Why was the knowledge was lost?

Indian subcontinent has had a civilization for thousands of years and when we look at the remains of Indus Valley civilization there seems to be existence metropolis and intercontinental trade. There were cities like Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Lothal that had drainage systems which can rival any of the current cities of India. Today a day of rain can flood any modern city in India whereas Indus Valley civilization used floods for their benefit.

Why did the technologies developed by civilizations did not continue the same progress? Is it that whatever knowledge existed was for only few and protected initially as it was mostly oral and when they were written it was in Sanskrit that was not a language of commoners. Knowledge was never democratized and it was controlled and safeguarded by the keepers who held it close their heart. Also most of the profession were generally within a family and anything that gave a competitive edge was probably kept as a secret. Academic Institutions and universities were  lost in time and whatever exists today are either started in British Raj or after independence.

In this article I want to look at two very separate topics Fibonacci numbers and Mysorean rockets and go back in history. In today’s world internet has made the barrier of entry to gain any kind of knowledge so low that it’s just a matter of time and effort and one can start on the learning journey anytime, anywhere. 

Fibonacci Numbers

The wonder of Fibonacci Numbers and why we find them in nature everywhere is very interesting and can be topic of discussion in itself. Fibonacci Numbers are series 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144 ……. If one counts the leaf on branch or petals in the flowers there is high probability that we find a Fibonacci number and it has fascinated scientists in different fields from Mathematics to Biology. The ratio of consecutive Fibonacci numbers becomes the golden ratio as N goes little higher and many dimensions on human body follow that ratio.

Fibonacci Numbers are named after Italian Mathematician Leonardo of Pisa who was later named Fibonacci. He introduced these numbers to western mathematics when he mentioned this with respect to rabbit population growth in his book Liber Abaci in 1202. Interestingly an Indian Mathematician Parmanand Singh showed in 1986 that much before Fibonacci, Virahanka (between 600-800 AD), Gopala (Prior to 1135 AD) and Hemachandra (1150 AD) had written and knew about the series. Now it is generally considered that Indians had the knowledge of this sequence and the music was composed by using these numbers. 

Why did it take Parmanand Singh to find this out is a question we should ponder on? Indian technology was never known to the public and most of the text needs to be deciphered as the writings are usually symbolic and not that easy for people who are aware of Sanskrit.

Mysorean Rockets

When Indian Space science was fledgling and Abdul Kalam was sent to NASA for training he saw a painting in the lounge of NASA’s Wallop Flight Facility which was probably similar to the painting below. The story behind this interesting and how again the technology developed didn’t progress and India started from the scratch and it took real hard work to reach where we are in rocket science. 

Tipu Sultan pioneered the use of rockets in his army and during the Anglo-Mysore wars used in extensively. After the defeat of Tipu in Srirangpatna,  600 launchers, 700 serviceable rockets, and 9,000 empty rockets were found. Many of these rockets were collected from Mysore and sent to Britain for analysis and led to start of a military rocket research and development program in 1801. Indian technology was transferred to Britain and was used extensively by the British Army. They were also used in the 1814 Battle of Baltimore, and are mentioned in The Star Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States: And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air. These were derived from the same rockets that Tipu had used to trouble Britishers in India during 1780s/1790s. This story is really amazing and connects India, USA and UK in ways that we don’t realize.

In Conclusion

Technology and fundamental research that we call today was something that India did not focus on for quite some time and all that was developed during the civilizations over centuries was lost and kept in secret and whenever Scientists in India wanted to work on something they either had to go to western countries and universities there. The world today is connected more than ever and technology inspires and touches every facet of our lives. Its just that we still are user of the technologies and not in the frontline most of the times. Hope that this change and India does get into thick of the technology again and more available for common population.

Recommended Link to explore further 

• Podcast Series – Mission ISRO with Harsha Bhogle (Available on Spotify)
• University of Oxford – Secret Mathematician – Marcus Du Sautoy