Ancient Indian Civilization and Culture

Ancient Civilization

• Mohenjo-Daro and Harappan Civilizations were present-day Pakistan and were planned urban communities.
• The remains of these civilizations were found by archaeologists.
• Varanasi is the oldest and continuously inhabited city in the world.

Bharateeya Culture

• Hindu Family System is the basis of Hindu society and a typical symbol of Bharateeya culture.
• Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam teaches us that family is the basic building block for a peaceful society.
• Family helps us to face the outside world and makes us good individuals.

Language & Grammar

• Sanskrit is the mother of 1652 languages.
• Sanskrit scripts are used in countries like Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.
• Panini is the father of linguistics and discovered phonetics, phonology, and morphology in the 5th century BCE.
• Panini's Sanskrit grammar is still the most complete and sophisticated of any language in the world.

Literature

• Vedic Literature consists of 4 Vedas, 6 Vedangas, and 4 Upavedas.
• The 4 Vedas are Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva.
• The 6 Vedangas are Siksha, Nirukta, Vyakarna, Chchandas, Kalpa, and Jyotish.
• The 4 Upavedas are Ayurveda, Dhanurveda, Gandharva Veda, and Stapathya Veda.
• Great Epics include Ramayana and Mahabharatha, which are still famous today.
• Kalidasa is known as the "Shakespeare of India" and is one of the greatest poets and dramatists in the world.
• Other famous writers and poets include Vishnu Sharma, Banabhatta, Bhasa, Jayadeva, Ashvaghosha, Thiruvalluvar, and Sarvajana.

Politics & Administration

• Gana sangha or equal Assembly is a representative form of organized democracy established before the Athenian Republic.
• The 'panchayat' system is an assembly of five wise and respected elders that started as a form of localized grassroots level democracy 3000 years ago.
• Ram Rajya is a concept of democratic system where the ruler rules as per the wish of the people.

Economics

• The Arthashastra is a Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy written by Kautilya or Vishnugupta Chanakya.
• Arthashas is a complete depiction of the rural economy of ancient Bharat, covering topics like agriculture, land relations, cottage industries, and economic structures.
• Amartya Sen and Abhijit Banerjee are Nobel laureates who have analyzed various economic problems and issues.

Education

• The Gurukulam System is a system of education where wisdom is transferred from teacher to students.
• 8 universities that flourished in ancient Bharat followed the Gurukula system, including Takshashila, Nalanda, Vikramshila, Valabhi, Samapura, Jagaddala, and Odantapur.

Fine Arts

• Sama Veda is the foundation of Bharat's classical music tradition, which includes Hindustani and Carnatic.
• The Sama Veda and Bharatamuni's Natyashastra are ancient Hindu texts dedicated to the fine arts.
• Bharateeya music uses the concept of octaves, which is popular even today.
• Bharateeya classical music includes instruments like Sitar, Veena, Flute, and Tanpura.
• Bharateeya dance forms include Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, and Odissi.
• India produces the largest number of films in the world, with almost 1800 movies every year.

Ancient Civilization

• Mohenjo-Daro and Harappan Civilizations were planned urban communities, with remains found by archaeologists in present-day Pakistan.
• Varanasi is the oldest and continuously inhabited city in the world.

Bharateeya Culture

• Hindu Family System is the basis of Hindu society and a typical symbol of Bharateeya culture.
• Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam teaches us how family is the basic building block for a peaceful society.
• Family helps us to face the outside world and make us good individuals.
• Festivals are important for Bharateeya culture.

Language & Grammar

• Sanskrit is the mother of 1652 languages and is an official language in countries like Indonesia.
• Panini is the father of linguistics, known for his discoveries in phonetics, phonology, and morphology in the 5th century BCE.
• Panini's Sanskrit grammar is still the most complete and sophisticated of any language in the world.
• His treatise, Ashtadhyayi, gives formal production rules and definitions to describe the formal grammar of Sanskrit.

Literature

• Vedic Literature consists of 4 Vedas, 6 Vedangas, and 4 Upavedas, which contain all kinds of knowledge.
• The Great Epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha, are still very famous till date.
• Vishnu Sharma wrote Panchatantra, which was translated to Arabic by Ibn-al-Muqaffa in the 7th-8th century and is considered one of the masterpieces of Arabic literature.
• Kalidasa is known as the "Shakespeare of India" and is one of the greatest poets and dramatists in the world.
• Other famous writers and poets include Banabhatta, Bhasa, Jayadeva, Ashvaghosha, and Thiruvalluvar.

Politics & Administration

• Gana Sangha or equal Assembly was a representative form of organized democracy established before the Athenian Republic.
• The Panchayat system is an assembly of five wise and respected elders, which started as a form of localized grassroots-level democracy 3000 years ago.
• Ram Rajya is a concept of democratic system where the ruler rules as per the wish of the people.
• Mahatma Gandhi himself dreamt of Ram Rajya.

Economics

• The Arthashastra is a Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy written by Kautilya or Vishnugupta Chanakya.
• It includes books on nature of government, law, criminal court systems, ethics, economics, markets, trade, and theories on world peace.
• Amartya Sen and Abhijit Banerjee are Nobel laureates who have analyzed various economic problems and issues.

Education

• The Gurukulam system is a system of education where wisdom is transferred from teacher to students.
• There were 8 universities that flourished in ancient Bharat, including Takshashila, Nalanda, Vikramshila, Valabhi, Samapura, Jagaddala, and Odantapur.
• Salotgi in Vijaypura District of Karnataka was a famous center of Vedic learning that operated during the 10th-11th century CE.

Fine Arts

• Sama Veda is the most mathematically sound system of music that exists in the world.
• The music concept has roots in the Sama Veda and is associated with many tunes playing throughout the ages.
• Bharat's classical music tradition includes Hindustani and Carnatic.
• The Sama Veda and Bharatamuni's Natyashastra are two ancient Hindu texts dedicated to the fine arts.
• Bharateeya dance forms include Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, and Odissi.
• India produces the largest number of films in the world, with almost 1800 movies every year.