The First Electric Battery

 Ok let me start of with a question as usual:- "Who created the first battery?" Well most of you would've been like of course it was Alessandro Volta in the 18th century as that's what we've been taught in school, right? Well even if you google who created the first battery that's what comes up... but what if I say otherwise. What if I say Volta didn't invent the battery but he just rediscovered something that existed around 800 BCE. Yes, that's right battery existed that long ago. How do I know? Well there's an ancient Indian text by the name of Agastya Samhita which mentions the way to make a battery or a battery like device.

A graphic rendition of Baghdad Battery

Agastya Samhita is a Hindu scripture that dates back to around 800 BC. It contains various sections on astronomy, astrology, and medicine, but one section that stands out is the description of a device called the 'Baghdad Battery.' This device consists of a clay jar, copper cylinder, and an iron rod. When an acidic substance such as vinegar is poured into the jar and the iron rod is inserted into the cylinder, it produces an electrical current. Sounds familiar, right? This is essentially the same principle on which modern batteries work. So, why is this significant? Well, if the Baghdad battery was indeed a functioning battery, that would mean that the concept of batteries was known and utilized in ancient India, long before Volta's time.

Of course, some skeptics argue that the Baghdad battery was not actually a battery, but rather a simple container for storing liquids or some others might even say that it is not a battery in the true sense of the word, as it produces only a small amount of electricity. However, it is important to note that the purpose of the Baghdad Battery was not to power any device but to electroplate objects with gold or silver. Another argument against the Baghdad Battery being the first battery is that there is no evidence that it was used widely or that it had any influence on the development of batteries in later centuries. While this may be true, it is also important to note that the Baghdad Battery was discovered only in the 1930s, and it is possible that similar devices existed in other parts of the world, which have not yet been discovered.

Now, some of you might be thinking: "If the Baghdad battery is so old, how do we know it actually worked?" Well, that's where modern science comes in. In the 1930s, Wilhelm König, a German archaeologist, recreated the Baghdad battery using copper, iron, and an electrolyte solution of vinegar. When he connected the battery to a galvanometer, he found that it did indeed produce an electric current. Since then, many chemists and scientists have attempted to recreate the ancient batteries to better understand their capabilities. In 2003, a team of scientists from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany recreated a version of the Baghdad battery using grape juice as the electrolyte solution. The battery produced a voltage of around 0.9 volts, which is comparable to the voltage produced by a single modern battery cell. In 2012, researchers from Harvard University and the University of California, Los Angeles, recreated the Parthian battery, which is believed to date back to the 3rd century BCE. They used a clay jar, a copper cylinder, and an iron rod, just like the original device, and filled it with an electrolyte solution of vinegar. When they connected the battery to an LED light, it lit up, demonstrating that the ancient battery was indeed capable of producing an electric current. These experiments show that the concept of batteries was known and utilized by ancient civilizations long before the modern era.

Furthermore, there is evidence that the ancient Greeks may have also been familiar with the concept of batteries. The Parthian battery, a similar device consisting of a clay jar, a copper cylinder, and an iron rod, was discovered in modern-day Iraq and is believed to date back to the 3rd century BCE. So, if we accept that the Baghdad battery and the Parthian battery were indeed functioning batteries, it raises some intriguing questions. How did ancient civilizations discover the principles of electricity and electrochemistry? What other technological advancements did they make that have been lost to history? It's fascinating to think that our modern inventions may have had predecessors that were lost to the sands of time. And who knows? Maybe there are still more secrets to be uncovered about the history of batteries and electricity. 

So, while Volta is credited with inventing the first battery, the concept of batteries may have been known and utilized by ancient civilizations long before his time. The discovery of the Baghdad battery and the Parthian battery challenges our assumptions about the history of technology and raises intriguing questions about what other secrets the past may hold.

I’d actually like to leave you all with a few questions as I end this blog. What do you think of this? Do you think these batteries were just co-incidences and by products of something else or were they actually meant for current and electricity generation? And if they were meant for electricity generation what was it used for and what other technologies could’ve been lost to time? Personally I feel they were actually meant for electricity generation and these were used for all kinds of purposes ranging from medical therapies to gold-plating and maybe even powering ships (Vimana Shastra, another ancient text from India points out ways to create what we termed as “aircrafts” today and experiments are being conducted to test these).

A newspaper cutting from 1927 discussing finds from Vimana shastra and Agastya Samhita

Also, there are several technologies which couldn’t stand the test of time and what we believe to be modern discoveries are just ancient rediscoveries. Our ancestors were far more advanced than we are today and we are just not acknowledging the facts and we've got finds such as the Baghdad Battery to back my claims.