From pre-historic to modern times, engineering has played an essential role in the development of India.

History

Engineering in the country dates back to pre-historic times. Solar drying of agricultural commodities has been dated to a period of 6,000 BCE.[1] Researchers have also found the evidences of engineering in Indus Valley civilization, dating back to 4th millennium BCE.[2] Types of engineering such as Irrigation engineering,[3] Transportation engineering[4] were also established during this period. Throughout the period 3000 BCE – 1500 BCE, urban cities developed and included advanced developments for that time, such as brick houses, drainage systems, water harvesting,[5] sanitation systems, etc.[6]

Vedas contains the information on about wells, irrigation, dams, canals, and other factors of engineering.[5]

By the period of 1,800 BCE, India had started to produce iron.[7] In 500 BCE, Damascus steel was being produced in the country.[8]

Kallanai Dam, also known as Grand Anicut of Tamil Nadu was originally built around 2nd century CE. Many of the estimated 39,400 reservoirs of Tamil Nadu were built during the period of 500 CE – 1500 CE.[9]

Education

Foundation of the Cooper's Hill College in 1875 aimed to train engineers for British India. Madras University is considered to be the first college of the country, to provide individual courses in mechanical engineering.[10]

According to an estimate in 2010, there were over 3,800 engineering colleges in the country, compared to less than 100 engineering colleges in 1996.[11]

In culture

See also

References

  1. ^ P R Vijayasarathy (2011). Engineering Chemistry. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 136. ISBN 9788120342798.
  2. ^ Jagat Pati Joshi. Harappan Architecture and Civil Engineering. Rupa Publication. p. 16.
  3. ^ Pierre-Louis Viollet (2007). Water Engineering in Ancient Civilizations: 5,000 Years of History. CRC Press. p. 11.
  4. ^ Partha Chakraborty, Animesh Das. Principles of Engineering. PHI Learning Pvt. p. 1.
  5. ^ a b Kumkum Bhattacharyya (2011). The Lower Damodar River, India: Understanding the Human Role in Changing Fluvial Environment. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 5. ISBN 9789400704671.
  6. ^ Ornstein, Daniel U. Levine (2002). Foundation of Eduspace, Eighth Edition, Custom Publication. Houghton Mifflin. p. 64.
  7. ^ Charles Gilmore (2014-01-01). Materials Science and Engineering Properties. CengageBrain. p. 393. ISBN 9781305156197.
  8. ^ Charles Gilmore (2014-01-01). Materials Science and Engineering Properties. CengageBrain. p. 320. ISBN 9781305156197.
  9. ^ Pushpendra K. Agarwal, Vijay P. Singh (2007). Hydrology and Water Resources of India. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 937. ISBN 9781402051807.
  10. ^ Debi Prasad Chattopadhyaya (1999). History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization: pt. 1. Science, technology, imperialism and war. Pearson Education India. pp. 435–440.
  11. ^ Gaurav Rastogi (2011). Offshore: How India Got Back on the Global Business Map. Penguin UK. p. 153. ISBN 9788184755381.
  12. ^ Nandini Gooptu. Enterprise Culture in Neoliberal India: Studies in Youth, Class, Work and Media. Routledge. p. 46.
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