Elucidate the developments in science and technology in ancient India.
Astronomy
Arya Bhatta’s Aryabhattiya is concise text containing 121 verses. Explained Sonar and Lunar eclipse.
Varahamihira in Panch Siddhantika gives the summary of five schools of astronomy present in his time
Mathematics
The town planning of Harappa shows that the people possessed a good knowledge of measurement and geometry. By third century AD mathematics developed as a separate stream of study. Indian mathematics is supposed to have originated from the Sulvasutras.
Apastamba in second century BC, introduced practical geometry involving acute angle, obtuse angle and right angle. This knowledge helped in the construction of fire altars where the kings offered sacrifices
The three main contributions in the field of mathematics were the notation system, the decimal system and the use of zero
Brahmagupta’s Brahmasputa Siddhanta is the very first book that mentioned ‘zero’ as a number, hence, Brahmagupta is considered as the man who found zero
Aryabhatta discovered algebra and also formulated the area of a triangle, which led to the origin of Trignometry.
Brahmagupta the great 7th century mathematician has given a description of negative numbers as debts and positive numbers as fortunes, which shows that ancient Bharatiyas knew the utility of mathematics for practical trade.
Medicine
Diseases, cure and medicines were mentioned for the first time in the Atharva Veda.
Takshila and Varanasi emerged as centres of medicine and learning.
The two important texts in this field are Charaksamhita by Charak and Sushrutsamhita by Sushruta.
Sushruta was a pioneer of this surgery.The surgeons in ancient India were familiar with plastic surgery (repair of noses, ears and lips).
Metallurgy
The glazed potteries and bronze and copper artefacts found in the Indus valley excavations point towards a highly developed metallurgy.
The vedic people were aware of fermenting grain and fruits, tanning leather and the process of dyeing.
The iron pillar in the Qutub Minar complex is indicative of the high quality of alloying that was being done.
Textile dyeing was popular. The Ajanta frescoes reflect on the quality of colour. These paintings have survived till date.
Geography
Lothal, a site in Gujarat has the remains of a dockyard proving that trade flourished in those days by sea.
In the early medieval period with the development of the concept of tirtha and tirtha yatra, a vast mass of geographical information was accumulated.
They were finally compiled as parts of Puranas. In many cases separate sthala purana was also compiled.
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