some amazing facts about india 1. India is theworld's largest, oldest, continuous civilization. 2.

India never invaded anycountry 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 Buddh a visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today. 5. India invented the Number System. Zero wasinvented by Aryabhatta. 6. The World's first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over theworld studied more than 60subjects. The Universityof Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest ac hievements of ancient India in the field of education. 7. Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is themost sui table language for computer software - areport in Forbes magazine, July 1987. 8. Ayurveda is the earliestschool of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the fath er of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.Today Ayurveda is fast regai ning its rightful place in our civilization. 9. Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, I ndia 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. 10. The art of Navigation was bornin the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very w ord Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from S anskrit 'Nou'. 11. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time takenby the earth to orbit the sun hundre ds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.25 8756484 days. 12. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the conc ept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6thce ntury long before the European mathematicians. 13. Algebra, trigonometryand calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Ro mans used were 106 whereas Hindus usednumbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power o f 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even tod ay, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of 12). 14. IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientifi c community thatthe pioneer of wireless communication was Prof.Jagdish Bose and not Marconi. 15. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra. 16. According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a beautiful lake called Sudars hana was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time. 17. Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.

18. Sushruta is the fatherof surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial l imbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physio logy, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts. 19. When many cultures were only nomadic forestdwellers over 5000 years ago, Ind ians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization). 20. The four religions bornin India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, a re followed by 25% of the world's population. 21. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC. 22. India is one of the few countries in the World, which gained independence wi thout violence. 23. India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World. 24. India is the largest English speaking nation in the world. 25. India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super com puter indigenously. Famous Quotes on India (by non-Indians) Albert Einstein said: We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, w ithout 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 grandmotherof legend, and the great grand mot her of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are trea sured up in India only. French scholar Romain Rolland said: If there is one place on the face of earth w here all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the d ream of existence, it is India. Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA said: India conquered and dominated C hina culturally for 20 centuries without everhaving to send a single soldier across her border.