India, a country of vast geographical and cultural diversities with a very long history, lies between the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the West and the Indian Ocean in the south and the mighty Himalayas in the north. Indian social system is complex, diverse and well-knit. Tradition, which consists of heritage and values, encompasses the entire Indian social system. Prior to the advent of Islam in India, Indian society was organised on the principles of hierarchy, holism, continuity and transcendence.
These four were deeply interlocked with other elements of Indian social structure. Hierarchy was ingrained not only in the system of caste and sub-caste stratification but also in the Hindu concepts of human nature, life-cycles (ashram scheme of life) and moral duties (dharma). Holism implied a relationship between the individual and the social group in which the former was born, brought up and spent his/her life. Here society or community always gained prominence and not the individual. The subsumption of individual by collectivity persisted all along the line of traditional social structure, i.e. the family, caste, village community and the polity. Community-orientation in traditional social system was always reinforced through the value system of continuity, which symbolise the principle of Karma, transmigration of soul and a cyclical view of time (yuga). The principle of transcendence asserted that legitimation of traditional values would never be challenged on the grounds of rationality derived from secular view of life.
India is overwhelmingly rural in character. Seventy per cent of its population live in 5,571,388 (1991 census) villages. India’s economy is also predominantly agricultural. Diverse geographical features of the country are primarily responsible for diverse economic pursuits, diverse rhythm of agricultural activities and raising of varieties of crops.
The topography of India is complex, yet very rich. In the north we find the Himalayas and associated mountain chains. It is followed by the Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plains. The peninsular plateau is a vast stretch of land. On the western side are situated the verdant Western Ghats and the Arabian sea coastline. On the eastern side, the Eastern Ghats run in a north-south direction along the Bay of Bengal. The drainage system in India is executed through a number of major rivers, the banks of which are replete with settlements. Besides these there are island settlements. The physiography of the whole country is divided into the following 31 natural regions :
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I. Regions in the Himalayas :
1. Kashmir
2. Karakoram and Ladakh
3. Himachal and Kumaon
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4. Central Himalayas
5. Purvachal Hills
II. Regions in the Plains :
6. Punjab Plains
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7. Indo-Gangetic divide
8. Ganga Plains
9. Ganga Delta
10. Assam Valley
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III. Regions in the Plateau:
11. Thar Desert
12. Aravalli hills
13. Central Vindhya Uplands
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14. Khandesh and Satpura-Maikal ranges
15. Chotanagpur Plateau
16. Meghalaya Plateau
17. Kutch and Kathiawar
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18. Gujarat Plains
19. Konkan Coast
20. Goa and Canada Coast
21. Kerala Coastal Plains
22. Western Ghats
23. Deccan Lava Plateau
24. Karnataka Plateau
25. Wainganga and Mahanadi Basins
26. Telengana
27. Southern Hills Complex
28. eastern Ghats
29. Orissa Delta
30. Andhra Coastal Plains and Delta
31. Tamilnadu
The history of India indicates that the country was subjected to plunder, exploitation and misrule. But inspite of several onslaughts India has marched ahead. The history, myths, legends, folk-tales, anecdotes, popular philosophy, popular cosmology and traditional agricultural economy have contributed to the efflorescence and unity of Indian society and culture.