states, between 1917 and 1939, the people of Manipur pressed for their rights against the British Rule. By the late 1930s, the state of Manipur negotiated with the British administration its preference to be part of India. These negotiations were cut short with the outbreak of World War II, on 21 September 1949, Maharaja Budhachandra signed a Treaty of Accession merging the kingdom into India. This merger is disputed by groups in Manipur as having been completed without consensus, the dispute and differing visions for the future has resulted in a 50-year insurgency in the state for independence from India, as well as in violence between ethnic groups in the state. Over 2010–2013, the militant insurgency was responsible for the violent death of about 1 civilian per 100,000 people, the world average annual death rate from intentional violence has been 7.9 per 100,000 people. The Meitei ethnic group, represents 53% of the population of Manipur state, the main language of the state is Meitei. By comparison, indigenous tribal peoples constitute 20% of the population, they are distinguished by dialects. Manipurs ethnic groups practice a variety of religions, according to 2011 census, Hinduism is the major religion in the state closely followed by Christianity. Other religions include Islam, Sanamahism, Buddhism etc, Manipur has primarily an agrarian economy, with significant hydroelectric power generation potential. It is connected to areas by daily flights through Imphal airport. Manipur is home to sports, the origin of Manipuri dance. Manipur is mentioned in texts as Kangleipak or Meeteileipak which covered only the three valleys districts, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Imphal. Sanamahi Laikan wrote that officials during the reign of Meidingu Pamheiba in the eighteenth century adopted Manipurs new name, according to Sakok Lamlen, the area had different names in its history. During the Hayachak period, it was known as Mayai Koiren poirei namthak saronpung or Tilli Koktong Ahanba, during the Langbachak era, it became Tilli Koktong Leikoiren, and finally Muwapali in the Konnachak epoch. Neighbouring cultures each had differing names for Manipur and its people, the Shan or Pong called the area Cassay, the Burmese Kathe, and the Assamese Meklee
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Mizoram
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Mizoram is one of the states of Northeast India, with Aizawl as its capital city. The name is derived from Mi, Zo and Ram, in the northeast, it is the southern most landlocked state sharing borders with three of the Seven, now with the addition of Sikkim, Eight sister states, namely Tripura, Assam, Manipur. The state also shares a 722 kilometre border with the countries of Bangladesh. Like several other states of India, Mizoram was previously part of Assam until 1972. It became the 23rd state of India, a step above Union Territory, on 20 February 1987, Mizorams population was 1,091,014, according to a 2011 census. It is the 2nd least populous state in the country, Mizoram covers an area of approximately 21,087 square kilometres. About 91% of the state is forested and this is the highest concentration of tribal people among all states of India, and they are currently protected under Indian constitution as a Scheduled Tribe. Mizoram is one of three states of India with a Christian majority and its people belong to various denominations, mostly Presbyterian in its north and Baptists in south. Mizoram is a highly literate agrarian economy, but suffers from slash-and-burn jhum or shifting cultivation, in recent years, the jhum farming practices are steadily being replaced with a significant horticulture and bamboo products industry. The states gross domestic product for 2012 was estimated at ₹6,991 crore. About 20% of Mizorams population lives below poverty line, with 35% rural poverty, the state has about 871 kilometres of national highways, with NH-54 and NH-150 connecting it to Assam and Manipur respectively. It is also a transit point for trade with Myanmar. The term Mizoram is derived from three Mizo words-Mi, zo and ram, Mi in Mizo means People and Ram means land. There is dispute on the term zo, According to one view, zo means highland and Mizoram means land of the hill people. Lalthangliana says zo may also mean cold region and therefore, Mizo signifies people of the cold region, the origin of the Mizos, like those of many other tribes in the northeastern India, is shrouded in mystery. The people living in the Mizo Hills were generally referred to as the cucis or kukis by their ethnic groups which was also a term adopted by the British writers. The claim that The Kukis are the earliest known residents of the Mizo hills area, the majority of the tribes classified as Mizo today most likely migrated to their present territories from the neighbouring countries in several waves, starting around 1500 CE. Before the British Raj, the various Mizo clans lived in autonomous villages, the tribal chiefs enjoyed an eminent position in the gerontocratic Mizo society
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Tripura
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Tripura /ˈtrɪpuːrɑː/ is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers 10,491 km2 and is bordered by Bangladesh to the north, south, and west, in 2011 the state had 3,671,032 residents, constituting 0. 3% of the countrys population. The Bengali Hindu people form the majority in Tripura. Indigenous communities, known in India as scheduled tribes, form more than 30 per cent of Tripuras population, the Kokborok speaking Tripuri people are the major group among 19 tribes and many subtribes. The area of modern Tripura was ruled for centuries by the Tripuri dynasty. The independent Tripuri Kingdom joined the newly independent India in 1949, Tripura lies in a geographically disadvantageous location in India, as only one major highway, the National Highway 8, connects it with the rest of the country. Five mountain ranges—Boromura, Atharamura, Longtharai, Shakhan and Jampui Hills—run north to south, with intervening valleys, Agartala, the state has a tropical savanna climate, and receives seasonal heavy rains from the south west monsoon. Forests cover more than half of the area, in which bamboo, Tripura has the highest number of primate species found in any Indian state. Due to its isolation, economic progress in the state is hindered. Poverty and unemployment continue to plague Tripura, which has a limited infrastructure, most residents are involved in agriculture and allied activities, although the service sector is the largest contributor to the states gross domestic product. The sculptures at the archaeological sites Unakoti, Pilak and Devtamura provide historical evidence of fusion between organised and tribal religions. The Ujjayanta Palace in Agartala was the royal abode of the Tripuri king. Tripur was the 39th descendant of Druhyu, who belonged to the lineage of Yayati, one of the Puranas, the text about the exploits of Shiva, tells the story of the sack of Tripura. Variants of the name include Tripra, Tuipura and Tippera, although there is no evidence of lower or middle Paleolithic settlements in Tripura, Upper Paleolithic tools made of fossil wood have been found in the Haora and Khowai valleys. An ancient name of Tripura is Kirat Desh, probably referring to the Kirata Kingdoms or the generic term Kirata. However, it is whether the extent of modern Tripura is coterminous with Kirat Desh. The region was under the rule of the Twipra Kingdom for centuries, the boundaries of the kingdom changed over the centuries. At various times, the borders reached south to the jungles of the Sundarbans on the Bay of Bengal, east to Burma, the Mughals had influence over the appointment of the Tripuri kings
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Andaman and Nicobar Islands
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The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, one of the seven union territories of India, are a group of islands at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. The territory is 150 km north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated from Thailand and it comprises two island groups, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands, separated by the 10°N parallel, with the Andamans to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south. The Andaman Sea lies to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the west, the territorys capital is the Andamanese town of Port Blair. The total land area of islands is approximately 8,249 km2. The capital of Nicobar Islands is Car Nicobar, the islands host the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the only tri-service geographical command of the Indian Armed Forces. The Andaman Islands are home to the only known Paleolithic people, the Sentinelese people, the earliest archaeological evidence yet documented goes back some 2,200 years. Since that time, the Andamanese have diversified into distinct linguistic, the Nicobar Islands appear to have been populated by people of various backgrounds. At the time of the European contact, the inhabitants were the Nicobarese people, speaking a Mon-Khmer language. Both are unrelated to the Andamanese, but being closely related to the Myanmarese, rajendra Chola I, one of the Tamil Chola dynasty kings, conquered the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to use them as a strategic naval base to launch a naval expedition against the Sriwijaya Empire. The islands also provided a maritime base for ships of the Maratha Empire in the 17th century. The Maratha navys admiral Kanhoji Angre established naval supremacy with a base in the islands and is credited with attaching those islands to India. The history of organised European colonisation on the islands began when the Danish settlers of the Danish East India Company arrived in the Nicobar Islands on 12 December 1755. On 1 January 1756, the Nicobar Islands were made a Danish colony, first named New Denmark, during 1754–1756 they were administrated from Tranquebar. The islands were abandoned due to outbreaks of malaria between 14 April 1759 and 19 August 1768, from 1787 to 1807/05,1814 to 1831,1830 to 1834. From 1 June 1778 to 1784, Austria mistakenly assumed that Denmark had abandoned its claims to the Nicobar Islands and attempted to establish a colony on them, renaming them Theresia Islands. In 1789 the British set up a base and penal colony on Chatham Island next to Great Andaman. Two years later the colony was moved to Port Cornwallis on Great Andaman, denmarks presence in the territory ended formally on 16 October 1868 when it sold the rights to the Nicobar Islands to Britain, which made them part of British India in 1869. In 1858 the British again established a colony at Port Blair, the primary purpose was to set up a penal colony criminal convicts from the Indian subcontinent
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Assam
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Assam (English pronunciation, /əˈsæm/ listen is a state in northeastern India. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, along with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya, is one of the Seven Sister States. Geographically, Assam and these states are connected to the rest of India via a 22 kilometres strip of land in West Bengal called the Siliguri Corridor or Chickens Neck. Assam shares a border with Bhutan and Bangladesh, and its culture, people. Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam silk, the first oil well in Asia was drilled here. The state has conserved the one-horned Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, along with the water buffalo, pygmy hog, tiger. It provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant, the Assamese economy is aided by wildlife tourism, centred around Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park which are World Heritage Sites. Sal tree forests are found in the state which, as a result of abundant rainfall, Assam receives more rainfall compared to most parts of India. This rain feeds the Brahmaputra River, whose tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with a hydro-geomorphic and aesthetic environment, the precise etymology of Assam came from Ahom Dynasty. In the classical period and up to the 12th century the region east of the Karatoya river, largely congruent to present-day Assam, was called Kamarupa, in medieval times the Mughals used Asham and Kamrup, and during British colonialism, the English used Assam. Though many authors have associated the name with the 13th century Shan invaders the precise origin of the name is not clear. It was suggested by some that the Sanskrit word Asama was the root, which has been rejected by Kakati, among possible origins are Tai and Bodo. Assam and adjoining regions have evidences of settlements from all the periods of the Stone ages. The hills at the height of 1, 500–2,000 feet were popular habitats probably due to availability of exposed dolerite basalt, useful for tool-making. According to a text, Kalika Purana, the earliest ruler of Assam was Mahiranga Danav of the Danava dynasty. The last of these rulers, also Naraka, was slain by Krishna, narakas son Bhagadatta became the king, who fought for the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra with an army of kiratas, chinas and dwellers of the eastern coast. Samudraguptas 4th century Allahabad pillar inscription mentions Kamarupa and Davaka as frontier kingdoms of the Gupta Empire, ruled by three dynasties Varmanas, Mlechchha dynasty and Kamarupa-Palas, from their capitals in present-day Guwahati, Tezpur and North Gauhati respectively. All three dynasties claimed their descent from Narakasura, an immigrant from Aryavarta, in the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskar Varman, the Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the region and recorded his travels
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Sikkim
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Sikkim is a northeastern state of India. It borders China in its north and east, Bhutan in its east, Nepal in its west, Sikkim is also located close to the Siliguri Corridor near Bangladesh. Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest among the Indian states, Sikkims capital and largest city is Gangtok. Almost 25% of the state is covered by the Khangchendzonga National Park, the Kingdom of Sikkim was founded on the Silk Road by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century. It was ruled by a Buddhist priest-king known as the Chogyal, once a vassal state of Qing China, it became a princely state of British India in 1890. After the Peoples Republic of China invaded Tibet, Sikkim continued its status with the dominion. It enjoyed the highest literacy rate and per capita income among Himalayan states, in 1975, the Indian military deposed the Sikkimese monarchy. A referendum in 1975 led to Sikkim joining India as its 22nd state, modern Sikkim is a multiethnic and multilingual Indian state. Sikkim has 11 official languages, Nepali, Sikkimese, Lepcha, Tamang, Limbu, Newari, Rai, Gurung, Magar, Sunwar, English is taught in schools and used in government documents. The predominant religions are Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism, Sikkims economy is largely dependent on agriculture and tourism, and as of 2014 the state had the third-smallest GDP among Indian states, although it is also among the fastest-growing. Sikkim accounts for the largest share of production in India. It is the most organic farming state in India and it is also among Indias most environmentally conscious states, having banned plastic water bottles and styrofoam products. The most widely accepted theory of the name Sikkim is that it is a combination of two Limbu words, su, which means new, and khyim, which means palace or house. The name is believed to be a reference to the built by the states first ruler. The Tibetan name for Sikkim is Drenjong, which means valley of rice, while the Bhutias call it Beyul Demazong, the Lepcha people, the original inhabitants of Sikkim, called it Nye-mae-el, meaning paradise. In History, Sikkim is known as Indrakil, the garden of the war god Indra, little is known about Sikkims ancient history, beyond the fact that its original inhabitants were the Lepcha. The earliest historical mention of Sikkim is a record of the passage of the Buddhist saint Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, the Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced Buddhism, and foretold the era of monarchy that would arrive in Sikkim centuries later. According to legend, Khye Bumsa, a 14th-century prince from the Minyak House in Kham in eastern Tibet, Phuntsog Namgyal was succeeded in 1670 by his son, Tensung Namgyal, who moved the capital from Yuksom to Rabdentse
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Jharkhand
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Jharkhand is a state in eastern India carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. The state shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Odisha to the south and it has an area of 79,710 km2. The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka its sub capital, Jamshedpur is the largest industrial city in the state, while Dhanbad and Bokaro Steel City are the second and fourth most populous cities respectively. The State is primarily a state as only 24 percent of the population resides in cities. According to writers including Gautam Kumar Bera, there was already a distinct geo-political, cultural entity called Jharkhand even before the Magadha Empire, beras book also refers to the Hindu epic Bhavishya Purana. The tribal rulers, some of whom continue to thrive till today were known as the Munda Rajas, for a greater part of Vedic age, Jharkhand remained unnoticed. During the age of Mahajanpadas around 500 BC, India saw the emergence of 16 large states that controlled the entire Indian subcontinent, in those days the northern portion of Jharkhand state was a tributary state of Magadha Empire and southern part was a tributary of Kalinga Empire. According to legend, Raja Jai Singh Deo of Odisha declared himself the ruler of Jharkhand in the 13th century, the Singh Deos of Orissa were influential in the early history of Jharkhand. The local tribal heads had developed into barbaric dictators who could govern the province neither fairly nor justly, consequently, the people of this state approached the more powerful rulers of Jharkhands neighboring states who were perceived to have a more fair and just governance. The good tribal rulers continued to thrive and were known as the Munda Rajas, later, during the Mughal period, the Jharkhand area was known as Kukara. In the year 1765, it came under the control of the British Empire and became known under its present title, Jharkhand — the Land of jungles. In 1765, the region came under the control of the British East India Company, the subjugation and colonisation of Jharkhand region by the British East India Company resulted in spontaneous resistance from the local people. The first ever revolt against the landlords and the British government was led by Tilka Manjhi and he wanted to liberate his people from the clutches of the unscrupulous landlords and restore the lands of their ancestors. The British government sent its troops and crushed the uprisings of Tilka Manjhi, soon after in 1779, the Bhumij tribes rose in arms against the British rule in Manbhum, now in West Bengal. This was followed by the Chero tribes unrest in Palamau and they revolted against the British rule in 1800 AD. Hardly seven years later in 1807, the Oraons in Barway murdered their big landlord of Srinagar west of Gumla, soon the uprisings spread around Gumla. The tribal uprisings spread eastward to neighbouring Tamar areas of the Munda tribes and they too rose in revolt in 1811 and 1813. The Hos in Singhbhum were growing restless and came out in revolt in 1820 and fought against the landlords
