2013-11-14



Science and Technology in Ancient India | ScienceBlog.com

Information about science and technology in ancient India are given. The internet links for additional information are also provided.

1. INTRODUCTION

Men of older generation used to say that all knowledge is there in the Vedas. Anyone who hears such words will have the first reaction that it is an over confident statement. We should remember here that any sloka in the ancient Hindu manuscripts has more than one meaning.

A Sloka in the 10th book of Rig Veda appears to be written for praising Lord Indra. The technical translation of that Sloka gives the value of pi up to 28 digits accurately. It is not until the invention of the computers that the western mathematicians could get this value up to 16 digits accurately. Here is a test for those who think that a computer can do any calculation. Use the fastest computer available to you and write a program to calculate the value of pi up to 28 digits accurately. You will know how difficult it is.

There were many inventions in the field of science and technology in ancient India. Since many persons of the present generation does not know them, they will be described briefly to enable the readers to have the basic understanding about them.

2. THE INVENTIONS OF ANCIENT INDIA

Who invented Calculus? The western books say that Newton invented Calculus. You can see the Sanskrit mathematics texts by Arya Bhatta and Bhaskaracharya which were written many centuries before Newton that they contain Calculus. For that matter, who invented numbers? The Indians. The ancient Romans did not know the number zero. Ancient Indians knew very large numbers like Mahogham (1 followed by 62 zeros) and the corresponding smaller decimal fractions. Paavuloori Mallana of 12th century wrote Ganitha Sastram in Telugu. One poem in the book starts like this:

“Sara sasi shatka chandra sara saayaka ….”

The meaning appears to be a poetic description of nature. Each word used in the poem has a methematical terminology meaning. It deals with a methematical problem. One grain is placed in the first square of the chess board. Double of that number, are placed in the second square, and so on. How many grains have to be placed in the last square? The poem gives the answer as 18446744073709551614 which is equal to 2 to the power 63.

Who invented Nuclear Physics?

Buddhist teacher Pakudha Katyayana taught atomic theory. Maharshi Kanaada of 3rd century, B.C. wrote atomic theory in Vaiseshika Sutras. Agni Purana gives smaller magnitudes. The smallest of them is called Paramaanu which nearly equals one billionth part of a meter. This value tallies with the size of an organic

molecule calculated by the western scientists. According to the Upanishads, the five elements of the nature are Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Akasa. (The ancient Greek or Roman philosophers did not know Akasa). One can easily guess that the Earth represents the solid state, the Water the liquid state and the Air

the gaseous state. The Fire is the plasma, the fourth state of matter. Western science has not recognized nuclear state as a state of matter, even though some nuclear particles are stable; Akasa means nuclear state. In the ancient Sanskrit text named Anu Sidhdhantam, Maharshi Goutama described three models of

micro-scopes through which atoms and electrons can be seen.

Who were the first to calculate the velocity of light?

The Rig Veda Bhashyam by Sayana Madhava gives the following Sloka praising the Sun:

Yojanam sahasre dve, satadve, dvecha yojane Ekena nimeshardhena kramamaana namosthuthe One Yojana equals 15788.8 meters, and half of Nimesha equals 8/75 fraction of a second. This gives the velocity of light as 325940 km/s. We have to remember here that the above value is an approximate one intended for easy

remembrance, like remembering the value of pi as 22/7. It is better than the value 215000 km/s given by Danish astronomer Ole Roemer in 1676. Having discovered so many things, it is only logical to expect that our ancestors must have used light as the standard for length measurements; after all, modern science considers velocity of light to be a Universal Constant! The word “kramamaana” of the above Sloka has the hidden meaning of gradual minute change. This will be dealt a little later.

Who invented weaving? Many experts agree that primitive gins and spinning wheels originated in India. The earliest samples of cotton fabric were found in the excavations of the Indus Valley. Samples of the most ancient mordant dyeing technique for cotton fabrics, Kalamkari, were also found there. The Kalamkari technique was perfected in South India and the traditional method continues till date. The Puranas describe spinning and weaving that match the modern concept of an industry. The weaving industry involved specialized factories working in association with domestic industries and paid at piece rates. The fibers used for spinning and the fabrics produced were of the most varied types, unparalleled in any other country during that period. Indians were exceptional for their skills in spinning and weaving which have not been surpassed by peoples of other lands even in historic past. Pliny’s Natural History informs that India exported to Rome large quantities of sheep wool, woolen fabrics, colored carpets, silks, cotton clothes, and fabrics ranging from coarse canvas to textiles of the finest texture. Ancient Indians had the reputation of making the thinnest saree that could pass through a finger ring. During the reign of Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor, the British did not know weaving and lived naked.

Who invented the guns?

Some people in medieval Europe heard of powerful fire

weapons of the India. Marco Polo (in 13th century) was

financed by the king of his country with the specific

purpose of finding the secret of the Indian fire

weapons. Marco Polo was given gold coins and precious

stones. He also brought some prostitutes to woo people,

if necessary. He first tried to find the secret in the

Punjab region. They pointed a gun at him saying ” Get

out of our country. Else, we will shoot you with this

very gun”. He then came to south India and tried for

the secret. The south Indians were more tolerant. They

told him that the secret is not known to the public.

The engineers who made the guns reside in the king’s

fort generations. The guns were kept in the armory and

the public might not have even seen a gun. The guns

were brought out only at the time of emergency like a

war. A few persons gave hint to Marco Polo that the

knowledge of making gun powder was given to the Chinese

when some Indians visited them in ancient times. Then

Marco Polo went to China, but he could not find any

guns there. The gun powder was used there for making

some festival fire crackers and rockets. He took

samples of the gun powder and returned to Europe. We

know that the gun powder consists of niter, sulphur and

charcoal powder. Natural niter was scarce in Europe,

and what they could get from other lands was not that

pure. The world’s purest niter in its natural state is

available in the mines of India. The other problems

faced by the Europeans in making the guns are lack of

good metallic alloys to make the bodies of the guns and

the non-availability of good machine tools for making

them. Manufacture of the guns fell into temporary

oblivion because most of them back-fired or exploded.

How did the British conquer India? Not with their guns.

The first war between the Indians and the British took

place at Mysore during reign of Hyder Ali. The

casualties on the British side was 90 percent and those

on the Indian side was 10 percent. The British realized

that their weapons were inferior to those used by the

Indians. The Indians had rockets and missiles besides

guns and cannons. What is a Sathagni? Most of us think

that it is cannon. Satha means 100 and Agni means fire;

it is a missile containing 100 bullets. It is launched

from a cannon. It explodes after reaching its

destination. Sanskrit manuscripts like Sukra Neethi

Sastra contain many formulas for making gun powder. The

first item exported by the then British East India

company was Indian niter.

According to Sir A. M. Eliot and Heinrich Brunnhofer (a

German Indologist) and Gustav Oppert, all of whom have

stated that ancient Hindus knew the use of gunpowder.

Eliot tells us that the Arabs learnt the manufacture of

gunpowder from India, and that before their Indian

connection they had used arrows of naptha. It is also

argued that though Persia possessed saltpetre in

abundance, the original home of gunpowder was India. In

the light of the above remarks we can trace the

evolution of fire-arms in the ancient India.
Hindu Wisdom - War in Ancient India

Who invented the ships?

Some persons may argue what is a ship. Read the

definition of a ship:

Ship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ship

Europe has only soft wood trees. The ships made of

those woods are good for sailing the Mediterranean or a

smaller sea. They are no good for sailing on the

oceans. The ship of Vasco de Gama was about to collapse

when it reached India. It is the Indian marine

engineers who repaired that ship and made it worthy

again for sea travel. Which country has the trees that

provide the hardest wood? India. The Sanskrit name for

deodar tree was Deva Tharu, the tree that gives the

best wood; it is native to India. Other hard woods like

teak and mahogany are also native to India.

J. Ovington, Chaplain to the British King, the

seventeenth-century English traveler, who visited

Surat, wrote a book “A Voyage to Surat in the Year

1689″. He was impressed by the skill of the Indians in

ship-building and found that they even outshone

Europeans. The timber used by the Indians was so strong

that it would not ‘crack’ even by the force of a bullet

so he urged the English to use that timber ‘to help

them in war’. Indian Teak stood firmer than the English

Oak, remarked Ovington.
Hindu Wisdom - Seafaring in Ancient India

Rig Veda mentions ships with 100 oars. Such ships

sailed over seven oceans and returned to India.

Visitors to India from Greece and Rome during the

pre-Christian times wrote that the Brahmins of India

knew that the earth is in the form of a globe and one

can reach the same place after sailing through the

seven oceans. The Buddhist Jataka stories wrote about

large Indian ships carrying seven hundred people. In

the Artha Sastra, Koutilya wrote about the Board of

Shipping and the Commissioner of Port who supervised

sea traffic. The Harivamsa informs that the first

geographical survey of the world was performed during

the period of Vaivasvata. The towns, villages and

demarcation of agricultural land of that period were

depicted on maps. Brahmanda Purana provides the best

and the most detailed description of world map drawn on

a flat surface using an accurate scale. Padma Purana

says that world maps were prepared and maintained in

book form and kept with care and safety in chests.

Surya Siddhantha speaks about construction of wooden

globe representing earth and marking of horizontal

circles, equatorial circles and further divisions. The

second item exported by the erst while British East

India Company was Indian ship. A few of these ships are

still in service, and are used for training cadets of

the British Navy. During World War II, Maharajas of

India have lent some hundreds of their ships to the

British for use as hospital ships.

Who invented steel?

The Rig Veda mentions “wootz” steel. Evidence for the

manufacture of steel in ancient times is available in

South India. The Arabians used to make a lot of money

by selling Indian steel ingots to Europe. In 1746, the

queen of Britain had sent a scientist named Benjamin

Hauntsman to India to obtain the secret of making

steel. Hauntsman stayed in India for some years, went

back to Britain and submitted a report to the queen.

Some historic records say that he did not write the

main secret and he started his foundry in his native

town. How the secret reached Henry Bessemer is

unnecessary for us because his process was essentially

the Indian crucible method of making steel. Another

Indian contribution to industries in Europe was the

process of casting. The frames of machine tools of that

time were made of wood. Good mechanical devices like

clocks did exist in Britain as early as 1300s. They

were works of skilled crafts persons and were not

products of precision machine tools. It was not until

the structures of the machine tools were cast using

Indian casting method and their other components were

made of hard metals using Indian steel making method,

the high precision machine tools could be made. The so

called Industrial Revolution of Europe in the 1800s

heavily depended on this.

Wootz steel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wootz

Who invented the aircraft?

India had many ancient Sanskrit texts on aeronautics.

The Yantra Sarvaswa of Maharshi Bharadwaja, Vimaana

Chandrika of Maharshi Narayan, Vyoma Yaana Tantra of

Sounaka, and Vyoma Yaanarka of Dandi Natha are some of

them. They contained topics like Maargadhi Karana

(Navigation and control of speed during flight),

Lohaadhi Karana (alloys used for various components of

the aircraft) and Saktyaadhi Karana (production and

usage of various fuels used in aircrafts). Para Sabda

Grahakata is a subject of monitoring the flight tracks

of aircrafts, navigatory communication system, and

monitoring the conversation of the pilots in the

aircrafts. Maharshi Gouthama mentioned 32 models of

aircrafts used in Treta Yuga; only one model among

them, called Pushpaka Vimaanam, became popular in the

Ramayana. The Vaimaanika Sastra describes Tripura

Vimaanam that uses solar powered engine to travel at

three levels – on the land, under the surface of water,

and in the air. Sakuna Vimaanam is a cross between an

aircraft and a rocket – a space shuttle. The British

have robbed most of our Sanskrit manuscripts during

their rule in India. In 1895, Sivasankar Thalpad of

Bombay had constructed an aircraft with an engine which

flew to an altitude of 1500 feet. He was a Vedic

scholar and used to teach at the J.J. School of Arts.

He obtained the technology from some rare Sanskrit

manuscripts. He also wrote a book in Marathi named

Praacheena Vimaana Vidye Chaasodha. Lalaji Rayanji,

Maharaja of Baroda, was one of the many witnesses who

had seen the flying of that aircraft. After the

untimely death of Prof.Thalpad, his legal heirs sold

all his scripts and materials to the British. (You can

check the year of flying of Wright Brothers).
Hindu Wisdom - Vimanas
HiddenMysteries - Free book on line
Chapter 14

Who invented powder metallurgy?

The Indians. The iron pillar in Delhi which does not

get rust even today is the proof for it. It is not the

only one of its kind; there are many more scattered

through out in India. The Russians who took scrapings

from the pillar confirmed that it is made using powder

metallurgy technology. The so called space-age

technology of today can make only small pieces using

powder metallurgy; they are generally used as tips in

cutting tools. How could our ancients make such a big

pillar using powder metallurgy? The pillar is like a

time capsule – it is challenging the world. Can we rise

to the pinnacles of achievement to which our ancients

had reached?

Who invented nuclear weapons? You may have heard about

the great Astras mentioned in our Puranas. But you may

not have read about them in detail:

“The Mahabharata – an ancient Indian epic compiled

3000 years ago – contains a reference to a

terrible weapon. Regrettably, in our age of the

atomic bomb, the description of this weapon

exploding will not appear to be an exaggeration:

‘…. a blazing shaft possessed of the effulgence

of a smokeless fire (was) let off…’. That was

how this weapon was perceived. The consequences of

its use also evoke involuntary associations. ‘…

This makes the bodies of the dead unidentifiable.

… The survivors lose their nails and hair, and

their food becomes unfit for eating. For several

subsequent years the Sun, the stars and the sky

remain shrouded with clouds and bad weather’. This

weapon was known as the Weapon of Brahma or the

Flame of Indra……”[1].

Who invented plastic surgery? The Indians. It is fully

described by Maharshi Susruta, the ancient Ayurvedic

surgeon, in his Samhita. Who invented acupuncture? The

Indians. Who invented the martial arts? The Indians.

Who invented the remote sensing and imaging techniques?

The Indians. Who discovered Advanced Astrology? The

Indians. Who discovered Advanced Astronomy? The

Indians. Who discovered Groundwater Hydrology? The

Indians. We can read Brihat Samhita of Varaha Mihira;

the Indian method is better than the modern techniques

of using space satellites. Who were the first to

construct planned cities with high technology

infrastructures for water supply and sewerage? The

Indians. Who invented the hanging bridges? The Indians.

Chinese who visited India a few thousands of years ago

wrote about our hanging bridges which used steel beams

and steel ropes. Who discovered higher philosophy? The

Indians. Were there Doora Sravana and Doora Darsana

machines in ancient India? Yes. Did our ancients knew

radars and laser weapons? Yes, the techology was given

in the Sanskrit manuscript Samarangana Sutra Dhara.

Who discovered Irrigation Engineering? Another name for

India was Yilaa Varta. The hidden meaning of this name

is Jala Maaruta, the country of water laden winds. No

other country in the world has monsoons. The rainfall

in India is more than the total rainfall in the rest of

the world. India is the land of mighty rivers – and

that in a very large number that outnumber all other

countrie. In the olden days, the water flow rate in the

Ganga exceeded that of any other river in the world.

The people of South India built and maintained an

extensive system of irrigation tanks and associated

canals with extraordinary managerial and social skills.

They shared the waters following the ways of nature

from time immemorial. Construction of small dams at

every possible location was carried out with such

completeness that a British engineer of the 19th

century thought that it would be impossible to add

another tank to that irrigation system. It was a marvel

of Indian engineering and human cooperation. Nothing

like it existed else where in the world at any time in

the past. While peasants of other countries broke their

backs to reap one harvest, the Indians produced two or

three bumper crops a year. The harvest in the Krishna

and Kauvery river basins was large enough to meet the

needs of rest of our country during periods of crisis.

Visitors from Europe and China in pre-Christian times

wrote that India was a land of plenty. Our Buddhist and

Jain religious records also say the same thing. Who

were the first to postulate the infinity of the

universe and the plurality of inhabited worlds like the

earth? The Indians. The Vishnu Purana says that the

earth is merely one of thousands of millions of

inhabited worlds like itself to be found in the

universe.

3. HOW THE COUNTRY WAS NAMED

Why India was called Bhaarata Desam? Most of the people

of the present generation think that India was named

after emperor Bharata. This interpretation is probably

not very old, may be some hundreds of years. Is there

any other land in the world which is named after a

male? Religions of all lands treat the earth as a

female, the mother goddess. Before the spread of

Christianity, all countries in Europe were named after

the local mother goddesses. The same is true for all

other lands in the world. Among all countries in the

world, India has inherited the largest number of

ancient manuscripts from time immemorial. They were

written on the widest range of subjects known to

humans. Indians were the originators of all higher

knowledge in the ancient times. What is impossible for

our Maharshis of yore? A Telugu poet wrote the

following line: “Pogadaraa nee thalli bhoomi

Bhaarathini” – praise your mother land Bhaarati! India

was named after Bhaarati (Saraswati), the goddess of

knowledge. No other ancient civilization of the world

could claim this coveted title. The world’s oldest

educational institutions were located in India, and

scholars from China and Europe used to come here for

learning. Another hidden meaning of the name Yilaa

Varta is Bhaarati Aalaya, the temple of goddess

Bhaarati.

So much for the psyche of the Indians, but we are

psychosomatic beings. The mind is in-separable from the

body. Hence, is there anything in the bodies of Indians

which shows the blessings of goddess Bhaarati? Yes.

During the second word war, the British military

doctors who conducted autopsy on the dead found that

the pineal gland of the Indians is much larger than

that in the British. The pineal gland is the third eye.

It is the seat of higher knowledge according to the

esoteric teachings in medieval Europe. Sanskrit texts

on Yoga and Tantra also say the same thing. The largest

group among foreign computer programmers in the U.S.A.

at present are the Indians, they account for more than

70%.

The Birla Science Center at Hyderabad has produced some

alloys after studying some Hindu manuscripts like

“Vimaana Sastra” and “Amsu Bodhini”. The alloys possess

some extra-ordinary properties which are unknown to the

western countries.
World Mysteries - Strange Artifacts, Ancient Flying Machines

Indian aeronautics

How are the next generation computers are going to be

designed? We have a dual-core Pentium processor which

is replacing the old one. But, the development will not

be faster that way, because they still use electron

currents. We all know that light travels faster than

electron current. When they use laser flows instead of

electron flow using Raman Effect discovered by Sir

C.V.Raman, Nobel Laureate, the next big revolution in

making computers will take place. Some researchers in

U.S.A. are already working in this line. The next

drawback in a computer is that the Numeric Co-Processor

in the C.P.U. works according to arithmetic logic. We

know that the result of multiplying an eight digit

number with another eight digit number cannot be

obtained in one step. But ancient India knows a very

unique method which gives this answer in one step – the

Vedic mathematics. If the Numeric Co-Processor was to

be designed using Vedic mathematics, each personal

computer will work like a super computer even with the

present day computer hardware.

4. INFERENCES

Our ancient seers did not use light as a standard for

length measurement. Albert Einstain found that light

bends if it passes by the side of a large mass. How can

that “which bends” be called unchangeable? Every

created thing is subject to change by time; there is

nothing like an universal constant. And the velocity of

light is no exception to this law. The velocity of

light of our Sun was greater in Krita Yuga than what it

is now, even if it is by a small fraction. The velocity

of light is proportional to the stored energy in the

Sun or any other star. Modern science also accepts that

the Sun has lost a lot of energy over billions of

years. Then, there must be some other stars in the

universe which have greater stored energies than the

Sun, and are emitting light which is faster than that

of the Sun? Yes. Modern science will confirm this after

it develops more sophisticated equipment than what they

have at present.

Why then are we not able to use our own ancient knowledge?

It is a law of nature that everything in creation must go

through cycles of time. The period of light must be

followed by a period of darkness, and the period of

wakefulness must be followed by a period of sleep. And the

period of happiness must by followed by a period of

sorrow; otherwise, the human mind will not give the due

value to happiness. After a period of sorrow, the

happiness that comes next will be much more heartening.

Hence, according to that law, the higher psyche of Indians

is at sleep now. Will it wake up in the near future? Can

we see it during our own life time? Yes. Some astrologers,

both Indian and Western, have predicted that India will

awaken to a part of its prestigious glory in about two

decades from now. One visioner wrote:

“(In India), good character and culture will be

inculcated in all spheres of life. …. Due to the

scientific progress achieved by India and her increased

amity with America, Indian society will shed its

degenerate culture and become progressive. By 2020,

Indian society would have significantly expanded its

thinking. …. Spiritual books, originating from India,

will become extremely popular and command a global

audience. From 2010, winds of spiritualism will blow

across the entire world, awakening more and more people

in its wake. Where limits of (modern) science end,

spiritualism begins. …. Along with scientific

progress, intellectuals will start recognizing the

importance of spiritualism. …. From 2050, a new era

will begin….”[2].

I have also done some astrological calculations and

agree to the lines quoted above. This is further

backed-up by science and technology in our Hindu

scriptures. They are the invaluable assets given by our

ancestors. They will definitely help India to rise.

REFERENCES

[1] Alexander Gorbovsky, Riddles of Ancient

History, The Sputnik Magazine, Moscow, Sept. 1986,

p. 137.

[2] Swami Dattavadhut, Prophecies 1998 to 2100,

Vanita Books, Mumbai, 1997, pp. 33-42.
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History of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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