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Cover Story Scienceindian Through the Ages JAIMINI SARKAR

Cover Story Scienceindian Through the Ages JAIMINI SARKAR

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Here’s a look at some of the significant contributions to has made through the ages.

ROM astronomy to medicine and Indian science and dates Mehrgarh shows evidences of from to mathematics, back to prehistoric activity at with local ore, made Fancient India’s contributions to the Mehrgarh in present day and with bitumen, of and world of science are many. Throughout continues through the Indus animals and . Bitumen is a mixture the ages, there came people from . The Indus Valley civilization is a of organic liquids that are highly viscous, different racial, geographical and term used to refer to the cultures of the black, sticky, soluble in carbon disulfide and religious backgrounds all of whom made Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra stretching composed of highly condensed polycyclic a direct impact on the socio-economic from Mehrgarh period down to aromatic hydrocarbons. and indirectly on the scientific aptitude the Age or Indo-Gangetic tradition. In April 2006, the journal and attitude. The mature phase of this civilization was announced that the oldest evidence in the Harappan civilization (3300-1300 BC), human history for the drilling of tooth in vivo, followed by the Vedic civilization (2000- that is, in a living person, was found in 600BC). Mehrgarh around 7000 BC. It involved curing tooth-related disorders with Mehrgarh Culture operated by skilled craftsmen. These (7000-3300 BC) interesting findings provide evidence of a long tradition of a type of proto- Mehrgarh is one of the most important in an early farming culture. Neolithic sites of the world and lies on the At Neolithic Mehrgarh, flint heads ‘kachi plain’ of today’s located were found in stone assemblages near the , to the west of Indus associated with of bone, steatite, valley and between the present day shell, calcite, , and Pakistani cities of , Kalat and . . Using models of these drill tips, methods for drilling based on the ethnographic literature were constructed This image shows a drilled molar crown from and it was found that a tipped Mehrgarh. A hole about a tenth of an inch with a flinthead required less than a minute (2.6 millimeters) wide was drilled in the center of the to produce similar holes in human enamel. crown. The hole shows smoothing, indicating it was Presumably, the know-how originally drilled before the death of the individual. developed by skilled for bead (Courtesy: Nature) production was successfully transferred to

SCIENCE REPORTER, AUGUST 2011 8 Cover Story ScienceIndian Through The Ages JAIMINI SARKAR

The Mehrgarh civilization drilling of teeth in a form of proto-dentistry. and there was, in some cases, A modern reconstruction of this form of provision of a crib for sitting in . Indian war rockets were dentistry has shown that the methods used ‘Western-’ toilets were made from formidable weapons before were reliable and effective. and wooden seats were used such rockets were used in on top. The waste was transmitted via the Harappan Civilization extensive systems in their . They had bamboo (3300-1300 BC) settlements. rods, a rocket-body lashed to The size and prosperity of the Large-scale systems the rod, and iron points. Indus civilization grew as a result of were in place by 2700 BC. The drains were in and drainage 7-10 feet wide and 2 feet below ground oceanographers believe that Harappans systems, which eventually led to more level. The was then led into must have had knowledge relating to planned settlements. This irrigation system cesspools, built at the intersection of two tides, hydrography and maritime also included artificial at Girnar drains, which had stairs leading to them in order to build such a dock dating back to 3000 BC and an early for periodic cleaning. Plumbing using equipped to berth and service ships. irrigation system from 2600 BC plumbing pipes with broad Using weights and measures, the onwards. flanges for easy joining with to stop inhabitants developed a system of By 2800 BC private , leaks was in place. standardization. This technical located on the ground floor, were found The world’s first dock at in 2400 standardization enabled gauging devices in many houses of the Indus civilization. BC was built away from the main current to be effectively used in angular Pottery pipes in walls allowed drainage of to avoid silt deposition. Contemporary measurement and measurement for construction. In case of some devices, calibration was also found with multiple subdivisions. Evidence of an early furnace, animal drawn plough and has been discovered from excavations at (in present day Pakistan). Furnaces might Polished Stone Flint Cores have been used for the manufacture of objects. Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala ka Tila and Lahuradewa archeological sites present in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) show implements from the period between 1800 BC-1200 BC. In the development of swords as weapons of war, those found at Mohenjo- daro have a tang and rivet to hold the handle exactly as found in Palestine, where such implements were associated with the Hyksos (1800-1500 BC). Copper found in the Indus Valley were similar to Unretouched Flint Blades those found in Europe and elsewhere in A complete set of stone tools found in a Mehrgarh grave. Such sets were presumably buried with their owner. Asia. 9 SCIENCE REPORTER, AUGUST 2011 Cover Story

Reed Thatch

A typical small house with 2 to 4 rooms at Mehrgarh would have looked like this and was Wooden Poles likely to have housed a family.

successful, Sushruta mentioned that it Window should only be used when necessary. During the 5th century BC, the scholar Twigs Panini made several discoveries in the field of phonetics, phonology and morphology. Metal currency was minted in India before 5th century BC with coins being made of silver and copper, bearing animal and - wall symbols on them.

Post numbers as high as 1012 (1200-900 BC). (400 BC-400 AD) Swords have been recovered in Vedanga Jyotisa details several important This era was an interesting era of Indian archeological findings throughout the aspects of time and seasons, including history. Alexander invaded the Ganges-Jamuna Doab regions of India lunar months, solar months and their northwestern part of the Indian consisting of bronze but more commonly adjustment by lunar leap month of subcontinent and the first United Kingdom copper. Copper were also Adhimasa. Twenty-seven constellations, was established under the rule of discovered at Harappan sites (, eclipses, seven planets and 12 signs of the Chandragupta Maurya, a student of Shahi-tump and Chanhu-daro) but were zodiac were also known at that time. Chanakya. The similar to those found at North Persian sites In the 8th century BC, an Indian maintained diplomatic relations with the (Hissar III, Shah Tepe, Turang Tepe) and mathematician, Baudhayana composed Greek world as Chandragupta married the Akkadian sites (Assur, Sialk B cemetery). the Sulba Sutra giving rules for the daughter of Alexander’s general, Early Iron objects found in India can construction of altars which contained Seleucus. This era thus shows prominent be dated to 1400 BC by employing the several important mathematical results. The impact of European science and culture method of carbon dating. By the early 13th famous Pythagorean theorem is believed on the Indian subcontinent. century BC, iron smelting was practiced to have been invented by Baudhayana The Arthashastra written by Chanakya on a bigger scale in India. In case of first. He solved the problem of finding a in the 4th century BC mentions the southern India especially present day circle whose area is the same as that of a construction of and bridges. The use Mysore, iron was employed on a large square as well gave the formula for the of suspension bridges using plaited scale as early as 11th to 12th centuries BC. square of two. bamboo and iron chains was also seen in this period. Apart from trade and Vedic Civilization Literature of the in India offers early records of veterinary and commerce, the book also discusses (2000-600 BC) human medicine. Leprosy is mentioned in about , working of mines and The Vedic civilization was based in the the Sushruta Samhita (6th century BC), which factories, horticulture, irrigation, waterways, northern and northwestern parts of the also mentions cataract surgery performed ships, navigation, and Indian subcontinent. Scholars place the with a special tool called the Jabamukhi slaughterhouses. Vedic period in the second and first Salaka where a curved needle was used The contacts between India and the millennia BC continuing up to the 6th to loosen the lens and push the cataract western world, which Chandragupta century BC. out of the field of vision. The eye would Maurya had established, continued during The religious texts of Vedic period later be soaked with warm butter and then the reign of his son Bindusara and provide evidence of the use of large bandaged. Though this method was grandson Ashoka.

SCIENCE REPORTER, AUGUST 2011 10 Cover Story

“The Great Bath” at Mohenjo-daro (above); Sewer drains at Mohenjo-daro (right); The city of Harappa had a sophisticated drainage system perhaps as early as 6,000 years before the present (extreme right)

Ashoka was a great builder. His famous Institutions created specifically to many-pillared hall at Patliputra was dug care for the ill appeared in early India. out by archeologists and is still in a King Ashoka is said to have founded at marvelous state of preservation. The least 18 around 230 BC, with wooden logs that were used to build it are physicians and nursing staff, the expense as smooth and perfect as the day they being borne from the royal treasury. were laid, more than two thousand years Ashoka erected two kinds of hospitals— ago. This would be surprising anywhere, for people and for animals. Where there but in India it is more so, for the climate were no healing herbs for people and wears them away and insects eat them animals, he ordered they should be bought up. There must have been some kind of and planted. the Greco-Roman world. The Satavahana special treatment for the used in Though the evidence of the first rock- period further reveals short cylinders of such constructions. cut step in India dates back to 200- composite glass, including those 400 AD, the step wells constructed at displaying a lemon-yellow matrix covered Dhank (550-625 AD) and stepped with green glass. at Bhinmal (also known as Shrimal, 72 km Before the beginning of the Common south of Jalore town in Rajasthan) are still Era, Wootz steel originated in India. Wootz preserved in proper shape. Step wells are steel was widely exported and traded wells in which water can be reached by throughout ancient Europe and the Arab descending a set of steps. It can be world, and became particularly famous in multistoried also, in which a bullock turns the , where it was known as the water to raise the water in the Damascus steel. Archaeological evidence well to the first or second floor. suggests that this process The city of Mohenjo-daro also had was already in existence in South India wells and they may have been the even before the Christian era. predecessors of these step wells, as The bow instruments used in the around 700 wells were discovered in just second century in textile are also a gift to one section of the city. Leading scholars the world from India. These carding believe that the people of the Indus valley devices are called Kaman and Dhunaki civilization invented cylindrical brick-lined and would loosen the texture of the fiber wells. by means of the vibrating . By the beginning of the Common Era Early use of diamonds as gemstones (AD), glass was being used for ornaments originated in India. Golconda served as Standardized weights and measures used in the Indus and casing. New techniques were added an important center for diamonds in civilization in this field because of the contact with central India. Diamonds were exported to 11 SCIENCE REPORTER, AUGUST 2011 Cover Story

The rustless wonder—Iron Pillar in Delhi The ruins at Patliputra (above & right)

other parts of the world also. Literature written at the beginning of the third century describes strength, regularity, brilliance, ability to scratch metals and good refractive properties as the desirable qualities of diamond. The Iron pillar of Delhi constructed at the time of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya (375-413 AD) is still a marvel because of the metals used in its construction. The pillar is 98% pure wrought iron and is a testament to the high level of skills achieved by ancient Indian metallurgists in the extraction and processing of iron. It has attracted the attention of archeologists Tipu Sultan’s rockets and metallurgists as it has withstood corrosion for over 1600 yrs in the open air. The pillar’s resistance to corrosion is The well in the citadel of Harappa (the round opening near the centre of the photograph) was almost certainly explained by a passive protective film at the permanent source of on top of a defensible hill that made the site of Harappa such an important the iron-rust interface. The presence of centre of the Indus culture. second phase particles (slag and unreduced iron oxides) in the microstructure of the iron, that of high amounts of phosphorus in the metal and the alternate wetting and drying existing under atmospheric conditions are the three main factors in the three stage formation of that protective passive film. India is one of the probable places of origin of the wheel. The device may have reached Europe from India in the 14th century AD. The Charkhi in some parts of the region was also driven by waterpower. The Ajanta yield evidence of a single roller gin in use by the 5th century AD. This period was the golden age of Indian mathematics and astronomy where many Indian scholars contributed SCIENCE REPORTER, AUGUST 2011 12 Cover Story The use of mines and counter-mines with explosive charges of gunpowder is mentioned for the times of Akbar and Jahângir. Evidence of an early furnace, animal drawn plough and ovens has been discovered from excavations at Balakot (in present day Pakistan).

The decimal number system also originated in India. 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. By the 9th century AD, this complete number system was in existence in India. The concept of 0 as a number, and seminally. Pingala (300-200 AD) was famous equation, two equivalent solutions to the not merely a symbol for separation is for his work, Chandas Shastra, a Sanskrit general quadratic equation, explained attributed to India where practical treatise on prosody considered as one of how to find cube and cube root of an calculations were carried out using zero, the Vedanga. He developed advanced integer, rules for facilitating the which was treated like any other number mathematical concepts for describing the computation of squares and square by the 9th century AD, even in case of patterns of prosody. Pingala presents and gave rules for dealing with five types division. the first known description of a binary of combinations of fractions. Bhaskara-II or Bhaskara Acharya was numeral system. He described the binary He was able to find (integral) solutions head of an astronomical observatory at numeral system in connection with the of Pell’s equation. Brahmagupta’s most Ujjain, the leading mathematical center listing of Vedic meters with short and long famous result in geometry is his formula for of ancient India. Bhaskara-II mainly syllables. His discussion of the cyclic quadrilaterals, a theorem on rational contributed to the field of mathematics, combinatorics of meter corresponds to the triangles and values of ð (pi). arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, binomial theorem. Pingala’s work also In chapter seven of his calculus, astronomy and engineering. contains the basic ideas of Fibonacci Brahmasphutasiddhanta, entitled Lunar Conceptual design for a perpetual motion number and a presentation of the Pascal’s Crescent, Brahmagupta rebuts the idea by Bhaskara II dates to 1150 AD. triangle. that the Moon is farther from the Earth than He described a wheel that he claimed The use of negative numbers was the Sun, an idea maintained in scriptures. would run forever. He used a measuring known in early India, and their role in He does this by explaining the illumination device known as Yasti-yantra. This device situations like mathematical problems of of the Moon by the Sun. could vary from a simple stick to V-shaped debt was understood and consistent rules During the 1st millennium AD, the staffs designed specifically for determining for working with these numbers were Vaisheshika School of atomism proposed angles with the help of a calibrated scale. formulated. that atoms are indivisible and eternal, can Rasaratna Samuccaya written during neither be created nor destroyed and the 8th century AD gives elaborate Medieval Period (500 AD-1600 each one possessed its own distinct description of various complex AD) individuality. This concept was further metallurgical processes. It explains the Aryabhata (476–550 AD) was the great elaborated by philosophers of the Buddhist existence of two types of ores for Zinc mathematician-astronomer from the school of atomism, Dharamkirti and metal, one of which is ideal for metal classical age of Indian mathematics and Dignaga, in the 7th century AD. They extraction while the other is used for astronomy. His most famous works are the considered atoms to be point sized, medicinal purpose. Aryabhatiya (499 AD, when he was 23 years duration less and made of . India also became a major center old) and the Arya-siddhanta. Bhâskara-I, the 7th century for production and processing of Brahmagupta (598–668 AD), another mathematician, was apparently the first to Indigofera tinctoria, a variety of indigo that great mathematician and astronomer write numbers in the Hindu-Arabic decimal was used and domesticated in India for wrote important treatise on mathematics system with a circle for the zero, and who use as a dye. and astronomy in gave a unique and remarkable rational Evidence of microbial inoculation Brahamasphutasiddhanta in 628 AD. He approximation of the sine function in his and variolation for smallpox is found in the gave solutions for the general linear commentary on Aryabhata’s work. 8th century, when Madhav wrote the 13 SCIENCE REPORTER, AUGUST 2011 Cover Story

The “” at Harappa

Nidâna, a 79-chapter book that lists Empire. Before they were rediscovered in The Indus Valley civilization diseases along with their causes, the 1980s, it was believed by modern symptoms, and complications. He metallurgists to be technically impossible is a term used to refer to the included a special chapter on smallpox to produce metal globes without any cultures of the Indus and (Masûrikâ) and described the method of seams, even with modern technology. inoculation to protect against smallpox. These Mughal metallurgists pioneered the Ghaggar-Hakra rivers Treatment was done by inoculation with method of lost-wax casting in order to stretching from Neolithic year-old smallpox matter. The inoculators produce these globes. would travel all across India pricking the Indian war rockets were formidable Mehrgarh period down to skin of the arm with a small metal instrument weapons before such rockets were used using “variolous matter” taken from pustules in Europe. They had bamboo rods, a the or Indo- produced by the previous year’s rocket-body lashed to the rod, and iron Gangetic tradition. inoculations. The British doctor J.Z. Holwell points. They were directed at the target based on observations made during his and fired by lighting the fuse, but the 5,000. In battles at Seringapatam in residence in in an account to the trajectory was rather erratic. The use of 1792 and 1799, these rockets were College of Physicians in London in 1767 mines and counter-mines with explosive used with considerable effect against the confirmed the effectiveness of this system. charges of gunpowder is mentioned for British. The Scholars of Kerala School of the times of Akbar and Jahângir. Fathullah Shirazi, a Persian-Indian astronomy and mathematics, especially Later, Hyder Ali, prince of Mysore, polymath and mechanical who Madhava of Sangamagrama, made developed war rockets with an . worked for Akbar in the , important contributions to the field of He used metal cylinders to contain the invented the auto-cannon, the earliest geometry by stating the infinite series for ð combustion powder. Although the multi-shot gun in 1582. (1340-1425 AD). Madhava made use of hammered soft iron he used was crude, The scholar Sadiq Isfahani of Jaunpur the series expansion of arctanx to obtain the bursting strength of the of compiled an atlas of parts of the world. an infinite series expression, now known as black powder was much higher than the The 32-sheet atlas is part of a larger the Madhava-Gregory series, for ð. They earlier construction. Thus a greater scholarly work compiled by Isfahani during used an improved series to derive a internal pressure was possible, with a 1647 AD. rational expression 104348 / 33215 for ð, resultant greater thrust of the propulsive correct up to nine decimal places, i.e. jet. 3.141592653. Hyder Ali’s son, Tipu Sultan, continued Dr. Jaimini Sarkar is a freelance science writer. Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman (1589-90 AD) to develop and expand the use of rocket Address: C/o M.L. Dhane, 702, M2/C, Pratiksha invented the Seamless celestial globe, weapons, reportedly increasing Nagar C.H.S, Pratiksha Nagar, Sion (E), Mumbai- which was later produced in the Mughal the number of rocket troops from 1,200 to 400022; Email: [email protected] SCIENCE REPORTER, AUGUST 2011 14

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