Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century, the first volume of Dharampal’s

Collected Writings sheds light on India’s rich tradition in various sciences and the indigenous
methods used in medicine, agriculture and production. Like the other books in his series, he
deals with the idea of a ‘barbaric and uncivilized India, completely lacking any kind of
culture’. The idea of a backward and downtrodden India is also picked up by Claude Alvarez
in his introduction for the book. He explains after thorough perusal of works on Indian
science and technology, that the root of the idea lies in the British colonization of the
country. Alvarez suggests that settlement in India was never of concern to the Europeans,
but to plunder the Indian economy for British gains. He also references a lecture given by
Prof. Adam Fergusson in 1780 where he raises the question of the main purpose of Indian
colonization, it was to transfer as much wealth from India to Britain. This was carried in a
systematic manner by the East India Company- firstly, by taxing Indian agriculturists far
beyond the means of their production; secondly, by adapting Indian technology in the
Britain; thirdly, by suppressing Indian industries to the extent of shut down, leaving our
economy in an abysmal state, where India became a feeder country for good being
produced in Britain. This process continued hand in hand with the creation of a narrative in
Britain and among the Indian upper classes, which portrayed India to be completely devoid
of any historic achievements in the field of science and technology, suggesting us to be a
meek population who lacked any initiative towards development. Alvarez in his closing
remarks mentions “All histories are elaborate efforts at myth-making. Therefore, when we
submit to histories about us written by others, we submit to their myths about us as well.
Myth-making, like naming, is a token of having power. Submitting to others’ myths about us
is a sign that we are without power. After the historical work of Dharampal, the scope for
myth-making about the past of Indian society is now considerably reduced. If we must
continue to live by myths, however, it is far better we choose to live by those of our own
making rather than by those invented by others for their own purposes, whether English or
Japanese. That much at least we owe ourselves as an independent society and nation.”
Dharampal’s work is a collection of writing by European officials deputed in India, and
although these records hint at the presence of a well developed system of science and
technology, these were never considered together. The Europeans always considered
developments in India to be scattered instances, they did not try to reconstruct the whole
and that contributed greatly to their skewed understanding of the Indian society. The
collected writings thus serve the purpose of highlighting how heavily the Europeans borrow
from ancient Indian science and technology.

In terms of Indian Science, Prof. John Playfair has analyzed various astronomical records in
possession of the Brahmins. The earliest calculation found in these records is that of 3102
years before Christ, the Brahmins used this as basis to carry out other astronomical
calculations. These records far outdate the first observations made by the Babylonians in
1600 BC. The suggestion that Indian astronomers may have been intellectually superior to
the Europeans did not fit well with contemporary European scholars. In order to nullify this
development, Prof. Playfair subjected Indian calculations to all kinds of tests. These tests
conclusively asserted the correctness of these calculations. Prof. Playfair thus resorts to the
claim that the Indians did not calculate these positions but simple observed them in 3102
BC. He finds it easier to concede to the antiquity of Indian astronomy rather than the
complexity of it. He also notes that the Brahmins do not understand the basics of what they
are dealing with and they neither have the curiosity to learn more about it. However we can
ascribe Brahmin’s unwillingness to talk to the Europeans because of the secrecy that they
maintain in such matters and due to the conception that the Europeans may not understand
such complex information. Indian interest in astronomy is also exemplified by the
observatory at Benares. The observatory is a remarkably built and is considered to have
been built in the 15th century. A similar fate of dejection is met by the observatory as well.
Sir Robert Barker who visited the observatory in 1772 suggests that it is a mere 36 years old.
He backs his claim by giving evidence of ‘Zeej Mohammedshahy’ which mentions Raja
Mansingh as the sponsor for the Man Mandir. This claim is also met by contestations, A
Campbell and Pearse also visited the observatory in the year 1772 and they clearly state
that the observatory was some two centuries old. Now, it is obvious that they would not
arrive at this conclusion without any research and they must have consulted the locals
regarding the same. Thus we come across another instance of the Europeans trying to
distort Indian history.

Reuben Burrow in his paper provides subtle hints towards the falsity of Prof. Playfair’s claim.
Mr. Burrow asserts without a shadow of a doubt that the Druids in England and France, who
were some of the most intellectually able population in the 4th century BCE were Brahmins.
The Druids contributed greatly to the development of Roman sciences. In extension to this,
Burrow argues that Hindu algebra was extremely advanced as can be seen from our
astronomical calculations which involve dealing with infinite series. Although, algebraic
works like ‘Beej Ganita’ and ‘Lilavati’ cannot be found in their entirety and a wealth of
information has been lost, we can be certain of the vast knowledge of mathematics that our
ancestors possessed. Upon further research, we find that there were other mathematical
works as well. Indian Arithmetic had the knowledge of division of finite quantities, and
binomial theorem along with geometry. These were often used in astronomical calculations;
additionally algebraic equations could be arrived at through the knowledge of geometry.
Hindu algebra appears to be better and more comprehensive than the rest for the following
reasons- i. Indians could solve equations involving more than one unknown term ii. they
could attempt equations of higher order including the biquadratic equation iii. General
methods of for solution of inderminate problems were a lot more comprehensive than their
Greek counterparts iv. Application of algebra and geometry in astronomy and vice-versa.
Historical evidence does suggest that the knowledge of algebra was not indigenous to
Indians and was passed on by the Greeks, however the system that we further developed
was far more advanced than that of the Greeks and the knowledge of mathematics reached
its pinnacle under the aegis of Hindu scholars.

Further, the Imperial rulers of the country try to dismantle the practice Indian medicine by
calling it unscientific. However we find evidence of inoculation against smallpox in the entire
country. JZ Howell particularly focusses on the inoculation that is carried out in the province
of Bengal. We find out that a particular tribe of Brahmins perform the inoculation for the
entire province. They arrive mostly in February and begin inoculating in March. The fever
usually rages post monsoon when the weather is humid and hot. The Brahmins walk door to
door and never miss a single house. However they advise certain restrictions be maintained,
these are to refrain from milk, fish and ghee for one month prior to inoculation. The reason
for the same being that these substances may cause severe inflammation. The Brahmins use
a particular ferment which is transferred to the bloodstream with the help of a tika. This
introduction of the smallpox germ into the body is then treated by a set method by the
Brahmins. Once the spots appear, they are punctured with the help of an instrument and
the patient is asked to sleep out in the open and expose them to all kinds of air, they are
also supposed to bathe with cold water and refrain from food that may cause inflammation.
The Brahmins possessed the knowledge that our body becomes immune to certain viruses
after a single exposure and automatically develops a defense mechanism, it is this idea that
the Brahmins use. They are successful in controlling the initial bout of fever so that when
the smallpox rages in the month of September the body is immune to it.

Indian agriculture was the mainstay of the Imperial colonizers and the indigenous methods
used to sustain agriculture ensured a constant flow of produce into the British granaries.
One such method was the use of drill husbandry, it came as a replacement for the
transplantation method which required immense efforts to be put in by the farmer. In this
method a horse or ox is used to make burrows in the soil, various drills or ploughs are
attached to the draught animal. The presence of a number of tools was first considered to
be an outcome of the imperfect practices that are used by the Indian farmers, however they
are representatitve of the perfection of his art. The multiple drills and ploughs ensure that
the moisture of the soil is maintained which would otherwise dry up and not provide the
ideal conditions for the growth of the crop. The Indian farmers are also very particular about
weeding their fields to ensure that crops obtain proper nourishment. The practice of
cropping two crops together is also extremely scientific in nature, this is done after
consideration of the nutrient requirement of both crops and they are cropped in such a
manner that the field becomes self-sufficient in providing for itself. We also find evidences
of a widespread irrigation system including dams and reservoirs to provide for agriculture.
The costs of this was usually defrayed by the local governments or by the rich of that region.
The use of cowdung as manure is also indigenous to our country and it was appreciated by
the Britishers for its nourishing qualities. Indian agriculturists were well acquainted with
their field of work and more or less excelled in it, if it was not for the suppressive taxation
system imposed by the British.

The final aspect in our study is of Indian manufacture of iron, till the year 1750s India and
China together produces 73% of the iron in the world this later dropped to 60% in the
1830s. This percentage continues to drop further with the advent of the British in India who
went on to pulverize the Indian economy and reduced us to mere slaves. Central India was
extremely rich in minerals and could produce finest quality of iron and steel, it is said that
the Indian steel was better than the steel produced in Sheffield during this time. Although
there did not exist exact measurements for building furnaces, all measurements were
proportional to another that ensured proper functioning. A very important part of these
furnaces was the bellow which was made of goat skin, this was also adapted by the British
furnaces for their production till the dawn of industrialization. It has been brought to our
notice that the iron produces in India was much stronger than that produced in Britain and
did not show a fracture even after 6 revolutions (twist) and showed much retention even
when a heavy weight was attached to it, whereas the British counterpart broke after 4
revolutions.

From the above discussion on Indian Science and Technology we can ascertain the attempts
of the British to create a narrative among the populace of India regarding our intellectual
inferiority. Their disregard of the Indian sciences was an attempt at the same. However it is
through British records itself that we come across such magnificent instances of Indian
ingenuity. It is because of the efforts taken by Dharampal that we find out about these
instances that had been buried in the pages of history. Dharampal does us the service of
reminding us of our forgotten past and disseminates the British rhetoric that had been
continuing for centuries.