It is well known fact that ancient India excelled in several fields of scientific knowledge, including mathematics, medicine, cosmology, metallurgy, architecture etc. A large number of theories and principles ‘discovered’ by Europeans in 400-500 years ago actually mentioned in Indian texts which as thousands of years old. While such ancient Indian knowledge is globally acknowledged, there are some Indian left-liberals who refuse to believe that, and mock it as ‘Sanghi claims’ and ‘results of WhatsApp University’.
In latest such incident, journalist Rohini Singh dismissed such Indian origin of knowledge terming it as ‘WhatsApp information’. She was quoting a tweet by The Hindu journalist Vijaita Singh, who had posted a Times of India report on the Karnataka government’s decision to teach students about ancient Indian origin of knowledge. The report stated that one of the proposals says that ‘fake news such has Pythagoras theorem, apple falling on Newton’s head etc. are being created and propagated’.
Elaborating on this, Madan Gopal, chairman of the task force to implement the National Education Policy in Karnataka, had said that Gravity and Pythagoras have roots in vedic maths, and it is an Indic-centred approached.
However, Rohini Singh disagree with this. She tweeted, “The kids of politicians get world class education at the best schools and colleges globally. Your kids will be reduced to being consumers of WhatsApp information with no prospects!”
While it has become fashion to blame WhatsApp for anything that is considered incorrect by anyone, in this case, actually Rohini Singh might be the victim of WhatsApp information. Because, there is ample evidence that the quoted principles were discovered in India centuries before they were documented by Europeans.
While Greek mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras is credited with the Pythagorean theorem, it is well accepted fact that the theorem predates him. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the theorem is mentioned in the Baudhayana Sulba-sutra from India, which was written before Pythagoras.
According to the Pythagorean theorem, for a right-angle triangle (triangle with one corner measuring 90°), the square of the length of hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths on the other two sides. It is expressed as a²+b²=c², where c is the side opposite to the right angle, and a and b forming the right angle in the triangle.
Baudhayana Sutras are ancient Indian texts on various subjects, and among them the Baudhayana Sulba-sutra contains several mathematical theorems and calculations, including the square root of 2, and the Pythagorean theorem. The Sulba-sutra was believed to be authored by ancient Indian mathematician Baudhayana (800 BC – 740 BC).
The sutra contains a statement that accurately describes the theorem. It says: दीर्घचतुरश्रस्याक्ष्णया रज्जुः पार्श्वमानी तिर्यग् मानी च यत् पृथग् भूते कुरूतस्तदुभयं करोति ॥
(dīrghachatursrasyākṣaṇayā rajjuḥ pārśvamānī, tiryagmānī, cha yatpṛthagbhūte kurutastadubhayāṅ karoti.)
This verse in Sanskrit translates to, ‘the areas produced separately by the length and the breadth of a rectangle together equal the areas produced by the diagonal of the rectangle’. Baudhayana has used a rope for the sides in the verse.
While the Sutra didn’t contain any mathematical calculation, it accurately describes the so-called Pythagorean theorem, because the diagonal and two adjacent sides of a rectangle makes a right-angled triangle, where the diagonal becomes the hypotenuse.
Therefore, the theory attributed to Pythagoras was actually written in India more than 400 years before him. The Britannica notes that Pythagoras had visited middle eastern regions like Egypt, Persia, Babylon etc, and possibly also visited India. Therefore, it is believed that he might have picked up the theorem in India or in the middle east, and introduced it in Europe.
It is a well-known fact that lots of Indian knowledge was transferred to Europe via middle east, and therefore middle east is wrongly credited for such knowledge that actually originated in India. The most famous example of such wrong credit is the decimal system, as the ten digits in the system are called Arabic numerals even though they were developed in India centuries ago before Europeans saw them in the far east.
Similarly, while it is true that Isaac Newton developed the mathematics around gravity, the basic concept of gravitational power was known centuries before him. Several Indian scholars had talked on the subject of gravity, and one of the first among them was astronomer and mathematician Varahamihira. While he had not given any name to the phenomena, he had compared the earth being suspended in space with an iron ball suspended between two magnets.
After that, Brahmagupta had elaborated more on the theory, saying that earth is spherical and it attracts objects towards it. He had said, “Bodies fall towards the earth as it is in the nature of the earth to attract bodies, just as it is in the nature of water to flow.”
11th century scholar Bhaskarachaya, also known as Bhaskara II, had explained that earth has gravitational force (gurutvakarshan shakti). He had said that there is a mutual attraction between the planets and this allows them to hold themselves firmly in space. He had added this observation to the ancient astronomical text Surya Sidhanta that dates back to 400 AD.
After that, several Indian scholars had discussed on gravity before Newton. Even in Europe, many scholars including Aristotle had talked about the subject. However, Newton had developed the mathematical expression for gravitational force, this led to the believe that he was the first to observe gravity.
Several netizens have pointed these things to Rohini Singh responding to her tweet, but she is yet to acknowledge them. For left-liberals like her, Indians knew nothing before the British came, and every evidence of ancient Indian knowledge is ‘WhatsApp information’.
