Ancient India Facts

India is a country that will mesmerize you with its intriguing history and fascinating past. Though life has become very complex in modern times, the interesting facts of India continue to awe people all over the world. The country is no ordinary country. In fact, it had the components of a prosperous nation since ancient times only. The rich history of India is full of such interesting facts that one is bound to sit and analyze this fascinating country's history with much enthusiasm. For an amazing collection of facts on ancient India, scroll down.

• Indians established Harappan culture in Indus Valley Civilization, at a time when many cultures comprised of nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago.
• The game of chess was invented in India.
• The birth of Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus happened in India.
• The Decimal and Place Value system originated and developed in India.
• In the 13th century, a poet saint named Gyandev introduced the game of Snakes and Ladders. Known as Mokshapat during those times, the game had a significant meaning. The snakes stood for vices, while the ladders represented good virtues. The essence of the game was that the ladders or good virtues take people to heaven while snakes or vices take people to a cycle of re-births.
• In 700 BC, the world's first university was established in India, in Takshila. It was one of the biggest achievements in the field of education, as more than 10,500 students came from all over the world to receive education in over 60 different subjects. The University of Nalanda was another milestone that was achieved in the field of education in 4th century BC.
• The earliest school of medicine known to mankind was Ayurveda and it originated in India. It was consolidated 2500 years ago by Charaka, the Father of Medicine.
• As many as 6000 years back, the art of navigation was developed in the River Indus, which was known as Sindh then. In fact, the word 'navigation' is a derivation of the Sanskrit word, 'Navgatih'.
• The correct time taken by the earth to revolve around the sun was calculated by the famous astronomer Bhaskaracharya. His calculation showed that the earth takes around 365.258756484 days to go around the sun once.
• In the 6th century, the famous Indian Budhayana mathematician calculated the value of "Pi" and also explained the concept of Pythagoras Theorem.
• In the 11th century, Quadratic Equations were introduced by Sridharacharya. Indians used numbers that were way too big than European numbers. While the latter limited themselves to 106, the Indians went a step ahead and used numbers as big as 1053.
• Surgery existed in India even 2600 years ago, when Sushruta, known as the Father of Surgery, conducted many complex surgeries. The valuable ancient scriptures have detailed information on Cataract, Artificial Limbs, Cesareans, Fractures, Urinary Stone Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Brain Surgeries.
• Anesthesia was used in ancient India and one finds detailed knowledge of the human anatomy and its functions.
• Two major religions, Buddhism and Jainism were established in India in 500 and 600 BC.
• The oldest city in the world that is inhabited even today is Varanasi or Benaras.
• The art of Yoga that is now popular worldwide originated in India only and was performed by highly revered sages, in the ancient times.