Resuming on 10 without loss, India needed just a further 63 to achieve their victory target of 73 and England required an astonishing fightback.
As it was, India took just 95 minutes on Monday to seal what was only their fifth win in 47 Tests in England, finishing on 73 for three.
India captain Rahul Dravid, reflecting on his side's triumph, said: “We got together after Lord’s and knew we needed a better performance. You have to get the basics right and that's what we did. It was a great effort.”
Dravid was 11 not out and Saurav Ganguly two not out on a sunlit day seemingly ideal for batting with the winning runs coming when wicket-keeper Matt Prior conceded four byes.
This victory was set up by left-arm quick Zaheer Khan who led the India attack with a superb display of swing bowling on his way to Test-best match figures of nine for 134.
Chris Tremlett took all the wickets to fall on Monday in a spell of three wickets for three runs in 27 balls.
Wasim Jaffer was caught off a top-edged hook by the fast bowler's Hampshire team-mate Kevin Pietersen in the gully for 22.
Jaffer's fellow opener Dinesh Karthik fell for the same score when he was caught behind by Prior.
Sachin Tendulkar went for just one, well caught at backward short leg by Alastair Cook after he fended at a rising ball.
It had been a good toss for Dravid to win, his bowlers exploiting the helpful conditions to dismiss England for 198.
In reply India piled up 481, a lead of 283, with Tendulkar making 91 as he became only the third batsman in history to score 11,000 Test runs.
England captain Michael Vaughan made the only individual century of the match, 124 when his side batted again before becoming one of Zaheer’s five second innings wickets.
This Test, which followed an opener at Lord's where India clung on for a draw with one wicket standing was marred by several unpleasant incidents.
India fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was fined 50 percent of his match fee for shoulder barging Vaughan on Monday.
Previously, Zaheer had been angered by the extraordinary sight of jelly beans, left by England fielders, littering the crease when he batted on Sunday.
Match referee Ranjan Madugalle later told reporters: “The important thing is to remind the captains they are responsible for the behaviour of their sides and that it cascades down to the rest of team.”
The third and final Test starts at The Oval on Aug 9 with England needing a win to extend their record of 11 unbeaten series at home since losing the 2001 Ashes.
Looking ahead, Dravid said: “England are not going to lie down, we'll be expecting a tough encounter.”
Vaughan added: “It's going to test our characters being 1-0 down but hopefully we can produce a performance at The Oval to get the series back level.”
Scoreboard
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 198 (Zaheer Khan 4-59).
INDIA (1st Innings) 481 (S.R. Tendulkar 91, S.C. Ganguly 79, K.D. Karthik 77, Wasim Jaffer 62, V.V.S. Laxman 54; M.S. Panesar
4-101).
ENGLAND (2nd Innings) 355 (M.P. Vaughan 124, P.D. Collingwood 63, A.J. Strauss 55; Zaheer Khan 5-75).
INDIA (2nd Innings, overnight 10-0):
K.D. Karthik c Prior b Tremlett 22
Wasim Jaffer c Pietersen b Tremlett 22
R. Dravid not out 11
S.R. Tendulkar c Cook b Tremlett 1
S.C. Ganguly not out 2
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-6, W-2, NB-3) 15
TOTAL (for three wkts, 24.1 overs) 73
FALL OF WKTS: 1-47, 2-55, 3-62.
BOWLING: Anderson 9-2-23-0; Sidebottom 8-0-28-0 (1w); Tremlett 7.1-2-12-3 (3nb, 1w).
RESULT: India won by seven wickets.
UMPIRES: S.J.A. Taufel (Australia) and I.L. Howell (South Africa).
TV UMPIRE: N.J. Llong (England).
MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Zaheer Khan.
FIRST TEST: Lord’s, match drawn.
THIRD TEST: The Oval, Aug 9-13.—AFP