Some Unknown Indian Historical Facts
India is a country of diverse cultures, varied religions and
innumerable languages and dialects. There are several fascinating things about
this country’s history that you may not know. Here are just some of them…
·
World’s first university was built right here in
India. The University of Nalanda in Takshila was established in 700 BC and is
often termed as one of the biggest achievements of ancient India in the field
of education. Students from all over the world came here to study courses in
more than 60 subjects.
·
The three mathematical subjects Trigonometry,
Algebra and Calculus have their origins in India. In fact, Sridhatacharya used
quadratic equations as early as eleventh century. According to historical
records, for Germans and Romans, the largest numbers were limited to 106
whereas Hindus used numbers as large as 10*53(10 to the power of 53) as early
as 5000 BC with specific names for each. Even now, the highest that modern mathematics
has gone to 10*12(Terra or 10 to the power of 12)
·
Indian medicine history shows usage of anesthesia
from ancient times. Many ancient Indian texts give detailed account of the
knowledge the ancient medical practitioners had of embryology, anatomy,
metabolism, digestion, etiology, immunity and genetics.
·
Ayurveda enjoys the distinction of being the earliest
known school of medicine known to mankind. It was actually consolidated by
Charaka, also known as Father of Medicine, over 2500 years ago.
·
Your favorite board game, Snakes and Ladders,
was created in this country by a 13th century poet Gyandev.
Originally known as ‘Mokshpat’ and played with dices and cowrie shells, the
ladders and snakes were a way of indicating virtues and vices that happen in a
person’s life. The game was a way of
showing that good deeds are a way of taking a man up in his life while the
snakes indicated the evil that takes a man through the cycle of rebirths.
·
One of the greatest contributions of India to
western philosophy is grammar. Composed by Panini, the world had its first
formal grammar lesson between 750 and 800 BC through his Astadhayi.
·
It was Bhaskaracharya who calculated the exact
time taken by Earth to orbit sun hundreds of years before the famed astronomer
Smart. He gave the time to be 365.258756484, later confirmed by Smart.
·
It was recently proved by USA base IEEE organization
that it was Prof Jagdish Bose and not Marconi who pioneered the wireless
communication.
·
Surgery was an intimate part of Indian Medicine.
In fact, Sushruta is termed as father of surgery as even 2600 years ago he was
performing complicated procedures of brain surgery, plastic surgery, artificial
limbs, cataract, caesareans, and urinary stones along with his fellow
scientists. Over 125 surgical instruments were found to be used by them for
these procedures.
·
Sanskrit is said to be the mother of all European
languages. In fact, according to a Forbes magazine report, it is the most
suitable language that can be used to design a computer software.
