Q)List the technical inventions and innovations of medieval India
Ans)Medieval India witnessed considerable improvement and changes in the field of technology. While these changes were largely a result of diffusion from outside, some technological innovations also originated in India. Diffusion from outside suggests readiness and ability to imitate, apply and extend the use of technological devices. On the whole there seems to have been no inhibition against technological change.
GEARING
Gearing provides a device for transforming horizontal motion into vertical and vice versa and for increasing or reducing speed. One form of gearing is that of the parallel worm which originated in ancient India.It was received in Kampuchea, in all probability, from India 1000 A.D.Parallel worm gearing was used in wooded cotton-gin in medieval times, it was also applied to sugar milling, with wooded rollers.Right angled pin-drum gearing came with Persian wheel (saqiya), an improved water lifting device received from the Arab world. India had already water lifting devices such as pulley-system(ghirni) with pot-chain(mala). The application of pin-drum gearing to the araghatta, converting it into what is known as the Persian wheel,enabled water to be lifted from the deeper levels, in a continuous flow by use of cattle power.The gear wheel and the shaft were of wood.A horizontal pin drum meshing with a vertical pin wheel, was rotated by cattle power.The persian wheel was being widely used in the Punjab and Sind by the fifteenth century. This improved means of irrigation and probably resulted in the extension of agriculture in the region.
BELT-DRIVE
The belt drive is a comparatively simpler device than gearing for transmission of power and for increasing or decreasing the speed of motion.Belt drive came to India in the form of spinning wheel. The spinning wheel quickened the speed of spinning by about six fold. This must have resulted in reducing the prices of yarn and thus of cloth.The other improvement in the spinning wheel was the addition of crank handle during the seventeenth century. the belt drive was extended to the diamond cutting drill by the seventeenth century.
WEAVING
Evidence of an improvement in weaving comes from a fifteenth century dictionary which describes the foot paddles used by a weaver to control speed.The addition of treadles to the loom facilitated the use of feet by the weaver for lifting alternately the heddles and freed his hands to throw the shuttle to and fro.This could more than double the rate of weaving.By seventeenth century both colors of multi-color pattern dyeing, namely the use of resist to confine colors to patterns and of mordant to take colors were used.It was perhaps
It was perhaps during the same century that direct block printing, a time saving technique as compared to painting became popular in India.
PAPER MANUFACTURE
Paper was not used in India until the the eleventh century. This Chinese invention of the first century A.D. reached India mainly through Ghorian conquerors. Once introduced its manufacture spread quickly, and by the middle of fourteenth century paper became so cheap that it was used not only for writing but also for wrapping purposes by sweetmeat sellers.
DISTILLATION
The know how of liquid distillation also came to India during the thirteenth century. Though it has been argued by the famous Indian chemist P.C.Ray and recently by the Allchins and Needham on the basis of archeological evidence that liquor distillation was known in Ancient India, the still seems to have been small and inefficient. With thirteenth century came various types of stills (for liquor as well as for rose water) and there is little doubt that the manufacture of distilled spirits received great impetus.(something that makes a process or activity happen or happen more quickly.)
ARCHITECTURE
The architecture style of India under went a drastic change after the Turkish conquest. The sultans and their nobles insisted on having arches and domes and competent Indian masons succeeded in building them. The first surviving example is Balban's Tomb dated 1280, and of dome, Alai Darwaza dated 1305.It was the change in building technology accompanied by lime mortar that made possible the change from trabeate architecture to arcuate style.The principle of true arch seems to have been known in ancient India, but somehow large arches could not be made. However, false arches were constructed in ancient times. Use of lime mortar made it possible to waterproof floors and tanks. Thus, it became possible to bluild tanks and vats as those needed for producing vats such as those needed for producing India's major dye, indigo.
MILITARY TECHNOLOGY
Important changer were introduced in military technology. Rope and wooden stirrups for horsemen were known in India before the thirteenth century.However the iron stirrup seems to have been introduced by the Ghorians and Turks. This greatly improved the combat power of the horsemen. At the same time shoeing improved the performance of horses. Turks also brought with them the cross bow. The crossbow had and additional tube at tight angles to the bow in which the arrow was fitted; the tube gave greater accuracy of direction to the arrow. This tube seems to be a direct precursor of the barrel of the handgun. The next stage of development in military technology was the use of cannon and gun powder. This innovation came to India during the later half of the fifteenth century from the ottoman empire which had itself received it from Europe. By Akbar's time match-locks became common in the imperial arsenal. Some improvements were attempted mainly with a view to do away with the match and strengthen the barrel. Akbar's arsenal succeeded in manufacturing a gun that had most probably a wheel lock. Here the spring released by the trigger caused a wheel with serrated edges to revolve against a piece4 of pyrites and so send sparks onto the priming man. The flint lock widely used in Europe by the first half of the fifteenth century was adopted in India later on. Manufacture of the barrel of a gun posed a problem for the blacksmith. The barrel had to be very strong to withstand the explosion within it;making the bore and alignment required higher accuracy.In Akbar's arsenal the barrel was made by rolling flat iron sheets and welding the edge.Thereafter the bore was worked from inside.The same technique was used in Europe down to the eighteenth century.India was credited with casting the heaviest bronze cannons in the world at the close of the sixteenth century.But the heavy guns were not necessarily efficient as they lacked mobility as well as accuracy. We find that Akbar paid great attention to the manufacture of lighter guns that could be pulled by a single man.An important device used in the Indian army was the bana or rocket. This was made of bamboo with iron cylinders containing combustible materials at the tip. It was this Indian rocket that inspired the invention of rockets by Congreve in the early nineteenth century.
METAL SCREW
One of the important device that had a great potential in the manufacture of precision instruments and machinery was the metal screw. It came into use in Europe from the middle of the fifteenth century for holding metal pieces together.Its use was of great importance in mechanical clocks. The screw began to be used in India by the second half of the seventeenth century and even it was a less efficient version of the European screw.The grooves were not cut, but wires were soldered around the nail to create the semblance of grooves. This had to be done owing to the absence of lathes which were used in Europe for cutting grooves. Due to this limitation, the Indian screw did not fit properly.
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture has been India's largest industry.The Indian peasants have used seed drill from antiquity;in the seventeenth century they practiced dibbling, that is, dropping of seeds into holes driven into the ground by sticks. They also practiced crop rotation in most areas. The number of crops grown by Indian peasants were quite large. Abu'l Fazl mentions about 50 crops for kharif and 35 for rabi seasons, though their number varied from region to region. The most remarkable quality of the Indian peasants was his readiness to accept new crops. The new crops introduced in the seventeenth century that came from the new world were tobacoo and maize.These crops came to be grown quite widely. By the fifteenth century, the peasants of Bengal took up sericulture and by the seventeenth century Bengal emerged as one of the great silk exporting regions of the world.Horticulture developed considerably under aristocratic patronage.Various types of graftings were introduced. In Kashmir, sweet cherry was obtained by grafting, and the cultivation of apricot was also extended by the same means. During Shah Jahan's time the quality of mangoes was greatly improved by the use of the same technique. On the western coast, the Portuguese introduced mango grafting and Alfanso was the first mango produced in this fashion.Mango grafting seems to have spread in Northern India during the eighteenth century.
Ans)Medieval India witnessed considerable improvement and changes in the field of technology. While these changes were largely a result of diffusion from outside, some technological innovations also originated in India. Diffusion from outside suggests readiness and ability to imitate, apply and extend the use of technological devices. On the whole there seems to have been no inhibition against technological change.
GEARING
Gearing provides a device for transforming horizontal motion into vertical and vice versa and for increasing or reducing speed. One form of gearing is that of the parallel worm which originated in ancient India.It was received in Kampuchea, in all probability, from India 1000 A.D.Parallel worm gearing was used in wooded cotton-gin in medieval times, it was also applied to sugar milling, with wooded rollers.Right angled pin-drum gearing came with Persian wheel (saqiya), an improved water lifting device received from the Arab world. India had already water lifting devices such as pulley-system(ghirni) with pot-chain(mala). The application of pin-drum gearing to the araghatta, converting it into what is known as the Persian wheel,enabled water to be lifted from the deeper levels, in a continuous flow by use of cattle power.The gear wheel and the shaft were of wood.A horizontal pin drum meshing with a vertical pin wheel, was rotated by cattle power.The persian wheel was being widely used in the Punjab and Sind by the fifteenth century. This improved means of irrigation and probably resulted in the extension of agriculture in the region.
BELT-DRIVE
The belt drive is a comparatively simpler device than gearing for transmission of power and for increasing or decreasing the speed of motion.Belt drive came to India in the form of spinning wheel. The spinning wheel quickened the speed of spinning by about six fold. This must have resulted in reducing the prices of yarn and thus of cloth.The other improvement in the spinning wheel was the addition of crank handle during the seventeenth century. the belt drive was extended to the diamond cutting drill by the seventeenth century.
WEAVING
Evidence of an improvement in weaving comes from a fifteenth century dictionary which describes the foot paddles used by a weaver to control speed.The addition of treadles to the loom facilitated the use of feet by the weaver for lifting alternately the heddles and freed his hands to throw the shuttle to and fro.This could more than double the rate of weaving.By seventeenth century both colors of multi-color pattern dyeing, namely the use of resist to confine colors to patterns and of mordant to take colors were used.It was perhaps
It was perhaps during the same century that direct block printing, a time saving technique as compared to painting became popular in India.
PAPER MANUFACTURE
Paper was not used in India until the the eleventh century. This Chinese invention of the first century A.D. reached India mainly through Ghorian conquerors. Once introduced its manufacture spread quickly, and by the middle of fourteenth century paper became so cheap that it was used not only for writing but also for wrapping purposes by sweetmeat sellers.
DISTILLATION
The know how of liquid distillation also came to India during the thirteenth century. Though it has been argued by the famous Indian chemist P.C.Ray and recently by the Allchins and Needham on the basis of archeological evidence that liquor distillation was known in Ancient India, the still seems to have been small and inefficient. With thirteenth century came various types of stills (for liquor as well as for rose water) and there is little doubt that the manufacture of distilled spirits received great impetus.(something that makes a process or activity happen or happen more quickly.)
ARCHITECTURE
The architecture style of India under went a drastic change after the Turkish conquest. The sultans and their nobles insisted on having arches and domes and competent Indian masons succeeded in building them. The first surviving example is Balban's Tomb dated 1280, and of dome, Alai Darwaza dated 1305.It was the change in building technology accompanied by lime mortar that made possible the change from trabeate architecture to arcuate style.The principle of true arch seems to have been known in ancient India, but somehow large arches could not be made. However, false arches were constructed in ancient times. Use of lime mortar made it possible to waterproof floors and tanks. Thus, it became possible to bluild tanks and vats as those needed for producing vats such as those needed for producing India's major dye, indigo.
MILITARY TECHNOLOGY
Important changer were introduced in military technology. Rope and wooden stirrups for horsemen were known in India before the thirteenth century.However the iron stirrup seems to have been introduced by the Ghorians and Turks. This greatly improved the combat power of the horsemen. At the same time shoeing improved the performance of horses. Turks also brought with them the cross bow. The crossbow had and additional tube at tight angles to the bow in which the arrow was fitted; the tube gave greater accuracy of direction to the arrow. This tube seems to be a direct precursor of the barrel of the handgun. The next stage of development in military technology was the use of cannon and gun powder. This innovation came to India during the later half of the fifteenth century from the ottoman empire which had itself received it from Europe. By Akbar's time match-locks became common in the imperial arsenal. Some improvements were attempted mainly with a view to do away with the match and strengthen the barrel. Akbar's arsenal succeeded in manufacturing a gun that had most probably a wheel lock. Here the spring released by the trigger caused a wheel with serrated edges to revolve against a piece4 of pyrites and so send sparks onto the priming man. The flint lock widely used in Europe by the first half of the fifteenth century was adopted in India later on. Manufacture of the barrel of a gun posed a problem for the blacksmith. The barrel had to be very strong to withstand the explosion within it;making the bore and alignment required higher accuracy.In Akbar's arsenal the barrel was made by rolling flat iron sheets and welding the edge.Thereafter the bore was worked from inside.The same technique was used in Europe down to the eighteenth century.India was credited with casting the heaviest bronze cannons in the world at the close of the sixteenth century.But the heavy guns were not necessarily efficient as they lacked mobility as well as accuracy. We find that Akbar paid great attention to the manufacture of lighter guns that could be pulled by a single man.An important device used in the Indian army was the bana or rocket. This was made of bamboo with iron cylinders containing combustible materials at the tip. It was this Indian rocket that inspired the invention of rockets by Congreve in the early nineteenth century.
METAL SCREW
One of the important device that had a great potential in the manufacture of precision instruments and machinery was the metal screw. It came into use in Europe from the middle of the fifteenth century for holding metal pieces together.Its use was of great importance in mechanical clocks. The screw began to be used in India by the second half of the seventeenth century and even it was a less efficient version of the European screw.The grooves were not cut, but wires were soldered around the nail to create the semblance of grooves. This had to be done owing to the absence of lathes which were used in Europe for cutting grooves. Due to this limitation, the Indian screw did not fit properly.
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture has been India's largest industry.The Indian peasants have used seed drill from antiquity;in the seventeenth century they practiced dibbling, that is, dropping of seeds into holes driven into the ground by sticks. They also practiced crop rotation in most areas. The number of crops grown by Indian peasants were quite large. Abu'l Fazl mentions about 50 crops for kharif and 35 for rabi seasons, though their number varied from region to region. The most remarkable quality of the Indian peasants was his readiness to accept new crops. The new crops introduced in the seventeenth century that came from the new world were tobacoo and maize.These crops came to be grown quite widely. By the fifteenth century, the peasants of Bengal took up sericulture and by the seventeenth century Bengal emerged as one of the great silk exporting regions of the world.Horticulture developed considerably under aristocratic patronage.Various types of graftings were introduced. In Kashmir, sweet cherry was obtained by grafting, and the cultivation of apricot was also extended by the same means. During Shah Jahan's time the quality of mangoes was greatly improved by the use of the same technique. On the western coast, the Portuguese introduced mango grafting and Alfanso was the first mango produced in this fashion.Mango grafting seems to have spread in Northern India during the eighteenth century.
