Forgive me, as I'm sure something like this must have been asked before, and it's certainly been touched upon in other answers, but a few searches turned up nothing that really answers the question.

I have heard many Indians say that "India was the richest country in the world" before the British colonized and plundered it. I am aware of the relatively modern nature of the words "nation" and "country". But to my knowledge, the territory now known as India was not at any time fully politically united (edit: as a sovereign power) prior to 1947 (despite a few empires coming very close), and being so clearly subdivided along ethnic/linguistic lines, only religion seems like the uniting factor (I'm particularly thinking of the North/South divide.)

Is the notion that India was, prior to British colonialism/interference, a country, something that's overall fair to say, or is it an anachronistic designation influenced more by post-colonial nationalistic ideas? That is to say, was India, long before colonization, considered "a country" in the minds of its residents despite its political divisions? Or does the real answer completely defy/not comport with the modern term "nation", or "country" at all?