From the Taj Mahal to spices to cheery festivals, India is known across the globe for a lot of unique attributes. When foreigners hear the word ‘India’, they visualise spicy curries, ancient monuments, slums and other stereotypes attributed to India. As an Indian, born and raised in India, I can proudly say that there is so much more that India has to offer to the world, and so much that India is not given credit for. India has been known for its intellectually advanced people for a long time, and these geniuses have contributed to the development of various fields across the world by inventing ideas the world never knew it needed. Here are a few things you probably never knew were invented by Indians.
Music is an art, which is deeply subjective and depends on the audience. Nonetheless, certain kinds of music manage to unite our diverse nation. The technique of producing music has a colourful history and it can be traced back to the times when the famous Vedas were composed because of details about music given in the Sama Veda. The Sama Veda is known as the Ved of Hymns. It contains Shlokas which were chanted at different pitches. Vedic music begins with a single note and is extended by 2 notes and 3 notes are gradually introduced. In the end, the scales are stabilised by 7 notes, making the chanting sound more appealing. It is said that this system was introduced by Rishi Narada Muni, who was a saint, musician and traveller, who taught music to the dwellers about this, who thereafter went on to spread the word of the system of creating noted melodies.
Prominent board games were introduced in India as early as the 4th century. Pachisi was an initial form of Ludo, played with dice and cloth. This famous board game had its first arrival in the Mahabharata, which was written in the years of 8000 BC to 10000 BC. It was played between Yudhisthara and Duryodhan, who were playing for the ownership of Draupadi, a Hindu deity. Historians have even identified this game in the cave paintings of Ajanta and Ellora. Moreover, chess was derived from the game Asthapada meaning ‘eight-legged’ or ‘spider’ in Sanskrit, which was played using 8x8 chequered boards and dice. This game subsequently evolved into Chaturanga, which accurately portrayed Indian infantries in the 7th century. Afterwards, with the influx of Persians, the game came to be known as Shatranj and the dice were altogether omitted. Cards were likewise invented in India and they used to be made of cloth and were called Krida Patram. This game was depicted in the Ramayana and the Mahabharat, thus wholly proving that it was a well-known game. Even the game of Snakes and Ladders was made by Indian Rishi Gyandev, a holy poet and saint in the 13th century. It was an analogy to indicate that good deeds are a stairway to heaven, while bad deeds push you down in life. The game was played with cowrie shells and dice. The illustrated squares had a God or one of the heavens (Kailasa, Vaikuntha, Brahmaloka) depicted on the top of a ladder and the bottom characterised as good quality. Conversely, each snake’s head was a negative quality or an Asura (demon). As the game progressed, the various Karma and Samskara, good deeds and bad, took you up and down the board. Interspersed were plants, people, and animals. These games show the values and the intelligence of the Indians of that era, who mindfully created these games to teach war techniques, probability and Karma.
While these are significant innovations, India can further be credited for several others like Ayurveda, Yoga, Administration, Shampoo, Wireless communication, Buttons, Cataract surgery, the production of natural fibres, and the list goes on! We have finally come to an era where Indian innovators are being recognised and India is getting its credit. India, with such gifted visionaries, is emerging as a global superpower, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, ready to extend its wings and fly far and beyond.
Slayed so hard