What can we really say about India's ancient chemical knowledge? In the first article of this series, we asked a simple but important question: Was there chemistry before chemistry? The answer led us to a larger challenge. When we talk about the chemical traditions of ancient India, how do we separate historical evidence from modern interpretation, genuine achievement from exaggerated claims, and technological knowledge from mythology? This is particularly important today, when discussions about India's scientific heritage often swing between two extremes. One says: Ancient India had already discovered everything modern science knows. The other says: If ancient Indians did not use modern scientific terminology, they could not have possessed scientific knowledge. Neither position does justice to history. The truth is much more interesting. Start with the evidence. The first rule of studying ancient science should be simple: Evidence before interpretation. For the ...
Rajeev Singh is Professor at the Department of Chemistry at Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College (ARSD), University of Delhi. He is an inorganic chemist with research specialization in Material Chemistry and Organometallics. He did his Ph. D. from the University of Delhi and was a TWAS postdoctoral fellow. His other area of academic interests are into revival, communication, and awareness of knowledge of ancient Indian sciences, IKS specially Chemistry and the contributions of Indian scientists.