7 Inventions by Ancient Indians used in Day to Day Life

Indus Valley Civilization is the earliest urban culture of Indian sub continent and one of the oldest three civilizations in the world. It is known for it’s well planned cities and fabulous crafts. New evidence suggests the Indus Valley Civilization in India predates Egypt and Mesopotamia and may be 8000 years old.

We Indians have contributed extraordinarily in many fields like mathematics, surgery, medicine, astronomy etc.all of which will be discussed in my future blogs. Here is a list of interesting inventions by Ancient Indians which are still used in day to day life:

1. Flush Toilets Systems and Sanitation Systems ( 2500 B.C) : Indus valley civilization had water flushed toilets. The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were laid out in grids.Individual homes were supplied with water from wells and waste water was diverted to covered drains. This is perhaps the world’s first known sanitation system.

2. Rulers ( 2400 B.C.) :Rulers of ivory were uncovered from ruins in areas of Indus valley civilization. One such specimen was calibrated to less than 2 mm.

3. Weighing Scale (2400 B.C) :In Indus valley civilization balances were used to compare measure and goods in trade.

4. Shampoo : The word shampoo in English is derived from Hindustani “champo” and dates to 1762. A variety of herbs and their extracts were used as shampoo since ancient times in India.

5. Natural Fibres:The products made from natural fibres such as cotton, wool and jute have been originated in India. Our country pioneered in jute and cotton cultivation.

6. Buttons : Buttons in Indus valley civilization were used for ornamental purposes and were made from sea shells. Some buttons had geometrical shapes and had holes in them to attach to clothing by thread.

7. Patravali (Leaf Plates) : Patravali or pattal is Indian eating plate made with broad dried leaves. A company, Leaf Republic , from Germany had claimed to invent it a few years ago however we have been using it since centuries.

How many of these Inventions you already knew about and is there any other interesting thing you would like to add in this list let me know in the comments.

Apoorva Yadav Kamboj

Sources : India Times, Wikipedia, dailymail.co.uk and culture trip.