UNIT- 4

SCIENCE ,MANAGEMENT AND

INDIAN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM
PART 1
 ASTRONOMY IN INDIA

•The first records of sophisticated astronomy in India date back to at least

2000 BCE, where they are found in the Rigveda (c1700-1100 BCE), one of
the primary and foremost texts of Hinduism
•The Rigveda shows that the Indians divided the year into 360 days, and the
year was subdivided into 12 months of 30 days.
• Every 5 years, two intercalary periods were added to bring the calendar
back in line with the solar year, ensuring that years averaged 366 days

•In the ancient India the study of Astronomy was known by the name
Khagola-shastra.
•The name was derived from the famous astronomical observatory in
Nalanda with the name of Khagola.
•It was at Khagola that Aryabhata had studied and had extended the subject
of astronomy to a wide extent.
 • Hindu astronomy was part of ancient Indian astronomy.
• Hindu Astronomy mostly includes calendars and calculation of the planetary
positions.
• Some of the notable Hindu astronomers of the early age were Varahamihira
and Garg.

•The ancient Indian Astronomy used concepts like Nakshatra, Tithi

and so on but not Rasi chakra.
•Even the „Vedanga Jyothisha‟ of Lagadha, of around ~10th C.
BC, does not give any such indication.
•To the seven planets, including the sun and the moon, the Indians added Rahu and
Ketu, to formulate their Rahu-ketu theories of eclipses.

• The word Rahu, in the sense of a planet, appears in the Atharvaveda and the
Chandogyopanisad apparently with no astronomical meaning, but in the
Yajnavalkyasmrti it does so in the astronomical sense (as ascending node).
 CHEMISTRTRY IN INDIA

•History of Indian alchemy can be traced to pre-Vedic period . The

archaeological excavations at Mohenjodaro and Harappa in the Indus
•Valley have brought to light that, the people in ancient India
•were possessing chemical knowledge as early as in the pre-historic period.

 In Vedic period single herbs were prescribed. Minerals and animal substances
were also prescribed but no compound preparations were in use. Alchemy in
India, was started for the preparation of an elixir of life for imparting
immortality and later for the transmutation process for converting base
metals into gold .
Following were the major chemical products that contributed to the devlopment
of chemistry.

GLASS, PAPER , SOAP , DYEING , COSMETIC AND PERFUME, INK,

ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS,PHARMACEUTICALS,
 Modern Chemistry
• Modern science appeared late on the Indian scene, i.e., only in the later part of.
coming to India. A science college was established in Calcutta in 1814.

• The study of chemistry was first introduced in the Presidency College of Calcutta in
1872, followed by post-graduate teaching in chemistry in 1886.

• The Indian Association For Cultivation Of Sciences was established in 1876. Early
chemists like P.C.Ray and Chuni Lal Bose were actively associated with it. P.C.Ray
was well aware and proud of the fact that Indians had made considerable progress in
the field of chemistry during the ancient and medieval periods, as was evident from his
two volumes on History of Hindu Chemistry.
•
•After Ray, Chandra Bhusan Bhaduri and Jyoti Bhusan Bhaduri were the ones
• who conducted significant researches in the field of inorganic chemistry.
 MEDIEVAL ALCHEMY

•The early Medieval period (800-1300 A.D.) was the golden era for the Indian alchemy .
•Several alchemical treatises were written between the ninth and fourteenth century A.D.

•Some of the texts dealt with Dehavada (use of Hathayogik and Tantrik practices to promote a long
healthy life along with the use of metals and minerals for the preparation of remedies for various
diseases); some dealt with Dhatuvada (transmutation of base metals into gold); and some with both.

• Rasaratnakara, Rasahridayatantra, Rasarnava, Rasendramangal, Rasopnishad, Rasasanketkalika,

Rasendrachudamani, Rasendrachintamani, Rasaprakashasudhakar, and Rasaratnasamucchaya are
some of the well-known and important alchemical treatises
• of this period . that are generally classed under the Rasashast.

•Ancient India, an important role in the development of chemistry was made by Ayurveda which used
a variety of minerals.
•Science and technology in ancient and medieval India covered all the major branches of human
knowledge and activities.
•In any, early civilization, metallurgy has remained an activity central to all civilizations from the
Bronze Age and the Iron Age, to all other civilizations that followed. The Indus valley civilization was
the earliest society, the story of early chemistry in India begins from here.
 Mathematics in India
•Indian mathematics emerged in the Indian subcontinent from 1200 BCE until the end
of the 18th century. In the classical period of Indian mathematics (400 CE to 1200 CE),
important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Bhaskara
II, and Varāhamihira.
•
•Some of the major contribution of India Mathematicians are;

•Solution of quadratic equations

•Basis for calculus
•The idea of Zero
•Decimal system
•Numeral Notation
•Binary Numbers
•Ruler management

Aryabhatta is the father of Indian mathematics. Aryabhatta's major work:

Spherical trigonometry, plane trigonometry. Determined the value of π correct
to four decimal places.
 Agriculture in India

•The agricultural sector is a central pillar of the Indian economy, employing 60

percent of the nation’s workforce and contributing to about 17 percent of its
GDP
Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian Economy"-
said Mahatma Gandhi six decades ago. .

Types of Indian agriculture are:

Mixed farming
This involves the rearing of livestock and crops together. Some of the crops
that are grown under this system are wheat, barley, potatoes and legumes.
Plantation agriculture Sometimes also known as commercial agriculture,
Plantation farming is about growing a single cash crop.
For large scale markets.
Tea
Coffee
Rubber
•Dry land & wet land farming

•Dry or dry-land farming is used in semi-arid and arid locations in India.

• Annual rainfall in these areas is under 80 cm and therefore crops are restricted to
once-a-year cultivation.
• Millets are one of the crops grown in dry farms

•. Wetland farming occurs where the average rainfall is over 200 cm.
• Multiple crops can be grown and states like Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram are
known for their wet farms.
•
• Intensive & extensive farming
•Intensive farming is : small area, high production
•Extensive farming is: large land, high production.

• Intensive farming requires more of everything on a smaller portion of land: labour,

fertilisers, high-yield crops and so on. States like Odisha and Bihar

•Extensive farms also need high inputs but on a larger tract of land. Punjab &
Haryana are known for these farming methods.
 Medicine in india

•Ayurveda
•It is known as Ayurvedic medicine (Ayurveda). Ayur in Sanskrit means “life”
and veda means “science” or “knowledge”; thus ayurveda is the science of life.
•It has evolved in India over thousands of years.

•Rig Veda mentions Agni or fire as the emissary connecting the gods with the
sacrificer.
•Therefore, the priests of the Agni cult – the Atharvans, the Angiras, and the
Bhrgus – were considered proficient in healing through magico-religious rites.
• They are also considered the authors of the Atharva Veda, which contains
details about early understanding of human body, its diseases and their cures.

• Medical training was imparted by the teachers in their ashramas. The University
of Taxila was well known for the study of medicine in ancient India, students
trained here were held in high regard.
 Acharya Sushruta – Cataract surgery and
Plastic surgery:
•Cataract surgery and plastic surgery were also first performed by the ancient physician Sushruta.

•He used a curved needle and removed the cataract by pushing the lens. The eyes were then immersed
in warm butter and were properly covered until they were completely healed.

•Usage of anesthesia was also well known in ancient India. People from far off countries came to India
to seek treatment.

•Born to sage Vishwamitra, Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago, he along with the health
scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like artificial limbs, cesareans, cataract,
Rhinoplasty (restoration of a damaged nose), urinary stones, and 6 types of dislocations, 12 types of
fractures, plastic surgery and even brain surgery.

• He is the author of the book “Sushruta Samhita”, in which he describes over 300 surgical procedures
and 125 surgical instruments.
•Sushruta’s work was later translated into Arabic language and gradually passed on to European
countries.
 PHYSICS IN INDIA

•Today‟s development of science and technology is based mostly on the hint of

knowledge of ancient India. Many instruments, machines, missiles, laws, etc.

•described especially in Srimad Bhagavata Gita and other epics are yet to invent
/discover.

• According to some scholars these five elements or Pancha Mahabhootas were identified
with the various human senses of perception; the earth with the smell, air with feeling, fire
with vision, water with taste and ether with sound.
•Whatever the validity behind this interpretation, it is true that since very ancient times
Indians had perceived the material world as comprising these 5 elements.
These four elements were Earth (Prithvi), fire (Agni), air (Maya) and water
•.
(Apa). To these four elements was added a fifth one viz. either or Akasha.

•Around 200 BCE, Maharshi Kanada systematically deduced a theory related to

atomism. It was further developed during the first millennium CE by Dignāga
and Dharmakirti.
• The Vaisheshika school philosophers considered the atom a minute point in space.
It was also the first to describe the connection between the force applied and motion
about ‘parmanu’ or atoms.
•Aryabhata, through his book Aryabhatiyam, proposed that the evident westward
movement of stars is due to the spherical (he termed it as ‘gol’) Earth’s spinning
about its own axis.

• He was able to effectively analyse such celestial phenomena due to his impeccable
understanding of trigonometry and geometry.

• Nilakantha Somayaji came up with a semi-heliocentric concept similar to that of

the Tychonic system.

•However, most Indian theories about ‘parmanu’ or atoms were predominantly

abstract, intertwined with contemporary philosophy. These ideas were based on
pure logic and not on experimentation or personal experiences, as there were no
methods to dissect visible material into basic components.
 METALLURGY IN INDIA
• The metallurgical industry in India can be segmented into various sub-industries
such as aluminium, Copper, lead, iron, zinc, steel etc.26 Nov 2018

•The history of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent began prior to the 3rd
millennium BCE.
• Metals and related concepts were mentioned in various early Vedic age texts. The
Rigveda already uses the Sanskrit term ayas (Sanskrit: अयस्, romanized: áyas, lit.
'metal; copper; iron').
•It is generally agreed that the first known metals were gold, silver, and copper,
which occurred in the native or metallic state, of which the earliest were in all
probability nuggets of gold found in the sands and gravels of riverbeds

•The archeological digging done in Indus valley many proofs of metallurgical

knowledge were found.
•Even a pot similar to Bessemer Converter was found. The Indus valley civilization
is supposed to be at least 5000 year old.
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 BIOLOGY
• Biology is the Science that studies living organisms and how they interact with one another
and with their physical and chemical environment. India from ancient times has contributed
to the field of Botany, Zoology and other fields of Biology extensively.

•The Rigveda gives references to trees, sowing of seeds, hibernation and sighting of frogs,
seasoned timber, domestication of cattle, grinding of corn, reference to birds and their
feathers, production of food through ploughing etc.

•Evolution and origin of the universe, plants(nearly 107 applications of plants) and their
curative powers, are mentioned here.

•The Soma plant was the most important plant followed by the Aswatha or the peepal plant.
•In Atharvaveda, there is recognition of energy, uses of beans, rice, sesame, curd, vegetable
foods and the preparation of liquor from grass, barley and rice are mentioned. The Satapatha
Brahmana mentions ploughs used in agriculture, boar skin used for sandals, dyeing of cloth,
cow dung used as manure, pests and weeds, houses made of wood, grass with bamboo cane
for thatching etc.

•Parasara’s Vrkshayurveda had extensive information on the morphology, anatomy and

classification of plants.
 Geographical studies in India

•Early Vedic Period

•Earlier Aryans believed to be lived along Saptasindavah or Sapta Sindhu (means land seven
rivers). Sapta Sindhu comprises river Sindhu (Indus) and its tributaries: Sutudri (Sutlej),
Vipasa (Beas), Parushini (Ravi), Asikni (Chenab), Vitase (Jhelum) and Naditarna (Saraswati).

•River Saraswati as considered best of all the rivers in Rig Veda.

•In Rig Veda, Saraswati is most mentioned river, Ganga is mentioned once and Yamuna is
mentioned thrice.

•Later Vedic Period

•In later period, Aryans moved further eastwards and occupied whole of north India.
•According to story in Satapatha Brahmana, Videga Madhava started from river Saraswati,
crossed river Gandhak leading to the name of area as ‘Videha’.

•The Janas were transformed into Janapadas.

•They had knowledge of Narmada River and Vindhyan mountains.
•They divided the country into five parts – north, east, west, south and central parts.