1.

FOUR ANCIENT LANGUAGES

Sanskrit
Sanskrit is a standardized dialect of Old Indo-Aryan, originating
as Vedic Sanskrit as early as 1700-1200 BCE. One of the oldest
Indo-European languages for which substantial documentation
exists, Sanskrit is believed to have been the general language
of the greater Indian Subcontinent in ancient times.
Prakrits
The Prakrits (/ˈprɑːkrɪt/; Early Brahmi 𑀧𑁆𑀭𑀸𑀓𑀾𑀢, prākṛta;
Devanagari Sanskrit: प्राकृत, prākṛta; Shauraseni: 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤,
pāuda; Jain Prakrit: pāua; Kannada: pāgada; Malayalam:
prākṛtam; Tamil and Telugu: pāgadam) are a group of
vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the
Indian subcontinent from around.
Pali
Pali (/ˈpɑːli/) is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian
subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Pāli Canon or
Tipiṭaka as well as the sacred language of Theravāda Buddhism. In early time, it
was written in Brahmi script.
Apabhramsha
Apabhramsha. Some grammarians believed Apabhramsha to
be a dialect of Prakrit, and the language was utilized for
religious reasons by both the Shvetambara and Digambara
Jains.

2. BHARIMIN SCRIPT
Brahmi (/ˈbrɑːmi/; 𑀩𑁆𑀭𑀸𑀳𑁆𑀫𑀻; ISO: Brāhmī) is a writing system of ancient South Asia[3] that
appeared as a fully developed universal one in the third century BCE,and its descendants, the
Brahmic scripts, continue to be used today across South and Southeast Asia.Brahmi is an
abugida which uses a system of diacritical marks to associate vowels with consonant symbols.
The writing system only went through relatively minor evolutionary changes from the Mauryan
period (3rd century BCE) down to the early Gupta period (4th century CE), and it is thought that
as late as the 4th century CE, a literate person could still read and understand Mauryan
inscriptions. Sometime thereafter, the capability to read the original Brahmi script was lost. The
earliest (indisputably dated) and best-known Brahmi inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of
Ashoka in north-central India, dating to 250–232 BCE. The decipherment of Brahmi became the
focus of European scholarly attention in the early 19th-century during East India Company rule
in India, in particular in the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta. Brahmi was deciphered by
James Prinsep, the secretary of the Society, in a series of scholarly articles in the Society's
journal in the 1830s.His breakthroughs built on the epigraphic work of Christian Lassen, Edwin
Norris, H. H. Wilson and Alexander Cunningham, among others.The origin of the script is still
much debated, with most scholars stating that Brahmi was derived from or at least influenced
 by one or more contemporary Semitic scripts, while others favor the idea of an indigenous origin
or connection to the much older and as yet undeciphered Indus script of the Indus Valley
Civilization. Brahmi was at one time referred to in English as the "pin-man" script,that is "stick
figure" script. It was known by a variety of other names, including "lath", "Laṭ", "Southern
Aśokan", "Indian Pali" or "Mauryan" (Salomon 1998, p. 17), until the 1880s when Albert Étienne
Jean Baptiste Terrien de Lacouperie, based on an observation by Gabriel Devéria, associated it
with the Brahmi script, the first in a list of scripts mentioned in the Lalitavistara Sūtra. Thence
the name was adopted in the influential work of Georg Bühler, albeit in the variant form
"Brahma".The Gupta script of the fifth century is sometimes called "Late Brahmi". The Brahmi
script diversified into numerous local variants classified together as the Brahmic scripts. Dozens
of modern scripts used across South and South East Asia have descended from Brahmi, making it
one of the world's most influential writing traditions.[page needed] One survey found 198
scripts that ultimately derive from it.Among the inscriptions of Ashoka c. 3rd century BCE
written in the Brahmi script a few numerals were found, which have come to be called the
Brahmi numerals. The numerals are additive and multiplicative and, therefore, not place value;it
is not known if their underlying system of numeration has a connection to the Brahmi script. But
in the second half of the first millennium CE, some inscriptions in India and Southeast Asia
written in scripts derived from the Brahmi did include numerals that are decimal place value,
and constitute the earliest existing material examples of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, now
in use throughout the world.The underlying system of numeration, however, was older, as the
earliest attested orally transmitted example dates to the middle of the 3rd century CE in a
Sanskrit prose adaptation of a lost Greek work on astrology.

3. BUDDHA PRINCIPAL
Buddhism is a faith that was founded by Siddhartha Gautama
(“the Buddha”) more than 2,500 years ago in India. With about
470 million followers, scholars consider Buddhism one of the
major world religions. Its practice has historically been most
prominent in East and Southeast Asia, but its influence is growing
in the West. Many Buddhist ideas and philosophies overlap with
those of other faiths.
Some key Buddhism beliefs include:
1. Followers of Buddhism don’t acknowledge a supreme god or
deity. They instead focus on achieving enlightenment—a state of
inner peace and wisdom. When followers reach this spiritual
echelon, they’re said to have experienced nirvana.
2. The religion’s founder, Buddha, is considered an extraordinary
being, but not a god. The word Buddha means “enlightened.”
3. The path to enlightenment is attained by utilizing morality,
meditation and wisdom. Buddhists often meditate because they
believe it helps awaken truth.
 4. There are many philosophies and interpretations within
Buddhism, making it a tolerant and evolving religion.
5. Some scholars don’t recognize Buddhism as an organized
religion, but rather, a “way of life” or a “spiritual tradition.”
6. Buddhism encourages its people to avoid self-indulgence but
also self-denial.
7. Buddha’s most important teachings, known as The Four Noble
Truths, are essential to understanding the religion.
4.KAUTILVA

Kautilya (4th century B.C.), also known as Vishnugupta and Chanakya, is traditionally known as the
author of the Arthashastra, the celebrated ancient Indian work on polity, and as the counselor of
Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya empire.

Most of the details of the life of Kautilya are uncertain and shrouded in myth and legend. Ancient Indian
tradition describes him as a native of Taxila (near Peshawar in modern Pakistan) who had journeyed to
Pataliputra (Patna), capital of the Nanda empire, in search of recognition of his learning. There he was
insulted by Dhana Nanda, last of the Nanda rulers, and the irascible Brahmin swore vengeance on the
house of the Nandas. Pursued by Nanda soldiers, Kautilya escaped into the forests, where he met the
young Chandragupta Maurya. Kautilya took Chandragupta to Taxila. This was the time when Alexander's
legions were invading northwestern India. Alexander retreated from the Punjab in 325 B.C., and soon
thereafter Chandragupta worked his dynastic revolution, killing Dhana Nanda and becoming the ruler of
India. Indian tradition asserts that Kautilya had masterminded this revolution and continued as
Chandragupta's counselor