Why is moksha and being famous mutually contradictory? I really don’t get how you are thinking here. Is moksha like some end point of existence, beyond which one stops being in the world? There is good reason to believe it is not, because like I said so-called enlightened and liberated people have remained in the world and contributed, as a result they have also become famous. As a result of becoming famous, they have gained influence and their works and teachings have been published/transcribed. Again, their names are stated in all their works.
Why is the history of ideas important? Why is history important? Honestly you should go and ask a historian why they think history is important. I am not a historian, though I of course cover a lot of history in my own discipline of philosophy. History is important because human knowledge and culture is not static, it is constantly evolving. If you want to make contributions to our progress you need to be aware of everything that has been done before you. Newton famously said “I stood on the shoulders of giants” meaning his theories of mechanics would not have been possible, without the work of all before him. Why in all fields do you study the history of ideas, even in a field like mathematics? Because you need to know about what has been done before you and how the field has evolved, if you want to contribute original research to it.
Some of the romantic ideas you are evincing about the Indian tradition are actually all stereotypes about the Indian tradition and often these stereotypes are used by the West to discredit it: These stereotypes are that it is world-denying, anti-progress, anti-science and rationality, mystical, superstitious. So basically because of these stereotypes the entire Indian tradition of thought and culture gets relegated to “new agers” or people who like exotic things, and kept outside of the professional world that actually matters. The truth is the complete contrary, the Indian tradition is thoroughly rational, scientific and progressive. I know this because I am deeply involved in its study, history and philosophy. As I pointed out already all authored signed their work.
Yoga is not some mystical air-fairy practice. It is a highly developed system of philosophy and science which has more than 3000 years of recorded history. It a subject which has thoroughly studied, debated, analysed and reviewed over the course of history. Beginning from critical inquiries in the Upanishads, to the highly systematic expositions in the sutra or Darsana period. In the Yoga sutras for example, we find elaborate systems of classification of types of thought(vrittis) types of emotional afflictions(kleshas) levels of concentration, levels of samadhi, types of karma and states of consciousness. And of course it does not end here, the commentaries of Vyassa and other major philosophers have thoroughly studied and expanded on the subject. In medieval times we see the philosophy of Tantra emerge as a subset of Yoga, bringing in new developments of studying the anatomy of the body, the vital points, the nadis etc.
Knowledge in the Indian tradition is considered vastly important. First of all the tradition begins from a knowledge based tradition - Vedic - meaning knowing. Vedic knowledge in turn is split up into various branches: Upavedas: Ayurveda(medicine) Dhunrveda(archery, warfare) Ghandarvaveda(music and arts) Shilpa(Engineering and architecture) and the Vedangas: Chanda(meter, prosody) Jyotish(astronomy and astrology) Vykarana(grammar and linguistics) Vaastu(engineering and architecture, a part of Shilpa) As well as the six orthodox schools of philosophy: Nyaya(logic and epistemology) Vaiseshika(natural philosophy and physics) Samkhya and Yoga(Psychology and phenomenology) Mimassa and Vedanta(philosophy of language, metaphysics and theology). As well as auxillary sciences like mathematics(ganita vidya) and itihas(history) and 64 arts: cooking, arranging flowers, the preparation of poisons, metallurgy, dancing. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalā
As you can see this is a tradition which thrives in knowledge and where knowledge is encouraged as a religious value(coming from a knowledge religion - Vedic religion) and this is why India has been a leading ancient power in science and technology. This is the same culture that was founded by and propelled by the enlightened people you talk about. Obviously they did care a lot about knowledge.
As I said before Yoga is like a portal into this Vedic universe. It is such a vast tradition covering every area of life. If you are serious about Yoga, you will eventually find yourself going deeper of into the Vedic universe(i.e., Hinduism) as this a culture which is deeply Yogic.
(I could believe it!)