A Nation Rooted In Excellence
Philosophy, maths, astronomy, the arts: Ancient India was cutting edge
Subodh Varma | TIG
About 5000 years ago, the world was waking up to bronze. Egyptians were building their Great Pyramids, Stone Age Britons were setting up the Stonehenge, Sumer and Babylon were flourishing, and the Shang dynasty was coming into its own in the Yellow River Valley of China. At the time there arose a mysterious civilization in the Indus valley, which became one of the world’s most sophisticated societies. Mysterious because its language is yet to be deciphered and so, very little is known about its rulers and the ruled, religion, culture, or its life.
The Indus Valley civilization was huge — 1052 cities/towns have been found till date. It spread over 1.3 mn sq km, the world’s largest at the time. The planned cities’ roads, drains, public places and docks, granaries and depiction of coiffured, bejewelled people on clay seals show an unmatched mastery of technology, maths and economics. This is where the roots of Indian knowledge and wisdom begin.
With the decline of the Indus civilization around 1300 BCE, settlers in the Gangetic plain were building a society that became famous for both its philosophical and material achievements. Their bestknown achievement was the body of work accumulated as Vedic literature spanning several centuries. They also produced the period’s only surviving mathematical treatise — the Sulbhsutras, appendices to the Vedas, written by a succession of mathematicians: Baudhayana (800 BCE), Manava (750 BCE), Apastamba (600 BCE), and Katyayana (200 BCE).
But perhaps the period’s most important development was around mid-third century BCE, when Brahmi numerals from 1 to 9 appeared. These, later, after undergoing transformations, would be transmitted to the Islamic world and to Europe to become almost universally accepted as the standard numerical notation worldwide. Around fifth century BCE, Panini created a treatise on language. Called the Ashtadyayi, its eight chapters and 4000 sutras distil the complete grammar of Sanskrit. So scientific is Panini’s exposition that it remains a model for world grammarians.
One of the most influential thinkers in economics, political science and statecraft lived during 350 to 275 BCE. Chanakya, or Kautilya, taught at Takshila university and was advisor to Chandragupta Maurya, guiding him to overthrow the Nandas and establish a great empire. His Arthashastra explains economic policies, war strategies, foreign relations, administration and rules of conduct while Neetishastra is a treatise on the ideal way of life.
In this period India also produced two philosophies and religions — Jainism and Buddhism, the latter dispersed in eastern Asia. The Jain philosophers were great mathematicians. Around 150 BCE, they developed the theory of numbers, operations with fractions, cubic equations, and permutations and combinations. They propounded a theory of the infinite and an understanding of indices.
It wasn’t only philosophy and mathematics that Indians excelled in. Natyashastra, a seminal work on theatre, dance and music, was written by Bharata Muni between 200 BCE and 200 CE. It formed the basis of aesthetic theory and depiction of emotions in performances. Around fourth century CE, Kalidasa created great romantic poetry. Little is known about him. It’s said that he, though uneducated, married princess Vidyottama. She humiliated him and he decided to learn Sanskrit. This led to inspired works such as Meghdoot, Abhigyanshakuntala and Kumarsambhava.
Mathematics was closely intertwined with astronomy mainly for the needs of astrology. This led to the emergence of a range of discoveries since 500 CE, starting with Aryabhatta. Heading a school of astronomy and mathematics in Kusumpura (possibly near Patna) he made a break from the past, replacing superstitious theories of eclipses with modern ones, introducing trignometry and solutions to indeterminate equations. A similar school developed in Ujjain where, in 700 CE came another Titan, Brahmagupta, who introduced negative numbers and developed the use of zero.
During the Sultanate period Delhi was home to intellectuals and thinkers from western Asia who were fleeing the Mongol hordes. This led to a blossoming of great learning. Amir Khusrau was a scholar, musician and poet credited with introducing the khayal and tarana style in Indian music, and also inventing the tabla and possibly the sitar. Minhaz Uj Siraj, Ziauddin Barani, Shams I Siraj Afif and Chand Bardai were scholars and historians who became seminal sources for coming generations.
-TOI
Philosophy, maths, astronomy, the arts: Ancient India was cutting edge
Subodh Varma | TIG
About 5000 years ago, the world was waking up to bronze. Egyptians were building their Great Pyramids, Stone Age Britons were setting up the Stonehenge, Sumer and Babylon were flourishing, and the Shang dynasty was coming into its own in the Yellow River Valley of China. At the time there arose a mysterious civilization in the Indus valley, which became one of the world’s most sophisticated societies. Mysterious because its language is yet to be deciphered and so, very little is known about its rulers and the ruled, religion, culture, or its life.
The Indus Valley civilization was huge — 1052 cities/towns have been found till date. It spread over 1.3 mn sq km, the world’s largest at the time. The planned cities’ roads, drains, public places and docks, granaries and depiction of coiffured, bejewelled people on clay seals show an unmatched mastery of technology, maths and economics. This is where the roots of Indian knowledge and wisdom begin.
With the decline of the Indus civilization around 1300 BCE, settlers in the Gangetic plain were building a society that became famous for both its philosophical and material achievements. Their bestknown achievement was the body of work accumulated as Vedic literature spanning several centuries. They also produced the period’s only surviving mathematical treatise — the Sulbhsutras, appendices to the Vedas, written by a succession of mathematicians: Baudhayana (800 BCE), Manava (750 BCE), Apastamba (600 BCE), and Katyayana (200 BCE).
But perhaps the period’s most important development was around mid-third century BCE, when Brahmi numerals from 1 to 9 appeared. These, later, after undergoing transformations, would be transmitted to the Islamic world and to Europe to become almost universally accepted as the standard numerical notation worldwide. Around fifth century BCE, Panini created a treatise on language. Called the Ashtadyayi, its eight chapters and 4000 sutras distil the complete grammar of Sanskrit. So scientific is Panini’s exposition that it remains a model for world grammarians.
One of the most influential thinkers in economics, political science and statecraft lived during 350 to 275 BCE. Chanakya, or Kautilya, taught at Takshila university and was advisor to Chandragupta Maurya, guiding him to overthrow the Nandas and establish a great empire. His Arthashastra explains economic policies, war strategies, foreign relations, administration and rules of conduct while Neetishastra is a treatise on the ideal way of life.
In this period India also produced two philosophies and religions — Jainism and Buddhism, the latter dispersed in eastern Asia. The Jain philosophers were great mathematicians. Around 150 BCE, they developed the theory of numbers, operations with fractions, cubic equations, and permutations and combinations. They propounded a theory of the infinite and an understanding of indices.
It wasn’t only philosophy and mathematics that Indians excelled in. Natyashastra, a seminal work on theatre, dance and music, was written by Bharata Muni between 200 BCE and 200 CE. It formed the basis of aesthetic theory and depiction of emotions in performances. Around fourth century CE, Kalidasa created great romantic poetry. Little is known about him. It’s said that he, though uneducated, married princess Vidyottama. She humiliated him and he decided to learn Sanskrit. This led to inspired works such as Meghdoot, Abhigyanshakuntala and Kumarsambhava.
Mathematics was closely intertwined with astronomy mainly for the needs of astrology. This led to the emergence of a range of discoveries since 500 CE, starting with Aryabhatta. Heading a school of astronomy and mathematics in Kusumpura (possibly near Patna) he made a break from the past, replacing superstitious theories of eclipses with modern ones, introducing trignometry and solutions to indeterminate equations. A similar school developed in Ujjain where, in 700 CE came another Titan, Brahmagupta, who introduced negative numbers and developed the use of zero.
During the Sultanate period Delhi was home to intellectuals and thinkers from western Asia who were fleeing the Mongol hordes. This led to a blossoming of great learning. Amir Khusrau was a scholar, musician and poet credited with introducing the khayal and tarana style in Indian music, and also inventing the tabla and possibly the sitar. Minhaz Uj Siraj, Ziauddin Barani, Shams I Siraj Afif and Chand Bardai were scholars and historians who became seminal sources for coming generations.
-TOI
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