Compilation of very interesting snippets that give a glimpse of the wonder called “Bharat” or “India”. Please suggest any interesting ones to be added.
Agriculture
Grapes in India
Archaeology of Sindhu-Sarasvati civilisation proves that grapes were a summer crop of Harappa (2600 BCE). This means that some fake claims giving credit to Mughals for bringing it to India is untrue and evidence of grape pre-dates it by 4000 years. Lokopakaara, a Kannada work written in 1025 CE, gives a recipe using grapes as an ingredient.
Reference: Paper by Rita P. Wright, Reid A. Bryson & Joseph Schuldenrein
Education
Nalanda
Mathematics
Magic Square
Astronomy
Astrolobe
Metallurgy
Iron Pillar (Vishnu Dhwaja)
Iltutmish looted it from the temple, decapitated the object at the top, and placed it as “victory trophy” in the precincts of Quwwatul Islam Mosque (literally meaning “might of Islam” mosque). The Iron pillar is a testimony to high level of skill achieved by ancient Hindu Iron smiths. It has withstood corrosion for 1600 years. One reason why Muslim sultans simply appropriated the pillar instead of destroying it. There could not have made such a pillar.
Medicine
Smallpox Vaccination
The British doctor J Z Holwell wrote a book in 1767 describing the system and how it was safe. European medicine did not have any treatment against this disease at that time. From India, the practice spread to China, western Asia, and Africa and finally, in the early eighteenth century, to Europe and North America.
Inoculation against smallpox using cowpox was demonstrated by Edward Jenner in 1798 and it became a part of Western medicine by 1840. No sooner did that happen that the British in India banned the older method of vaccination, without making certain that sufficient number of inoculators in the new technique existed. Smallpox in India became a greater scourge than before.
Source: Rediff.com, Swarajyamag
Plastic Surgery
A Britisher named Lucas observed in action the traditional Indian surgery of Cowasji and documented every detail. This picture was a British portrait of Cowasji after Rhinoplasty 1795 CE. At that time, the Europeans lacked the scientific knowledge and expertise needed to perform plastic surgery. They were greatly intrigued by this method and found it was commonly performed in India. They also noted how Susruta samhita describes the procedure of Rhinoplasty in detail.
These details were then accessed by a scientist named Joseph Constantine Carpue. Using these techniques, he performed (Western) world’s first “modern Rhinoplasty” 20 years later. Although Joseph made innovations of his own, he was clearly inspired by the traditional Indian practice and doesn’t fail to acknowledge it in his book.
Nasal reconstructions had been practiced as a relatively routine procedure in India for centuries. The procedures are described in two well-known early Indian medical works, the Suśruta Saṃhitā, thought to date to the middle of the first millennium BCE, and the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā, believed to date from the sixth century CE. By the nineteenth century the technique had been handed down through separate families in three different parts of India. Traditional Indian sources recommend that Kumbhakaras (potters) perform the surgery owing to their skill. They performed it till 18th century.
Source: “An account of two successful operations ” by Joseph Constantine Carpue. The relevant quotes excerpted in this post can be found on Page 40.
Image source: https://blogs.bl.uk/science/2016/10/britains-first-nose-job.html
Surgery
Kaushambi is the capital of ancient Vatsa kingdom. According to Ancient Indian epics, Nachiketa was fifth king of Pandava line and a descendant of Abhimanyu. When Hastinapura was washed away by flood, he shifted his capital to Kaushambi. He also brought with him the Chyavana priests, who were worshipers of Ashvins (cf. Adiparva, Mahabharata) and experts in medicine. It is possible that this model owes its origin to Chyavana school (or its descendants).
Image source: Museum of India
Architecture
Pyramids of Ancient India
Excavations in Bareilly have uncovered a giant ancient temple in form of a large pyramid. Even the ruin is 22 meters in height and there is a Linga on top. The site is 187 hectares. By comparison, London of Roman era was just 140 hectares.
Pushkarni Step Well
According to contemporary descriptions, there was a huge image of Lord Rama facing this Pushkarini until 1565. That image was broken down when Muslim sultans sacked Vijayanagara in 1565 after the battle of Talikota.
The Pushkaranis were symmetrical, either square or joined double square. In the center of these some water tanks was a shrine with a statue. These were public utilities, while bathing facilities and ghat facilities existed on the banks of the Tungabhadra river with several mandapa and shrines. The water tanks had steps to walk down and fetch water.
Sun Temple Step Well
Chausath Yogini Temple inspired Indian Parliament
A British architect named Edwin Lutyens visited this place in 1910. In 1912, he designed Indian Parliament. Like typical westerner, he had never acknowledged the influence of temple. Sadly even Indian Government in clear words mention that the design of Indian Parliament was his brainchild. The very word “Lutyens brigade” comes from his name.
Smart Cities
Flush Toilet
Floor Tiles
In 1969, archaeologist BK Thapar excavated Kalibangan (Rajasthan, India). They dug out a settlement which dates back to mature IVC phase (c. 2600 BCE) along the banks of now extinct Sarasvati river.
But the archaeologist was shocked. He saw that the houses had tiled floors. And the tiled floors were painted with a design. “This is exactly the design on the floor of my house”, the startled archaeologist exclaimed.
Such is the continuity of past and present in India!
Board Games
Chess
It belongs to period I of Lothal. Chess was known in Sanskrit literature as “Chaturanga” (literally meaning “four divisions” of Cavalry (knight), Infantry (pawns), Elephantry (bishop) and Chariotry (rook). It was borrowed into Persian as “Shatranj” and thence known to the West and in English as “Chess”.
Reforms
Abolishing Slavery in India
When Shivaji conquered Karnataka in 1677 from Muslim kings, he issued the following order “In the days of Muslim rule,you were allowed to buy and transport slaves. Now I am the master. You can’t buy or transport slaves. My soldiers will catch you. You must follow compulsorily.” That is probably the first record of the ban after introduction of this practice by muslim invaders.
Abolishing Sati in India
The origin of sati can be traced to practice of Jauhar where Hindu women preferred to jump inside fire and commute suicide than be raped and kept in the harems of muslim invaders. Later missionaries used this as a rallying point to demonise Hinduism to enable their conversion.
British along with Ram Mohan Roy tried to claim the credit for banning this practice in 1829. However, much before that, the Peshawas banned it in 1800 and the Hindu Maratha kingdom, Savantwadi banned it in 1821. Shree Swaminarayan (1781-1830) was already agitating or its abolition in Gujarat by the beginning of nineteenth century.
