Answer: The underlying cause behind the First World War was the simmering suspicion and hostility among various European powers due to historical and concurrent factors precipitated by imperial drives. The immediate trigger for the first world war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Factors behind the first world war:

• Crisis preceding the World War: Moroccan crisis (1905-06) where Italy, Spain, Russia and Britain supported France and later got control over Moroccan Banks and Police, was a diplomatic defeat for Germany.
  • Similarly, the Bosnia Crisis of 1908 wherein Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia from the weak Ottoman empire, which led to the humiliation of Russia that began its militarization.
  • Balkan wars 1 and 2 of 1912 and 1913 further fueled the crisis.
• The alliance systems: The Triple Alliance involving Italy, Germany, and Austria and the Dual Alliance between France and Russia, which with inclusion of England became the Entente Cordiale, caused the split of Europe into two rival camps.
• Militarism and arms race: Starting with France, the countries of Europe developed a system of maintaining large armies and navies and engaged in arms race in the name of self-defence. It created fear and suspicion among the nations, especially between the British and the Germans.
• Colonial rivalry in Africa and the Far East: The countries of Europe competed with each for market access and new sources of raw materials. This led to the scramble for Africa and competition in the Asian countries such as India, China, and Malay regions. Countries which were left behind in this race, such as Germany, Italy, and Japan, aggressively pursued colonial imperial policies to secure and advance their interests.
• Nationalism: The whole of Europe was swept under a wave of nationalism that affected the relations between France and the UK; France and Russia; Germany and France & UK, the Habsburg empire and Serbia. All these countries tried to safeguard themselves by resorting to alliances, preventive wars, and militarism.

Also, there was a cultural belief amongst these imperialist nations that war was good, necessary, glorious and it established the notion of superiority. The First World War lasted more than four years between 1914 and 1919 and between 15 and 19 million people around the planet were killed. Also, the War devastated the global economy and contributed to massive disease outbreaks that killed millions more.

Answer: The earliest and most remarkable evidence of Indian architecture is found in the cities of the Harappan Civilization. The excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and several other sites of the Indus Valley Civilization revealed the existence of a modern urban civilization with expert town planning and engineering skills. Harappan architecture symbolic of modern and urban civilization The Harappan people had constructed mainly three types of buildings dwelling houses, pillared halls and public baths. The architecture truly reflected upon the modern planning and engineering acumen of the people as enumerated below: Town Planning:

• Cities were built on a clear geometric pattern or grid layout.
• Roads cut each other at right angles and were very well laid out.
• All the sites consisted of walled cities which provided security to the people. There is evidence also of fortifications with gateways enclosing the walled cities.
• In some sites, there is evidence of citadels or acropolis, perhaps inhabited by ruling class, known as the Upper Town. The lower town consisted of brick houses inhabited by common people.
• There is evidence of buildings of big dimensions with pillared halls and courtyards which perhaps were public buildings, administrative or business centres.
• There is evidence of small one roomed construction that appear to be working people’s quarters.

Building Standards and Material

• Standardised burnt mud bricks were used as building material for houses.
• Many thick layers of well baked bricks laid in gypsum mortar were joined together for the purpose of making the whole construction very strong. The ‘Great Bath’ at Mohenjo Daro is still functional and there is no leakage or cracks in the construction.

Structure of Residential Houses

• Evidence of stairs shows houses were often double storied.
• Doors were in the side lanes to prevent dust from entering the houses.
• Most of the houses had private wells and bathrooms connected to a centralized system.

Drainage System

• Another remarkable feature was the existence of a well-planned drainage system in the residential parts of the city.
• Small drains from the houses were connected to larger ones along the sides of the main roads.
• The drains were covered and loose covers were provided for the purpose of cleaning them.

Thus, the Harappan civilization was truly ahead of age and time in terms of modernity and urban outlook.

Answer: Ancient India not only attracted religious scholars and philosophers from around the world, but several mathematicians and scientists as well, such as Al-Uqlidisi, Al-Khwarizmi and Al-Kindi, who visited India, learned Indian mathematics and propagated them to the West. The ten mathematical symbols (0,1,2,3…) are known as Arabic numerals to the world, but Mathematics/Geometry itself in Arab is called ‘Hindsa,’ (meaning ‘from India’). Ancient Indian mathematicians and their contributions:

• Baudhayan: His work, Sulva-Sutra (1st millennium BC), contains the formula for calculating the area of triangle (later called Pythagoras theorem), value of pi and square root of two, along with several other formulas of trigonometry.
• Aryabhatta: His work ‘Aryabhatiya’ (5th century CE), described the algorithm of calculating square and cubic roots using the decimal number system. He gave an almost accurate value of pi, showing that zero was not only a numeral but also a symbol and a concept. He also showed that ‘Earth is round and rotates on its own axis’, the moon and the planets shine due to reflected sunlight and gave a scientific explanation for solar and lunar eclipse.
• Brahmagupta: In his methods of multiplication, Brahmagupta used place value in almost the same way as it is used today. He introduced negative numbers and operations on zero into mathematics. He wrote Brahma Sputa Siddhanta through which the Arabs came to know the Indian mathematical system.
• Bhaskaracharya: He wrote ‘Siddanta Shiromani’ wherein he introduced Chakrawat Method or the Cyclic Method to solve algebraic equations. This method was rediscovered six centuries later by European mathematicians, who called it the inverse cycle.
• Mahaviracharya: He wrote Ganit Sara Sangraha in 850A.D., which is the first textbook on arithmetic in present day form. The current method of solving Least common Multiple (LCM) of given numbers was also described by him, long before John Napier.

Ancient Indian scientists and their contributions:

• Kanad: He was a sixth century scientist of Vaisheshika School. According to him, the material universe is made up of kanas (atom) which cannot be seen with naked eyes and are indivisible and indestructible.
• Varahamihira: He propounded earthquake cloud theory in his Brihat Samhita (6th Century), wherein he discussed signs of earthquakes; tried to relate earthquakes to the influence of planets, undersea activities, underground water, unusual cloud formation and abnormal behaviour of animals.
• Nagarjuna: A 10th Century alchemist, he succeeded in making an element with gold-like shine. This technology is used now in making imitation jewellery. In his treatise, Rasaratnakara, he has discussed methods for the extraction of metals like gold, silver, tin and copper.
• Susruta: Born around 700 BCE, he invented surgical procedures such as Rhinoplasty and removal of cataract. His treatise Susruta Samhita covers more than 1100 diseases, 760 plants and method of selecting and preserving a dead body for the purpose of its detailed study
• Charaka: He is considered as the father of ancient Indian science of medicine. His Charak Samhita has the description of a large number of diseases and gives methods of identifying their causes as well as the method of their treatment. He was aware of the fundamentals of Genetics in 2nd Century.
• Patanjali: The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, identified mental and emotional illness in addition to physical illness, and suggested its cure with the help of Yoga and Ayurveda.

Due to poor documentation of the works of ancient Indian mathematicians and scientists, and a setback in the research and development work during medieval times, the contribution of these Indian scholars did not find the place they deserved.