A private tour is the most enjoyable way to travel and to get a thorough understanding of the places you visit.
With a private guide, you will have a tour tailored to your wishes. All time will be dedicated to make your tour perfect and unforgettable.
You will visit and learn about the history and significance of visited highlights and usually skip the line to get the most out of your day.
The Booqify network of professional tour guides offer tours in all the major destinations.
You can book our tours directly on our website, browse through the tour guide list or use GuideMatch, a very efficient and free service to find the best guide for you.
We wish you a great time in India and feel free to contact the Booqify India Manager, Haider Ali, for any of the questions you might have. Haider is a professional tour guide himself and will be happy to guide you to the Taj Mahal.
Namaste and happy travelling
India is an extremely diverse country, with vast differences in geography, climate, culture, language and ethnicity across its expanse, and prides itself on being the largest democracy on Earth and a hub of trade in Southeast Asia.
History
One of the three cradles of civilizations the Indus Valley Civilization flourished in Northern India. The oldest archaeological site attributed to this civilization is Bhirrana(7570 BCE).
This civilization came to an abrupt end around 1700 to 1500 BCE. This was followed by the Vedic Period. Indians date the Vedic Period as one of the significant role in Indian Society, which scholars place in the second and first millennium BC continuing up to the 6th century BC, based on literary evidence. This is the period when the Vedas, one of the oldest and important books of Hinduism, were compiled.
The Vedic civilization influences Republic of India to this day. Present-day Hinduism traces its roots to the Vedas, but is also heavily influenced by literature that came afterwards, like the Upanishads, the Puranas, the great epics; Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the Bhagavad Gita. By tradition, these books claim to only expand and distill the knowledge that is already present in the Vedas.
Some rituals of Hinduism took shape during that period. Most North-Indian languages come from Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas, and are classified as part of the Indo-European group of languages. In the 1st millennium BC, various schools of thought in philosophy developed, enriching Hinduism greatly. Most of them claimed to derive from the Vedas. However, three of these schools – Sikhism , Buddhism and Jainism – questioned the authority of the Vedas and they are now recognized as separate religions.
Many great empires were formed between 500 BC and AD 500. Notable among them were the Mauryas and the Guptas. This period saw major mathematical and astronomical advancements, many of which were ahead of their time and were rediscovered later in the West. In particular, Aryabhata theorised that the earth was a sphere that rotates about its axis and revolves around the sun. He also developed a calendar that is followed to this day.
This period also saw a gradual decline of Buddhism and Jainism. The practice of Buddhism, in particular, disappeared from India’s heartland, though Buddha himself was incorporated into the Hindu pantheon. Jainism continues to be practiced by a significant number who are ambivalent about whether they consider themselves Hindus or not. Hinduism itself went through significant changes. The importance of Vedic deities like Indra and Agni reduced and Puranic deities like Vishnu, Shiva, their various Avatars and family members gained prominence.
Jamia Masjid, Delhi.
The Islamic conquest of India started in the 8th century. The most important of the Muslim rulers were the Mughals, who established an empire that at its peak covered almost the entire subcontinent.
This period of North India was the golden age for Indian art, architecture, and literature, producing the monumental gems of Rajasthan and the Taj Mahal.
Hindi and Urdu also took root in medieval North India. During the Islamic period, some Hindus also converted to Islam, some due to force, some due to inducements, and some to escape the caste system. Today, some 13% of the Indian population is Muslim. Sikhism, another major religion, was established in Punjab during the Mughal period. Relations between Sikhism and the Mughals varied over time.
European traders started visiting India beginning in the late 16th century. Prominent among these were the British, French and the Portuguese. The British East India Company made Calcutta their headquarters in 1772. They also established subsidiary cities like Bombay and Madras. Calcutta later went onto to become ‘the second city of the empire after London’. By the 19th century, the British had, one way or the other assumed political control of virtually all of India, though the Portuguese and the French too had their enclaves along the coast.
There was an uprising by Indian rulers in 1857 which was suppressed, but which prompted the British government to take over from the Company and make India a part of the empire. Many Indians converted to Christianity during the period, for pretty much the same reasons as they converted to Islam, though forcible conversions ended in British India after 1859, and Queen Victoria’s proclamation promised to respect the religious faiths of Indians.
Non-violent resistance to British colonialism under Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi led to Independence on 15th August 1947. However, independence was simultaneously granted to the secular state of India and the smaller Islamic state of Pakistan, and the orgy of Hindu-Muslim blood-letting that followed Partition led to the deaths of at least half a million and the migration of 12-14 million people.
Free India under Nehru adopted a democratically-governed, centrally-planned economy. These policies were aimed at attaining “self-sufficiency”, and to a large extent made India what it is today. India achieved self-sufficiency in food grains by the 1970s, ensuring that the large-scale famines that had been common are now history. However these policies also led to shortages, slow growth and large-scale corruption. After a balance-of-payments crisis in 1991, the country adopted free-market reforms which have continued at a meandering pace ever since, fueling strong growth. The IT and the business outsourcing industries have been the drivers for the growth, while manufacturing and agriculture, which have not experienced reforms, are lagging. About 60% of Indians live on agriculture and around 36% remain in poverty.
India is proud of its democratic record. Constitutional government and democratic freedoms have been safeguarded throughout its 60 years as an Independent country, except for an 18 month interlude in 1975-1977, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency, suspending elections and human rights.
