That India was a fount of knowledge is so obvious …… the number system, zero, surgery, Ayurveda, Yoga, Arthashastra … name any discipline and we have a “system” propounded thousands of years back. Unlike some of the modern scientific (re)discoveries many of these treatments and solutions work “with” nature and hence are sustainable solutions. We also had world class universities where students from all over the world came to gain knowledge.
The Indus Valley civilisation had toilets with a flush and rain water harvesting !! The Dholavira – 3500 BCE site similarly shows paved roads and an amazing plumbing system. None of these are accidents, because there is written documentation that has survived despite barbarian Khilji burning the world’s largest library at Nalanda.
I came across a fantastic thread (as always) by Savitri Mumukshu about ancient Indian universities that pre-date the Buddhist Era universities. That’s the new way to downplay India’s contribution – everything happened in India after Gautama Buddha walked the Earth 🙄. I love Buddha – he truly showed the path as an enlightened Master. The Western world using his life and teachings to reduce India’s ancient knowledge systems is not acceptable.
The one reason why I couldn’t go beyond a few pages of the celebrated Yuval Harari book “Sapiens” is because of this flaw – for him Buddha marks the start of civilisation in the Indian subcontinent 👎🏻. Clearly he hasn’t read enough history !!
Here is the thread on ancient Indian universities by @MumukshuSavitri –
Now its time to develop some world class modern universities – we have big shoes to fill. First we need to find thousands of stolen manuscripts that are all over Europe. Just like the Murtis and other sculptures are being found and returned to India, our manuscripts also have to come back home.
Looking forward to our education system regaining its lost glory and India becoming the fount of knowledge and wisdom once more. 🙏🏿