Impact of chemistry on Indian history!!

“The country which is in advance of the rest of the world in chemistry will also be foremost in wealth and in general prosperity”

This famous quotation said by Mr William Ramsay clearly depicts the utmost importance

of chemistry. Whether it is past or present chemistry’s influence over the lives of people

can be clearly seen. Even when it was unknown to us , it’s impact over the masses could not

be undermined. It won’t be wrong to say that chemistry has had a great impact on the

history of the entire world. In ancient times when human beings were hunters, gatherers

they used to make many stone tools and used them for a variety of purposes. Today all of

us are well aware of the fact that stone is composed of elements which are a vital feature of

chemistry. Even kings and royalty used to mint coins composed of alloys and other metals.

Chemistry itself is a versatile subject. Chemistry also has an impact on the history of India.

Indus valley civilization was the earliest society, which had developed an elaborate urban

system depicted in terms of streets, public baths, temples and granaries etc. They also had

the means of mass production of pottery, houses of backed bricks and a script of their own.

So we can say that the story of early chemistry in India begins from here. Pottery could be

regarded as the earliest chemical process in which materials were mixed, moulded and fired

to achieve desirable qualities. Thousands of pieces of pottery were found in the Rajasthan

desert, varied in shape, size and color. They show that prehistoric people knew the art of

making pottery by using burnt clay. Colored and wheel made pottery was found at Harappa.

Pottery was decorated with various designs including geometric and floral patterns as well as

human and animals figures. Remains of glazed pottery were also found at Mohenjodaro.

Burnt bricks were manufactured on a large scale for making houses, drains, boundary walls,

public bath. In fact today people consider Indus Valley Civilization as the most developed

ancient city of the world only because inhabitants of Harappa utilized chemistry in an

effective way. In fact people also constructed dockyards in places like Lothal. After the

ancient period came the medieval period when the city of delhi was ruled by sultans. Who

can forget the Qutub Minar constructed by Iltutmish and Qutub-ud- din-aibak during this

period. Proper architectural styles along with chemistry and physics were used for the

construction of this imperial structure. Not only Qutub Minar but Iron pillar was also

constructed during the medieval period. The remarkable fact about iron pillar is that it has

not rusted completely even after so many years. Still famous scientists are trying to find the

reason for this remarkable fact. Many people feel that this pillar is made up of a special alloy

of iron. It just seems amazing to know that even so many years ago people used chemistry in

such an effective way that it still appeals to many. Although the term chemistry was not

officially used at that time but the influence of chemistry over people was widespread. Not

only royalty but common people also used phenomena of chemistry in their day to day lives.

Common people used to do pottery and made artifacts and stitched clothes as well. If we

think little out of the box then we will come to know that existence of this universe would

have been practically impossible without chemistry. In famous ancient dynasties of south

India also impact of chemistry could be clearly seen . Somarasa, which was mentioned in the

Vedas, was probably the earliest evidence of the use of intoxicants in India.

Kautilya's Arthasastra listed a variety of liquors such as Medaka, Prasanna, Asava, Arista,

Maireya and Madhu. Caraka Samhita also mentioned sources for making various Asavas:

cereals, fruits, roots, woods, flowers, stems, leaves, barks of plants and sugar cane. About 60

Tamil names were found in Sangam literature, which suggest that liquors were brewed in

south India since the ancient times. Medieval alchemical texts also mentioned fermented

liquors and their methods of preparation. Many people used to do the tasks of dyeing of

clothes and were called Rangrez. All these aspects cannot be imagined without the

involvement of chemistry . Many famous monuments like char minar, gateway of india,

konark temple etc depict the legacy of Indian history. People still believe that history of india

is one of the best in the world. After the delhi sultanate the mughal empire was established

which led to the emergence of a new culture amongst the people. In fact no wars could have

been fought without chemistry. The weapons and the armory of soldiers was constructed by

the use of chemistry. Special alloys such as bronze and brass were used for a variety of

purposes. On the top of all the great monument taj mahal would have been impossible to

construct without the involvement of chemistry. The cement, marble, ceramics and bricks

used for its construction are a part of the chemistry syllabus of students. The city of

Shahajanabad constructed by Shahjahan was also a city which later received a lot of praise

from historians. But slowly and gradually the Mughal empire declined and the britishers

established their rule by the policy of divide and rule. I personally feel that they were able to

establish their supremacy because they were technologically more developed . the cannons ,

guns which they used were unknown in India. The technologically developed weapons could

only be made because of chemistry. The gun metal used to make the guns was a result of

chemistry. People organized many political movements to fight against the British like the

Swadeshi movement etc. I personally can never forget the famous Dandi march led by

mahatma Gandhi by which he broke the salt law. Again chemistry could clearly be seen .in a

nutshell chemistry’s strong impact on our country has indirectly led to development of our

nation. Famous scientists like C V Raman and Heizenburg are the pall bearers who have

changed the lives of millions by chemistry. In the end I would like to say that chemistry was,

is and will continue to have its influence over all of us.

#chemistry