How Old Is India as of 2024?

The world is old — very old. Scientists estimate the planet itself could sustain life about 3.5 billion years ago, but the oldest organized civilizations only started a few thousand years ago.

When it comes to the oldest countries and civilizations on earth, India remains one of the top. But how old is India, and when was it officially founded? Keep reading to learn more.

How Old is India?

India is over 3,200 years old if you consider the “birth” of it to be when the Vedic civilization rose in 1500 BCE. The subcontinent of India, according to the Indian Times, dates back to 6000 BCE — but experts believe the first humans made it to the subcontinent as long ago as 55,000 years. 

If you consider the Republic of India’s age, the country is only a few hundred years old after liberating itself from the United Kingdom. However, many consider the nation’s age to start long before the British overtook the subcontinent. 

History of India’s Founding

Ancient India has a wealth of interesting history. The first humans from Africa traveled across continents to arrive in India tens of thousands of years ago. Presently, archeologists and researchers have found evidence of crops, structures, animals, and other signs of domestication in modern-day Pakistan around 6500 BCE. At the time, this area was known as the Indus Valley civilization and gave rise to the ancient Indian population. Trade with other countries became the region’s economic bread-and-butter; some of the goods like calico, pashmina shawls, and muslin remain widely traded today. Throughout ancient time, empires rose and fell — with the very last bringing the country into the fifteenth century. 

In 1498, a Portuguese explorer landed in India — and his findings brought a flurry of Europeans to India’s shores. Before long, the British East India Company arrived and set up a series of processes that all but ushered India under the Union Jack.

British rule over India persisted officially between 1858 and 1947 when India gained its independence. This 89-year period describes the time the Crown presided over the country, but the East India Company set a foothold in the country with economic and governmental prominence in the early 1600s.

Does India Celebrate Its Birthday?

Like many other ancient nations, India doesn’t celebrate the day of the nation’s founding as it’s too old to accurately denote the day or month it came to be. Conversely, India celebrates its independence from the United Kingdom and its adoption of a national constitution. The first holiday, Indian Independence Day, is celebrated on August 15 every year. Indians celebrate Republic Day, a commemoration of the adoption of the Constitution of India, every year on January 26. 

Independence Day and Republic Day are two of only three national holidays in India; the third, Gandhi Jayanti Day, celebrates the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. As you may already know, Gandhi was an instrumental civil rights activist who led peaceful, nonviolent resistance campaigns that ultimately liberated India from United Kingdom rule.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © hansslegers/iStock via Getty Images