"Incredible India" is the slogan of India's official tourism campaign-and it's true!

India has an amazing history, from some of the world's earliest civilizations to its contemporary high-tech culture and a huge diversity of religions, arts, and people.

This book takes you all the way from India's prehistoric beginnings at Mohenjo-daro to the development of Buddhism and the Maurya Empire, the Hindu empires of the Middle Ages, the Mughals who brought Islam to the mix (and created the Taj Mahal), the British Raj, and finally the fight for independence and the modern yet ageless India of today.

On the way, you'll find out some fascinating facts about Indian culture, history, and historical figures. Here is just a glimpse of what you can discover in this book:

• How National Highway 1 goes all the way back to the Mauryan Empire!
• The importance of nonviolence in Indian culture
• How just 20,000 British officials ruled a population of millions
• How the illiterate emperor Akbar headed a huge revival of art and scholarship, mixing Hindu, Muslim, Jain, and even Christian influences
• Why only ten of the eleven Sikh gurus were actual people-and who the eleventh guru is
• How India exported Buddhism to the world
• India's intense artistic heritage, from rock-cut temples and acutely observant Mughal miniatures to Anish Kapoor's contemporary abstracts
• Why a Sikh maharaja ended up as an English landowner and friend of Queen Victoria
• How a film actress became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu state
• How to escape jail in a basket of sweets
• And so much more!