Shivkar Talpade: The untold story of the man who flew India's first aircraft

The Wright brothers are widely credited with making the first successful manned flight in 1903. However, there is a lesser-known claim that an Indian scholar named Shivkar Bapuji Talpade had constructed and flown an unmanned aircraft in 1895, eight years before the American duo. Is this claim true? And if so, how did he do it?

Shivkar Bapuji Talpade was born in 1864 in Mumbai, India. He was a technical instructor at the Sir JJ School of Art and a member of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reformist movement. He had an interest in Sanskrit and ancient Indian texts, especially those related to aviation. He was inspired by the Vaimanika Shastra, a Sanskrit treatise on aeronautics attributed to Maharishi Bharadwaja, one of the ancient sages of India. The Vaimanika Shastra describes various types of aircraft and their design, construction, operation and fuel. Talpade studied this text with the help of Pandit Subbaraya Shastry, who claimed to have received it through divine revelation.

1. DidShivkarBapujiTalpadeinventtheplane8years
beforetheWrightbrothers?
TheWrightbrothersarewidelycreditedwithmakingthefirstsuccessfulmannedflightin
1903.However,thereisalesser-knownclaimthatanIndianscholarnamedShivkarBapuji
Talpadehadconstructedandflownanunmannedaircraftin1895,eightyearsbeforethe
Americanduo.Isthisclaimtrue?Andifso,howdidhedoit?
WhowasShivkarBapujiTalpade?
ShivkarBapujiTalpadewasbornin1864inMumbai,India.Hewasatechnicalinstructorat
theSirJJSchoolofArtandamemberoftheAryaSamaj,aHindureformistmovement.He
hadaninterestinSanskritandancientIndiantexts,especiallythoserelatedtoaviation.He
wasinspiredbytheVaimanikaShastra,aSanskrittreatiseonaeronauticsattributedto
MaharishiBharadwaja,oneoftheancientsagesofIndia.TheVaimanikaShastradescribes
varioustypesofaircraftandtheirdesign,construction,operationandfuel.Talpadestudied
thistextwiththehelpofPanditSubbarayaShastry,whoclaimedtohavereceiveditthrough
divinerevelation.
WhatwasTalpade'saircraft?

2. TalpadenamedhisaircraftMarutsakha,meaning"friendofthewind".Itwasacylindrical
bamboostructurewitheightpropellersandwings.Itwaspoweredbyamercuryengine
calledMercuryVortexEngine,whichsupposedlyusedmercuryandsolarenergytocreate
thrust.TheaircraftalsohadacapacitorcalledBhimbaPrakashYantra,whichstored
electricalenergyandcontrolledthespeedanddirectionoftheflight.
DidTalpadeflyhisaircraft?
Accordingtosomesources,TalpadesuccessfullyflewhisaircraftaboveChowpattyBeach
inMumbaiin1895,infrontofalargecrowdthatincludedSayajiraoGaekwadIII,the
MaharajaofBaroda.Theaircraftreportedlyrosetoaheightof1500feetandflewforafew
minutesbeforecrashing.However,therearenocontemporaryaccountsorreliablehistorical
recordstoverifythisclaim.Somehistoriansandscientistshavedismisseditasamythora
hoax,citingthelackofevidence,theimplausibilityofthetechnologyandtheinconsistency
ofthesources.TheVaimanikaShastraitselfstatesthatTalpadewasunsuccessfulinhis
attempttobuildanaircraft.
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