A senior information-technology skilled with a level from IIT Bombay, Joglekar has nice curiosity in historical past and has got down to present glimpses of historical Indian knowledge in an accessible method. He just isn’t himself a professional historian or researcher, however has learn deeply and his account relies on many sources by way of which he has enriched himself over time.

The alternative of subject within the opening quantity of a collection of 5 books is sensible. Even although chess was invented in India, we had no presence on the worldwide scene until the rise of Vishwanathan Anand. Now, now we have extra
than 75 Grand Masters, and lots of extra titled gamers. Martial arts are, in fact, very fashionable within the nation, with courses in each residential locality. Yet, India’s contribution to the favored martial arts, regarded as from China, Japan or different Eastern nations, are much less well-known. Exposing younger readers to those contributions might get them to be interested by contributions in esoteric topics comparable to arithmetic and philosophy.

The first part of the e-book, dedicated to board video games, begins with the point out of Chaturanga within the Mahabharata and describes how the sport first flourished in northwestern India and step by step unfold throughout the subcontinent, present process many adjustments till it acquired its trendy kind. From India, the sport travelled to Persia, then to Arabia, Spain and the remainder of Europe. In the method, the identify modified from Chaturanga to the Persian Chatrang to the Arabic Shatranj to the European Chess, the final being primarily based on the Latin phrase “sacci”, which refers back to the items used within the recreation. The creator describes the evolution of the principles of the sport over the centuries and its many variants, interspersing the dialogue with fascinating asides and anecdotes.

India additionally has a wealthy custom of board video games, a few of which have been round for millennia. A mural within the cave temple of Ellora exhibits Shiva and Parvati enjoying chaupad, a recreation that additionally performs an vital position within the Mahabharata.

All this and extra are recounted on this part. Joglekar speaks of Ashtapada, described in his e-book Mahabhashya by the grammarian Panini; he additionally covers Pachisi and the way the latter acquired the identify Ludo within the West. There can be an fascinating part on cube on this phase.

Joglekar begins the second part, dedicated to martial arts, with references to Mushtiyuddha (boxing) and wrestling within the Rigveda, Ramayana and Mahabharata. From there, he strikes to the Buddhist self-defence martial artwork
kinds described within the Lotus Sutra. Knowledge of those arts was supposedly taken to China by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, who established the Shaolin monastery in Henan province, the seat of Kung Fu. China, in flip,
influenced martial arts in Japan. With the passage of centuries, India’s contribution was forgotten. Joglekar additionally describes fashionable trendy kinds comparable to kushti, malalkhamb, vetkhamb, kalaripayattu, thang ta, and many others. Interestingly,
martial arts have influenced performing arts, and lots of dance kinds embody postures and stances from them. Joglekar discusses particular influences like these on Kathakali by Kalaripayattu. Both chapters finish with helpful
bibliographies.

As the creator acknowledges, the e-book just isn’t a product of analysis and relies on secondary sources. One of the motivations of the creator in scripting this e-book has been to deliver to consideration the various contributions of historical India in numerous fields which are usually uncared for in Western descriptions. But Joglekar’s angle just isn’t parochial; he contains developments in different nations too, and cites students from completely different cultures and nations. The largely well-written e-book might have benefitted from some rearrangement of content material, higher design, structure and an index. Subsequent books within the pipeline might look into this.

Ajit Kembhavi is an astrophysicist and former director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune