Some Facts About India By Maxwell Pereira - India has never invaded any country in the last 10,000 years of her history.(2) - The world's first university, established in Taxila in 700 B.C., had 10,500 students from all over the world studying more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda, dating from 4th century B.C., is acknowledged as one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education. - Sanskrit, through Latin, is accepted as the mother of all European languages. A 1987 report in Forbes magazine said Sanskrit was the most suitable language for computer software. - India contributed the numeral 0 to the number system, innovated by Aryabhatta. The place value system and the decimal system were developed in India in 100 B.C. The Greeks and Romans contented themselves with rather small numbers, while the Hindus (the then inhabitants of the land of Sapta Sindhu) used units as big as 10 to the power of 53 with specific names as early as 5,000 B.C. Today the largest unit is tera, or 10 to the power of 12. - Algebra, trigonometry and calculus originated here. The quadratic equation was solved by Shridharacharya in the 11th century. The value of pi was first calculated by Bodhayana, who also discovered the Pythagorean theorem in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians. The solar year was calculated as 365.258756484 days by Bhaskaracharya in the 5th century, hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. - Ayurveda is the oldest school of medicine, codified by Charaka 2,500 years ago. Sushruta, the father of surgery, conducted complicated procedures dealing with cataracts, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery, caesarian section and brain surgery 2,600 years ago. The use of anesthesia was known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical instruments were in use. - A century-old suspicion that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdish Chandra Bose and not Marconi now stands proven. - The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 6,000 years ago. The very word navigation has been derived from the Sanskrit naugatih. The earliest dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra. According to the Saka King Rudradaman I, a beautiful lake called Sudarshan was constructed on the hills of Raivataka in Chandragupta Maurya's time. - There is no doubt that chess was an Indian invention, in the form of Shatranj or Ashta Pada. Polo originated in Manipur. - Although modern images of India show poverty and underdevelopment, it was the richest country on earth until the arrival of the British. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth. According to the Gemological Institute of America, until 1896 India was the world's only source of diamonds. Footnotes: 1) Contributed by Prerna Naresh Shah, New York NY, and Manish Modi, Mumbai, India. While reading these facts, we should keep in mind that we cannot live on the past glory of India. We have to realize that to attain genuine happiness and peace of mind, we have to pursue the spirit of our religion and culture. - D. C. J. Back up 2) Compare this fact with a quotation by Shri M. V. Kamath - D. C. J. Back up
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