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The Shulba Sutras are sutra texts belonging to the
Strauta ritual and containing geometry related to firealtar construction. They are part of the larger corpus
of texts called the Shrauta Sutras, considered to be
appendices to the Vedas. They are the only sources
of knowledge of Indian mathematics from the Vedic
period. The four major Shulba Sutras, which are mathematically the most significant, are those composed
by Baudhayana, Manava, Apastamba and Katyayana.

Land grants formed an important feature of the
Satavahana rural administration. Inscriptions show
that the Satavahanas started the practice of granting
fiscal and administrative immunities to Brahmins and
Buddhist monks. Earlier, the grants to individuals were
temporary but later grants to religious beneficiaries
were permanent. Perhaps the earliest epigraphic grant
of land is found in the Nanaghat Cave Inscription of
naganika, who bestowed villages (grama) on priests
for officiating at Vedic sacrifices, but it does not speak
of any concessions in this context. These appear first
in grants made by Gautamiputra Satakarni in the first
quarter of the second century A.D.

In Jainism, Rishabh was the first of the 24
Tirthankaras who founded the Ikshavaku dynasty and
was the first Tirthankara of the present age. Because
of this, he was called Adinath. He is mentioned in the
Hindu text of the Bhagavata Purana as an avatar of
Vishnu. In Jainism, a Tirthankara is a human being
who helps in achieving liberation and enlightenment
as an “Arihant” by destroying all of their soul constraining (ghati) karmas, became a role-model and
leader for those seeking spiritual guidance.

Banabhatta was a Sanskrit scholar and poet of
India. He was the Asthana Kavi in the court of King
Harshavardhana, who reigned in the years 606–647
CE in north India. Bana’s principal works include a
biography of Harsha, the Harshacharita and one of
the world’s earliest novels, Kadambari. The other works
attributed to him is the Parvatiparinaya

Nalanda was an ancient centre of higher learning
in Bihar, which was a Buddhist centre of learning
from the fifth or sixth century A.D. to 1197 CE. Nalanda flourished between the reign of the Sakraditya
(whose identity is uncertain and who might have been
either Kumara Gupta I or Kumara Gupta II) and 1197
A.D, supported by patronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers as well as Buddhist emperors like Harsha and
later emperors from the Pala Empire.

The Vedic period (or Vedic age) was a period in
history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures
of Hinduism, were composed. The time span of the
period is uncertain. Philological and linguistic evidence
indicates that the Rig Veda, the oldest of the Vedas,
was composed roughly between 1700 and 1100 BCE,
also referred to as the early Vedic period. It is an
important source of information on the Vedic religion
and their Gods as well as presents a detailed account
of the life of the people at that time

The archaeological record of the Indus civilization
provides practically no evidence of armies, kings,
slaves, social conflict, prisons, and other oft-negative
traits that we traditionally associated with early civilizations. If there were neither slaves nor kings, a more
egalitarian system of governance may have been practiced. Besides, compared to other ancient civilizations
the houses were of nearly equal size indicating a more
egalitarian social structure i.e. The Social System of
the Harappans was fairly egalitarian.

Ujjain (Avanti, Avantikapuri), is an ancient city of
Malwa region in central India, on the eastern bank of
the Kshipra River, today part of the state of Madhya
Pradesh. Avanti with its capital at Ujjaini, is mentioned in Buddhist literature as one of the four great
powers along with Vatsa, Kosala and Magadha.

The name ‘Mithila‘ goes back to Puranic times. It
occurs in the Mahabharata and in Pali literature. According to the Puranic tradition the name has been
derived from that of Mithi (son of Nimi) King of Ayodhya and grandson of Manu who founded a kingdom which was called Mithila after him. It is associated with Valmiki, Ashtavakra, Yajnavalkya, Udayana,
Mahavira, Kanada, Jaimini and Kapila as well as the
women philosophers, such as, Gargi, Maitreyi, Bharati and Katyayani. After the era of the Ramayana it is
said that the three seats of culture in Vedic period -
Kosala, Kasi and Videha - merged to form the Vajjians
confederacy and the centre of political gravity shifted
from Mithila to Vaishali.

Shilppadikaram is one of the five Great Epics according
to later Tamil literary tradition, the others
being Manimegalai, Civaka Cintamani, Valayapathi and
Kundalakesi. The poet prince Ilango Adigal is credited
with this work. He is reputed to be the brother of
Senguttuvan from Chera dynasty. Ilango Adigal was a
Buddhist monk and Silappadhikaram and Manimekalai
are Buddhist epics. Manimekalai, a purely Buddhist
work of the 3rd Sangam period in Tamil literature is
the most supreme and famous among the Buddhist
work done in Tamil. It is a work expounding the doctrines
and propagating the values of Buddhism.It also
talks about the Tamil Buddhists in the island. (Source:
L. Basam Page No. 475)

The Brihadeshwar Temple at Thanjavur (Tanjore)
in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is a Hindu temple
dedicated to Shiva and a brilliant example of the major
heights achieved by Cholas in Tamil architecture.
It is a tribute and a reflection of the power of its
patron Raja Raja Chola I. It remains India’s largest
temple and is one of the greatest glories of Indian
architecture. The temple is part of the UNESCO World
Heritage Site “Great Living Chola Temples”.

The Indo-Greek kings were the first to issue gold
coins in India and their coins were special in the sense
that each king had his own distinctive coins by which
he could be definitely identified. The names of at least
thirty Bactrian kings are known with the help of numerous
coins, and they help in the reconstruction of
the history of the kings. The coins carry legends in
Greek and also in Kharosthi and Brahmi.

Kushinagar is a town and a nagar panchayat in
Kushinagar district in the Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh. It is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site,
where Gautama Buddha is thought to have attained
Parinirvana after his death. It is one of the most important
four holy sites for Buddhists. At this location,
near the Hiranyavati River, Gautama Buddha
attained Parinirvana (or ‘Final Nirvana’) after falling
ill from eating a meal of a species of mushroom, or
possibly pork.

Jivaka Chintamani (fabulous gem) is a classical
epic poem, considered one of the five great Tamil
epics according to later Tamil literary tradition, the others being Manimegalai, Silappadikaram, Valayapathi
and Kundalakesi. It was composed during the
10th century CE by Thiruthakka Thevar, a Jain
monk. It narrates the romantic exploits of Jeevaka
and throws light on arts of music and dance of the
era. It is reputed to have been the model for Kamba
Ramayanam. The epic is based on Sanskrit original
and contains the exposition of Jain doctrines and
beliefs.

The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive
Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled
by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC. Originating
from the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo-
Gangetic plains (modern Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh
and Bengal) in the eastern side of the Indian subcontinent,
the empire had its capital city at Pataliputra
(modern Patna). The Empire was founded in 322 BC
by Chandragupta Maurya. The Gupta Empire was an
ancient Indian empire which existed from approximately
320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian
Subcontinent. The Kushan Empire was originally
formed in the early 1st century AD under Kujula Kadphises
in the territories of ancient Bactria around the
Oxus River (Amu Darya), and later based near Kabul,
Afghanistan. The Kanva dynasty was a Brahman dynasty
founded by Vasudeva Kanva, the minister of
Devabhuti, the last Sunga king in 75 BCE

In about 518 BCE, the Persians invaded India.
They were led by King Darius I, who conquered the
Indus Valley and the area that is now the state of
Punjab. Darius-I was successful in maintaining power,
and his descendants continued to rule the area
when he died. Darius-I also began to collect a tribute
tax, and spread news of India’s many natural resources
to Europe.

The Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra,
India are 30 rock-cut cave monuments which
date from the 2nd century BCE to the 600 CE. The
caves include paintings and sculptures considered to
be masterpieces of Buddhist religious art (which depict
the Jataka tales) as well as frescos which are
reminiscent of the Sigiriya paintings in Sri Lanka. The
Ajanta cave paintings depict the life of Gautam Buddha.

The mightiest of the Kushan rulers in India was
Kanishka. He was in power from 78 AD to 120 AD. It
was Kanishka who initiated the Saka Era in 78 AD.
Through inheritance and conquest, Kanishka’s
kingdom covered an area extending from Bukhara (now
in Uzbekistan) in the west to Patna in the Ganges
Valley in the east, and from the Pamirs (now in
Tajikistan) in the north to central India in the south.
His capital was Purushpura (Peshawar).

The most interesting term in Indian drama with
Greek connotation is yavanika, which means a stage
curtain. For the first time in Panini’s grammar, there
is a reference to Yavana and Yavanani writing.
However, the theory is not only erroneous but
ridiculous because there is no curtain in the Greek
drama and also there is no word “yavanika” in Sanskrit
language. There is Yavani meaning Greek woman.