The earliest traces of human habitation in India are the rock shelters at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh on India’s central plateau. Their Stone Age paintings have been dated from 28,000 to 7,000 BC. Recorded history begins in the Bronze Age with the Indus Valley and Vedic Era civilizations between 3,300 and 500 BC.

Throughout this long history many cultures and civilizations have risen and declined, though Islam and Hinduism have been a repeated core and cultural influence. All have played a part in the evolution of this complex country. Some rulers – notably Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Dynasty and later emperors Babur, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan of the Mughal Dynasty - left an indelible legacy for subsequent generations.