General trivia and facts about India

Facts about India

• The name `India’ is derived from the River Indus in the North. The valleys were home to the earliest settlers The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.

• Sanskrit is considered as the mother of all modern languages. It is the most precise, and thus best equipped language for use in computer software.

• The place value system and the decimal system both have their origins in Indian history, as do the studies of algebra and trigonometry.

• The board game chess originated in India.

• The value of 'pi' was discoverd by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana in the 6th century, long before european mathemticians. He explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem.

• India was the only source of Diamonds in the world up until 1986.

• Although modern images & descriptions of India often show poverty, India was one of the richest countries till the time of British in the early 17th century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth and was looking for route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

• In the 5th century, an Indian called Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun (365.258756484 days).

• The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh 6000 over years ago. The very word 'Navigation' is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.

• In the year 700 BC the first University in the world was built and attracted 15000 student from all over the world studying over 60 different subjects.

• An Indian by the name of Chakara established the practice of Ayurveda almost 2500 years ago. It is the earliest type of medicine known to man.

• The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system with over one million employees.

• India has more post offices than any other country in the world.

• India claims the highest bridge in the world. Named the Baily bridge it was built by the Indian Army in the Himalayas.

• Over 2600 years ago Indian surgeons conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones and also plastic surgery and brain surgeries for the first time in the world.

• Persian invaders converted India into Hindusism.

• Snakes and ladders was invented in India in the 13th century by the poet, Saint Gyandev. The game has undergone many changes over the years but the game was originally structured around the idea that the ladders in the game represented virtues and took one up to heaven and the snakes indicated vices which took you to hell.

• At 2444 meters above sea level and built in 1893, the world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. This cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.

• The first six Mogul Emperor's of India ruled in an unbroken succession from father to son for two hundred years, from 1526 to 1707.

• Ancient Indian medicine was the first to widely use anesthetic. Detailed knowledge of the anatomy, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

• India is the 7th largest country in the world.

• India is the largest Democarcy in the world.

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