1. At one level - colonialism simply means the establishment of rule by one country over another. 2. In the modern period western colonialism has hadthe greatest impact. 3. India's past has been marked by the entry of numerous groups of people at different times who have established their rule over different parts of what constitutes modern India today. 4. The impact of colonial rule is distinguishable from all other earlier rules because the changes it brought in were far-reaching and deep. 5. Colonialism led to movement of people from one partto another within India.