I need volunteers to further develop these slides (and create similar ones on Hindu Contribution to the Arts, Archeology etc).
Please let me know if you have the time and the interest.

Pl also read: The Hindu Contribution to Mathematics Part 1 and Part 2

Indian Contribution to Technology

and these category of posts on Science and Technology in Ancient India. Happy Reading (and sharing!). Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

…Dr Raja Marathe, IIT Bombay alumni and a former Naxal leader who returned to India from the United States a few years ago, may as well be known as Nanded’s rainman. Armed with burning tyres packed with salt, Marathe has single-handedly floated his own rain seeding project in the villages of Nanded (constituency of CM Ashok Chavan) called Lavan Vajra that has now been sanctioned by the collector of the district.

Marathe, an engineer by profession, a doctorate in ‘Lasers’ from RICE university, Houston and  one of the architects of the ‘Param Super computer’, heads the project that has managed to get an additional 100 mm rainfall and in some cases also hit 200 mm, in three weeks.

…Refuting the claims of the rain being a coincidence, Marathe says, “If we only had rain after the first or second attempt, it might have been a coincidence. But we’ve done this 14 times now with good results.”

The process is quite simple. “We burn discarded tyres and sprinkle common salt on the flames. The salt vaporises and goes up in the sky riding on the fumes and provides cloud condensation nuclei, as a result of which rainfall usually occurs within four to 96 hours of the warm cloud seeding,” says Marathe. The project could be the many-fold solution to several problems including the drastically low water levels of the Lower Manar Dam that is an irrigation source.

Will this project pollute the environment? “Had the sulphur and the nitrogen levels been high in the tyres, it would have caused the damage but the levels here are negligible. The amount of smoke released by the tyres will not affect the people as it is done in open space. The smoke directly moves upwards in the sky, thus there is nothing to worry,” says Marathe.

The story of how it all began is itself quite fascinating and I would urge those of you on a good broadband connection to watch Dr Marathe’s presentation at Innovations 2010 here.

Image courtesy: Varun Singh, Mid-Day

Somewhat Related Posts:

PlayPumps – An unusual innovation in “Water”

“The City that Ended Hunger” – A friday feel-good story

It had excerpts from the BJP’s manifesto and brief counter-points dismissing the claims and assertions. Curiously – in spite of being authored by “Eminent Historians” – it was surprisingly light on references and historical sources.

Dr. J. K. Bajaj and Dr. M. D. Srinivas of the Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai subsequently compiled a detailed rebuttal which was published on several sites on the web.

I am posting some excerpts from the original news-report as well as the rebuttal for the sake of record (and personal reference). If this is the first time you are hearing about this matter, please read on:

First, some excerpts from report in The Hindu. The excerpts from BJP’s manifesto are in italics. The comments by “Eminent Historians” are in blue.

Indian civilisation is perhaps the most ancient and continuing civilisation of the world. India has a long history and has been recognised by others as a land of great wealth and even greater wisdom…Indians, particularly educated under the system of education imposed by the Britishers, have lost sight of not only the cultural and civilisational greatness of India, but also of its technological achievements and abounding natural resources.

India is not the most ancient civilisation. Civilisation is generally defined as having city cultures and that would make Egypt, Mesopotamia and China older. Nor is it the only continuous culture since China has a continuous culture that is older.

According to foreigners visiting this country, Indians were regarded as the best agriculturists in the world. Records of these travels from the 4th Century BC till early-19th Century speak volumes about our agricultural abundance which dazzled the world. The Thanjavur (900-1200 AD) inscriptions and Ramnathapuram (1325 AD) inscriptions record 15 to 20 tonnes per hectare production of paddy.

Agricultural abundance varied over time and space. There was no uniform abundance at all times. Joshi quotes inscriptions from Thanjavur but does not say which one. In AD 1054 (the period he speaks of as producing 20 tons per hectare of paddy) there is also a record that the area of Alangudi in Thanjavur Dt. suffered severe famine, so severe that even the state could not help the people and they finally went to the temple and sold their land to the temple treasury to get money to buy food from elsewhere. [M.E.A.R. 1899-1900, 20]

Famine was common and is mentioned in Indian texts. We do not have to go looking for certificates of merit from foreign visitors. References are made to anavrishti and ativrishti and locusts as the cause. Famine is referred to in the Ramayana [1.8.12 ff] and the Mahabharata [12.139] and in the latter it led to people eating all kinds of unsavoury things. The frequency of references to the 12-year famine is found in many texts. Manu in his Dharma-shastra states that in times of famine social codes can be dispensed with. [102 ff] The Jatakas refer to famines. [1.75, etc;]

It has been established beyond doubt by the several reports on education at the end of the 18th Century and the writings of Indian scholars that not only did India have a functioning indigenous educational system but that it actually compared more than favourably with the system obtaining in England at the time in respect of the number of schools and colleges proportionate to the population, the number of students in schools and colleges, the diligence as well as the intelligence of the students, the quality of the teachers and the financial support provided from private and public sources.

Contrary to the then prevailing opinion, those attending school and college included an impressive percentage of lower caste students, Muslims and girls.

There were no schools or colleges as we know them today in ancient India. Upper caste children were educated in mathas, agraharas and sometimes monasteries. Children following a profession were apprentices in that profession. Lower castes and women were not educated generally. In Sanskrit plays they are the ones who speak the vernacular language Prakrit whilst the upper caste, educated persons speak Sanskrit.

India knew plastic surgery, practised it for centuries and, in fact, it has become the basis of modern plastic surgery. India also practised the system of inoculation against small pox centuries before the vaccination was discovered by Dr. Edward Jenner.

India had no practice of plastic surgery until modern times. Nor did India know about vaccines.

Fa-Hian, writing about Magadha in 400 AD, has mentioned that a well organised health care system existed in India. According to him, the nobles and householders of this country had founded hospitals within the city to which the poor of all countries, the destitute, the crippled and the diseased may repair.

“They receive every kind of requisite help. Physicians inspect their diseases, and according to their cases, order them food and drink, medicines or decoctions, everything in fact that contributes to their ease. When cured they depart at their ease.”

The Chinese pilgrims visiting India — Fa Hien and Hsuan Tsang — make a brief mention of sick persons being treated by having to fast for seven days and being given some medicine. This was probably the treatment given to sick monks in monasteries. There were no hospitals.

*** End of Excerpts from The Hindu article ***

Next, some excerpts from the rebuttal

*Agricultural Productivity of India*

An easily available source on the productivity of Indian agriculture in pre-British south India is the article by L. B. Alaev, The System of Agricultural Production: South India, in the widely available *The Cambridge Economic History of India*, Vol. I, c.1200-c.1750, Cambridge 1982.

On the basis of epigraphic records, Alaev estimates productivity of 6.6 tons per hectare of paddy in the not so fertile region of Ramanad. This is almost certainly an underestimate…

Another fairly well-known source is Dr. Tennant’s, *Indian Recreations*, which mentions productivity of 7.5 tons of wheat per hectare in the region around Allahabad in 1803; …Similarly high productivity in several places in north India was repeatedly mentioned by several British administrators up to the middle of the nineteenth century.

…detailed references are available in Tapan Raychaudhuri’s, “The mid-Eighteenth century Background”, in *The Cambridge Economic History of India*, Vol. II, c.1757-c.1970, Cambridge 1982…Raychaudhuri observes “One striking fact about Indian agriculture in pre-colonial and early colonial days is the very high yield per acre – which cannot be explained away simply as errors of observation…”

*Public Health Care*

The ‘eminent historians’ dismiss the observations of Fa-Hien and Huan Tsang as brief references to the treatment of monks. However, the statements of both observers are far from brief or ambiguous; these are very explicit and detailed. What Fa Hien actually says in this context is:

“The nobles and householders of this country have founded hospitals within the city, to which the poor of all countries, the destitute, cripples and the diseased may repair. They receive every kind of requisite help gratuitously. Physicians inspect their diseases, and according to their cases, order them food and drink, medicine or decoctions, everything in fact that may contribute to their ease. When cured they depart at ease.”

The quote is from Fa Hien: *A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms*, English Translation by J. Legge, Oxford 1886, Delhi Reprint 1971, p.79.

…However, an even more eminent foreign scholar, Dominik Wujastyk, in his *The Roots of Ayurveda: Selections from Sanskrit Medical Writings *(Penguin
Classics, London 2003), concludes the following on the basis of Fa-Hien’s observations:

“This description by Fa Hsien is one of the earliest accounts of a civic hospital system anywhere in the world and, coupled with Caraka’s description of how a clinic should be equipped… suggests that India may have been the first part of the world to have evolved an organized metropolitan system of institutionally-based medical provision.”

*Plastic Surgery and Inoculation*

The eminent historians dismiss the possibility of plastic surgery being practiced in pre-British India. But the operation is mentioned in great
detail in the Susruta Samhita and the reference is well-known to those interested in the history of plastic surgery. *

Such operations were being performed in India even in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century is widely reported. Below is an account of the operation from J. C. Carpue, *An Account of Two Successful Operations for Restoring a Lost Nose from the Integuments of the forehead …to which are prefixed Historical and Physiological Remarks on the Nasal Operation including Descriptions of the Indian and Italian Methods* (London, 1816):

“It was in this manner that the nasal operation had become forgotten or despised, in at least the west of Europe; when, at the close of the last century, it was once more heard of in England, from a quarter whence mankind will yet, perhaps, derive many lights, as well in science, as in learning and in arts. A periodical publication, for the year 1794, contains the following communication from a correspondent in India, which is accompanied by a portrait of the person mentioned, explanatory of the operation.
‘Cowasjee, a Mahratta, of the caste of husbandman, was a bullock-driver with the English army, in the war of 1792, and was made a prisoner by Tippoo, who cut off his nose, and one of his hands. In this state, he joined the Bombay army near Seringapatam, and is now a pensioner of the Honourable East India Company. For above twelve months, he was wholly without a nose; when he had a new one put on, by a Mahratta surgeon, a Kumar, near Pune. This operation is not uncommon in India, and has been practised from time immemorial. Two of the medical gentlemen, Mr. Thomas Cruse and Mr. James Findlay, of Bombay, have seen it performed as follows…

The above article has been reprinted in *Classics of Medicine Library*, Bethesda 1981.

Inoculation against small-pox through injection of material derived from the cow – the so-called ‘vaccination’ – was indeed not practised in India; but inoculation with attenuated human small-pox material obtained from previous outbreaks was widespread and is well-documented. One fairly easily available account is that of J. Z. Holwell, FRS, published in 1767.

*Public Education*

The eminent historians are most dismissive of the suggestion that there were public arrangements for school education in India. Instead of giving any data, they merely assert, on the authority of their imputed ‘eminence’, that there were no schools or colleges in India and that education was imited to upper castes. However, there is just too much of evidence available about a widespread system of education in India in the various surveys that the British undertook during the eighteenth century.

The evidence of these surveys cannot be dismissed by merely the shake of an eminent head. The details of the surveys have been painstakingly compiled and analysed in Dharampal: *The Beautiful Tree*, Biblia Impex, Delhi 1983. (also online here).

*** End of Excerpts from the rebuttal ***

Related Posts:

On Aurangzeb, Kashi Vishwanath, Lies and Half-Truths

Lies and half-truths in the name of national integration

Distorting history and getting paid for it

Economic Exploitation and the Drain of Wealth during British “Raj”

The “truth” about a “benevolent Empire”

India in the 1820s

I have written about Acharya Bose before…but he deserves far more attention than one single post…and I was very glad when I came across Brian’s site in which he explores aspects of consciousness and feelings in plants – a subject first studied by Sir Bose and now coming inder increasing interest from scientists around the world.

Some excerpts from “Are Plants Conscious?” (emphasis mine):

The Indian scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was both physicist and plant physiologist.  In his early life he invented a new type of coherer – an early form of radio signal detector – which enabled him to transmit radio waves over distance a full year before Marconi. He spent much of the rest of his life exploring minute responses to external stimuli applied to plants.  He demonstrated that plant tissues under different kinds of stimulation produce electric responses similar to those produced by animal tissues. His extraordinary experimental results were achieved by using a range of ultra sensitive measuring instruments – also his own invention. He was the first Indian scientist to be elected to The Royal Society – in London, 1920.

His plant sensitivity findings can be explained in a number of ways. Some scientists prefer to use conventional materialist explanations in terms of the flow and transmission of chemical and bio-chemical substances. And, as V.A. Shepherd has pointed out, Bose “had argued all along the importance of electrical signalling in plants, and the world has now come around to this view.”   Others, mainly in the East, see Bose’s findings as providing support for ancient Hindu vedantic theories of consciousness – even in plants. Bose himself was comfortable with both approaches to the explanation and understanding of his findings.

This project uses J C  Bose’s life and work as a inspirational base from which to explore these different kinds of explanation, and their implications.

Brian - a retired psychologist and researcher who was born in then then Calcutta (and – in a wonderful coincidence – on a street now called Acharya JC Bose Road!) – is a devoted Indophile and “….has now postponed organising Chamber Music concerts in order to concentrate on the life and times of one of India’s great scientists, and to look at how his work has been developed and explained.”

In an email he explained his interest in Acharya Bose’s work:

…Even more exciting was (J C Bose’s) his work on electrical communication within plants.  He designed and conducted hundreds of experiments on how plants respond to stimuli, showing among other things that they use electrical in addition to chemically based communication.

Of most interest to me is how these results have been interpreted and explained.  In particular, as an old experimentalist I am increasingly interested in how ancient Hindu wisdom would interpret the results, in terms of consciousness and other vedic concepts.

On his website, Brian mentions about the philosophical and spiritual aspects of his interest:

How does this (Sir J C Bose’s) approach to the understanding of consciousness compare with some of the ideas on ‘levels of consciousness’ in present day psychology, philosophy and neurology?

“In Hinduism there are two categories of knowledge  (i) para vidya – the spiritual knowledge and (ii) apara vidya – material knowledge. Scientifc knowledge is the realm of apara vidya. Spiritual knowledge – knowledge of God and life – belongs to para vidya. Hinduism points out that scientific knowledge can lead to spiritual knowledge.”  Singh ibid.

How far did Bose journey into the apara vidya realm in the way he discussed and thought about his work?

Brian is looking for references and more material to help him explore these questions…If any of you have read or studied about these aspects of Vedic philosophy or science before, please do get in touch with him @ bose AT areplantsconscious.com

Via his website, I also learnt of several programmes being organised to commemorate the 150th birthday of Sir Bose and Cambridge University in UK will be unveiling a wall plaque in his memory on the 150th anniversary day, 30th November 2008.

Brian mentioned in his email that “…I hope that the book and CD will help to make sure that Sir J C Bose is a little less unsung!” – I am sure it will, Brian.

My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Brian Champness for his work and dedication to ensure that Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose becomes a little less unsung. Thank you Brian.

Related Posts:

An Unsung Hero…

Atoms, Neurons and Consciousness…

.

There are many assertions and statements here that have not been verified or explained (see e.g. the entry on Acharya Bharadwaj who is credited with advances in aviation technology*). We need to source and evidence these it to make it more credible.

Some excerpts below (statements on which I need help are marked in italics):

***

ARYABHATT (476 CE), ASTRONOMER and MATHEMATICIAN

Born in 476 CE in Kusumpur (Bihar), Aryabhatt’s intellectual brilliance remapped the boundaries of mathematics and astronomy. In 499 CE, at the age of 23, he wrote a text on astronomy and an unparallel treatise on mathematics called “Aryabhatiyam.” He formulated the process of calculating the motion of planets and the time of eclipses. Aryabhatt was the first to proclaim that the earth is round, it rotates on its axis, orbits the sun and is suspended in space – 1000 years before Copernicus published his heliocentric theory. He is also acknowledged for calculating p (Pi) to four decimal places: 3.1416 and the sine table in trigonometry. Centuries later, in 825 CE, the Arab mathematician, Mohammed Ibna Musa credited the value of Pi to the Indians… And above all, his most spectacular contribution was the concept of zero (- need help in clarifying/verifying this)

***

BHASKARACHARYA II(1114-1183 CE), ALGEBRA

Born in the obscure village of Vijjadit (Jalgaon) in Maharastra, Bhaskaracharya’s work in Algebra, Arithmetic and Geometry catapulted him to fame and immortality. His renowned mathematical works called “Lilavati” and “Bijaganita” are considered to be unparalled and a memorial to his profound intelligence. Its translation in several languages of the world bear testimony to its eminence. In his treatise “Siddhant Shiromani” he writes on planetary positions, eclipses, cosmography, mathematical techniques and astronomical equipment. In the “Surya Siddhant” he makes a note on the force of gravity: “Objects fall on earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. Therefore, the earth, planets, constellations, moon, and sun are held in orbit due to this attraction.” Bhaskaracharya was the first to discover gravity, 500 years before Sir Isaac Newton.

***

ACHARYA KANAD (600 BCE), ATOMIC THEORY

As the founder of “Vaisheshik Darshan”- one of six principal philosophies of India – Acharya Kanad was a genius in philosophy. He is believed to have been born in Prabhas Kshetra near Dwarika in Gujarat. He was the pioneer expounder of realism, law of causation and the atomic theory. He has classified all the objects of creation into nine elements, namely: earth, water, light, wind, ether, time, space, mind and soul. He says, “Every object of creation is made of atoms which in turn connect with each other to form molecules.” His statement ushered in the Atomic Theory for the first time ever in the world, nearly 2500 years before John Dalton (- need help in verification)

…Kanad has also described the dimension and motion of atoms and their chemical reactions with each other. The eminent historian, T.N. Colebrook, has said, “Compared to the scientists of Europe, Kanad and other Indian scientists were the global masters of this field.”  (- source?)

***

NAGARJUNA (100 CE), CHEMICAL SCIENCE

He was an extraordinary wizard of science born in the nondescript village of Baluka in Madhya Pradesh. His dedicated research for twelve years produced maiden discoveries and inventions in the faculties of chemistry and metallurgy. Textual masterpieces like “Ras Ratnakar,” “Rashrudaya” and “Rasendramangal” are his renowned contributions to the science of chemistry. Where the medieval alchemists of England failed, Nagarjuna had discovered the alchemy of transmuting base metals into gold (- may be an exaggeration; needs verification).

As the author of medical books like “Arogyamanjari” and “Yogasar,” he also made significant contributions to the field of curative medicine. Because of his profound scholarliness and versatile knowledge, he was appointed as Chancellor of the famous University of Nalanda.

***

ACHARYA CHARAK (600 BCE), MEDICINE

Acharya Charak has been crowned as the Father of Medicine. His renowned work, the “Charak Samhita”, is considered as an encyclopedia of Ayurveda. His principles, diagoneses, and cures retain their potency and truth even after a couple of millennia….In the “Charak Samhita” he has described the medicinal qualities and functions of 100,000 herbal plants (source/ reference? ).

He has emphasized the influence of diet and activity on mind and body. He has proved the correlation of spirituality and physical health contributed greatly to diagnostic and curative sciences. He has also prescribed and ethical charter for medical practitioners two centuries prior to the Hippocratic oath. (source/ reference? )

***

ACHARYA SUSHRUT (600 BCE), PLASTIC SURGERY

A genius who has been glowingly recognized in the annals of medical science. Born to sage Vishwamitra, Acharya Sudhrut details the first ever surgery procedures in “Sushrut Samhita,” a unique encyclopedia of surgery He is venerated as the father of plastic surgery and the science of anesthesia. When surgery was in its infancy in Europe, Sushrut was performing Rhinoplasty (restoration of a damaged nose) and other challenging operations…(evidence/ source? )

In the “Sushrut Samhita,” he prescribes treatment for twelve types of fractures and six types of dislocations. His details on human embryology are simply amazing. Sushrut used 125 types of surgical instruments including scalpels, lancets, needles, Cathers and rectal speculums; mostly designed from the jaws of animals and birds. He has also described a number of stitching methods; the use of horse’s hair as thread and fibers of bark. In the “Sushrut Samhita,” and fibers of bark. In the “Sushrut Samhita,” he details 300 types of operations. The ancient Indians were the pioneers in amputation, caesarian and cranial surgeries. (- need help in verifying this )

***

VARAHAMIHIR (499-587 CE),�ASTROLOGER and ASTRONOMER

A renowned astrologer and astronomer who was honored with a special decoration and status as one of the nine gems in the court of King Vikramaditya in Avanti (Ujjain). Varahamihir’s book “panchsiddhant” holds a prominent place in the realm of astronomy. He notes that the moon and planets are lustrous not because of their own light but due to sunlight. In the “Bruhad Samhita” and “Bruhad Jatak,” he has revealed his discoveries in the domains of geography, constellation, science, botany and animal science. In his treatise on botanical science, Varamihir presents cures for various diseases afflicting plants and trees.(- scant information; more needed)

***

ACHARYA PATANJALI (200 BCE), YOGA

The Science of Yoga is one of several unique contributions of India to the world. It seeks to discover and realize the ultimate Reality through yogic practices. Acharya Patanjali, the founder, hailed from the district of Gonda (Ganara) in Uttar Pradesh. He prescribed the control of prana (life breath) as the means to control the body, mind and soul. This subsequently rewards one with good health and inner happiness. Acharya Patanjali’s 84 yogic postures effectively enhance the efficiency of the respiratory, circulatory, nervous, digestive and endocrine systems and many other organs of the body. Yoga has eight limbs where Acharya Patanjali shows the attainment of the ultimate bliss of God in samadhi through the disciplines of: yam, niyam, asan, pranayam, pratyahar, dhyan and dharna…

***

ACHARYA BHARADWAJ (800 BCE), AVIATION TECHNOLOGY

Acharya Bharadwaj had a hermitage in the holy city of Prayag and was an ordent apostle of Ayurveda and mechanical sciences. He authored the “Yantra Sarvasva” which includes astonishing and outstanding discoveries in aviation science, space science and flying machines. He has described three categories of flying machines: 1.) One that flies on earth from one place to another. 2.) One that travels from one planet to another. 3.) And One that travels from one universe to another. (- need help in verification)

…His brilliance in aviation technology is further reflected through techniques described by him: 1.) Profound Secret: The technique to make a flying machine invisible through the application of sunlight and wind force. 2.) Living Secret: The technique to make an invisible space machine visible through the application of electrical force. 3.) Secret of Eavesdropping: The technique to listen to a conversation in another plane. 4.) Visual Secrets: The technique to see what’s happening inside another plane… (- fascinating but needs to be referenced and verified)

***

ACHARYA KAPIL (3000 BCE), COSMOLOGY

Celebrated as the founder of Sankhya philosophy, Acharya Kapil is believed to have been born in 3000 BCE to the illustrious sage Kardam and Devhuti. He gifted the world with the Sankhya School of Thought. His pioneering work threw light on the nature and principles of the ultimate Soul (Purusha), primal matter (Prakruti) and creation. His concept of transformation of energy and profound commentaries on atma, non-atma and the subtle elements of the cosmos places him in an elite class of master achievers – incomparable to the discoveries of other cosmologists. (- not clear how; more information needed))

***

Related Posts:

*Pl. see Of Vimanas and Time Travel

The importance of accurate referencing

Clearing the dust off Macaulay’s famous quote

Does no one remember Indian Contribution to Mathematics – Part 2

Does no one remember the Indian contribution to Technology?

Does no one remember the Hindu contribution to Mathematics? (Part 1)