New Delhi: India's civilization goes back to the days of pre-Indus Valley as far as recorded history can travel back in time. There has been continuity and breaks though, making Sir Mohammed Allama Iqbal to remark :“Unan-o-Misr-o-Roma sab mit gaye jahaan se, Ab tak magar hai baaki naam-o-nishaan hamara, Kuch baat hai jo hasti mitti nahin hamarai, sadiyon raha hai dushman daur-e-zamaa hamaara”(While civilisations of Greece, Egypt and Rome faded away, our civilisation still survives; There must be something why we don't lose our existence despite the ravages of time) Whether it is business, arts, sports, literature or science, India has made its mark in every field around the globe. Its heritage is a rich tapestry of folk arts, handicraft, philosophical treatises, mathematical inquiry, languages, legends and what not.But there are some facts one should know about India. Here is a list of 10 such facts:1. The earliest cotton in the world was spun and woven in India. Roman emperors would wear delicate cotton from India that they would call “woven winds.” Mogul emperors called the fabrics “morning dew” and “cloth of running water.”2. India is the birthplace of chess. The original word for “chess” is the Sanskrit chaturanga, meaning “four members of an army”—which were mostly likely elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers.3. Indians made significant contributions to calculus, trigonometry, and algebra. The decimal system was invented in India in 100 B.C. The concept of zero as a number is also attributed to India.4. Most historians agree that the first recorded account of plastic surgery is found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts.5. To avoid polluting the elements (fire, earth, water, air), followers of Zoroastrianism in India don't bury their dead, but instead leave bodies in buildings called “Towers of Silence” for the vultures to pick clean. After the bones dry, they are swept into a central well.6. India leads the world with the most murders (32,719), with Russia taking second at 28,904 murders per year.7. More than a million Indians are millionaires, yet most Indians live on less than two dollars (Rs 100) a day. An estimated 35% of India's population lives below the poverty line.8. India has one of the world's highest rates of abortion.9. India is about one-third the size of the United States, yet it is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of over 1.2 billion. India is the seventh largest country in the world, at 1.27 million square miles.10. Many Indians find toilet paper repulsive and consider it cleaner to splash water with the left hand. Consequently, the left hand is considered unclean and is never used for eating.
Updated on: December 16, 2013 7:47 IST
