Indian Knowledge System

[Murugan]

Disclaimer:

It is good to swim in the waters of tradition, but to sink in them is suicide.

- Mahatma Gandhi

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We have continuous traditions in many domains of knowledge. Sometimes they were forgotten or we have been made to forget it. Such, traditions has its beginning in the Vedas.

We have:

Various Technologies, Logics/Ethics/Sociology/Philosophy, Languages, Governance, Drama, Architecture, Justice, Mathematics/Astronomy/Agriculture/Ayurved/Trade and Commerce.

They are being visited and revisited time and again, forgotten, revived and such cycle. The economics of these traditions is still not estimated or understood. Neither they have been exploited fully. Potential is enormous and so revenue and employment generation.

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some efforts:

http://www.ciks.org/
http://www.ciks.org/focus.htm

some books:

http://www.indianscience.org/ (rajiv malhotra's efforts)
Indian Knowledge Systems by Kapil Kapoor, Avadesh Kumar Singh

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Please share discuss news/articles

[Murugan]

Indic Mandal of Knowledge Traidtion

http://www.infinityfoundation.com/manda ... ameset.htm

Inner Science - Ethics, Worldview, Practice
Outer - Various knowledge system
Past
Present

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Book

Traditional Knowledge System In India by Amit Jha

The book Traditional Knowledge System in India has been organized around two interrelated themes: the diverse cultural contexts of scientific discovery and invention in ancient and medieval Indian history; and revision of the conventional Euro-centric view of science and its origins. The issues dealt with in the various chapters are an assorted combination of those Traditional Knowledge Systems, whose origins are traced to ancient India. The basic idea of this work is an interdisciplinary and comprehensive exploration of the scientific, philosophical and cultural heritage of India.

[Murugan]

Well, very few people have idea about Indian Knowledge System(s) (IKS). The only person who has seriously thought about this is Rajiv Malhotra. He and his team is trying to bring out well detailed work.

What we find elsewhere on IKS is mostly on ayurvedic/agricultural areas where we see little bit of thrust from only individuals and rarely by govt. CIKS type organization are very few. The govt, it seems is not keen in bringing this to attention of people, or at least give it a due recognition.

Except for Ayurved and Agriculture, no other area like metallurgy, meteorology, astronomy, alchemy, justice, mathematics, trade & commerce have any attention from individual or other agencies.

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We have few books to mention -

1) TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS AND ARCHAEOLOGY by D. P. Agarwal Sameer Jamal Manikant Shah

2) Science In India : Past and Present (Hardcover) by Nehru Centre

3) Librarianship and Library Science in India: An Outline of Historical Perspectives (Hardcover)
by Mohamed Taher, Donald Gordon Davis

4) History of Science In India: Analytical Database Of Information Sources by Shailendra Kumar

5) History of Science and Technology in India in the Context of the 'Great Synergy' (Paperback) by Nadja Schuppenhauer

6) Science and Technology in Ancient India by Mahesh Vikram Et Al. Singh

7) Economic History of Medieval India (Hardcover) by Mahesh Vikram Et Al. Singh

Economic And Social History Of Ancient India (Hardcover) by Mahesh Vikram Et Al. Singh

9) History Of Science And Technology In Ancient India by Bhardwaj M

10) Exploring India's Medieval Centuries; Essays in History, Society, Culture and Technology by Harbans Mukhia

Etc

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A fresh look at IKS and reclaim our place in the world of Knowledge is very much due.

[Murugan]

Books on Iron Tech in India

1) Ethno Archaeometallurgy of Iron in India by Ashok K Mishra

2) History of Iron Technology in India by Tripathi, Vibha

3) Iron and Social Change in Early India by Bhairabi Sahu Prasad

4) Iron Technology in Early Historic India : A Case Study of GujaraT by Ambika B. Patel

5) Iron Construction Castings from Brazil, India, and the People's Republic of China; Determination of the Commission in Investigation No. 701-Ta-249 by United States Commission

6) HISTORY OF IRON TECHNOLOGY IN INDIA: From Beginning to Pre-Modern Times by Vibha Tripathi

[Murugan]

Copper - Source- Wiki

Indus Valley Civilization
The copper-bronze metallurgy in the Harappan civilization was widespread and had a high variety and quality.[25] The early use of iron may have developed from the practice of copper-smelting.[26] While there is to date no proven evidence for smelted iron in the Indus Valley Civilization, iron ore and iron items have been unearthed in eight Indus Valley sites, some of them dating to before 2600 BCE.[27] There remains the possibility that some of these items were made of smelted iron, and the term "krsna ayas" might possibly also refer to these iron items, even if they are not made of smelted iron.

Lothali copper is unusually pure, lacking the arsenic typically used by coppersmiths across the rest of the Indus valley. Workers mixed tin with copper for the manufacture of celts, arrowheads, fishhooks, chisels, bangles, rings, drills and spearheads, although weapon manufacturing was minor. They also employed advanced metallurgy in following the cire perdue technique of casting, and used more than one-piece moulds for casting birds and animals.[28] They also invented new tools such as curved saws and twisted drills unknown to other civilizations at the time.[29]

Zinc

Zinc was extracted in India as early as in the 4th to 3th century BCE. Zinc production may have begun in India, and ancient northwestern India is the earliest known civilization that produced zinc on an industrial scale.[43] The distillation technique was developed around 1200 CE at Zawar in Rajasthan.[30] {It is said that this tech was stolen by one chinese visitor and later one British stole it from him}[/]

In the 17th century, China exported Zinc to Europe under the name of totamu or tutenag. The term tutenag may derive from the South Indian term Tutthanagaa (zinc).[44] In 1597 AD, Libavius, a metallurgist in England received some quantity of Zinc metal and named it as Indian/Malabar lead.[45] In 1738, William Champion is credited with patenting in Britain a process to extract zinc from calamine in a smelter, a technology that bore a strong resemblance to and was probably inspired by the process used in the Zawar zinc mines in Rajasthan.[36] His first patent was rejected by the patent court on grounds of plagiarising the technology common in India. However, he was granted the patent on his second submission of patent approval. Postlewayt's Universal Dictionary of 1751 still wasn't aware of how Zinc was produced.[31]

The Arthasastra describes the production of zinc.[46] The Rasaratnakara by Nagarjuna describes the production of brass and zinc.[47] There are references of medicinal uses of zinc in the Charaka Samhita (300 BC). The Rasaratna Samuchaya (800 AD) explains the existence of two types of ores for zinc metal, one of which is ideal for metal extraction while the other is used for medicinal purpose.[48] It also describes two methods of zinc distillation.[31]

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Book

Mining And Metallurgy In Ancient India by Rina Shrivastava

[Prem]

Hope this fits here
http://themoderatevoice.com/163960/indi ... -remedies/

For centuries, Indian housewives have used homemade remedies based on cow's milk to cure constipation -- but in 2009 Swiss giant Nestle applied for a patent to protect a similar product of its own.Earlier this year, India successfully fought off Nestle's attempt at the European Patent Office (EPO) to secure a patent, saying that using cow's milk as a laxative was mentioned in ancient texts and was therefore not new.Indian government officials are fighting hundreds of other cases to try to protect the country's "genetic heritage", a topic high on the agenda at the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity currently meeting in Hyderabad."India is one of the mega centres for biodiversity in the world," said Vinod Bhatt, director of research at Navdanya, a non-profit body that seeks to promote indigenous knowledge.

We cannot allow theft of our traditional knowledge that dates back thousands of years and is rooted in our culture. We have to protect ourselves from commercial exploitation by the Western world," Bhatt told AFP.Traditional knowledge, used for centuries by indigenous communities under local laws and customs, plays an important role in areas such as food security, biodiversity, agriculture and medicine.
library is a digital database established in 2001 to record 250,000 traditional formulations, including the Hindu "ayurvedic" system of medicine that has become hugely popular in the West."Every known medicinal plant in India is under piracy attack," said Gupta, citing an example where a US patent application was made by Britain-based firm Provexis on the use of banana extracts as treatment for diarrhoea.Evidence from the TKDL proved the banana preparation was previously well-known, and the application was withdrawn.Some 200 researchers took eight years to create the TKDL database, combing through Hindi, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Urdu texts on ayurveda, yoga and other less-known health systems such as unani and siddha.The TKDL is accessible to foreign patent offices, which can consult it before deciding whether to grant exclusive rights to applicants.India woke up to the threat of what is now termed "bio-piracy" 20 years ago after a European patent was granted to a US group on an anti-fungal product derived from the native Indian "neem" tree.Outraged campaigners and Green Party politicians in Europe challenged its validity, and India finally won a 10-year legal battle in 2000 to have the patent revoked as neem seeds had been used for centuries as a medicine, insecticide and contraceptive.

[Murugan]

The existing and working example of Mathematics, Astronomy, Cosmology, Metallurgy, Building, Architecure put together:

The Observatories of Jai Singh

http://www.jantarmantar.org/GatesVidBB.htm

A Quicktime Video

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http://www.jantarmantar.org/JMpanos.htm#

http://www.jantarmantar.org/samplWebGal ... dr_Gal.htm

http://www.cornell.edu/video/?videoID=1463

http://www.cornell.edu/video/?videoID=1462

[Murugan]

Rajiv Malhotra on Indian Knowledge Systems - at IIT Alumni, Washington

Video1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WYZtS_LLog

Video2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZD3D4mAoaE

[nawabs]

Shruti and Smriti: Some Issues in the Re-emergence of Indian Traditional Knowledge

http://idsa.in/issuebrief/ShrutiandSmri ... tam_120213

Download the Issuebrief:
http://idsa.in/system/files/IB_ShrutiandSmriti.pdf

[Murugan]

Indian Engineering Skills

A bbc Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqIfmvdK5u4

[Murugan]

Rajiv Malhotra at IIT - Mumbai - April 2013

“Are Indians buying back their own ideas from the West?” lecture at IIT Mumbai, April 1, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... sCWK-TQVsk

Interesting Q&A with a social scientist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... FVzVjuj90E

http://beingdifferentbook.com/iit-mumbai-april-1-2013/

[jamwal]

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/200 ... capitalism
Karma Capitalism

Signs of worldly success abounded as members of the Young Presidents' Organization met at a mansion in a tony New Jersey suburb. BMWs, Lexuses, and Mercedes-Benzes lined the manicured lawn. Waiters in starched shirts and bow ties passed out vegetarian canap?s. And about 20 executives--heads of midsize outfits selling everything from custom audiovisual systems to personal grooming products--mingled poolside with their spouses on a late September evening.

After heading inside their host's sprawling hillside house--replete with glittering chandeliers, marble floors, and gilded rococo mirrors--the guests retreated to a basement room, shed their designer loafers and sandals, and sat in a semicircle on the carpet.

The speaker that evening was Swami Parthasarathy, one of India's best-selling authors on Vedanta, an ancient school of Hindu philosophy. With an entourage of disciples at his side, all dressed in flowing white garments known as kurtas and dhotis, the lanky 80-year-old scribbled the secrets to business success ("concentration, consistency, and cooperation") on an easel pad. The executives sat rapt. "You can't succeed in business unless you develop the intellect, which controls the mind and body," the swami said in his mellow baritone.

At the Wharton School a few days earlier, Parthasarathy talked about managing stress. During the same trip, he counseled hedge fund managers and venture capitalists in Rye, N.Y., about balancing the compulsion to amass wealth with the desire for inner happiness. And during an auditorium lecture at Lehman Brothers Inc.'s (LEH

) Lower Manhattan headquarters, a young investment banker sought advice on dealing with nasty colleagues. Banish them from your mind, advised Parthasarathy. "You are the architect of your misfortune," he said. "You are the architect of your fortune."

The swami's whirlwind East Coast tour was just one small manifestation of a significant but sometimes quirky new trend: Big Business is embracing Indian philosophy. Suddenly, phrases from ancient Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gita are popping up in management tomes and on Web sites of consultants. Top business schools have introduced "self-mastery" classes that use Indian methods to help managers boost their leadership skills and find inner peace in lives dominated by work.

More important, Indian-born strategists also are helping transform corporations. Academics and consultants such as C. K. Prahalad, Ram Charan, and Vijay Govindrajan are among the world's hottest business gurus. About 10% of the professors at places such as Harvard Business School, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business, and the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business are of Indian descent--a far higher percentage than other ethnic groups. "When senior executives come to Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, or [Dartmouth's] Tuck, they are exposed to Indian values that are reflected in the way we think and articulate," says Dipak C. Jain, dean of the Kellogg School.

Indian theorists, of course, have a wide range of backgrounds and philosophies. But many of the most influential acknowledge that common themes pervade their work. One is the conviction that executives should be motivated by a broader purpose than money. Another is the belief that companies should take a more holistic approach to business--one that takes into account the needs of shareholders, employees, customers, society, and the environment. Some can even foresee the development of a management theory that replaces the shareholder-driven agenda with a more stakeholder-focused approach. "The best way to describe it is inclusive capitalism," says Prahalad, a consultant and University of Michigan professor who ranked third in a recent Times of London poll about the world's most influential business thinkers. "It's the idea that corporations can simultaneously create value and social justice."

You might also call it Karma Capitalism. For both organizations and individuals, it's a gentler, more empathetic ethos that resonates in the post-tech-bubble, post-Enron zeitgeist. These days, concepts such as "emotional intelligence" and "servant leadership" are in vogue. Where once corporate philanthropy was an obligation, these days it's fast becoming viewed as a competitive advantage for attracting and retaining top talent. Where the rallying cry in the 1980s and '90s may have been "greed is good," today it's becoming "green is good."

And while it used to be hip in management circles to quote from the sixth century B.C. Chinese classic The Art of War, the trendy ancient Eastern text today is the more introspective Bhagavad Gita. Earlier this year, a manager at Sprint Nextel Corp. (S

) penned the inevitable how-to guide: Bhagavad Gita on Effective Leadership.THE ANCIENT SPIRITUAL wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita seems at first like an odd choice for guiding today's numbers-driven managers. Also known as Song of the Divine One, the work relates a conversation between the supreme deity Krishna and Arjuna, a warrior prince struggling with a moral crisis before a crucial battle. One key message is that enlightened leaders should master any impulses or emotions that cloud sound judgment. Good leaders are selfless, take initiative, and focus on their duty rather than obsessing over outcomes or financial gain. "The key point," says Ram Charan, a coach to CEOs such as General Electric Co.'s (GE

) Jeffrey R. Immelt, "is to put purpose before self. This is absolutely applicable to corporate leadership today."