Véd-s are timeless scriptures that were revealed to Rooshi- s (sages) and passed on from one generation to the next by repetition and memorization. Great Rooshi- s did not leave their names, claimed copyright or charged money to teach. Research scholars have developed new chronologies based on the position of stars as described in Véd- s and Purań- s. For example, a Roog Védic verse describes the winter solstice at Aries that correlates to around 6500 BCE (8,500 years ago). Learned scholars, from East and West, now believe the Roog Védic people who called themselves Āryan were indigenous to India, and there never was an Āryan invasion.
There is evidence of travel, trade, and exchange of knowledge between China, Persia, Middle Eastern, South East Asian, Eastern Mediterranean countries and India since prehistoric times.
5000 BCE – Well planned cities developed along Sindhu (Indus) and Saraswati rivers.
3100 BCE - Mahābhārat war – Dharma is taught by Shri Krushń to Arjun and recorded by Véd Vyās as Bhagawad Gitā. People were performing rituals to obtain wealth and power for themselves. Some pandits were wasting time on philosophical and religious discussions.
Bhagavad Gitā emphasizes ‘selfless service’ for the benefit of the society and ‘performance of one’s own duty without expecting anything in return’. It becomes a handbook on how to live one’s life.
2600 – 2000 BCE - Sindhu-Saraswati river civilization reaches its peak.
2000 BCE - Saraswati river dries up and people migrate.
600 BCE - A unified Bhāratiya culture has developed. Sushruta develops complex surgical techniques like reconstruction of the nose.
599 to 527 BCE - Mahāvir Swami is born in a Hindu family. He emphasized Ahiṁsā, Moksh, and Bhrahmachary to address weaknesses in the society such as violence and sensuous pleasure oriented activities.
563 to 483 BCE - Gautam Buddha was born in a Hindu family. He also addressed weaknesses in the society like violence, reliance on rituals to gain wealth & power, endless intellectual discussions on religious practices, etc. and suggested an ‘eight fold path’ consisting of right thought, right speech, right action etc.
321 BCE - Maurya dynasty rules over the whole of India. Great advances in the fields of art, science, economy, music, dance, architecture, astronomy, etc. are achieved.
200 BCE - Tiruvalluvar writes ‘ Tirukural’ – a treatise on ethics.
320 CE - Gupta dynasty rules over all of India.
800 CE – Shri Ādi Shankarāchārya revives Hinduism.
1469 CE - Guru Nānak was born in a Hindu family. Hindus were divided by caste etc. and were being persecuted by Muslims. He taught equality of all.
1825 to 1883 – Swami Dayānand Saraswati emphasized life according to original teachings from Véd-s, devotion to one God, universal love, justice, equality of men and women, disciplined living, and service of mankind.
1863 to 1902 - Swami Vivekānand introduced Védānt and Yog to Europe and USA to and spoke at The Parliament of World’s Religions in Chicago (1893). He later started the Rāmakrishna Mission.
1869 to 1948 – Mahātma Gāndhi - for the first time in the history of the world, mighty British and other European empires were destroyed by a civil disobedience movement, started by Mahātmā Gāndhi, based on truth and nonviolence. He lived according to the teachings of Bhagavad Gitā.