Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Dakshin Bhartiya Empire, Vijayanagara state, capital city - Hampi.

Three months had passed since the dawn of the new year, marking a period of significant transformation within the empire. Amidst this evolution, the first-ever Year-End Summit convened, accompanied by the enactment of patent laws. Collaborating with artisans, designers, and scientists, Vijay spearheaded the invention of revolutionary machine tools poised to enhance productivity across the empire.

Additionally, in a recent milestone, the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire successfully asserted authority over its surrounding islands, consolidating its territorial dominion.

As Vijay sat down to dinner, lovingly prepared by his wife Kavya to help ease his mental stress from the morning, he suddenly had a realization. With his mental burdens lifted, he began to ponder the wealth of knowledge he had encountered during his search for a solution to his mental problem.

Delving into numerous scholarly books and ancient texts from various empires and kingdoms throughout the subcontinent, Vijay uncovered many intriguing details.

Fortunately, as the royal family of the Vijayanagara Empire for twenty generations, there was a wealth of knowledge preserved in the library of the royal family. Among these discoveries, Vijay came across books detailing the extensive scientific works produced by the Bhartiya civilization in various fields such as mathematics, astrology, geology, and physical sciences.

These revelations left him intrigued after his encounters throughout the day.

"Why don’t I standardize the syllabus for the schools and colleges now?" he said to himself as he finally finished dinner and stroked his chin in thought. After a few moments of pondering, he decided, "Let’s do it." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Finally, with a clear goal in mind, Vijay fell asleep next to Kavya.

The next morning, something exciting happened in the academic circles of the Empire. His Majesty called for a gathering of all the prominent scholars of the Empire. People were excited about what was about to happen because the last time something even remotely similar happened, they got a whole new language that unified the culture of Bharat - the Bharati language.

Raghavendra Bhatt, who was going through reports as usual, suddenly received an invite from His Majesty, the Emperor. So, intrigued, he had to set aside his work and, like the rest of the scholars, went to the royal palace.

The large hall inside the palace felt crowded due to the presence of so many scholars gathering together. Raghavendra Bhatt, upon his arrival, was taken aback by the sight of so many scholars. He had not anticipated their presence, but he proceeded to greet them nonetheless. As the minister of education and culture, he was quite familiar with most of these individuals.

Upon seeing Raghavendra’s arrival, the scholars welcomed him with smiles on their faces, happily speculating about what plans his majesty might have in store.

Suddenly, the drums rang out in the royal palace, signalling the beginning of the proceedings. The giant doors connecting the hall to the inner residence of the palace swung open as his majesty, Emperor Vijay Devaraya, walked through, dressed in a yellow sherwani designed by Kavya.

After Vijay’s arrival, he had everyone sit down and begin to express their thoughts. "Good morning, everyone. I hope you’re all having a pleasant day. As for why you were all summoned, it is because I have made a decision: the syllabus of schools and colleges throughout the empire will be unified, and exams will be conducted annually for the students according to this unified syllabus."

"In my vision," he continued, "a child in Nagpur should study the same syllabus as a child in Kanyakumari."

Upon hearing His Majesty’s directive, the scholars brimmed with enthusiasm, seeing it as another monumental task akin to compiling the language of Bharati. Likewise, Raghavendra shared in the collective joy, albeit for a different reason. Wrestling with the diverse array of subjects taught across the Empire had proven arduous.

Each region had its own curriculum, and teaching methods varied widely among educators. Now, with His Majesty’s willingness to standardize the syllabus and centralize educational institutions, Raghavendra found solace. This move not only promised to enhance the empire’s oversight of future generations’ education but also alleviated the burden on himself.

"What should we do, Your Majesty?" Raghavendra asked, excitement visible on his face.

"The first step is to prepare textbooks for both schools and colleges. For this, knowledge must be collected throughout our history that is reputable and verified. Additionally, a government body should be created in order to prepare the question papers for the exams."

Everyone nodded, understanding His Majesty’s intentions, and since they were invited to the palace, they could conclude that His Majesty wanted to initiate the first step.

The next few hours were spent discussing what subjects would be appropriate for schools and colleges. Vijay did not want schools and colleges to teach useless things in the current context, such as Art or philosophy. Maybe in the future, as the education of the Empire advances, the schools would be allowed to include them, but not now.

Finally, after much discussion, the course subjects of mathematics, astrology, science, and medical science were decided upon. Although astrology is not a core subject in the traditional sense in the 21st century, Vijay could not ignore its significance in the current era where Indian astrology had a considerable influence throughout the world.

Moreover, many scholars in India’s past were astrologers, and it was something they were proficient in. Hence, Vijay did not want this knowledge to disappear into history. Additionally, he wanted to separate the pseudoscience aspect of astrology, which involves a lot of superstition, and focus only on the scientific part, which deals with the study of stars and their cycles.

Essentially, what Vijay wanted to do was to transform astrology into astronomy.

By the time the scholars finalized the subjects to be taught, the royal library had already supplied all the necessary books for compiling knowledge into textbooks. Vijay envisioned textbooks for various school grades to progressively increase in complexity, offering a broader scope of concepts as introductory material.

Conversely, college-level textbooks would present subjects in a more condensed manner, delving deeper into specific fields according to students’ chosen streams. At the pinnacle of knowledge advancement, academies would forgo textbooks altogether.

Instead, masters would shoulder the responsibility of imparting their expertise directly to students, fostering an environment focused on the exploration of new knowledge and its validation.

In their search, the scholars quickly compiled the essential knowledge for the textbooks.

The first subjects chosen were mathematics and astronomy. Despite being different subjects, ancient scholars who studied mathematics would have also studied astronomy, and vice versa. It was their duty to separate and isolate each body of knowledge into distinct subjects.

One of the first scholars included in this endeavour was the great scholar Baudhayana (800 BC - 740 BC). He was an ancient scholar who first calculated the value of Pi and its usefulness in calculating the area and circumference of a circle. It was he who first calculated its value in his book called Sulva Sutra.

Among the many theorems he put forward, one statement with an expression stood out: "The square of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides." Yes, it is the famous Pythagoras theorem in mathematics. It was already mentioned in an Indian Vedic book 200 years before Pythagoras published it in Greece.

Vijay knew about this as there was controversy about it in the future, regarding whether Pythagoras copied his theorem from the Vedic knowledge of India.

Vijay holds the belief that Pythagoras drew substantial inspiration from India’s arithmetic knowledge before formulating the Pythagorean theorem. According to historical accounts, Pythagoras visited India, where he encountered and absorbed Indian mathematical concepts, evident in his subsequent works, which often reference Indian experiences.

Upon returning to Greece, it was there that he famously formulated the Pythagorean theorem. Interestingly, the assertion that Pythagoras may have borrowed from Indian mathematics did not originate from Indian sources; rather, it was initially proposed by Greek scholars themselves.

Clement of Alexandria, a Greek philosopher from the 1st to 2nd century CE, asserted in his work "Stromata" Book 1, Chapter 15, that "Pythagoras was a hearer of the Galatae and the Brahmins." This notion is corroborated by Apuleius, another Greek philosopher from the same period, who in his work "Florida," pages 388-389, states: "But the Brahmins taught him (Pythagoras) the greater part of his philosophy: what are the rules and principles of the understanding; what are the functions of the body; how many are the faculties of the soul."

Philostratus, a Greek author from the 3rd century CE, in his work "The Life of Apollonius," mentioned that both Egyptians and Pythagoras of Greece studied under Hindu sages in India.

Additionally, the Greek historian Megasthenes, writing around 400 BCE, believed that the Brahmins of India taught the principles that were commonly found in Greek philosophy. In his "Indian Miscellany," Megasthenes noted that the philosophies taught by the Brahmins paralleled those of Greek philosophers, demonstrating a shared wisdom among diverse cultures.

Furthermore, Clement of Alexandria expounds on the influence of foreign philosophies, including Indian, in his work. He acknowledges the inventive and practically useful contributions of foreigners, such as Egyptians and Indians, to Greek studies and philosophy.

In another instance, the Bhagavata religion (Vaishnavism) is noted to have influenced Greek culture, leading to the adoption of Hindu deities by the Greeks. Examples include Lord Hades inspired by Yamaraj, Athena & Saraswati, Hermes & Narada, Apollo & Surya, Eros & Kamadeva, and Zeus and Indra.

Historical evidence, such as the Garuda column erected by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador, at Besnagar in Madhya Pradesh, further indicates the influence of Vaishnavism on Greek culture. This suggests that Vaishnavism was prevalent and influential even during ancient times, leading Greeks to adopt Hindu beliefs and practices.