Scientific Attitude an India-Ancient and Modern

SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE IN INDIA,
ANCIENT AND MODERN.

Abstract

This article analyzes the traditions that helped or discouraged the growth of scientific attitude at various stages during the past five thousand-year history of India. Contributions in the areas or astronomy, mathematics, medicine, linguistics, physics and technology in ancient and medieval periods are reviewed. The impact of colonial rule and the encounter with European Science are examined. Finally, cross-cultural scientific engagement in independent India and its role in modernization are discussed.

Introduction

India is perhaps the only state in the world that has officially designated the development of science as the responsibility of the government. This choice represents the desires and goals of a substantial section of the national leadership that worked hard to wrest the status of independence from their colonial rulers.

In 1958 the Indian parliament adopted a resolution, which was drafted and introduced by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, It became known as the Scientific Policy Resolution. The resolution includes statements such as the following: “It is only through the scientific approach and method, and the use of scientific knowledge that reasonable material and cultural amenities and services can be provided to every member of the community and it is out of recognition of this possibility that the idea of a welfare stale has grown.”

Nehru’s resolution encapsulated India’s optimism for growth, industrialization and modernization and propagated the notion of scientific temper. In one of his writings he asserts: “It is the scientific approach, the adventurous and yet the critical temper of science, the search for truth and knowledge, the refusal to accept anything without testing and trial, the capacity to change previous conclusions in the face of the new evidence, the reliance on observed fact and not on preconceived theory, the hard discipline of mind - all this is necessary, not merely for the application of science but for life itself and the solution of its problems.”

Two decades later, a large group of Indian scientists, including some prominent social scientists, issued a statement in 1981, and explained to the nation the meaning of the scientific temper in the following words:

(a)    That the method of science provides available method of acquiring knowledge
(b)   That human problems can be understood and solved in terms of knowledge gained through the application of the method of science
(c)    That the fullest use of the method of science in everyday, life and in every aspect of human endeavour from ethics to politics and economics - is essential for ensuring human survival and progress; and
(d)   That one should accept knowledge gained through the application of the method of science as the closest approximation to truth at that time and question what is incompatible with that knowledge and that one should from time to time reexamine the basic foundations of contemporary knowledge.

According to the Article 51 A (h) of the constitution of India, it is now the duty of every citizen of India ‘to develop the scientific temper, humanism and a spirit of inquiry’.

The development of science and technology during the decades following independence in 1947 was based primarily on the leadership of Nehru and his associates and their faith in science. From where did this faith in science and technology come to the leadership in India?

Impact of Colonialism

For almost two hundred years before independence, India was under the influence of British colonialism, first under the East India Company and later under the direct rule of the British Government. Colonialism has left its unmistakable mark on India’s history. The leaders of India, those who fought for freedom from British, as well as those who continued to lead the country after independence, were themselves products of an educational system and training schemes instituted by the British in India. There has been a growing interest in recent years on the study of colonialism in general and the British Raj in particular and their place in the history of India. Some of these studies are specifically directed towards understanding the transfer of western sci­ence and technology into India.

“It is well known that the colonial rulers during the company phase did not initially consider it necessary to educate Indians in science (as they knew and practiced then). The early colonizers were very careful. In order to legitimize their presence and their power, they first discredited the existing structures in the society. “Indians were declared unscientific, superstitious and resistant to change; India was identified with dirt and disease. Travelers, scholars and officials subscribed to this view.”

But soon the colonizers found that it was necessary to impart some useful education to their subject Indians. They needed local personnel to fill in the positions of colonial administration; to serve in the large-scale state sponsored enterprises such as railways, and public engineering works. Their plans for the promotion of this useful learning in India were conditioned by their desire to project the superiority of the European mind. The educational policy they adopted by the 1830’s promoted education of Indians mostly in literary and historical knowledge. The famous Macaulay’s Minute specifically recommended instruction in English language through which western science could also be imported. But this minimal science education was imparted only as a means through which to expand and consolidate their empire in India and to extract maximum profit from the natural resources of the country with the help of local manpower. Teaching of science for the sake of knowledge did not fit into the colonial scheme.

However, we stern science and technology trickled through during this company phase of the British rule. Indians appreciated what they came to know about. “The appearance of the surveyor, the plant collector, the mineralogist and the introduction of steam vessel, steam railway, electric telegraph, printing press, telescope and a host of other inventions began to arrest the attention of the local populace. The Hindus, the Muslims, the artisans, the cultivators, the feudal lord or the local ruler, all were aware of the magical spell of the new phenomenon, and therefore approved its diffusion. The elite members of the Indian society became the active agents in the transmission and spread of the new scientific world view.”

By the late nineteenth century, there was increasing and enthusiastic demand for the introduction of western science and technology. Institutes of higher education were being established, but Indians were discriminated against when it came to appointment of teachers. A British administrator wrote about these conditions in the following words: “There was a strong doubt, not to say prejudice, against the capacity of an Indian to take any important position in Science...It was assumed that India had no aptitude for the exact methods of science. For science therefore India must look to the West for teachers”

It was in such an atmosphere the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science was established in 1876. The man behind this idea was Mahendar Lal Sircar. The institution was to correct the exclusive emphasis of the colonial rulers on technical education and to provide opportunities for teaching and research in basic sciences. It was intended to free Indians, in the long run, from the humiliating bondage of being mechanics working for the rulers. It is interesting to note that there were also some Indians who opposed Sircar’s ideas by claiming that Indians were not yet capable of basic scientific research. The association trained a number of scientists in basic research, who later played an active role in the development of scientific institutions in India. They were to join hands with the leadership of the Indian National Congress and build support for the ideas of Jawahar Lal Nehru.

India was receptive to science and its promises even during the colonial period. Openness to new ideas was not wanting. While the motives of the colonial power were questionable and their attitudes reprehensible, they could not but pave the way for the diffusion of their knowledge and skills. There was scientific temper, but not at the level of intensity and adventure, which Nehru was demanding, in the free India. Hence the parliament of India was asked to step in and go on record that it was needed. This commitment was incorporated eventually in the constitution that governs the country.

Pre-colonial times

But what was the state of mind and skills of the native population of India when the colonial adventurers began their intrusion into India? Was there an indigenous science and technology in pre-colonial India? As we go into the historical past, the very notions of science and technology have to be understood appropriately.

Science can be simply referred to as systematically organized knowledge subjected to verification and tested both logically and empirically. At some point in history, it is recorded formally so that it can be transferred orally and through writing. In the native discourses of India, the word sastra is very much used in this sense. In addition science is often referred to as vijnana meaning that it is knowledge about the world. This knowledge includes the possibility of being modified or corrected through observation, experimentation and prediction. The most common expression used in Indian languages to refer to science in general is sastriya Vijnanam, which can be loosely translated as scientific knowledge.

The presence of scientific attitude can be investigated through careful analysis of a particular body of knowledge and by investigating the steps by which this knowledge is, in fact, advanced. There are very general factors which immediately call our attention when we refer to the scientific attitude--the gathering or manufacturing of empirical evidence by observation as well as experimentation, exercise of imagination in formulating specific questions and hypotheses, and a coordinated interpretation of the observations through, what we may call, insight and judgement. The starting point for investigating existence of “science” in pre-colonial India would be to ask the questions. “Is there a body of organized knowledge in pre-colonial India? If so, since when did it start to accumulate and how? Can we refer to this as scientific knowledge? Is it indigenous, borrowed or imposed?” Answering these questions is a monumental task that would involve specialists in several disciplines, particularly considering the size of the domain and its antiquity.

Medieval times

Let us now proceed into history and look at the medieval India in the pre-colonial times. Keeping in mind that the colonial linage of medieval India is that of “stagnant and static society.” a survey of the existing body of knowledge provides us with a picture of a land characterized by a high degree of economic and manufacturing enterprise, as substantiated by the extensive maritime trade in cotton textiles, iron, and steel, ranging from Southeast Asia. West Asia and Africa to Western Europe. The manufacture of cotton textiles enabled India to attain a preeminent position in the pre-colonial era. In addition to the production of cotton, there were a number of other enterprises that depended on sophisticated technological and practical scientific knowledge. The tradition of mining and metallurgical industries both in ancient and medieval times is well documented. Increasing sophistication in metallurgical operations contributed to the manufacture of a wide range of firearms and artillery representing the highest achievements of industrial technology during the sixteenth and seventh centuries. But the country was predominantly an agrarian society. Agricultural technology and the techniques of crop cultivation were also quite developed and adapted to the local environmental and topographical conditions. The drill plough represented a technological innovation for the cultivation of tobacco, cotton, and the castor oil plant. Closely allied with agriculture is irrigation. There is evidence for the presence of extensive networks of artificial irrigation patronized by various rulers and systems of government in ancient and medieval India.

The development of scientific thinking was especially evident in the field of astronomy, for which there was extensive patronage by the Moghal rulers. The keen interest in astronomy shown by Moghal Emperors, Babar, Humayun, Akbar and Jahangir was well documented. The widespread use of astrology which is closely dependent upon astronomy, and the felt need to compile and reform different systems of calendars kept astronomy a highly patronized area of interest. The conditions were ripe for a partial synthesis of Indian, central and west Asian astronomical traditions. The five gigantic observatories designed and constructed by Raja Jai Singh in the early eighteenth century stand as the most spectacular expression of this synthesis or diverse traditions. Along with a team of Indian astronomers. European astronomers were also present in his court. Raja Jai Singh even financed an expedition of some of his court astronomers to Portugal. His primary goal in building the observatories was to make solar observations specially for the purpose of collecting astronomical data to reform the solar calendar that was in his use during his time. But even as Jai Singh and his astronomers were making observations, the dawn of colonial intrusion was descending in the coastal districts of India.

If we take into account all this, it is not unreasonable to assume that there did exist in medieval India a fair degree of development of technology and the necessary science that goes along with it. To construct an idealized view of scientific attitude in medieval India based upon this review, however would be hazardous. Suffice it to say that there was a widespread indigenous base from which creativity and invitation could develop. We shall resist the temptation to paint a glorious picture and go on to ask what was it like in much earlier times - in ancient times.

Ancient times

We might as well start from the very beginnings, which we can identify. The starting point for the narrative of Indian history is, of course, the Indus Valley Civilization. In order to set up a time frame, the following dates for Indus valley period accepted by most archeologists are assumed:

Pre-Harappan Cultures             3400 - 2800 BC

Ilarappa Culture(Mature)          3100 - 1900BC

The facts are supplied to us by archaeology, The Harappans were a disciplined people and this discipline was visible in all walks of life. For example they have been credited with the knowledge of the science of yoga. The greatest invention of the Harappans was the invention of an alphabetic system of writing by simplifying a partly pictographic script, using simple cursive signs with basic phonetic values. Harappans became pioneers in studying tides, waves and currents and put their knowledge to practical use to build tidal dock at Lothal. The civilization, representing a special achievement in the world of third millennium BC, covered a little less than half a million square miles and lasted for about five centuries as a distinct cultural entity. It was a complex of city-centered communities of agriculturists and craftsman. There is circumstantial evidence for maritime trade. Extensive trade also provided the stimulus for the development of an elaborate system of weights and measures. Archaeologists have also been able to find evidence for the presence of rudimentary astronomical system.

Moving forward in time into the Vedic times, we find that Vedic literature has left us with enough evidence to let us know that the Vedic practitioners were not only skillful and discerning observers of the sky, but used that knowledge in their lives in very significant way. Vedic collections of hymns, ritual descriptions and philosophical speculations indicate activities, that we now can categorize as astronomy. The requirements for certain religious practice, especially the need to determine the accurate time for the performance of sacrifices, provided a degree of stimulus and support for a systematic study of celestial bodies. The development of geometrical, mathematical and astronomical ideas was preserved in the Sulbsutras, composed and systematized somewhere between 800 and 600 B.C. The main text of the Sulbasutras consists of rules and instructions governing the measurement and construction of sacrificial altars for the execution of particular religious rites and rituals. Panini’s grammar, of probably 600 BC origin, is considered to he an intellectual achievement of all time.

A few centuries after the Vedic period, mathematical and astronomical knowledge represented a shift away from earlier dependence on religion. The most well known text of this period is the Surya Siddhant, (400 AD), a repository of astronomical knowledge. A key innovation arising from the Surya Siddhanta was the use of the sine of an angle. The period also witnessed the birth of the mathematician astronomer Aryabhatta (about 499 AD) and his two famous followers Varahamihira (505-587 AD) and Bhaskara I (b. 600 AD) Another famous scholar in astronomy and mathematics of this period is Brahmagupta (b. 598 AD). Further development in astronomy took place as the first millennium progressed and we recognize names such as Mahavira (b. 850 AD). Sridhara (b. 900 AD), Aryabhatta II (b. 950 AD) and Bhaskara II (1100 AD). Most historians of science and mathematics agree that the use of numerals and zero found in modern mathematics originated from ancient India.  The flourishing tradition of mathematics and astronomy continued in, South India, as found in the work of Madhava (1340-1425 AD) and Nilakantha Somayaji (1444-1545 AD).

Along with these aspects of science, a range of medical systems developed and flourished in India. The most well-known of these today is Ayurveda, meaning “the Knowledge of long life”. Key texts, the Charaka Samhita and Susruta Samhita, were compiled over a long period from 200 BC to 400 AD. Ancient Ayurvedic scholars viewed man - his health and, his growth and decay, and the very phenomenon ordinarily called life (or prana) - in terms of matter, the Indian word (or which is bhuta. They reach the firm conviction that this matter, of which everything is made, is knowable and that there is nothing mysterious or supernatural about the laws of its transformation. These laws are essentially laws of nature, the knowledge of which - the ancient doctors argue in their own way - extends human power over nature, which from the medical point of view means ensuring long and healthy life. This is indeed a magnificent beginning in India of science consciousness, with materialist outlook forming its theoretical basis.

However, “the source books of Ayurveda in their extant forms give us the apparent impression of being quaint bundles of incompatible philosophical views to crude contradictions of practical precepts”. These incompatibilities in the texts can be explained by the fact that there was hostility of religion to medical science traceable to as ancient as the times of Vedas. The superimpositions that were grafted on to the genuine medicine in these texts may be of the nature of ransoms offered to the authority of religion with the hope of making it acceptable to orthodoxy. The growth of medical knowledge also stimulated the development of a number of auxil­iary systems of knowledge, which might be labeled as botany and chemistry in the modern period.

Contemporary Science Movements in India

Let us now return to the question we have not yet asked, that is, ‘what are the results of the Scientific Policy of India?’

The years following Independence witnessed a rapid expansion of science and technology institutions in India. India has effectively institutionalized an extensive and complex infrastructure for the performance of scientific and technological activity. It was expected that these investments in science and technology would result in economic growth and eradication of poverty, as well as enable the country to achieve planned objectives in development and modernization. But success has been only partial. The oil crisis in 1970s brought this dissatisfaction into focus and lead to the emergence of movements of science activism rooted in a concern for the general public. The main concern of these movements is with the authority or the scientific establishment as a whole.

People’s Science Movement:

This movement was initiated by an agency called Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad in early 60’s and is now coordinated through a body called the All India People’s Science network formed in 1990. “People’s science” means not merely simplifying and popularizing science, though these processes are considered essential. Fundamentally, it means creating a consciousness or a critical bent of mind among the common people and infusing in them a sense of questioning with regard to each and every aspect of science for development and industrialization, particularly the nature of its appropriation. That is assumed to be scientific content in every social issue and vice-versa. Empowering people through science is one of the movements main objectives. It subscribes to Nehruvian discourse in considering modern science as a tool of social and economic emancipation, it sees no contradiction in supporting the goals of science for industrialization so long as they are not placed in the hands of antisocial or selfish agencies in the society.

Alternative Science Movement

These groups share the view that the hegemony of modern, western science and the process of rapid industrialization engineered by it are the root cause of India’s general crisis of modernity. They see the progress of western science and modern technological traditions as running counter to the cultural ethos and aspirations of non-western societies such as India. Even before Nehru was encouraging the parliament to pass the Scientific Policy Resolution, some intellectuals were asserting that progress to the Asian people does not mean the conquest or nature, but rather the realization of a harmonious relationship of interdependence between man and nature”. There are moderate and extreme positions in this alternative science movement. The moderate position rejects the reconstitution or western science in the Indian context. Extreme position rejects modern western science, which is characterized essentially as violent both in its method and its operation in non-western societies. Claude Alvares’s Critique of scientific thinking is an example of this kind of extreme position. He argues ‘that both science and the technology based on it are fundamentally violent forms of handling the world, that violence is intrinsic to science, to its text, to its design and implementation’.

Patriotic and People Oriented Science and Technology (PPST)

PPST does not reject modern, western science and technology, but its agenda is to develop a critique of the modern civilization embedded in modern scientific and technological systems. It seeks to counter the claims of modern science that it is universal, objective, value-free, ultimate, unique and the only source of legitimate knowledge and enlightenment. It argues the view that indigenous traditions in the domain of knowledge, skill and production still can play a useful role in our present context.

What we are witnessing today is awareness of the fact that commitment to science and technology alone does not solve the problems or a large country such as India, particularly when a majority of the society has not been able to gain access to the fruits of progress based on this science and technology.

Conclusion

If one stops and reflects upon what we have surveyed, it is not difficult to conclude that the history of India has had periods of both strength and weakness in scientific creativity and technological innovation: It will not escape our attention that the questioning attitude and the tradition of observation and abstract thinking are part of Indian heritage. Traditional knowledge was arrived at by observation as well as inference. There is also vast amount of literature that testifies to the philosophical thinking and metaphysical speculations of the Indian mind which we have not surveyed here.

The absence or lack of science and technology in certain periods of history may have to be explained in terms of political, social and economic parameters. It is also clear that much knowledge that could be placed in the categories of science and technology is practical and utilitarian. A sense of adventure is missing, Bhargava and Chakrbarthi expressed the same feeling when they wrote, “Indeed we should very much like to know if there are written records of Indians available who went abroad and came with new information which then became amalgamated with our own, leading to advances which would have otherwise not been possible. We refer here to the ancient period say up to 1000 AD.”

If Nehru called for the nurturing of scientific temper in the nation’s culture, the implication was that he wanted his countrymen to admit that there was a glaring absence of it at that point in history, relative to the size and needs of the population, and that the situation needed to be corrected, While intellectuals of different ideologies, voice their concerns, the country and the majority of its inhabitants believe that scientific thinking, in its broad sense, is deeply embedded in its heritage. The nation of India and its leaders unhesitatingly subscribe to the view that the education of its masses in science and the use of modern technology in its life are unquestionable goals and necessary roads towards progress.