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The Birth of the Nation: India as we know it today never existed in the past. In 1884, Sir John Strachey said, ‘There is not and never was an India.’ He could not conceive the idea that this land mass which consisted of different castes, religions, races and cultures would ever think of belonging to one single nation. There was some truth in what he said of the past but not of the future.

Early Beginnings:

Known Indian civilizations dates back to the Indus. However, this does not constitute or even cover India. Early invasions of Aryans forced migration of the Bhumiputras (Original settlers or the people of the land) to other parts of the sub-continent. Thus civilization spread to the interior lands. They began developing into small communities. Leaders rose and took charge. They nurtured their small communities into kingdoms. Larger ones overpowered the smaller ones and new boundaries were drawn. There were many rulers from North to South but at no time was there one single ruler that ruled the entire land mass as one nation.

Over the centuries, dynasties rose and fell. The external invaders tried to get a foothold on the land. Some were repelled and some were successful in making their way into the land. The successful invaders made this land their home. They brought in their culture; let it mingle with the existing ones and new cultures evolved. These became a part of the land.

Enter Britishers:

The British entry was of a different nature. India did not exist at that time. The physical boundaries were local principalities. They viewed India as a great land divided internally into principalities by race, caste, religion, language and culture. They failed to see that beneath this diversity lay a solid foundation of a long unbroken cultural tradition. Sub-consciously the people were united. For centuries, the original inhabitants of the Indus and other areas had been migrating and settling all over the sub-continent. The entire land was covered with people related through the centuries. It was a web across the country. This was beyond the comprehension of the British.

When the British wanted to rule India, they could not do it within the local kingdom. It would be easier to rule the whole land as a single body. Therefore, they amalgamated smaller kingdoms into one huge kingdom. To consolidate their rule they ushered in uniform laws, taxes and institutions over the whole land. These only served to strengthen the concept of Indian nationalism. What lay dormant for centuries now began surfacing. Thus, the British created a single Indian state on which Indian patriotism could focus.

As their rule continued, the repulsion to them increased. The invisible web of nationalism was turning to solid iron.

The Real Forerunners of Nation making:

An unassuming bonding factor that connected the nation was the railways. In 1865 Edwin Arnold, author of ‘Light of Asia’, prophesized “Railways may do for India, what dynasties have never done, what the genius of Akbar could not do, they may make India a nation”. Less than a century later, we were a nation.

The post and telegraph introduced by the British, further eroded the old boundaries and helped in making “India”. These and many more facilities that the British introduced to help themselves only benefited to unite the freedom struggle. Opposition to the British was no more localized but it was an all-India matter. Evicting the British was getting them out of the entire sub-continent. The freedom struggle was no more a local struggle but became a national struggle. The seeds of nationalism were bearing fruit now. Organizations began taking the name Indian. When light could be seen at the end of this dark British tunnel, it was clear that an Indian nation was being born.