India is popularly known to be a land of spirituality particularly to the West. However, Indian history from ancient times to present day shows that the developments of materialistic and non-materialistic culture have been going on alongside. You will recall that the Harappan civilization was an urban one. It had a systematic town planning where roads cut each other at right angles. They had a profound knowledge of mathematics, weights and measures. They had built their towns in a scientific manner and had an elaborate drainage system. The Harappans had external trade and travelled across the seas to trade with the Sumerians.
Excellent books on medicines, planets, stars, and plants were written. Discoveries of theories-like “earth rotates around the sun” or “earth is round” were made by Indians long before Europe accepted them. Similarly in the area of mathematics and in the field of medicine and other sciences India’s achievements in ancient times have been remarkable. There was no opposition or resistance by religious or other thoughts in pursuing such knowledge.