Researchers utilizing a new deep-learning model have successfully deciphered a cache of fragmented 8th-century Sharada script manuscripts recovered from a remote site in the Hindu Kush. The texts, titled Vriksha-Roga-Vijnana, contain sophisticated observations on plant diseases and early theoretical frameworks that parallel modern understanding of horizontal gene transfer in microbial pathogens, specifically focusing on cereal blights.
The discovery suggests that ancient Indian agricultural scientists had developed a systematic method for identifying disease-resistant seed varieties through observational cross-breeding and soil-nutrient management. These manuscripts provide the oldest written evidence of a formalized approach to botanical pathology in South Asia, predating similar documented academic records by several centuries and offering a new window into medieval Vedic agrarian science.