Encyclopaedia Of Ancient Indian Sciences

The history of science and technology in India is both long and rich with many contributions to science and technology. In antiquity, independently of other civilizations, ancient Indian philosophers made significant advances in science, technology, mathematics, and astronomy. Traditional Indian medicine, Ayurvedic and herbal medicine were also practiced. To place Vedic science in context it is necessary to have a proper understanding of the chronology of the Vedic literature. There are astronomical references in the Vedas which recall events in the third or the fourth millennium B.C.E. and earlier. The recent discovery (e.g. Feuerstein 1995) that Sarasvati, the preeminent river of the Rigvedic times, went dry around 1900 B.C.E. due to tectonic upheavels implies that the Rigveda is to be dated prior to this epoch, perhaps prior to 2000 B.C.E. since the literature that immediately followed the Rigveda does not speak of any geological catastrophe. But we cannot be very precise about our estimates. There exist traditional accounts in the Puranas that assign greater antiquity to the Rigveda: for example, the Kaliyuga tradition speaks of 3100 B.C.E. and the Varahamihira tradition mentions 2400 B.C.E. The present book deals with all the important dimensions of this subject. It is a valuable reference source for all those concerned with this subject.

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