Historical Parallels Between India And Europe

There are a number of historical parallels between Europe and India.

The ancient Greeks had an influence on India just as the Romans did on Europe. The Greeks came first and their focus was mainly eastward, eventually extending to India, while the Roman focus was more westward. I read one account that Chandragupta Maurya, who founded the empire that brought in India's first golden age, had once met Alexander.

Alexander's invasion prompted Indian unity much like Napoleon's invasion would much later prompt unity among the German-speaking states of central Europe.

The Renaissance began in Europe much like the Greeks bringing knowledge and ideas to India. 

The Aryan invasion of northern India is very reminiscent of the much later Norman Invasion of Britain and Ireland. The Normans had a great influence on everything, from the language to how society was arranged, they built great buildings everywhere but then melted into the population.

Buddhism split from Hinduism, freeing people from the Caste System, complex rituals and, unseen gods. Hindus responded by reorganizing the religion. Much later, in Europe, the Protestants would split from Catholicism and the Catholics would similarly reorganize the religion in what is known as the Counter-Reformation.

One of the reasons for the extensive Norman building was to make an impression on the local people. Both the Mughals and the British did the same thing in India. 

In fact, I get the impression that the British were following what the Mughals had earlier done, effectively placing themselves as the New Mughals.

The Mughals had founded Dhaka, in what was then the eastern part of Bengal. The British later built the fort around which the city of Calcutta grew, in the western part of Bengal. The state was later divided into East and West, with East Bengal becoming East Pakistan which is now Bangladesh.

The Mughals built the Taj Mahal, in honor of an emperor's favorite wife, near Agra Fort. The British later built their version of the Taj Mahal in Calcutta, near their fort, in honor of Queen Victoria.

Delhi is an ancient city. Successive empires have built their own cities of Delhi adjacent to the previous ones. The Mughals built what is today called the Old City of Delhi, Shahjahanabad, although it is far from the oldest one. Adjacent to that, the British later built what is now known as New Delhi. The British moved their capital from Calcutta to New Delhi just as the Mughals had moved their capital from Agra to Old Delhi. The British built the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi just as the Mughals had built the Red Fort in Old Delhi.

The Golconda Sultanate built the Charminar, meaning "Four Towers", a gateway in Hyderabad, which was later taken over by the Mughals. The British later built the Gateway of India, in Mumbai.

The British continued the "princely states" that had existed during the Mughal Empire, and long before under the Gupta Empire. There were over five hundred autonomous princely states within India at independence. The best-known one was Hyderabad.

The Mughals and the British ended up leaving India on the same day, the Mughals separating as Pakistan.

This is just as the current President of India links himself to the Mughals by making the yearly Independence Day speech in the Red Fort and the Mughals linked themselves to the earlier Delhi Sultanate by moving their capital from Agra to Delhi. The Delhi Sultanate had built the Qutb Complex in Delhi and linked themselves to the earlier Gupta Empire by bringing Chandragupta's Iron Pillar to the Qutb Complex.