Facts about the History of India

• India is the largest and the oldest civilisation in the world.


• India holds the record of not invading any other country in the last 10,000 years of her history.


• Interestingly, India was one of the richest countries on earth before the British invaded it in the early 17th century, and was also one of the first countries in the world where diamonds were found.


• Sanskrit is one of the earliest known languages in the world, and a member of the Indo-European family of languages, from which most modern European languages have originated.


• The 13th century Indian poet Saint Gyandev is credited for creating the famous game of Snakes and Ladders. The ladders denote virtues, while the snakes symbolise vices in the game. With time the game incorporated several modifications; nevertheless, the original meaning remains unchanged, i.e. good deeds take you to heaven, and evil to a cycle of rebirths. Chess, which was originally called "Chaturanga", was also invented in India. The meaning of "Chaturanga" is four members of an army.


• Brahmagupta, the Indian Mathematician, was the first to develop the concept of Zero (0), while Aryabhata developed the Place Value System. In the sixth century, Budhayana, another Indian Mathematician, was the first person to calculate the value of "pi". He did this much before any mathematician in Europe. Also, Bhaskaracharya very correctly calculated the time (365.258756484 days) taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun, long before Western astronomers.


• In the year 1526, the Mughal Empire was established by Babur in India.


• The construction of the Taj Mahal was completed in AD 1653 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.


• The Indian National Congress was formed in the year 1885.


• The Amritsar Massacre (Jallianwala Bagh Massacre) took place on 13 April 1919.


• Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948.


• Ayurveda, which is the earliest school of medicine in the world, was born in India thousands of years ago.