> Although in terms of civics and rights I would say India seems quite a lot further back than 1000 years

How so?

> if you take the ancient Greeks as your yardstick

You mean the slave owners? Who only allowed free men to vote? And required property ownership to hold office?

I'm not aware of widespread slavery in India, nor a requirement to own property to hold public office. Women are allowed to vote there. They've even had a woman be Prime Minister and two women Presidents.