- By Ridam Sharma
- Tue, 15 Jul 2025 07:03 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Indian Inventions: India has been a centre of innovation for thousands of years. The nation has been a pioneer in the concepts and inventions that the world continues to utilise even in the modern era. From ancient ideas like zero and Ayurveda to fibre optics and wireless communication, which is of utmost importance in today’s world, Indian findings have led to world advances in science, medicine, mathematics, and everyday life. To know more, here’s a list of over 30 inventions by Indians that are used by the world, according to credible sources like UNESCO, ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) and journals from Oxford University Press and IEEE.
List Of Things Invented By Indians And Used By The World:
| Invention / Discovery | Inventor / Region |
|---|---|
| Ayurveda | Charaka, Sushruta |
| Basmati Rice | Indian Subcontinent |
| Buttons | Indus Valley Civilisation (~2000 BCE) |
| Calico (Cotton Fabric) | Calicut, Kerala |
| Cataract Surgery | Sushruta (~600 BCE) |
| Chakram (Throwing Weapon) | Ancient Indian warriors |
| Chess (Chaturanga) | Gupta Period (~6th century CE) |
| Chintz (Printed Cotton) | Gujarat, India |
| Cotton Cultivation | Indus Valley Civilisation |
| Crucible Steel (Wootz Steel) | South India |
| Decimal System | Aryabhata, Ancient Mathematician |
| Diamond Mining | Golconda region |
| Fibre Optics (Pioneer) | Narinder Singh Kapany (1950s) |
| Flush Toilets | Indus Valley Civilisation |
| India Ink | Ancient Indian artisans |
| Indigo Dye | Indian farmers |
| Jute Cultivation | Bengal region |
| Ludo (Pachisi) | Ancient India |
| Mysorean Rockets | Tipu Sultan & Engineers (18th c.) |
| Pascal’s Triangle (Meru-Prastaara) | Pingala (2nd c. BCE) |
| Playing Cards (Ganjifa) | Medieval India |
| Rain Gauge | Kautilya’s Arthashastra (4th c. BCE) |
| Ruler (Measuring Scale) | Indus Valley Civilisation |
| Seamless Celestial Globe | Mughal-era Metallurgists (Lahore, 16th c.) |
| Shampoo (“Champi”) | Medieval Indian herbalists |
| Snakes and Ladders (Moksha Patam) | Ancient Indian sages |
| Stoneware (Pottery) | Indus Valley Civilisation |
| Sugar Refinement | Early Indian chemists |
| Touchstone (Gold Testing) | Ancient India |
| Wireless Communication (Precursor Work) | Jagadish Chandra Bose |
| Yoga | Vedic Sages |
| Zero (as a number) | Brahmagupta (7th century CE) |
Ayurveda: Ancient Indian system of medicine with foundational texts such as the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita, dating back to ~1000 BCE or earlier, according to the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List.
Basmati Rice: Scented long-grain rice native to the long-grain continent; possesses GI status and is exported worldwide.
Buttons: Initially utilised for decoration and use in the Indus Valley and produced from seashells around 2000 BCE.
Calico: A high-quality cotton fabric from Calicut (Kerala), extensively traded in medieval Europe.
Cataract Surgery: Evolved by Sushruta, who documented the operation in the 6th century BCE in his surgical treatise.
Chakram: Ancient round weapon of Indian soldiers, particularly in medieval and Sikh military traditions.
Chess (Chaturanga): Emerged in ancient India during the period of Gupta rule; ancestor of modern chess through Persian adaptation.
Chintz: Printed cotton cloth from Gujarat, colored through resist-printing methods. It became popular all over the world.
Cotton Cultivation: Indus Valley farmers were the earliest in the world to cultivate and weave cotton, as early as the 5th millennium BCE.
Crucible Steethe (Wootz Steel): First found in South India, and now world famous for its strength and was utilised to make Damascus blades.
Decimal System: Ancient Indian mathematicians, particularly Aryabhata, came up with the positional number system that is the basis of global mathematics.
Diamond Mining: India's Golconda region was the exclusive source of diamonds in the world until the 18th century.
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Fibre Optics: Narinder Singh Kapany invented the word Fibre Optics and first demonstrated light transmission through fibres during the 1950s.
Flush Toilets: Indus Valley cities such as Mohenjo-daro featured sophisticated drainage and sanitation systems as far back as 2600 BCE.
India Ink: Carbon black-based ink created by ancient Indians. Later used in Chinese calligraphy and worldwide.
Indigo Dye: Blue dye obtained from Indigofera plants. It is of importance in ancient and colonial trade, particularly with Europe.
Jute Cultivation: Native to Bengal, jute emerged as an important industrial fibre utilised for sacks, ropes, and fiberless.
Ludo (Pachisi): An ancient Indian game that transformed into contemporary Ludo; enjoyed at royal courts.
Mysorean Rockets: Employed by Tipu Sultan during the 18th century against British armies. The first instances of iron-cased rockets.
Pascal's Triangle (Meru-Prastaara): Defined by Pingala centuries before Pascal. Used patterns for Sanskrit prosody.
Playing Cards (Ganjifa): Circular, artistically hand-painted playing cards employed in Mughal and Deccan courts.
Rain Gauge: Outlined in Kautilya's Arthashastra for tracking agricultural rainfall since the 4th century BCE.
Ruler (Measuring Scale): Ivory and shell rulers with accurate calibrations uncovered at Lothal reflect early Indian metrology.
Seamless Celestial Globe: Metallurgical masterpieces of Mughal Lahore, which were cast in a single piece without seams.
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Shampoo (Champi): Derived from the Hindi word Champi, a practice of scalp massage using herbal oils.
Snakes and Ladders (Moksha Patam): A spiritual board game symbolising karma, death, and Pottery. The Indus Valley civilisation produced refined ceramics under controlled heat in kilns.
Sugar Refinement: Indian chemists were the first to crystallise sugar from sugarcane. Crystallise is known as Sharkara in Sanskrit.
Is Touchstone: A Tool commonly employed for testing gold's purity through streak testing, prevalent in ancient Indian commerce.
Wireless Communication (Precursor Work): Jagadish Chandra Bose had already proven radio wave propagation before Marconi.
Yoga: Spiritual, physical, and mental training from Vedic times, mentioned in several ancient Indian texts.
Zero (as a Number): Brahmagupta initially described zero as a number and explained its mathematical functions in the 7th century CE.
Indian inventions showcase the nation’s rich heritage and diverse history, which is rich in knowledge and innovation. Ancient and modern, these contributions keep influencing the world, and they prove that India's contribution to global development is not only deep but also long-lasting.
