India is a land of versatility. It was always a glorious country with wealth and cultural richness. However, colonization adversely affected our nation, but till date, India remains a country to have contributed the biggest of things in the history of the world’s civilization.
Out of many, here are 10 interesting things about India, most of you never knew –
1. The Art of Navigation was born in India 6000 years ago when Indian sailors navigated through the Sindh River. The word ‘Navigation’ is derived from Sanskrit word ‘Navgatih’ and ‘Navy’ from Sanskrit word ‘Nou’.
2. India was the only source of diamonds in the world, until 1896 as reported by the Gemological Institute of America.
3. Chess was invented in India. Now you understand why Indians are the most successful immigrant groups, all over the world.
4. Varanasi is the oldest city in the world which is continuously inhabited till today. Also known as ‘Benaras’, it was known as ‘The Ancient City’ when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C..
5. Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. Built by the Indian Army in August 1982, the Baily Bridge is located in the Himalayan mountains, between the Dras and Suru rivers in Ladakh valley.
6. The game Snakes and Ladders was created by saint Gyandev, a 13th Century poet. He called the game, ‘Mokshpat’ and used the ladders to represent virtue and the snakes to represent vice, in the game. Over the centuries, the game was modified a lot of times, but the underlying meaning remained the same – you rise with good deeds and the evil falls into a cycle of re-births.
7. Martial Arts were first created in India. The Buddhist missionaries later spread the art to other parts of Asia.
8. The value of ‘pi’ was discovered in 6th Century in India, long before the European mathematicians. Budhayana, an Indian Mathematician first calculated the value of ‘pi’ and explained the concept, which is now known as the ‘Pythagorean Theorem’.
9. The world’s 1st university is in India. The university established in Takshila in 700B.C. educated more than 10,500 pupils from over the globe with more than 60 subjects. However, in today’s world, Takshila is no more considered as a university. The Nalanda University established in 4th Century is one of the greatest achievements of ancient India.
10. Earth’s exact revolution time around the Sun was 1st calculated in India. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by our planet Earth to complete one revolution around the Sun in its orbit as 365.258756484 days, which was later balanced as 365 days and 6 hours. This calculation was derived about 100s of years before Astromer Smart did.
