HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
IN EXACT SCIENCE
A' Study in the History % of
Scientific Development
BY
BENOY KUMAR SARKAR
Professor t National Council of Education, Bengal
A uthor of “The Positive Background of Hindu
Sociology," “Chinese Religion through
Hindu Eyes,” “The Science of
History and the Ho fie of
Mankind,” etc.
longmans/green and co.
FOURTH AVENUE & 30th ST., NEW YORK"
>39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
BOM-BAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS
191S
Copyright, 1918
BY
LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO
pneea or «
BftAUNWOfUH & CO. »
BOOK MANUFACTURERS
BROOKLYN. N. Y.
PREFACE
The main object of this little book is to furnish
some of the chronological links and logical affinities
between tfie scientific investigations of the Hindus
and these of the Greeks, Chinese, and Saracens.
Details relating to the migration of discoveries have
been e generally avoided, as they require a treatment
more technical than the present scope and space
admit. Nor have all the achievement^ of the
[Hindu s in any branch of science been treated in an
exhaustive manner.
It*Jias been sought to present a comprehensive,
though very brief account of the entire scientific
work.of ancient and mediaeval India in the per-
*spective of developments in other lands. From the
’ standpoint of modern science a great part of all that
is desetibed here is too elementary to have* more,
than S,n anthropological interest. If, however, the*
facts pf Hindif and •Chinese science were made avail- •'
able in more extensive volumes than has yet been
. done, the students of comparative culture-history
would find that the tendencies of the Oriental mind
VI
PREFACE
• *
have not been essentially distinct from those of the
Occidental. *
The works that have been frequently consulted
are given in the Bibliography. Special mention must
be made of the writings of Professors Nalinbehari
Mitra and Brajendranath Seal. For some of the
Sanskrit literature on Hindu scidhce I have made
use of my “Positive Background of Hindt^ Sociology.”
I am* indebted to the authorities of Harvard Uni¬
versity for the privilege of using its library.
Benoy Kumar Sarkar
"Cambridge, Mass.
April i? IQ17
CONTENTS
0
'page
Preface. .... * v
Bibliography ./......ix
Historical Perspective . i •
/I. Arithmetic. 8
v ll. Algebra. 12
ylll. Geometry..#. 16
^/IV. Trigonometry. 20
V. Coordinate Geometry. 21
* #
VI. Deferential Calculus. 23
VII. Kinetics.* • 25
VIII. Astronomy. 28*
ytx . Physics.*. 32
J X. CffiSMISTRY. 39
XI. Metallurgy and Chemical Arts. 44
r XII. MEpiCINE. 47
XHI. Surgery. S 3
XIV. Anatomy and Physiology. 56
XV. Embryology... 61
6tVl. Natural History..*..* 66
(a) Minerals... ; . 68
((j) Plants .*..... * . 69
(c) Animals. 7 1
Conclusion.-. 75
Index...'. . t . 79
vii
BIBLIOGRAPHY
N.B. —The figures in the text refer to the numbers onjdiis list.
1. Aristotle—“On the parts and progressive motion of ani¬
mals^ on invisible lines; true arithmetic of infinites,
etc.” (translated by Taylor), London, 1810.
2. Bryant—“History of Astronomy,” London, 1907.
3. Burgess-—‘‘Surya-Siddhanta” (Hindu astronomy), Ameri-
• can Oriental Society, New Haven, i860.
4. Cajori—“History of Mathematics,” New York, 1909.
5. Chatterji—“The Economic Botany of India',” District
Council of National Education, Malda, Bengal, Lfldia,
. 1910.
6. dements—“Introduction to the Study of Indian Music,”
London, 1913.
7. Colebrooke—“Algebra with Arithmetic and Mensuration
• from the Sanskrit of Brahmagupta and Bhaskara,”
London, 1817.
8. Colebrooke—“Essays,” Vol. 2, London, 1873.
• •
9. Cressv —“Discoveries and Inventions of the Twentieth.
Century,” London, rgi4.
10. Deval—“The Hindu Musical Scale and the Twenty-two
Slirutees,” Aryabhusan Press, Poona, India, 1910.
11. Dutt—“The Materia Medica of the Hindus,” Calcutta,
X
BIBLIOGRAPHY
12. Elson—"The Book of Musical Knowledge,” Boston, 1915.
♦ •
13. Encyclopaedia Britannica, eleventh edition (article on
’Mineralogy).
14. Fox-Strangways—“The Music of Hindostan,” Oxford,
1914.
15. Freind—"History of Physick from the Time of Galen to
the Beginning of the Sixteenth Ccntfiry,” London, 1727.
16. Garrison—"History of Medicine,” Philadelpl^a, 1914.
17. Geddes and Thomson—"Sex,” London, 1914.
18. Gibbon—“History of the Saracen Empire” (reprint of the
• fiftieth, fifty-first, and fifty-second chapters of the
monumental History), London, 1870. •
19. Gondal—“History of Aryan Medical Science,” ^London,
1896. .
20. Greene—“Landmarks of Botanical History,” Washington,
D. C., 1909.
21. Ileath—' 11 ArisLarchus of Samos, the Ancient Copernicus,”
Oxford, 19T3.
22. Heath—"Diophaotus of Alexandria,” Cambridge, 1910.
23. Hocrnlc—“Medicine of Ancient India,” Oxford, 1907.^
24. Kaye—"Indian Mathematics,” Calcutta, iprs. (This book
must not be read without Mitra’s criticism on it in
“Hindu Mathematics.”) *
25. Leighton—"Embryology,” London, 1914.
26. Levies—“Aristotle: A Chapter in the History of Science,”
’ London, 1864. * *
f- H *
27. Libby—“History of Science,” Boston, 1917.
28. Mehta—"Ayurvedic System of Medicine,* Bombay, ^3.
29. Meryon—“History of Medicine,” London, r86i.
30. Merz—“History of European Thought in the Nineteenth
Century,” Edinburgh, 1896.
BIBLIOGRAPHY xi
• ••
31. Meyer—j“History of Chemistry” (translated by McGowan
from German), London, 1891.
32. Mikami—“Development of Mathematics in China and
Japan,” Leipzig, 1913.
^3. Mitra—“Hindu Mathematics,” The Modem Review
Office, Calcutta, 1916.
34. Mookerji—“History"of Indian Shipping,” London, 1912.
35. Muir—“Heroes of Science: Chemists,” London, 1883.
36. Muir—“The Story of Alchemy,” London, 1902.
37. Muller—“India: What Can it Teach Us?” London, 1883. •
38. “The Nineteenth Century: A Record of Progress,” New
York, 1941.
39. Oppert-^," Fire-arms and Weapons of the Hindus,” Madras,
1880.
40. Pettigrew—“Superstitions Connected with the History
add Practice of Medicine and Surgery,” London, 1844.
41. Playfai*—“ Progress of Mathematical and Physical Sci¬
ence,” Edinburgh (undated).
42. Pliny—“Natural History” (translated by Bostock ancf
Riley), London, 1855-57.
43. PoweiL—“History of Natural Philosophy,” London, 1837.
44. Ray—“History of Hindu Chemistry,” Calcutta, 1902,
1905.
45. 3 tay-Lankester—Article on Zoology in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica.
46. Reid—“taws of Heredity,” London, 1910.
47. Rpsen—"The Algebra of Mohammed ben Musa,” London,
1831-'
48. Routle 3 ge—“Discoveries and Inventions of the Nine¬
teenth Century,” London, 1899.
49. Roy—.“The Astronomy and Astronomers of the Hindus”
(in Bengali), Calcutta, 1903.
Xll
BIBLIOGRAPHY
50. Roy—“Ratna Pariksa” (Examination of Gems, ill Ben¬
gali), Calcutta, 1904.
$1. Royle—“Antiquity of Hindu Medicine^’ London, 1837.
52. Royle—“The Arts and Manufactures of India” (Lectures
on the Results of the Great Exhibition of 1851), London,
o • «■'
1852.
53. Sachau—"Alberuni's India,” L< melon, iqro.
54. Sachs—“History of Botany (1530-1860^,” Oxford, rfiqo.
55. S*arkar—“The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology,”
Vol. I., Panini Office, Allahabad, India, roi.j.
56. Sastri—“Tlie Educative Influence of Sanskrit Lileralure,”
Benares, India, 1916. •
57. Schoff—“The reriplus of the Erythneau Sea’^(Travel and
Trade in the Indian Ocean by an Egyptian Greek Mer¬
chant of the Eirst Century a.d.), Lonflon, 1012.
58. Scott—“History of the Moorish Empire, in Europe,"
Philadelphia, 1904. ,
59. Seal—“The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus,”
• London, 1916.
60. Sinha—“The* Vaishcsika Sutras of Kanada” {Hindu
Democritus), Panini Office, Allahabad, iqir. .
61. Smith and Karpinski—“Ilindu-Arabic Numerals,” Bos¬
ton, 1911.
• %
62. Smith and Mikami—“Japanese Mathematics,” Chicago,
1914.
63..Tagore—“Hindu Music: from Various Author^,” Calcutta,
187 5 -
64. Takakusu—“Itsing: Records rtf thf Buddhist Religion
(671-93),” Oxford, 1896.
65. Thibaut—“On the Sulva-sutras” (Journal of the Asiatic:
Society of Bengal, Vol. XLJV, Reprint, Calcutta, 1873).
66. Thompson, D’A. W.—“On Aristotle as Biologist.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
xm
%.
47 - Thomson, J. A.—“Heredity,” London, 1912.
68. Thomson, T.—“Histojy of Chemistry,” London, 1831.
69. Thomson, T.—‘^Progress of Physical Science,” New York,
1843.*
70. Thorpe—“History of Chemistry,” New York, 1910.
7 *- Tilden—“Progress of Scientific Chemistry,” London, 1899.
72. Venable—“Short History of Chemistry,” Boston, 1894.
73.. Wallace—“The Wonderful Century,” New York, 1898.
74. Wallace and Others—“The Progress of the Century,”
New York, 1901.
75- Werner—“Chinese Sociology,” London, 1910. •
76. Wliewell—“The History of the Inductive Sciences,” New
York, 1858.
77. Williams—“The Middle Kingdom” (China), New York, '
1914-
78. Wilson—^‘Essays on Sanskrit Literature,” Vol. I, London,
1864. •
79. Wise-y 11 Commentary on the Hindu System of Medicine,”
Calcutta, 1845.
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
»
Investigations in radioactivity since 1896 have
effected a marvellous revolution in our knowledge of
Energy. «The ultimate atoms of matter are now
believ<itl to possess “sufficient potential energy to
supply the, uttermost ambitions of the race for
cosmical epochs of time.”
Speaking of these new discoveries in connection
with radioactivity, Professor Soddy remarks in his
“Matter and Energy”:
“It is possible to look forward- to a time, which
may. await the world, when this grimy age of fuel
will seem as truly a beginning of the mastery of
energy as the rude stone age of palaeolithic man now
’appears as the beginning of the mastery of matter.”
This optimism seems almost to out-Bacon Bacon’s
prophesy in the “Novum Organum” (1621) relating „
to the wonderful achievements he expected from a*
“new. birth of science.” The “new birth” was •
inevitable, he declared, “if any one of ripe age, unim-
2
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
#
paired senses, and well-purged mind, apply himgelf
anew to experience and particulars.” #
Becquerel’s discovery of radioactive Substances is
thus a quarter less than three hundred years from
Bacon’s first advocacy of experimental and inductive
methods. The “long and barren period” between
the scientific activity of ancient Greece and that of
modern Europe, described by Whewell as ^"“sta¬
tionary period of science,” was drawing to a close
in Bacon’s time. The age was, however, yet “dark”
enough Yo be condemned by him in the following
words:
“The lectures and exercises there (at the univer¬
sities) are so ordered that to think or speculate, on
anything out of the common way can hardly occur
to any man. Thus it happens that hujnan knowl¬
edge, as we have it, is a mere medley and ill-digested
mass, made up of much credulity and much aeddent,
and also of childish notions which we at first im¬
bibed.”
Positive Science is but three hundred years old.
It is necessary to remember this picture of .the
intellectual condition of Europe at the beginning of
the seventeenth century in every historical survey
of the “exact” sciences (whether deductive-mathe-*
matical or inductive-physical), as well as in every
. compaYative estimate of the credit for their growth
and development due to the different nations of
' the world.
Hindu investigations in exact sdence, as briefly
I
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
tl
O
summarized here, come down to about 1200 a.d.
Strictly speaking, they cover the period from the
“Atharva jj/eda’i (c See b.c.), one of the Hindu
Scriptures, to Bhaskaracharya (c 1150), the mathe¬
matician; or rattier to the middle of the fourteenth,
century, represented by Madhavacharya, the com¬
piler of “The Sixteen Systems of Philosophy” (1331),
Gunaratna (1350), the logician, “ Rasa-ratna-samuch-
chaya,” the work on chemistry, and Madanapala,
author of the “Materia Medica” (1374) named after
himself.
• We are living to-day in the midst of the discoveries
and inventions of the last few years of the twentieth
century, e.g.f those described in Cressy’s volume.
To the moderns, therefore, the whole science of the
Hindus exhibited here belongs to what may be truly
called e the pre-scientific epoch of the history of
science. .Its worth should, however, be estimated
in the light of the parallel developments among their
coptemporaries, the Greeks, the Chinese, the Graeco;
Roinans, the Saracens, and the mediaeval Europeans.
Whewell, according to whom the scientific inquiries
of the ancients and mediaevals “led to no truths
of real, or permanent value,” passes the following
summary and sweeping judgment on all these nations:
“Almost the whole career of the Greek schools of
philosophy, of the schoolmen of Europe in the
Middle Ages, of the Arabian and Indian plxilosophers,
shows that we may* have extreme ingenuity and
subtlety, invention and connection, demonstration
4
HINDU ACHIJSVifiMJSJNTo
t
and method; and yet out of these no physical sciense
may be developed. We may. obtain by .such means
logic and metaphysics, even geometry ajid afgebra;
but out of such materials we shall never form optics
.and mechanics, chemistry, and physiology.”
Further, “the whole mass of Greek philosophy
shrinks into an almost imperceptible compass, when
viewed with reference to the progress of physical
knowledge.” “The sequel of the ambitious hopes,
the vast schemes,- the confident undertakings of the
philosophers of ancient Greece was an entire failure
in‘the physical knowledge.” 70
While accepting for general guidance the above •
estimate of Whewell regarding the "ancients and
mediarvals, the student of Culture-history would
find the following noteworthy points in a survey
of the world’s positive sciences from the. Hindu
angle:
1. The “pure” mathematics of the Hindus was,
on the whole, not only in advance of that of the
Greeks, but anticipated in some remarkable instances
the European discoveries of the sixteenth* seven¬
teenth, and eighteenth centuries. That mathematics
is the basis of the mathematical science known ta
• modem mankind. *
2. Like the other races, the Hindus also may be
taken to have failed to make»any epoch-nfaking dis¬
coveries of fundamental “laws,” planetary, inorganic,
or organic, if judged by the generalizations of to-day.
But some of their investigations were solid achieve-
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
5
meats in positive knowledge, viz., in materia medica,
therapeutics, anatomy, embryology, metallurgy, chem¬
istry, physics, and descriptive zoology. And in these
also, generally* speaking, Hindu inquiries were not
less, if not more definite, exact, and fruitful than
the Greek and mediseval-European.
3. Hindu investigations helped forward the sci¬
entific developments of mankind through China
(and Japan) on the east and the Saracens on the
west of India, and this both in theoretical inquiries
and industrial arts.
4. Since ^he publication of Gibbon’s monumental
history, jthe historians of the sciences have given
credit to the Saracens for their services in the devel-
opment of European thought. Much of this credit,
howe\%r, is really due to the Hindus. Saracen mathe¬
matics, 'chemistry, and medicine were mostly direct
borrowings from Hindu masters. The Greek factqr
in' Saracen culture is known to every modern scholar;
the Hindu factor remains yet to be generally rec¬
ognized. That recognition would at once establish
India’s contributions to Europe.
Every attempt on the part of modern scholars
to trace the Hellenic or Hellenistic sources of Hindu
learning has been practically a failure.
6. But, like every other race, the Plindus also
got their'art of writing from the Phoenicians. Be¬
sides, the Hindus may have derived some inspira¬
tion from Greece in astronomy as admitted by their
own scientists, e.g., by Varahamihira (-505-587 a.d.).
6
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
' India’s indebtedness to foreign peoples for the main
body of her culture is virtually nil. *
-7. Hindu intellect has thus independently appre¬
ciated the dignity of objective facta, devised the
methods of observation and experiment, elaborated
the machinery of logical analysis and truth inves¬
tigation, attacked the external universe as a system
of secrets to be unravelled, and wrung out of Nature
the knowledge which constitutes the foundations of
sciedce.
8. The claims of the Hindus to be regarded as
pioneers of science and contributors to exjjct, positive,
and material culture rest, therefore, in all respects,
on the same footing as those of the Greeks, in
quality, quantity, and variety. An absolute supe¬
riority cannot be claimed for either, nor cdh any
fundamental difference in “Weltanschauung, 1 ’’ mental
outlook, or angle of vision be demonstrated between
these two races.
It has been remarked above that the age of experi¬
mental and inductive science is about three hundred
years. It is this period that has established the
cultural superiority of the Occident over the*Oriept."
But this epoch of “superiority” need be analyzed
a little more closely. 55 . #
Neither the laws of motion and gravitation (of
the latter half of the seventeenth century), nor the
birth of the sciences of modern chemistry and elec¬
tricity during the latter half of the eighteenth could
or did produpe the superiority in any significant
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
7
*
sense. There was hardly any difference 48 between
Europe and Asia at the time of the French Revo¬
lution ^1789). The real and only cause of the
parting of ways between the East and the West,
nay, betweert the mediaeval and the modern, was
the discovery of steam, or rather its application to
production and transportation. The steam engine
effected an industrial revolution during the first
three decades of the nineteenth century. It is this
revolution which has ushered in the “modernism”
of the modern world in social institutions, science,
and philosophy, 30 as well as brought about the
supremacy of Eur-America over Asia.
The^ year 1815 may be conveniently taken to be
the year I of this modernism, as with the fall of
Napoleon it marks also the beginning of a new era
in Vorld-politics, practically the era in which we
still live. The difference between the Hindu and
the Eur-American, or between the East and the
West, is a real difference to-day. But it is not a
difference in mentality or “ideals” or so-called race-
genius. It is a difference of one century, the “won¬
derful century,” in a more comprehensive sense than
• Wallace gives to it.
I
ARITHMETIC
A general idea of'the achievements of the Hindu
brain may be had from the following remarks of
Cajori:
“It is remarkable to what extent Indi;m mathe¬
matics enter into the science of our time. Both
the form and the spirit of the arithmetic and algebra
of modern times are essentially Indian and not
Grecian. Think of that most perfect of mathematical
symbolisms, the Hindu notation, think of the Indian
arithmetical operations nearly as perfect as our
own, think of their algebraic methods, and then •
judge whether the Brahmins on the banks of the
Ganges are not entitled to some credit. Unfortu¬
nately some of the most brilliant of the Hindu dis¬
coveries in indeterminate analysis reached Ivutope #
too late to exert influence they would have exerted,
had they come two or three centuries earlier.”
As De Morgan admits, “Hifidu arithmetic is
greatly superior to any which the Greeks- had.
Indian arithmetic is that which'we now use.”
The Hindus were the greatest calculators of an-
ARITHMETIC
9
tiquity.. They could raise the numbers to various
powers. The extraction of square or cube root was
a child’s play to them.
The two foundations of arithmetic were discovered
by the Hindus:
(r) The-symbols of numbers, or numerals as they
are called, and
(2) The decimal system of notation.
Numerals have been in use in India since at hast
the third century b.c. They were employed in tire
Elinor Rock Edicts of Asoka the Great (256 b.c.).
In modern times the numerals are wrongly known
as “Arabic” because the European nations got them
from their Saracen (Arab) teachers. 61
The decimal system was known to Aryabhata
(a.d. 4*/6) and Brahmagupta (a.d. 598-660), and
fully described by Bhaskaracharya (1114). In
Subandhu’s “Vasavadatta,” a Sanskrit prose romance
(a.d. 550-606?) the stars are described as 2ero:
In “V^asa-bhasya,” also, the system is referred to.
The transformation of substance in chemical fusion
through the “unequal distribution of forces” is there
illustrated by a mathematical analogy: “Even as
the same figure V stands for a hundred in the
place of hundred, for ten in the place of ten, and for
a unit in.the place of a unit.” The “Vyasa-bhasya”
cannot have been Composed later than the sixth
century a.d. The decimal system was therefore
known to the Hindus long before its appearance in
the writings of the. Arabs or Graeco-Syrians. 59
«
10
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
The Saracens learnt from the Hindus both the
system of numeration and the method of computa¬
tion. Even in the time of Caliph Walid (705-15)
the Saracens had to depend on alphabetical symbols.
They had no figures for numbers yet. A Hindu
scientific mission reached Mansur’s court Prom Sindh
in 773. This introduced the Moslems to Hindu
astronomical tables. The Saracen astronomical work
thus, compiled was abridged by Musa, the Librarian
of. Caliph Mamun (813-33). “And he studied and
communicated to his countrymen the Indian com¬
pendious method of computation, i.e, their arith¬
metic, and their analytic calculus.” 7 #
This was the first introduction of the decimal
system among the Saracens (830). They have ever
since acknowledged their debt to the Hindus. Al-
beruni (1033) wrote: “The numeral signs which we
use are derived from the finest forms of the Hindu
Signs.”
It was probably in the twelfth century fjjat the
Europeans learnt this Hindu science from their
Saracen masters. Leonardo of Pisa, 61 an. Italiajj
merchant, was educated in Barbary, and thus beatme
acquainted with the so-called Arabic numerals and
Musa’s work on Algebra based on the* Sanskrit.
In 1202 was published his “Liber Abbaci.” *This was
the beginning of modern arithmetic in Europe. The
pioneering work may have been done by Gerbert,
a Frenchman, who learnt the Hindu system from
the Mohammedan teachers at Cordova ih Spain.
ARITHMETIC
11
(■c 970-80).®° Musa, the distinguished Moslem
mathematician, was thus the connecting link be¬
tween the algebra and arithmetic of the Hindus
and the mefliseval European mathematics.
At the commencement of the Christian era, the
Chinese “adopted the decimal system of notation
introduced by the Buddhists, and changed their
ancient custom of writing figures from top to bot¬
tom for the Indian custom of from left to right.” 75
II
ALGEBRA
*
Algebra is a Hindu science in spite of the Arabic
name. Cajori suspects that Diophantus (a.d. 360),
the first Greek algebraist, got the first gliyipscs of
algebraic knowledge from India. According to
Heath, the Europeans were anticipated by the
Hindus in the symbolic form of algebra. Accord¬
ing to De Morgan, the work of Diophantus is harfily
algebraic in the sense in which that term can be
applied to the science of India. 33 According to
' Hanliel, the Hindus are the real inventors of algebra
if we define algebra as the application of arithmetical
operations to both rational and irrational numbers
or magnitudes. 4
The mathematician who systematized the earlier •
algebraic knowledge of the Hindus and thus became
the founder of a new science is # Aryabhata .(born
a.d. 476 at Pataliputra on the Ganges in Eastern
India). He was thus over a century later 'than
Diophantus; but Smith proves that neither in
methods nor in achievements could the Greek be
the inspirer of the Hindu. 33
12
•#
ALGEBRA
13
The points in which the Hindu algebra appears
particularly distinguished from the Greek are thus
enumerated by Colebrooke:
1. A better and iSore comprehensive algorithm.
2. The management of equations involving more than one
unknown term. (This adds to the two classes noticed
by the Saracens, viz., simple and compound.)
3. The resolution of equations of a higher order, in which if
they achieved little, they had at least the merit of
the attempt, and anticipated a modern discovery in
the solution of biquadratics.
* 4. General methods for the solution of indeterminate prob¬
lems of first and second degrees, in which they went
far be/ond Diophantus, and anticipated the dis¬
coveries of modern algebraists.
5. Application of algebra to astronomical investigation and
geometrical demonstration, in which also they hit
upon some methods which have been reinvented in
later times.
It was thus not a “primitive” algebra that the,
Hindus developed. The achievements of Indian
algebra* from the fifth to twelfth century a.d. have
in some cases anticipated the discoveries of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe.
Modern algebraists have thus only re-discovered
the already known truths.
The Hihdu algebra ef this period was the prin¬
cipal feeder of Saracen algebra through Yakub and
Musa, and indirectly influenced to a certain extent
mediaeval European mathematics. It may have
fostered the development of mathematics in China
14
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
also, and through that, of Japan. According to
Williams, the Hindti processes in algebra vjere known
to the mathematicians of the Chinese empire, “and
'are still studied” in the Middle ICyigdom “though
all intellectual intercourse between the two countries
has long ceased.”
The progress of Hindu algebra (mainly in Southern
India) after Bhaslcara (twelfth century) was, as
Seal suggests, parallel to the development in China
and Japan. But this is a subject that awaits fur¬
ther research.
The Hindu discoveries in algebra may be thus
summarized from the recent investigations of Nalin-
behari Mitra:
1. The idea of an absolutely negative quantity.
2. The first exposition of the complete solution of the quad¬
ratic equation (Brahmagupta a.d 598-660)
3. Rules for finding permutations and combinations Bhas¬
lcara, born 1114). These were unknown to the Greeks.
4. Indeterminate equations: “The glory of having invented
general methods in this most subtle branch of mathe¬
matics belongs to the Indians.” 4
5. Indeterminate equations of the second degree.
• •
In th hght of Comparative Chronology, these
discoveries are remarkable evidences of the fecundity
of the Hindu brain in “exact” science. •The three
great anticipations of modern algebra are enumerated
and appreciated by Colcbrooke in the following terms:
1. The demonstration of the noted proposition of Pythag-
' oras concerning the square of the base o’f a rectangular
ALGEBRA
15
triangle, equal to the squares of the two legs containing
a rl «£ ht an 8J e - The demonstration is given in two ways
in Bhaskara’s algebra (twelfth century). The first of
them is the same which is delivered by Wallis (1616-
1 7 c> 3 ) in His treatise on angular sections, and as far
as appears, then given for the first time.
-■ The general solution of indeterminate problems of the
first degree. It was first given among moderns by
Bachet de Meziriac in 1624.
3. Solution of indeterminate problems of the second degree
• • . a discovery which among the moderns was
reserved for Euler (1707-83). To him amon^ the
moderns we owe the remark which the Hindus had
made more than a thousand years ago, that the
. problem was requisite to find all the possible solutions
of_equations of this sort.
Bhaskara invented the art of placing the numer¬
ator ewer the denominator in a fraction. He invented
also V (the radical sign). This was not known in
Europe before Chuquet and Rudolff in the sixteenth
century.
Bhaskara also proved the following:
ce-fo = a;; o 2 = o; V / o=o; *4-0= cc
Ill
GEOMETRY
Tnt earliest geometry of the Hindus is to be
found in the “ Sulva-sutras ” 05 of Baudhayana and *
Apastamba. In these treatises, which form parts
of the Vedic literature, we get the ap'plication of
mathematical knowledge to the exigencies of religious
life, sacrifices, rituals, construction of altars, etc.
At this stage Hindu geometry was quite# inde¬
pendent of Greek influence. The following are some
of the problems , 33 which were solved by the mathe-
njaticians of the Vedic cycle:
1. The so-called Pythagorean theorem: The square on the
hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the
sum of the squares on the other two sides.
2. Construction of squares equal to the sum or difference ef
two squares;
3. Conversion of oblongs into squares, and vice versa;
4. Drawing of a perpendicular to a given straight*line at a
given point of it;
5. Construction of lengths equal to’ quadratic surds: The
approximate value of V •
6. Circling of squares;
7. Squaring of circles,—“that rock upon which so many
. 10
GEOMETRY
17
reputations have been destroyed,” both in the East
and West. The earliest Hindus got w =3.0044;
8. CoBStruction of successive larger squares from smaller
ones by addition;
9. Determination of the area of a trapezium, of an isosceles
trapezium, at any rate, when the lengths of its parallel
sides and the distance between them are known.
•
The oldest geometrical efforts of the Hindus were
not entirely empiric. They doubtless “reasoned out
all or most of their discoveries.” 4 These could not
have been inspired by the Greeks. 33
We find Aryabhata (a.d. 476) solving the follow¬
ing among other problems, viz., the determination of:
1. The area of a triangle;
2. The area of a circle;
3. The area of a trapezium;
4. The distance of the point of intersection of the diagonals
of a trapezium from either of the parallel sides;
5. The length of the radius of a circle.
Aryabhata gave also the accurate value of
7r( = -aoSlro) and the area of the circle as vr 2 . The
Saracens learnt this from the Hindus. Probably
"Xakulj (eighth century) was the first to get it when
the astronomical tables were imported to Bagdad
from India. The correct value of ir was not known
in Europe before Purbach (1423-61).
At this stage also Hindu geometricians were not
indebted to the Greeks. Their independence is thus
argued by Mitra:
18
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
“Euclid and his school never meddled with logistics
which was practically abandoned as hopeless alter
the time of Apollonius, while the Indian •mathe¬
matician’s turn of mind was nothing if it was not
directed to practical computations. The fact that
the Indians took the chord of a smaller circular
arc as equivalent in length to the arc—-a step which
no sane Greek mathematician with a free conscience
would have even dreamt of taking—ought to settle
once for all the question of the dependence of Indian
geometry on Greek geometry.”
Fresh contributions 33 to geometry were made by
Brahmagupta (598-660); viz., those relating to
-n nf rieht-anglcd triangles with rational
gilt-angled triangles;
ateral; *
trapezium;
.drilateral;
Brahmagupta gave the rules
eter of a circle whcii the height
t of it are given, and (2) for
egmeiit of a circle. The first
y the Hindu was not known in
learnt both these rules frijm
ie-third the volume of the cylin-
as one-third the volume of the
of uniform bore (prismatic or
GEOMETRY
19
Bhaskara (1114) summarized and methodized the
results of all previous investigators, e.g., Lata,
Aryabhata, Lalla (499), Varahamihira (505), Brahm¬
agupta, Shreedhara (853), Mahavira (850), Arya¬
bhata the Younger (970), and Utpala (970).
Bhaskara tool: care to explain that though Arya¬
bhata and others knew the exact value of w, yet some
later mathematicians took approximate values only
for convenience of calculation. “It is not that
they did not know_.” Thus Brahmagupta took
tt = 3 roughly (or V10 closely) “for lessening the
labor of calculation.”
Among Bhaskara’s original contributions may be
mentioned the fact that he gave two proofs of the
so-called Pythagorean theorem. One of them was
“unknown in Europe till Wallis (16x6-1793) re¬
discovered it.” 4 •
It must be admitted that though Hindu geome¬
tricians achieved much the same results as the Greek,
they did not attain the excellence of Euclid (c 306-
293 n.c.) in method and system.
TRIGONOMETRY
Hindu trigonometry was in advance of the Greek
in certain particulars. The Hindus anticipated
modern trigonometry also in a few points.
Tha mathematicians of India devised (i) the
table of sines, and (2) the table of versed sines. The
term “sine” is an Arabic corruption from Sanskrit
“shinjini.”
The use" of sines was unknown to the Greeks.
They calculated by the help of the chords.
The Hindu table of sines exhibits them to every
twenty-fourth part of the quadrant, the table of
versed sines does the same. In each, the sine or
versed sine is expressed in minutes of the circum¬
ference, neglecting fractions.
The rule for the computation of the sines indi¬
cates the method of computing a table by means of
their second differences. This is a considerable,
refinement in calculation, and was first practised
in modern times by the English mathematician
Briggs (1556-1631). •
. The astronomical tables of the Hindus prove that
. they were acquainted with thg' principal theorems
of spherical trigonometry.
V
CO-ORDINATE GEOMETRY
Vachaspati (a.d. 850), the Doctor of Nyaya (logic),
"anticipated in a rudimentary way the principle of
co-ordinate (solid) geometry eight centuries before
Descartes (1596-1650).
Vachaspati’s claims are thus presented by Seal:
“To conceive position in space, Vachaspati takes
three axes, one proceeding from the point of sunrise
in the horizon to that of sunset, on any particular
day (roughly speaking, from the east to the west);
a second bisecting this line at right angles on the'
horizontal plane (roughly speaking, from the north
to the south); and the third proceeding from the
point of their section up to the meridian section of
tho sun on that day (roughly speaking, up and
down). The position of any point in space, relatively
to another point, may now be given by measuring
distances, along these three directions, i.e., by ar¬
ranging in a numerical series the intervening points
of contact, the lesser distance being that which
comes earlier in this series, and the greater which
comes later. The position of any single atom in
21
22
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
space with reference to another may be indicat
in this way with reference to the three axes.
“But this gives only a geometrical analysis of t
conception of three-dimensioned 'space, though
must be admitted in all fairness that by dint of cl<
thinking it anticipates in a rudimentary manner t
foundations of solid (co-ordinate) geometry.”
VI
DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS
Bhaskaraciiauya anticipated Newton (1642-1727)
by over five hundred years (1) in the discovery, of
' the principles of differential calculus and (2) in its
application to astronomical problems and computa¬
tions. ,
According to Spottiswoode, the formula established
by Bhaskara and “the method of establishing it
bear a’strong analogy to the corresponding process
in modern mathematical astronomy,” 50 viz., the
determination of the differential of the planet’s
magnitude.
According to Bapudeva Shastri, 59 Bhaskara’s con¬
ception of instantaneous motion and the method of
determining it indicate that he was acquainted with
the principle of differential calculus.
According to Seal, Bhaskara’s claim is indeed far
stronger. than Archimedes’ to the conception of a
rudimentary process of integration.
“Bhaskara, in computing the instantaneous motion
of a planet compares its successive positions, and
regards its motion as constant during the interval
• ' 23
24
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
(which of course cannot be greater than a trutl
of time, i.e., raVrth part of a second, though it
may be infinitely less).” *
This process is not only “analogous to, but vir¬
tually identical with, that of the* differential cal¬
culus.” As Spottiswoode remarks, mathematicians
in Europe will be surprised to hear of tho»existence
of such a process in the age of Bhaskara (twelfth
century).
The claim for Bhaskara is, however, limited to
the historically imperfect form of the calculus.
Bhaskara does not specifically state that the method
of the calculus is only approximative. But it must
be remembered that the conception of limit and the
computation of errors came late in the history of
the calculi of fluxions and infinitesimals. For the
rest, Bhaskara introduces his computation expressly
as a “correction” of Brahmagupta’s rough simplifi¬
cation. 50
• Further, Bhaskara’s formula for the computation
of a table of sines also implies his use of the prin¬
ciple of differential calculus.
VII
KINETICS
The Hindus analyzed the concept of motion from
terrestrial and planetary observations. To a 'cer¬
tain extent they approached, though, strictly speak¬
ing, they did not anticipate, modern mechanics.
(x) Gravity: In astronomical works, e.g., of Ary¬
abhata, Brahmagupta, and Bhaskara, the movement
of a falling body is known to be caused by gravity.
They ascribed gravity to the attraction exercised
by the earth on a material body. But Newton’s
"law” of gravitation was not anticipated,
(2) Acceleration: Motion was conceived as a
change of place in a particle and incapable of pro¬
ducing another motion; but “the pressure, impact,
dor other force which produces the first motion pro¬
duces through that motion a samskara or persistent
tendency to motion (vega), which is the cause of
continued motion in a straight line, i.e., in the di¬
rection "..of the first motion.” 59 A series of sam- -
skaras each generating the one that succeeded it •
was also conceived. Acceleration is thus logically
implied in the writings of Udyotakara, the Doctor
of Nyaya (logic).
25
26
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
(3) Law of Motion: The force of samgkard (or
persistent tendency to motion, i.e., vega ) was known
to diminish by doing work against g. counteracting
force; and when the samskara is in this way entirely
destroyed, the moving body was known to come to
a rest. Thus “vega corresponds to inertia in some
respects, and to momentum (impressed motion) in
others. This is the nearest approach to Newton’s
First Law of Motion,” 59 in the writings of Shamkara
Mislira, the Doctor of Vaishesika (atomistic, Demo- ,
critean) philosophy.
(4) Accelerated motion of falling bodies: .Pras-
hastapada * (fourth century, A.D.), the Doctor of
Vaishesika philosophy, believed that in the case of
a falling body there is the composition of gravity
with vega (momentum) acting in the same direction
from the second instant onwards. It is as if the
two motions coalesced and resulted in one. “Here
is a good foundation laid for the explanation of the
accelerated motion of falling bodies; but Galileo’s
discovery was not anticipated as Galileo’s obser¬
vations and measurements of motion are wantijig.” 50 »
Scientifically considered, Hindu ideas on statics
do not seem to have made much progress. It is
interesting to observe that among the Greeks statics
was more developed than dynamics. Thij is the
exact opposite of the state of investigation in India,
where motion was probably understood better than
rest.
Thus the Hindus do not appear to have discov-
KINETICS
ered the two* celebrated principles of Archimedes
(287-212 b.c.)j viz.,
(1) That relating to the equilibrium of bodies
and centre of gravity as determined by the balance—
the fimt principle of Statics: Those bodies arc of
equal weight which balance each other at equal arms
of a straight lever.
(2) That relating to the floating of bodies on
liquids and the determination of specific gravity,—
the first principle of Hydrostatics: A solid body,
when immersed in a liquid, loses a portion of its
weight equal to the weight of the liquid it displaces.
ASTRONOMY
Astronomical lore is probably as old as man¬
kind. Elementary knowledge about the celestial
bodies and meteorological phenomena is common
to the races of antiquity, e.g., Chaldaeans, Egyptians,
Chinese, Hindus, and Greeks, as well as to all prim¬
itive races of men. That, however, is not to be
regarded as forming tlite science of astronomy, unless
the epoch of mere observation be lifted up to the
level of an epoch of science.
.The cultivation of astronomy, as science, after it
began as such, did not make less progress among the
Hindus than among the Greeks under Hipparchus
(c 150 b.c.) and Ptolemy (a.d. 139).
x. Lunar zodiac: The earliest astronomy of the*
Hindus is believed to have been borrowed from th*e
Babylonians. This consisted in the conception of
the lunar zodiac with twenty-seven naksairas (con¬
stellations). But this elementary divisionof the
* sky, suggested by the passago of the moon from
any point back to the same point, may have been
original to the Hindu priests, as Colebrooke and
Max Muller believe. The Saracens, however, learned
ASTRONOMY
29
their manzil (twenty-eight constellations) from the
Hindus in the eighth century.
2. Dodecameries: Aryabhata (a.d. 476) knew of
the division of the heavens into twelve equal por¬
tions or “ dodecameries.” This zodiacal division
came down from the Babylonians to the Greeks
about*700 b.c. (?). But it was only by the first
century b.c. that the Greeks had twelve separate
signs for the twelve divisions^. Aryabhata named
the twelve divisions by words of the samedmport,
and represented them by the figures of the” same
animals, as the Greeks. The Hindu zodiac, if it
is foreign at all, seems thus to have been derived
from the Greek, rather than from the Babylonian.
3. Rotation, 4. Eclipses: Aryabhata knew the
truth that the earth revolves on its axis. The true
cause of solar and lunar eclipses also was explained
by him.
5. Epicycles: The hypothesis of the epicycles in
accounting for the motions of the planets and' in
calculating their true places was the greatest general¬
ization of Hipparchus. This was discovered by the
Efindus also. But according to Burgess, “ the dif-
r .ference in the develpoment of this theory in the Greek
and the Hindu systems of astronomy precludes the
idea that one of these peoples derived more than a
hint respecting it from the other.”
6. Annual precession of the equinoxes, 7. Relative ,
size of the sun and the moon as compared with the
earth, 8. The greatest equation of the centre for the
30
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
sun: With regard to these calculations, the Hindus
“are more nearly correct than the Greeks.” 3 r
9. Times of the revolutions of the planets: With
regard to these, the Hindus are “very nearly as cor¬
rect” as the Greeks, “it appearing from a com¬
parative view of the sidereal revolutions of the
planets that the Hindus are most nearly correct in
four items, Ptolemy in six.” 3
10. The determination of the lunar constants
entering into the calculation of lunar periods and
eclipses reached a remarkable degree of approxima¬
tion (much above Graeco-Arab computations) to
the figures in Laplace’s Tables. 30
The Hindife were acquainted with Greek astronomy
and its merits. Varaha-mihira’s (a.d. 505-587) can¬
did acknowledgment of the fact that this science is
“ well established ” among the “ barbarian ” Yavanas
(Ionians, i.e., Greeks) leaves no doubt on the point.
The only question is about the amount and period
of influence.
According to Burgess there was “ very little
astronomical borrowing between the Hindus and
the Greeks.” It is difficult to see precisely what
the Hindus borrowed, “ since in no case do the*
numerical data and results in the system of the two
peoples exactly correspond.”
A certain amount of foreign help may have given
t an impetus to the science in India. But the loan
was thoroughly Hinduized. According to Whitney, 3
the Indians assimilated the Greek astronomy by
ASTRONOMY
SI
• (i) ^The substitution of sines for chords, and
(2) The general substitution of an arithmetical
for a geometrical form.
On the strength of subsequent developments, Seal
claims that Hindu astronomy was not less advanced
than that of Tycho Brahe (1546-1601).
Werner quotes passages to indicate that Hindu
astronomical instruments were introduced into China.
According to Mikarni, Hindu astronomers served
the Chinese government on the Astronomical -Board,
sometimes even as President (seventh century and
after). Chinese translations of Sanskrit works * like
“ The Brahman Heavenly Theory ” are also recorded.
Several calendars were modelled on the Hindu, e.g.,
probably the one by Itsing (683-727). During the
eighth century Hindu astronomy was introduced
among the Saracens, also, as noticed above.
* Four Hindu books on astronomy and three on mathematics arc
scheduled in Book XXXIV of the “ Sui Shoo ” or History of the
Sui Dynasty ( a . d . 589-618).
IX
PHYSICS
*
Playfair makes the following remarks with regard
to Greek physics: “Nothing like the true system
of natural philosophy was known to the ancients.
There are nevertheless to be found in their writings
many brilliant conceptions, several fortunate con¬
jectures, and gleams of light, which were afterwards
to be so generally diffused.”
The same remarks may be made, generally speak¬
ing, about Hindu physics. Both in methodology
» and achievements it exhibits almost the same strength
and limitations as the Greek. But probably the
attempts of the Hindu physicists were more com¬
prehensive, and more coordinated with investiga¬
tions in other branches of knowledge than those of
the Greeks.
Some hypothesis of nature, i.e., of matter and
energy, constituted the positive basis of each of
. the principal schools of Hindu philosophy, including
metaphysics. The idea of a real “natural phil¬
osophy ” was never absent from the intellectual horizon
even of those who believed that “ the proper -study
32
PHYSICS
33
.of mankind is man.” There was no system of
thought without its own physico-chemical theory
of atom^ its own “ laws of nature,” and so forth.
The most idealistic school had thus its own “ ma¬
terialistic ” background. And the method of in¬
vestigation, if not fully that of Baconian “ experi¬
mental ” induction, was not less fruitful and “ exper¬
iential J, "*than that of Aristotelian speculative logic.
The problems in natural philosophy, which engaged
the attention, more or less, of evepy thinker in India,
were of the kind described below:
i. The theory of atoms and molecular combina¬
tions. It is generally associated with the name of
Kanada, the founder of Vaishesika philosophy. He
has therefore been called the Democritus of India.
Strictly speaking, there were almost as many atomic
theories as the schools of Hindu thought. One or
two may be mentioned:
(i) Vaishesika system: Atoms cannot exist in an
uncombined state in creation. “ The doctrine of
atomism did not take its rise in Greece, but in the
East. It is found in the Indian philosophy. Kanada
. . . could not believe matter to be infinitely divisible.
. (Fleming's “ Vocabulary of Philosophy.”)
•(2) Jaina system: The atoms are not only in¬
finitesimal, but also eternal and ultimate. Atomic
linking, or the mutual attraction (or repulsion) of
atoms in- the formation of molecules was analyzed
by Umasvati (a.d. 5°) with a most remarkable effect.
The Jainas hold that the different classes of ele-
34
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
mentary substances are all evolved from the same
primordial atoms. “ The intra-atomic forces which
lead to the formation of chemical .compqjmds - do
not therefore differ in land from those that explain
the original linking of atoms to form molecules.” 50
2. General properties of matter: These were
analyzed and defined not only by Kanada and his
school, but also by the Jainas, Buddhists, aifd other
rivals and contemporaries. A few such concepts
were elasticity, cqhesiveness, impenetrability, vis¬
cosity, fluidity, porosity, etc. Capillary motion, was
illustrated by the ascent of the sap in plants from
the root to the stem, and the penetrative diffusion of
liquids in porous vessels. Upward conduction of
water in pipes was explained by the pressure of
air. 59
3. The doctrine of motion: Motion was conceived
in almost every school of thought as underlying the
physical phenomena of sound, light, and heat. This
motion was known to be not only molar and molec¬
ular, but also the subtle motion lodged in the atoms
themselves, i.e., the very principle of matter-stuff.
4. Time and Space: In order to be precise and
definite in their calculations the Hindus conceivejl
infinitesimally small magnitudes of time and spate.
The instruments of measurement were crude. The
attempt to distinguish from one another the varying
grades of “ least perceptible ” sound, light, heat, time,
etc., has therefore to be taken for what it is worth.
An atom (truli) of time was regarded as equal to
PHYSICS
35
irirf,Tilth of a second. The thickness of the mini¬
mum visible {trasa-renu), e.g., the just perceptible
mote in the sunbeam, was known to be Tr asas th of
an incfc. Th<* size of an atom was conceived to be
less than tt^.s" 1 ^ -62 of a cubic inch. “ Curiously
enough, this is fairly comparable (in order of mag¬
nitude) with the three latest determinations of the
size o£ the hydrogen atom.” 59 No unit of velocity
seems to have been fixed upon. But average ve¬
locity was measured in accordance with the formula
These measurements were not arbitrary poetic
guess-works. It is on the basis of these that a
remarkably accurate measurement of the relative
pitch of musical tones was made, and the instan¬
taneous motion of a planet determined (and thus
the “ principle ” of the differential calculus dis¬
covered) .
5. The doctrine of conservation: Both matter and
energy were known to be indestructible. But though
constant, they were known to be liable to addition
and subtraction, growth and decay, i.e., to changes
in collocation. This transformation was known
to be going on constantly.
• The following ideas about matter and energy
may be gleaned from the writings of the Hindus. 59
Some of these should be regarded as real contribu¬
tions to knowledge, though not demonstrated accord¬
ing to the modern .methods:
36
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
(а) Heat:
(1) Light and heat were known to Kanada as different
forms of the same substance.
(2) Solar heat was known to Udayana as the source
of all the stores of heat.
» «aJ.<v-( 3) Heat and light rays were believed by Vachaspati
ef_ • ( a . d . 850) to consist of very minute particles
" emitted rectilineally by the substances.
(4) Rarefaction in evaporation and the phenomenon
of ebullition were correctly explained by
Shamkara Mishra.
(б) Optics:
(1) The phenomena of translucency, opacity, shadows,
* etc., were explained by Udyotakara.
* (2) The angle of incidence was known to be equal to
the angle of reflection. This was known to the
Greeks also.
(3) Thp phenomenon of refraction was known to
Udyotakara.
(4) The chemical effects of light rays were known
to Jayanta.
(5) Lens and mirrors of various kinds, spherical and
oval, were used for purposes of demonstration.
Light rays were focussed through a lens on a
. combustible like paper or straw. (The making
and polishing of glass was a great industry in
India. According to Pliny the best glass was
that made by the Hindus.)
(c) Acoustics:
(1) Physical basis of sound: Two theories were held •
about the vehicle or medium of propagation.
Shabara Swami knew it correctly to be the
air. But Udyotakara and others knew it to be
ether.
(2) Wave-motion: The sounjl-waves were under-
PHYSICS
37
• stood by both schools. But Prashastapada
^ knew them to be transverse; and Udyotakara
and Shabara Swami understood the transmission
of sound to be of the nature of longitudinal
waves.
(3) Echoes were analyzed by Vijnana-bhiksu.
* (4) Sounds were distinguished according to their tones
and over-tones, volume or massiveness, and
quality or timbre, by Batsyayana, Udyotakara,
and Vachaspati ( c. a.d. 850).
(5) , Musical notes and intervals were analyzed and
'■ mathematically calculated in the treatises on
• music, 14 e.g., Sharamgadeva’s “Samgita-ratna-
kara” (“Ocean of Music”) (12x0-47), Damo-
dara’s “Samgita-darpana” (“The mirror of
music”) (1560-1647), etc. The’relative pitch
of the notes of the diatonic scale was, according
to Krishnaji Ballal Deval, accurately deter¬
mined.
(6) The so-called Pythagorean law 12 of the vibration
of stretched strings was known to the Hindus,
viz., the number of vibrations (pitch of a note)
varies inversely as the length of the string. 10
(7) The Hindus knew that the octave above a note
has twice as many vibrations as the note itself.
They had thus arrived at the octave on which
* modern Eur-American music is based.
(d) Magnetism:
(1) Elementary magnetic phenomena could not but
be observed. The attraction of grass, straw,
etc., by amber, and the movement of the iron
needle “towards the magnet, were explained
by Shamkara Mishra as due to adrista, i.e.,
unknown cause.
(2) Bhoja (c a.d. 1050) in his directions for ship-
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
building gave the warning that no iron should be
used in holding or joining together idle planks
of bottoms intended to be sea-going vessels.
The fear was entertained lest the iron should
expose the ships to the influence of magnetic
rocks in the sea, or bring them within a mag¬
netic field and so lead them to risks. 8 *«
(3) Mariner’s compass: Mookerji points out a com¬
pass on one of the ships in which the Hindus of
the early Christian era sailed out to colonize
Java and other islands in the Indian Ocean.
The Hindu compass was an iron fish (called in
Sanskrit matsya-yantra or fish machine). It
floated in a vessel of oil and pointed to the
north.
(1 e ) Electricity: Most rudimentary electrical phenomena
may have been noticed by Umasvali ( a . d . 50).
His theory of atomic linking was based on the
idea that the two atoms to be combined must
have two opposite qualities. He believed that
atoms attracted and repelled each other accord¬
ing as they were heterogeneous (i.e., unlike),
and homogeneous (i.e., like), respectively. 6a
X
CHEMISTRY
Both in the East and the West chemistry was
at first alchemy. It was principally a handmaifl to
the science or art of medicine, and subsidiarily allied
to metallurgy and the industrial arts. Whatever be
the worth of that chemistry according to ,the modem
standard, the Hindu investigators could give points
to their European peers. They were, besides, teachers
of the Saracens and of the Chinese.
Leaving aside the chemists or druggists in the
medical schools of India, two great specialists in
chemistry as such were Patanjali (second century
B.c.) and Nagarjuna (early Christian era). Patanjali
was also a philologist, his commentary on the famous
grammar of Panini is well known. His “ science of
’iron A ( loha-shastra ) was a pioneer work on metal¬
lurgy. Nagarjuna’s genius also was versatile. He
’ is the patron-saint of alchemists. He is credited with
■ having founded or rather systematized the philosophy
of rasa (mercury). •
Some of the achievements of the Hindu brain
have been genuine contributions to chemical science.
. • 39
40
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
The Hindu chemical investigators of the fifth and
sixth centuries a.d. (the age of Gupta-Vikramadityan
Renaissance) were far in advance of Roger Bacon
(thirteenth century). In fact, they anticipated by
one millennium the work of Paracelsus (sixteenth
century) and Libavius (seventeenth century). “ The
physico-chemical theories as to combustion* heat,
chemical affinity were clearer, more rational, and
more original than those of Van Helmont or Stahl.”
(Seal.)/ 4
i..According to Prafullachandra Ray, the earliest
Hindus knew of the distinction between green and
blue vitriol. But Dioscorides, the Greek, and Pliny,
the Roman, both belonging to the first century
a.d., confounded the two. Even Agricola’s ideas
were not clear (1494-1555).
2. The scientific pharmacy of Sushruta was almost
modem. About the preparation of caustic alkali
he was careful enough to give the special direction
that the strong lye is to be preserved in an iron
vessel. It was far superior to the process of a Greek
writer of the eleventh century who has been eulogized
by Berthelot. 44
3. According to Royle, the process of distillation
was discovered by the Plindus.
4. By the sixth century the Hihdu chemists were
masters of the chemical processes of calcination,
. distillation, sublimation, steaming, fixation, etc. 59
5. These processes were used by researchers of
the Patanjali and Nagarjuna cycles in order to
CHEMISTRY
41
bring iibout chemical composition and decomposi¬
tion, e. g.,
(a) In the preparation of
w (i) Perchloride of mercury;
(2) Sulphide of mercury;
(3) Vermilion from lead, etc.
(b) In the extraction of
(1) Copper from sulphate of copper;
(2) Zinc from calamine;
(3) Copper from pyrites, etc.
6. The importance of the apparatus, in chemical
research is thus described in “ Rasarnava,” a work
on chemistry, of the eleventh century:
“ For killing (oxidizing) and coloring mercury, an
apparatus is indeed a power. Without the use of
herbs and drugs, mercury can be killed with the
aid of an apparatus alone; hence an expert must
not disparage the efficacy of the apparatus.” 44
With this preamble the author introduced his
account of the chemical laboratory, instruments,
* crucibles, etc.
7. In “ Madanapala-nighantu,” a work on drugs
(c. 137,4), zinc was distinctly mentioned as a separate
' metal. Paracelsus (1493-1541) was ^ us anticipated
in India by about- two hundred years.
8. The philosophy of mercury was a recognized
branch of learning during the fourteenth century
It was 6ne of the celebrated sixteen in Madhavach
arya’s collection of philosophical “ systems (1331)-
42 HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
He mentioned “ Rasarnava ” as a standard work on
mercury.
g. “ Rasa-ratna-samuchchaya ” (treatise on mer¬
cury and metals) is a comprehensive work of the
fourteenth century. It embodies practically the
whole chemical, niineralogical, and metallurgical
knowledge of the Hindus developed through the
ages. Like the “ Brihat Samhita ” (sixth century
A.D.) # by Varaha-mihira, it is a scientific encyclo¬
paedia. It is specially remarkable for its section
on the laboratory, directions for experiments, and
description of apparatus.
io. The Hindus had no knowledge of mineral
acids for a long period. But this defect was made
up by their use of Vid, which, says Ray, could “ kill
all metals.” This was a mixture containing aqua
regia and other mineral acids in polcntia. The sub¬
stance had probably been discovered by Patanjali /' 11
. Mineral acids were discovered almost simultaneously
both in India and Europe during the sixteenth
century.
The debt of Europe to Saracen chemistry ol al- *
chemy is generally acknowledged by historians of
science . 68 This implies also Europe's debt to the
Hindus; for they had taught these teachers of
mediaeval Europe.
Gebir, the earliest Saracen (Spanish) chemist
(eighth century), was familiar with Hindu rasayana
(alchemy and metallurgy, the seventh division of
the “science of life,” called Ayar-veda). lie called
CHEMISTRY
43
carbonate of sod'a “sagimen vitri ” from the Hindu
name sajji matti. He also knew tulia, the Hindu
name of copper sulphate. 78
The Saracens themselves admitted their disciple-
ship to t^e Hindu professors of medicine. Chemistry
naturally passed along with the medical science from
India into the Saracen Empire. The famous Arabic
encyclopaedia, “ Kitaba al Fihrisi,” by Nadim (c
950) distinctly mentions the translation of Hindu
medical works into Arabic under the patronage *of
Caliphs from Mansur to Mamun (c a.d. 750-850).
Saracen scholars 51 of the thirteenth century, e.g.,
Haji Khalifa, also acknowledged what their prede¬
cessors had learned from the schools of Hindu medi¬
cine.
The medical practice in China also was considerably
influenced by Hindu chemistry. In Book XXXIV of
the Sui Shoo ” (a.d. 589-618) Nagarjuna appear^
under the Chinese appellation of Loong (i.e., Dragon)
Shoo (i.e., Tree), the exact equivalent of the Hindu
name, as an authority on recipes. The chemistry
of the* Tantrists was further assimilated by the
Chinese through treatises like the “ book of recipes
narrated by Chipo” (Chinese for Shiva, the god of
the “ Tantras ”).
The history of science requires, therefore, a re¬
vision, ih the department of chemistry as in algebra,
arithmetic, etc., in the light of facts from the Hindu
angle. . •
XI
METALLURGY AND CHEMICAL ARTS
^ndia was the greatest “ industrial power ” of
antiquity. It was the manufactures of the Hindus,
which, backed up by their commercial enterprise,
served as standing advertisements of India in Egypt,
Babylonia, Judaea, Persia, etc. To the Romans
of the Imperial epoch and the Europeans of the
Middle Ages, also, the Hindus were noted chiefly as
a nation of industrial experts.
. Some of the arts 62 for which the people of India
have had traditional fame are those connected with
(i) bleaching, (2) dyeing, (3) calico-printing, (4)
tanning, (5) soap-making, (6) glass-making, (7)
manufacture of steel, (8) gun-powder and fire-workk,
and (9) preparation of cements. All these imply
a knowledge of industrial chemistry.
1. Patanjali, the founder of Hindu metallurgy,
(second century b.c.) gave elaborate directions for
many metallurgic and chemical processes, especially
the preparation of metallic salts, alloys, amalgams,
etc., and the extraction, purification, and .assaying
of metals. 69
44
METALLURGY AND CHEMICAL ARTS 45
2. During the fourth century the Hindus could
forge a bar of iron, says Fergusson, “ larger than
any that have been forged in Europe up to a very
late date, and not frequently even now.” 44
3. Gun-powddt “ may have been introduced into
China from India ” about the fifth or sixth century
A.D. (Journal of the North China Branch of R. A. S.,
New Series, vi. 82).
4. The secret of manufacturing the so-called
Damascus blades was learned by The Saracens from
the Persians, who had mastered it from the Hindus. 52
In Persia, the Indian sword was proverbially the'
best sword, and the phrase jawabee hind (“Indian
answer ”) meant “ a cut with the sword made of
Indian steel.”
5. During the sixth century 59 the Hindu chemists
could prepare:
(1) Fixed or coagulated mercury;
(2) A chemical powder, the inhalation of which would bring
on sleep or stupor;
(3) A chemically prepared stick or wick for producing light
without fire;
(4) A powder, which, like anaesthetic drugs or curare, para-
, .ly7.es sensory and motor organs.
6. The horticulturists of the same period were
familiar jvith several mixtures and infusions, probably
struck upon empirically, for supplying the requisite
nitrogen'compounds, phosphates, etc., to plants.
7. The metallurgists of the same period were
familiar with the processes of extraction, purifica-
46
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
tion, “ Tril ling ” (formation of oxides, chlorides, and
oxy-chlorides), calcination, incineration, powdering,
solution, distillation, precipitation, rinsing, drying,
melting, casting, filing, etc. With the help of
apparatus and reagents they subjected each of the
known minerals to all these processes. Heat was
applied in different measures for different ends. 69
8 . So early as the sixth century the mercurial
operations alone were nineteen in number.
Pliny, tile Rom£n of the first century a.d., noticed
the industrial position of the I-Iindus as paramount
'in the world. India maintained the same position
even in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
when the modern European nations began to come
into intimate touch with her. This long-standing
industrial hegemony of the Hindus was due to their
capacity for harnessing the energies of Nature to
• minister to the well-being of man. They made sev¬
eral important discoveries in chemical technology.
These may be generalized 59 into three:
(1) The preparation of fast dyes;
(2) The extraction of the principle of indigotin from the
indigo by a process, which, though crude, is essen¬
tially an anticipation of modern chemical methods;
\ (3) The tempering of steel.
XII
MEDICINE
•
Superstitions die hard. The progress of ration-,
alism is slow. Hippocrates and Galen held a knowl¬
edge of astronomy or rather astrology to be essential
to physicians. In Europe, even so late *as the fif¬
teenth and sixteenth centuries, diseases were regarded
as punishments of God, and the intervention of
priests was requisitioned where one should call on
a physician or a surgeon. 40 Thus, when after the
return of Columbus’s party from the newly discovered
America to the Old World, venereal diseases created
havoc in every country in Europe, people used to
offer masses and prayers and alms to assuage the
wrath of God. From the Popes and Cardinals down
to the soldiers and traders, every rank of the society
was infected by the disease. It was, therefore, con¬
sidered to be a visitation from heaven to punish
the licentious and rectify the universal ribaldry of
the times..
In fact, the pseudo-science of Galen (second
century a.d.) continued long to be an incubus upon
medical ' theory and practice in Eiyope. Absurd
47
48
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
formulas held the ground in the Christian pharma-
copaeas of continental Europe down to comparatively
modern times. And the age of talismans, amulets,
the fetish of royal touch, etc., is ye*l fresh in human
memory. Really scientific medicine is very recent. 29
It is in this perspective of the history of*medicine
that Hindu contributions to its science and art
have to be read. Hindu achievements in this field
as in others have riot only an “ historical ” importance,
but have some “ absolute ” value also. Besides,
from the standpoint of comparative chronology,
Hindu medicine has been ahead of the European
and has Jpeen of service in its growth and develop¬
ment.
Two great names in Hindu medicine are Charaka
{c sixth to fourth century B.c. ?), the physician, and
Sushruta (early Christian era), the surgeon. They
were not the founders of their respective sciences,
• but the premier organizers of the cumulative experi¬
ence of previous centuries. In observation lay their
great strength, the “ natural history of disease ”
was their special study. Both these schools were
in existence about 500 B.c. according to Hoernle.
-By the first and second centuries a.d. surgery was
a well developed art. Many instruments, were de¬
vised, of which 127 are mentioned. The materia
medica grew from age to age* with the introduction
of new drugs (vegetable, animal and mineral), of
which the therapeutic effects were tested by the
“ experiments ” of researchers.
MEDICINE
49
(1) The Hindus have had hospitals and dispen¬
saries since at least the third century b.c. Asoka the
Great was an educator and propagandist. Through
his Rock Inscriptions he popularized, among other
things, some of the more common medical recipes
for the treatment* of both men and animals. (The 1 '
first Christian hospital was built in the fourth century
A.D. unde?*Constantine.)
(2) The smoking of datura leaves in asthma,
treatment of paralysis and dyspepsia by nux vomica,
use of croton tiglium, etc., are moclern in Europe,
but have come down in India since very old times. 51 "
(3) The Hindus were the first in the world to
advocate the “ internal ” use of mercury. Pliny
knew only of its external use (first century A.D.).
By the sixth century it was well established among
Hindu practioners as an aphrodisiac and tonic. It
is mentioned by Varaha-mihira along with iron
(58 7). 44
(4) The Greeks and Romans used metallic sub¬
stances for external application. The Saracens are
usually credited with their internal administration
for the first time in the history of medicine. Ac¬
cording to LeClerc, the first physicians in Europe,
who' used* mercury, lived in the fifteenth century,
and were induced to do so from reading the works
of Mesue of.Damascus (750).
But in this as in other matters the Hindus antici¬
pated the Saracens, and, in fact, taught them. As
Roylembserves, the earliest of the Saracens had access
50
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
to the writings of Charaka and Sushruta, who had
given directions for the internal use of numerous
metallic substances.
(5) In the prescriptions of Dr. Vagbhata mineral
and natural salts had a conspicuous place. His
book was translated into Arabic in ftie eighth century.
(6) From the sixth century on, every Hindu
treatise on materia medica has more or less recom¬
mended metallic preparations for internal use. It
was only after Paracelsus at the end of the sixteenth
century that these had a recognized place in European
science. 44
Hindu medicine has influenced the medical sys¬
tems of other peoples of the world. 51 The work of
Indian physicians and pharmacologists was known
in ancient Greece and Rome. The materia medica
of the Hindus has influenced medieval European
practice also through the Saracens.
(1) Hippocrates (450 b.c.), the “ father of medi¬
cine,” was familiar with Hindu drugs. Thus he men¬
tions pepper, cardamon, ginger, cinnamon, cassia, etc.
Theophrastus (350 b.c.) mentions ficus indica and
others among medicinal plants. Dioscorides (first
centuiy A.D.), the most celebrated compiler of Greek
materia medica, mentions valeriana hardwickii, cala¬
mus aromaticus, etc. /Etius (fifth century) mentions
collyrium indiarum, santalum, and other charac¬
teristic Hindu medicaments. Similarly Paulus
/Egineta (seventh century)'prescribes the internal
use of steel, cloves, rhubarb, trypherum, etc. filmy,
the Roman contemporary of Dioscorides, had also
mentioned Indian medicinal plants and drugs.
The preparations of the Hindu pharmaceutical
laboratories •were thus in use in Greece as well as in
the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman world. The Hindu
inventions v*ere bodily incorporated in the European
systems. The Indian names, e.g., hardwickii, try-
pherum, etc., were retained; also, the original Hindu
uses of the drugs. And all this before the age of
Saracen intermediaries. 51
(2) Hindu physicians were superintendents of
Saracen hospitals at Bagdad. The introduction of
Indian drugs among Moslems has been acknowledged
by their own medical men.
Serapion, the earliest Saracen author of materia
medica (eighth century), mentions the Hindu
Charaka. So also his followers, Rhazes and Avi¬
cenna. 78
The Saracen physicians were surprised at the
boldness with which Hindu practitioners prescribed
the internal use of powerful metallic drugs. “.Ta-
leef Shareef ” (Playfair’s translation) is quoted by
Udoychand Dutt to indicate the Moslem admira¬
tion of the Hindu practice:
y White oxide of arsenic: The Hindu physicians
find these drugs more effectual, . . . but I usually
confine them to external application.
“ Mercury: It is very generally used throughout
India, ... it is a dangerous drug.
“Iron: It is commonly used by physicians in
52
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
India, but my advice is to have as little to do with
it as possible.”
(3) The Chinese scholar-tourists studied Hindu
medicine.* Itsing “ made a successful study ” of
the subject while in India (671-95), though it
was not liis special mission. 61 -
(4) The later Greek physicians, e.g., Actuarius
(twelfth century), Myrepsus, etc., were influenced
by Saracen doctors. 29 They used Hindu medica¬
ments also. Thus like the pre-Saracen Paulus,
Actuarius mentioned, tri-phala or “three myro-
balans.” This traditional Hindu drug has a
place m his materia medica under the name of
“ tryphera parva.”
(5) The Persian (post-Caliphate) doctors of the
fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth
centuries, also, made use of the original Sanskrit
treatises as well as of the previous Arabic transla¬
tions. Meer Mohammed Moomin has acknowl¬
edged his indebtedness to Hindu works in his
“ Materia Medica.” 61
* Nine Polmnoi (i.e., Brahman, or Hindu) books on medicine
arc mentioned in the bibliographical section (Book XXXIV) of
the “ Sui Shoo” (A.n. 589—6x8). Some of these books are com¬
plete in twenty-five volumes, and contain the “ recipes of many
masters.”
References to the “ Sui Shoo ” are due to the investigations of
Mr. T. Y. Leo, late of the Chinese Legation of Washington, IX C.
XIII
SURGERY
»
The ancient Hindu surgeons gave expressiijn to
the most modern views about the importance * of
their science. They declared:
“ Surgery is the first and best of the medical
sciences, less liable than any other to* the fallacies
of conjectural and inferential practices, pure in
itself, perpetual in its applicability, the worthy
produce of Heavens, and certain source of Fame.”
These ideas were prevalent among the medical
practitioners during the first centuries of the Chris¬
tian era, when the investigations of the Sushruta-
cycle were being organized into a system.
Another very remarkably modern idea of these
• surgeons was that “ the first, best, and most im¬
portant of all implements is the hand.” 79
Surgery is one of the oldest branches of medical
science in India. The Hindu term for it is Shalya
or the “ art of removing foreign substances from the #
__ 4 >ody; especially the arrow.” It seems to have had
its origin in warfare and in the accidents of out¬
door work, e.g., hunting and agriculture.
. ‘ S3
54
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
The Hindu surgeons performed lithotomy, could
extract the dead foetus, and could remove external
matter accidentally introduced into the body, e.g.,
iron, stones, hair, bones, wood, etc. They were
used to paracentesis, thoracis, and abdominis, and
treated different kinds of inflammation, abbesses,
and other surgical diseases. Hazardous operations
and the art of cutting, healing ulcers, setting bones,
and the use of escharotics, were the forte of a sec¬
tion of India’s medical men.
• ‘Dissection of the human body and venesection
were normal facts in medical India. The doctors
of the Sushruta school declared that dissection
was necessary for a correct knowledge of the inter¬
nal structure of the body. Dissection gave them
an intimate knowledge of the diseases to which
the body is liable. It also helped them in their
surgical operations to avoid the vital parts. 79 It
gave them, besides, an accurate knowledge of the
human anatomy. 29
The Hindu surgical laboratory consisted of at
least 127 instruments. The operators were used
to the manipulation of saws, lancets, ndbdles,*
knives, scissors, hooks, pincers, probes, nippers,
forceps, tongs, catheters, syringes, loadstones, rods,
etc.
For laboratory practice students operated on
wax, gourds, cucumbers, and other fruits.' T ap -.
ping and puncturing were demonstrated on a
leather bag of water or soft mud. Fresh* hides of
SURGERY
animals, or dead bodies, were used in the demon¬
stration of scarification and bleeding. The use
of the probe was practised on hollow bamboos.
Flexible models of the human body were in use
for practice in bandaging. Caustics and cauteries
were used on animals. 78
Lest one should smile over this primitive stage of
the science, it is fair to remember the barber-
surgeons of Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries.
One need, moreover, resist the temptation of
comparing dr contrasting this ancient Hindu sur¬
gical theory and practice with the marvels of
modern surgery. By the side of the latest dis-
• coveries and inventions, any achievements of the
human brain in the past, whether in the East or
the West, are but children’s toys. “ So rapid has
been our surgical progress that a Velpeau, a Sir
Wjlliam Ferguson or a Pancoast, all of whom died
within the last thirty years, could not teach modern
surgical principles nor perform a modern surgical
operation; . . . Our modern operations on the
braiji, the chest, the abdomen, and the pelvis,
would make him wonder whether we had lost all
our senses, until seeing the almost uniform and
almost painless recoveries, he would thank God
for the magnificent progress of the last half-cen¬
tury, . which had' vouchsafed such magical, nay, •
almost divine, power to the surgeon.” 74
XIV
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
Hippocrates, the founder of Greek medicine,
w^s *unacquainted with anatomy and physiology.
His ignorance was due to the superstitious respect
which the Greeks paid to their dead. 29 But the
fathers of Hindu medicine were remarkably accu¬
rate in some of their observations and descrip- '
tions.
The Hindus have described 500 muscles—400 in the
extremities, 66 in the trunk, and 34 in the region
above the clavicle. They knew of the ligaments,
sutures, lymphatics, nerve plexuses, fascia, adipose
tissue, vascular tissue, mucous membrane of the
digestive canal, synovial membranes, etc. 28
(a) Osteology
The anatomical system of the Hindus was almost
modern. As Hoernle remarks: “ Its extent and
. accuracy are surprising, when we allow for their, early
age—probably the sixth century b.c. —and theif «'
peculiar method of definition.”
56
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
57
There are about 200 bones in the human body
according to modern osteology. Charaka counted
360, and Sushruta 300. The former counted the 32
sockets of teeth and the 20 nails as separate bones.
These were not admitted by Sushruta.
The additional xoo in Sushruta’s count, however,
has to be explained. This large excess is principally
due to the fact that, like Charaka, he regarded the
cartilages and the prominent parts of bones (the
modern “ processes ” and “ protuberances ”) as if
they were separate bones. 23 In Europe the first
correct description of the osseous systeiji was given by
Vesaliusin 1543.
(, b ) The Doctrine oj Humors
The physiology of humors, whatever its worth, is
older in India than in Greece. At any rate, ’the
• Hindu and the Greek humoral pathologies are inde¬
pendent systems. Hippocrates counted four humors,
viz., blood, bile, water, and phlegm; but Charaka
propounded three, viz., air, bile, and phlegm.
(c) Digestion
Tlie Hindu physicians knew the digestive system*
well and described it satisfactorily.
1. The function of different digestive fluids was
understood. They were familiar with the acid gas¬
tric juice in the stomach. They knew also that in
58
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
the small intestines there is a digestive substance in
the bile.
2. They were familiar with, and explained, the
conversion of the semi-digested food (chyme) into
chyle, and of that again into blood.
3. They explained the chemical changes by the
action of metabolic heat.
*
(d) Circulation of Blood
In Europe, previous to Harvey’s epoch-making
discovery (1628), “ the movement of the blood was
believed to be confined to the veins, and was thought
to be a to-and-from movement.” (Halliburton).
The Hindus knew that the heart (1) receives the
chyle-“ essence,” i.e., venous blood, (2) sends it down
to the liver, where it is transformed into red blood,
and (3) gets it back as red blood from the liver.
There was thus the idea of a chakra or wheel, i.e.,
self-returning circle of “ circulation.” 59
But the Hindus did not understand the process
clearly. (1) They did not know that the path¬
way of the blood round and round the body is a
“double circle,” i.e., “systemic” circulation and
“ pulmonary ” circulation. (2) Neither Charaka nor
-Sushruta, therefore, understood the function o’f the
lu'ngs in the oxygenation of blood. This was no 4
known to the ancients in Europe also, e.g., to Galen
(a.d. 130).
The Harveyan Circulation was thus not anticipated
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
.50
by the Hindus. The Hindu conception of the vas-
. cular system is given below:
(1) There are 5 .wo classes of blood-conductors
(i) shir a or artery (?) and (ii) dhamance. or vein (?),
(2) Thew heart is connected with the liver by both,
(3) The dhamanees bring the impure blood (venous)
from the heart into the liver, and the shiras conduct
the pure (arterial) blood from the livar into the heart.
(e) Nervous System
Neither in India nor in Europe did the ancients
understand the nervous system. Aristotl*e’s error
was committed by Charaka and Sushruta also. They
all regarded the heart to be the central organ and seat
of consciousness. The nerves (sensory and motor)
were believed to ascend to and descend from the
heart.
Later investigators, however, corrected this mis¬
take both in the East and the West. Like Galen, the
Greek (second century A.D.), the Tantrists and
Yogaists of India came to know the truth that the
brain (and the spinal cord) is the real organ of “ mind.”
According to Bamandas Basu the nervous system
is more accurately described in the mystical “ Tan-
tras ” than in purely medical treatises. We get the
fallowing from “ Shiva Samhita:” 55
1. Familiarity with the brain and spinal cord;
2. The idea that the central nervous system is composed of
gray and white matters;
60
I-IINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
3. Familiarity with the lateral vehtricles of the brain
(through the fourth and third ventricles);
4. Familiarity with the ganglia and [jjexuses of the cerebro-'
spinal system;
- 5. The idea that the brain is composed of chandra-kala or
. convolutions resembling half-moons;
6. The idea that the six chakras are the vital and important
sympathetic plexuses, presiding over all the functions
of organic life. Yoga or contemplation means con¬
trol over the functions of these plexuses.
f
According to Seal, also, the enumeration, by Yoga-
ists, of the spinal nerves with the connected sym¬
pathetic chain and ganglia, is a distinct improve¬
ment on the anatomical knowledge of Charaka -and
Sushruta. 50 Thus, according to the Yoga physi¬
ologists,
(1) The Susumna is the central cord in the verte¬
bral column. The two chains of sympathetic ganglia
on the left and the right are named Ida and Piixgala
respectively. The sympathetic nerves have their
main connection with Susumna at the solar plexus.
There are 700 nerve-cords in the sympathcfic-spihal
system.
(2) The soul has its special seat within the Brahma-
randhra above the foramen of Monro and the middle
commissure, but traverses the whole cerebro-spinal
axis, up and down, along the Susumna. ' -
EMBRYOLOGY
It is. desirable at the outset to remember two facts
in connection with modern embryology:
i. It is only in recent years, thanks to the most
magnifying microscopes, that the science has made
real progress through the study of cells (" cytology ”).
2". Even Darwin believed that the children resemble
their parents because the parents contribute multi¬
tudes of minute particles from their own tissues to
form the cells of their offspring. But this theory of
“ pan-genesis ” has been subsequently proved to be
wrong. 67
In the history of science Hindu embryologists
deserve recognition (i) as having made precise obser¬
vations,, some of which are great approximations to
the latest demonstrated truths, and (2) as having
guessed at theories, some of which are eminently
suggestive. As for pseudo-biological hypotheses,
India has not been more prolific than Europe from
Hippocrates to Buffon'. 29
• Some of the facts observed and explained by
Charalca and Sushruta are given below:
C£
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
(1) All the members of the human organism are
formed at the same time, but are extremely small, as
the first sprig of the bamboo contains the leaves, etc.,
of the future plant. 79 This idea of the development
of the fertilized ovum by “ palingenesis ” survived
in India after a long struggle with rival theories. It
is an established truth to-day that though we find
cells of one type in glands, of another type in the
brain, of another type in the blood, and so forth,
nevertheless all *of them sprang from one original
single cell. 07
(2) “ The hard substances of the' foetus, as hairs,
bones, nails, teeth, vessels, ligaments, etc., arc pro¬
duced frojn the semen, and resemble the same part as
in the father; and the soft parts as flesh, blood, fat,
marrow, heart, navel, liver, spleen, intestines, etc.,
arc formed principally from the blood of the mother,
and resemble her.” 79 This is virtually the Darwinian
pangcncsis now exploded.
(3) Weisman’s theory of “ germinal continuity ” is
the greatest' discovery of modern embryology. 1\ is
now held that “ somatic ” cells contribute absolutely
nothing to the original germ-plasm, that nc} parent
ever produces a germ cell, that the individual inherits
nothing from his parents, but both he and they
obtain their characteristics from a common source, and
that the line of descent or inheritance is from germ-
cell to germ-cell, not from parents. 07 This recent
* idea about the physical basis of inheritance brings
out the distinction between germ-cells and body-cells
EMBRYOLOGY
V,?,
(somatic). It was guessed, to a certain extent by
the Hindu biologists also in their controversy regard¬
ing the transmission of congenital deformities and
constitutional diseases of parents to offspring.
Atreya held that “ the parental seed (germ-plasm)
contains the whole parental organism in miniature
(or in poientia), but it is independent of the parents’
developed organs, and is not necessarily affected by
their idosyncrasies or deformities.” . The germ-plasm
was described as an organic whole independent of
the developed parental body and its organs. The .
physiological characters and predispositions of the
offspring were explained as being determined by the
constituent elements of this parental seed. The
continued identity of the germ-plasm from generation
to generation may be taken as a corollary to this,
though nowhere expressly stated. 59
(4) Elementary facts about impregnation, the
cycle - of sex, menopause, etc., could not but be.
observed:
( i ) The menses continue for seventeen days dur¬
ing which the woman may be impregnated, and not
at* any'other season. This Hindu idea of absolute
sterility after a certain number of days is still held
by some modem physiologists, though not a demon¬
strated truth.
(ii) The menses remain till the fiftieth year, when
the woman is of a weak constitution; but it continues
longer when the individual is strong.
(5) Modern physiology would not reject the little
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
kernel of truth that there is in the following state¬
ment: “The menses, after conception, goes in part
to form the placenta, and as the blood flows every
month, it coagulates to form the embryo; an upper
layer being added every month to the embryo; and
another portion to the breasts, of the mother, by
which the mammae are increased in size.” 79
(6) The stages of foetal development described on
the basis of post-mortem operations and major opera¬
tions in Qbstetric surgery had also much of the truth
that has been established in recent years.
“ In the first month the mixture of the semen and
menses forms a small mass like a pea; seven days
after conception, it has the form of a bubble or in¬
flated bag. On the tenth it is red, and on the fif¬
teenth it resembles a small round piece of flesh. At
one month it has small fibres proceeding from it and
is animated with life.” 79
One need not try to compare with this account the
advanced and definite ideas of modern embryology
about the development of the successive generations
of cells, from the original fertilized ovum, e.g.,
“morula,” “blastocyst,” “yolk sac,” “ eiftodefm,”
“ ectoderm,” “ mesoderm,” etc. But the following
may be accepted for “ popular ” purposes:
In the third month five eminences appear, which
when developed become the. hands, feet-and head.
In the sixth month all the members of the body are
formed, etc. 79
(7) The following observation about* the develop-
EMBRYOLOGY
65
ment of the rudimentary organs of reproduction
contains a suggestive hint:
The foetus for a time remains indeterminate, and
. .then takes on a definite male or female character.
In the second month the sexual character is indicated
by the shape of the foetus, the shape of a round joint
(?) indicating the male sex, and the elongated shape,
as of a muscle (?), the female sex. 50
(8) What determines sex? Can sex be produced
at will? These questions have engaged the attention
of scientists as well as quacks all through the ages
both in the East and the West. The following
Hindu ideas have had their European duplicates:
( i ) When conception occurs on the unequal days
of menses, a female child will be born.
(ii) Should the germ have more of the qualities of
the semen, a male child will be formed, and of the
r menses, a female child. 79
(in) Before the foetus takes on a definite male or
female character, the development of the sex may be
modified to some extent by food and drugs. 59
Modern scientists have advanced several theories
about sex-determinants. 17 The truth remains yet
to be discovered.
XVI
NATURAL HISTORY
Minerals, plants, and animals were objects of
study among the ancients and meduevals in India as
in Europe. But nothing approaching the “ sciences ”
of mineralogy, botany, and zoology was achieved
anywhere.
The discovery of the microscope in 1683 is the real
beginning of the study of plant and animal anatomies
and of the internal structure of minerals. The birth
of modern chemistry in the work of Priestley and
Lavoisier at the end of the eighteenth century started
the physiology of plants and animals as well as the
determination of the composition and constitution
of minerals. In 1809 exact measurements o[ crys¬
talline forms of many minerals were made. The
perfection of the microscope in 1867 has given a
great impetus to all these sciences duriitg" the last
half-century. 13
All previous studies in minerals had been under
the thraldom of alchemy. The researchers were
swayed by mythological an.d metaphysical notions. 30
Roger Bacon believed that the “philosopher^.-
go *
NATURAL HISTORY
67
stone ” was able to transform a million times its
weight of base metal into gold. It was no unusual
assertion that the fortunate possessors of the “ elixir
of life ” had been able to prolong their lives to 400
years and mjre. 31 Even Libavius (1616), who com¬
bated the excesses of Paracelsus and the employment
of “ secret remedies,” believed in the transmuta¬
tion of metals and the efficacy of potable gold. 44
Studies in plant life from Theophrastus (370-286
me.), the “ father of botany,” down to the revival of
learning in the sixteenth century were mere observa¬
tions in agriculture, horticulture, “forestry, phar¬
macy, etc. 20 The investigations regarding animals
also did not go beyond the stage of “ bionomics,” i.e.,
the lore of the farmer, gardener, sporlsjnan, and field-
naturalist, including thremmatology or the science
of breeding. 45
In this “ pre-scientific ” mineralogy, botany, and
zoology the Hindu students of natural history also
played a part. Considerable power of observation
was exhibited, as well as remarkable precisioA in
description, and suggestiveness in expression. Their
nature study was oriented to the practical’ needs of
socio-economic life. It was minute and comprehen¬
sive, and so far as it went, avoided the fallacies of
mal-observation and non-observation. Whatever be
the value of the results achieved, the investigation
was. carried on in a genuine “ scientific spirit.”
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
(a) Minerals
The principal metals and gems were discovered,
described, and utilized by the Hindus independently
of any foreign help. In fact, in this brarfch of knowl¬
edge as in many others the people of India were the
pioneers.
Mining has been in operation in India since the
earliest times. The use of gems and precious stones
as well as their identification, 50 also, have a long his¬
tory among the^Hindus.
1. The Hindus were the first to discover gold (Roscoc and
Schorlemner). 56
2. The Hindus taught the world the art of extracting iron
from the ores (Roscoe and Schorlemner). 61 *
3. Even in the Mosaic period (1491-50 n.c.) precious stones
and gems were in use in India. (Ball). r,&
4. Homer mentions tin probably by its Sanskrit name
' kastira . (Birdwood.) r ' B
5. The Hindus supplied gold to the Persian Empire in tin;
• fifth century b.c.; and the story of Indian “ gold-dig-
, ging ants ” (miners) is famous in Greek literature
thro.ugh Herodotus and others.
6. At first the Hindus knew six metals; gold, silver, copper,
; iron, tin, and lead. They discovered zinc, the seveirtlr
metal, sometime during the fourteenth century. (It
is mentioned by name as a separate metal in “ Madana-
pala-nighanlu,” 1374). In Europe it was discovered
by Paracelsus in 1540.
7. The Hindu “ doctrine of seven metals” was not, like-the
• Greek and Saracen, influenced by the doctrine of- the
* mystic influence of the seven planets. 4,1
NATURAL HISTORY
69
8. Examination of the genuineness of gems was an art even
in the first century b.c. (cf. “ The Troy Cart,” a drama
by Shoodraka). .
9. There hav^ been different methods of enumeration and
classification of the precious gems in different periods.
The last important phase is embodied in the ‘‘doctrine
of nine gems.” These are ruby, pearl, coral, emerald,
topaz, diamond, sapphire, gorneda (agate or zirepn),
and vaidurya (chrysoberyl, or lapis lazuli). This
doctrine was enunciated probably in the tenth cen¬
tury by the astronomer Shreepati. 40
10. The nine gems are believed to have a ihystic connection
with nine planets. Shreepati was the first to add Rahoo
(personification of the ascending node of the moon)
and Ketoo (moon’s descending node) to the list of
the generally recognized seven planets." 10
(b) Plants
Scientific observation was applied to the phe¬
nomena of the vegetable kingdom. The body- of
knowledge arrived at through the colligation of facts
consisted, however, in mere guesses or hints of truth.
^The following ideas of rudimentary plant-physi¬
ology have been credited to the experience of the
“ rhizotomi,” pharmocologists, plant-physicians
(Briksa-yurvedists) and horticulturists of ancient and
mediaeval India by Bhimchandra Chatterji:
1. Sexuality: Flowers are the organs of plants.
2. Phosphorescence, and exudation of water.
3. Photo-synthesis: The sun is the source of energy in the
.' fuel; ( i ) plants assimilate potential energy from the
70
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
sun, (») the less refractive rays (red, yellow,
of the setting sun are specially adapted to
by plants.
4. Plants are' living organisms: They hrve ar
the following phenomena of life: (a) sap
(b) power of movement, heliotropic, nyct
other movements, sensitiveness to touch
ness”) etc., (c) growth and reproduction.
Characteristics of,plant life as known to tl
of Nyaya (logic) are thus given by Seal:
*(1) Udayana (c a.d. 975) notices in plants the pi
life, death, sleep, waking, disease, drug
mission of specific characters by means of
ment towards what is favorable and away
is unfavorable.
(2) Gunaratna (c a.d. T350) enumerates the
(1) stages of infancy, youth and age;
growth; (Hi) various kinds of movemen
connected with sleep, waking, expansio
. traction in response to touch; also moveni
a support or prop; (iv) withering on worn
.lion of organs; ( v ) assimilation of food ;
the nature of the soil; (vi) growth or deca.'
lation of suitable or unsuitable food as p
the science of the diseases of plants and
ment ( Briksayurvcda ); (vii) disease; (vii
from diseases or wounds by the applical ii
(ix) dryness, or the opposite, due to the
. answers to the chyle (rasa) in animals; am
food favorable to impregnation.
*
Various classifications of plants (into gr
subdivisions) were attempted. These wen
NATURAL HISTORY
71
system of Jussieus, mostly based on properties. 54
They were mainly useful hints for practical men inter¬
ested in economic botany. Identification was thus
rendered easier than in the system of the "early Euro¬
pean botanists* which, according to Sachs, was too
vague and insufficient for the purpose.
(c) Animals
Animals have had an important place in the med¬
icine, dietetics, economic life, fine art§ and religion
of the Hindus. The people have thus had experience
of the life-habits, habitats, external characteristics,
etc., of animals, both domestic and wild. This
accounts for their intimate familiarity with tire
topics generally treated of in descriptive zoology.
1. Like the science of the diseases of plants,, veter¬
inary science also is very old in India. The Hindus
had hospitals for animals in the third century b.c.
2. The Hindus could set fractures and dislocations
•in animals. They were perfectly acquainted with the
anatomy of the goat, sheep, horse, and other animals
used in sacrifices. 19
3. They were specialists in the science of horses
and elephants, the two animals important in warfare.
Shalihotra is the founder of the science of horses, and
Palakapya of the science of elephants. There is a
vast literature on the subject.
4. Equine dentistry: The changes in the develop¬
ment and color of the six incisors of the lower jaw
72
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
constituted, in Hindu practice, the guide to the age
of the horse. This is modern European practice also.
5. Snake-poison has been used as an article in
Occidental lhateria medica during the last two or
three decades. But it has been a recognized drug in
India since early times.
6. The toxicologists of the Sushruta school of
medicine devoted special attention to the study of
snakes. That study was followed up in some of the
“ Purana ” schools. •
(a) Five different genera or families are described
by*Sushruta-Nagarjuna. Of these one is non-venom-
ous, and the others are venomous. One of the venom¬
ous families is hybrid. The varieties of each are
mentioned, a§ well as their longevity and other •
characteristics.
(. b) The “ Bhavisya Purana ” records that the
snakes {Naim) copulate in May or June, gestate
during the rainy months that follow, and bring forth
about 240 eggs in November. Most of these are
devoured by the parents, but those that are left break •
forth from the shell in about two months. By the
seventh day the young snakes turn dark; in a f 2#-.
night (or twenty days, according to another account)
the teeth come out. The poison is formed in the
fangs in three weeks, and becomes deadly in the
twenty-fifth night. In six months the snakes shed
the skin. The joints on the skin-(scales or sdutes)
* ar.e 240 in number (perhaps the sub-caudals were not
counted). 59
NATURAL HISTORY
73
7. Various systems of classification were built
up: (1) according to the nature of generation, e.g.,
from placentalia, or egg, etc. (in the- writings of the
schools of medicine); (2) according to the habitat
and mode of life, and usefulness to man; (3) accord¬
ing to the number of senses possessed by animals.
(This was the system of Umasvati, a.d. 40), 59
8. The Sushruta-school names (1) six varieties of
ants, (2) six varieties of flies* (3) five varieties of
mosquitoes (including one marine and one mountain
kind), (4) eight varieties of centipedes, (5) thirty
varieties of scorpions, (6) sixteen varieties of
spiders. 50
9. Leeches have been used by Hindu surgeons
since very early times. Sushruta gives a detailed
account of their varieties, habits, mode of 'applica¬
tion, etc. There are twelve varieties of leeches, six
of which are venomous and six useful. The venom¬
ous are found near putrid fish or animals in foul
water. The good are found in clear deep pools
which contain water-lilies. 11
Ladyayana is quoted by Dalvana, the com¬
mentator to Sushruta, as a great authority on insects
and reptiles. According to this ancient specialist,
the various forms of insects are to be distinguished
from one another by the following marks: (1) Dot-
tings, (2) wings,'(3) pedal appendages, (4) mouth,,
with antennae or nippers, (5) claws, (6) sharp, pointed
hairs or filaments, (7) stings in the tail, (8) hymenop-
teroils character, (9) humming or other noise, (10)
74
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
size, (u) structure of the body, (12) sexual org
(13) poison and its action on bodies. 50
11. Dalvana’s descriptions of deer and birds
precise and complete.
The zoological lore of the Hindus is thus ir
, respects a good document of their general scien
interest in the facts and phenomena of the objec
world. And some of their classifications were
less remarkable than those of Aristotle. 26
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, a few general remarks may be made
with regard to the cultivation of exact sciences
among the Hindus: •
1. Like the Greeks, as Whewell admits, the Hindus
also “ felt the importunate curiosity with regard to
the definite application of the idea of cause ^nd effect
to visible phenomena,” “ drew a strong line between
a fabulous legend and a reason rendered,” and “ at¬
tempted to ascend to a natural cause by classing
together phenomena of the same kind.” (This
scientific attitude of mind Whewell does not find
in any non-Greek except the Hindu! He forgets
altogether the claims of the Chinese.)
2. Epoch by epoch, Hindu scientific investigation
was.nsV.more mixed up with metaphysics and super¬
stitious hocus-pocus than the European. I't enlisted
in its service the devotion of hosts of “ specialists ”
in succession. Their sole object was the discovery
of the positive truths of the universe or the laws of
nature, according to the lights of those days.
' There thus grew up in India a vast amount of
specialized scientific literature, each branch with its
own technical terminology. The positive sciences of
75
76
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
the Hindus were not mere auxiliaries or hand
to the “ architectonic ” science of neeti or artht
politics, economics, and sociology.) The sc
(. skastras ) on plant and animal life, veterinary t
metals and gems, chemistry, surgery, embry
anatomy, symptomology of diseases, arith
algebra, astronomy, architecture, music (acou
etc., had independent status. Besides, like I
“ Natural History,” there have been scientific
clopaedias in Sanskrit, e.g., the “ Brihat Sam
(sixth century a.d.).
4. Scientific investigation was not confined 1
particular province of India or to any race or c
the Hindu population. It was a cooperative •
taking, a process of cumulative effort in intel:
advance. Thus, among the heroes of Hindu
icine, 66 Charaka (c 600 b.c.) belongs to the I
in the N.W., Sushruta (c 100 a.d.) is claimed
Punjab as well as Benares in the Middle
Vagbhata (c 700) belongs to Sindh (Western 1
Vrinda (900) to the Deccan (Middle South), C
pani (1050) to Bengal (Eastern India), Stefj
dhara (1350) to Rajputana (Further West),
deva (1350) to Vijayanagara (Extreme South
Narahari (seventeenth century) is claime
Kashmir (Extreme North) but belongs most
ably to Maharastra (Western Coasts). • •
5. No one hypothesis or theory dominated
thought in any age, or monopolized the. resear
all investigators in successive epochs. The
CONCLUSION
77
lectual universe of the Hindus was “ pluralistic.”
There were different schools criticising, correcting,
and modifying one another’s inquiries.
The schools of abstract philosophy grew ultimately
to sixteen in the time of Madhavacharya (1350),
“ though as a southerner,” says Haraprasad Sastri
“ he omits the two Shaiva schools of Kashmir and
puts the school of Buddhist philosophy into one.”
There were 15 different schools of grammar in the
sixth century B.c., 10 different schools of politics
and economics in the fourth century b.c., various
schools 'of dramaturgy and dancing in the second
century b.c., and also various schools of Kama or
sexology about the same time.
T-he diversity of scientific doctrines in India may
be illustrated by the differences of views regarding
the nature of life. The Charvakas (materialists
and sensationalists) held “ that life (as well as con¬
sciousness) is a result of peculiar combinations of
dead mater (or the four elements) in organic forms,
eveli as the intoxicating property of spirituous liquors
results from the fermentation of intoxicating rice and
mol&ssqg.” According to a second school (the Sam-
khya), life is neither a bio-mechanical force nor any
mere mechanical motion resulting therefrom. It
“is in reality a reflex activity, a resultant of the
various concurrent activities of the sensori-motor,
the emotional and the* apperceptive reactions of the
organism.” A third school (the Vedantist) rejects
both these doctrines. According to this, “ sensa-
78
HINDU ACHIEVEMENTS
tions do not explain life. Life must be regarded as a
separate principle . . . prior to the senses.” 59
Another illustration may be given from Hindu
physics. This relates to the various hypotheses of
Sound phenomena. One school held that the physi¬
cal basis of audible sound is a specific quality of air,
and that air-particles flow in currents in all directions.
"A second school, e.g., that of Shabara Swami held
that it is not air-currents but air-waves, series of
conjunctions and* disjunctions of the air-particles or
molecules, ‘that constitute the sound physical. A
* third school held that the sound-wave has its sub¬
strate not in air but in ether. Further, Prashas-
tapada held the hypothesis of transverse waves and
was opposed by Udyotakara who held that of longi¬
tudinal waves.
6 . The story of scientific investigation among the
Hindus is thus, like that among other nations, the
story of a growth and development in critical inquiry,
" sceptical attitude, and rationalism. Historically and
(statistically speaking, superstition has not hat£ a
, deeper and more extensive hold on the Oriental
; intellect than on the Occidental. _ _
INDEX
Actuarius, 52
Attius, 50
Agricola, 40
Albcruni,- 10
America, 47
Apastamba, 16
Apollonius, 18
Arabic, 9, 12, 19, 43, 50, 52
Archimedes, 23, 27
Aristotelian, 33
ArisLolle, 59, 74
Aryabhata, the Younger, 19
Aryabhata, 9, 12, 17, 19, 39
Asia, 7 •
Asoka the Great, 9, 49
“ /ffharva Veda,” 3
ALreya, 63
Avicenna, 51
^Babylonia, 44
Babylonians, 28, 29
Bachct dc Meziriac, 15
Bacon Francis, 1, 2
Bacon, Roger, 40, 66
Baconian, 33
Bagdad, 17,' 51
BTirbary, 10
Balsyayatia, 3.7
Baudluiyanti, 16
Becquerel^ 2
Benares, 76
Bengal, 76 »
Bhaskaracharya, 3, 9, 14, 1
19,_ 23, 24, 23
“Bhavisya Purina,” 72
Bhoja, 37
Brahmagupta, 9/14, 18, n
24, 25
Brahman ( Polomen ), 52
“Brahman Heavenly Thcorj
The,” 31
Briggs, 20
“ Brihat Sanrhita,” 42, 76
Buddhist, n, 34, 77
Buffon, 61
Caliph Mamun, 10, 43
Caliph Walid, 10
Chakrapani, 76
Chaldxeans, 28
Charaka, 48, 50, 51, 57, 5,
59 , 6°, 61, 72 , 73 . 76
Charvalca, 77
China, s, 13, 31, 43, 45
Chinese, 3, n, 25, 28, 31, 3
42 , 43 , 52, 57 , 75
Chipo (Shiva), 43
Chuquet, 15
79
80 INDEX
Columbus, 47
Constantine, 49
Cordova^ 10
Dalvana, 73, 74
Damascus, 45, 49
Damodara, 37
Darwin, 61
Deccan, 76
Democritus, 33
Democritean, 26 t
Descartes, 21
DiophantuS, 12, 13
Dioscorides, 40, 50, 51, 64, 65
Doctor of Nyaya, 21, 25, 70
Doctor of Vaishesika, 26.
C
Egypt, 44
Egyptians, 28
English, 20
Euclid, 18, 19
Euler, 15
Eur-America, 7,37
Europe, 2, 7, 10, 13, 17, 19, 24
42, 45 , 47 , 49 , 55 , 57 , 58,
61, 66, 68, 75, 80, 82
Frenchman, 10
French Revolution, 7
Galen, 47, 58, 59
Galileo, 26
Gebir, 42
Gerbert, 10
Gibbon, 15
Graeco-Arab, 30
Graeco-Roman, 3, 51
Graeco-Syrian, 9
Greece, 2, 5, 18, 33, 50, 51, 57
Greek, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14, 17, 20
26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 36, 4c
46, 49, 50, 54 , 59 , 63, 6f
75 s-82, 89
Gunaratna, 3, 70
Gupta-Vilcramadityan Renais
sance, 40
Haji Khalifa, 43
Harvey, 58
Hellenistic, 5, 51
Herodotus, 68
Hipparchus, 28, 29. '
Hippocrates, 47, 50', 56, 57, 6
History of the Sui Dynasty, 3
Homer, 68
Indian Ocean, 38
Italian, 10
Itsing, 31, 52
Jaina, 33, 34
Japan, 5, 13
Java, 38
Jayanla, 36
Judrea, 44
Jussieus, 41
Kanada, 33, 34, 36
Kashmir, 76, 77
“ Kitaba al l’ihrist,” 43
Ladyayana, 73
Lalla, 19
Laplace, 30
LaLa, 19
Lavoisier, 66
Leonardo of Bisa_, 10
Libavius, 40, 67 •
INDEX
81
n'ber Abbaci,” 10
ang Shoo (Nagarjuna), 43
.danapala, 3
ladanapala-nighantu,” 41,
68
dhavacharya, 3, 41, 7?
harastra, 76
havira, 19
mun, 43
nsur, 10, 43
'ateria Medica,” 3, 32
liieval-European, 3, s, 11,
13, So
:r Mohammed Moomin, 52
.ue, 49 ' •
die Kingdom, 14
or Rock Edicts, 9
lammedan, 10
iro, 60
aic period, 68
lem, 10, ir, 51
a, 10, 11, 13, iS
epsus, 52
; m, 43 •’
irjuna, 39, 40, 43
ileowj 7
hari, 76
tural History,” 76
:on,^s? 25, 26
vum Organum,” 1
■’a, 21, 25, 70
:apya, 71
ii, 39
■elsus, 40, 4!, 30, 67, 68
iputra, 12 ' •
\jali, 39, 40, 45
Paulus ASgincta, 30, S 2
Persia, 44, 43
Persian Empire, 6S'
Persian (Post-Caliphate), 32
Pliny, 36-40, 46, 40, 30,-76
Pdamcn (Brahman), 32
Prashastapada, 37, 78
Priestley, 66
PLolemy, 2S, 30
Punjab, 76
“Purana,”72
Purbach, 17
Pythagorean, 16, 19, 37
Rajputana, 76
“ Rasa-ratna-samuch-chaya,”
3 , 42
“ Rasarnava,” 41, 42
Rhazes, 31
Rock Inscriptions, 49 *
Roman, 40, 45, 46, 49, Si’
Rome, 50
Rudulff, 13
“ SamgiLa-darpana,” 37
“ Samgita-ratnakara,” 37
Sanikhya, 77
Sanskrit, 9, 10, 20, 31, 38,
52-76
Saracen (Arab), 3, 9, 10, 13’,
13, 17, 28, 31, 39, 42,
43 , 45 , 49 , S°, S 1 , S 2 , 68
Serapion, 31
Shabara Swami, 36, 37, 78
Shaiva, 77
ShalihoLra, 71
Shamkara Mishra, 26, 36, 37
Sharamgadeva, 37
Sharamgadhara, 76
82
INDEX
Shiva, 43
“ Shiva Samhila,” 59
Shoodraka-, 69
Shrccdhara, 19
Shreepati, 69
Sindh, ip, 76
“Sixteen Systems.of Philos
ophy, The,” 3
Southern India, 14
Spain, 10
Spanish (Saracen), 42
Stahl, 40
Subandhu, 9
“ Sui Shoo,” 43, 52
“ Sulva-^utras,” 16
Sushruta, 40, 48, 50, 52, 54,
57> 58, 59, 60, 61, 72,
73 , 74 , 75 , 76, 86, 87
Sushruta-Nagarjuna, 72
*
“Taleef Shareef,” 51
■ “Tantras,” 43, 59
Tantrist, 43, 59
Theophrastus, 50, 67
“ Troy Cart, The,” 69
Tycho Brahe, 31
. Udayana, 36, 70
Udyotakara, 25, 36, 37,
51, 78, 92
Umasvati, 33, 38, 73
Utpala, 19
Vacliaspati, 21, 36, 37,
*5r
Vagbhata, 50, 76, go
Vaisliesika, 26, 33, 47
Van Hclmonl, 40
Varahn-mihira, 5, 19, 30,
49 , 63
“ Vasavadalta,” 9
Vedanlist, 77
Vedic, iC.
Vesalius, 57
Vijayauagara, 76
Vijnana-bhiksu, 37
Visnudeva, 76
Vrhida, 76
Vyasa-bhasya, 9
Wallis, 15, 19
Weisman, 62
Yakul, 13-17
Yavanas (Greeks), 30
Yoga physiology, 6cu,
Yogaisl, 59
82
INDEX
Shiva, 43
“ Shiva Samhila,” 59
Shoodraka-, 69
Shrccdhara, 19
Shreepati, 69
Sindh, ip, 76
“Sixteen Systems.of Philos
ophy, The,” 3
Southern India, 14
Spain, 10
Spanish (Saracen), 42
Stahl, 40
Subandhu, 9
“ Sui Shoo,” 43, 52
“ Sulva-^utras,” 16
Sushruta, 40, 48, 50, 52, 54,
57> 58, 59, 60, 61, 72,
73 , 74 , 75 , 76, 86, 87
Sushruta-Nagarjuna, 72
*
“Taleef Shareef,” 51
■ “Tantras,” 43, 59
Tantrist, 43, 59
Theophrastus, 50, 67
“ Troy Cart, The,” 69
Tycho Brahe, 31
. Udayana, 36, 70
Udyotakara, 25, 36, 37,
51, 78, 92
Umasvati, 33, 38, 73
Utpala, 19
Vacliaspati, 21, 36, 37,
*5r
Vagbhata, 50, 76, go
Vaisliesika, 26, 33, 47
Van Hclmonl, 40
Varahn-mihira, 5, 19, 30,
49 , 63
“ Vasavadatla,” 9
Vedanlist, 77
Vedic, iC.
Vesalius, 57
Vijayauagara, 76
Vijnana-bhiksu, 37
Visnudeva, 76
Vrhida, 76
Vyasa-bhasya, 9
Wallis, 15, 19
Weisman, 62
Yakul, 13-17
Yavanas (Greeks), 30
Yoga physiology, 6cu,
Yogaisl, 59
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