History of Indian science
and technology
Prehistory
To the northwest of Lothal (2400 BCE) lies the
Kutch peninsula. Due to the proximity of the
Gulf of Khambhat, Lothal's river provided direct access to sea routes. Although now sealed off from the sea, Lothal's topography and geology reflects its maritime past.
Prehistoric activity at Mehrgarh, an archaeological site in present-day Pakistan, has yielded evidence of domestication of plants and animals between 9000-8000 BCE.
[1] Housing in Mehrgarh consisted of unplanned groups of houses, having up to 3-4 rooms each, constructed with mud-bricks.
[2] Planned structures with provisions for storage of grains and other necessities appeared subsequently.
[2] Mehrgarh has yielded evidence of
dentistry being practiced by 7000 BCE.
[3] This form of dentistry involved curing tooth related disorders with drills—operated, perhaps, by skilled bead craftsmen.
[4] Modern reconstruction of this form of dentistry has showed that the methods used were reliable and effective.
[5] Settled agriculture led to domestication of cattle and rice between 6700-4500 BC in sites such as Koldihwa in the
Indo-Gangetic Plains.
[2] By 5500 BCE a number of sites similar to Mehrgarh had appeared, forming the basis of later chalcolithic cultures.
[2] The inhabitants of these sites maintained trading relations with
Near East and
Central Asia.
[2]Irrigation was developed in the Indus Valley Civilization by around 4500 BCE.
[6] The size and prosperity of the Indus civilization grew as a result of this innovation, which eventually led to more planned settlements making use of
drainage and
sewers.
[6] Sophisticated irrigation and water storage systems were developed by the Indus Valley Civilization, including artificial
reservoirs at
Girnar dated to 3000 BCE, and an early
canal irrigation system from circa 2600 BCE.
[7] Cotton was cultivated in the region by the
5th millennium BCE—
4th millennium BCE.
[8] Sugarcane was originally from tropical South and Southeast Asia.
[9] Different species likely originated in different locations with
S. barberi originating in India and
S. edule and
S. officinarum coming from
New Guinea.
[9] By 2800 BCE private
bathrooms, located on the ground floor, were found in many houses of the Indus civilization.
[10] Pottery pipes in walls allowed drainage of water and there was, in some case, provision of a crib for sitting in toilets.
[10] 'Western-style' toilets were also made from bricks and used wooden toilet seats on top.
[10] The waste was then transmitted to
drainage systems.
[10] Large scale
sanitary sewer systems were in place by 2700 BCE.
[10] The drains were 7-10 feet wide and 2 feet below ground level.
[10] The sewage was then led into cesspools, built at the intersection of two drains, which had stairs leading to them for periodic cleaning.
[10] Plumbing using earthenware plumbing pipes with broad flanges for easy joining with asphalt to stop leaks was in place by 2700 BCE.
[10]The inhabitants of the Indus valley developed a system of
standardization, using weights and measures, evident by the excavations made at the Indus valley sites.
[11] This
technical standardization enabled gauging devices to be effectively used in
angular measurement and measurement for construction.
[11] Calibration was also found in measuring devices along with multiple subdivisions in case of some devices.
[11] The world's first
dock at
Lothal (2400 BCE) was located away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt.
[12] Modern oceanographers have observed that the Harappans must have possessed knowledge relating to tides in order to build such a dock on the ever-shifting course of the
Sabarmati, as well as exemplary
hydrography and maritime engineering.
[12] This was the earliest known dock found in the world, equipped to berth and service ships.
[12]Excavations at
Balakot (c. 2500-1900 BC), present day Pakistan, have yielded evidence of an early
furnace.
[13] The furnace was most likely used for the manufacturing of
ceramic objects.
[13] Ovens, dating back to the civilization's mature phase (c. 2500-1900 BC), were also excavated at Balakot.
[13] The
Kalibangan archeological site further yields evidence of potshaped
hearths, which at one site have been found both on ground and underground.
[14] Kilns with fire and kiln chambers have also been found at the Kalibangan site.
[14]
View of the Asokan Pillar at
Vaishali. One of the
edicts of Ashoka (272—231 BCE) reads: "Everywhere King Piyadasi (Asoka) erected two kinds of hospitals, hospitals for people and hospitals for animals. Where there were no healing herbs for people and animals, he ordered that they be bought and planted."
[15]Based on archaeological and textual evidence,
Joseph E. Schwartzberg (2008)—a
University of Minnesota professor emeritus of geography—traces the origins of
Indian cartography to the Indus Valley Civilization (ca. 2500–1900 BCE).
[16] The use of large scale constructional plans, cosmological drawings, and cartographic material was known in India with some regularity since the
Vedic period (1 millennium BCE).
[16] Climatic conditions were responsible for the destruction of most of the evidence, however, a number of excavated surveying instruments and measuring rods have yielded convincing evidence of early cartographic activity.
[17] Schwartzberg (2008)—on the subject of surviving maps—further holds that: 'Though not numerous, a number of map-like graffiti appear among the thousands of Stone Age Indian cave paintings; and at least one complex Mesolithic diagram is believed to be a representation of the cosmos.'
[18]Archeological evidence of an
animal-drawn
plough dates back to 2500 BC in the Indus Valley Civilization.
[19] The earliest available
swords of copper discovered from the Harappan sites date back to 2300 BCE.
[20] Swords have been recovered in archaeological findings throughout the
Ganges-
Jamuna Doab region of
India, consisting of
bronze but more commonly copper.
[20]Early kingdoms
Ink drawing of Ganesha under an umbrella (early 19th century).
Ink, called
masi, an admixture of several chemical components, has been used in India since at least the 4th century BC.
[21] The practice of writing with ink and a sharp pointed needle was common in early
South India.
[22] Several
Jain sutras in India were compiled in ink.
[23]
The
Hindu-Arabic numeral system. The inscriptions on the edicts of Ashoka (1st millennium BCE) display this number system being used by the Imperial Mauryas.
The religious texts of the
Vedic Period provide evidence for the use of
large numbers.
[24] By the time of the last Veda, the
Yajurvedasaṃhitā (1200-900 BCE), numbers as high as 10
12 were being included in the texts.
[24] For example, the
mantra (sacrificial formula) at the end of the
annahoma ("food-oblation rite") performed during the
aśvamedha ("horse sacrifice"), and uttered just before-, during-, and just after sunrise, invokes powers of ten from a hundred to a trillion.
[24] The
Satapatha Brahmana (9th century BCE) contains rules for ritual geometric constructions that are similar to the Sulba Sutras.
[25]Baudhayana (c. 8th century BCE) composed the
Baudhayana Sulba Sutra, which contains examples of simple
Pythagorean triples, such as: (3,4,5), (5,12,13), (8,15,17), (7,24,25), and (12,35,37)
[26] as well as a statement of the
Pythagorean theorem for the sides of a square: "The rope which is stretched across the diagonal of a square produces an area double the size of the original square."
[26] It also contains the general statement of the Pythagorean theorem (for the sides of a rectangle): "The rope stretched along the length of the diagonal of a rectangle makes an area which the vertical and horizontal sides make together."
[26] Baudhayana gives a formula for the
square root of two.
[27] The earliest
Indian astronomical text—named
Vedānga Jyotiṣa—dates back to around 1200 BC, and details several astronomical attributes generally applied for timing social and religious events.
[28] The
Vedānga Jyotiṣa also details astronomical calculations, calendrical studies, and establishes rules for empirical observation.
[28] Since the texts written by 1200 BCE were largely religious compositions the
Vedānga Jyotiṣa has connections with
Indian astrology and details several important aspects of the time and seasons, including lunar months, solar months, and their adjustment by a lunar leap month of
Adhimāsa.
[29] Ritus and
Yugas are also described.
[29] Tripathi (2008) holds that ' Twenty-seven constellations, eclipses, seven planets, and twelve signs of the zodiac were also known at that time.'
[29]The
Egyptian Papyrus of Kahun (1900 BCE) and literature of the
Vedic period in India offer early records of
veterinary medicine.
[30] Kearns & Nash (2008) state that mention of
leprosy is described in the medical treatise
Sushruta Samhita (6th century BCE).
[31] However,
The Oxford Illustrated Companion to Medicine holds that the mention of leprosy, as well as ritualistic cures for it, were described in the Hindu religious book
Atharva-veda, written by 1500–1200 BCE.
[32] Cataract surgery was known to the physician
Sushruta (6th century BCE).
[33] Traditional cataract surgery was performed with a special tool called the
Jabamukhi Salaka, a curved needle used to loosen the lens and push the cataract out of the field of vision.
[33] The eye would later be soaked with warm butter and then bandaged.
[33] Though this method was successful, Susruta cautioned that it should only be used when necessary.
[33] Greek philosophers and scientists traveled to India where these surgeries were performed by physicians.
[33] The removal of cataract by surgery was also introduced into China from India.
[34] Brahmanic hospitals were established in what is now
Sri Lanka as early as 431 BCE.
[35] Ashoka (reign: 273 BCE to 232 BCE) also established a chain of hospitals throughout the Mauryan empire (322–185 BCE) by 230 BCE.
[35]Zinc mines of Zawar, near
Udaipur,
Rajasthan, were active during 400 BC.
[40] Diverse specimens of swords have been discovered in
Fatehgarh, where there are several varieties of hilt.
[41] These swords have been variously dated to periods between 1700-1400 BCE, but were probably used more extensively during the opening centuries of the
1st millennium BCE.
[42] Archaeological sites in such as
Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila and Lahuradewa in present day
Uttar Pradesh show iron implements from the period between
1800 BC -
1200 BC.
[43] Early iron objects found in India can be dated to
1400 BC by employing the method of radio carbon dating.
[44] Some scholars believe that by the early
13th century BC iron smelting was practiced on a bigger scale in India, suggesting that the date the technology's inception may be placed earlier.
[43] In
Southern India (present day
Mysore) iron appeared as early as
11th to
12th centuries BC.
[45] These developments were too early for any significant close contact with the northwest of the country.
[45] Post Maha Janapadas—High Middle Ages (400 BCE—1200 CE)
The
iron pillar of Delhi (375–413 CE). The first iron pillar was the Iron pillar of Delhi, erected at the times of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya.
During the 1st millenium BCE, the
Vaisheshika school of
atomism was founded. The most important proponent of this school was
Kanada, an
Indian philosopher who lived around 200 BCE.
[51] The school proposed that
atoms are indivisible and eternal, can neither be created nor destroyed,
[52] and that each one possesses its own distinct
viśeṣa (individuality).
[53] It was further elaborated on by the
Buddhist school of atomism, of which the philosophers
Dharmakirti and
Dignāga in the 7th century CE were the most important proponents. They considered atoms to be point-sized, durationless, and made of energy.
[54]By the beginning of the
Common Era glass was being used for ornaments and casing in the region.
[55] Contact with the
Greco-Roman world added newer techniques, and local artisans learnt methods of glass molding, decorating and coloring by the early centuries of the Common Era.
[55] The
Satavahana period further reveals short cylinders of composite glass, including those displaying a lemon yellow matrix covered with green glass.
[56] Wootz originated in the region before the beginning of the common era.
[57] Wootz was exported and traded throughout Europe, China, the Arab world, and became particularly famous in the
Middle East, where it became known as
Damascus steel. Archaeological evidence suggests that manufacturing process for Wootz was also in existence in South India before the Christian era.
[58][59]Evidence for using bow-instruments for
carding comes from India (2nd century CE).
[60] Early
diamonds used as gemstones originated in India.
[61] Golconda served as an important early center for diamond mining and processing.
[61] Diamonds were then exported to other parts of the world.
[61] Early references to diamonds comes from Sanskrit texts.
[62] The
Arthashastra also mentions diamond trade in the region.
[63] The
Iron pillar of Delhi was erected at the times of
Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (375–413).
[64] The
Rasaratna Samuccaya (800 AD) explains the existence of two types of ores for zinc metal, one of which is ideal for metal extraction while the other is used for medicinal purpose.
[40]
Model of a
Chola (200–848 CE) ship's hull, built by the
ASI, based on a wreck 19 miles off the coast of Poombuhar, displayed in a Museum in
Tirunelveli.
The origins of the
spinning wheel are unclear but India is one of the probable places of its origin.
[65][66] The device certainly reached Europe from India by the 14 century CE.
[67] The cotton gin was invented in India as a mechanical device known as
charkhi, the "wooden-worm-worked roller".
[68] This mechanical device was, in some parts of the region, driven by water power.
[68] The
Ajanta caves yield evidence of a single roller
cotton gin in use by the 5th century CE.
[69] This cotton gin was used until further innovations were made in form of foot powered gins.
[69] Chinese documents confirm at least two missions to India, initiated in 647 , for obtaining technology for sugar-refining.
[70] Each mission returned with different results on refining sugar.
[70]The
decimal number system originated in India.
[76] Other cultures discovered a few features of this number system but the system, in its entirety, was compiled in India, where it attained coherence and completion.
[76] By the 9th century CE, this complete number system had existed in India but several of its ideas were transmitted to
China and the Islamic world before that time.
[75] The concept of
0 as a number, and not merely a symbol for separation is attributed to India.
[77] In India, practical calculations were carried out using zero, which was treated like any other number by the 9th century CE, even in case of division.
[75][77] Brahmagupta (598–668) was able to find (integral) solutions of
Pell's equation.
[78] Conceptual design for a
perpetual motion machine by
Bhaskara II dates to
1150. He described a wheel that he claimed would run forever.
[79]
Akbarnama—written by August 12, 1602—depicts the defeat of
Baz Bahadur of
Malwa by the
Mughal troops, 1561. The Mughals extensively improved metal weapons and armor used by the armies of India.
Indigo was used as a dye in India, which was also a major center for its production and processing.
[84] The
Indigofera tinctoria variety of Indigo was domesticated in India.
[84] Indigo, used as a dye, made its way to the
Greeks and the
Romans via various trade routes, and was valued as a luxury product.
[84] The
cashmere wool fiber, also known as
pashm or
pashmina, was used in the handmade shawls of Kashmir.
[85] The woolen shawls from
Kashmir region find written mention between 3rd century BC and the 11th century CE.
[86] Crystallized sugar was discovered by the time of the
Gupta dynasty,
[87] and the earliest reference to candied sugar comes from India.
[88] Jute was also cultivated in India.
[89] Muslin was named after the city where Europeans first encountered it,
Mosul, in what is now
Iraq, but the fabric actually originated from
Dhaka in what is now
Bangladesh.
[90][91] In the 9th century, an
Arab merchant named Sulaiman makes note of the material's origin in
Bengal (known as
Ruhml in
Arabic).
[91] Evidence of
inoculation and variolation for
smallpox is found in the 8th century, when
Madhav wrote the
Nidāna, a 79-chapter book which lists diseases along with their causes, symptoms, and complications.
[92] He included a special chapter on
smallpox (
masūrikā) and described the method of inoculation to protect against smallpox.
[92] European scholar Francesco I reproduced a number of Indian maps in his magnum opus
La Cartografia Antica dell India.
[93] Out these maps, two have been reproduced using a manuscript of
Lokaprakasa, originally compiled by the polymath Ksemendra (
Kashmir, 11th century CE), as a source.
[93] The other manuscript, used as a source by Francesco I, is titled
Samgrahani.
[93]Medieval period
The infinite series for
π was stated by
Madhava of Sangamagrama (c. 1340-1425) and his
Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics. He made use of the series expansion of arctan
x to obtain an infinite series expression, now known as the
Madhava-Gregory series, for π. Their rational approximation of the
error for the finite sum of their series are of particular interest. They manipulated the error term to derive a faster converging series for π. They used the improved series to derive a rational expression,
[94] 104348 / 33215 for π correct up to nine decimal places,
i.e. 3.141592653.
[94] The development of the
series expansions for
trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, and
arc tangent) was carried out by mathematicians of the Kerala School in the fifteenth century CE.
[95] Their work, completed two centuries before the invention of
calculus in Europe, provided what is now considered the first example of a
power series (apart from geometric series).
[95]Shēr Shāh of northern India issued silver currency bearing Islamic motifs, later imitated by the
Mughal empire.
[39] The Chinese merchant
Ma Huan (1413-51) noted that gold coins, known as
fanam, were issued in
Cochin and weighed a total of one
fen and one
li according to the Chinese standards.
[96] They were of fine quality and could be exchanged in China for 15 silver coins of four-
li weight each.
[96] The
Seamless celestial globe was invented in Kashmir by Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman in 998 AH (1589-90 CE), and twenty other such
globes were later produced in
Lahore and Kashmir during the
Mughal Empire.
[97] Before they were rediscovered in the 1980s, it was believed by modern metallurgists to be technically impossible to produce metal globes without any
seams, even with modern technology.
[97] These Mughal metallurgists pioneered the method of
lost-wax casting in order to produce these globes.
[97]
Portrait of a young Indian scholar,
Mughal miniature by Mir Sayyid Ali, ca. 1550.
It was written in the
Tarikh-i Firishta (1606-1607) that the envoy of the Mongol ruler
Hulegu Khan was presented with a
pyrotechnics display upon his arrival in
Delhi in 1258 CE.
[98] As a part of an embassy to India by
Timurid leader Shah Rukh (1405-1447), 'Abd al-Razzaq mentioned naphtha-throwers mounted on elephants and a variety of pyrotechnics put on display.
[99] Firearms known as
top-o-tufak also existed in the
Vijayanagara Empire by as early as 1366 CE.
[98] From then on the employment of
gunpowder warfare in the region was prevalent, with events such as the siege of
Belgaum in 1473 CE by the
Sultan Muhammad Shah Bahmani.
[100]
| The Indian war rockets were formidable weapons before such rockets were used in Europe. They had bam-boo rods, a rocket-body lashed to the rod, and iron points. They were directed at the target and fired by lighting the fuse, but the trajectory was rather erratic. The use of mines and counter-mines with explosive charges of gunpowder is mentioned for the times of Akbar and Jahāngir. |
|
By the 16th century, Indians were manufacturing a diverse variety of firearms; large guns in particular, became visible in
Tanjore,
Dacca,
Bijapur and
Murshidabad.
[103] Guns made of bronze were recovered from
Calicut (1504) and
Diu (1533).
[104] Gujarāt supplied Europe saltpeter for use in gunpowder warfare during the 17th century.
[105] Bengal and
Mālwa participated in saltpeter production.
[105] The Dutch, French, Portuguese, and English used
Chāpra as a center of saltpeter refining.
[106]The construction of water works and aspects of water technology in India is described in
Arabic and
Persian works.
[107] During medieval times, the diffusion of Indian and Persian irrigation technologies gave rise to an advanced irrigation system which bought about economic growth and also helped in the growth of material culture.
[107] The founder of the
cashmere wool industry is traditionally held to be the 15th century ruler of Kashmir, Zayn-ul-Abidin, who introduced weavers from
Central Asia.
[86]The scholar Sadiq Isfahani of
Jaunpur compiled an
atlas of the parts of the world which he held to be 'suitable for human life'.
[108] The 32 sheet atlas—with maps oriented towards the south as was the case with Islamic works of the era—is part of a larger scholarly work compiled by Isfahani during 1647 CE.
[108] According to Joseph E. Schwartzberg (2008): 'The largest known Indian map, depicting the former
Rajput capital at
Amber in remarkable house-by-house detail, measures 661 × 645 cm. (260 × 254 in., or approximately 22 × 21 ft).'
[109]Colonial era
The armies of Sultan Hyder Ali of Mysore employed rockets whose gunpowder was packed in metal cylinders instead of paper ones. | Extent of the railway network in India in 1871; construction had begun in 1856. | The Indian railways network in 1909. | |
| Hyder Ali, prince of Mysore, developed war rockets with an important change: the use of metal cylinders to contain the combustion powder. Although the hammered soft iron he used was crude, the bursting strength of the container of black powder was much higher than the earlier paper construction. Thus a greater internal pressure was possible, with a resultant greater thrust of the propulsive jet. The rocket body was lashed with leather thongs to a long bamboo stick. Range was perhaps up to three-quarters of a mile (more than a kilometre). Although individually these rockets were not accurate, dispersion error became less important when large numbers were fired rapidly in mass attacks. They were particularly effective against cavalry and were hurled into the air, after lighting, or skimmed along the hard dry ground. Hyder Ali's son, Tippu Sultan, continued to develop and expand the use of rocket weapons, reportedly increasing the number of rocket troops from 1,200 to a corps of 5,000. In battles at Seringapatam in 1792 and 1799 these rockets were used with considerable effect against the British. |
|
By the end of the 18th century the postal system in the region had reached high levels of efficiency.
[112] According to Thomas Broughton, the
Maharaja of
Jodhpur sent daily offerings of fresh flowers from his capital to Nathadvara (320 km) and they arrived in time for the first religious
Darshan at sunrise.
[112] Later this system underwent modernization with the establishment of the
British Raj.
[113] The Post Office Act XVII of 1837 enabled the
Governor-General of India to convey messages by post within the territories of the
East India Company.
[113] Mail was available to some officials without charge, which became a controversial privilege as the years passed.
[113] The Indian Post Office service was established on
October 1, 1837.
[113] The British also constructed a vast
railway network in the region for both strategic and commercial reasons.
[114]The British education system, aimed at producing able civil and administrative services candidates, exposed a number of Indians to foreign institutions.
[115] Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose (1858–1937),
Satyendra Nath Bose (1894–1974),
Meghnad Saha (1893–1956),
P. C. Mahalanobis (1893–1972),
Sir C. V. Raman (1888–1970),
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995),
Homi Bhabha (1909–1966),
Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920),
Vikram Sarabhai (1919–1971),
Hargobind Khorana (1922–), and
Harish Chandra (1923–1983) were among the notable scholars of this period.
[115]Extensive interaction between colonial and native sciences was seen during most of the colonial era.
[116] Western science came to be associated with the requirements of nation building rather than being viewed entirely as a colonial entity,
[117] especially as it continued to fuel necessities from agriculture to commerce.
[116] Scientists from India also appeared throughout Europe.
[117] By the time of India's independence colonial science had assumed importance within the westernized intelligentsia and establishment.
[117]
