Eastern Knowledge and Colonial Education System

Most people are unaware that most of the modern technology and scientific inventions have their root in the non-Western civilizations. Islamic civilization both preserved and expanded Greek philosophical and scientific knowledge when such information was almost entirely forgotten in the West or rather neglected by the church. The numeral system which is used in the West also burrowed from the Arab, who included zero from the Indians. Islamic mathematicians were able to develop an arithmetic based on the decimal system and to make refinements in algebra (itself an Arabic word).

The calculus was developed by Aryabatta in the 12^th century, which is four hundred years prior to Isaac Newton had any idea about the calculus. Navigation is also an area where non Westerners like Chinese and Arabs were well developed and passed on the fundamentals to the western navigators. These and other ideas and innovations from around the world filtered into Europe. But many European historians not only give the credits that non Western civilizations deserve, but also they repackaged the same knowledge with some unearthly metaphysics and shove them in our throats through colonial education system.

Astronomy is well developed before the renaissance Europe, even before the so called Great Hellenic civilization. Egyptian were one of the early civilization that developed astronomy, for the sake of their architecture. All most all early Egyptian building were build according to the movements of the stars. And pyramids contained a portals which were in line with the Thuban, then pole star. Mayans also had a very advanced astronomical knowledge. They had one of the most accurate calendars in the world. And if you visit India you will see astrologers in the streets. You can just ask them when the next solar eclipse or lunar eclipse is, you will get an accurate answer.  They do not have master degree in astronomy or anything. Astronomy in India is preserved by astrology. The western civilization was very primitive in the aspects of astrology. They did not have an accurate calendar. The knowledge about the astronomy reached the Europe through the texts that were stolen from the Libraries in Alexandria and throughout the Islamic Empire during the crusades. Although they got hold of these knowledge, they still believes in the Geo centric theory. Until recent centuries they accepted the helio-centric theory. Which is also proved to be wrong in recent years.

Navigation is also an example how it was well developed in the Indian Ocean and misunderstood by the westerners and it was thrust into us by colonial education system. Before the Portuguese, Dutch, French and the English know the basic concepts of navigation, Indians and the Arabs were mastered the navigation and literally ruled the Indian Ocean and the sea trade routes.

Pre Islamic Arabs had a good knowledge of the stars, the moon and winds, which they utilized for agriculture and for travel by land and sea. Such a knowledge is found scattered in pre Islamic Arabic poetry and in books of Noa (winds) and are summarized in the 9th and 10th centuries by Al Jahiz, Al Dinawari, and Al Sufi. The latter enumerates in his book "Images of Planets" about 250 stars in their chaste Arabic names. Al Biruni (c. 1000) also comments on preislamic astronomy in his "Chronology of Ancient Nations".

And the people in the Lakshadweep Islands involved in the traditional Indo-Arab-African-Chinese navigation. As the Lakshadweep consist of hundred thousand small island in the Indian Ocean, navigation is a must for them. They live off fishing and travel to mainland for trade. Until 1930’s these islanders used finger measurements called Kamal for measuring angles, thus calculating latitude and longitude by measuring the angle of pole star.

As usual Westerners imported knowledge of the Kamal and misunderstood it. The navigator who brought Vasco Da Gama to India used this Kamal. Vasco Da Gama was interested in this instrument and asked about it. The navigator told he is measuring the distance by “kau”, pole star in Malayalam. But Vasco Da Gama registered it as the navigator was measuring the distance by teeth, because while using Kamal, fingers and teeth are used to hold the string. And later westerners adopted sextant from the concept of Kamal. Which is very poor innovation and costly too. And this westernized navigation method was introduced to India through colonial education system when the Mogul dynasty lost its grip. As well this system promoted in Lakshadweep Island in 1939. The natives of this island thought this western navigation system as superior than their own and adopted it. And they neglected their own system which was far more practical valued and root for new system. And now no one in Lakshadweep know how to use Kamal.

Like Kamal, many native systems which were predecessors of western systems were long forgotten. This is because we believe that anything that comes from the white skinned people are more reliable than our own. From measuring angle to ruling the country, from wearing dresses to choosing life style we tent to follow the west. Result, we became mentally slave to them. When are we going to remove those shackles and live who we are? It is actually depends on the decolonization of the education system. Everybody must have the right to learn what they want, not some left overs thrown away by someone. Of course it will be harder to change this. But we must start some progress to build the foundation from which the future generation will build upon.