A PORTRAIT OF INDIA
The Delhi , Agra and Jaipur region lies at the geographical heart of North India . Its strategic location along the north-south and east-west routes has given it a focal position in Indian history and many great empires have been ruled from here. What we see today is a dynamic blend of the old and the new, a proudly traditional social structure within a modern liberalized economy. 
This landlocked region is enclosed by mountains to the north, the desert and the forested Aravallis to the west. To the east are the agriculturally rich riverine plains, with vast fields of sugarcane, wheat, mustard and lentils. Southwards, these flat plains dramatically metamorphose into the earth pillars of the Chambal ravines, a rugged landscape once inhabited by fierce bandits. Invaders, entering the subcontinent from the mountain passes of the northwestern frontiers, conquered this region centuries earlier and made it their home.
The Legacy of the Past The earliest civilization in this region was the Harappan culture in the second millennium BC. However, it was the Aryan settlements in the next millennium that provided the region with its philosophical moorings, epic literature, such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and its early Hindu kingdoms. In the first and second centuries, the area was the center of a Buddhist empire when the Kushana emperors who ruled from Taxila (now in Pakistan ) made Mathura their second capital. After the decline of the great Hindu and Buddhist empires, powerful Rajput rulers seized control of parts of North India . Many of the magnificent forts from which their feudal kingdoms were ruled can still be seen today.
Religion has always been the cultural link between the epochs, and by the 13 th century. Hinduism had been influenced by the Bhakti Movement which stressed the need for a personal god. This resulted in the Krishna cult, centered around Mathura and Brindavan – places associated with the youth of this popular god. Even as the Bhakti Movement flourished, invaders from Afghanistan and Central Asia conquered the north. Delhi , and later Agra , became the capitals of the Muslim sultans. The cross-fertilization of indigenous and Islamic cultures bred a unique hybrid that influenced art, architecture, music and cuisine, reaching its zenith with the Mughals.
The 19 th century saw the decline of the Mughal Empire and the growing power of the British East India Company. In 1858, the East India Company's territories in India were transferred to the British Crown, and the country settled down to a 90-year span of Pax Britannica. The legacy of the British Raj lives on in modern India 's administrative and educational systems, and English is today the common language of communication between India 's different linguistic regions and states.
In 1947, British rule came to an end and India became an independent nation. Since then, the country has faced the challenge of building industries, and tackling the social problems of illiteracy, poverty and the caste system. As the population of India raced towards one billion, these problems became more pressing. So, in the 1990s, India adopted an open-market economy, adding yet another dimension of change to a land that is constantly on the move.
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