Friday, April 30, 2004
As we hurtle into a new millennium, we would do well to reflect where all those 0s came from. The greatness that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome started their numeral systems at one. The Arabs brought the modern numerals, including zero, to Europe centuries ago. But while 1, 2, 3, are commonly and mistakenly referred to as the "Arabic" numerals, they actually originated in India, and are but one of many achievements that became treasures lost to the oblivion of history.
India is the epitome of diversity in all respects, geographically and culturally. From such diversity has bloomed the myriad blossoms of science and mathematics. Indian science flowered long before the classical age of Europe and flourishes to this day. .
India must be credited with the primacy of the invention of unaccountably finite principles and theorems that have been granted to later Arabs and Europeans. In celebrating India's contribution to learning we shall find a deep and long-nurtured reverent and respectful love of learning.
There is still much to be learned from ancient Indian science. The depths of the Vedas and other scriptures, as well as more "scholarly" extant work, offer much to the modern world of science. Indeed, we can all profit from an in-depth examination of ancient Indian science. Yet it is a sad testament to our community's inability to transmit our heritage to our youth that most of our youngsters don't know the difference between Brahmagupta and Brahmaputra.
This article focuses on some of the more important and relevant inventions and discoveries of ancient Indians and attempts to analyze the reasons why these scientists never received their due credit.
In the 16th century, there grew a tendency in Europe to trace scientific thought to the achievements of Mediterranean antiquity. This direct link between modern science and ancient Greece is increasingly perpetuated by a flourishing literature in the cause of a simplistic, but false, understanding of the history of science. Most Western historians preach the tale that a Greek miracle led to the dawn of science. The facts of older civilizations are cursorily covered and mainly for the perverted purpose of showing why there was no real science before the Greeks.
Arnold Reymand echoed these sentiments well: "Compared to empirical and fragmentary knowledge which the peoples of the East had laboriously gathered together during long centuries, Greek science constitutes a veritable miracle."
However, historian Will Durant correctly observed: "Europe and America are the spoiled child and grandchild of Asia and have never quite realized the wealth of their pre-classical inheritance." Most Western study of ancient India has been a tunnel vision dominated by a prefabricated psychology. The parochial provincialism of mindless Eurocentrism has distorted the history of civilization as originating in Greece while summing up India's contribution in a line or two.
However, our own apathy in addition to Western neglect has led to the demise of ancient Indian science from the pages of history. The disguised racism of some historians notwithstanding, we must share the blame for this tragedy. It is imperative that we shed our ignorance and elucidate what for countless centuries has been buried in the recess of history.
India's most important contribution to science is nothing: the concept of nothing, or zero, is central to the understanding of all else. It is time that we raise out scientific heritage from what it is today: nothing.
No ancient civilization possessed more talent or accomplished more feats in mathematics than India. For instance, the most ingenious creation in all of mathematics, the decimal system, of which the famed mathematician LaPlace wrote: "It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by 10 symbols, a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit. But its very simplicity, the great ease which it has lent to all computations, puts our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions; and we shall appreciate the grandeur of this achievement the more when we remember that it escaped the genius of Archimedes and Apollonius, two of the greatest men produced by antiquity."
These misnomered "Arabic" numerals appeared on the Rock Edicts of Ashoka (256 BC), a thousand years before they appeared in the Arabic literature. Even those few who know this fact know little more about the myriad contributions of Indian mathematics.
India's work in science is young as a secular pursuit but old as an auxiliary interest of her priests. Science started with the priests, originated in astronomy and mathematics governing religious festivals, and was preserved in the temples and transmitted through the generations.
Consider the most famous elementary theorem in mathematics: the so-called Pythagorean theorem, which states that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The Sulvasutras (collection of rules concerning measurements) of Baudhayana (600 BC) describe this identity almost 200 years before Pythagoras: "The diagonal of an oblong produces by itself both the areas which the two sides of the oblong produce separately."
Aryabhata (476-520 AD), the father of Indian mathematics and astronomy, computed pi to 3.1416, a value not equaled in Europe until Purbach (1423-61). Pi is computed to 11 digits in the Karanapaddhati work (15th century) as 3.1415926535, a value not equaled in Europe until much later. More importantly, Indian mathematicians knew algebra at least as early as the 5th century AD Known as Bijaganitam, algebra (a corruption of the Arabic word Al-Jabr) was used extensively in astronomical calculations and referred to by Aryabhata in his treatise Aryabhattiya. This science was couriered to the West by the Arabs.
Trigonometry too was known to Indian mathematicians and astronomers before their European counterparts. It was used in India from the Gupta period (3rd century AD) onwards, and the Surya-Siddhanta (4th century AD) gives a table of sines.
Indian atomic theory greatly predates Democritus (430 BC). Kashyapa (aka Kanada), in his Vaisheshika Sutra, formulated an advanced theory of atomic structure in the 6th century BC. He also stated the principle of volume displacement long before Archimedes. Pakudha Kayayana (580 BC), a contemporary of Buddha, taught atomic theory by propounding the theory that undifferentiated potential matter (tanmatra) forms the universal energy of the cosmos by forming atoms.
Brahmagupta (598-660 AD) anticipated the gravitational theory: "Things fall to the ground not because of any inherent force within but because of the pull from the earth." A century before Brahmagupta, Varahamihira claimed that objects remain on the earth's surface due to an internal attractive force and that a similar force keeps celestial bodies in their positions. In fact, the ancient Sanskrit has a word for gravity -- Gurutvakarshan.
Aryabhata also proposed the heliocentric theory a millennium before Copernicus, who is generally credited with this revolutionary idea. In poetic form, Aryabhata stated that the earth's diurnal rotation on its axis produced the daily rising and setting of planets and stars. In fact, the Sandhya Vandanam (morning prayers to the sun), dating back to the Vedic age, contains numerous references to the sun as the center of the solar system.
Long before Columbus staked his claim that the world was round, Aryabhata recognized that the earth was spherical and Brahmagupta gave a figure of 36,000 km for the earth's circumference, not far from the actual value.
And a word about the game that is so popular among us Indians -- chess. It is so old that half the world claims it. Archaeologists generally believe it arose in India, where the oldest indisputable appearance in 750 AD. The word chaturanga became transformed into the Arabic shatranj and finally chess.
We hope the foregoing non-exhaustive recital will serve to kindle pride and interest in our collective heritage. Trying to forge links with the past without teaching about our contributions is akin to planting cut flowers. Parents must pass on knowledge about our past to our youth, much like a relay race, lest our leaders of tomorrow grow bereft of vital knowledge and become rudderless in an information-driven world.
REDIFF.COM
India is the epitome of diversity in all respects, geographically and culturally. From such diversity has bloomed the myriad blossoms of science and mathematics. Indian science flowered long before the classical age of Europe and flourishes to this day. .
India must be credited with the primacy of the invention of unaccountably finite principles and theorems that have been granted to later Arabs and Europeans. In celebrating India's contribution to learning we shall find a deep and long-nurtured reverent and respectful love of learning.
There is still much to be learned from ancient Indian science. The depths of the Vedas and other scriptures, as well as more "scholarly" extant work, offer much to the modern world of science. Indeed, we can all profit from an in-depth examination of ancient Indian science. Yet it is a sad testament to our community's inability to transmit our heritage to our youth that most of our youngsters don't know the difference between Brahmagupta and Brahmaputra.
This article focuses on some of the more important and relevant inventions and discoveries of ancient Indians and attempts to analyze the reasons why these scientists never received their due credit.
In the 16th century, there grew a tendency in Europe to trace scientific thought to the achievements of Mediterranean antiquity. This direct link between modern science and ancient Greece is increasingly perpetuated by a flourishing literature in the cause of a simplistic, but false, understanding of the history of science. Most Western historians preach the tale that a Greek miracle led to the dawn of science. The facts of older civilizations are cursorily covered and mainly for the perverted purpose of showing why there was no real science before the Greeks.
Arnold Reymand echoed these sentiments well: "Compared to empirical and fragmentary knowledge which the peoples of the East had laboriously gathered together during long centuries, Greek science constitutes a veritable miracle."
However, historian Will Durant correctly observed: "Europe and America are the spoiled child and grandchild of Asia and have never quite realized the wealth of their pre-classical inheritance." Most Western study of ancient India has been a tunnel vision dominated by a prefabricated psychology. The parochial provincialism of mindless Eurocentrism has distorted the history of civilization as originating in Greece while summing up India's contribution in a line or two.
However, our own apathy in addition to Western neglect has led to the demise of ancient Indian science from the pages of history. The disguised racism of some historians notwithstanding, we must share the blame for this tragedy. It is imperative that we shed our ignorance and elucidate what for countless centuries has been buried in the recess of history.
India's most important contribution to science is nothing: the concept of nothing, or zero, is central to the understanding of all else. It is time that we raise out scientific heritage from what it is today: nothing.
No ancient civilization possessed more talent or accomplished more feats in mathematics than India. For instance, the most ingenious creation in all of mathematics, the decimal system, of which the famed mathematician LaPlace wrote: "It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by 10 symbols, a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit. But its very simplicity, the great ease which it has lent to all computations, puts our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions; and we shall appreciate the grandeur of this achievement the more when we remember that it escaped the genius of Archimedes and Apollonius, two of the greatest men produced by antiquity."
These misnomered "Arabic" numerals appeared on the Rock Edicts of Ashoka (256 BC), a thousand years before they appeared in the Arabic literature. Even those few who know this fact know little more about the myriad contributions of Indian mathematics.
India's work in science is young as a secular pursuit but old as an auxiliary interest of her priests. Science started with the priests, originated in astronomy and mathematics governing religious festivals, and was preserved in the temples and transmitted through the generations.
Consider the most famous elementary theorem in mathematics: the so-called Pythagorean theorem, which states that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The Sulvasutras (collection of rules concerning measurements) of Baudhayana (600 BC) describe this identity almost 200 years before Pythagoras: "The diagonal of an oblong produces by itself both the areas which the two sides of the oblong produce separately."
Aryabhata (476-520 AD), the father of Indian mathematics and astronomy, computed pi to 3.1416, a value not equaled in Europe until Purbach (1423-61). Pi is computed to 11 digits in the Karanapaddhati work (15th century) as 3.1415926535, a value not equaled in Europe until much later. More importantly, Indian mathematicians knew algebra at least as early as the 5th century AD Known as Bijaganitam, algebra (a corruption of the Arabic word Al-Jabr) was used extensively in astronomical calculations and referred to by Aryabhata in his treatise Aryabhattiya. This science was couriered to the West by the Arabs.
Trigonometry too was known to Indian mathematicians and astronomers before their European counterparts. It was used in India from the Gupta period (3rd century AD) onwards, and the Surya-Siddhanta (4th century AD) gives a table of sines.
Indian atomic theory greatly predates Democritus (430 BC). Kashyapa (aka Kanada), in his Vaisheshika Sutra, formulated an advanced theory of atomic structure in the 6th century BC. He also stated the principle of volume displacement long before Archimedes. Pakudha Kayayana (580 BC), a contemporary of Buddha, taught atomic theory by propounding the theory that undifferentiated potential matter (tanmatra) forms the universal energy of the cosmos by forming atoms.
Brahmagupta (598-660 AD) anticipated the gravitational theory: "Things fall to the ground not because of any inherent force within but because of the pull from the earth." A century before Brahmagupta, Varahamihira claimed that objects remain on the earth's surface due to an internal attractive force and that a similar force keeps celestial bodies in their positions. In fact, the ancient Sanskrit has a word for gravity -- Gurutvakarshan.
Aryabhata also proposed the heliocentric theory a millennium before Copernicus, who is generally credited with this revolutionary idea. In poetic form, Aryabhata stated that the earth's diurnal rotation on its axis produced the daily rising and setting of planets and stars. In fact, the Sandhya Vandanam (morning prayers to the sun), dating back to the Vedic age, contains numerous references to the sun as the center of the solar system.
Long before Columbus staked his claim that the world was round, Aryabhata recognized that the earth was spherical and Brahmagupta gave a figure of 36,000 km for the earth's circumference, not far from the actual value.
And a word about the game that is so popular among us Indians -- chess. It is so old that half the world claims it. Archaeologists generally believe it arose in India, where the oldest indisputable appearance in 750 AD. The word chaturanga became transformed into the Arabic shatranj and finally chess.
We hope the foregoing non-exhaustive recital will serve to kindle pride and interest in our collective heritage. Trying to forge links with the past without teaching about our contributions is akin to planting cut flowers. Parents must pass on knowledge about our past to our youth, much like a relay race, lest our leaders of tomorrow grow bereft of vital knowledge and become rudderless in an information-driven world.
REDIFF.COM
ndia to become superpower by 2020
source. hinduonline
The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, speaking at the 125th anniversary celebrations of The Hindu in Hyderabad on Thursday. Also seen are (from left) Dr Kota Harinarayana, Vice-Chancellor, University of Hyderabad, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, leader of the Opposition in the dissolved Assembly, Mr S. Rangarajan, Managing Director, The Hindu, Mr N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, Dr K. Anji Reddy, Chairman, Reddy's Laboratories, and Mr N. Murali, Joint Managing Director, The Hindu. _ A. Roy Chowdhury ......Hyderabad , Nov. 27 ...SUPPORTING the ongoing reform process, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, has said that the country is headed towards becoming a developed nation and a superpower by the year 2020, where The Hindu, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary, would continue to play a pivotal role in India's march towards achieving that major goal. ...In his address here today during the celebrations, Mr Naidu said according to Goldman Sachs, BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, China and India) have been chosen as potential candidates to get into this brigade of developed nations. ...Later speaking about journalism and the newspapers, Mr Naidu said today they have undergone tremendous changes due to competition and technical progress. Negative reporting, sensationalism have eroded journalistic ethics. However, it is time for positive thinking, where objective reporting will replace negative thinking and sensational approach. ...Earlier, the leader of Opposition, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, said in the emerging world of globalisation and consumerism, all those entrusted with the responsibility of keeping up democracy need to keep our eyes and ears wide open and hear those voices of the quietest and the anguished. This is important given the issue of reforms not reaching all sections of society. The reforms have touched only the rich and privileged. ...The Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, Mr N. Ram, in his welcome address, said that that it was time to reconsider some of the Constitutional provisions, to safeguard Article 19 freedoms, defamation must be de-criminalised and the civil remedies made more effective, and the power of higher courts to punish for criminal contempt of court must be checked by Parliament. ...Tracing the long history of the paper, Mr Ram said that The Hindu re-dedicates itself to its ideals of Panchsheel of truth telling, freedom and independence, justice, humaneness and contributing to social good. The mission to serve its informed, enlightened and growing readership, would continue. ...Dr Anji Reddy, Chairman of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, said The Hindu had succeeded in making the values of science — rationality, accuracy and objectivity — a way of life. "Those values permeate the pages of The Hindu and all its reporting. And as in science, its opinions and conclusions are fact based, rather than the espousal of prejudice and dogma," he observed. ..."The Hindu exerts a strong influence on the leaders of modern India," he said, hoping that the tradition would continue and influence the next generation that is now being brought up on the paper. ...Dr Kota Harinarayana, the architect of India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme and Vice-Chancellor of University of Hyderabad, called for finding ways to "bring back creativity" in the education system that would help the country achieve a position it really deserved.
source. hinduonline
The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, speaking at the 125th anniversary celebrations of The Hindu in Hyderabad on Thursday. Also seen are (from left) Dr Kota Harinarayana, Vice-Chancellor, University of Hyderabad, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, leader of the Opposition in the dissolved Assembly, Mr S. Rangarajan, Managing Director, The Hindu, Mr N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, Dr K. Anji Reddy, Chairman, Reddy's Laboratories, and Mr N. Murali, Joint Managing Director, The Hindu. _ A. Roy Chowdhury ......Hyderabad , Nov. 27 ...SUPPORTING the ongoing reform process, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, has said that the country is headed towards becoming a developed nation and a superpower by the year 2020, where The Hindu, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary, would continue to play a pivotal role in India's march towards achieving that major goal. ...In his address here today during the celebrations, Mr Naidu said according to Goldman Sachs, BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, China and India) have been chosen as potential candidates to get into this brigade of developed nations. ...Later speaking about journalism and the newspapers, Mr Naidu said today they have undergone tremendous changes due to competition and technical progress. Negative reporting, sensationalism have eroded journalistic ethics. However, it is time for positive thinking, where objective reporting will replace negative thinking and sensational approach. ...Earlier, the leader of Opposition, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, said in the emerging world of globalisation and consumerism, all those entrusted with the responsibility of keeping up democracy need to keep our eyes and ears wide open and hear those voices of the quietest and the anguished. This is important given the issue of reforms not reaching all sections of society. The reforms have touched only the rich and privileged. ...The Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, Mr N. Ram, in his welcome address, said that that it was time to reconsider some of the Constitutional provisions, to safeguard Article 19 freedoms, defamation must be de-criminalised and the civil remedies made more effective, and the power of higher courts to punish for criminal contempt of court must be checked by Parliament. ...Tracing the long history of the paper, Mr Ram said that The Hindu re-dedicates itself to its ideals of Panchsheel of truth telling, freedom and independence, justice, humaneness and contributing to social good. The mission to serve its informed, enlightened and growing readership, would continue. ...Dr Anji Reddy, Chairman of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, said The Hindu had succeeded in making the values of science — rationality, accuracy and objectivity — a way of life. "Those values permeate the pages of The Hindu and all its reporting. And as in science, its opinions and conclusions are fact based, rather than the espousal of prejudice and dogma," he observed. ..."The Hindu exerts a strong influence on the leaders of modern India," he said, hoping that the tradition would continue and influence the next generation that is now being brought up on the paper. ...Dr Kota Harinarayana, the architect of India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme and Vice-Chancellor of University of Hyderabad, called for finding ways to "bring back creativity" in the education system that would help the country achieve a position it really deserved.
A History of India and Hindu Dharma
Much of what India and Hinduism are today can be understood by examining
their origins and history. Here is a humble chronology that tells the story
of the sages, kings, outside invaders and inside reformers who contributed
to the world's oldest living civilization and largest modern-day democracy.
Remarkably, Hindu India has been home to one-fourth of the human race since
the dawn of recorded time. Its story, summarized here, is crucial to human
history.
The emphasis on spirituality in India's thought and history is unparalleled
in human experience. The king in his court, the sage on his hill and the
farmer in one of Bharat's 700,000 villages each pursues his dharma with a
common ultimate purpose: spiritual enlightenment. This perspective is the
source of Hinduism's resilience in the face of competing faiths and
conquering armies. No other nation has faced so many invaders and endured.
These invasions have brought the races of the world to a subcontinent
one-third the size of the United States. There are many feats of which the
ancient Hindus could be proud, such as the invention of the decimal system
of numbers, philosophy, linguistics, surgery, city planning and statecraft.
And most useful to us in this particular timeline: their skill in astronomy.
Dates in Hindu history after Buddha are subject to little dispute, while
dates before Buddha have been decided as much by current opinion and
politics as by scientific evidence. An overwhelming tendency of Western
scholarship has been to deny the great antiquity of Hinduism.
Indian scholar S.B. Roy points out that the commonly accepted chronology of
German linguist Max Muller (1823-1900) is based solely "on the ghost story
of Kathasaritasagara." Historian Klaus K. Klostermaier agrees: "The
chronology provided by Max Muller and accepted uncritically by most Western
scholars is based on very shaky ground indeed." While making crucial
historical contributions in bringing India's wisdom to the West, Muller
admitted his covert intention to undermine Hinduism. In a letter to his wife
in 1886 he wrote: "The translation of the Veda will hereafter tell to a
great extent on the fate of India and on the growth of millions of souls in
that country. It is the root of their religion, and to show them what the
root is, I feel sure, is the only way of uprooting all that has sprung from
it during the last 3,000 years.''
Contemporary researchers, such as Dr. B.G. Siddharth of B.M. Birla Science
Centre, Dr. S.B. Roy, Professor Subhash Kak, Dr. N.R. Waradpande, Bhagwan
Singh and Dr. David Frawley, Vedacharya, have developed a more accurate
picture of ancient India, assembling new chronologies based on a highly
reliable method: dating scriptural references by their relationship to the
known precession of the equinoxes. Earth's axis of rotation "wobbles,"
causing constellations, as viewed from Earth, to drift at a constant rate
and along a predictable course over a 25,000-year cycle. For example, a Rig
Vedic verse observing winter solstice at Aries can be correlated to around
6500 bce. Frawley states, "Precessional changes are the hallmark of Hindu
astronomy. We cannot ignore them in ancient texts just because they give us
dates too early for our conventional view of human history." Besides
astronomical references from scripture, there is much to support their
dates, such as carbon-14 dating, the discovery of Indus-Sarasvati Valley
cities and the recent locating of the Sarasvati River, a prominent landmark
of Vedic writings.
Much of the dating in this timeline prior to 600 bce derives from the work
of Dr. S.B. Roy (Chronological Framework of Indian Protohistory-The Lower
Limit, published in The Journal of the Baroda Oriental Institute, March-June
1983) and that of David Frawley Ph.D. (Gods, Sages and Kings). For technical
enhancements to the timeline we depended on Prof. Shiva G. Bajpai PhD.,
Director of Asian Studies at California State University, who co-authored "A
Historical Atlas of South Asia" with Prof. Joseph E. Schwartzberg and Dr.
Raj B. Mathur.
Max Muller is the primary evangelist of another, more invidious, dogma
imposed on Hindu history: the "Aryan invasion" theory. Originally a Vedic
term meaning "noble," then applied to the parent-language of Greek,
Sanskrit, Latin and German, the term Aryan soon referred to those who spoke
it, a supposed race of light-skinned Aryans. The idea of a parent race
caught the imagination of 18th and 19th century European Christian scholars,
who hypothesized elaborate Aryan migrations from Central Asia, west to
Europe, south to India (ca 1500 bce) and east to China-conquering local
primitive peoples and founding the world's great civilizations. This theory
states that the Vedas, the heart and core of Sanatana Dharma, were brought
to India by these outsiders and not composed in India.
Although lacking supporting scientific evidence, this theory, and the
alleged Aryan-Dravidian racial split, was accepted and promulgated as fact
for three main reasons. It provided a convenient precedent for Christian
British subjugation of India. It reconciled ancient Indian civilization and
religious scripture with the 4000 bce Biblical date of Creation. It created
division and conflict between the peoples of India, making them vulnerable
to conversion by Christian missionaries.
Scholars today of both East and West believe the Rig Veda people who called
themselves Aryan were indigenous to India, and there never was an Aryan
invasion. The languages of India have been shown to share common ancestry in
ancient Sanskrit and Tamil. Even these two apparently unrelated languages,
according to current "super-family" research, have a common origin: an
ancient language dubbed Nostratic.
HINDU TIMELINE INTRODCTION
Much of what India and Hinduism are today can be understood by examining
their origins and history. Here is a humble chronology that tells the story
of the sages, kings, outside invaders and inside reformers who contributed
to the world's oldest living civilization and largest modern-day democracy.
Remarkably, Hindu India has been home to one-fourth of the human race since
the dawn of recorded time. Its story, summarized here, is crucial to human
history.
The emphasis on spirituality in India's thought and history is unparalleled
in human experience. The king in his court, the sage on his hill and the
farmer in one of Bharat's 700,000 villages each pursues his dharma with a
common ultimate purpose: spiritual enlightenment. This perspective is the
source of Hinduism's resilience in the face of competing faiths and
conquering armies. No other nation has faced so many invaders and endured.
These invasions have brought the races of the world to a subcontinent
one-third the size of the United States. There are many feats of which the
ancient Hindus could be proud, such as the invention of the decimal system
of numbers, philosophy, linguistics, surgery, city planning and statecraft.
And most useful to us in this particular timeline: their skill in astronomy.
Dates in Hindu history after Buddha are subject to little dispute, while
dates before Buddha have been decided as much by current opinion and
politics as by scientific evidence. An overwhelming tendency of Western
scholarship has been to deny the great antiquity of Hinduism.
Indian scholar S.B. Roy points out that the commonly accepted chronology of
German linguist Max Muller (1823-1900) is based solely "on the ghost story
of Kathasaritasagara." Historian Klaus K. Klostermaier agrees: "The
chronology provided by Max Muller and accepted uncritically by most Western
scholars is based on very shaky ground indeed." While making crucial
historical contributions in bringing India's wisdom to the West, Muller
admitted his covert intention to undermine Hinduism. In a letter to his wife
in 1886 he wrote: "The translation of the Veda will hereafter tell to a
great extent on the fate of India and on the growth of millions of souls in
that country. It is the root of their religion, and to show them what the
root is, I feel sure, is the only way of uprooting all that has sprung from
it during the last 3,000 years.''
Contemporary researchers, such as Dr. B.G. Siddharth of B.M. Birla Science
Centre, Dr. S.B. Roy, Professor Subhash Kak, Dr. N.R. Waradpande, Bhagwan
Singh and Dr. David Frawley, Vedacharya, have developed a more accurate
picture of ancient India, assembling new chronologies based on a highly
reliable method: dating scriptural references by their relationship to the
known precession of the equinoxes. Earth's axis of rotation "wobbles,"
causing constellations, as viewed from Earth, to drift at a constant rate
and along a predictable course over a 25,000-year cycle. For example, a Rig
Vedic verse observing winter solstice at Aries can be correlated to around
6500 bce. Frawley states, "Precessional changes are the hallmark of Hindu
astronomy. We cannot ignore them in ancient texts just because they give us
dates too early for our conventional view of human history." Besides
astronomical references from scripture, there is much to support their
dates, such as carbon-14 dating, the discovery of Indus-Sarasvati Valley
cities and the recent locating of the Sarasvati River, a prominent landmark
of Vedic writings.
Much of the dating in this timeline prior to 600 bce derives from the work
of Dr. S.B. Roy (Chronological Framework of Indian Protohistory-The Lower
Limit, published in The Journal of the Baroda Oriental Institute, March-June
1983) and that of David Frawley Ph.D. (Gods, Sages and Kings). For technical
enhancements to the timeline we depended on Prof. Shiva G. Bajpai PhD.,
Director of Asian Studies at California State University, who co-authored "A
Historical Atlas of South Asia" with Prof. Joseph E. Schwartzberg and Dr.
Raj B. Mathur.
Max Muller is the primary evangelist of another, more invidious, dogma
imposed on Hindu history: the "Aryan invasion" theory. Originally a Vedic
term meaning "noble," then applied to the parent-language of Greek,
Sanskrit, Latin and German, the term Aryan soon referred to those who spoke
it, a supposed race of light-skinned Aryans. The idea of a parent race
caught the imagination of 18th and 19th century European Christian scholars,
who hypothesized elaborate Aryan migrations from Central Asia, west to
Europe, south to India (ca 1500 bce) and east to China-conquering local
primitive peoples and founding the world's great civilizations. This theory
states that the Vedas, the heart and core of Sanatana Dharma, were brought
to India by these outsiders and not composed in India.
Although lacking supporting scientific evidence, this theory, and the
alleged Aryan-Dravidian racial split, was accepted and promulgated as fact
for three main reasons. It provided a convenient precedent for Christian
British subjugation of India. It reconciled ancient Indian civilization and
religious scripture with the 4000 bce Biblical date of Creation. It created
division and conflict between the peoples of India, making them vulnerable
to conversion by Christian missionaries.
Scholars today of both East and West believe the Rig Veda people who called
themselves Aryan were indigenous to India, and there never was an Aryan
invasion. The languages of India have been shown to share common ancestry in
ancient Sanskrit and Tamil. Even these two apparently unrelated languages,
according to current "super-family" research, have a common origin: an
ancient language dubbed Nostratic.
HINDU TIMELINE INTRODCTION
India has never invaded any country in her entire history.
Ancient Indians invented ZERO and today's place value based number system. (This was spread to the rest of the world by Arab merchants who came to India for trade. Hence, it is called Hindu-Arabic Numerals.
The world's first known University was established in Takshashila, India in 700BC. Here more than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects.
World's oldest democratic kingdom was established in Kalinga in North India as long back as 300 bc.
Hinduism is the oldest known religion in the world and has no known founders.
Sanskrit - one of the ancient Indian languages is the best suited language to develop Computer Software (According to the Forbes Magazine), as its syntax is best suited for it to be developed into a programming language.
Ayurveda - the ancient Indian School of Medicine based on the medicinal properties of plants is the world's earliest medical system and medicines based on this system have almost ZERO SIDE EFFECTS.
The art of navigation was born in the river Sindhu 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana in India, and he explained the concept of what is today known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have in the year 1999 officially published that Budhayana's works dates to the 6th Century, which is long before the European mathematicians.
According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose from India and not Marconi.
World's earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra, India.
Chess was invented in India.
Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anesthesia was well
known in ancient India.
When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established world's greatest civilizations like Sindhu (Indus) Valley Civilization and Saraswati Valley Civilization.
India is the home for the largest number of pet animals in the world.
Ancient Indians invented ZERO and today's place value based number system. (This was spread to the rest of the world by Arab merchants who came to India for trade. Hence, it is called Hindu-Arabic Numerals.
The world's first known University was established in Takshashila, India in 700BC. Here more than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects.
World's oldest democratic kingdom was established in Kalinga in North India as long back as 300 bc.
Hinduism is the oldest known religion in the world and has no known founders.
Sanskrit - one of the ancient Indian languages is the best suited language to develop Computer Software (According to the Forbes Magazine), as its syntax is best suited for it to be developed into a programming language.
Ayurveda - the ancient Indian School of Medicine based on the medicinal properties of plants is the world's earliest medical system and medicines based on this system have almost ZERO SIDE EFFECTS.
The art of navigation was born in the river Sindhu 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana in India, and he explained the concept of what is today known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have in the year 1999 officially published that Budhayana's works dates to the 6th Century, which is long before the European mathematicians.
According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose from India and not Marconi.
World's earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra, India.
Chess was invented in India.
Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anesthesia was well
known in ancient India.
When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established world's greatest civilizations like Sindhu (Indus) Valley Civilization and Saraswati Valley Civilization.
India is the home for the largest number of pet animals in the world.
