From the 10th century onwards, literary records are full of descriptions of astonishing mechanical marvels: from singing birds in the Abbasid court to roaring lions in Constantinople. But most surprising, perhaps, are records of automata in Indian courts - sophisticated devices that reveal a great deal about the Indian continent's connections with the technological trends and refined material culture of the medieval world. Here's the story of how these devices came to India, how they worked, and what they tell us about the globalisation of the times.
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