India’s scientific knowledge predates Persia, brought West out of Stone Age: Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor

Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday (May 30, 2026) said India’s knowledge in science, medicine, and astronomy predated Persia and Western countries, besides underlining the country’s role in Persia’s knowledge and European enlightenment. 

Speaking at the third edition of the Kashmir Literature Festival in Srinagar, Mr. Sinha said, “India has a history of more than 6000 years as the centre of science, math, astronomy, and philosophy. Since the Vedic period, India has been the centre of the world’s economy, education, culture, and philosophy. For centuries, India was the engine of global civilisation and culture. It laid the foundations for socio-economic advancement across the world.”

Blaming the colonial mindset for undermining the pre-British and pre-Mughal glory of India, Mr. Sinha said, “Many Western authors claimed that knowledge into India flowed from Persia or during the Mughal period, which is baseless. The fact remains that Persia came to know about science, math, and astronomy only in the 7th Century. It was from India, which had centuries of knowledge in these areas, that knowledge flowed into Persia. It’s a documented history.”

Mr. Sinha said India not only brought the Western world out of the Stone Age but also played a key role in European enlightenment. “Europe’s first Renaissance in the 12th century drew on India’s treasury of knowledge, science, culture, and art. Centuries before any other countries discovered invention and innovations, India had already established itself as a scientific civilization,” said Mr. Sinha.

Referring to the speech made by physicist Issac Newton in the British Parliament, Mr. Sinha said, “When Newton was discussing how to make the water transport possible, India, centuries before that, was having a water transport up to South Africa. We traded goods in exchange for gold with South Africa. We did not loot gold but earned it through trade. This history got buried during the colonial period,” said Mr. Sinha.

Need to restore history

Mr. Sinha called for “erasing every trace of the colonial mindset and ensuring that people abroad do not distort our history and present to serve their own narratives”. “It is the responsibility of writers to correct such errors and take the truth to global readers. There is an urgent need to restore history and convey its true form to every section of society so that India’s narrative is properly shaped,” said Mr. Sinha.

He said our ancestors, since the Vedic age, recorded facts and transmitted knowledge with great accuracy. “We failed to communicate our priceless traditions, culture, knowledge, and sciences and that’s why many people claim that certain things came from other places or were introduced by the invaders. These assertions are baseless,” he said.

The J&K L-G said India’s story is not only of the past but of the present. “Despite centuries of subjugation and plunder, we have risen to become the world’s fourth largest economy, the fastest growing major economy for years, and by 2047 we aim for a fully developed nation,” he added.

The third edition of the Kashmir Literature Festival was also attended by Ambassador Deepak Vohra (Retd.), Lt. Gen. D.P. Pandey (Retd.), artist Rouble Nagi etc.