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AUSTERLITZ
East India Company was established in India by 1612 and all the discoveries happened before the end of the 17th century. Surprising coincidence nah. The Dutch and the Portugese long before that had a toe hold in India. Of course these guys never stole anything. They started discovering everything on their own just like that from 1600s.
1. Surya Siddhanta explains laws of gravity. Reproduced again in Bhaskara's texts. Explained gravity as a push and not a pull.
2. Newton's laws of motion were lifted from the Sanskrit texts and Aryabhatta’s written work in Sanskrit.
Aryabhatta’s formula giving the
tat-kalika-gati (instantaneous motion) is given by the following -
u'- v' = v' - v ± e (sin w' - sin w) (i)
where u, v, w are the true longitude, mean longitude, mean anomaly respectively at any particular time and u', v', w' the values of the respective quantities at a subsequent instant; and e is the eccentricity or the sine of the greatest equation of the orbit.
"True motion in minutes is equal to the cosine (of the mean anomaly) multiplied by the difference (of the mean anomalies) and divided by the
cheda, added or subtracted contrarily (to the mean motion)."
δu = δv ± e cos θ δ θ.
3. Shipbuilding
50 years before Independence, a 100 years ago, India was
one of the largest ship building countries in the world. Indian shipbuilding was centered along the Western Coast in Kalyan, Bhivandi and Mumbai, in South India at Narsapurpeta (near Masulipatnam) and in Bengal at Chittagong and Hooghly. The “modern era” began with the building of a
dry dock at Bombay about 1750; a second was erected in Calcutta about 1780. During the 19th century, the industry was in a period of expansion and prosperity. However, for the last 100 years, the yards have been in a general decline.
During Shivaji’s reign, as per estimates, more than
300 ships of 300 tons capacity were launched. The Wadias alone built
more than 350 ships – during
1735-1863 170 war vessels for the East India Company, 34 man-of-war defence vessels for the British Navy, 87 merchant vessels for private firms, and three vessels for the Queen of Muscat at Bombay docks. After the Bombay Port Trust was formed in 1870, the shipbuilding on the Western Coast moved to Mumbai. In 1872, Jamshedji Wadia, from a Parsi ship-building family, constructed the “Cornwallis”, a frigate with 50 guns, bought by the East India Company. This led to several
orders from the British Navy.
Bengal was the other
major port where ship building was for global markets. Chittagong was the center for shipbuilding (now in Bangladesh). The Turkish Navy (a major world power till WWI) was a major customer. The Mughal and British navies were the other significant defence customers. Merchants cargo ships were in significant demand. Ma Huan, the famous chronicler and interpreter of
Zheng He (also called Cheng Ho) voyages, during the Ming dynasty, studied boat building in Bengal during the early 15th century (1400-1410).
The third major center for
ship building was Narsapurpeta (near Masulipatnam) port – which was a major center of exports of steel, diamonds, saltpetre (potassium nitrate, for gunpowder, to kill Indians, Negroes, Aborigines and Red Indians with) from the Deccan plateau.
These
buyers preferred Indian ships, because of better jointing technology and elimination of metal sheeting. Indian shipbuilders had
a special system where wood was seasoned in partial vacuum, with oils for timber improvement. British shipbuilders, colonialists ensured through tariff and other barriers, that Indian shipbuilding
“was prevented from continuing to develop, even though it had a proven ability to adapt to changing technological needs” – and thus finally killing it. British naval superiority rested on Indian ships – and paid for by exploitation of Indian resources.
In 1498, Vasco da Gama’s ocean-going ship, the
Sao Gabrielcame to India. The Portuguese caravel are well-known. But
what do the Portuguese call their ocean-going ships? Nau. Yes,
nau as in Hindi, for boat. Few of
these Indian built ships have been
recovered in various parts of the world.
Indian shipbuilding expertise ruled the world – till colonialism killed it.
Varahamihira wrote the Brihat Samhita. Kerala navigation is based on his Astronomy.
4. Metallurgy
As late as 1908, Indian metallurgical skills were known and acknowledged in Europe – the then economic and technological powerhouse of the world.
The high quality of the native-made iron, the early anticipation of the processes now employed in Europe for the manufacture of high-class steels, and the artistic products in copper and brass gave India at one time a prominent position in the metallurgical world. (Page 128 – The Imperial Gazetteer of India: Vol Iii; Originally published in 1908. Author: The Indian Empire Language: English).
The Ashoka pillar made of steel, now in New Delhi, is a marvel of metallurgy. For more than 1600 years, it has stood in the rain, exposed to scorching sun, freezing winters and buried under the earth for a few years.
Still shining. No rust. And no deterioration. Estimated at 6-7 tons in weight, nearly 70 feet in height – and cast in a single block. There are reputedly other such pillars at Dhar and Kodachadri (Karnataka).
Konark Sun Temple (related to Sun Temple at Karnak, Egypt?) used about 2000 tons of lodestone and iron clamps. No mortar, no bricks. Iron clamps helped to keep up parts of this structure in the air based on magnetic repulsion. The iron beamssurvived for more than 700 years. The Jagannath Puri temple has similar quality and vintage of steel.
As the source (for Konark temple) Dharmapad, recounts, Narasimha Dev, the ruling king, ordered the sculptors to complete construction earlier than the estimated time – with accompanying threats. The team could not keep up with the king’s schedule, and the Sutradhar (Chief Architect) Sri Sibei Samantaray was sidelined. Another architect was assigned the job of completing this work. The newly appointed Sutradhar did complete the work by the stipulated time – but since he did not have the plans, structural inconsistencies crept in.
Wootz steel, was the preferred input in the world, for swords, pistols and such. Known as Damascus steel, it went into Japanese Katanas, European guns. The famed Damascus steel swords, armour and pistols, used steel ingots imported from India as Wootz steel. Indian exports of Wootz was a big earner for India till British efforts killed this industry in India. Subsequent efforts to “reverse engineer” this technology in Europe during the 20th century, has been unsuccessful. Damascus was the trading centre over which the Battle of Kadesh, the biggest chariot battle, was fought between the Indo-Aryan Hittites and the Egyptian Pharoah Ramesses-II fought.
The world’s first suspension bridge, at Menai Straits, in Britain, used Indian steel. Colonial geologists, Pataki Krishna Chaterjee and Thomas Henry Diggs La Touche, noticed that,
“….its (iron’s) superiority is so marked, that at the time when the Britannia tubular bridge across the Menai Straits was under construction preference was given to the use of iron produced in India”.
5. Precision Cutting Tools
South India was the only source of diamonds till middle 18th century. Being the hardest, natural substance on Earth, diamond cutting was a high technology industry and India monopolized this business till the 14th century. From circa 6th century, we have the Buddha Bhatta’s text “Ratnapariksha” which served as a manual for Indian gemologists. The French traveller Tavernier reputedly (call it ancient industrial espionage) took that technology to Europe.
Brazilian diamond finds in 1725, the South African discovery in 1866-67 changed the supply equation. The auction of Napoleon III’s French Royal diamonds in 1871 brought diamonds in limelight. Boucheron, Bapst along with Tiffany and Co. cleaned up this auction. The Koh-i-noor continues to captivate the minds of people.
It is this skill and technology acquired over the centuries that makes India into a global hub for diamonds. The diamond cutting dominance by India is by now a 2500 year old phenomenon.
While on cutting tools, one cannot forget the role of lubricants. The finest lubricants is castor oil – which was identified, grown and a monopoly of India till 1950s. Only in the 1960′s did other synthetic fuels and lubricants start competing with castor oil. It has ‘incredible film strength’ – and can resist tremendous pressure. It’s superior ‘wetting ability’ makes it also very effective. One expert on extracting performance from go-kart vehicles says,
“For consistently squeezing that last bit of performance out of your engine, it’s pretty hard to beat castor oil as the lubricant in your fuel.’
What special about castor oil: ‘Two words – IT WORKS.’
6. For military technology, India had mobile artillery and iron cased rockets.
7.
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Illustrations from the Book India (1876) | This is a water driven turbine; a fore-runner of the modern hydro-electric dams. This also shows existence of gears in India - while the Industrial Revolution was happening in Britain. India in 1857 - An Industrial Powerhouse? 1857: History & Propaganda | 2ndlook
Ajit Vadakayil: VEDIC COSMOLOGY OF INDIA - 5000 BC -- CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
8. India was the largest producer of Gun powder.
Indian Gunpowder – the Force Behind Empires | 2ndlook