• India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
• The name ‘India’ is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers.
• The Aryan worshipers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu. The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu.
• Chess was invented in India. Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus originated in India.
• The ‘Place Value System’ and the ‘Decimal System’ were developed in India in 100 B.C.
• The World’s First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite.
• The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called ‘Mokshapat’.
• India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.
• The world’s first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects.
• The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
• India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India’s wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
• The Art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘NAVGATIH’.

[alert-announce]Did you know that India used to be an island more than 100 million years ago? About 50 million years ago, it collided with the Asian continent and thus was born the Himalayas. Fascinating, isn’t it? With over a billion people from all kinds of religions and ethnicities, India is not only the second most populated country, but it also has in store some mind-blowing facts and achievements under its belt. [/alert-announce]

• The value of “pi” was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.
• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India.Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century.
• The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10 to the power of 53 with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10 to the power of 12.
• The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.
• Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery.
• Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism,physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.
• The four religions born in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world’s population.
• Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called “the Ancient City” when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

[alert-warning]Situated on the banks of river Ganges and represented in the Parliament by the country’s PM Narendra Modi, the holy city of Banaras or Varanasi is at least 3000 years old. According to Hindu Mythology, Lord Shiva found this city 5000 years ago. [/alert-warning]

• His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharmashala in northern India.
• Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

Test Yourself – True or False

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