intresting facts

Monday 25 March 2013

Interesting facts .....

1,525,000,000 miles of telephone wire a strung across the U.S.
101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan (Wendy) are the only two Disney cartoon features with both parents that are present and don't die throughout the movie.
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.
123,000,000 cars are being driven down the U.S's highways.
160 cars can drive side by side on the Monumental Axis in Brazil, the world's widest road.
166,875,000,000 pieces of mail are delivered each year in the U.S.
27% of U.S. male college students believe life is "A meaningless existential hell."
315 entries in Webster's Dictionary will be misspelled.
5% of Canadians don't know the first 7 words of the Canadian anthem, but know the first 9 of the American anthem.
56,000,000 people go to Major League baseball each year.
7% of Americans don't know the first 9 words of the American anthem, but know the first 7 of the Canadian anthem.
85,000,000 tons of paper are used each year in the U.S.
99% of the solar systems mass is concentrated in the sun.
A 10-gallon hat barely holds 6 pints.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off.
A company in Taiwan makes dinnerware out of wheat, so you can eat your plate.
A cow produces 200 times more gas a day than a person.
A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.
A fully loaded supertanker travelling at normal speed takes a least twenty minutes to stop.
A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue.
A giraffe can go without water longer than a camel can.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
A hard working adult sweats up to 4 gallons per day. Most of the sweat evaporates before a person realizes it's there.
A hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute on average.
A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside.
A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.
A jellyfish is 95 percent water.
A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A jumbo jet uses 4,000 gallons of fuel to take off.
A male emperor moth can smell a female emperor moth up to 7 miles away.
A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for 6 years. Wow.
A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night.
A monkey was once tried and convicted for smoking a cigarette in South Bend, Indiana.
A pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes.
A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
A Saudi Arabian woman can get a divorce if her husband doesn't give her coffee.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
A quarter has 119 grooves on its edge, a dime has one less groove.
A shark can detect one part of blood in 100 million parts of water.
A skunk can spray its stinky scent more than 10 feet.
A sneeze travels out your mouth at over 100 m.p.h.
A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans!
A walla-walla scene is one where extras pretend to be talking in the background -- when they say "walla-walla" it looks like they are actually talking.
A whale's penis is called a dork.
About 3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the time they were 30.
About 70% of Americans who go to college do it just to make more money. [The rest of us are avoiding reality for four more years.]
According to a British law passed in 1845, attempting to commit suicide was a capital offense. Offenders could be hanged for trying.
Actor Tommy Lee Jones and former vice-president Al Gore were freshman roommates at Harvard.
Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.
All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20.
All porcupines float in water.
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
Almost a quarter of the land area of Los Angeles is taken up by automobiles.
America once issued a 5-cent bill.
America's first nudist organization was founded in 1929, by 3 men.
Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone.
An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.
An average person laughs about 15 times a day.
An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
Armadillos are the only animal besides humans that can get leprosy.
Armadillos have four babies at a time and they are always all the same sex.
Armored knights raised their visors to identify themselves when they rode past their king. This custom has become the modern military salute.
Aztec emperor Montezuma had a nephew, Cuitlahac, whose name meant "plenty of excrement."
Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under is cap to keep him cool. He changed it every 2 innings.
Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2-6 years of age.
Baby robins eat 14 feet of earthworms every day.
Back in the mid to late 1980's, an IBM-compatible computer wasn't considered a hundred percent compatible unless it could run Microsoft's Flight Simulator.
Bank robber John Dillinger played professional baseball.
Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33.
Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
Ben and Jerry's send the waste from making ice cream to local pig farmers to use as feed. Pigs love the stuff, except for one flavor: Mint Oreo.
Bird droppings are the chief export of Nauru, an island nation in the Western Pacific.
Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan.
Bubble gum contains rubber.
Camel's milk does not curdle.
Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.
Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village".
Cat's urine glows under a blacklight.
Cats can produce over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs can only produce about ten.
Charles Lindbergh took only four sandwiches with him on his famous transatlantic flight.
Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them use to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired."
Cleo and Caesar were the early stage names of Cher and Sonny Bono.
Columbia University is the second largest landowner in New York City, after the Catholic Church.
David Prowse was the guy in the Darth Vader suit in Star Wars. He spoke all of Vader's lines, and didn't know that he was going to be dubbed over by James Earl Jones until he saw the screening of the movie.
Did you know that there are coffee flavored PEZ?
Dogs and cats consume almost $7 billion worth of pet food a year.
Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.
Dr. Samuel A. Mudd was the physician who set the leg of Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth... and whose shame created the expression for ignominy, "His name is Mudd."
Dr. Seuss pronounced "Seuss" such that it rhymed with "rejoice."
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt."
Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
During your lifetime, you'll eat about 60,000 pounds of food, that's the weight of about 6 elephants.
Einstein couldn't speak fluently when he was nine. His parents thought he might be retarded.
Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason.
Eskimo ice cream is neither icy, or creamy.
Even if you cut off a cockroach's head, it can live for several weeks.
Every person has a unique tongue print.
Every time Beethoven sat down to write music, he poured ice water over his head.
Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.
Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails.
Fortune cookies were actually invented in America, in 1918, by Charles Jung.
Gilligan of Gilligan's Island had a first name that was only used once, on the never-aired pilot show. His first name was Willy. The skipper's real name on Gilligan's Island is Jonas Grumby. It was mentioned once in the first episode on their radio's newscast about the wreck.
Giraffes have no vocal cords.
Goethe couldn't stand the sound of barking dogs and could only write if he had an apple rotting in the drawer of his desk.
Hang On Sloopy is the official rock song of Ohio.
Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.
Honeybees have hair on their eyes.
Human teeth are almost as hard as rocks.
Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
Hydroxydesoxycorticosterone and hydroxydeoxycorticosterones are the largest anagrams.
Hypnotism is banned by public schools in San Diego.
"I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
If NASA sent birds into space they would soon die; they need gravity to swallow.
If you bring a raccoon's head to the Henniker, New Hampshire town hall, you are entitled to receive $.10 from the town.
If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
If you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 5,000 times, but more like 4,950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom.
If your eyes are six feet above the surface of the ocean, the horizon will be about three statute miles away.
In 1980, a Las Vegas hospital suspended workers for betting on when patients would die.
In 1980, there was only one country in the world with no telephones - Bhutan.
In 1983, a Japanese artist made a copy of the Mona Lisa completely out of toast.
In 1984, a Canadian farmer began renting ad space on his cows.
In 75% of American households, women manage the money and pay the bills.
In Bangladesh, kids as young as 15 can be jailed for cheating on their finals.
In England, in the 1880's, "Pants" were considered a dirty word.
In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.
In every episode of "Seinfeld" there is a Superman somewhere.
In Kentucky, 50 percent of the people who get married for the first time are teenagers.
In Los Angeles, there are fewer people than there are automobiles.
In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
In space, astronauts cannot cry, because there is no gravity, so the tears can't flow.
In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television's Channel 1 to mobile services (two-way radios in taxicabs, for instance) but did not re-number the other channel assignments. That is why your TV set has channels 2 and up, but no channel 1.
In the great fire of London in 1666 half of London was burnt down but only 6 people were injured.
In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
In the movie "Casablanca," Humphrey Bogart never said "Play it again, Sam."
In the White House, there are 13,092 knives, forks and spoons.
In Tokyo, they sell toupees for dogs.
Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category.
It takes a lobster approximately seven years to grow to be one pound.
It takes about a half a gallon of water to cook macaroni, and about a gallon to clean the pot.
It was discovered on a space mission that a frog can throw up. The frog throws up its stomach first, so the stomach is dangling out of its mouth. Then the frog uses its forearms to dig out all of the stomach's contents and then swallows the stomach back down again.
It was once against the law to have a pet dog in a city in Iceland.
It was once against the law to slam your car door in a city in Switzerland.
It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a certain church in Omaha, Nebraska.
It's against the law to catch fish with your bare hands in Kansas.
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. (Don't try this at home!)
Ivory bar soap floating was a mistake. They had been overmixing the soap formula causing excess air bubbles that made it float. Customers wrote and told how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since.
John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles.
"Kemo Sabe" means "soggy shrub" in Navajo.
Kotex was first manufactured as bandages, during WWI.
Lee Harvey Oswald's cadaver tag sold at an auction for $6,600 in 1992.
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
Lightning strikes about 6,000 times per minute on this planet.
Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son.
Lorne Greene had one of his nipples bitten off by an alligator while he was host of "Lorne Greene's Wild Kingdom."
Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its original size: "L.A."
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time.
Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.
Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
Millie the White House dog earned more than 4 times as much as President Bush in 1991.
Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton.
Montpelier, VT is the only U.S. state capital without a McDonalds.
More Monopoly money is printed in a year, than real money printed throughout the world.
More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in air crashes.
More people use blue toothbrushes, than red ones.
Mosquitoes have teeth.
Most Americans' car horns beep in the key of F.
Most cows give more milk when they listen to music.
Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.
Most lipstick contains fish scales.
Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister.
Murphy's Oil Soap is the chemical most commonly used to clean elephants.
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.
Non-dairy creamer is flammable.
Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously
On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament Building looks like an American flag, but is actually the flag that flew over to Dominion of Canada before the Maple Leaf .
On an American one-dollar bill, there is an owl in the upper left-hand corner of the "1" encased in the "shield" and a spider hidden in the front upper right-hand corner.
One in every 4 americans has appeared on television.
One of the reasons marijuana is illegal today is because cotton growers in the 1930's lobbied against hemp farmers -- they saw it as competition. It is not as chemically addictive as is nicotine, alcohol, or caffeine.
One quarter of the bones in your body, are in your feet.
Only 55% of all Americans know that the sun is a star.
Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
Over 1000 birds a year die from smashing into windows.
Owls are one of the only birds who can see the color blue.
Pamela Anderson Lee is Canada's Centennial Baby, being the first baby born on the centennial anniversary of Canada's independence.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
Penguins can jump as high as 6 feet in the air.
Pinocchio is Italian for "pine head."
Playing cards were issued to British pilots in WWII. If captured, they could be soaked in water and unfolded to reveal a map for escape.
Polar Bears trying to blend in with the ice will sometimes cover up their black nose with their paws.
Pollsters say that 40 percent of dog and cat owners carry pictures of the pets in their wallets.
Q is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the United States.
Recycling one glass jar, saves enough energy to watch T.V for 3 hours.
Reindeer like to eat bananas.
Research indicates that mosquitoes are attracted to people who have recently eaten bananas.
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
Sherlock Holmes never said "Elementary, my dear Watson."
Sigmund Freud had a morbid fear of ferns.
Since 1896, the beginning of the modern Olympics, only Greece and Australia have participated in every Games.
Slugs have 4 noses.
Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they can't find any food.
Some toothpaste's contain antifreeze.
Spotted skunks do handstands before they spray.
"Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
Studies show that if a cat falls off the seventh floor of a building it has about thirty percent less chance of surviving than a cat that falls off the twentieth floor. It supposedly takes about eight floors for the cat to realize what is occurring, relax and correct itself.
Sylvia Miles had the shortest performance ever nominated for an Oscar with "Midnight Cowboy." Her entire role lasted only six minutes.
Texas is also the only state that is allowed to fly its state flag at the same height as the U.S. flag.
The airplane Buddy Holly died in was the "American Pie." (Thus the name of the Don McLean song.)
The average American drinks about 600 sodas a year.
The average American will eat about 11.9 pounds of cereal per year.
The average bank teller loses about $250 every year.
The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year.
The average person is about a quarter of an inch taller at night.
The average person laughs 15 times a day.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth.
The band Duran Duran got their name from an astronaut in the 1968 Jane Fonda movie "Barbarella.
The blesbok, a South African antelope, is almost the same color as grapejuice.
The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts) is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.
The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life".
The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways. The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."
The company providing the liability insurance for the Republican National Convention in San Diego is the same firm that insured the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic.
The condom - made originally of linen - was invented in the early 1500s.
The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
The Earth weighs around 6,588,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.
The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump.
The first Ford cars had Dodge engines.
The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C.
The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver."
The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.
The housefly hums in the middle octave, key of F.
The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672.
The katydid bug hears through holes in its hind legs.
The "L.L." in L.L. Bean stands for Leon Leonwood.
The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."
The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.
The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. The only other word with the same amount of letters is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.
The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
The moon is moving away at a tiny, although measurable distance from the earth every year. Do the math and you will clearly see that 85 million years ago it was orbiting the earth at a distance of about 35 feet from the earth's surface. This would explain the death of the dinosours; the tallest ones, anyway.
The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz."
The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P.
The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan."
The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses. No one in Greece has memorized all 158 verses.
The Neanderthal's brain was bigger than yours is.
The oldest known goldfish lived to 41 years of age. Its name was Fred.
The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
The only nation whose name begins with an "A" but doesn't end in an "A" is Afghanistan.
The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League All-Star Game.
The penguin is the only bird who can swim, but not fly.
The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary. When it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and whites.
The phrase, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye" is from Ancient Rome. The only rule during wrestling matches was, "No eye gouging." Everything else was allowed, but the only way to be disqualified was to poke someone's eye out.
The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' heads enables it to see all four feet at all times.
The praying mantis is the only insect that can turn its head.
The Ramses brand condom is named after the great pharaoh Ramses II who fathered over 160 children.
The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
The Sanskrit word for "war" means "desire for more cows."
The "save" icon on Microsoft Word shows a floppy disk, with the shutter on backwards.
The saying "it's so cold out there it could freeze the balls off a brass monkey" came from when they had old cannons like ones used in the Civil War. The cannonballs were stacked in a pyramid formation, called a brass monkey. When it got extremely cold outside they would crack and break off... thus the saying.
The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing her hands in Jello.
The starfish is one of the only animals who can turn it's stomach inside-out.
The state of Florida is bigger than England.
The term "the whole 9 yards" came from WWII fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."
The three best-known western names in China: Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley.
The United States Government keeps its supply of silver at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.
The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.
The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.
The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the king is dead".
The word "modem" is a contraction of the words "modulate, demodulate." (MOdulate DEModulate)
The word "samba" means "to rub navels together."
The world population of chickens is about equal to the number of people.
The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is 9000 years old.
There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.
There are over 52.6 million dogs in the U.S.
There are more chickens than people in the world.
There are more plastic flamingos in America than real ones.
There are only four words in the English language which end in "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
There are only thirteen blimps in the world. Nine of them are in the United States.
There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.
There is a town in Newfoundland, Canada called Dildo.
There wasn't a single pony in the Pony Express, just horses.
Thomas Edison, lightbulb inventor, was afraid of the dark.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs -- it will let you go instantly.
Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
Until 1796, there was a state in the United States called Franklin. Today it is known as Tennessee.
Until 1965, driving was done on the left-hand side on roads in Sweden. The conversion to right-hand was done on a weekday at 5pm. All traffic stopped as people switched sides. This time and day were chosen to prevent accidents where drivers would have gotten up in the morning and been too sleepy to realize that this was the day of the changeover.
When opossums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.
When snakes are born with two heads, they fight each other for food.
When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers play football at home, the stadium becomes the state's third largest city.
White Out was invented by the mother of Mike Nesmith (formerly of the Monkees).
Who's that playing the piano on the "Mad About You" theme? Paul Reiser himself.
Wilma Flintstone's maiden name was Wilma Slaghoopal, and Betty Rubble's Maiden name was Betty Jean Mcbricker.
Windmills always turn counter-clockwise. Except for the windmills in Ireland.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Women's hearts beat faster than men's.
You blink over 20,000,000 times a year.
You can only smell 1/20th as well as a dog.
You'll eat about 35,000 cookies in a lifetime.
You're born with 300 bones, but when you get to be an adult, you only have 206.
You're more likely to get stung by a bee on a windy day than in any other weather.
Your heart beats over 100,000 times a day.
Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, everytime you breathe.
Your right lung takes in more air than your left one does.
Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest it self .

Monday 5 September 2011

The Gupta Empire (Sanskrit: गुप्त राजवंश, Gupta Rājavaṃśa) was an Ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent.^[1] Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization.^[2] The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors.^[3] This period is called the Golden Age of India^[4] and was marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture.^[5] Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II were the most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty.^[6]
The high points of this cultural creativity are magnificent architecture, sculptures and paintings.^[7] The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma and Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields.^[8]^[9] Science and political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era.^[10] Strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural center and set the region up as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, Malay Archipelago and Indochina.^[11]
The earliest available Puranas are also thought to have been written around this period. The empire gradually declined because of many factors like the substantial loss of territory and imperial authority caused by their own erstwhile feudatories and the invasion by the Hunas from Central Asia.^[12] After the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century, India was again ruled by numerous regional kingdoms. A minor line of the Gupta clan continued to rule Magadha after the disintegration of the empire. These Guptas were ultimately ousted by the Vardhana ruler Harsha, who established an empire in the first half of the 7th century.

[edit] Origin of the Guptas

Main article: Origin of the Gupta dynasty

Specific details about the origin or social background of the Guptas are not yet available.^[13] A.S. Altekar, regarded the caste of the Guptas as Vaishya on the basis of the ancient Indian texts on law, which prescribe the name-ending with Gupta for a member of the Vaishya caste, but this injunction was more often disregarded than followed. A modern historian, K.P. Jayaswal suggested that the Guptas were Jats. His argument was based on the Pune and Riddhapura copper plate grants of Prabahvatigupta, the Vakataka regent and the daughter of Chandragupta II. In these two inscriptions, she states that she belonged to the Dharana gotra and as it was not her husband's gotra, it is the gotra of the Guptas. His view was endorsed by another modern historian, Dasharatha Sharma, who added that the Jats of the Dharana gotra still exist in the present-day Rajasthan^[14] Another modern historian, H.C. Raychaudhuri, also accepted that the Guptas belonged to the Dharana gotra. He also believed that they were possibly related to Queen Dharini, the chief consort of Agnimitra.^[15]^[16] However, according to J. N. Singh Yadav, Dharana gotra not only belongs to the Jats, it is also a prominent gotra of the Yadavs of the present-day Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan states.^[17] But the basis of these arguments, the earlier accepted reading of the Riddhapura copper plate inscription may be incorrect and the correct reading possibly indicates that the family of Prabhavatigupta's mother, Kuberanaga belonged to this Dharana gotra. Recently, a historian, Ashvini Agarwal, on the basis of the matrimonial alliances of the Guptas with the orthodox Brahman dynasties, assumed that they belong to the Brahman caste.^[14] A number of modern scholars have also argued that Guptas were Kshatriyas, mostly based on their matrimonial alliances with the Lichchhavis and Nagas, who are presumed to have been Kshatriyas.^[13]

Head of a Buddha, Gupta period, 6th century.

Recent excavations in Nepal and Deccan have revealed that Gupta suffix was common among Abhira kings and a modern Historian D. R. Regmi linked the Imperial Guptas with Abhira-Guptas of Nepal.^[18] He pointed out that Lichchhavayah, inscribed on the reverse of Samudragupta's coins is a plural term and cannot refer to Chandragupta I's Lichhavi queen, rather it is mentioned to pay allegiance to the Lichhavis of Nepal, whose feudatory, once Abhira-Guptas of Nepal were. In opinion of famous art historian Dr. R. A. Agarawala, D. Litt., "Guptas" are said to be of "Vaishya" caste as their "Dharana" gotra is one of the gotras among the seventeen and half gotras of "Agrawals".
Fa Xian was the first of the Chinese pilgrims who visited India during the reign of Chandra Gupta II. He started his journey from China in 399 CE and reached India in 405 CE. During his stay in India up to 411 CE, he went on a pilgrimage to Mathura, Kanauj, Kapilavastu, Kushinagar, Vaishali, Pataliputra, Kashi and Rajgriha and made careful observations about the empire's conditions. Fa Xian was pleased with the mildness of administration. The Penal Code was mild and offences were punished by fines only. From his accounts, the Gupta Empire was a prosperous period.
The Chinese traveler Yijing (see also Xuanzang) provides more knowledge of the Gupta kingdom in Magadha. He came to north India in 672 CE and heard of Maharaja Sri-Gupta, who built a temple for Chinese pilgrims near Mi-li-kia-si-kia-po-no (Mrigasikhavana). According to Yijing, this temple was "about 40 yojanas to the east of Nalanda, following the course of the Ganga".^[19]

[edit] Srigupta and Ghatotkacha

The most likely time for the reign of Sri Gupta is c. 240–280 CE. A number of modern historians, which include Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay and K. P. Jayaswal, think he and his son were possibly feudatories of the Kushans.^[20] His son and successor Ghatotkacha ruled probably from c. 280–319 CE. In contrast to their successor, Chandragupta I, who is mentioned as Maharajadhiraja, he and his son Ghatotkacha are referred to in inscriptions as Maharaja.^[16] At the beginning of the 5th century the Guptas established and ruled a few small Hindu kingdoms in Magadha and around modern-day Bihar.

[edit] Chandragupta I

Main article: Chandragupta I

Queen Kumaradevi and King Chandragupta I, depicted on a coin of their son Samudragupta, 335–380 CE.

Ghatotkacha (reigned c. 280–319 CE), had a son named Chandragupta (reigned c. 319-335 CE) (not to be confused with Chandragupta Maurya (340–293 BCE), founder of the Mauryan Empire.) In a breakthrough deal, Chandragupta was married to Kumaradevi, a Lichchhavi princess—the main power in Magadha. With a dowry of the kingdom of Magadha (capital Pataliputra) and an alliance with the Lichchhavis, Chandragupta set about expanding his power, conquering much of Magadha, Prayaga and Saketa. He established a realm stretching from the Ganges River to Prayaga (modern-day Allahabad) by 321 CE. He assumed the imperial title of Maharajadhiraja.

[edit] Samudragupta

Main article: Samudragupta

Coin of Samudragupta, with Garuda pillar. British Museum.

Gold coin of Samudragupta to commemorate the Ashvamedha ritual. Tethered horse and queen carrying ritual equipment.

Samudragupta, Parakramanka succeeded his father in 335 CE, and ruled for about 45 years, till his death in 380 CE. He took the kingdoms of Ahichchhatra and Padmavati early in his reign. He then attacked the Malwas, the Yaudheyas, the Arjunayanas, the Maduras and the Abhiras, all of which were tribes in the area. By his death in 380, he had incorporated over twenty kingdoms into his realm and his rule extended from the Himalayas to the river Narmada and from the Brahmaputra to the Yamuna. He gave himself the titles King of Kings and World Monarch. Historian Vincent Smith described him as the "Indian Napoleon".^[21] He performed Ashwamedha yajna (horse sacrifice) to underline the importance of his conquest. The stone replica of the sacrificial horse, then prepared, is in the Lucknow Museum. The Samudragupta Prashasti inscribed on the Ashokan Pillar, now in Akbar’s Fort at Allahabad, is an authentic record of his exploits and his sway over most of the continent.
Samudragupta was not only a talented military leader but also a great patron of art and literature. The important scholars present in his court were Harishena, Vasubandhu and Asanga. He was a poet and musician himself. He was a firm believer in Hinduism and is known to have worshipped Lord Vishnu. He was considerate of other religions and allowed Sri Lanka's Buddhist king Sirimeghvanna to build a monastery at Bodh Gaya. That monastery was called by Xuanzang as the Mahabodhi Sangharama.^[22] He provided a gold railing around the Bodhi Tree.

[edit] Succession of Samudragupta

According to A.S. Altekar, a king named Ramagupta intervened between Samudragupta and Chandragupta II. His theory is based on a tradition that, Samudragupta's eldest son Ramagupta, who succeeded him, was a weak ruler. After suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Sakas, he agreed to surrender his wife Dhruvadevi or Dhurvasvamini to the Saka Chief (who, Altekar believes is Rudrasena II). But, Rama Gupta’s younger brother Chandra Gupta II, protested against this dishonour and went to the Saka camp disguised as the queen and assassinated the Saka Chief. After this he killed his brother Rama Gupta, married Dhruvadevi and ascended to the throne. But this theory is not supported by any contemporary epigraphic evidence. The earliest version of this narrative is found in the Harshacharita of Bana. The later versions are found in a number of texts, which include the extracts of the Devichandragupta, a historical drama of Vishakhadatta found in the Natyadarpana of Ramachandra and Gunachandra and also in the Shringaraprakasha of Bhoja I.^[23] The version of this narrative given by Bana in his Harshacharita differs significantly from all the later versions, even the narrative known to the author of the Kavyamimamsa (c.900). The Harshacharita only mentions that Chandragupta II, disguised as a female, destroyed a Saka king, who coveted the wife of another, in the very city of the enemy.^[19] It does not mention anything about Ramagupta.

[edit] Ramagupta

Main article: Ramagupta

Although, the narrative of the Devichandragupta is not supported by any contemporary epigraphical evidence, the historicity of Ramagupta is proved by his Durjanpur inscriptions on three Jaina images, where he is mentioned as the Maharajadhiraja. A large number of his copper coins also have been found from the Eran-Vidisha region and classified in five distinct types, which include the Garuda,^[24] Garudadhvaja, lion and border legend types. The Brahmi legends on these coins are written in the early Gupta style.^[25] In opinion of art historian Dr. R. A. Agarawala, D. Litt., Ramagupta may be the eldest son of Samudragupta. He became king because of being the eldest. It may be a possibility that he was dethroned because of not being the worthy enough to rule and his younger brother Chandragupta II took over.

[edit] Chandragupta II

Main article: Chandragupta II

Coin of Chandragupta II.

According to the Gupta records, amongst his many sons,Samudragupta nominated prince Chandra Gupta II, born of queen Dattadevi, as his successor.
Chandra Gupta II, Vikramaditya (the Sun of Power), ruled from 380 until 413. Chandra Gupta II also married to a Kadamba princess of Kuntala region and a princess of Naga lineage (Nāgakulotpannnā), Kuberanaga. His daughter Prabhavatigupta from this Naga queen was married to Rudrasena II, the Vakataka ruler of Deccan.^[26] His son Kumaragupta I was married to Kadamba princess of karnatka region . Emperor Chandra Gupta II expanded his realm westwards, defeating the Saka Western Kshatrapas of Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra in a campaign lasting until 409, but with his main opponent Rudrasimha III defeated by 395, and crushing the Bengal (Vanga) chiefdoms. This extended his control from coast-to-coast, estabilshed a second capital at Ujjain and was the high point of the empire.

Gold coins of Chandragupta II.

Silver coin of Chandragupta II, minted in his Western territories, in the style of the Western Satraps.
Obv: Bust of king, with corrupted Greek legend "OOIHU".^[27]^[28]
Rev: Legend in Brahmi, "Chandragupta Vikramaditya, King of Kings, and a devotee of Vishnu" , around a peacock.
15mm, 2.1 grams. Mitchiner 4821–4823.

Despite the creation of the empire through war, the reign is remembered for its very influential style of Hindu art, literature, culture and science, especially during the reign of Chandra Gupta II. Some excellent works of Hindu art such as the panels at the Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh serve to illustrate the magnificence of Gupta art. Above all it was the synthesis of elements that gave Gupta art its distinctive flavour. During this period, the Guptas were supportive of thriving Buddhist and Jain cultures as well, and for this reason there is also a long history of non-Hindu Gupta period art. In particular, Gupta period Buddhist art was to be influential in most of East and Southeast Asia. Many advances were recorded by the Chinese scholar and traveller Faxian (Fa-hien) in his diary and published afterwards.
The court of Chandragupta was made even more illustrious by the fact that it was graced by the Navaratna (Nine Jewels), a group of nine who excelled in the literary arts. Amongst these men was the immortal Kalidasa whose works dwarfed the works of many other literary geniuses, not only in his own age but in the ages to come. Kalidasa was particularly known for his fine exploitation of the shringara (romantic) element in his verse.

[edit] Chandra Gupta II's campaigns against Foreign Tribes

4th century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, credits Chandragupta Vikramaditya with having conquered about twenty one kingdoms, both in and outside India. After finishing his campaign in the East and West India, Vikramaditya (Chandra Gupta II) proceeded northwards, subjugated the Parasikas (Persians), then the Hunas and the Kambojas tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys respectively. Thereafter, the king proceeds across the Himalaya and reduced the Kinnaras, Kiratas etc. and lands into India proper.^[29]
The Brihatkathamanjari of the Kashmiri writer Kshmendra states, king Vikramaditya (Chandra Gupta II) had "unburdened the sacred earth of the Barbarians like the Sakas, Mlecchas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Parasikas, Hunas, etc. by annihilating these sinful Mlecchas completely".^[30]^[31]^[32]

[edit] Kumaragupta I

Main article: Kumaragupta I

Gold coin of Kumaragupta I.

Silver coin of the Gupta King Kumara Gupta I AD (414–455) (Coin of his Western territories, design derived from the Western Satraps).
Obv: Bust of king with crescents, with traces of corrupt Greek script.^[33]^[34]
Rev: Garuda standing facing with spread wings. Brahmi legend: Parama-bhagavata rajadhiraja Sri Kumaragupta Mahendraditya.

Chandragupta II was succeeded by his second son Kumaragupta I, born of Mahadevi Dhruvasvamini. Kumaragupta I assumed the title, Mahendraditya.^[35] He ruled until 455. Towards the end of his reign a tribe in the Narmada valley, the Pushyamitras, rose in power to threaten the empire.

[edit] Skandagupta

Main article: Skandagupta

Skandagupta, son and successor of Kumaragupta I is generally considered to be the last of the great Gupta rulers. He assumed the titles of Vikramaditya and Kramaditya.^[36] He defeated the Pushyamitra threat, but then was faced with invading Hephthalites or "White Huns", known in India as the Huna, from the northwest. He repulsed a Huna attack c. 455, But the expense of the wars drained the empire's resources and contributed to its decline. Skandagupta died in 467 and was succeeded by his agnate brother Purugupta.^[37]

[edit] Huna invasion and the decline of the empire

Skandagupta was followed by weak rulers Purugupta (467–473), Kumaragupta II (473–476), Budhagupta (476–495?), Narasimhagupta, Kumaragupta III, Vishnugupta, Vainyagupta and Bhanugupta. In the 480's the Hephthalite King Oprah broke through the Gupta defenses in the northwest, and much of the empire in northwest was overrun by the Huna by 500. The empire disintegrated under the attacks of Toramana and his successor Mihirakula. The Hunas conquered several provinces of the empire, including Malwa, Gujarat and Thanesar. It appears from inscriptions that the Guptas, although their power was much diminished, continued to resist the Hunas. Narasimhagupta formed an alliance with the independent kingdoms to drive the Hun from most of northern India by the 530's. The succession of the sixth-century Guptas is not entirely clear, but the tail end recognized ruler of the dynasty's main line was king Vishnugupta, reigning from 540 to 550. In addition to the Huna invasion, the factors, which contribute to the decline of the empire include competition from the Vakatakas and the rise of Yashodharman in Malwa.^[38]

[edit] Military organization

The Imperial Guptas could have achieved their successes through force of arms with an efficient martial system. Historically, the best accounts of this come not from the Hindus themselves but from Chinese and Western observers. However, a contemporary Indian document, regarded as a military classic of the time, the Siva-Dhanur-veda, offers some insight into the military system of the Guptas.
The Guptas seem to have relied heavily on infantry archers, and the bow was one of the dominant weapons of their army. The Hindu version of the longbow was composed of metal, or more typically bamboo, and fired a long bamboo cane arrow with a metal head. Unlike the composite bows of Western and Central Asian foes, bows of this design would be less prone to warping in the damp and moist conditions often prevalent to the region. The Indian longbow was reputedly a powerful weapon capable of great range and penetration and provided an effective counter to invading horse archers. Iron shafts were used against armored elephants and fire arrows were also part of the bowmen's arsenal. India historically has had a prominent reputation for its steel weapons. One of these was the steel bow. Due to its high tensility, the steel bow was capable of long range and penetration of exceptionally thick armor. These were less common weapons than the bamboo design and found in the hands of noblemen rather than in the ranks. Archers were frequently protected by infantry equipped with shields, javelins, and longswords.
The Guptas also had knowledge of siegecraft, catapults, and other sophisticated war machines.
The Guptas apparently showed little predilection for using horse archers, despite the fact these warriors were a main component in the ranks of their Scythian, Parthian, and Hepthalite (Huna) enemies. However, the Gupta armies were probably better disciplined. Able commanders like Samudragupta and Chandragupta II would have likely understood the need for combined armed tactics and proper logistical organization. Gupta military success likely stemmed from the concerted use of elephants, armored cavalry, and foot archers in tandem against both Hindu kingdoms and foreign armies invading from the Northwest. The Guptas also maintained a navy, allowing them to control regional waters.
The collapse of the Gupta Empire in the face of the Huna onslaught was due not directly to the inherent defects of the Gupta army, which after all had initially defeated these people under Skandagupta. More likely, internal dissolution sapped the ability of the Guptas to resist foreign invasion, as was simultaneously occurring in Western Europe and China.

[edit] Gupta administration

A study of the epigraphical records of the Gupta empire shows that there was a hierarchy of administrative divisions from top to bottom. The empire was called by various names such as Rajya, Rashtra, Desha, Mandala, Prithvi and Avani. It was divided in to 26 provinces, which were styled as Bhukti, Pradesha and Bhoga. Provinces were also divided into Vishayas and put under the control of the Vishayapatis. A Vishayapati administered the Vishaya with the help of the Adhikarana (council of representatives), which comprised four representatives: Nagarasreshesthi, Sarthavaha, Prathamakulika and Prathama Kayastha. A part of the Vishaya was called Vithi.^[39]

[edit] Legacy of the Gupta Empire

The Ajanta paintings were made during the Gupta period

Scholars of this period include Varahamihira and Aryabhata, who is believed to be the first to come up with the concept of zero, postulated the theory that the Earth moves round the Sun, and studied solar and lunar eclipses. Kalidasa, who was a great playwright, who wrote plays such as Shakuntala, which is said to have inspired Goethe, and marked the highest point of Sanskrit literature is also said to have belonged to this period.The famous Sushruta Samhita, which is a Sanskrit redaction text on all of the major concepts of ayurvedic medicine with innovative chapters on surgery, dates to the Gupta period.
The flow of invasions from the Huns from central Asia aided in accelerating the demise of the glorious Gupta dynasty rule in India, although the effects of its fall was far less devastating than that of the Han or Roman at the same time. According to historian's work,

“

The Gupta Empire is considered by many scholars to be the "classical age" of Hindu and Buddhist art and literature. The Rulers of the Gupta Empire were strong supporters of developments in the arts, architecture, science, and literature. The Gupta Empire circulated a large number of gold coins, called dinars, and supported the Universities of Nalanda and Vikramasila.

”

Chess is said to have originated in this period,^[40] where its early form in the 6th century was known as caturaṅga, which translates as "four divisions [of the military]" – infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry – represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively. Doctors also invented several medical instruments, and even performed operations. The Indian numerals which were the first positional base 10 numeral systems in the world originated from Gupta India. The ancient Gupta text Kama Sutra is widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature written by the Indian scholar Vatsyayana. Aryabhata, a noted mathematician-astronomer of the Gupta period proposed that the earth is not flat, but is instead round and rotates about its own axis. He also discovered that the Moon and planets shine by reflected sunlight. Instead of the prevailing cosmogony in which eclipses were caused by pseudo-planetary nodes Rahu and Ketu, he explained eclipses in terms of shadows cast by and falling on Earth. These and the other scientific discoveries made by Indians during this period about gravity and the planets of the solar system spread throughout the world through trade.

Saturday 6 August 2011

flower

Sunday 26 June 2011

The Pyramids Were White

The stereotypical vision of the Egyptian Pyramids are large mountain like brown piles of stone uprooting from the desert having a rough contour. Though when first constructed around 2500 BC. The pyramids were paper white and as smooth as glass, toping the pyramid was a golden capstone that gleamed in the desert sun. It was an amazing spectacle. The pyramids somewhat stayed in this state until the Arab invasion of Egypt around AD 500. The Arab invaders stripped the pyramid of it's smooth limestone and built a huge section of Cairo. Many of the Mosques and Palaces of Cairo consist of the Ancient stones of the pyramids. Quite sad actually.

Saturday 25 June 2011

facts about animals .........

There are presently over a million animal species upon planet earth.

The reptiles have 6,000 species crawling in their habitats; and more are discovered each year.

There are over 70,000 types of spiders spinning their webs in the world.

Well, there are 3,000 kinds of lice. Yes, it is the lice we are prone to get due to lack of hair hygiene.

This is a mind-boggling fact – for each of the 600 million people there is about 200 million insects crawling, flying...

Mammals are the only creatures that have flaps around their ears.

The world has approximately one billion cattle, of which about 200 million belong to India.

The life of a housefly is only 14 days.

A dog was the first animal to up in space.

A sheep, a duck and a rooster were the first animals to fly in a hot air balloon. The oldest breed of a dog known to mankind is the ‘Saluki’.

An ostrich is the fastest bird and can run up to 70 km/h.

Never get a camel angry, for he or she will spit at you.

There are crabs that are the size of a pea. There are known as ‘Pea Crabs’.

The lifespan of 75 percent of wild birds is 6 months.

Denmark has twice as many pigs as there are people.

You do not need cotton buds to clean a giraffe ears. It can do so with its own 50cm-tongue.

Want to known the appetite of a South American Giant Anteater? Well it eats over 30,000 ants, per day.

The sailfish can swim at the speed of 109 km/h, making it the fastest swimmer.

The Sea Horse is the slowest fish, drifting at approximately 0.016 km/h.

The small car on the road is probably the size of the heart of a blue whale.

The length of an elephant is the same as the tongue of a blue whale.

The crocodile's tongue is unmovable, as it is attached to the roof of its mouth.