The oldest and the proven record of existence of Yoga is found in the Indus Valley Civilisation - that of the seal of Mohenjodaro (3000 B.C.) depicting a yogi sitting in a meditative posture. From this seal, It is believed that Indus people were aware of yoga. Yoga is even mentioned in the earliest literature, the Vedas. The principles of Yoga are mentioned in the four Vedas i.e. Rigveda . Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharveda.

Originally yoga was a part of living and part of our culture. During the ancient period, Yoga was a secret system, only known by a few. It was practiced within a small community because the authentic Yogis were afraid that Yoga would fall into wrong hands and be misused.

During the Vedic period, the tendency of Indian sage was to overcome the physical inconveniences created by the forces of Nature. Thus instead of putting on clothes for protecting himself against the external heat or cold, the yogis would rather prefer to temper his body in such a way that he might beat them peacefully or absolutely overcome them. This method of least resistance invariably called for self-denials, which consisted in acts of "yoking or harnessing" his desires and senses and also in "achieving the unachieved".

The word Yoga seems to have been first used in the Rigveda, then in the Yajurveda and Atharvaveda and also in such later Vedic works as the Satapath.

Since nature is the base for these Upanishads - from the animals and earth many of the techniques of Yoga developed such as Asanas and Kriyas.

Meditation on the sacred syllable OM and the idea of controlling the respiratory system as an aid to the process of meditation seems also to belong to the very early period. A suggestion is even made in the Atharvaveda that the Atharvan already knows something about the importance and control of breath and the vital foces. A systematic treatment, however, of the many then -existing yoga practices made available in the Maitrayani Upanisad. It discloses the six- fold (Sadanga) Yoga consisting of :

1. Pranayama or control of bio - motor force
2. Pratyahara or abstraction
3. Dharna or concentration
4. Dhyana or meditation
5. Tarka or an examination whether the mind has become transformed in its objects or not and
6. Samadhi or trance.

The culture at this time was so focused on these concepts that many people just stopped working and taking up their jobs seriously and instead just got absorbed in the philosophy of life. In response to this problem came the Bhagwad Gita - in 2nd century B.C. which greatly emphasized "Karma Yoga." - doing our duties.

So by now, much philosophical and practical material was available. People needed a way to all this vast amount of information so in 5th Century B.C. Sutras were written by the great philosopher - Patanjli. There are four chapters and 195 Sutras. In these Sutras, students are classified into three categories : high, middle and low and based on their abilities, techniques are suggested to achieve the highest. The highest group is to follow : Abhyas and Vairagya, Middle group is to follow Kriya Yoga and the the lowest group - i.e. all of us - are to follow Ashtanga Yoga.

These Sutras need to be understood keeping in mind the age and culture in which these were written. Since in those days printing was unknown, the need of brevity has been taken care of by Patanjli remarkably well. Each Sutra is meaningful if looked at individually and also these Sutras are interlinked with each other thus complementing each other very well.

The masterly manner in which Patanjli hass compounded these Sutras reveal to us that he was a Yogi of a very high order who had personal / practical knowledge of all Yoga Techniques. He had understood human mind so well to be able to write the Sutra (Chapter 1, Sutra 2) "Yogash Citta Vritti Nirodh." - i..e Only When we control all the activities / modifications of our mind, we can achieve Yuj Samadhi as a result of self knowledge and this is possible only through Yoga.

The Sutras were associated with the traditional writings of Samkhya Philosophy. Samkhya is based on classifying the external world into 25 categories. It is founded on the belief of three Gunas and how they effect the Prakurti and Purusa in the world.

There have been 30 ancient commentaries written about the Sutras, 500 years after they were published. The major commentators are - Vyasa, Bhikshu and Vacaspati Misra ( 8th Century A.D.)

By now we had Yoga in forms of Hatha Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Laya Yoga and Raja Yoga.

Laya Yoga uses visualization and mantra to dissolve the mind in transcendental Bliss, into the beingness of the Self.

Mantra Yoga binds the mind to mantra until the restless mind is dissolved. As with any other Yoga technique pure Awareness is the result. Mantra Yoga is a gift for all seekers of the Truth who find it difficult or impossible because of age or affliction to study Hatha Yoga or some of the other traditions which demand more time, flexibility, devotion, and so on.

The Mantra and Laya Yoga can be included under Raja Yoga. Then there would remain two main divisions of Yoga. Both Hatha and Raja Yoga aim at attainment of Reality through mind control, but they recommend different methods for the same. Hathayoga begins with purification and control of brain and the nervous system by such processes as Asanas, Bandhas and Mudras. According to this Yoga, the realization of Brahaman can be attained by rousing the divine power called "Kundalini" by means of Pranayama. On the other hand, Rajayoga is a practical study in the psychology of religion and concerns itself mainly with the spirit, as Hathayoga deals with the body.

Towards the end of the 9th Century and the beg of 10th Century A.D. was the time of Goraksanatha. He was the follower of Matsyendranatha ( middle to end of 9th Century A.D. ) who was one of 84 Siddhas of the Natha Sect. Matsyendranath wrote Kavlajnananirnaya. Goraksanatha "reformed" Yoga and made it systematic. He saw that Hatha Yoga was tatught in pure form. He wrote several books on "Hatha Yoga." He popularized certain Asanas and ratios in Pranayams. Later the Tantriks sect started to gain power they were driven out of the west and then driven out of India all together to Assam and Tibet.

There continued to be more writings on Hatha Yoga including a famous treatise : Hathayogapradipika by Svatmarma - in 14th Century A.D. Later Swami Vivekananda - ( 1863 - 1902 ) focused on Rajayoga, Jnanyoga, Bhaktiyoga and Karmayoga. Vivekananda thought that Yoga should be brought to the Modern Society and not held secret and hidden. He spent his short life in making sure that true Yoga - Classical Yoga was tatught to the people.

Finally came Paramahansa Madhavadasji ( 1798 - 1921 period in history of yoga). He was a Bhakti Yogi and traveled around India 11 times in order to learn and exchange information with other learned men about Yoga. Social service was his motto. He was given the name of Sakaria Baba in Karachi - i.e. the Saint granting the gift of Sugar becoz his famous bowl ( Kamandalu ) would bring food for thousands to eat.! In 1857 his popularity had grown so much that he had to hide in the Himalayas for some peace. Finally in his eighties he setted down at Malsar, near the Narmada river and an Ashrama was formed around him. Though lot many Sadhus visited this Ashram every day for bhajans, etc, he was waiting for a true student to appear hefore him who could carry on his experience.

Thus, the history of the yoga can be summarised as under :
3000 BC : Richas : Indicates earliest strings of Bhakti.
600 to 1500 BC : Shrutis : Earliest expression of Aryan Rishis.
600 BC : Maharshi Patanjali wrote the Yoga Sutras on Astang Yoga.
500 BC : Bhagwat Cult : Flowering of BHagwata Indian culture.
Before 900 AD : Yukta Dipika : Work on Samkhya.
900 AD : Goraksanath - Disciple of Matsyandranath, father of Hatha Yoga.
14th Century AD : Svantnarama - Author of Hstha Yoga Pradipita.
15th Century AD : Shivananda Saraswati : Author of Yoga Chintamani.
15th Century AD : Gauranga Chaitanya Mahaprabhu : Great Devottee of Lord Krishna.
16th Century AD : Tulsidas : Author of Ramcharitramanas.
16th Century AD : Mirabai : Great Bhakti poetess of lord krishna & author of Miranada.
16th Century AD : Vynabhiksu : Author of Yoga Vartika.
18th Century : Gheranda : Author of Gheranda Samhita.
18th Century AD : Ramkrisha Paramhans & Swami Vivekananda
18th Century AD : Paramhansa Madhavdasji