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Scientists unearthed a seal in the Indus River Valley. It is speculated that this is one of the earliest depiction of Shiva, the Lord of Yoga. It is also though that the central figure is of Mulabandhasana, the seated meditation pose.

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Four books, called the Vedas, were written. They are mostly descriptions of ritual sacrifice, but there are some precursors to yoga within it, such as body poses, breathing techniques, and concentration.

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Alexander the Great sent one of his scholars to explore India, and to learn about yogis and their calmness and mindfulness.

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The Pali Canon (The Word of Buddha) is written, in which Siddharta Gautama made his own form of Yoga from various other Yogis. It details physical and mental practices in order to obtain spiritual liberation.

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The Mahabharata was written, and is 1,8 million words. According to it, the purpose of yoga is to unit with the Brahman, or universal spirit. There are three kinds of yoga in it:

Karma yoga: The yoga of action

Bhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion

Jnana yoga: The yoga of knowledge

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Patanjali writes the Yoga Sutras, and says the purpose of yoga is to gather a scattered mind. He writes about the 8 limbs, mentioning asana, and a steady and comfortable seat:

yama

niyama

asana

pranayama

pratyahara

dharana

dhyana

samadhi

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Hatha Yoga was developed and was the most accepting of all the previous practices. Svatmarama later writes the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, which details:

Shatkarma

Asana (15 postures)

Pranayama

Kumbhaka

Mudras

Meditation

Chakras

Kundalini

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Hatha Yoga begins tp evolve into modern yoga, and begins to spread globally from its hearth in India.

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Yoga master Tirumalai Krishnamacharya developed a new yoga style, which was intended to improve strength and stamina. Him, Sivananda and Kaivalyananda, all were modern yoga masters, and most current schools of yoga developed from their teachings.

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The British colonized India, and dismissed Hatha yoga as barbaric, crude, and extreme. Elites thought of yoga as backwards and savage. However, Indra Devi founded a Yoga studio in Hollywood, which gained massive popularity.

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B.K.S. Iyengar began to capitalize on the massive boom in fitness, and worked to remove negative stigmas around yoga He published Light on Yoga, which had 200 yoga poses, and became quintessential for modern American yoga teachers.

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Yoga has become very commercialized, in part due to books, videos, and the general fitness/wellness craze. Today is is practiced by over 20.4 million people in the U.S, and is founded on asanas.

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https://vinyasayogatraining.com/resources/history-of-yoga

https://www.mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?25096/Yoga+Its+Origin+History+and+Development

https://www.google.com/search?q=alexander+the+great&rlz=1C5GCEM_enUS969US969&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1y_az69z2AhVJEEQIHVrpCgoQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1440&bih=789&dpr=2&safe=active&ssui=on#imgrc=yBraVj8E383zhM

https://www.worldhistory.org/Mahabharata/

https://www.jamesrussellyoga.co.uk/blog-james-russell_files/modern-yoga-origins.html

https://www.historycentral.com/BookReviews/Yoga.html