Ancient Writers of Indian History

Roman writers

• Herodotus, “the father of history”, explains relations between India-Iran of 5^th B.C. in his book “Historica”.
• Magasthanese was the ambassador of Salucas Nicator in the Royal Court of emperor Chandragupta Maurya, who wrote a book “Indica”, which explains the Society and the Culture of that time of India.
• Dimecas was the ambassador of the Serian king Antiocas come in the Royal Court of emperor Bindusar.
• Dionicias was the ambassador of the Egyptian King Tallemi Phylledelphus, come to the Royal Court of emperor Ashoka.
• Tallemy was a writer of 2^nd century who wrote a book “Geography of India”.
• Plini wrote the book “Natural History” in 1^st century in which he wrote about India.
• “Periplus of the Erithrian Sea” book was written by an unknown Roman writer who comes to India in 80 A.D. in this book he wrote about the harbor and the trading things.

Chinese writers

• Fahiyan was the Chinese tourist came to the Royal Court of kind Chandragupta-II. He wrote about the society and the culture of Madhya Pradesh.
• Sangyun come to India in year 518 A.D. to collect the Buddhist Relic.
• Hwensang or Yuan-Chuang comes to India at the time of king Harshawardhan in year 629A.D. He wrote the book “Si-Yu-Ki”, in which he wrote about 138 countries.
• Itsing come to India in the ending of 7^th century. In his books, he explains about the Nalanda University, Vikramshila University and about the Indian of that time.

Historical Facts

• DadaBhai Nauroji is known as the “Grand Old Man of India”.
• Ravindra Nath Tagor had written National Anthem for two country i.e. India and Bangladesh.
• Valentine Shirale said that Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the “Cause of Indian Dissatisfaction”.
• Gadar Party is founded by Lala Hardayal and Shohan Lal Bhakhna in November 1913 at  San-Fransisco(America).
• Mahatma Gandhi is also known as the “Sargent for Recruitment” because he motivated the people to join the Army at the time of  first world war.
• Gandhi ji used Satyagrah firstly at South Africa and in India he used it first time in 1917 at  Champaran(Bihar).
• General Dayar leads the Jaliyaanwala baag murder case on 13^th april 1919 in which 379 people were killed according to the government report and by Congress Comitti it was almost 1000 people.
• In Jaliyaanwala Baag murder case an Indian named Hansraj helped General Dayar.
• Jaliyaanwala Baag was the property of a person named Jalli.
• Chauri-Caura case was held at the Chauri-Chaura place in Gorakhpur on 5^th February 1922, people fired the police station in which 1 Incharge and 21 constables were killed.
• Kakori case was held on 9^th August 1925 in which the Krantikari looted  the government treasure  at Kakori Railway station .
• In 1939 Subhash Candra Bose defeated Pattabhi Sitaramayya in the election of Congress presidence but gave his resignation after some time because of dissatisfaction of Mahatma Gandhi.
• On 13^th March 1940 Sardar Udham Singh of Sunam(Panjab) shot down General Dayar in London.
• Captain Mohan Singh got the  idea of Stablishment of ”Ajad Hind Fauj” at first.
• On 8^th November 1943, Japan handover the Andman and Nikobar island to the Subhash Chandra Bose.
• On 18^th August 1945 on the way of Tokiyo, the plane was crash to near Formusa island in which Subhash Chandra Bose was died but is not confirmed yet.

Interesting Facts

1. India is about 1/3 the size of the United States, yet it is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of 1,166,079,217. India is the seventh largest country in the world, at 1.27 million square miles.

2. India is the largest democracy in the world.

3. The Kumbh Mela (or Grand Pitcher Festival) is a huge Hindu religious festival that takes place in India every 12 years. In 2001, 60 million people attended, breaking the record for the world’s biggest gathering. The mass of people was photographed from space by a satellite.

4. Many Indians find toilet paper repellent and consider it cleaner to splash water with the left hand in the appropriate direction. Consequently, the left hand is considered unclean and is never used for eating.

5. To avoid polluting the elements (fire, earth, water, air), followers of Zoroastrianism in India don’t bury their dead, but instead leave bodies in buildings called “Towers of Silence” for the vultures to pick clean. After the bones dry, they are swept into a central well.

6. It is illegal for foreigners and non-citizens to take Indian currency (rupees) out of India.

7. India has one of the world's highest rates of murder in the world, at over 40,000 murders per year (though it is also one of the most populated countries in the world).

8. India has one of the world’s highest rates ofabortion.Time magazine reports that in 2012, the number of abortions in India could be as high as 7 million, with 2/3 of abortions taking place in unauthorized health facilities. Due to unsanitary conditions, a woman in India dies every two hours. Additionally, there are more men than women in India due to the high rate of abortions performed on female fetuses, a practice known as "gendercide."

9. More than a million Indians are millionaires, yet most Indians live on less than two dollars a day. An estimated 35% of India’s population lives below the poverty line.

10. Cows can be found freely wandering the streets of India’s cities. They are considered sacred and will often wear a tilak, a Hindu symbol of good fortune. Cows are considered one of humankind’s seven mothers because they offer milk as does one’s natural mother.

11. Dancing is one of India’s most highly developed arts and was an integral part of worship in the inner shrines of every temple. It is notable for its expressive hand movements.

12. Rabies is endemic in India. Additionally, “Delhi Belly” or diarrhea is commonplace due to contaminated drinking water.

13. Many Indian wives will never say their husband’s name aloud, as it is a sign of disrespect. When addressing him, the wife will use several indirect references, such as “ji” or “look here” or “hello,” or even refer to him as the father of her child.

14. A widow is considered bad luck—otherwise, her husband wouldn’t have died. Elderly women in the village might call a widow “the one who ate her husband.” In some orthodox families, widows are not allowed near newlyweds or welcomed at social gatherings.

15. India is the birthplace of chess.The original word for “chess” is the Sanskritchaturanga, meaning “four members of an army”—which were mostly likely elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers.

16. The Indian flag has three horizontal bands of color: saffron for courage and sacrifice, white for truth and peace, and green for faith, fertility, and chivalry. An emblem of a wheel spinning used to be in the center of the white band, but when India gained independence, a Buddhist dharma chakra, or wheel of life, replaced the spinning wheel.

17. The temples of Khajuraho are famous for their erotic sculptures and are one of the most popular tourist attractions in India. Scholars still debate the purpose of such explicit portrayals of sexual intercourse, which sometimes involve animals.

18. The earliest cotton in the world was spun and woven in India. Roman emperors would wear delicate cotton from India that they would call “woven winds.” Mogul emperors called the fabrics “morning dew” and “cloth of running water.”

19. In ancient and medieval India, suttees, in which a recently widowed woman would immolate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, were common.

20. The Himalayas—from the Sanskrit hima, meaning “snow,” and alaya, meaning “abode”—are found in the north of India. They extend 1,500 miles and are slowly growing taller, by almost an inch (2.5 cm) a year. Several ancient Indian monasteries are found nestled in the grandeur of these mountains.

21. India is the world’s largest producer of dried beans, such as kidney beans and chickpeas. It also leads the world in banana exports; Brazil is second.

22. In India, the fold and color of clothing are viewed as important markers of social classification. In the past and according to region, a woman could be viewed as either a prostitute or a holy person depending on the manner in which she parted her hair..

23. With 150,000 post offices, India has the largest postal network in the world. However, it is not unusual for a letter to take two weeks to travel just 30 miles.

24. In India, grasping one’s ears signifies repentance or sincerity.

25. The Bengal tiger is India’s national animal. It was once ubiquitous throughout the country, but now there are fewer than 4,000 wild tigers left.

26. Indians hold prominent places both internationally and in the United States. For example, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems (Vinod Khosla), the creator of the Pentium chip (Vinod Dahm), the founder/creator of Hotmail (Sabeer Bhatia), and the GM of Hewlett-Packard (Rajiv Gupta) are all Indian.

27. Alexander the Great of Macedon (356-323 B.C.) was one of the first important figures to bring India into contact with the West. After his death, a link between Europe and the East would not be restored until Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) landed in Calicut, India, in 1498.

28. The British Raj, or British rule, lasted from 1858 to 1947 (although they had a strong presence in India since the 1700s). British influence is still seen in Indian architecture, education system, transportation, and politics. Many of India’s worst famines are associated with British rule in India.

29. Every major world religion is represented in India. Additionally, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism all originated in India.

30. About 80% of Indians are Hindu. Muslims are the largest minority in India and form approximately 13% of the country’s population. In fact, India has the third largest population of Muslims in the world, after Indonesia and Pakistan.

Amazing Facts about India

·         India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.

·         When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)

·         The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.

·         The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.

·         Chess was invented in India.

·         Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.

·         The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.

·         The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.

·         India is the largest democracy in the world, the 7^th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.

·         The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat'. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.

·         The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.

·         India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.

·         The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.

·         The world's first university was established in Takshila 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 was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

·         Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

·         India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

·         The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.

·         Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.

·         The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.

·         Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India.Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).

·         Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world 
(Source: Gemological Institute of America).

·         The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.

·         Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

·         Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism,physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

·         The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.

·         Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively.

·         Islam is India's and the world's second largest religion.

·         There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.

·         The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.

·         Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively

·         The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.

·         The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.

·         Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.

·         Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

·         India provides safety for more than 300,000 refugees originally from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to flee religious and political persecution.

·         His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharmashala in northern India.

·         Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.

·         Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.