18CHAC0 : Essence of Indian

Knowledge
Presented By

Mr. M.Senthilnathan ME.,

Assistant Professor in ECE
Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE)
KeyTerm an Concept
s d s
 colonization

 cultural bias
 living knowledge
 traditional knowledge
(also a
known
Indigenous knowledge, s
traditional
ecological knowledge)
 western scientific knowledge
 Learning
Objectives
 1. Define traditional knowledge
 2. Describe the physical and social contexts in which traditional knowledge
develop
 3. Describe the historical impact of social change on traditional knowledge systems

 4. Give concrete examples of the impact of declining traditional knowledge and

 lifestyles
5. Compare traditional knowledge with western knowledge

6. Provide examples of the ways in which modern science and traditional knowledge
are working together
Definin Tradition
g
Knowledg al
eWh Defin It At
y e All?
distinguish it from other kinds of knowledge
•• when the people with whom it originates are
trying to preserve and renew their cultural
identity.
Definin Tradition
g
Knowledg al
e
Wha are Some
t Definitions?
 traditional
 knowledge,
traditional

ecological
knowledg
e,

traditional
Tradition Knowledg
al e
 is knowledge that derives from, or is
rooted
in the traditional way of life of
aboriginal
people.
 is the accumulated knowledge
and
understanding of the human
place in
Tradition Ecological
al Knowledge
environmental knowledge that has
been
gathered
lived by aboriginal
in and peoplesare
particula who
have
observed a r a
for generations.
 systems of knowledge
experiential gained
by continual observation and
transmitted
among members of a community.
 Tradition Environment Knowledg
al al e
 isa body of knowledge and beliefs
transmitted
through oral traditions and first hand
observation.
 The quantity and quality of TEK varies among
community members, depending upon
gender, age,
social status, intellectual capability and
profession.
 The use of the word “traditional” in
these
 Indigeno knowledg
us e
 It
includes facts, concepts, theories
about
the characteristics which describe
the objects, events, behaviours and
interconnections
animate and that environments
comprise both
the
inanimate of
Indigenous peoples.
 Eventhough knowledge is not
Indigenous it does not mean
quantitative in that
  is generated within communities
 is location and culture specific
 is the basis for decision making
and strategies
survival
Characteristi
is not systematically documented
cs
of Indigeno

 concerns critical issues of human
us
Knowledg and animal life: primary
e production, human and animal life,
natural resource management
 is dynamic and based on
innovation,
adaptation, and experimentation

is oral and rural in nature
 Th Socia Contex
e time
Since l t
immemorial, we were put here to take
care of
the land. Our grandfathers did not abuse the land and
it is our turn to pass our knowledge on to our younger
generation.

What our forefathers kept all this time is very precious.

It’s now in our hands. Our Creator has given us the
responsibility
(John Petagumskumfor taking very
in McDonald, good and
Arragutainaq, care of what
Novalinga 1997,we
)
have. If we don’t take care of it, we will lose our own
culture one day.
2 aspect of
s TK
 First: practical base Traditional explanations
- environmental phenomena,
of winds or water
currents
for example, are based on cumulative
collective experience , tested over centuries,
by people who had a sophisticated and
practical knowledge of the
land on which they depended for every
 Second: spiritual - is integral to the ethical
aspect of life.
beliefs
and world views of Indigenous peoples.
Th Impac of Colonizatio on
e t
Tradition n
Knowledg
al e
 Reasons:
to exploit the natural resources in the
found
territories of Indigenous peoples;
and
to execute some notion of “empire”
or social
“manifest destiny,” to solidify ,
economic,
and political power.
 Colonization adversel
has
affected y
transmissio
the
preservatio n,and of
n, protection
traditional knowledge
 TKhas not been systematically until recently
documented ;
 it is largely orally transmitted;
 IPhave become isolated from one
 enforced shifts away from traditional practice
another;
subsistence s
 health and social problems; and
 the dominance of western scientific
Conclusio
n
 To change a life, based on traditional knowledge where the
traditional lifestyle includes norms, values, relations to
nature, time, work and leisure is extremely difficult.
 Many persons leaving their traditional life experience that they are
“nobody”
 To establish a new social identity can mainly be in two ways:
donecan reduce the importance of earlier knowledge and self-
They
consciousness. to use the achieved traditional
knowledge as a platform for further learning
 Age, program type, social security and social are
extremely
Contempora Use of
ry s Traditional
Knowledge
Thus the integration of the two
knowledge
systems faces a number of barriers
 Different perspectives:
 There is frequently a distinct difference in what Indigenous peoples think are significant
impacts and what policy makers and those in favour of development projects think are
significant impacts. These differences are probably rooted in both the habits of mind and
the practical priorities of each group.
 Scientific scepticism:
 Scientists are sceptical about the credibility or reliability of indigenous knowledge
gathered through interviews, preferring “hard” data such as biophysical data. Some may
dismiss traditional knowledge as subjective, anecdotal, and unscientific.
 Politics:
 Policy makers may resist altering established decision-making processes to
accommodate the use of traditional knowledge, for reasons having to do with an
interest in controlling the process. (Sallenave 1994, 14)
 Protecting Traditional Knowledge
 Preserving traditional knowledge also contributes to the cultural
and political goals of self-determination and self-reliance
(especially the ability to support traditional lifestyles) by creating
strong, ongoing appreciation within the community of its history

and its roots.
Because traditional knowledge has a wide range of commercial and
scientific uses, it is becoming increasingly valuable to non-
indigenous outsiders. One unfortunate outcome of this interaction
is the situation where traditional knowledge has been gathered and
used without contacting the source of knowledge. One example is
the use of traditional medicines as a basis for developing
pharmaceutical products and herbal remedies.
Abuses of traditional knowledge include:
 unlicensed and unauthorized commercialization of traditional
knowledge;
 taking images, such as photographs, film and video of Indigenous peoples
their way of life, et cetera; ,
using, reproducing or copying indigenous names, images and arts

permission; withou
t
use and misuse of symbols without permission;
 disclosing secret knowledge and cultural property;

 publishing research without recognition or reward for the knowledge

holders;

entering into community research without fully explaining how the research will
be used or who owns the results (Brascoupe and Mann 2001, 7).

 Because our knowledge is a part of us, and
we are
living beings, then our knowledge is in a sense
“living” too and must be nurtured like all life.
The primary lesson for Indigenous peoples
within their own communities, then, is to learn
and practice traditional knowledge. Seek out
elders and traditional teachers. Listen to the
stories, ask questions, practice the techniques,
and discuss it all with your peers. Honour the
sacred.
Dhanvantari siddhar
• 18 Siddhars Tradition in Tamilnadu
Contribution of Medicine, Yoga, Astronomy, Astrology.
Etc..
Than you
k !
 30

6
1
Sixty-one years of professional excellence
18CHAC0 : Essence of Indian
Knowledge
Presented by

Mr.M.Senthilnathan M.E., (MSc.,) (PGDPC.,)

Assistant Professor
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE), Madurai.
INDIA
 Syllabus

Traditional and Modern Knowledge:

Two Worlds of Knowledge - Phase of Explorers, Sir Arthur Cotton and Irrigation,
Smallpox Vaccination, Late Nineteenth Century, Voelcker, Howard and
Agriculture, Havell and Indian Art; Indians at the Encounter - Gaekwad of
Baroda and Technical Education, Science Education and Modern Industries,
Hakim Ajmal Khan and Ayurveda, R. N. Chopra and Indigenous Drugs, Gauhar
Jaan and Indian Classical Music; Linking Science and the Rural - Tagore’s
Sriniketan Experiment, Marthandam, the YMCA Model, Gandhi’s Thoughts on
Development, Nehru’s View of Growth; Post-Independence Era - Modernization
and Traditional Knowledge, Social Roots of Traditional Knowledge Activism,
Global Recognition for Traditional Knowledge.
Global Mechanisms of Protection and Sharing:

For Recognition and Protection - United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO),
International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Working Group on Indigenous
Populations, Evolution of Other Organizations; Norms of Sharing - United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO), World Trade Organization (WTO); IPR and Traditional
Knowledge - Theoretical Background, Positive Protections of TK, Defensive
Strategies, IPR Facilitation for TK.
Traditional Knowledge for Basic Needs:
Indian Midwifery Tradition—The Dai System, Surface Flow Irrigation
Tanks, Housing - A Human Right, Changing Priorities—Niyamgiri.
Biodiversity and Genetic Resources: Jeevani - The Wonder Herb of Kanis,
A Holistic Approach - FRLHT, Basmati - In the New Millennium, AYUSH-Based
Cosmetics.
Traditional Knowledge in Manufacturing and Industry:
Drug Discovery, A Sweetener of Bengal, The Sacred Ring of Payyanur,
Channapatna Toys.
Traditional Cultural Expressions:
Banarasi Saree, Music, Built and Tangible Heritage, Modern Yoga, Sanskrit and
Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change and Traditional Knowledge.
Learning Resources:
1. Nirmal Sengupta “Traditional Knowledge in Modern India Preservation, Promotion, Ethical Access
and Benefit Sharing Mechanisms” Springer, 2019.
2. Amit Jha,”Traditional Knowledge System in India”, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors Pvt Ltd,
2009.
3. Basanta Kumar Mohanta, Vipin Kumar Singh “Traditional Knowledge System and Technology in
India”, Pratibha Prakashan, 2012.
4. Kapil Kapoor, Michel Danino "Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India", Central Board of
Secondary Education, 2012.
5. NPTEL video lecture on “Ayurvedic Inheritance of India”, Video link:
https://nptel.ac.in/courses/121/106/121106003/#.
6. Youtube video on “Introduction to Indian Knowledge Systems”, Video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZP1StpYEPM.
7. Youtube video on “12 Great achievements of Indian Civilization”, Video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmogKGCmclE.
 Syllabus

Traditional and Modern Knowledge:

Two Worlds of Knowledge - Phase of Explorers, Sir Arthur Cotton and Irrigation, Smallpox
Vaccination, Late Nineteenth Century, Voelcker, Howard and Agriculture, Havell and Indian Art;
Indians at the Encounter - Gaekwad of Baroda and Technical Education, Science Education and
Modern Industries, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Ayurveda, R. N. Chopra and Indigenous Drugs,
Gauhar Jaan and Indian Classical Music; Linking Science and the Rural - Tagore’s Sriniketan
Experiment, Marthandam, the YMCA Model, Gandhi’s Thoughts on Development, Nehru’s View
of Growth; Post-Independence Era - Modernization and Traditional Knowledge, Social Roots of
Traditional Knowledge Activism, Global Recognition for Traditional Knowledge.
Two Worlds of Knowledge

What is ‘traditional knowledge’

1. In popular perception,
2. it is the old, unscientific knowledge that hinders progress and breeds superstition.
3. Those who have a positive opinion identify it as ancient wisdom,
4. sometimes going to the extent of idolizing the past.
5. Traditional is understood in juxtaposition to modern.
6. There is no second opinion about what is modern knowledge.
7. It is the quint essential Western knowledge that began its glorious journey in the European
Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth century.
The pioneers named it scientific,

1. not modern.
2. They were writing in Latin, where the word ‘scientia’ meant knowledge.
3. They might have perceived scientific attitude as true knowledge.
4. A category ‘traditional knowledge’ cannot be created from such a position. Indeed,
5. the scientific revolution in Europe was triggered by revival of ancient Greek philosophy in
Europe, after a gap of more than a thousand years.
6. Ancient Greece flourished a couple of centuries after Gautam Buddha was born in India.
7. Aristotle and Chanakya, the two great scholars in two continents, were con-temporaries.
8. But once that era came to an end,
9. Greek knowledge went into oblivion in Europe.
10.The Romans and the Byzantines knew little about Aristotle or Euclid. Nor were they interested.
The Manufacture of the ‘Traditional’

1. made by men of learning.

2. The Greek knowledge survived because of the Islamic Golden Age of knowledge.
3. Several Arab and Persian scholars were appreciative of the ancient world scholarships,
4. those of the Chinese, Hindus, and the Greeks. They preserved and developed those
further.
5. Islam reached the west of Europe through its imperial expanse over northern Africa.
6. It was here, in Spain, that ancient Greek thoughts reappeared in Europe in later half of
the twelfth century. A Muslim scholar of southern Spain named Ibn Rushd (in Arabic;
Averroes in Latin) made western
7. Europe (Latin Europe) aware of ancient Greek philosophy through his influential
8. Latin language commentaries on Aristotle.
1. The intellectuals of western Europe were yearning for just this.
2. Suddenly, a new way of thinking was opened up to them. Soon, commentaries on Greek
philosophy by other Islamic scholars like Ibn Sina (Avicenna, c. 980–1037) were translated in
Latin.
3. Scholars in the newly established Paris University collected around Averroes’s approach.
Pioneers of scientific revolution like René Descartes or Francis Bacon located their exposition in
relation to
4. Aristotle’s philosophy. Renaissance was triggered after Greek scientific tradition was revived in
Europe.
5. What exactly was there in the ancient Greek philosophy? I won’t risk my neck trying to answer
this question. None of these Renaissance philosophers considered those to be the ultimate
knowledge. In fact, the contributions of some of them were critical appraisals of one or the other
aspects of the Greek works.
1. That such questions
2. can be raised and debated on was just not known without the exposure to Greek
epistemology.
3. Western intellectuals began to dwell on questions like the empirical foundations of
knowledge, experimentation, reasoning, and so on.
4. In the process,
5. they also refuted many of their own findings.
6. More recent philosophers of science like Karl Popper or Thomas Kuhn have tried in vain to
develop a commonly agreed

definition of the scientific revolution.

7. All that we can say today is that there was something that opened up a new way of thinking
that would, in due course, vastly expand the boundaries of human knowledge and
application.
1. The Roman Catholic Church was alarmed by the rising tide of non conformism.
2. In the past, the Catholic Church had sanctioned or imprisoned heretics.
3. But now, they were panicky and retaliated with stringent measures like tortures.
4. The Catholic Church established the infamous Inquisitions.
5. Scientific writings were burnt. Scientists were harassed.
6. Copernicus had to abandon his scientific claim because it went against the preachings of the
Church.
7. Muslim rulers too abandoned their openness.
8. Ibn Rushd ceased to be acceptable to orthodox Islam.
9. He was banished from Marrakesh.
10.Orders were issued to burn his writings.
11.Once patrons of human knowledge,
12.both Islam and Christianity, gradually became orthodox and suppressive of the new ideas.
13.At this juncture of history, Latin Europe came in touch with India.
Phase of Explorers

1. Indian products especially spices were in great demand in Europe.

2. But Arab traders had monopolized trade with India by using their control over the land
route.

Two Worlds of Knowledge

3. Spain and Portugal were the two major maritime powers of that period.
4. Both of them were trying to find an alternative route.

By sailing to the west,

5. in 1492 Columbus found a new land, which he thought was India. Six years later,
6. in 1498, Vasco da Gama actually reached India by sailing to the east. It turned out to be
one of the greatest successes of trade facilitation.
7. Imported spices became sixty to one hundred-folds cheaper in European markets.
Importing many other items became viable.
8. Traders from the countries of west Europe rushed in to avail the opportunity.
1. The British East India Company (hereafter ‘EI Company’) was formed in 1600.
2. In 1612, it received permission from the Mughal emperor Jehangir to establish trading
posts and factories in India.
3. Only in 1765, after it was granted Diwani of Bengal by the Mughal emperor, the EI
Company was in a position to understand the importance of revenue earning in this fertile
country. Yet, for several more decades, the traders did not indulge in administration.
4. Thus, for about three centuries after the first contact, European traders, soldiers, and
missionaries were at the most, curious observers of Indian knowledge and its
applications.
5. There were a handful among these visitors who wrote down what they saw or learnt.
6. In the past, there were just a few travelogues, like those of Al Biruni, Ibn Batuta or Marco
Polo. Following the rise in the number of Europeans visiting India,
7. there were many more short accounts by persons with moderate scholarship.
8. In one of his books, Dharampal (1971) has brought together a collection of some of these
accounts of Indian knowledge of science and technology as it existed around 1750 A.D.
1. In some areas of mathematics and astronomy, the observers felt Indians were
2. impressive;
3. their techniques of agriculture, ways of making iron, paper, and mortar were quite
advanced.
4. In comparison to the rudimentary technology back at home,
5. the Indian situation did not appear to be poor.
6. By then printing press, barometer, microscope, and telescope were invented in Europe.
7. But such inventions do not impact rural life.
8. Revolution in European science that would change lives of people had just begun.
9. Newton’s Principia was published in 1687,
10.Oxygen discovered in 1772. In 1781,
11.a new planet Uranus was discovered, and in another corner of Europe,
12.James Watt patented his steam engine.
13.Edward Jenner announced his discovery of smallpox vaccine in 1798.
1. The knowledge exchange facilitated by cheaper travel was not one-sided.
2. India too had its share of curious learners.
3. From the fortune seekers and missionaries,
4. they learnt about the discoveries being made in that distant land.
5. Maharajah SawaiJai Singh (1688–1743) of Jaipur arranged to have European works on
trigonometry, logarithms, and Euclid translated into Sanskrit.
6. Some translations were into khari boli, a local dialect, so that the builders, technicians, and
artisans could use those books.
1. In 1727, he sent a delegation to Europe to collect scientific books and
instruments (Sharma 1995: 234–303).
2. The Mission went to Portugal, the best-known place for Indians because of being
the country of Vasco da Gama.
3. Unknown to them,
4. the king of Portugal was a leading figure in the inquisition. He had banished all
scientific works from his territory.
5. The Mission returned without any work of Newton, Galileo, Kepler, or Copernicus.
6. Another ‘technology buff’ (Narasimha 1985) was Tipu Sultan (1750–1799).
7. He was keenly interested in European inventions like barometer and
thermometer. Industrial Revolution in England began in 1760.
The Manufacture of the ‘Traditional

1. increased manifold as the news of rapid rate of discoveries percolated in.

2. As early as in 1817, the first modern institution of higher learning was established by a group
of
3. influential people in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
4. Besides, the new technology of printing drastically changed the form of social reform
movements. Social reform movements were not new in India.
5. Only a couple of centuries earlier,
6. Bhakti movements had swept through the country. But in the past, the reformers had to be
wanderers as well to spread their messages.
7. The new technology of printing enabled the reformers like Rammohan Roy or Vidyasagar to
conduct the debate in print.
8. It is interesting to note that both the debates were waged on what actually was Hindu
tradition.
9. The reformers cited ancient shastras and slokas to reject the notorious practices of sati
By the end of the eighteenth century,
1. European trade interest had diversified to include cotton, silk, spices, indigo, opium,
tea, and saltpeter.
2. But traders have no use the ways of making iron.
3. After they received Diwani, the revenue collection rights a large country,
4. the EI Company auctioned it every year to the highest bidders.
5. The temporary right holders made best use of their fortunes extracting as much as
they could in a year.
6. The peasants were ruined, famines swept the country, and after a few years there
were not many bidders
1. Realizing the problem, in 1793,
2. the EI Company opted to settle the estates for a hundred years.
3. The Permanent Settlement of Bengal succeeded.
4. Soon the ravaged country began to prosper again. Thereafter,
5. the EI Company began to address one after another, matters of governance.
6. One of the major additions was large-scale information collection.
7. Systematic information collection replaced the travelers’ accounts.
8. The scale of work increased manifold.
9. In 1800, Buchanan was appointed by the Governor General to travel and collect
information
10.about the state of agriculture, arts, commerce, religion, manners, customs, and other
11.important subjects for reporting to the EI Company Directors in London.
1. Asiatic Society was established in 1784 by William Jones, an Oxford scholar.
2. Actual engagement with indigenous knowledge began from around this time for meeting
certain contingencies.
3. We will describe two such cases from this period and others from the latter half of the
nineteenth century.
1. Sir Arthur Cotton and Irrigation
2. Smallpox Vaccination
3. Late Nineteenth Century
4. Voelcker, Howard and Agriculture
5. Havell and Indian Art
6. Indians at the Encounter
7. Gaekwad of Baroda and Technical Education
8. Science Education and Modern Industries
9. Hakim Ajmal Khan and Ayurveda
10.R. N. Chopra and Indigenous Drugs
11.Linking Science and the Rural
12.Tagore’s Sriniketan Experiment
13.Marthandam, the YMCA Model
14.Gandhi’s Thoughts on Development
15.Nehru’s View of Growth
16.Post-Independence Era
17.Modernization and Traditional Knowledge
18.Social Roots of Traditional Knowledge Activism
Smallpox Vaccination
Smallpox Vaccination
• In those days, there were not many Europeans doctors traveling to India.
• European medicines too were not easily available.
• Hence, the Europeans arriving in India had to depend greatly on local
medicines and local doctors.
• Acceptance was easier when a practice seemed familiar (Patterson
2001).
• Smallpox inoculation was one such practice.
• In China, India, Turkey, and parts of Africa, a type of inoculation against
smallpox was known from the ancient time.
• The inoculation method, now called ‘variolation,’ was the process of
injecting an infective agent in a healthy person.
• This might lead to mild disease but prevented serious attack in future
(Lahariya 2014).
• In 1721, variolation practice was introduced to Europe from
Constantinople (Brimnes 2004)
• although its acceptance was limited.
• During its territorial expansion between 1749 and 1778,
• the troop strength of the East India Company reached 67,000
from a mere 3000 (Bryant 1978: 203).
• In the face of such an explosive growth, it was not easy to
arrange for healthy living conditions.
• An infectious disease, quickly turning into an epidemic,
• could do havoc in the army.
• There were no preventive measures for epidemics, with one
possible exception—a ‘disgusting’ oriental practice might work
against smallpox.
• Faced with the danger of a virulent outbreak of smallpox,
• the Govt. of Madras passed an order for compulsory variolation,
first in the army, and then to the whole population.
• In September 1800,
• the Madras government launched a campaign to encourage variolation.
• This might be the earliest mandatory immunization program in the
world.
• This was a bold step.
• Variolation practice for smallpox prevention was well established in
regions like Bengal but was practically unknown in south India (Brimnes
2004).
• To most Europeans and south Indians, it must have been a repulsive
practice.
• Even Jenner’s vaccine, introduced later in Europe, was not accepted
easily.
• England witnessed a strong Anti-Vaccination Movement during European
vaccination campaign
• in 1853–1907. Parents were not at ease with the fearsome practice of scouring the flesh
on a child’s arm and inserting lymph from the blister of another person.
• Some others considered the vaccine was ‘unchristian’ because it came from an animal.
• The government making vaccination mandatory was seen as an agency violating
personal
• liberty, one’s right to control one’s body (Durbach 2004).
• Traditional Indian variolation practice was even more crude.
• Yet, the Europeans rulers of south India decided to make it compulsory at such an early
date.
• One does not know how the people of Madras Presidency viewed the
directive.
• In just two years, Madras government had to backtrack.
• In 1798, Edward Jenner announced his discovery of smallpox vaccine
obtained from cowpox. Within four years, the vaccine reached India.
• In 1802, the cowpox vaccine reached Madras (now Chennai) and
• the government immediately redirected its campaign to promote vaccination
instead of variolation.
• For this round, however, it is known that the population was reluctant to
accept vaccination.
• This is often seen as an indication of the unsci-entific mind-set of the Indians
• But there is little difference in the responses of people in India and Europe.
• Jenner’s ideas were too novel for both England and India.
• The procedure was not very sophisticated in the early years of vaccination.
• Reluctance to accept was therefore common to both the countries.
• Over the years, the deficiencies of the original process that discouraged
people everywhere were remedied.
John Augustus Voelcker, Howard
and
Agriculture
• In 1889, John Augustus Voelcker,
• the Consulting Chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of England,
• was appointed by the British government
• to suggest how to improve Indian agriculture.
• John Augustus Voelcker toured the country extensively for over one year and submitted his report.
• In the abstract of the report, John Augustus Voelcker (1889: vi) wrote:
• I do not share the opinions which have been expressed as to Indian Agriculture being,
• As a whole, primitive and backward,
• but I believe that in many parts there is little or nothing
• that can be improved,
whilst where agriculture is manifestly inferior, it is more generally the result of the absence of
facilities which exist in the better districts than from inherent bad systems of cultivation
• I express my opinion that improvements of agriculture will consist mainly in the modification
• of the difference which exist, and that
• this will proceed in two directions;
• by transference of a better indigenous method from one part where it is practiced, to another
where it is not;
• by the modification of the differences which result from physical causes affecting agriculture.
1. John Augustus Voelcker did not mince words in his appreciation.
2. Such a report was not palpable to the imperial government.
3. But they could not summarily reject a report by a leading scientist of England engaged by the
government.
4. The report was shelved without implementing a single recommendation.
5. Technologically, implementation was easy since
6. the indigenous techniques were alive and Voelcker’s recommendations were simple.
7. But implementation would have been a political blunder.
8. So there was no further mention of it hoping that the concerned parties would forget the politically
damaging study.
9. Thirty years later, a new commission, the Royal Commission on Agriculture, was appointed for
writing another report. Methodically, the new report should begin by discussing the previous report.
10.The Royal Commission did not consider any point mentioned in Voelcker’s report.
11.They added just a single line stating that Voelcker’s study was still an important work for ‘students
of agriculture’.
1. Voelcker was not the only scientist to reach such a conclusion.
2. Another scientist, Albert Howard,
3. who worked for 25 years (1905–1931) in India, first as an Imperial Economic Botanist and then
as the Director of the Institute of Plant Industry at Indore,
4. reached similar conclusion.
5. Howard felt that trying to reform Indian agriculture on
6. Two Worlds of Knowledge
7. Western lines was a ‘fundamental mistake’.
8. The agricultural practices of India were ‘worthy of respect’,
9. however ‘strange and primitive’ they might at first appear to Westerners (Arnold 2000: 152).
10.After returning to England in 1931,
11.Sir Albert Howard wrote a series of books
12.explaining the logic of the Indian agricultural system and its superiority over
13.what is known as modern agriculture.
14.He is now considered to be the founder of the organic farming movement.
Gaekwad of Baroda and Technical Education
1. After the introduction of the railways,
2. the Public Works Department was in need of a large number of skilled technicians to assist
European engineers.
3. Several technical schools were established in the country primarily to meet this
requirement. Reformatory institutions too functioned as technical schools.
4. A few more were opened by the missionaries.
5. In 1886, there were 45 industrial schools with an average number of students 30 per
school (Dhar 2013: 259).
6. One of these was in Lucknow, a town known for the excellence of its artisans and
craftsmen. Following the increase in interest in reviving Indian arts and crafts,
7. an attempt was made to make this school a support center for artisanal works.
8. One of the officials in charge of organizing the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886,
9. Edward Charles Buck, an influential colonial administrator, was appointed in 1901 to
inquire into the prospects of technical and practical education in the country.
10.He recommended a market-oriented, mass production of the artisan products
(Dhar 2013: 268).
1. It had a big impact on the functioning of the Lucknow Industrial School.
2. The school surveyed the major artisanal workshops in Lucknow:
3. Chikan embroidery, calico printing, manufacture of silverware, bidari (inlaid work), etc.
4. Several different incentives, as understood by the British, were offered for a program
5. to teach them mechanical skill and advise on the improvement of their products.
6. But only three artisans turned up.
7. As the orientation changed,
8. the overall student strength too began to reduce.
9. Ultimately, after 1907, the program was dropped.
10.The school was transformed into a purely technical school (Dhar 2013: 268–269).
11.This initiative of the imperial government is worth comparing with an indigenous effort for
improvement specifically meant for the artisans.
12.The enlightened king of Baroda, Sayyaji Rao Gaekwad had set up Baroda College in 1881.
13.When he was approached by T. K. Gajjar with a proposal to open a school for artisans, he readily
accepted it.
1. A graduate in chemistry,
2. Gajjar, was born to a carpenter caste.
3. His father was a civil engineer and author of a book on architecture written in Gujarati language.
4. Kala Bhavan was established in 1890 with the objective of producing skilled artisans and
apprentices by imparting instruction in local language.
5. By 1909, the school was offering diploma in six subjects: civil, mechanical, and electrical
engineering, drawing and printing, architecture and photoengraving, textile chemistry including
6. dyeing.
7. Other courses such as textile technology (weaving), furniture making, and fine arts were started
later.
8. Kala Bhavan was fitted with the latest machinery from Britain and Germany along with some that
was manufactured indigenously.
9. The school received assistance of German experts and foreign-trained teachers (Mehta 1992;
Raina and Habib 2004).
10.Kala Bhavan students developed a Turkish red dye whose composition was a trade secret.
11.whose composition was a trade secret. By 1911,
12.the school was producing dye chemists for most of the textile industries springing up all over India
(Raina and Habib 2004: 191).
13.In contrast to the cases of Lucknow Industrial School or Calcutta Government
14.School of Art under Havell, the Kala Bhavan actually succeeded in attracting artisans.
15.In 1896, about 83 of the 204 students there came from artisan castes and families of farmers and
cultivators (Raina and Habib 2004: 184).
1. It seems that the major reason was the course orientation of the school.
2. Dhar informs (Dhar 2013: 269) that the students of Lucknow Industrial School petitioned the
school management to provide them training to be skilled workmen worth being employed as
foremen, mechanics, and fitters in the railways or be able to qualify for the mechanical
apprentice class
3. in College of Engineering at Roorkee.
4. Their training was inadequate for even the entrance examination of Roorkee.
5. The request was not granted. In contrast,
6. the Kala Bhavan students, from the beginning, were given such training that they were able
7. to appear for the engineer certificate examinations of Universities.
Science Education
and
Modern Industries
Hindoo College of Calcutta, several more colleges were established in different parts of the country.

1. There were 27 colleges before 1857 when a university system was superimposed on them.
2. Facilities for learning science were limited.
3. After receiving his BSc. degree in 1879 from the St Xavier’s College, Calcutta,
4. Jagadish Bose had to go to England for higher studies.
5. P. C. Ray went to Edinburgh University for learning science.
6. In 1894, Bose gave the first of his famous demonstrations at the Calcutta Town Hall.
7. This was the first incidence showing proficiency of Indians in pure sciences.
8. The Indians came up to facilitate advanced science learning.
9. In private efforts, two science clubs were formed in 1860s,
10.Doctor Mahendra Lal Sircar, the second M.D. from Calcutta University, established the
11.Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.
12.This organization helped development of some world-famous scientists like C. V. Raman,
Satyendranath Bose, K. S. Krishnan, and Meghnad Saha.
13.In 1909, Tata established the Indian Institute of Science. U. N. Brahmachari was a nominee for
the Nobel Prize in 1929 in the category of physiology and medicine.
14.The science and English education introduced was paying back rich dividends.
15.Science educated Indians had also started showing entrepreneurship.
1. P. C. Ray, a world-famous chemist and a Professor at Presidency College at that time,
founded the Bengal Chemical Works in 1900.
2. T. K. Gajjar, the man behind the Kala Bhavan of Baroda, founded Alembic Chemical in
1907. Pramatha Nath Bose was the first Indian graduate in science from a British
University.
3. Realizing the possibility of an economically viable steel plant,
4. he wrote a letter to Jamshedji Tata.
5. His suggestion led to the establishment of the Tata Iron and Steel Company at Jamshedpur.
Laxmanrao Kirloskar studied mechanical drawing at the J J School of Art in Bombay (now
Mumbai). With this knowledge,
6. he opened his factory in 1910 and pioneered modern engineering industry. The first
American Patent Act was passed
7. by the Congress in 1790. The Act allowed only the US citizens and residents to patent in
USA (Commission on IPR 2002: 18) effectively making any invention in any other part of
the world open access to Americans.
8. During the Industrial Revolution, USA freely took away every invention in a way that they
now term piracy of intellectual property.
9. The Act was amended in 1836 making the discriminatory practice just a little less.
10.Patenting by foreigners was allowed but at an exorbitant price that very few could afford.
After another 25 years,
11.this discriminatory policy was removed. But by then,
12.USA had collected most of the European advancement and has itself become a center of
invention. Indians had no such option.
• They had to find their own ways from among the limited opportunities open to them.
• For example,
• in 1827, John Walker invented modern matches.
• But he refused to get it patented, in spite of requests from his friends,
• making the invention available to all.
• In the Swadeshi phase, matchbox industry flourished in India.
• In spite of such problems,
• Indians established chemical, mechanical, and steel industries. Besides,
• they also made good use of the limited opening to modernize India’s own knowledge.
• We describe here three such cases.
Hakim Ajmal Khan and Ayurveda
1. In the earlier years, when they were largely dependent on local medicines and local doctors,
2. the Europeans had even promoted indigenous medical systems.
3. In 1781, the East India Company government established Calcutta Madrasa
4. where Arabic medical texts too were taught.
5. To meet the needs of helping hands as junior doctors and hospital staff
6. they established Native Medical Institutions for training local Indians.
7. In the wake of Macaulayan reform, indigenous medicine lost favor.
8. The EI Company government set up the first medical school of allopathy in Madras
9. in 1835, followed by a few others.
10.Indian systems remained popular for various reasons and began to modernize by the effort of
some leading practitioners,
11.Vaidya P. S. Warrier in Kerala and Hakims Abdul Majeed Khan and his younger brother
12.Ajmal Khan in Delhi. Seeing this trend, the allopathic doctors became apprehensive.
1. In 1910, the Bombay Medical Association called upon the government to secure Registration
Acts at provincial levels so as to legally prohibit the practices of Hakims and Vaids.
2. In 1911, the Bombay Legislative Council brought such a bill.
3. similar moves were made by other provincial governments.
4. Ajmal Khan had already started teaching Ayurveda at Madrasa Tibbia.
5. He was working to bring Hakims and Vaids to one medical platform for steering modernization
programs.
6. Faced with the new crisis,
7. he began to mobilize public opinion against the Bill.
8. In 1910, along with Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ajmal Khan organized the All India
Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbi Conference to oppose the Bill.
9. After several years of intense resistance, the government agreed to their point of view.
10.More significantly, realizing the importance of Indian systems of medicine,
11.in 1920, Indian National Congress passed the first of its resolutions in favor of indigenous
medicine.
12.It is to the effort of Ajmal Khan that indigenous Indian systems of medicine enjoy a position of
importance in present day India.
13.Ajmal Khan was born to a reputed Unani Hakim family that once served the
Mughal court.
1. After establishing Madrasa Tibbia (Tibb—medicine in Arabic) in 1889,
2. the elder of the two brothers expired leaving the task to Ajmal Khan.
3. The Madrasa, run as a formal school with paid staff and itemized syllabi, replaced traditional
4. teaching system consisting of personalized training and apprenticeship at home.
5. The school introduced a three-year course at the end of which formal degrees
6. In addition to Unani method,
7. the students were required to study pharmacology and work at hospitals for practical training in
anatomy and surgery.
8. Instead of Arabic, the medium of teaching was a vernacular language, Urdu.
9. The school also taught Ayurveda, to which the purists of Unani medicine were not in favor
10. Ajmal Khan went further and supplemented the Tibbia school by opening a Female Midwifery
School and Hospital
11. In 1909 the Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbi Research Institute in 1926.
12. His contribution to modernization of Indian system of medicine cannot be understood without
discussing the works of Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, the first director of the Tibbi Research Institute.
1. Siddiqui was born to a respected family of U. P.
2. involvement in nationalist politics the family was known to Ajmal Khan.
3. After doing his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Germany,
4. Siddiqui returned to India in 1927 to take up the challenging task of setting up a
modern research Institute for Indian medicines.
5. Siddiqui was not a Hakim himself.
6. He began by closely observing the materials used by the Hakim and Vaids.
7. He identified a few and began to apply his expertise in chemistry on these materials.
8. He isolated several constituent chemicals of sarpagandha,
9. An important Ayurvedic herb used for treatment of mental disorder and heart
problems.
10.He named these compounds Ajmaline, Ajmalanine, Ajmalacine, etc.,
11.in honor of Ajmal Khan.
1. Research facilities at Tibbia laboratory was limited,
2. other institutions established by the Indians using their limited resources.
In 1933, several scientists,
including Nobel laureate C. V. Raman requested the government, in vain, to create a body
for supporting scientific research.
Thereafter, the scientists started on their own,
the Indian Academy of Sciences.
1. Finally, in 1941, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) was formed.
2. The formation of the CSIR was a blessing for Indian scientists like Siddiqui.
3. He joined as a Director at CSIR and CSIR and immediately began to work on neem
4. In 1942, he extracted three bitter compounds from Neem oil,
5. which he named as Nimbin, Nimbinin, and Nimbidin, respectively.
6. From 1942, to the end of his career,
7. he was able to identify and isolate 50 chemical compounds.
8. Following his lead, as many as 135 chemical compounds have been isolated from
different parts of neem which are now extensively used in neem- based products
9. In 1948, the Prime Minister of Pakistan invited him to be his science adviser.
10.Siddiqui consulted Nehru, who advised him to take up the responsibility for the neighbor
11.In 1951, he moved to Pakistan and built some excellent research institutes in Pakistan,
and also in that part of the country which is now Bangladesh.
12.Later, he led Pakistan’s National Commission for Indigenous Medicine.
R. N. Chopra and Indigenous
Drugs