CRAFTS & TECHNOLOGY, SCIENCE & MATHEMATICS, MEDICINE &

GEOGRAPHY
CRAFTS & TECHNOLOGY
Mature Harappan Phase (2500 BC- 1900 BC):
 The Harappans were great experts in the use of the potter’s wheel but were poor in artistic works of
stone. Primarily red black pottery (red ware pottery painted with black designs, usually that of trees
and circles) was popular. Some of these pots were used for storing grain or water, while some
perforated pots were probably used for brewing fermented alcoholic beverages.

(Red and Black ware pottery) (Perforated pot)

 A lot of terracotta has been found at many sites, including figurines of animals such as bulls,
buffaloes, dogs, monkeys, toy carts, and humans. Terracotta bangles have also been found. It is
important to note that more female figurines have been uncovered in comparison to male figurines.

(Terracotta figure of mother (Terracotta Toys) (Terracotta Rhinoceros)

Goddess found in Mohenjodaro)

 The Harappans refined the art of bead-making, and jewellery excavated includes gold and silver
jewellery, including necklaces, bracelets, pendants, earrings, brooches. At Allahdino (near Karachi),
a lot of necklaces made of gold, silver, carnelian and semi-precious stones have been found.

(Ornaments found (Gold jewellery found

in indus valley) in Mohenjodaro)
  Copper, bronze, silver, and gold were metals known and used by Harappans, but iron was not.

(Bronze dancing girl found in Mohenjodaro)

 They were also good at metallurgy and producing alloys. The craftsmen used to both make artefacts
out of pure copper as well as bronze such as spears, knives, short swords, mirrors, axes, needles,
rings, and bangles. It is rather interesting that the number of pure copper artefacts was far greater
than alloyed bronze ones, but it does not mean technological backwardness rather points towards
cultural preference in all likelihood.

(Bronze Mirror) (Copper Artefacts) (Copper artefacts found in Gola dharo)

(Copper knives with bone handles)

 Stone figurines were also found in Indus Valley.

(Stone figure of priest with (Red sandstone Male Torso and Grey sandstone dancer)
trefoil pattern shawl)

Late Harappan Phase (1900 BC- 1200 BC) :

 In this period, painted Harappan pottery is replaced with less intricate designs and painted grey ware
(PGW). All Late Harappan sites lack human figurines. In comparison with Mature Harappan pottery,
the pottery in the Late Harappan phase was less bright. The pots were thicker and sturdier and many
peculiar Harappan shapes like perforated jars, s-shaped jars disappeared.
 (Painted Grey Ware)

Rig Vedic Period (1500BC- 1000BC):

 They did not use iron technology, but were familiar with copper. Also, there have been very less
references to metallurgical activities. A lot of other crafts such as cart-making, carpentry, tanning,
sewing, and weaving, find mention, though the chariot-maker enjoyed a special status in Rig Vedic
society. Chariot-racing and dice gambling were popular pastimes.

Later Vedic Period (1000BC- 500BC):

 Diverse arts and crafts were practiced in the Later Vedic period. Tin, lead, silver, Iron, gold, bronze,
Ivory carving and copper were known to Later Vedic people. There were probably good smiths and
smelters as a lot of copper objects have been found at PGW Sites. People had obtained knowledge of
glass manufacturing too. Wagons drawn by oxen were probably the most used mode of transport.
 The Later Vedic people were acquainted with four types of pottery:
a) Painted Grey Ware
b) Black and Red Ware
c) Black-slipped Ware
d) Red Ware

Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) Phase (500BC):

 Archeologically, 5th century BCE is marked by the beginning of NBPW phase and the second
urbanisation in India (after the Harappan Civilisation). This is derived on the basis of literary
testimony of the early Buddhist Pali texts, Sanskrit Sutra literature, and archaeological evidence from
early NBPW sites. NBPW refers to Northern Black Polished Ware, which was a glossy, shining type
of pottery made from very fine fabric and probably used as tableware by the wealthy. It is rather
interesting to note that NBPW is not always black (as it is found in other shades and colours too),
also found in Southern India (identified at Amravati in Andhra Pradesh, though there is a
concentration of sites in northern India), and not necessarily always polished (although it is well-
fired, wheel-made, deluxe pottery, having a glossy surface). The NBPW is usually unpainted, but
there are some instances of designs like wavy lines, concentric and intersecting circles, bands, dots,
etc., painted on in yellow and light vermillion. The NBPW phase also marks the beginning of the use
of money in the subcontinent, as early series of punch-marked coins have been excavated from
NBPW Sites. Along with metal money, burnt bricks and ring wells too appeared in the middle of the
NBPW Phase.
 Mauryan Age:
 The Maurya kings, especially Ashoka, highly patronised different art forms such as stone sculptures,
ring stones, disc stones, terracotta figurines, and stupa architecture

(Sanchi Stupa)
 Ashokan pillars at Rampurva, Lauriya Nandangarh, and Sarnath present excellent examples of stone
sculptures that developed in this period. All these pillars are circular and monolithic, and are made of
sandstone found at Chunar, near Mirzapur in U.P.

(Rampurva Pillar-Bull) (Lauriya Nandangarh Pillar- Lion) (Sarnath Pillar- Lion, Bull, Horse,Elephant)
 The rock-cut architecture of Lomasha Risi cave in the Barabara hills near Gaya, and the majestic
Dhauli caves (near Bhubaneswar, Odisha which contains the rock sculpture of the front part of an
elephant) is magnificent.

(Lomasha Rishi cave) (Dhauli cave)

 The famous Vajrasana (throne of meditation) at the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya probably
belonged to this period.
 Among several stone and terracotta sculptures of this period, the polished stone sculpture of a female
known as the Didarganj Yakshini (demi-gods and spirits; Yakshinis are generally regarded as fertility
deities, and the female counterpart of Yakshas, who were the deities connected with water, trees,
forest, wilderness, and fertility) is the most famous one.
 (Didarganj Yakshini)

 Another important polished Chunar sandstone sculpture is of the torso of a nude male figure found at
Lohanipur in Patna.
 The stone portrait of Ashoka found at Kanaganahalli (near Sannati, Karnataka).

(Stone portrait of Ashoka at Kanaganahalli)

 Intensive use of iron and iron implements (such as socketed axes, sickles, ploughshare, and spoked
wheel), prevalence of writing, use of punch-marked coins, NBPW pottery artefacts, introduction of
burnt bricks and timber in construction (as reported by Megasthenes in his writings about the
wooden structure at the Mauryan capital of Pataliputra) and ring wells (which supplied water to
people for domestic use and also served as soak pits in congested settlements).
 The high technical skill attained by the Mauryan artisans is evident in the stone pillars’ polish,
which is as shining as the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW).
 Mauryan art is also believed to have Achaemenid/Persian influence since the pillar inscriptions of
Ashoka are very similar in form and style to the Persian king Darius’s inscriptions. However, there
are also differences between the Mauryan and Persian pillars as the Persian pillars stand on bases,
either shaped like a bell (i.e., inverted lotus) or a plain rectangular or circular block while in case of
Mauryan pillars the base is absent and the inverted lotus appears at the top of the shaft. The shape
and ornamentation of the Mauryan lotus (typical bulge) is also different from the Persian ones (bulge
is absent). Most of the Persian pillars have a fluted surface while Mauryan pillars are smooth. The
Maurya type abacus and independent animals carved in the round crowning are absent in the Persian
context.

Post Mauryan Age:

 The period pertaining to the Shakas, the Kushanas, the Satavahanas and the three early kingdoms
(that is, the period from 3rd century BCE to 2nd century CE) was the most flourishing period in the
history of crafts and commerce in ancient India.
 The level of specialisation was very high and as many as eight crafts were associated with the
working of gold, silver, lead, tin, copper, brass, iron and precious stones or jewels, which employed
separate artisans working in each craft.
  The technological advancement in iron is evident by the excavation of sophisticated iron artifacts,
specially from the Karimnagar and Nalgonda districts of Telangana region. Indian iron and steel,
including cutlery, were exported to as far as Abyssinian ports and were in high demand in western
Asian countries.
 The manufacturing in textiles, silk-weaving, arms, luxury articles, handicrafts and terracotta
figurines, made rapid progress during this period.
 The textile industry was a prominent industry. Mathura (famous for a special type of cloth called
shataka) and Vanga (eastern Bengal) were famous for variety of cotton and silk textiles. The
discovery of some dyeing vats at some sites in south India such as Uraiyur and Arikamendu indicates
that dyeing was a thriving craft in the area during this period.
 Ujjain was a prominent bead-making centre. The shell industry was in a thriving state, and many
shell products belonging to the Kushana period have been excavated.
 Coin-minting was an important craft, and this period is noted for numerous types of coins made of
gold, silver, copper, bronze, potin, and lead. Interestingly, the craftsmen even made fake Roman
coins.
 The beautiful pieces of terracotta found in profuse quantities in almost all Kushana and Satavahana
sites, especially Yelleshwaram in Nalgonda district, are truly masterpieces. It is generally believed
that terracotta was meant mostly for the use of upper classes in towns. The artisans in this period
touched new heights of prosperity, and there are numerous inscriptions which refer to the donations
made by artisans to monasteries.
 There were three major schools of sculptural art which developed in this period. These were:
Gandhara School of art, Mathura school of art, and Amravati school of art.

Gupta Age:
 A lifesized bronze image of the Buddha (around 2 metres in height) belonging to the Mathura school
has been found from Sultanganj in Bihar.
 The finest examples of Buddhist art during Gupta period are the paintings of Ajanta caves, which are
now included in the list of the World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO.
 The Bagh cave paintings near Gwalior can be termed Buddhist art as well, and as compared with
Ajanta, are more simple and plain.
 Many Vaishnava sculptures, which include images of the avatars such as boar, man-lion, dwarf, and
Vasudeva-Krishna, have been found at Mathura. One of the largest known free standing stone image
belonging to this period is a colossal figure of Krishna effortlessly lifting up Govardhana mountain,
found at Varanasi.
 The cave architecture of this period is almost entirely Buddhist, but there are a few exceptions such
as the caves at Udaigiri, near Vidisha, which has the famous relief scene of Vishnu rescuing the earth
from the waters in the form of Nri-Varaha (body of a man and head of a boar), and Elephanta caves,
the largest one of which is dedicated to Shiva.
(Ajanta Cave painting-Fresco style painting) (Bagh Cave Painting)

 The Buddha images of this period displayed a greater variety of mudras than before. For instance,
the Buddha images from Sarnath differed in several ways (as robes have no folds) from those of
Mathura.
 The spectacular Bamiyan Buddha sculptures which were tragically destroyed by the Taliban too
belonged to this period. A dated stone image of a seated tirthankara belonging to 432 CE was
excavated at Mathura, which was different from the seated figurines of preceding centuries.
 The Gupta coins are also pieces of art. They are well designed and meticulously crafted. They carry
aesthetically impressive depictions of the activities of the rulers. At many places such as Kaushambi,
Rajghat, Bhita, and Mathura, terracotta figurines and plaques have been found.

SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS & MEDICINE

 The first result of the scientific outlook of Indians was the development of Sanskrit Grammer. In 5th
Century BC, Panini systematized the rules governing Sanskrit and produced a grammar called
Ashtadhyayi.
 Mathematics has been called by the general name of Ganita which includes Arithmetic’s, Geometry,
Algebra, Astronomy and Astrology.
 Arithmetic is called by several names such as Pattin Ganita (calculations on board), Anka Ganita
(calculations with numerals).
 Geometry is called Rekha Ganita (line works) .
 Algebra is called Bija Ganita (seed analysis).
 Astronomy and Astrology are included in the term Jyotisa.
In ancient India, religion and science worked in close proximity.

Astronomy
The movement of planets came to be emphasized and closely observed. Jyotishvedanga texts established
systematic categories in astronomy but the more basic problem was handled by Aryabhatta (499 AD).
Aryabhatta:
 Aryabhatta’s Aryabhattiya is a concise text containing 121 verses. It contains separate sections on
astronomical definitions, methods of determining the true position of the planets, description of the
movement of the sun and the moon and the calculation of the eclipses.
 The reason he gave for eclipse was that the earth was a sphere and rotated on its axis and when the
shadow of the earth fell on the moon, it caused Lunar eclipse and when the shadow of the moon fell
on the earth, it caused Solar eclipse. On the contrary, the orthodox theory explained it as a process
where the demon swallowed the planet.
  All these observations have been described by Varahamihira in Panch Siddhantika which gives the
summary of five schools of astronomy present in his time.
 Aryabhatta deviated from Vedic astronomy and gave it a scientific outlook which became a guideline
for later astronomers. Astrology and horoscope were studied in ancient India. Aryabhatta’s theories
showed a distinct departure from astrology which stressed more on beliefs than scientific
explorations.
Varahamihira:
 Varahamihira’s Brihatsamhita of the sixth century AD is another pioneering work in the field of
astronomy. His observation that the moon rotated around the earth and the earth rotated around the
sun found recognition and later discoveries were based on this assertion.

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. The notations and the numerals were carried to the West by the Arabs.
These numerals replaced the Roman numerals. Zero was discovered in India in the second century
BC.
 Aryabhatta (499AD) discovered algebra and also formulated the area of a triangle, which led to the
origin of Trignometry. (Aryabhattiya book)
 Brahmagupta in 7th century AD in his book Brahmasputa Siddhanta mentioned ‘zero’ for the first
time as a number, hence, Brahmagupta is considered as the man who found zero. He gave rules of
using zero with other numbers. He also mentioned negative numbers and described them as debts
and positive numbers as fortunes.
 In the 9th century AD, Mahaviracharya wrote Ganit SaraSangraha which is the first textbook on
arithmetic in present day form. In his book, he described in details the current method of finding
Lowest common multiple.

Medicine:
 During the Vedic times, Ashwini Kumars were the practisioners of medicine and were given the
divine status.
 Dhanvantari was the God of medicine.
 Atharva Veda was the first book where we find mention about the diseases, its cure and medicines.
According to it, the diseases were caused by the demons and spirits entering into the human body
and can be cured by magical charms and spells. Atharva Veda mentioned cure for many of the
diseases which include diarrhoea, sores, cough, leprosy, fever and seizure.
 However, the era of practical and more rational cure to diseases emerged around 600 BC.
 Takshila and Varanasi emerged as the centres for medicinal learning.
 The two important treaties during this time were:
a) Charak Samhita (deals with Ayurveda) by Charak
b) Sushruta Samhita (deals with Surgery) by Sushruta
 Before them, Atreya and Agnivesa had already dealt with principles of Ayurveda way back in 800
BCE.
Physics:
 From the Vedic times, the materials on the Earth have been classified into panchbhootas. These
panchmahabhootas were identified with human senses of perception.
Earth (prithvi) with smell
Fire (agni) with vision
Air (maya) with feeling
Water (apa) with taste
Ether (akasha) with sound.
 The Buddhist philosophers who came later rejected ether as one of the element and replaced it with
life, joy and sorrow. Philosophers were of the view that except ether, all other four were physically
palpable and therefore comprised miniscule particles of matter. The last miniscule matter which
could not be furthernsubdivided was called Parmanu. There are five different types of parmanu for
five different elements.
 Indian philosophers Kanada and Pakudha Katyayana in 6th century BC, first coined the idea of
atoms and the material world being constituted of atoms. Kanada explained that material world is
made up of kana which cannot be seen through human organ.

Chemistry
 The development of metallurgy started in India from the Bronzen Age.
 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.
 Alkali and acids were produced and utilised for making medicines.
 This technology was also used for other crafts like producing dyes and colours. Textile dyeing was
popular. The Ajanta frescoes reflect on the quality of colour. These paintings have survived till date.
 In the area of smelting of metals, Indians had an expertise in extraction of metals form ore and its
casting. It is possible that India had borrowed this idea form Mesopotamia.
 Indians in the Persian army used weapons tipped with iron.
 The best evidences of Indian metallurgy are Iron pillar of Mehrauli in Delhi and an idol of Gautama
Buddha in Sultanganj, Bihar. They have not caught rust yet even after their manufacture more than
thousands of years back.
 Nagarjuna wrote a treatise Rasaratnakara, a book on chemistry. The treatise mainly deals with
preparation of liquids (mainly mercury). The book also emphasised on the survey of metallurgy and
alchemy.
 In the field of geology, hydrology and ecology, the contribution of Varahamihira cannot be forgotten.
He lived in the Gupta period and was among the nine gems in the court of Vikramaditya.
Vikramaditya awarded him with the title of “Varaha”. The earth cloud theory was also propounded
by him in his book Brihat Samhita. He related earthquake to the influence of plants, behaviour of
animals, underground water, undersea activities and the unusual cloud formation.

Geography
Though the people were clear about their own physical geography, that of China and also the Western
countries, they were unaware of their position on the earth and the distances with other countries.
Indians also contributed to shipbuilding. In the ancient period, voyages and navigation was not a familiar
foray for the Indians. However, Lothal, a site in Gujarat has the remains of a dockyard proving that trade
flourished in those days by sea.