Facts about India

1. India invented the Number system. Aryabhatta.invented 'zero.'

2. 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 BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

3. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.

4. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.

5. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.

6. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.

7. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6th Century, which is long before the European mathematicians.

8. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from Inida. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 1053.

9. According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896,India was the only source of diamonds to the world.

10. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdish Bose and not Marconi.

11. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.

12. Chess was invented in India.

13. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time onducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India.

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

15. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.