INDIAN TRADITIONS, CULTURAL AND SOCIETY KNC-602
Module 4-
i) Science, Management and Indian Knowledge System
ii) Astronomy in India
iii) Chemistry in India, Mathematics in India
iv) Physics in India, Agriculture in India
v) Medicine in India, Metallurgy in India, Geography, Biology
vi) Harappan Technologies
vii) Water Management in India
viii) Textile Technology in India, Writing Technology in India, Pyrotechnics in India
ix) Trade in Ancient India/, India’s Dominance up to Pre-colonial Times
i) Science, Management and Indian Knowledge System in India
Traditional knowledge is transmitted orally from generation to generation.
The history of scientific discoveries and development in India dates back to the Vedic
era. Aryabhatt, the famous mathematician of the Vedic era, invented ‘zero’.
Science is one of the domains of knowledge.
The scientific study of the nature is not dependent upon any particular nation, race
and colour of the people.
The management of traditional knowledge in India has come through successive
stages.
It includes the creation of social awareness.
In ancient India, the development of the six traditional branches of knowledge and
gradually other scientific disciplines like arithmetic, algebra, astronomy, medicine,
chemistry, biology, astrology, logic and grammar.
Knowledge has evolved with the evolution of humankind and depending on their
ecological contexts, knowledge and cultures have evolved.
ii) Astronomy in India
The first ‘astronomical’ objects, found in the Andaman’s, belong to the Paleolithic era,
some 12,000 years ago.
They are calendar sticks noting the waxing and waning of the moon by incising daily
notches on a wooden stick.
Ringtones found at Mohenjo-Daro, the largest city of the Indus civilization (2600-1900
BCE), which exhibit rows of small drilled holes.
They have been interpreted as calendrical devices keeping track of the sunrise at
different times of the year.
iii) Chemistry in India, Mathematics in India
a) Chemistry in India
Chemistry is a relatively young discipline.
The Harappan’ metallurgical skills have been described in the module on Metallurgy in
India.
There is plentiful evidence of knowledge of chemical practices in some of India’s early
literature.
India’s chemical traditions were rich and varied, and fused elaborate techniques with a
spiritual component.
They did result in considerable practical applications, especially in fields like
metallurgy, gemology and medicine.
b) Mathematics in India
The classical period of Indian mathematics was 400 AD to 1200 AD.
Important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhatt, Brahmagupta,
Bhaskara II, and Varāhamihira.
The decimal number system & zero in use today was first recorded in Indian
mathematics.
iv) Physics in India, Agriculture in India
Ancient India was a land of sages and seers as well as a land of scholars and scientists.
Over the past century, India has produced stars in physics and astronomy.
CV Raman. Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930
for his pioneering work on scattering of light.
Born in Tiruchirapalli on November 7, 1888, he was the first Asian and first non-White
to receive any Nobel Prize in the sciences.
Agriculture in India
Agriculture is the main stay of India's economy. It accounts for 26% of the gross
domestic product.
The history of Agriculture in India dates back to Indus Valley Civilization.
The domestication of plants and animals are reported in the subcontinent by 9000 BC.
Wheat, barley and jujube were among crops, sheep and goats were among animals that
were domesticated.
Indus Valley civilization relied on the considerable technological achievements of the pre-
Harappan culture, including the plough.
Cultivation of a wide range of cereals, vegetables, and fruits is described in the Vedic
period.
Foreign crops were introduced to India and Indian products soon reached the world
via existing trading networks.
v) Medicine in India, Metallurgy in India, Geography, Biology
Sushruta is the most celebrated physician and surgeon in India.
Sushruta (c. 7th or 6th century BCE) was a physician in ancient India known today as
the “Father of Indian Medicine” and “Father of Plastic Surgery” for inventing and
developing surgical procedures.
All ancient civilizations of the world developed their own medicinal systems.
Medical observation and theorization in the Vedic period laid the foundation for a more
rational and methodical system of Indian medicine known as Yajurveda.
Metallurgy in India
Georg Agricola was the father Metallurgy in India.
The beginning of the 1st millennium BCE saw extensive developments in
iron metallurgy in India.
Technological advancement and mastery of iron metallurgy was achieved during this
period of peaceful settlements.
The first crucible steel was the steel that originated in India before the beginning of the
common era.
Geography
India lies on the Indian Plate, the northern part of the Indo-Australian Plate.
Its continental crust forms the Indian subcontinent.
The geography of India is extremely diverse, with landscape ranging from snow-capped
mountain ranges to deserts, plains, hills and plateaus. India comprises.
The Ancient Indian cities thrived mainly in areas which aided the growth of a
civilization.
They were geographically located mainly near rivers, mountains, and forests.
One of the main rivers of the Ancient Indians is the Indus Valley River. Major
civilizations flourished along the banks of the river Indus.
Biology
The first man to make a significant contribution in biology is Alcmaeon, living in
Crotona in the 5th century.
Maria Sibylla Merian, it is known as the mother of biology.
vi) Harappan Technologies
The Indus River Valley Civilization, also known as Harappan civilization, developed
the first accurate system of standardized weights and measures, some as accurate as
to 1.6 mm.
Harappan created sculpture, seals, pottery, and jewelry from materials, such as
terracotta, metal, and stone.
The Indus Valley people are considered to be the first in many technological
advancements, one of which being a developed measurement system.
They had accurate methods of measuring length, mass and time by developing their
own system of weights and rulers that were all identical.
Bricks, Beads and Bones. Describe the agricultural technologies adopted by
the Harappans.
vii) Water Management in India
Water Resources Management (WRM) is the process of planning, developing,
and managing water resources, in terms of both water quantity and quality, across
all water uses.
It includes the institutions, infrastructure, incentives, and information systems that
support and guide water management.
Important Methods in Water Management
Rainwater Harvesting System Greywater System
Groundwater recharges Recycling wastewater/ STP system
Water management helps in developing efficient irrigation practices for the betterment
of agriculture in the country.
Proper utilization of water in our homes too can save this precious resource.
Water management teaches us to use a limited amount of water whenever required.
viii) Textile Technology in India, Writing Technology in India,
Pyrotechnics in India
a) Textile Technology in India
The earliest technologies primarily used human hands as the main tools.
Initially very simple technologies were used for making the textiles.
The most basic skill involved spinning the fiber into yarn and then change it to fabric
by a process called weaving.
The Harappans invented the needle with the eye at the pointed end as is used in sewing
machines.
Indian textile industry. Indian textile technology seems to have flourished from
mediaeval period up to Mughal period.
It suddenly saw a slump with industrial revolution.
Today India’s strengths have already been defined in traditional textiles and natural
fibers globally.
Despite the economic slowdown and downturn in the overall demand for textiles due to
Covid-19, the industry continues to be the second largest employer in India.
b) Writing Technology in India
The Indus Script is the writing system developed by the Indus Valley Civilization and it
is the earliest form of writing known in the Indian subcontinent during 3500-2700
BCE).
We find the earliest known examples of the Indus Script signs, attested on Ravi and
Kot Diji pottery excavated at Harappa.
The pictographs (picture-writing) were most likely used for government business and
trade and for marking one's own property.
Many years later, the Indian people developed an alphabet and a written language
called Sanskrit, and began writing literature.
.
c) Pyrotechnics in India
Crackers and fireworks up to nineteenth century India, were probably quite expensive.
It was commissioned mainly by the rulers for personal and citizen entertainment or by
the economically well-to-do of the community.
Fireworks, like its primary ingredient Gunpowder, have a long history in India.
Fireworks and pyrotechnic shows existed as a form of royal entertainment in many
medieval Indian kingdoms during festivals, events and special occasions like weddings.
The first fireworks factory in India was set up in Kolkata in the nineteenth century.
IX) Trade in Ancient India, India’s Dominance up to Pre-colonial Times
a) Trade in Ancient India
During ancient times Hindus were the masters of the seaborne trade of Europe, Asia
and Africa.
18th century almost every nation on earth obtained to a large extent its supplies of
fine cotton and silk fabric, spices, indigo, sugar, drugs, precious stones and many
curious works of art from India in exchange of gold and silver.
In industrial production ancient India was far ahead in comparison with other
countries of those times.
Indian goods were known for its excellence.
Fairs were an important means for commercial activities and were held in every
part of the country.
The traditional prosperity of India began to vanish only at the dawn of the
Industrial Revolution in the west.
b) India’s Dominance up to Pre-colonial Times
From the time of its victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British
East India Com- pany became a prominent political entity on the Indian
subcontinent, marking an endpoint to the pre-colonial era (Dutt, 1950, 1-
2).
