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India's inventions, discoveries and contribution to the world. (Thread)
1. Diamonds. The earliest discovery of diamonds was in India in 4th century BC and were worn as adornments, used for cutting and other superstitions like warding off evil.
2. Yoga. India introduced the world to yoga, discovered and practised in the country since ancient times, with origins tracing back to Lord Shiva (also known as Adi Yoga), the first yoga guru.
3. Shampoo. The English word ‘shampoo’ derives its name from the Hindi word ‘chāmpo’, which comes from the Sanskrit word ‘Chapayati’, meaning massage or knead. It was invented in 1762 by mixing certain herbs and oils.
4. Wireless communication. Around the same time as Gugliel Marconi, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was actually the first person who demonstrated the use of radio waves for communication publicly back in 1895, exactly two years before Marconi gave a similar demo in England.
5. Cataract surgery. During 6th century BC in India, Sushruta invented cataract surgery. It was performed with a curved needle used to loosen the lens & push the cataract out of the field of vision. Then the eye would be soaked with warm butter & bandaged.
6. Candied sugar. The process of producing crystallized sugar from sugarcane was discovered by the time of the Imperial Guptas, and the earliest reference of candied sugar comes from India. The process was soon transmitted to China with traveling Buddhist monks.
7. Cannabis. Cannabis in India has been used since as early as 1000 BCE. Common terms for cannabis preparations include charas (resin), ganja (flower)& bhang(seeds + leaves). Many Indians consume cannabis in a drink called Bhang Lassi
8. The number Zero. All thanks to go to the man of numerous mathematical and astronomical talents, Aryabhata. Indians were the first one to use ‘Zero’ as a symbol & in mathematical operations, such as addition, subtraction, etc. Without it, there would have been no binary system
9. Board games. The classic ‘Chess’ & ‘Snakes and Ladders’. Chess was originated as ‘Ashtapada’ during the Gupta period around the 6th century AD. Gyandev, a 13th-century poet, invented ‘Snakes and Ladders’, originally known as ‘Mokshapat’.
10. Dreadlocks. Hindu Vedic scriptures provide the earliest known evidence of dreadlocks. Locks r worn by Sadhus or Holy men. The Nagas are ascetics and followers of the god Shiva. They r considered sacred, to be a religious practice & an expression for their disregard of vanity.
11. Rulers. Rulers were first used by the Indus Valley Civilization prior to 1500 BCE. Made of ivory, the rulers found during excavation, reveal the amazing accuracy of decimal subdivisions on it.
12. Cotton. The ancient Greeks used to wear animal skins & were not even aware of cotton. But Indians started cultivating cotton during the 5th – 4th millennium BCE in the Indus Valley Civilization. The word spread to the Mediterranean and beyond.
13. The decimal system. It was in 7th century CE when Brahmagupta found the first general formula for solving quadratic equations. The decimal system which was a precursor of the Arabic numeric system, was developed in India between the 1st and 6th centuries CE
14. Cards game. The popular game of cards originated from India & was known as Krida-patram (which literally means “painted rags for playing”).
15. Water on moon. ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 made the startling discovery that our moon is not a dry ball of rocks. The discovery of lunar water is attributed to the Chandrayaan mission.
16. Plastic surgery. One of the great highlight of Sushruta's surgery was the operation of Rhinoplasty. The making of a new nose captured the imagination of the medical world and brought him fame as the originator of plastic surgery
17. Martial arts. Despite the rich history of martial arts in China, modern day martial arts originated in 527 A.D in Indian. Oldest known martial art is kalaripayattu, meaning “art of the battlefield.” The art originated in southern India thousands of years ago.
18. 365 days to orbit the sun. It's a rare known fact that the time to orbit the Sun was first calculated by Bhaskaracharya hundreds of years ago before the European scientists could find. According to Bhaskaracharya, the time taken to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.
19. Buttons. Ornamental buttons made from seashell were used in the Indus Valley Civilization by 2000 BCE. Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pierced into them.
20. Steel. Ancient Indians were pioneers in metallurgy & had mastered the production of high quality steel more than 2000 years before the process w demystified in Britain and Europe. The legendary Indian Wootz Steel was a source of astonishment to other great civilisations.
