Great India

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.

                                                    Albert Einstein

India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.

                                                           Mark Twain

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.

                                                           Romain Rolland

India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.

       Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to the USA

Here is more.

1.  India is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization.
2. India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
3. India is the world's largest democracy.
4. Varanasi , also known as Benares , was called "the ancient city" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
5. India invented the number system . The zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
6. The world's first university was established in Takshashila 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 BC, was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
7. Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software (according to a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987).
8. Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on Earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.
9. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very word 'navigation' is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word 'navy' is also derived from the Sanskrit 'nou'.
10. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the Earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. The time taken by the Earth to orbit the sun (5th century): 365.258756484 days.
11. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.
12. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic equations were formulated by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The Hindus used numbers as big as 10⁵³, with specific names, as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period.
13. IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion in the world scientific community, that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdish Bose, and not Marconi.
14. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
15. According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE, a beautiful lake called Sudarshana was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.
16. Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India .
17. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like caesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones, and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India . Over 125 surgical equipments were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, aetiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many Indian texts.
18. When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in the Sindhu (Indus) Valley Civilization.
19. The place value system and the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.
20. India is one of the few countries in the world which gained independence without violence.
21. India has the second largest pool of scientists and engineers in the World.
22. India is the only country other than the US and Japan to have built a supercomputer indigenously.

 The granite tower of Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola I.