List of South Asian inventions and discoveries

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This list refers to technological achievements which took place in South Asia (encompassing the modern-day states of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) before 1947 in pre-partition India.

Indus Valley Civilisation

The Indus Valley Civilisation is a lost ancient civilization which flourished in the Bronze Age around the Indus River basin in what is today mainly Pakistan and the western parts of the Republic of India. It is also called the Harappan Civilization, after one of its the centres, Harappa.

Inventions

Computer-aided reconstruction of Harappan coastal settlement in Pakistan on the westernmost outreaches of the civilization
  • Bow drill: The bow drill appeared in Mehrgarh in what today is Pakistan between 4th-5th millennium BCE.[3] It was used to drill holes into lapis lazuli and cornelian and was made of green jasper.[3] Similar drills were found in other parts of the Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan and Iran one millennium later.[3]
  • Button, ornamental: Buttons—made from seashell—were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE.[4] Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pieced into them so that they could attached to clothing by using a thread.[4] Ian McNeil (1990) holds that: "The button, in fact, was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley in Pakistan. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."[5]
  • Cockfighting: Cockfighting was a pastime in the Indus Valley Civilization in what today is Pakistan by 2000 BCE.[6] The Encyclopædia Britannica (2008)—on the origins of cockfighting—holds: "The game fowl is probably the nearest to the Indian red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), from which all domestic chickens are believed to be descended...The sport was popular in ancient times in India, China, Persia, and other Eastern countries and was introduced into Greece in the time of Themistocles (c. 524–460 BCE). The sport spread throughout Asia Minor and Sicily. For a long time the Romans affected to despise this "Greek diversion," but they ended up adopting it so enthusiastically that the agricultural writer Columella (1st century CE) complained that its devotees often spent their whole patrimony in betting at the side of the pit."[7]
  • Dice: The die is attributed to India by some accounts.[8][9][10] Some of the earliest archaeological evidence of oblong dice have been found in Harrapan sites such as Kalibangan, Lothal, Ropar, Alamgirpur, Desalpur and surrounding territories, some dating back to the third millennium BCE, which were used for gambling.[11][12][13] The oblong or cubical dice (akṣa) is the precursor of the more primitive vibhīṣaka—small, hard nuts drawn randomly to obtain factors of a certain integer.[14] Dicing is believed to have later spread westwards to Persia, influencing Persian board games.[15] Early references to dicing can be found in the Ṛg Veda (c. early 2nd millennium BCE)[13][16][17] as well as the newer Atharva Veda (c. late 2nd millennium ~ early 1st millennium BCE).[11][18]
  • Dike: Dikes were known to be widely used in the Indus valley civilization,[19][20] which are believed to be the first dikes in the world,[20] built as early as the 1st millennium BCE.[20] This was the same period when the dockyard at Lothal was in operation.[20] The use of dikes became known from then onwards.[20]
  • Dock (maritime): The world's first dock at Lothal (2400 BCE) was located away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt.[21] Modern oceanographers have observed that the Harappans must have possessed great knowledge relating to tides in order to build such a dock on the ever-shifting course of the Sabarmati, as well as exemplary hydrography and maritime engineering.[21] This was the earliest known dock found in the world, equipped to berth and service ships.[21] It is speculated that Lothal engineers studied tidal movements, and their effects on brick-built structures, since the walls are of kiln-burnt bricks.[22] This knowledge also enabled them to select Lothal's location in the first place, as the Gulf of Khambhat has the highest tidal amplitude and ships can be sluiced through flow tides in the river estuary.[22] The engineers built a trapezoidal structure, with north-south arms of average 21.8 metres (71.5 ft), and east-west arms of 37 metres (121 ft).[22]
  • Dyeing: Early evidence of dyeing comes from India where a piece of cotton dyed with a vegetable dye has been recovered from the archaeological site at Mohenjo-daro (3rd millennium BCE).[23] The dye used in this case was madder, which, along with other dyes—such as Indigo—was introduced to other regions through trade.[23] Contact with Alexander the Great, who had successfully used dyeing for military camouflage, may have further helped aid the spread of dyeing from India.[23] Within India these dyes have found consistent mention in Indian literature and in some cases have been excavated in archaeological findings.[23] Dyes in India were a commodity of both Internal trade and exports.[23] Indian exports of Indigo alone reached nearly 15, 097, 622 pounds in 1887-88 with the principle markets being the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and Egypt.[23]
  • Furnace: The earliest furnace was excavated at Balakot, a site of the Indus Valley Civilization in the Mansehra District in the Hazara region of Pakistan, dating back to its mature phase (c. 2500-1900 BCE). The furnace was most likely used for the manufacturing of ceramic objects.[24]
  • Plough, animal-drawn: The earliest archeological evidence of an animal-drawn plough dates back to 2500 BCE in the Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan.[25]
  • Puppets and Puppetry: Evidence of puppetry comes from the excavations at the Indus Valley.[26] Archaeologists have unearthed terracotta dolls with detachable heads capable of manipulation by a string dating to 2500 BCE.[26] Other excavations include terracotta animals which could be manipulated up and down a stick—-archiving minimum animation in both cases.[26] The epic Mahabharata; Tamil literature from the Sangam Era, and various literary works dating from the late centuries BCE to the early centuries of the Common Era—including Ashokan edicts—describe puppets.[27] Works like the Natya Shastra and the Kamasutra elaborate on puppetry in some detail.[28] The Javanese Wayang theater was influenced by Indian traditions.[29] Europeans developed puppetry as a result of extensive contact with the Eastern World.[30]
  • Ruler: Rulers made from Ivory were in use by the Indus Valley Civilization in what today is Pakistan and some parts of Western India prior to 1500 BCE.[31] Excavations at Lothal (2400 BCE) have yielded one such ruler calibrated to about 1/16 of an inch—less than 2 millimeters.[31] Ian Whitelaw (2007) holds that 'The Mohenjo-Daro ruler is divided into units corresponding to 1.32 inches (33.5 mm) and these are 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.'[32] Shigeo Iwata (2008) further writes 'The minimum division of graduation found in the segment of an ivory-made linear measure excavated in Lothal was 1.79 mm (that corresponds to 1/940 of a fathom), while that of the fragment of a shell-made one from Mohenjo-daro was 6.72 mm (1/250 of a fathom), and that of bronze-made one from Harapa was 9.33 mm (1/180 of a fathom).'[33] The weights and measures of the Indus civilization also reached Persia and Central Asia, where they were further modified.[33]
  • Stepwell: Earliest clear evidence of the origins of the stepwell is found in the Indus Valley Civilization's archaeological site at Mohenjodaro in Pakistan.[34] The three features of stepwells in the subcontinent are evident from one particular site, abandoned by 2500 BCE, which combines a bathing pool, steps leading down to water, and figures of some religious importance into one structure.[34] The early centuries immediately before the common era saw the Buddhists and the Jains of India adapt the stepwells into their architecture.[34] Both the wells and the form of ritual bathing reached other parts of the world with Buddhism.[34] Rock-cut step wells in the subcontinent date from 200-400 CE.[35] Subsequently the wells at Dhank (550-625 CE) and stepped ponds at Bhinmal (850-950 CE) were constructed.[35]
  1. ^ Ghosh (1990), page 224
  2. ^ Ghosh (1990), page 83
  3. ^ a b c Kulke, Hermann & Rothermund, Dietmar (2004). A History of India. Routledge. 22. ISBN 0-415-32920-5.
  4. ^ a b Hesse, Rayner W. & Hesse (Jr.), Rayner W. (2007). Jewelrymaking Through History: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. 35. ISBN 0-313-33507-9.
  5. ^ McNeil, Ian (1990). An encyclopaedia of the history of technology. Taylor & Francis. 852. ISBN 0-415-01306-2.
  6. ^ Sherman, David M. (2002). Tending Animals in the Global Village. Blackwell Publishing. 46. ISBN 0-683-18051-7.
  7. ^ Cockfighting. Encyclopedia Britannica 2008
  8. ^ Robinson & Estes (1996), page 34
  9. ^ Lowie (2007), page 162
  10. ^ Nejat (1998), page 165
  11. ^ a b Brown (1964), page 34 Cite error: The named reference "Brown1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  12. ^ "Games and Amusement: Dice". Encyclopedia of Indian Archaeology edited by A. Ghosh (1990), 1: 178-179, Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 90-04-09264-1
  13. ^ a b Varadpande (2005), pages 156-157
  14. ^ Basham (2001), pages 207-208
  15. ^ "Backgammon". Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia Volume 1, A-K index. Edited by Meri, Josef W (2006). London: Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 0-415-96690-6
  16. ^ Ṛg Veda, Book 10, 34
  17. ^ Basham (2001), pages 207 & 403-405
  18. ^ Atharva Veda 2.3; 4.38; 6.118; 7.52; 7.109
  19. ^ McIntosh (2007), page 14
  20. ^ a b c d e Koppel (2007), page 217
  21. ^ a b c Rao, pages 27–28
  22. ^ a b c Rao, pages 28–29
  23. ^ a b c d e f Bhardwaj, H.C. & Jain, K.K., "Indian Dyes and Industry During 18th-19th Century", Indian Journal of History of Science, 17 (11): 70-81, New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy.
  24. ^ Dales (1974)
  25. ^ Lal, R. (August 2001). "Thematic evolution of ISTRO: transition in scientific issues and research focus from 1955 to 2000". Soil and Tillage Research. 61 (1–2): 3–12 [3]. doi:10.1016/S0167-1987(01)00184-2.
  26. ^ a b c Ghosh, Massey, and Banerjee, page 14
  27. ^ Ghosh, Massey, and Banerjee, pages 14-15
  28. ^ Ghosh, Massey, and Banerjee, pages 15-16
  29. ^ Bell 2000, page 46
  30. ^ Bell 2000, page 37
  31. ^ a b Whitelaw, page 14
  32. ^ Whitelaw, page 15
  33. ^ a b Iwata, 2254
  34. ^ a b c d Livingston & Beach, 20
  35. ^ a b Livingston & Beach, page xxiii
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