How Well Do You Know India?

Many wonder about the origin of word ‘India’. The answer lies with the river Indus that gave origin to the word ‘India’. Aryan population used to call river Indus as Sindhu. When the Persian people came they termed it Hindu and thus Hindustan came into existence by combining sindhu and Hindu.

India has several ‘firsts’ in her name. Harappan culture was established in Indus valley civilization some 5000 years ago whereas during the same period many other cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers. India gave birth to four religions Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. More than 25% population of the world follows these religions. Will you be surprised to know that largest English speaking nation in world is none other than India? India is a great hub of scientists and engineers. Officially India has second largest pool of such precious human resources.

India has made tremendous gains in technology department. In fact, apart from USA and Japan, India is the only country to have made super computer indigenously. That does not come as a surprise knowing that the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC. India is also a popular destination for health tours because of the quality of doctors and low cost. Going by the history books, approximately 2600 years ago, Sushruta (father of surgery) had performed complicated surgeries like brain surgery, fractures, cesareans and urinary stones etc. More than 125 surgical equipments were used in that period. Many ancient texts also indicate deep knowledge of subjects as complex as, physiology, digestion, anatomy, genetics, embryology, immunity etc. With reference from about India

Facts About India

Varanasi is said to be the oldest and continuously inhabited city in the world. Situated on the banks of great Ganges, it was earlier known as Benaras. Lord Buddha had visited this sacred place in 500 BC. It may sound ironical but India was the richest country on earth at one point of time. Fondly known as ‘The Golden Bird’, India lost that prestigious title when British arrived in India in the early 17th century. Even legendary Christopher Columbus, the great explorer had heard of India’s richness and wanted to visit this place.

Many of you will not be surprised to know that the value of ‘Pi’ was discovered in India during the early 6th century. Budhayana calculated its value and gave us the concept that was later known as Pythagorean Theorem. That clearly says that Europeans lagged behind in discovering such calculations. Time taken by earth to orbit around sun was first calculated by the great Bhaskaracharya. The exact figure was 365.258756484 days that was validated by astronomer Smart hundred of years later.

India also gifted trigonometry, algebra and calculus to the world. By as early as 11th century, Sridharacharya had given us quadratic equations. Indians were much ahead of other civilizations in terms of big numbers like 10 to the power of 53 whereas the maximum Romans and Greeks discovered was 106. One of the least known facts about India is that the art of Navigation originated in India in the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The Sanskrit word Navgatih gave origin to the word Navigation. Used with permission: Factsaboutindia.org

The Beauty of India

India has a great history of more than thousand years. There are several interesting facts about this land of miracles. India is the world's oldest, largest, and continuous civilization that has never invaded any country in her entire history. Not for nothing India preaches tolerance, peace and resilience. India is also the largest democracy in world. India has been at the forefront of several inventions and milestones. For example, the number system was invented in India. The great Aryabhatta invented zero. According to a report in prestigious Forbes magazine, our own Sanskrit fits the bill perfectly when it comes to choosing language for computer software. Sanskrit is also said to be the mother of all European languages. In 700 BC, the first university of the world was built in Takshashila. Even during that time, students from all over the world came to study here. The total subjects were more than 60 and approximately 10,500 students from diverse nationalities came to get sound education.

4th century BC witnessed establishment of Nalanda University that was a great foot forward in the education arena. Ancient India is extremely rich in terms of such milestones. Not many people know that earliest school of medicine is Ayurveda and that again was a gift from India to the entire world. Charak is known as the father of medicine. He is credited to establish its roots. Even in this modern age, many people are reverting back to Ayurveda for its magical effect and harmless treatment. Courtesy & permission amazing facts.co.in