Module 4-Science, Management and Indian Knowledge System

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION OF CHEMISTRY IN ANCIENT INDIAN

Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BC) The earliest urban civilization in India and in fact, oneof
the earliest civilizations in the world, was the Indus Valley Civilization, or the Harappan Culture.
Archaeologists, findings showed a well developed urban system with public baths, streets,
granaries, temples, houses with baked bricks, mass production of pottery and even a script of their
own which depicted the story of early chemistry.
In pottery making chemical processes were carried out in which materials were mixed, fired and
moulded to achieve their objectives. In the Rajasthan desert many pottery pieces of different
shapes, sizes and colours were found. At Mohenjo Daro it was found that for the construction of a
well, gypsum cement had been used which contained clay, lime, sand and traces of CaCO3 and
light grey in colour. Burnt bricks were manufactured on a large scale for making houses drains,
boundary walls, public bath etc. Many useful products were plasters, hair washes, medicinal
preparations etc. which had a number of minerals in them used by Indus Valley people. The
Harappans made Faience, a sort of proto-glass which was used for ornament

The Vedic age

According to Rig Veda shows that during this period tanning of leather and dyeing of cotton were
practiced. During the period 1000-400 BC they made a particular kind of polished grey pottery
known as painted Grey ware. The amazing golden gloss of the Northerns Black Polished Ware
could not be replicated and is still a chemical mystery. These wares indicated the mastery with
which the kiln temperatures could be controlled and later the skill with which the atmosphere could
be reduced.
Paper: Paper was known to India in the 7th century from the Chinese traveller 1-I sing's account.
Paper making was practiced all over the country in places like Murshidabad, sialkot, Mysore,
Ahmedabad, Zafarbad.
Soap: For washing clothes ancient Indians used certain plants and their fruits like the soap nuts of
Ritha and sikakai. Indians definitely began to make proper soaps in the 18th century AD. In
Gujarat, the oil of Eranda (Ricimus communis), seeds of plant Mahua (Madhuca indica) and
impure calcium carbonate were used by them. These were used for washing but gradually soft
soaps for bathing were made.
Dyeing: A number of classical texts like Atharvaveda (1000 BC) mentioned some dye stuffs.
Synthetic dyes were made by mid nineteenth century. The principal dyeing materials were turmeric
madder, sunflower orpiment, cochineal, lac and kermes. Some other substance having tinting
properties were Kampillaka, Pattanga and Jatuka.
Cosmetics and perfumes: Varahamihira's Brihatsamhita give references to perfumes and
cosmetics. The Bower Manuscript (Navanitaka) contained recipes of hair dyes which consisted of
a number of plants like indigo and minerals like iron powder, black iron or steel and acidic extracts
of sour rice gruel. Gandhayukti gave recipes for making scents, mouth perfumes, bath powders,
incense and talcum powder.
Chemistry and metallurgy under Gupta Empire In the Gupta age no books dealing with
chemistry and metallurgy are found. Nagarjuna is mentioned as a great chemist. The famous Iron
Pillar near the Qutub Minar, Delhi stands as a silent witness to assert the striking, metallurgical
skill of the Hindus. This pillar has not yet been rusted or corroded despite it being exposed to rain
and sun for the last 1500 years. The use of mercury and iron in medicines shows that chemistry
must have been practiced. Varahamihira was a scientist of many fields.

ANCIENT INDIAN AGRICULTURE

• The excavation of the Mehrgarh period sites that is around 8000-6000 BC throws some startling
facts about Indian agriculture that began as early as 9000 BC. 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. This period also saw the first
domestication of the elephants. Manuring

• With implements and techniques being developed for agriculture settled life soon followed in
India. Double monsoons that led to two harvests being reaped in one year in the country facilitated
the settled mode of production.
• In the Neolithic period roughly 8000-5000 BC, agriculture was far from the dominant mode of
support for human societies, but those who adopted it flourished. Agro pastoralism in India
included threshing, planting crops in rows—either of two or of six—and storing grain in granaries.
They passed their techniques of agricultural production to the next generation. This transformation
of knowledge was the base of further development of agriculture in India. cotton spinning

• Agricultural communities became widespread in Kashmir valley around 5000 BC. It was
reported that Cotton was cultivated by 5000 – 4000 BC in Kashmir.

• As early as 4530 BC and 5440 BC wild Oryza rice appeared in the Belan and Ganges valley
regions of northern India. At that time hemp was also domesticated and its applications was in
number of things including making narcotics, fibre and oil.

Ancient South Indian Agriculture:

• The agriculture scene of South India was equally bright in Ancient India. The Tamil people
cultivated a wide range of crops such as rice, sugarcane, millets, black pepper, various grains,
coconuts, beans, cotton, plantain, tamarind and sandalwood, Jackfruit, coconut, palm, areca and
plantain trees etc.
 • Systematic ploughing, manuring, weeding, irrigation and crop protection was practiced for
sustained agriculture in South India.
• Water storage systems were designed during this period. Kallanai (1st-2nd century AD), a dam
built on river Kaveri, is considered the as one of the oldest water-regulation structures in the world
that is still in use.

Ancient Indian Agriculture in Chola Period:

• The agrarian society in South India during the Chola Empire (875-1279) reveals that collective
holding of land slowly gave way to individual plots, each with their own irrigation system during
Chola rule.

• The Cholas also had bureaucrats which oversaw the distribution of water, particularly the
distribution of water by tank-and-channel networks to the drier areas. The growth of individual
disposition of farming may have led to a decrease in areas of dry cultivation

History of Metallurgy in India

In many ways, the usage of metals in antiquity is tied to the history of civilization. Metals have
been given names to several periods of early human civilization. The ability to extract metals
yielded a large number of metals and ushered in a number of changes in human society. It
provided weapons, tools, jewellery, utensils, and other items, as well as enriching cultural life.
The Seven metals of antiquity are gold, copper, silver, lead, tin, iron and mercury.
Despite the fact that contemporary metallurgy grew at an exponential rate during the Industrial
Revolution, many current metallurgical principles have their roots in ancient traditions that
predate the Industrial Revolution. India has a long history of metallurgical expertise dating back
over 7000 years.

Important sources for the history of Indian metallurgy

Archaeological digs and literary evidence are the two most important sources for the history of
Indian metallurgy. The first evidence of metal in the Indian subcontinent was discovered in the
Balochistan town of Mehrgarh when a little copper bead dated to around 6000 BCE was
discovered. It’s believed to be native copper, meaning it wasn’t removed from the ore. Copper
metallurgy in India dates back to the Chalcolithic societies in the subcontinent, according to
spectrometric tests on copper ore samples discovered from ancient mine pits at Khetri in
Rajasthan and metal samples cut from representative Harappan artefacts unearthed from Mitathal
in Haryana. Indian chalcolithic copper items were almost certainly manufactured on the
continent.
Chalcopyrite ore resources in the Aravalli Hills provided the ore used to extract metal for the
artefacts. The Archaeological Survey of India produced and released a collection of
archaeological literature from copper plates and rock inscriptions throughout the last century.
Copper plates were used to engrave royal records. Famine relief attempts are mentioned in the
earliest known copperplate, which is a Mauryan record. It contains one of India’s few pre-
Ashoka Brahmi inscriptions. Gold and silver were also used by the Harappans, as well as their
own alloy electrum. In ceramic or bronze pots, a variety of ornaments such as pendants, bangles,
beads, and rings have been discovered. Indus Valley sites such as Mohenjodaro have yielded
early gold and silver jewellery. DD tccd

Alluvial Gold according to Rigveda

Indirect references to alluvial placer gold deposits in India can be found in Rigveda hymns. In
ancient times, the Sindhu River was a major gold producer. It has been reported that there are
still large gold mines in the Manai8sarovar and Thokjalyug areas. Anguttara Nikaya, a Pali
classic, describes the process of recovering gold dust or particles from alluvial placer gold
deposits. Although evidence of gold refining may be found in Vedic texts, Kautilya’s
Arthashastra, written presumably in the 3rd or 4th century BCE during the Mauryan era, contains
a long section on mines and minerals, including metal ores of gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, and
iron. The gold variety rasviddha, which is a naturally occurring gold solution, is described by
Kautilya. Such alternatives were also mentioned by Kalidas.
The colour of native gold varies based on the nature and amount of impurities present. The
various colors of native gold were most likely a primary driving force in the development of
gold refining.

Recent Excavations

Excavations in the central Ganges Valley and the Vindhya hills have revealed that iron was
produced there as early as 1800 BCE. Iron furnaces, artefacts, tuyeres, and layers of slag were
discovered during recent excavations by the Uttar Pradesh State Archaeological Department.
They were discovered between 1800 and 1000 BCE, according to radiocarbon dating. The
findings suggest that knowledge of iron smelting and the production of iron items was
widespread in Eastern Vindhyas and that it was in use in the Central Ganga Plains. The amount
and variety of iron artefacts, as well as the level of technological achievements, suggest that
ironworking would have begun considerably earlier. The evidence points to the early usage of
iron in other parts of the country, demonstrating that India was a self -contained center for the
development of ironworking.

Iron in earlier history

• Iron smelting and use were particularly common in South Indian megalithic societies.
The crucible technique was used to make steel in India, according to Greek reports.
Iron, charcoal, and glass were combined in a crucible and heated until the iron melted
and absorbed the carbon in this process. Porus of Taxila (326 BCE) offered Alexander
the Great two-and-a-half tonnes of Wootz steel, according to a Roman historian
named Quintus Curtius. Wootz steel is predominantly made of iron with a high carbon
content (1.0–1.9%).
 • According to literary records, Indian Wootz steel from the southern Indian
subcontinent was sold to Europe, China, and the Arab world. It gained popularity in
the Middle East, where it was given the name Damasus Steel. Michael Faraday
attempted but failed, to reproduce this steel by alloying iron with various metals,
including noble metals.
• Porous iron blocks are generated when iron ore is converted to solid-state using
charcoal. As a result, sponge iron blocks are also known as reduced iron blocks. Only
when the porosity has been removed by hot forging can any useful product be made
from this material. Wrought iron is the result of this process. The world-famous Iron
Pillar is an intriguing example of wrought iron manufactured in ancient India. Apart
from iron, the wrought iron of the pillar contains 0.15% carbon, 0.05% silicon, 0.05%
manganese, 0.25% phosphorus, 0.005% nickel, 0.03% copper, and 0.02% nitrogen.
Harappan Technologies
Harappan Civilization was one of the oldest civilizations of ancient India, also known as the Indus
Valley Civilization. It was the urban culture of the ancient Indian subcontinent, along with Harappa
and Mohenjodaro. The Harappan Civilization stretched from the Montgomery District (the former
Punjab province of British India) to modern-day northeast Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest
India. Harappan cities have urban planning, baked brick houses, complex drainage systems, water
supply systems, and large non-residential buildings.

Harappan civilization people also used new techniques in Handicrafts, Karelian products, Seal
carving, and metallurgy, such as copper, bronze lead, and tin. Archaeological remains at various
Indus Valley Civilization sites help us learn about the science and technological progress there.
This article will know more about how science and technology in the Harappan Civilization were
and how civilized and developed those people were in science and technology. And what are their
inventions and discoveries?

1 Architecture, Town Planning, and Civil Engineering of Harappan Civilization

2 Transportation Technology of Harappan Civilization
3 Irrigation System of Harappan Civilization
4 knowledge of Metallurgy
5 Weight, Measurement, and Mathematics
6 Medical Science
7 Pottery and jewel making
8 Significant inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley
8.1 Ruler
8.2 Buttons, Decorative
8.3 The Well
9 Conclusion
10 Sources

Architecture, Town Planning, and Civil Engineering of Harappan Civilization

The Harappan Civilization cities were well-planned and beautifully constructed, with baked bricks
used to build houses and buildings in rows on both sides of the road. Some places were also built
on the streets. Their facilities also had two-roomed houses. Some houses had private bathrooms
with pottery in the walls, providing water drainage. Sometimes, there was a provision for a crib to
sit in the toilet.

In the Indus Valley Civilization, the drainage system was in very systematic order; the drainage
system was used for the best convenience in every household. The location of water drainage from
each house was made of bricks. The architecture of well-planned urban centers based on fixed-
layout patterns with scientific roads, Drainage systems (with the use of corbelled technology), and
public structures (such as granaries and great bathwater far ahead of time and precursors to the
modern concept of architecture and civil engineering. The Harappan Civilization also built the
world’s first tide port at the head of the Gulf of Cambay in Lothal, Gujarat, proving their high level
of knowledge about the water flow and flow of tides.

Transportation Technology of Harappan Civilization

Image 2: Terracotta boat in

the shape of a bull and female figurines. Kot Diji period (c. 2800-2600 BC). | Intuition (Palazzo
Fortuny 2017 exhibition)
Significant advances aided the Indus Valley Civilization in transportation technology. These
advances may include bullock carts similar to the boats seen everywhere in South Asia today. Most
of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, likely powered by sails, which can be seen
today on the Indus River; However, there are secondary pieces of evidence of seagoing art.
Archaeologists have discovered a vast, dry canal as a docking facility in the coastal city of Lothal
in western India (Gujarat state). An extensive canal network was also used for irrigation.

Irrigation System of Harappan Civilization

Research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science confirms that the Indus people were
the first to use complex multi-cropping strategies in both seasons, growing foods during the
summer such as rice, millet, beans, etc., and in winter wheat, barley, and pulses, which required
separate sorting management. Researchers also found evidence for a completely different
domination process of rice in ancient South Asia, around the wild species Origa Niva. This led to
the local development of a mixture of “Wetland” and “Dryland” agriculture in the local Oryza
sativa Indica rice agriculture.

Although the cities were situated on the river banks, they had a new irrigation system that brought
them size and prosperity. Irrigation systems included artificial reservoirs (such as Girnar) and
early canal systems.

knowledge of Metallurgy

The people of the Indus Valley civilization were technically very developed and had a good
knowledge of metallurgy; they also used standardized burnt bricks, precision weights, and cotton.
Many subdivisions also had a standardized system of weights and measurements with calibration.
According to the evidence in the excavations, they used gold, silver, copper, lapis lazuli, turquoise,
amethyst, alabaster, jade, etc.

The people of Harappa developed some new metallurgy techniques and produced copper, bronze,
lead, and tin. In addition, a stone touching gold streaks was found at Banawali, which may have
been used to test the purity of gold, a technique still used in parts of India today.

Weight, Measurement, and Mathematics

The people of the Indus civilization had achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and
time. They were among the first to develop a system of equal weights and measures. A comparison
of the available items indicates large-scale variation in the Indus regions. Their most minor
division, marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, Gujarat, was about 1.704 mm, the smallest
partition recorded on the Bronze Age scale. Harappan engineers followed the decimal
measurements division for all practical purposes, including measuring mass by their hexahedron
weights.
 Image 3:
Harappan (Indus Valley) balance and weight. Harappa (Indus Valley) Civilization Gallery,
National Museum of India, New Delhi. Complete the indexed photo collection at
WorldHistoryPics.com.
They also had a weighing stone (Batkhara) to weigh, in a ratio of 5: 2: 1 with 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5,
1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 units, and smaller items were weighed in the same proportion
with 0.871 units, each unit weighing 28 grams, roughly the same as the English Imperial Ounce or
Greek Unia. However, like other cultures, the actual weights were not uniform throughout the
region. The importance and measurements used later in Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra (4th century BCE)
are similar to those used in Lothal.

The Harappans were very modern in mathematics; the numerical system they developed included
most numbers for mathematical numbers such as addition and multiplication and symbols of many
innovations. For example, the Harappan numerical method is a decimal and additive multiplier in
use. There are also numeric symbols for 4 to 100, 1000, and their derivatives. Numerical systems
that the Harappans first used were later found in other ancient civilizations as well.

Medical Science

Harappans were familiar with medical science and used various herbs and medicines to treat
diseases. For example, the people of the Indus Valley Civilization practiced Trephination, a
medical intervention in which a hole is made in the skull to treat skull and brain disorders. Evidence
of Traction (a set of mechanisms for straightening broken bones or relieving pressure on the spine
and skeletal system) has also been found at Lothal, Kalibangan, and Burjholm but not at Harappa
or most other sites.
According to a report published in the Journal Nature, drilling into teeth in a living person is the
oldest evidence in human history; it was found in Mehrgarh around 7000 BC. This tooth drilling
incorporates tooth-related disorders with practice operated by skilled bead artisans. This is an
excellent example of proto-dentistry.

Pottery and jewel making

The people of the Indus Valley were familiar with wheel-drawn potters. Paintings and glazing of
potters were also known. They also learned to use lime as plaster and pyro-technology to heat lime.
The Indus Valley people also manufactured ‘wings of fans’ by heating silica up to 1200 ℃.

They had a good knowledge of furnaces (for construction potters and bricks) and were experts in
making beads. They knew the art of bead cutting, drilling, and polishing. Also, Mehrgarh shows
evidence of local copper ore, containers made of bitumen, plants, animals, and tanning equipment.

Significant inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley

The stories and findings of the Indus Valley Civilization refer to the technological and
civilizational achievements of the Indus Valley Civilization. Which are as follows –

Ruler

The oldest preserved measuring rod is a copper-alloy strip found by

German Assyriologist Eckhard Unger while excavating at Nippur. And Unger claimed that it was
used as a measurement standard. The Indus Valley Civilization used rulers from Ivory in Pakistan
and some parts of Western India before 1500 BCE. Diggings at Lothal (2400 BCE) have yielded
one such ruler calibrated to about 1/16 of an inch—less than 2 millimeters. Ian Whitelaw (2007)
holds that ‘The Mohenjo-Daro ruler is divided into units corresponding to 1.32 inches (33.5 mm)
and marked out in decimal subdivisions with amazing accuracy—to within 0.005 of an inch.
Ancient bricks found throughout the region have dimensions that correspond to these units.’

Buttons, Decorative

In 2000 BCE, in the Indus Valley Civilization, buttons made of Sagar ka kauri or C.P. were used
for decorative purposes. Some buttons were engraved in geometric shapes and pierced to be
attached to clothing using a thread. Ian McNeill (1990) observes that: “Buttons were originally
used more as an ornament as a fastening, the earliest being found in Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus
Valley. It is made of a curved shell about 5000 years old.”
The Well

The earliest clear evidence of the origin of the well is found in the Mohenjo-Daro and Dholavira
in ancient India (now Pakistan), the Indus Valley Civilization archaeological site. The three
features of step-wells in the subcontinent are evident from a particular site left by 2500 BCE, which
combines a bathing pool, underwater steps, and figures of some religious significance into one
structure. It is believed that other places in India adapted well to their architecture in the early
centuries before the Common Era. The form of wells and ritual bathing reached Buddhism in other
parts of the world. Rock-cut step wells in the subcontinent from 200–400 typical ages.
Subsequently, wells were constructed in ponds of Paddy (550–625 CE) and Bhinmal (850–950
CE).

Water Management in India

Water is intimately linked to human existence and is the source of societal and cultural
development, traditions, rituals, and religious beliefs. Humans created permanent settlements
about 10 000 years ago when they adopted an agrarian way of life and began developing different
sociocultural societies and settlements, which were largely dependent on water in one way or
another (Vuorinen et al., 2007). These developments established a unique relationship between
humans and water. Most of the ancient civilizations, e.g., the Indus Valley, Egyptian,
Mesopotamian, and Chinese, developed at places where water required for agricultural and human
needs was readily available, i.e., in the vicinity of springs, lakes, rivers, and seas (Yannopoulos et
al., 2015). As water was the prime mover of the ancient civilizations, a clear understanding of the
hydrologic cycle, nature, and patterns of its various components along with water uses for different
purposes led those civilizations to flourish for thousands of years.

The Harappan (or Indus Valley) civilization (∼3000–1500 BCE), one of the earliest and most
advanced civilizations of the ancient times, was also the world's largest in spatial extent and
epitomizes the level of development of science and society in the protohistoric Indian
subcontinent. The Harappan civilization did not have the “single state” concept as was practiced
by the other contemporary civilizations such as the Mesopotamian civilization, pointing to
evidence of centralized control of palaces and temples and differentiated burials (Kenoyer, 1994;
Possehl, 1998, 2003). The Harappan society was based on shared concepts of power; dominance
and patterns of military conquests have not been found in this society (Kenoyer, 2003). However,
more information will be revealed to the world once the linguists decipher the Harappan script
inscribed on the seals, amulets, and pottery vessels (Kenoyer, 2003). Jansen (1989) states that the
citizens of the Harappan civilization were known for their obsession with water; they prayed to
the rivers every day and accorded the rivers a divine status. The urban centers were developed with
state-of-the-art civil and architectural designs with provisions for sophisticated drainage and
wastewater management systems. It is interesting to note in this context that the water and
wastewater management systems have been highly amenable to the sociocultural and
socioeconomic conditions and religious ways of societies through all the ages of the civilizations
(Sorcinelli, 1998; Wolfe, 1999; De Feo and Napoli, 2007; Lofrano and Brown, 2010).
Agriculture was the main economic activity of the Harappan society and an extensive network of
reservoirs, wells, canals as well as low-cost water-harvesting techniques were developed
throughout the region at that time (Nair, 2004). Mohenjo-Daro and Dholavira, the two major cities
of the Indus Valley, are the best examples of advanced water management and drainage systems.
The Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro of the Indus Valley is considered the “earliest public water tank
of the ancient world” (Mujumdar and Jain, 2018). Adequate archeological evidence exists to testify
that the Harappans of the Indus Valley were well aware of the seasonal rainfall and flooding of the
Indus River during the period between 2500 and 1700 BCE, which is corroborated by modern
meteorological investigations (Srinivasan, 1976).

Following the de-urbanization phase (∼1900–1500 BCE) of the Harappan civilization, the Vedic
Period in the Indian subcontinent can be bracketed between ∼1500 and 500 BCE. The “Rigveda”
(the earliest of the four Vedas) as well as many other Vedic texts was composed in this period and
in later periods (Kathayat et al., 2017; Witzel, 2014; Sen, 1999). The Vedic Period can be further
classified into two stages as the “Early Vedic Period” (∼1500–1100 BCE) and the “Late Vedic
Period” (∼1100–500 BCE) (Kathayat et al., 2017; Witzel, 1987, 1999). During the Late Vedic
Period, agriculture, metallurgy, commodity production, and trade were largely expanded (Kathayat
et al., 2017); after the Late Vedic Period the period of “Mahājanapadas” came into existence, which
finally converged into the “Mauryan Empire”. The Vedic texts contain valuable references to the
hydrological cycle. It was known during Vedic and later times (Rigveda, VIII, 6.19; VIII, 6.20;
and VIII, 12.3) (Sarasvati, 2009) that water is not lost in the various processes of the hydrological
cycle, namely, evaporation, condensation, rainfall, streamflow, etc., but gets converted from one
form to another. At that time Indians were acquainted with cyclonic and orographic effects on
rainfall (Vayu Purana) and radiation, as well as convectional heating of the Earth and
evapotranspiration. The Vedic texts and other Mauryan period texts such as Arthashastra mention
other hydrologic processes such as infiltration, interception, streamflow, and geomorphology,
including the erosion process. Reference to the hydrologic cycle and artesian wells is available
in Ramayana (∼200 BCE) (Goswami, 1973). Groundwater development and water quality
considerations also received sufficient attention in ancient India, as evident from the Brihat
Samhita (550 AD) (Jha, 1988). Topics such as water uptake by plants, evaporation, and clouds and
their characteristics, along with rainfall prediction by observing the natural phenomena of previous
years, had been discussed in Brihat Samhita (550 AD), Meghamala (900 AD), and other literature
from ancient India.

The Arthashastra, attributed to Kautilya “who reportedly was the chief minister to the emperor
Chandragupta (300 BCE), the founder of the Mauryan dynasty” (Encyclopaedia
Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Artha-shastra, last access: 27 April 2020), deals
with several issues of governance, including water governance. It mentions a manually operated
cooling device referred to as “Variyantra” (revolving water spray for cooling the air).
The Variyantra was similar to the water cooler. According to Megasthenes (an ancient Greek
historian, who visited the court of king Chandragupta Maurya around 300 BCE),
the Variyantra was used by the wealthier sections of the society for cooling the air.
The Arthashastra also gives an extensive account of hydraulic structures built for irrigation and
other purposes during the period of the Mauryan Empire (Shamasastry, 1961).
The Pynes and Ahars (combined irrigation and water management system), reservoir (Sudarshan
lake) at Girnar, and many other structures were also built during the Mauryan Empire (∼322–
185 BCE). McClellan III and Dorn (2015) noted that “the Mauryan Empire was first and foremost
a great hydraulic civilization”. This suggests that the technology of the construction of the dams,
reservoirs, channels, measurement of rainfall, and knowledge of the various hydrological
processes existed in the ancient Indian society. Megasthenes mentions that “more than half of the
arable land was irrigated and was in agriculture and produced two harvests in a year”. Further,
there was a separate department for supervision, construction, and maintenance of a well-
developed irrigation system with extensive canals and sluices, wells, lakes and tanks. The same
bureau was responsible for planning and settlement of the uncultivated land. A similar description
of the different institutional arrangements during the Mauryan period can be seen in Arthashastra.
The importance of the hydraulic structures in the Mauryan period can be judged on the basis of
the punishments or fines imposed on the offenders. As mentioned in the Arthashastra, “when a
person breaks the dam of a tank full of water, he shall be drowned in the very tank; of a tank
without water, he shall be punished with the highest amercement; and of a tank which is in ruins
owing to neglect, he shall be punished with the middle-most amercement”.

Remarkably, the Mauryan Empire did not lack the other hallmarks associated with the hydraulic
civilizations (McClellan III and Dorn, 2015). It had departments concerned with the rivers,
excavating, and irrigation along with a number of regional and other superintendents such as the
superintendent of rivers; agriculture; weights and measures; store house; space and time; ferries,
boats, and ships; towns; pasture grounds; road cess; and many others along with other strata of the
associated officers such as head of the departments (adhyakshah), collector general (samahartri),
and chamberlain (sannidhatri), etc. Olson (2009) also mentions that there was an extensive
irrigation network organized by a state bureaucracy. According to Wittfogel (1955), the Mauryan
Empire had virtually all of those characteristics that a hydraulic civilization must possess (though
it was rather short lived).

Water pricing was also an important component of the water management system in the Mauryan
Empire. According to Arthashastra, those who cultivate through irrigation (i) by manual labor
(hastaprávartimam) would have to pay one-fifth of the produce as water rate (udakabhágam);
(ii) by carrying water on shoulders (skandhaprávartimam), one-fourth of the produce; (iii) by
water lifts (srotoyantraprávartimam), one-third of the produce; and (iv) by raising water from
rivers, lakes, tanks, and wells (nadisarastatákakúpodghátam), one-third or one-fourth of the
produce. The superintendent of agriculture was responsible for compiling the meteorological
statistics by using a rain gauge and for observing the sowing of the wet crops, winter crops or
summer crops depending on the availability of the water.

Historical development of hydro-science has been dealt with by many researchers (Baker and
Horton, 1936; Biswas, 1969; Chow, 1964). However, not many references to the hydrological
contributions in ancient India are found. Chow (1974) rightly mentions that “the history of
hydrology in Asia is fragmentary at best and much insight could be obtained by further study”.
According to Mujumdar and Jain (2018), there is rigorous discussion in ancient Indian literature
on several aspects of hydrologic processes and water resources development and management
practices as we understand them today.
Evidence from ancient water history provides an insight into the hydrological knowledge
generated by Indians more than 3000 years ago. This paper explores many facets of ancient Indian
knowledge on hydrology and water resources with a focus on hydrological processes,
measurement of precipitation, water management and technology, and wastewater management,
which are based on reviews of the Indian scriptures, such as the
Vedas, Arthashastra (Shamasastry, 1961), Astadhyayi (Jigyasu, 1979), Ramayana (Goswami,
1973), Mahabharata; Puranas, Brihat Samhita (Jha, 1988), Meghamala, Mayurchitraka; Jainist
and Buddhist texts; and other ancient texts. In this review, we present a glimpse of the knowledge
that existed in ancient India in water sciences by exploring many disciplines such as history,
archeology, hydrology, and hydraulic engineering, history of technology and history of culture.
The paper follows the order based on process or technology. While doing so, the historical order
of those processes or technologies has also been followed in each section. The review covers the
geographical area of the entire Indian subcontinent to the east of the Indus River. Specifically, it
includes the parts of the Harappan civilization (in present-day Pakistan) and the whole of India
with historical boundaries from the Mature Harappan Phase to the Mauryan Empire. These
boundaries encompass the major centers or regions of development in ancient India, and the
Mauryan Empire is considered the terminal point of ancient India, which is also consistent with
the views of Olson (2009) that the Mauryan Empire can be considered the historical boundary of
ancient India.

Developments in Textiles in Ancient India

Textiles was also a great industry in ancient India. It was known that some of the finest cloth you
could get anywhere in the world was from India. Textiles became one of the major commodities
of trade between India and other countries. Cotton was also cultivated in India before anywhere
else. From cotton came cloth through the development of the spinning wheel, another early
contribution of India, and which dates back to over 5000 years. With textiles also came the art of
making and the use of dyes and colors.

We also find that textiles played an important part of the contributions and developments for which
ancient India became known. In Our Oriental Heritage, Will Durant explains, Athe growing of
cotton appears earlier in India than elsewhere; apparently it was used for cloth in Mohenjodaro.
During the excavations at Mohenjodaro a small fragment of cotton fabric and a small piece of
cotton string in the neck of a vessel were recovered. The quality of both fabric and the string leaves
no doubt that a mature textile craft had existed in the Indus Valley civilization.
Dr. Stanley Wolpert, professor of history at UCLA wrote in the publication India: AAncient
Indians were the first humans to spin and weave cotton into cloth that continues to provide our
most comfortable summer attire.
Furthermore, in Cotton as World Power, Dr. James A. B. Scherer explains, AIndia is the original
home of cotton. Centuries passed before the new goods made any impression on England, whose
people wore wool exclusively. When cotton goods did begin to come in, a fierce conflict ensued
with wool, which was then styled, the revenue and blood of EnglandBso important was it in the
economic life of the people.

How cotton finally spread to England can be described like this: It was in the 1st century when the
Arab traders brought the fine muslin and calico from India and sold it to Italy and Spain. The
Moors then introduced the cultivation of cotton into Spain in the 9th century. Fustians and Dimities
were woven there in the 14th century, in Venice and Milan, at first with a linen warp. Little cotton
cloth was imported to England before the 15th century, although small amounts were obtained
chiefly for candlewicks. By the 17th century, the East India Company was bringing rare fabrics
from India.

The medieval Arabs took up the art of textiles from India, and their word quattan gave the English
word cotton. The word quattan is derived from the original Sanskrit word kantan, which means
making a thread out of a cotton ball. The name muslin was originally applied to fine cotton weaves
made in Mosul from Indian models; and calico was so called because it came from Calicut on the
southwestern shores of India, first in 1631.

Of course, cotton cannot become cloth unless there is a way to make the thread. And through a
simple investigation we can find that the spinning wheel was one of India’s earliest contributions
to the famous cloth that they were able to produce. Britannica’s Concise Encyclopedia relates:
AThe spinning wheel is an early machine for turning textile fiber into thread or yarn, which was
then woven into cloth on a loom. The spinning wheel was probably invented in India, though its
origins are unclear. It reached Europe via the Middle East in the Middle Ages.
Professor D. P. Singhal of the University of Queensland, Australia provides more clarity on this
by writing in India and the World Civilization (page 176): A The spinning wheel is an Indian
invention.
To give more credence to this line of thought, in her book Spinning Wheels, Spinners and
Spinning, Patricia Baines reports of written evidence to the presence of spinning wheels in Persia
in 1257, and linguistic evidence that suggests they came to Persia from India. Therefore it is most
likely that they were in operation much earlier than this. The significance of the spinning wheel is
that it is one of the first examples of a belt-transmission of power.
From the cultivation of cotton and the invention of the spinning wheel and the loom came some of
the finest textiles the world has seen. India has been known for its brilliant and high quality cloth
for hundreds of years. In History of India, Elphinstone writes: AThe beauty and delicacy of (Indian
cotton cloth) was so long admired, and which, in fineness of texture, has never yet been approached
in any country. Murray also writes therein: AIts fabrics, the most beautiful that human art has
anywhere produced, were sought by merchants at the expense of the greatest toils and dangers.
James Mill also writes in History of India: AOf the exquisite degree of perfection to which the
Hindus have carried the production of the loom, it would be idle to offer any description; as there
are few objects with which the inhabitants of Europe are better acquainted. Whatever may have
been that attainment in this art of other nations of antiquity, the manufacturer of no modern nation
can, in delicacy and fineness, vie with the textiles of Hindustan.

writing technology in India

1. In India traditionally the manuscripts were written on materials such as birch bark and palm leaves.

2. Birch bark was mainly used for north Indian scripts, and the writing was done with ink made of finely
ground charcoal powder in a medium of gum, or soot from oil lamps.

3. With palm leaves, a sharp point was used to tear the leaf’s surface film; it would then be smeared with
a paste of charcoal powder mixed in oil, and wiped off, leaving the charcoal to adhere to the incised
characters.

4. In both cases, considerable skills were developed to preserve manuscripts from insects and fungi.

5. The art of paper-making was introduced into India by the eleventh century CE, perhaps from China
through Nepal.

6. The earliest extant Indian paper manuscript is datable to 1105 CE; it was made from the fibres of a
mountain plant.

7. By the latter half of the 15th century, Kashmir was producing paper of attractive quality from the pulps
of rags and hemp, with lime and soda added to whiten the pulp.

8. Sialkot, Zafarabad, Patna, Murshidabad, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad and Mysore were among the well-
known centres of paper production.

9. Several European visitors from the 15th to the 18th century testify that Indian paper was of high quality.
10. In the 19th century, production of hand-made paper declined with the emergence of paper mills.
Pyrotechnics in India
1.Pyrotechnic practices, or fireworks, appear in India in the 13th or 14th century.

2. Gunpowder became an article of warfare at the beginning of the 16th century. The Indian craftsmen
learned the technique from the Mughals and were able to evolve suitable explosive compositions.

3. A 16th or 17th century Sanskrit treatise contains a description of preparation of the gunpowder using
saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal in different ratios.

4. From 16th century onward, rockets too began being used in wars waged in India.

5. The rockets consisted of a tube of soft hammered iron tube, closed at one end and strapped to a shaft of
bamboo, with a sword often fitted at the other end.

6. The iron tube contained well-packed black powder propellant.

7. Though not very accurate, when fired en masse they could cause damage as well as panic among the
troops.

8. The British took a few rockets to England for study, which ended up boosting rocket technology in
European warfare.

India’s dominance up to precolonial times

1.From the beginning of the historical period, India enjoyed a favourable balance of trade, thereby
accumulating stocks of gold.

2. India’s trade dominance continued in later times. In Mughal times, Abu’l Fazl’s Aine Akbari records that
40,000 vessels were engaged in trade in the Indus and its tributaries of Punjab.

3. While studying the Indian economy in the few centuries preceding British rule, economic historians have
pointed out India’s high trade surplus with most of her trading partners in Europe, West Asia or Africa.

4. This was the result of efficient low-cost products such as cotton or spices, but also of well-organized
communities of traders.

5.Indian merchants generally operated as guilds, a structure that provided them with greater security,
shared and reliable information, and effective access to goods as well as markets.

6. India and China controlled nearly 60 % of the world’s GDP 2,000 years ago.

7. They were the premier economic and trade powers from early times until the colonial era.

8. The colonial rule coincided with a steep decline in India’s overseas trade dominance and overall
production, as the rules of trade and industry began being dictated by the colonial master.
Trade in ancient India
1. At Mehrgarh, in Baluchistan, archaeology has brought to light trade networks as early as around
5000 BCE.
2. 2. These trade networks expanded considerably in extent and diversity before and during the
Indus civilization.
3. During the 1st millennium BCE, many large cities emerged, such as Taxila, Ujjain, Mathura, Patna,
Rajgir, Varanasi, Bharuch, Kanchipuram, Madurai and several more major trade centres.
4. These cities were generally located on some of the major trading routes.
5. That was also the time when well-structured states arose, which provided the required infrastructure
and a suitable environment for the promotion of trade.
6. Kautilya’s Arthasastra mentions trade as one of the three major types of economic activities.
7. This 3rd or 4th century BCE text shows Magadha trading in textiles, gems, coral and pearls, metals
and minerals, with many parts of north, central and south India.
8. Between 6th and 5th century BCE punch marked coins of silver were introduced in north and
western India.
9. India had long been engaged in external trade too. The Harappans were exporting timber, beads of
semiprecious stone, shell bangles, ivory items, pearls, etc., to Oman, Bahrain and Mesopotamia
through the Persian Gulf.
10. Around the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE, trade began with the Phoenicians. Indian teak
and cedar reached Babylonian builders.
11. Trade with the Roman Empire began gradually in the 3rd century BCE, reached its peak in the 1st
centuries BCE and CE, and slowly followed the decline of the Roman Empire.