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A Concise History of Science in India c14: 11 Résumé

A Concise History of Science in India c14

Language
English

Contents

11 Résumé

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IN the preceding chapters a concise account has been given of the various branches of science as they developed in India in the ancient and medieval periods, and also of the growth of western science in India up to the end of the nineteenth century A.D. The treatment has been subjectwise, and each subject has been dealt with in a broad chronological setting.

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In this résumé an attempt has been made to highlight some important aspects and achievements of Indian science in the pre- and protohistoric, Vedic and post-Vedic periods, the Classical Age and after up to *c.* A.D. 1200, the medieval and the modern periods. Chapter and page numbers are given in bold and ordinary types respectively in brackets, wherever necessary, to indicate the portions or sections to be referred to for further details. A chronological chart depicting the major scientific and technological texts and developments up to the end of the nineteenth century A.D. is also appended.

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THE great subcontinent of Asia, which in area is nearly equal to that of Europe with the exception of Russia and which goes under the name of *Bhāratavarṣa*a or India,b has played a distinct role in the history of technology and science. Geologically it is believed that during the Mesozoic era (about 230 million years ago) a great part of the now known Himalayan region was beneath the sea (called the Tethys sea), while the peninsula, possibly with the exception of the coastal area, must have been a land at least since the Permo-Carboniferous period (over 300 million years ago). The gradual uplift of the Himalayas is supposed to have occurred mainly in Eocene-Oligocene (about 30 to 40 million years ago), and the final phase of the mountain elevation in the Pleistocene periods. The principal features of this subcontinent had assumed more or less the present shape and topography possibly by the early Pleistocene time (about one to two million years ago), save, in front of the newly elevated mountain ranges, the region which formed almost a longitudinal depression or a foredeep corresponding to the high mountainous terrain. It has been conjectured that this depression got filled up by alluvial and wind-blown deposits, and became the plains fit enough for habitation geologically not very long ago.a Known as the Indo-Gangetic plains because of flow of many a river belonging to the Indus-Ganges system, the plains are reputed for their fertility and effective manoeuvrability for agricultural operations, and have been the home, from time to time, of a number of different groups of people who developed their agriculture, arts, crafts and industries. There has been yet another fertile alluvial tract covering the region of modern Gujarat and Kathiawar formed by the river and estuarine depositions, which also witnessed the growth of advanced human settlements. In contradistinction to these alluvial formations which geologically are not old enough, is the much older laterite rocky terrain of the peninsula comparatively less fertile than the northern plains, and here also is found evidence of early human inhabitants some of whom belonged to the neolithic and chalcolithic stages. It should be noted that the natural environments provided by these geological features of the subcontinent and not inconsiderably the latter’s geographical position with reference to the other culture-areas of the then known world have been not only stimulative to, but also determinative of, the endeavours of man the maker and man the thinker in this part of the globe.

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a Though named after Bharata, a legendary monarch of the Lunar line, according to the *Viṣṇu Purāṇa*, the country belonging to the north of the ocean and to the south of the snowy mountains is called *Bhāratavarṣa*—a geographical definition.

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b This word is derived through the Greeks from the Persicized form of the Sanskrit term *Sindhu* (the river).

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As to the early man who wandered on this subcontinent there is little or no information, for no skeletal remains of the palaeolithic man have been unearthed so far in this region. Anthropologists believe that the terrain now known as the Siwaliks (a later phase of the Himalayan elevation) might have been the home of early man in India. In any case, in this area have been discovered some stone-tools which indicate a chopper-chopping tool culture in existence there perhaps over 150,000 years ago. That the early human had been active and groups of men existed in different parts of the subcontinent have been evidenced by some types of stone-tools found in the Punjab, Peninsular India, Kashmir, Bengal, etc. The Middle Palaeolithic Age in India corresponds to *c.* 25000 B.C. and the Late Stone Age to *c.* 5000 B.C. The neolithic culture which is characterized by some kind of habitation and agricultural practices leading to production of food has been noticed in the regions of Andhra, Karnatak and Kashmir even as late as *c.* 2000 B.C., while in some other parts of India like Rajaputana, Central India, the Deccan, etc., the chalcolithic culture has also been found in the period 1800 B.C.b However, earlier still in the region covering Sind, the Punjab, Rajaputana, Saurashtra and Baluchistan, there flourished a civilization (*c.* 2300–1750 B.C.) which was by far the largest of the world's three most ancient civilizations, covering an area of roughly 840,000 square miles.

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a Majumdar (R. C.), I, p. 82.

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b Sankalia (4), pp. xxi-xxii.

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The fact worthy of note is that in this subcontinent different culture manifestations have occurred in different periods and in different parts of the land, not always in the recognized sequence.

Pre- and Protohistoric Period

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The neolithic man in India, apart from his primitive attempts at agriculture of which we have but scanty information,a was quite familiar with certain plants and animals which were part of his environment. His practical knowledge of animals has been handed over to us in the form of what are called ‘haematite drawings’ in the caves or sheltered rocks. Such drawings have been found on the rocky walls of the Vindhya hills in Mirzapur district (depicting hunters attacking a rhinoceros with barbed spears), in the caves of Hoshangabad district (portraying a giraffe), of the Kaimur hills (showing stag-hunts), and at Singanpur (representing an animal resembling a kangaroo, also horse and deer). It would seem that rhinoceros was then more widely distributed in India than at present. The neolithic potter was able to produce earthen vessels (generally globular with round bases and flair slips) which were hand-made, the potter’s wheel obviously being unknown to him in the initial stages, as evidenced by the finds in the prehistoric rock shelters of Mirzapur, Laghnaj, Nagarjunakonda, Birbanpur, Burzahom and certain sites in the southern Deccan. Later he was able to devise the wheel and produce the wheel-thrown pottery, the specimens of which have been found in some of the neolithic settlements in south India.

The Harappan Culture

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In India the history of technology and science begins naturally with the Indus valley civilization which is often referred to as the Harappan Culture, Harappa along with Mohenjo-daro being the important sites of archaeological value in the Indus valley. The Harappan culture had established commercial links with the neighbouring cultures in the central and western Asian regions. It is interesting to note that some Harappan seals have been found in the Lower Mesopotamia. There seemed to be brisk commercial relations between the Harappan culture and that of Mesopotamia at the time when the former was in a flourishing state. The archaeological evidence at Lothal indicates that there was sea-borne trade too. Some of the ceramic appearances, seals, amulets and ornamental forms found in the Harappan settlements, on closer analysis, are noticed to have their parallels in the Mesopotamian cultures. Even the religious belief like the worship of the Mother-goddess representing a fertility cult which was in vogue in the Harappan urban civilization was more or less similar to that practised in the early Sumerian village-cultures. Not a few of the animal motifs found on the Harappan seals are in common with those of Syria and Crete.a There is no denying the fact that there was a movement of ideas and techniques among the diverse culture-areas in the third and the second millennium B.C., and that the Harappan culture lay on the periphery of the already well-established central and western Asian cultures.

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a Archaeological evidence indicates the use of rice (*Oryza sativa* L.) and wheat (*Triticum vulgare-compactum*) in the chalcolithic sites of Navdatoli and Maheswar.

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Be that as it may, the Harappan culture displayed certain original characteristics and underwent its own civilizational experiences. The overall picture of this culture appears to be that it had a reasonable agricultural surplus and a farming economy, developed a way of settled life and material culture enriched by many a craft and industry. The craft of potting had registered a technological progress. The Harappan pottery was mainly wheel-made, turned in various shapes and sizes out of the well-levigated alluvium of the Indus. The unearthed pottery specimens with a number of designs and colour combinations throw light on the fact that the production technique was standardized to a high degree. The Harappan potters also knew the art of glazing and it would appear that the glazed pottery found at Mohenjo-daro was probably the earliest specimen of its type. Metalsmiths were well versed in the techniques of making beads, sheet-making, rivetting, coiling and casting. The bronze figurine discovered at Mohenjo-daro was probably cast by the *cire-perdue* process. A number of metallic tools, mostly of copper and bronze, found in this area reveal that the Harappan metalsmiths had sound knowledge of cold-working and annealing of the metal. Of the tools, a special word needs to be said about a true saw which has the teeth and the adjoining part of the blade set alternatively from side to side, for a similar type of saw was unknown elsewhere until Roman times (**5**, pp. 275–83). Apart from metal-working, the Harappans knew the use of a number of minerals for ornamental, cosmetic and medicinal purposes. They had developed social sanitation and public hygiene to a high level as borne out by the town-planning, paved streets, water-supply, public baths and hydropathic establishments, discharge and drainage systems, etc., in their urban living. They also knew spinning and weaving and were well known for the burnt-brick-and-mortar constructions. Doubtless they had evolved a system of measurement and computational techniques which were necessary for not only constructions but also commercial transactions.

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The animal representations on the Harappan pottery, seals, figurines and toys give an insight into their familiarity with and domestication of animals. Some 92 species of animals have been identified and of them mammals (41), molluscs, marine and land forms (31), reptiles (12), fishes (5) and birds (2) are notable. The domestic animals included the humped cattle, buffalo, ass, sheep, goat, elephant, camel, pig, dog and cat. The wild life comprised, among others, elephant, tiger, rhinoceros, wolf, jackal and chital, but no lion. A large number of seals depict a curious legendary animal called the unicorn, a male beast with one horn, a heavily built body of an antelope or an ox with a long tuffed tail. The widely used domestic animal was the bull, and although the figure of cow is not represented on any of the seals, it was an important domestic animal (**8**, pp. 404–16).

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a Mode, pp. 1–12.

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The Harappans had attained a reasonably good level of agricultural practices; yet the plough was not in use. Likewise, of the metals, iron was unknown to the people of the Indus valley; and of the animals, horse was probably not in use then. The plough, iron and the horse of a superior breed began to be used in India by a new set of people of a new social order, whose thoughts and practices have come down to us in the form of several literary compositions known as the *Vedas*, *Brāhmaṇas*, *Āraṇyakas* and the *Upaniṣads*.

Vedic Period

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This new set of people, sometimes referred to as the Aryans, made notable contributions to the development of science and technology in India, and from about the fifteenth century B.C. to about the eleventh or twelfth century A.D., the history of science in India is, by and large, that of their thoughts and religious practices, of their arts and crafts which took into their fold not a few of the locally existing thoughts and techniques which they encountered, reshaped and assimilated.

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*Ṛta*

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Of the principal Vedic thoughts which are of relevance to us, mention should be made of the natural law (*ṛta*) which finds adequate expression in the *Ṛgveda*. The Vedic seers conceived of this law as the real governing force of the universe and even the Vedic gods are considered to be either under the operation of this law or its guardians. The natural phenomena like the flow of rivers, occurrence of night and dawn, are explained in terms of this natural law. It is now known that there was among the Babyloniansa a conception of natural law with reference to divinity. Among the Greek thinkers, Heraclitus (*c.* sixth century B.C.), Democritus (*c.* fifth century B.C.), Plato (427–347 B.C.) and Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) are known to have given expression to the idea of natural law. A fact of great significance is that the importance given to and the role of *ṛta* in the movements governing the human world and the cosmic universe alike, as depicted in the *Ṛgveda* and the later Vedic literature, point out that the Vedic people had an instinctive conviction in the natural order—a conviction which is of prime importance for sustenance of scientific attitude (**9**, pp. 453–55).

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*Pañcabhūtas*

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Another doctrine which gradually took shape out of certain speculative layers of the Ṛgvedic thought and the early *Upaniṣads* is the one concerning the *pañcabhūtas*. Wholistic in nature, the fivefold character of the *pañcabhūtas*, viz. *pṛthvī*, *ap*, *tejas*, *vāyu* and *ākāśa*, aimed at a coherent explanation of the apparently unordered and seemingly diverse world of matter, qualities and motion. It was tacitly assumed that the five *bhūtas* to which belonged all the subtle and the gross, the perceptibles and the imperceptibles, and the limited and the unlimited, provided a base for rational interpretation of the problem of matter. With such wide application, the doctrine of the *pañcabhūtas* was able, as no other could, to permeate practically all the departments of Indian thinking and to become, as it did, an integrated component of the major philosophical systems. The *Sāṃkhya*, *Nyāya* and the *Vaiśeṣika* have laid a special emphasis on the *pañcabhūtas*, while the Jaina, Bauddha and Cārvāka recognize the first four *bhūtas*. Special mention should be made of the *Sāṃkhya* which in addition enumerates the five *tanmātras* or the subtile states corresponding to the five *bhūtas*. Perhaps the *tanmātras* were conceived so as to share the characteristics of both mind and matter. It is interesting to note that in the west the doctrine of five elements—earth, water, air, fire and ether—also played an important role in the Aristotelian interpretation of the universe and attracted the attention of thinkers in Europe as well as in West Asia for a long time. Nevertheless, the way in which the *pañcabhūta* doctrine became intertwined not only with the general inquiry into the intelligible reality but also with the notions concerning the human body merits special attention. It may be emphasized that the Indian classical medical texts are indeed one in describing the interplay of the five *bhūtas* in the organic as well as inorganic world. Human body is regarded as a combination of the *bhūtas* and of soul. In the *Suśruta Saṃhitā* there is an integrated exposition of the way in which the five *bhūtas* shape the human body from its very conception. The foodstuffs and other substances are classified in terms of the five *bhūtas*, as also the six *rasas* which, according to the classical medical texts, play an important role in the physiological processes. Such, then, was the viability of the doctrine of the *pañcabhūtas*, a proper understanding of which is absolutely essential for obtaining an insight into various facets of science in India (9, pp. 455–61).

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a Needham, II, pp. 533 ff.

Vedic Astronomy

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In the *Ṛgveda* are found certain symbolic hymns and references which throw ample light on the astronomical ideas of the Vedic Indians. Keen observers as they indeed were, the Vedic priests possessed adequate knowledge of the course of the sun, the path and phases of the moon, the bright wandering objects or the planets, the starry firmament, occurrences of eclipses and the like. Their intuitive minds developed a thought-pattern concerning the motion of the astronomical bodies. The moon became the obvious choice for determining the month and, in fact, the moon was referred to as *māsakṛta* (maker of month) similar to the modern word, month, being derived from the word ‘mooneth’. There were two systems of reckoning—the *amānta* and the *pūrṇimānta*. The *Ṛgveda* refers to a number of *nakṣatras* (asterisms) as well as the course of the moon through them. The names of the lunar months were after those of the *nakṣatras* in which the full moon occurred. Known as ‘lunar mansions’, the *nakṣatra* system seems to be characteristically Indian. For, according to Max Müller, ‘the Babylonian Zodiac was solar and, in spite of repeated researches, no trace of a lunar Zodiac has been found, where so many things have been found, in the cuneiform inscriptions. But supposing even that a lunar Zodiac has been discovered in Babylon, no one acquainted with the Vedic literature, and with the ancient Vedic ceremonial, would allow himself to be persuaded that the Hindus borrowed that simple division of the sky from the Babylonians’.a It must, however, be noted that there is some sort of an agreementb between the *nakṣatras* and the Chinese *hsius*, 28 in number, which were named after constellations with determinant stars. The Arabian *manazils*, again 28 in number, correspond, by and large, to the *nakṣatras*; and as many as 19 *manazils* are in agreement with the corresponding *nakṣatras*. But as a lunar Zodiac, the Chinese system appeared later (*c.* second century B.C.) and later still the Arabian *manazils*. The Indian *nakṣatras* are 27 or 28 in numberc (the *Atharvaveda* mentions 28 *nakṣatras*) and in each *nakṣatra*, the brightest star is referred to as *yoga-tārā*—a star connected with the first point on the ecliptic of the division or near it, north or south, but always being capable of occultated by the moon or in conjunction with the moon or planets. In effect, the *yoga-tārās* furnished the Vedic priests with the necessary means of observation (**2**, pp. 66–72).

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The priests whose reputation and survival in the Vedic society depended upon the performance of sacrificial rites at auspicious times had developed calendars which were luni-solar. In other words, they used the *nakṣatras* also to follow the motions of the sun, although they did not map the sky by the heliacal risings or settings of certain stars in the same way as the Babylonian or the Egyptian star-gazers did. Even so they were able to co-relate the motions of the moon and the sun in their own way. In course of time, a method of intercalation came into vogue and an additional month of 30 days (subsequently 25 or 26 days a month) was added at the end of a specific period, normally five years, for luni-solar adjustments. The length of the five-year period (5 × 360 = 1,800 days) was thus made up to 1,830, 1,825 or 1,826 (modern figure 1,826¼ days) (**2**, pp. 75–76). The lunar day, *tithi*, is again peculiar to Indian astronomy. The lunar month was divided into two *pakṣas* of 15 *tithis* each. The 30 *tithis* of the lunar month were found to overrun the days of the actual lunar month of 27 or 28 days. 'They were probably introduced merely to establish some sort of harmony between the revolutions of the sun and the moon, and to help trace the path of the moon through the *nakṣatras*. But since the apparent velocity of the moon (and hence the lunar day) is not uniform, the *tithis* were purely spatial abstractions.'a

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a Max Müller, p. 126.

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b Nine of the Indian *nakṣatras* agree with the corresponding *hsius* both in respect of the determinant stars and the number of stars associated with the constellations; for eleven *nakṣatras*, the determinants are different though they belong to the same constellations; for the remaining *nakṣatras* the determinants are selected from different constellations.

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c To *Abhijit*, the 28th *nakṣatra* (determinant two lyrae), no *nakṣatra* space has been assigned in the ecliptic.

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Another important aspect of the Vedic astronomy is the concept of a cosmic cycle associated with the cosmic creative spirit. According to the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, Prajāpati's year consists of 10,800 moments. It would seem that this figure was derived from the 12 months, 30 nychthemera of each month and 30 moments of each nychthemeran (i.e. 12× 30× 30 = 10,800). The *Ṛgveda* has 10,800 metrical divisions of 40 syllables each, thus giving a figure of 432,000 (10,800× 40) syllables. This figure of 432,000 gave rise to an important astronomical period in the Siddhāntic astronomy later in India, in terms of a *mahāyuga* of 12,000 divine year being equivalent to 360 solar years (12,000× 360 = 4,320,000 years). It is interesting to note that in about the fifth century B.C. Heraclitus alluded to a Great Year of 10,800 years and Berossos, the Babylonian astronomer, spoke of a cosmic cycle of 432,000 years. 'These figures first appeared in India long after the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* was written, and although Greek and Babylonian astronomers were not otherwise greatly influenced by Indian ideas, they must have been in this respect.'b

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*Vedic Mathematics*

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The mathematical knowledge in the Vedic period seemed to be of a high order. That the numbers and their reckoning had a special appeal is clear from the fact that the *Yajurveda* has names of numbers even up to 10¹² and the *Pañcaviṃśa Brāhmaṇa* gives an account of numbers in ascending decimal scale. It is interesting to note that the highest terminology of the Greeks (which probably came into use by about the fourth century B.C.) was *myriad* (10⁴) and of the Romans was *mille* which denoted just a thousand (10³) only. It may be added that in some of the later Jaina and the Bauddha literature is found terminology to express numbers as large as 10²⁹ and 10⁵³ (**3**, pp. 140–41).

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A proper scientific vocabulary of number names was also developed so as to be permissive of operations including addition, subtraction and multiplication. Fundamental arithmetical operations involving elementary fractions were also known, as evidenced by the occurrence of such names, as *ardha* (½), *tripāda* (¾) in the *Ṛgveda*, and *pāda* (¼), *śapha* (⅛), *kuṣṭha* (1/12) and *kalā* (1/16) in the *Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā*. *Aṃśa* and *bhāga* denoting fractions in general occur in the *Śulba-sūtras* (**3**, pp. 143–44). In the field of geometry, the *Śulba-sūtras* (Rules of the Thread or Measuring Chord), which as part of the *Kalpa-sūtras* deal with sacrificial altar-constructions (*citi*) using a definite number of bricks of fixed dimensions, deserve special attention. Of them, mention may be made of *Baudhāyana*, *Vādhula*, *Āpastamba*, *Hiraṇyakeśin*, *Mānava*, *Vārāha* and *Kātyāyana*. They deal with positions and spatial magnitudes with reference to the construction of geometrical forms on which the sacrificial fires had to be raised. The other geometrical notions found in them include the construction of squares and rectangles, relation of the diagonal to the sides, and equivalent rectangles and squares. Both *Āpastamba* and *Baudhāyana* describe a square equal to the sum of two different squares like 3²+4²=5²; 5²+12²=13²; 8²+15²=17²; 7²+24²=25²; 12²+25²=37², etc. It is well known that according to the theorem attributed to Pythagoras (*c.* fifth century B.C.) ‘the transverse chord of a rectangle produces (by the construction of) a square on itself, what the length and the breadth produce separately’. According to the *Śulba-sūtras* the diagonal of a rectangle produces by itself both (the areas) produced separately by its two sides. No wonder then some western scholars share the view that the origin of the Pythogorean theorem can be traced to the Indian *Śulba-sūtras*.

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a Taton, p. 137.

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b Taton, pp. 137–38.

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Another notable aspect of the Vedic mathematics is the way in which the values of such irrational numbers as √2 and √3 are given to a high degree of approximation, although the method by which these values are arrived at has not been indicated in the *śulba* texts. Yet another relates to permutations and combinations. The Vedic meters with syllables such as 6, 8, 9, 11, 12 and so on were formed by permutations and combinations of syllables by changing the long (*guru*) and short (*laghu*) sounds within each syllable group. The triangular array formed by the bionomial coefficients (referred to as Pascal’s triangle which appeared in Europe not before the sixteenth century A.D.) was known in India in the form of *meruprastāra*, a pyramidal expansion of the number of combinations of 1, 2, etc., syllables formed of short and long sounds. This was dealt with later in a methodical way by Piṅgala (*c.* third century B.C.) in his *Chandaḥ-sūtra*, and was further extended to a binomial theorem (a+b)n by Halāyudha in the eleventh century A.D.a

Medical Knowledge

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As to the medical knowledge of the Vedic Indians, the *saṃhitās* refer to a number of ailments affecting the head, eyes, ear, heart, lungs, stomach, skin, rheumatism, etc. Diseases are said to be caused by congenital factors, change of seasons and minute organisms in the body. There is, however, no attempt to classify the diseases based on some principle. No doubt the magical procedures, charms and imprecations, chanting of *mantras* and other rituals were part of the general treatment of diseases. But a large number of plant remedies were known and some minerals and animal products were also used as healing agents. The Vedic physiology was based upon the concept of *prāṇa* (breath) which was supposed to be the sustainer of life. Nosology was, by and large, descriptive in approach and etiology was noted for its absence. The anatomical and physiological facts, though found considerable in the Vedic texts, appear to be without any rational classification. Nevertheless, the Vedic medical vocabulary speaks of their careful observation of the human body and its ailments, and these paved the way for codification of knowledge later as found in the *Āyurveda* which is regarded as a part (*upāṅga*) of the *Atharvaveda*.

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a Bag, pp. 68–74.

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*Knowledge of Plants and Animals*

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There is ample literary evidence to show that the Vedic Indians possessed considerable knowledge of the morphology and internal structure of plants. And they were able to distinguish and name the different parts of plant—root, shoot, stem, leaves, twigs, flowers and fruits. They knew the difference between the *tvac* or *valkala* (skin) and the inner *sāra* (nutrient fluid). Plants were divided broadly into three groups—*vṛkṣa* (tree), *oṣadhi* (herb) and *vīrudh* (creeper). The *Atharvaveda* subdivides the herbs into seven types based on their morphological and other characteristics (**7**, pp. 376–78).

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Of the animals, there are over 260 names used in the Vedic literature, denoting mammals, birds, some reptiles, fishes and insects. The *Atharvaveda* gives an account of 16 types of *kṛmis* which are poisonous and causative of diseases in cattle and man. The domestic animals included the cow, bull, buffalo, elephant, horse, sheep, goat, dog and cat. As to the wild animals, lion was known to the Vedic Indians.

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*P.G. Ware*

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In respect of the material culture and technological practices of the Vedic period, a special significance attaches to the advent of the Painted Grey ware and iron. The Indo-Aryans, according to some scholars, developed and used a *de luxe* type of pottery now christened by the archaeologists as the Painted Grey ware. It has been surmized that the Indo-Aryan settlers on the Indo-Gangetic plains possessed a knowledge of some similar ceramic used in parts of Iran, Sistan, etc. (*c.* second millennium B.C.), and, utilizing the locally existing ceramic techniques, they evolved the appropriate baking conditions for the production of the Painted Grey ware. This ware, first noticed at Ahicchatra and belonging to a date range of *c.* 1000–400 B.C., has, by and large, an extensive western distribution. A point worthy of note is that a number of iron objects have been discovered in association with the later phase of this ware in several excavated sites (**5**, pp. 285–87).

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*Iron*

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Though there are no details of the iron metallurgical practices in the Vedic literature, it is reasonable to suppose that the small furnaces employed for the extraction of iron might well have been of an open hearth type. The word *ayas* used generally for the metals like copper or bronze began to acquire the connotation of iron as noticed in the later Vedic texts. On the basis of the archaeological evidence it seems to be fairly certain that iron was introduced into India by *c.* 1000–800 B.C. A charcoal sample from an early level of Atranjikhera II (where some iron objects were found) gives a radiocarbon date of 1025±110 B.C. At Hastinapur have been found a couple of slags of iron in the later levels of the Painted Grey ware horizon, indicating local iron-smelting operations as early as *c.* 1100–800 B.C. It may be mentioned that the earliest smelting operations of iron can be dated as far back as the second millennium B.C. in the region of Asia Minor and Caucasus, and there was by the end of the second millennium B.C. an appreciably large use of iron in the Near East whence the Indian iron metal-workers possibly derived their technical knowledge. But the fact of significance is that within the next five to six centuries of the advent of iron in India, the technical proficiency reached was so high that the Indian iron and steel objects earned the admiration of the western world (5, pp. 287–90).

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In the Vedic period agriculture was an important vocation and not a few of the then social and religious customs were associated with the agricultural operations of ploughing, sowing, reaping and threshing. The plough, sickle, sieve and the contrivance for winnowing were among the agricultural implements. Of the important grains grown in this period, viz. wheat, rice and barley, significantly enough the *Ṛgveda* does not mention rice at all indicating that rice was a wild growth and not yet cultivated in the early period of the Indo-Aryan settlement. The *Yajurveda* and the *Atharvaveda* contain references to rice of different varieties as well as to several agricultural operations. The Vedic farmers are credited with the practice of improving the fertility of the soil by the method of rotation fallowing and this system appears to have been followed in the west at a later date, according to Roxburgh, the Father of Indian botany (6, pp. 352–54).

Post-Vedic Period

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*Āyurveda*

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In the post-Vedic period, the *Āyurveda* as a rational assemblage of methodical concepts and systematic therapeutic practices occupies an honoured position. Even though the celebrated classical texts of the *Āyurveda*, viz. the *Caraka* and *Suśruta Saṃhitās*, which have come down to us, took their present form probably in the early centuries of the Christian era, the thoughts and practices enshrined in them were doubtless in vogue from about the seventh or sixth century B.C. The prime object of the *Āyurveda* is the preservation of human life, of animals and even of plants. In man, life is the manifestation of body, senses and the spirit according to *Āyurveda*. In its doctrinaire approach, this science of life owes a great deal to the philosophies of the *Sāṁkhya*, *Yoga* and the *Vaiśeṣika* adopting the *Vaiśeṣika* principles in so far as the *dravya-guṇa vijñāna*, the *tridoṣa* theory and the *saptadhātus* are concerned, and the *Sāṁkhya* principles relating to the *pañcabhautika* body and its evolution from *puruṣa-prakṛti*. As has been noticed, the *Āyurveda* believes that the world consisting of the inorganic as well as the organic (*sthāvarajaṅgamarūpa*) is formed out of the *pañcabhūtas*. The entire gamut of substances used for medicinal purposes are referred to, broadly, as *ākāśīyadravya*, *vāyavīyadravya*, *taijasadravya*, *āpyadravya* and *pārthivadravya*. The *Āyurveda* deals with the science of medicine in terms of eight divisions (*aṣṭāṅgas*), viz. *śalya* (surgery), *śālakya* (treatment of diseases of E.N.T.), *kāyacikitsā* (internal medicine), *bhūtavidyā* (treatment of supernatural diseases), *kaumārabhṛtya* (paediatrics), *agada* (toxicology), *rasāyana* (rejuvenation) and *vājīkaraṇa* (virilification). Of the two most important classical texts of the *Āyurveda* (**4**, pp. 224–27), the *Caraka Saṁhitā* gives importance to internal medicine and the *Suśruta Saṁhitā* accords a special position to surgery.

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Central to the diagnosis as well as treatment of diseases, according to the *Āyurveda*, is the doctrine of *tridoṣas*—*vāta*, *pitta* and *kapha*. They are referred to as *tridhātus* when they are in their normal states, supporting the bodily functions; and they become *tridoṣas* or vitiating agencies if they are deranged or in a state of imbalance. Though *rakta* (blood) is not included as the fourth factor or agency, the *Āyurveda* recognizes the role of *rakta* along with the *tridhātus* in the maintenance of the bodily functions. The *tridhātus* are recognized in terms of the five elements thus: *ākāśa* + *vāyu* → *vāta*; *agni* → *pitta*; and *ap* + *pṛthvī* → *kapha*. The *tridoṣas* are believed to be all pervasive in the body, though certain areas as cardinal seats for each of them have been recognized. Each of the *tridoṣas* is thought of in terms of five functional aspects, *vāta*: *prāṇa* (governing respiration), *udāna* (for uttering sounds and speech), *samāna* (separation of digested juice), *vyāna* (carrying the bodily fluids) and *apāna* (expelling faeces, urine, etc.); *pitta*: *pācaka* (aiding digestion and imparting heat), *rañjaka* (imparting redness to the chyle so that it could become blood), *sādhaka* (increasing brain power), *ālocaka* (aiding vision) and *bhrājaka* (improving complexion); and *kapha*: *kledaka* (moistening food), *avalambaka* (imparting energy and strength), *bodhaka* (tasting), *tarpaka* (governing the functions of eye and other sensory organs) and *śleṣmaka* (lubricating). The foregoing methodical conceptual scheme is a characteristic of the Indian system of medicine.

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Of the other characteristic concepts of the *Āyurveda*, those concerning *rasa*, *guṇa*, *vīrya*, *vipāka* and *prabhāva* deserve special mention, for the *Āyurveda* holds that every substance, animal, vegetable or mineral, is a repository of these five attributes. *Rasas* are six in number (*madhura*, *amla*, *lavaṇa*, *kaṭu*, *tikta* and *kaṣāya*). There is a detailed account of the properties and effects of each of these *rasas* in the Āyurvedic classics, as the knowledge of the *rasas* is considered as essential for therapeutics. The term *guṇa* refers to *śārīrika guṇas*, twenty in number such as *guru*, *laghu*, *sāra*, *sthira*, *sāndra* and *drava*. Substances are taken in for the growth as well as maintenance of the body in the context of these *guṇas*. *Vīrya* has been recognized generally as of two kinds, *uṣṇa* and *śīta*, and as causative of certain manifestations such as cheerfulness, strength, thirst, giddiness, etc. *Vipāka* may be understood as the biochemical processing of food, while *prabhāva* represents the over-all effect on the body and mind.

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The theoretical basis for the way in which the food gets digested and assimilated into the body is again the doctrine of the *pañcabhūtas*. The agency which brings about the transformation of the food into the *rasas* is referred to as *jāṭharāgni* which means literally 'fire in the stomach', but connotes a wealth of meaning inclusive of all digestive processes in the stomach as well as in the intestines. The word *agni* is significant, for it actually cooks (*pāka*) and cooks specially (*vipāka*) the food for absorption by the bodily tissues. The chyle or *rasa*, in its sojourn in the body, gets transformed into *rakta* (blood), *māṃsa* (muscle), *medas* (fat), *asthi* (bone), *majjā* (marrow) and *śukra* (semen) in the order stated. The *rasa* and the aforesaid six are known as *saptadhātus* which maintain the body. At each stage of transformation, the causative agent is called *dhātvagni*. Each *dhātu* has three manifestations, viz. *sthūla* (gross), *sūkṣma* (fine) and *kiṭṭa* (refuse). The first is in the nature of the concerned *dhātu* and the second passes on potentially the character of the succeeding *dhātu*. According to the *Āyurveda* the principal seat of *rasa* is heart, and the fluid moves on through 24 tubular vessels called *dhamanīs*. Besides *dhamanīs*, there are also *śirās* (small vessels which do not pulsate) and *srotas* (minute vessels which lie in between smaller *dhamanīs* and *śirās*).

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Treatment in *Āyurveda* is a two-way process: elimination of deleterious ingredients and replenishment with the harmonious ones, so that the *tridoṣas* become *tridhātus* again. All drugs, therapeutic procedures and even surgery are employed towards this end. Among the specific therapeutic measures are cleansing accumulated bodily wastes, internal as well as external medication; use of eye-drops and eye-salves; gurgles; fumigation of ear, nose and throat regions; liquid unguents, lotions, creams, oils, etc., for the skin; suppositories, tampons, soaked cotton swabs, etc., for the bodily openings; enemas and douches; various kinds of bath; fomentations; antisepsis by fumigation; hypertonic salt solutions for surgical dressings; astringents as styptics for bleeding wounds and abrasions, etc. (**4**, pp. 248-50). As to the drugs, the *Āyurveda* has an extensive materia medica. The *Caraka Saṃhitā* lists over 341 plant substances, 177 drugs of animal origin and 64 mineral compositions, while the *Suśruta Saṃhitā* contains over 395, 57 and 64 respectively (**4**, p. 251). Generally the plant products were preferred for both oral and non-oral medication, for it was believed that the organic plants were composed of the five *bhūtas* while the inorganic metals and minerals were supposed to consist of *pṛthvībhūta* only. In addition, the availability of a wide variety of medically efficacious plants in the environment was also responsible for such a preference. A practitioner in Āyurvedic medicine was expected to observe high standards of ethics of the medical profession, such as self-control, courage, compassion, purity of mind and body and expert knowledge of the medical science. He was enjoined to prepare medical prescriptions from carefully selected raw materials under his own supervision (**4**, pp. 245–46). As a comprehensive medical science of all living creatures, the *Āyurveda* was concerned with the treatment of animals and plants too. There are special treatises dealing with the treatment of bovine animals (*gavāyurveda*), horses (*aśvavaidya*), elephants (*hastyāyurveda*) and plants (*vṛkśāyurveda*) (**4**, pp. 254–56). Besides, other standard works on the *Āyurveda*, some of the *purāṇas* and encyclopaedic works also contain sections of this type of medical procedures.

Surgery

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Suśruta describes surgery (*śastrakarma*) under eight heads: *chedana* (incision), *bhedana* (excision), *lekhana* (scarification), *vedhana* (puncturing), *eṣaṇa* (exploration), *āharaṇa* (extraction), *visrāvaṇa* (evacuation) and *sīvana* (suturing). The surgical instruments described include 101 varieties of blunt instruments, and 20 kinds of sharp instruments, such as forceps, tongs, scalpels, catheters, bougies, trocar, syringes, speculums, needles, saws, scissors, lances, hooks and probes. A number of them resembled the mouths or beaks of birds, beasts or some other types of animals. Details are given of how they should be made from fine metal (steel or the *pañcaloha*), their dimensions, handles, etc. Cataract-crouching was an established surgical feat with which even the surgeons of ancient Greece and Egypt were not familiar. In the *Suśruta Saṃhitā* there is a vivid account of craniotomy and anal fistual operation bestowing careful attention on pre- and post-operative treatments. The Indian surgeons were aware of how the blood vessels should be ligated, and often used cautery. They laid stress on practical training to attain the much needed proficiency in surgery. Incisions were practised on fruits, scarification on stretched skins of deer, goat or sheep with the hair still on them, puncturing on distended bags, venesection on blood vessels of dead cattle or the hollow stalks of lotus plants, cauterization on meats, suturing on thick cloth and so on. The marrow of jackfruits and similar types of pulps and the teeth of dead animals provided the practising ground for extraction. The suturing material employed generally was made of flax, hemp and bark fibres. D. Guthrie rightly observes: ‘It was in surgery above all that the ancient Hindus excelled. Suśruta described more than a hundred instruments. This was their greatest contribution to the art of healing and the work was bold and distinctive. It is not unlikely, though difficult to prove, that some of it was of Greek origin. Some, indeed, state that the Greek drew much of their knowledge from the Hindus.’a As Neuberger says: ‘The outstanding feats of the ancient Indian surgery related to laparotomy, lithotomy and plastic operations.’b The *Suśruta Saṃhitā* is regarded as the earliest document which gives a detailed account of rhinoplasty. Yet another feat related to the joining of the lips of wound by causing them to be bitten by ants and then cutting off the body of the ants, leaning behind the mandibles which would clamp the wound. The Arabs adopted this method later.a

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a Guthrie, p. 19.

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b Neuberger, pp. 57–58.

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Indian medical knowledge and surgical practices influenced in no small way those in Greece and Arabia. The Hippocratic treatise *On Breath* deals in much the same way with its pneumatic system as we find in the Indian concept of *vāyu* or *prāṇa*. Plato in his *Timaeos*, strangely enough, discusses pathology almost in the same manner as the doctrine of the *tridoṣa*. Filliozat says: ‘India may very well have influenced the Hippocratic Collection and the *Timaeos* particularly, since Plato failed to mention his sources and since, moreover, his doctrine is closer to the Indian than to that of any contemporary Greek school. The influence of Indian ideas on certain aspects of Greek medicine during Plato’s time is further supported by the mention of Indian medicaments, including pepper, in the *Diseases of Women*, part of Hippocratic collection. Indian medical knowledge must have seeped through the Parthian empire, then the overlord of parts of India and Greece alike along the trade routes described by Strabo and Pliny.’b Megasthenes described diseases of elephants and their remedies borrowed from the *Hastyāyurveda*. The Roman Celsus (*c.* first century a.d.) gave in his medical works a graphic account of lithotomy which was practised in India much earlier. Galen (a.d. 131–201) of Pergamum, who spent most of his life in Rome, makes no secret of his borrowing from the Indian sources the material relating to ointment for the eyes and the Indian plaster. It is well known that the Indian herbals were sought after in the Roman world.

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*Physical Concepts*

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While the *Āyurveda* had established itself as medical science *par excellence*, there were, during the post-Vedic period, certain systems of philosophical thought which were assuming a crystallized or aphoristic form. Of them, the Vaiśeṣika system deserves special mention. Supposed to have been propounded by a sage called Kaṇāda, Kaṇabhuj or Kaṇabhakṣa, the *Vaiśeṣika Sūtras* deal with a number of physical concepts encompassing substance, attributes, motion, space, time and atomism in a cryptic form. It so happened that these concepts set the tone as it were for the interpretations of the physical world by a number of exponents over a long period of time. The *Nyāya Sūtras*, the proto-layers of which could be found even in the fourth century b.c., supported the Vaiśeṣika views and, as could be expected, a syncretic Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika school came into being in course of time. The Indian philosophical systems are of great value from the point of view of the physical ideas which developed in India.

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a * Taton, p. 157.

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b ᵇ Taton, p. 156.

N.B.P. Ware

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A new type of ceramic known as the Northern Black-polished ware came on the scene (*c.* 600–500 B.C.), first in the region of modern Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh and in course of time spread to some of the other parts of northern, central and southern India. Made on a fast-spinning wheel using fine clay and fired to a high temperature in kilns under controlled conditions, this black-to-glossy-grey ceramic was reputed for its metallic sound. Its wide distribution and association with iron need special notice (**5**, pp. 294–98).

Glass

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It would appear that in the first quarter of the first millennium B.C. the technique of production of glass objects like beads and bangles, mostly the former, was known in India. Yet it was perhaps from the sixth century B.C. onwards that the progress of glass technology became noticeable. At Taxila the Bhir Mound has yielded in the sixth-fourth century B.C. levels a number of glass beads of several shapes and colours. As one of the outposts of the north-western frontier of the Mauryan empire then, Taxila was prone to receive and assimilate foreign influences in the technique of glass production. That this was the case has been borne out by the glass objects found later at the new city of Sirkap at Taxila during first century B.C.-first century A.D. Production of glass objects was rather widespread inasmuch as a number of glass objects have been found in places like Ujjain, Nasik, Ahicchatra, Sravasti, Kolhapur, Kaundinya, Brahmagiri and Arikamedu to name a few out of some 30 sites known. The early Indian glass-makers were skilful in controlling the temperature of fusion, moulding, annealing, blotching and gold-foiling, the last being done in an exquisite manner (**5**, pp. 291–94).

Iron

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In the post-Vedic period the knowledge of the use of iron in the form of a number of tools and implements was not only on the increase but also widespread. The use of bellows which made its debut during this period enabled the ironsmiths to produce a number of tools and implements on a large scale. Iron objects of different descriptions including bars, knives, hooks, sickles, arrowheads, hoes, rings, daggers, nails, choppers, etc., have been reported from a number of archaeological sites and the date-range of most of these finds is 600–200 B.C. The sharp iron implements were used with great effect in the clearance of jungles and expansion of settlements. The ploughshare tipped with iron enabled deep ploughing which resulted in more agricultural produce, particularly sugar-cane. The quality of iron and steel objects produced during this period was indeed of a high order and some of them were considered to be eminently fit for presentation.

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Ktesias (fifth century b.c.) speaks of two swords of Indian steel presented to Artaxeses Mnemon. Later it has been recorded by Quintius Curtius that in the gifts which Alexander the Great received from Porus of Taxila (326 b.c.) were 100 'talents' of steel.

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Agriculture registered substantial progress during this period, particularly under the royal control and patronage of the Mauryan rulers. The *Arthaśāstra* which sheds light on the importance attached to agriculture speaks of the science of agriculture and the Director of Agriculture. Likewise the State had accorded a special position to mining and minerals, for the agricultural produce and the minerals determined to a great extent its economy. It gave encouragement to the settlement of people on unoccupied land and vigorously supported agricultural practices. Keen interest was taken in the irrigation schemes as evidenced by the account of Megasthenes who informs us of officers employed by the State to superintend the rivers and inspect the sluices through which the water was let out from the main canals into their branches so as to ensure an equitable supply. Special mention should be made of the well-known Sudarsana Lake in Saurashtra, which was constructed by Puṣyagupta under Chandragupta Maurya and restored later by Tusaspa, the Yavana governor under Asoka, for irrigational purposes (**6**, pp. 356–57).

Classical Age and Later up to c. 1200 A.D.

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*Mathematics*

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If the Classical Age represents a glorious period in the history of India, verily does it so in the history of Indian science and technology. From about the fourth century a.d. to about the eighth or ninth century and also a couple of centuries later, different branches of science made great headway and even became codified in the form of scientific and technical texts. The astronomical and mathematical texts are of particular significance. There were leading mathematicians who were also well versed in astronomy like Āryabhaṭa I, Bhāskara I, Brahmagupta, Mahāvīra, Āryabhaṭa II, Muñjāla, Śrīpati, Śrīdhara and Bhāskara II. Āryabhaṭa I knew rules for the extraction of square and cube roots, dealt with areas of triangles and trapezia, circles, spheres, arithmetical progression, summation of series, fractions, etc. He enunciated a rule for the solution of indeterminate equation of the first order. He gave the value of π correct to four places of decimal (3·1416) though he knew it was approximate. He also gave the values of 24 sines (*jyā*) for the computation of trigonometrical angles; what is more, he developed an alphabetical system for expressing numbers on the decimal place-value model. The decimal place-value notation itself, using nine digits and zero, was already in use in India by about the fifth century a.d. It is to be said to the credit of the Indians that they accorded a name, symbol and the right place for zero in an ingenious way. Severus Sebokht, a Syrian scholar of the seventh century A.D., referred to the Indian decimal place-value notation ‘a computing that surpasses description’ and was full of praise for the dexterity with which it was formulated. The decimal notation spread to Indo-China and Japan probably in the sixth or seventh century A.D., and the Indian numerals found an able exponent in the Arabic mathematician al-Khwārizmī in the ninth century A.D. Al-Khwārizmī’s works were translated into Latin in England by Adelard of Bath in the twelfth century and in the next century or so the Indian decimal place-value notation had established itself in Europe and has since become universal.

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Cites (55)