India, officially Republic of India, is the world's seventh largest country in area. With more then 1 billion inhabitants, India ranks second as the most populated country. Second only to China. India's long history stretches back to the Indus Valley Civilization of about 2500-1700 BC. India was an imperial possession long before the British made it theirs in the 1700s. The ancient Hindu states under their rajas had first known alien rule at the end of the twelfth century, when Turkish-speaking Muslims invaded India from the north. In September of 1599, a group of London merchants pledged themselves to raise 30,000 pounds in support of a voyage to the East Indies and asked for royal permission for a monopoly of commerce with that part of the world. The charter came to them from the Queen's hand on the last day of 1600. With that, the East India Company was launched. By the end of the seventeenth century India, for Company purposes, had been divided into three Presidencies; Madras, Bombay, and Bengal, each of which were independent of the others and corresponding directly with London. For hundreds of years, India was home to massive empires and regional kingdoms. Foreign rule produced Indian nationalism, which eventually led to India winning its independence in 1947.
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How do the people of India, who are separated by language, religion, ethnicity, and geography, ascertain political legitimacy? It is accomplished through the written right to vote, nationalism for autonomy, and a rigid caste system. A written constitution was adopted after India gained its independence from Britain. Within the document, it states that citizens equal to or above the age of 18 have the right to vote. This ensures that the people elect their public officials, therefore, legitimizing them. After being ruled by alien governments, the people of India have developed a nationalist attitude. The fact that they are now autonomous legitimizes their officials.
