Billions of Years (Infinity)
Along with the ancient Mayans, the ancient Indians are thought to be one of the earliest civilizations that thought in terms of billions of years. While most ancient civilizations had thought thousands of years into the future, the Hindus have scriptures dealing with events spanning billions of years.
Relating to this is a Hindu concept of the creation of the world. A 9th century Hindu scripture, The Mahapurana by Jinasena claims that the world is uncreated, as time itself is, without beginning and end. And it is based on principles.
Earth Orbiting the Sun
Amazingly, the Indians even had theories regarding the Sun and Earth. Aryabhata, it so happens, was apparently quite sceptical of the widely held doctrines about eclipses and also about the belief that the Sun goes round the Earth. As early as the sixth century, he talked of the diurnal motion of the earth and the appearance of the Sun orbiting around it.
Binary Numbering System
An ancient Indian writer and Mathematician named Pingala (200BC) also developed a numbering system similar to what we refer to as the binary system. They were also the first to use 0 as a placeholder in numbers such as 809 and 89. While the Babylonians had a concept that was similar to zero, it was merely used as a placeholder and was often just a blank space.
Plastic Surgey – Nose Reconstruction
Plastic surgery is one of the oldest forms of surgery practiced. Nose reconstruction operations were performed in ancient India as early as 2000 BC in an era when amputation of the nose was a form of punishment. A remedy to this punishment was developed by the caste of potters for rebuilding the nose by using a portion of the forehead. This nose recontruction technique is still employed today in modern plastic surgery.
Cataract SurgeryBeleive it or not the earliest records of cataract surgery are from the Bible as well as early Hindu records. Cataract surgery was known to the Indian physician Sushruta (600-512 B.C.).
Sushrata was an Indian Physician who advocated the Caesarian section and removal of kidney stones and cataracts. He listed 101 types of surgical instruments and cautioned against the dangers of asepsis. He is commonly referred to as the “Father of Anesthesia and Plastic Surgery”.
In India, cataract surgery was performed with a special tool called the Jabamukhi Salaka, a curved needle used to loosen the lens and push the cataract out of the field of vision. After this ancient operation the eye would be soaked with warm butter and then bandaged. This method of ancient cataract surgery was actually successful. However Sushruta warned that cataract surgery should only be performed when absolutely necessary. Even a wise decision these days with modern medicine too.
While the Indians had many more innovations than the ones above, these were a few that are notable.