ry of warfare imposed until 1947 political unity on the subcontinent which was ruptured by Partition. Keay said "without recognising, exploiting and accommodating such divisions, British dominion in India would have been impossible to establish, let alone sustain" (464).
Maintaining India's National Unity (1947-2000). During the post-colonial period, most major Asian and other Third World nations have opted for authoritarian forms of government as indispensable for maintaining internal unity and order. India, which had little previous experience in self-government, followed the British example and established a democratic republic under a federal constitution in which powers over internal affairs were shared between the central and state governments. Few, if any nations, have attempted to govern democratically a nation with such a diverse and potentially divided population. A few statistics will illustrate that reality.
Although more than 30 percent of Indians speak Hindi, its official language, India has more than 17 officially recogni
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