Metal Craft
India has a 3000 year history of hand forging metal to build tools and swords. The traditional methods of blacksmiths that were in use then are still in use today in some regions of India. In the 11th Century CE when european crusaders felt the effectiveness of the islamic swords in battle, war stories gave rise to the legend of damascus blade. It was said that one blow from it could slide a european helmet without damage to the blade or it could slice through a floating silk scarf just as easily. Although the damascus steel were being forged the capital of syria, the steel and the technology for these blades came from India. This steel was called Wootz steel and is believed to have been developed in 1st century BCE or earlier. Even Alexander the great sought these swords from India.
Europeans took many of these blades home determined to uncover the exact composition and technique involved in making them. In centuries after the crusades many tried to replicate the swords of damascus or Wootz steel, most achieved similar appearance but not the properties. Infact it was not until 1975 that the secret of Indian wootz steel was uncovered. The quest to reproduce wootz steel had many bi-products such as metallurgical microscopy in 1922 and invention of metal alloys like stainless steel by Michael Faraday in 1822. Today it is almost impossible to imagine life without Stainless Steel which is used in everything from Airplanes to Utensils.
Wootz steel is characterized by a unique pattern of bands
Textiles
Cotton was first domesticated more than 5000 year ago in the Indus Valley civilisation for their nutrition rich seeds as feed for cattle. Ancient Indians then figured out ways to convert cotton ball into threads and then into fabric. A Major challenge in this process was the task of removing seeds from a cotton ball, so they invented a simple ginning device for speeding the this process. The cotton was then hand spun into threads, this gave tbe Indian fabric a softness and quality that no other country could replicate. To mass produce and increase efficiency of spinning thread another device was invented around 1000 years ago – the spinning wheel, this device doubled the quantity of thread produced by a skilled worker retaining the legendary quality.
In 18th Century european tried to mass produce Indian quality cotton cheaply, the result was use of machines and beginning of the Industrial revolution. While these machines were able to duplicate most of the legendary Indian process they were not able to get the softness and quality of the Indian fabric made from handspun cotton thread. Today cotton is so essential to our lifestyle, without it we wouldn’t have t-shirts, pants or our favourite jeans.
Mahatma Gandhi beside his Charkha
The Charkha or The Spinning Wheel was developed in India.
Health – Ayurveda & Yoga
The ancient Indians attributed state of one’s health to their eating habits. Science has now shown us that some plants have medicinal powers. Willow bark is basic ingredient for aspirin, garlic is believed to boost immune system and help with minor ailments. But the use of Herbal medicine is only one step to health in Ayurvedic system which is a comprehensive philosophy. Ayurveda in Sanskrit means the science of life which defines health as total well being, a diagnosis not only looks at his/her immediate symptoms but also to the patients food habits, weather and his/her mental state, relationships. Ayurveda was the first system of medicine to appear in the world. Today after 5000 years this holistic approach to health is embraced in the west. Yoga which is one of the most important aspects of Ayurveda has also become very popular. Ayurveda made many strides in medicinal field hundreds of years before the European system came, it had many specialties like psychiatry, pediatrics, ophthalmology, toxicology, gynecology and surgery.
Yoga Guru BKS Iyengar demonstrating a Yoga pose
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