Solomon Vimal, Asit K. Biswas and Vijay Singh
INDIAN EXPRESS | May 24, 2026
Some 2000 years ago, the Mauryan Empire started a rainfall measurement system, and used this information for evidence-based policymaking. At the entrance of state granaries, a clay bowl was placed. It was wide-mouthed, standardised, and placed at locations specifically instructed by the Chief Minister. The water levels were read and then converted into dronas. The recorded levels then travelled up the administrative chain to formulate evidence-based policies, including relief farmers should receive during drought years, taxes to be levied and information on harvest levels. The state measured rainfalls because the law required it. Arthashastra, attributed to Kautilya, Chief Minister to Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, is a treatise in statecraft, economics and administration. It was written between 4th to 3rd century BCE. One raingauge was placed for ten villages, across 100,000-150,000 settlements. The network may have included a total of 6,000-15,000 raingauges, which surpasses the existing raingauges density of the Indian Meteorological Department. Rainfalls in six climatologically different regions were recorded. Unfortunately, these remarkable achievements are unrecognised by global science history. The dominant narrative of scientific progress was written during the European Enlightenment and further hindered during the colonial era. Post-independent investments in research in India on history and science are conspicuous by their absence. Not surprisingly, such Indian developments are completely missing from the current discourse on development of scientific thoughts.