India - an ancient and culturally rich country - is rarely associated with invention and technological advancement compared to other ancient civilizations. However, the Indians of the Middle Ages created several things and phenomena that have contributed to the progress of mankind.
Middle Ages in India
In India, the Middle Ages began around the 12th century - earlier than in Europe. The previous Buddhist period belongs to antiquity, although features of the early Middle Ages already appear in it, therefore some historians believe that the ancient stage ended by the 5th century AD.
In the XII century, the northern part of the country was captured by the Delhi Sultanate, and later almost the entire peninsula became part of the Mughal Empire, and only some of the southern territories belonged to other kingdoms. The empire lasted until the 18th century - by that time, most of the state was divided between European colonists.
Early middle ages
During the early Middle Ages, sciences such as astronomy, medicine and mathematics continued to develop in India. Until European colonization, Indians were very strong in these areas of knowledge. One of the most important discoveries of this period is the more accurate computation of pi, which was made by the Indian mathematician Arbhata, in comparison with the ancient Greek calculation. He was the first to suggest that the celestial sphere does not rotate - the illusion is achieved due to the rotation of the Earth.
It is believed that the same Arbhata invented the number 0, which was not needed before.
The Indian astronomer Brasharacharya was able to calculate the time it takes for our planet to revolve around the sun.
In medicine, methods of treatment with water procedures and some complex surgical operations were invented. So, it is known that medieval Indian doctors could already remove cataracts, suture internal organs and do craniotomy.
Other medieval Indian inventions
Mathematics in the 9th-12th centuries continued to develop at a very rapid pace - researchers believe that this is due to the fact that medieval Indians already understood the concept of an abstract number.
Unlike the Europeans of that time, they could distinguish it from the number of objects in numerical form or spatial dimensions.
Famous mathematicians Bhaskara and Mahavira knew how to operate with both positive and negative values, invented several ways to solve quadratic and indefinite equations, and could extract cube roots. Several discoveries have been made in the field of spherical geometry and trigonometry.
In the 9th-12th centuries, the technology of small bronze casting was invented in India. The Indians were the first in the Middle Ages to find an excellent way of grinding diamonds using metal discs on which they applied diamond powder.
