The journey of kites from fun sport to scientific tools
What is the common thing that we enjoy on Independence Day, Baisakhi and Makar Sakranti? Flying kites with our siblings, cousins and friends. Nobody has definitively been able to figure out where this craft comes from. However, it remains an age-old tradition. Let’s trace the history of the kite and shed light on how a Chinese craft became pivotal to various festivals across the nation.
Kites are not just for recreation
You take kites as just a fun sport but actually, they have served several other purposes over the ages. Kites are used as an artistic expression, you may know. But do you know they have been used to ward off evil and represent the gods? Not only that, kites have been used to deliver messages, raise banners, drop propaganda leaflets, and spy on enemies. Unbelievably, the kite was the ancestral aircraft that launched manned flights. What’s more, they have been used to photograph the Earth, measure weather and send radio signals. The list just doesn’t seem to end.
First kites got popularised in China
So, when did the first kite originate? That is hard to say but it is believed it they got popularised in China nearly 2500 to 3,000 years ago. The earliest written account of kite flying is from 206 BC, mentioning a Chinese Buddhist monk Heuin Tsang flying a kite to awe the army of the Chinese emperor Liu Pang of the Han dynasty. In no time, kite flying became popular in the Han dynasty, and General Han Hsin had a kite flown above a besieged town to calculate the distance his army would have to tunnel to reach under the city wall. Guess what, it worked and they came out victorious!
But what were these earliest kites like? They were flat and bowed, most often rectangular. The craft used silk fabric for sail, fine, high-tensile-strength silk for flying lines, and resilient bamboo for a strong, lightweight framework. They were often decorated with legendary figures and mythological motifs. Some were also fitted with whistles to make musical sounds while flying.
As time passed and traders travelled to other places and cultures, kites migrated from China to Korea, and across Asia to India. The distinctive style of kite as well as a specific cultural purpose for flying them kept changing with the change of place.
Kites in India
It is largely believed that kites came to India with the Buddhist missionaries from the east through the Silk Route, following which they travelled to distant lands such as Arabia and Europe. The earliest written accounts of the kite can be traced back to the 13th century in the poetry of a Marathi saint and poet, Namadeva where he called it ‘gudi’ made from kaagad (paper). Famous poet Tulsidas in his epic poem Ramcharatramanas, provided an anecdote of how Lord Hanuman retrieved Lord Rama’s kite that had flown to Indralok in the 17th century.
Kite flying continued with the change of rulers and dynasties. Under the Mughals, it was turned into a sport, primarily among the nobility but the tradition continued even after the decline of the Mughal empire. It was a seasonal activity that was carried out during festivals such as Makar Sankranti and in the Punjab region, on Basant Panchami and Baisakhi.
However, it was under colonial rule that the modern-day kites came into being, developing in form, shape and design. It is believed that when Simon Commission, created to study constitutional reform in 1928, was put into place, there were several protests by people flying hundreds of kites with the words ‘Go Back, Simon’. That probably set the ground for celebrating freedom with kite flying and initiated the tradition of kite flying on Independence Day in our country every year.
Kites in Europe and the West
In Europe, kites came much later around the 17th century when flying flat arch - or pear-shaped kites with tails became a popular pastime, mostly among children. However, by the 18th and 19th centuries, they were being used seriously as vehicles for scientific research.
The first recorded scientific application of a kite took place in 1749 when Scottish astronomer and meteorologist, Alexander Wilson used a kite train (two or more kites flown from a common line) as a meteorologic device for measuring temperature variations at different altitudes.
Three years later, in 1752, the American inventor and statesman Benjamin Franklin, with the aid of his son, lofted a flat kite fitted with a pointed wire and silk sail during a thunderstorm. One immediate and practical outcome of the experiment was the invention of the lightning rod.
The greatest technological contribution of kite, however, was in the development of the airplane. In the 19th century, the British scientist Sir George Cayley, known as the father of aeronautics, used modified arch-type kites to make “flying machines”. This led to the first recorded manned flight in a glider in 1853. Otto Lilienthal of Germany experimented with “airplane” kites in the 1890s and became the first man to soar in one of his kites in true hang-gliding fashion. in 1853. Otto Lilienthal of Germany experimented with “airplane” kites in the 1890s and became the first man to soar in one of his kites in true hang-gliding fashion.
Around 1900, Orville and Wilbur Wright, self-taught aeronautical engineers who ran a bicycle shop in Ohio, US began testing their biplane designs as kites. The Wright brothers focused on ‘control’ which was the missing ingredient for a manned flight and had so far baffled other aviation pioneers. The brothers made a special box kite and braced its wings with wires so that that they could be twisted in opposite directions to make the kite bank and turn – this was a big breakthrough.
However, soon when the airplane came into the picture, the kite fell out of flavour. Except for occasional meteorologic survey work, which continues to the present, the kite’s status changed from a serious scientific instrument to a child’s fun sport once again.
The last century, however, has seen some renewed interest in kiting. New materials like ripstop nylon, fiberglass, and carbon graphite have made kites stronger, lighter, more colourful, and more durable. Important inventions like American aeronautical engineer Francis Rogallo's flexi-wing and Canadian-US inventor Domina Jalbert's para-foil kites helped develop modern hang gliders, stunt kites, sport parachutes and paragliders.