What you should know about India

These facts were recently published in one of the German Magazines, which deal with WORLD HISTORY. Its a shame they are not more widely known along with contributions by other Eastern nations.

• India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
• India invented the Number System. Aryabhatta invented zero.
• 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 CE was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
• Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for the computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining an important place in our civilization.
• Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by her wealth.
• The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'.
• Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.
• Budhayana first calculated the value of "pi", and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before European mathematicians.
• Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Sridharacharya propounded quadratic equations in the 11th century.
• The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as large as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera: 10**12(10 to the power of 12).
• According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world.
• USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicions in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
• The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra. According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 BCE a beautiful lake aptly called 'Sudarshana' was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.
• Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
• Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery.
• Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipments were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
• When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).
• The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

QUOTES ABOUT INDIA

• Albert Einstein said "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."
• Mark Twain said "India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India. "
• French scholar Romain Rolland said "If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India. "
• Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA said "India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border. "