An Outline Of The Cultural History Of India

The outline attempted in these pages of the Cultural History of India is divided into three parts, each presenting in historic sequence a distinct phase of India's cultural development. The first part depicts the Aryan impact on the pre-Aryan Culture of the land, giving rise to what may be termed 'Indo-Aryan Culture' which, while assimilating, as time went on, diverse spasmodic cultural strains infiltrating into the country in ancient times from the North-West, displayed in its forward march, in an ever increasing measure, in almost every sphere of life, the dominating touch of the Vedic or Aryan outlook on life as developed on the soil of India. The second part marks the impact of Islam on this Indo-Aryan culture, setting in motion a synthetic process of development which in its results came to be styled as the 'Hindustani way.' The last phase covered by the third part, is the further development achieved under the impact of the West denoting heritage which we possess today. That heritage has now reached a crucial stage, and needs to be nursed with care. If those who may be called upon today or tomorrow to guide the destinies of the country, learn to respect, preserve, and strengthen, with perfect integrity of mind, every component element in the synthesis wrought so far, the culture of India will be found to possess the vitality or the requisite qualities to make a powerful contribution to the development of a lasting world culture for the whole of mankind.