Planned cities such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa flourish along the Indus, with drainage systems, standardised weights and an undeciphered script.
The hymns of the Rigveda, the oldest text of Hinduism, are composed in Vedic Sanskrit and transmitted orally for generations.
Under the Guptas, the monastery of Nalanda in Bihar is founded and becomes Asia's foremost centre of Buddhist learning for centuries.
Mughal emperor Shah Jahan builds the Taj Mahal at Agra in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal; it becomes the emblem of Mughal architecture.
Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore becomes the first Asian Nobel laureate, honoured chiefly for Gitanjali.