Bhoja's Samarangana Sutradhara (early eleventh century) describes mercury-driven flying machines whose construction was deliberately withheld
Documented · said What these labels mean →Bhoja's Samarangana Sutradhara, dated by its editors to the first part of the eleventh century, describes a light wooden 'great bird' with a mercury engine heated by fire in its belly that carries a man far through the sky, and a larger temple-like wooden vimana driven by mercury. A few verses earlier the text says it gives only the 'seeds' of its machines and withholds their construction for secrecy, not from ignorance. These are descriptions in a text; nothing shows such machines were built.
Evidence
| Relation | Record | Note |
|---|---|---|
| documents | archive.org | Sanskrit text, GOS edition (T. Ganapati Sastri, Oriental Institute; DLI scan). Ch. 31 (Yantravidhana) vv. 95-97, printed p. 184: laghudarumayam mahavihangam ... udare rasayantram adadhita jvalanadharam (v.95); paradasyasya saktya ... ambare yati duram (v.96); temple-like daru-vimana with mercury (v.97). Vv. 79-80: yantranam ghatana nokta guptyartham najnatavasat ... kathitany atra bijani yantranam ghatana na yat. Read from the page images 2026-10-18. |
| documents | archive.org | Same text, GOS Part 1, catalogued as Samarangana Sutradhara of Maharajadhiraja Bhoja. |
| reports | archive.org | D. N. Shukla, Vastu-Sastra vol. 1: the S.S. represents 'the First Part of the Eleventh Century A.D.' (Bhoja's time). |
Sources
| Source | Relation | At |
|---|---|---|
| Die Glocke - the Nazi Bell (Why Files 2026) | reports |
Claim
Bhoja's Samarangana Sutradhara, dated by its editors to the first part of the eleventh century, describes a light wooden 'great bird' with a mercury engine heated by fire in its belly that carries a man far through the sky, and a larger temple-like wooden vimana driven by mercury. A few verses earlier the text says it gives only the 'seeds' of its machines and withholds their construction for secrecy, not from ignorance. These are descriptions in a text; nothing shows such machines were built.