Yet unusual.

Does Any Other Country Have a Past Like India?

Yes—and yet, India is unusual.

Many parts of the world possess extraordinary ancient civilisations.

Egypt gave humanity monumental architecture, writing and an ancient civilisation of remarkable sophistication.

Greece gave the world philosophy, mathematics, literature and political thought.

Rome left an enduring legacy of law, engineering, architecture and governance.

Persia produced great empires, literature, art and sophisticated administration.

China developed one of the world's oldest and most continuous civilisations, with remarkable achievements in philosophy, science, literature and statecraft.

Mesopotamia gave humanity some of its earliest cities, writing and systems of law.

And yet, India's story has a particularly remarkable feature:

Continuity.

India's past is not confined to museums and archaeological ruins.

The Vedas are still recited.

The Upanishads are still studied.

The Ramayana and Mahabharata are still read and retold.

Ancient philosophical traditions continue to be taught.

Pilgrims still travel to ancient sacred centres.

Temples built centuries ago remain living places of worship.

And traditions of music, language, philosophy, ritual and learning have continued to evolve across generations.

India also produced an extraordinary succession of kingdoms and rulers—from the Mauryas and Guptas to the Cholas, Pallavas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara, Mewar, the Marathas and Mysore.

But India's greatness cannot be measured only by its kings.

It lies in the remarkable combination of civilisation, philosophy, science, literature, art, spirituality and continuity.

We should therefore not say that India alone had a glorious past.

Many civilisations did.

But we can say something meaningful:

India is one of the rare places where an extraordinarily ancient civilisation remains a living part of the present.

And perhaps that is the story our next generation deserves to know.

India was not merely a land that produced great kings.

It was a civilisation that repeatedly produced great kings, thinkers, scientists, poets, saints, artists and builders—across thousands of years.