On the Colonisation of History

"Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." - George Orwell

Consider the following: It’s the year 4000, and a physicist named Adam reintroduces the equation E=mc^2. Now imagine, humanity starts calling it the Adamian Equation. If you think that sounds absurd, wait—there's more. When someone points out Einstein discovered it over 2,000 years earlier, Adam’s supporters rename Einstein’s variables as “Adamian Assumptions.” I hope that if your algorithm brought you here, you agree that this is absurdly ridiculous.

The Dialectics of Heritage Appropriation

Guess what? This farcical erasure is one of the many methods Western civilisation has rewritten history to credit itself for ideas and achievements from other cultures. Take the so-called Pythagorean Theorem. Everyone learns it in school, but calling it “Pythagoras’s” is, at best, blatant plagiarism and, at worst, downright theft of the collective intellectual heritage of humanity.

The term "Pythagorean Theorem" was not universally associated with Pythagoras himself until much later in history. Its popular use under this name gained momentum only in the 19th century (25 centuries after his death in the 5th century BC). This was part of a broader movement in Western history where key discoveries were increasingly named after prominent figures. This phenomenon, known as heroic historiography, sought to “simplify” (so they claim) historical narratives by assigning innovations to iconic individuals. As a history buff I don’t appreciate this form of vulgar simplification, but to make it much worse, Western historians systematically only chose Western figures when doing this.

If the “Western Hero” was the earliest individual associated with an idea, they’d highlight that person. At the same time if the “Western Hero”, wasn’t the discoverer/inventor, then they’d still name it after that person with the excuse that he formalised the knowledge. When even that failed, they simply whitewashed history. A prime example? A Western power tortured to death a man who founded a movement. You must think that surely no one would try to take credit for an ideology after torturing the founder to death. You would be wrong, because someone definitely did that. You only need to visit any church in the Western world to know who I am referring to (hint hint: he was Palestinian). It is a lose-lose situation for the non-white man.

What he (you know who) looked like according to Richard Neave, the leading expert in forensic facial reconstruction.

A Legacy Written in the Shadows

First, let’s debunk the myth. Barely any writings from pre-Socratic philosophers survived, including Socrates himself—and certainly not Pythagoras, who left no written records. In those days, despite having written language, knowledge, especially technical disciplines like mathematics, was primarily passed through oral tradition. So, if there’s no evidence directly from Pythagoras, how did this theorem come to bear his name? I’ll save you the plunge down the rabbit hole of sifting through hundreds of pages, because the answer you’d find at the bottom is anything but satisfying.

Enter 19th-century Western historians, who gave us a story that’s more symbolic than evidence-based, even though substantial proof points elsewhere (we’ll get to that).Their narrative couldn’t completely erase the origins of the theorem, as the evidence was too compelling. There’s a reluctant admission that Pythagoras didn’t discover it but might have proved it (only if you’re willing to dig deep—because they definitely won’t tell you that in school). Yet, where’s the proof? The claim surfaces in the cornerstone book Elements by Euclid, written 200 years after Pythagoras’s death (already raising doubts). Intriguely, Euclid doesn’t even mention Pythagoras in relation to the theorem.

So, where does this attribution come from? Proclus the Neoplatonist philosopher, writing 700 years after Elements, casually mythologised a connection by claiming Pythagoras proved it and celebrated by sacrificing an animal. At this point, it’s becoming comical how inaccurate this account is because Pythagoras is said to have been a vegetarian because he relieved the moral imperative to avoid harming animals. Fun fact, vegetarianism is a new term, and before it was coined, it was called the Pythagorean Diet. With no evidence and an anachronistic tale, Proclus’s account feels less like history and more like creative fiction, yet “somehow”, it stuck.

Echoes of Ancient Wisdom

The Harpedonaptae (translates to “rope stretchers”) of ancient Egypt were land surveyors who used ropes with knots at regular intervals to measure land and construct right angles. They were masters of geometry who were so highly skilled they were able to ensure buildings were precisely aligned with the cardinal directions and celestial bodies.

• Mesopotamia: The Plimpton 322 tablet (circa 1800 BCE) provides evidence that the Babylonians understood the relationship between the sides of right-angled triangles (the Pythagorean Theorem), predating Pythagoras’s birth by over a millennium.

Egyptian rope stretcherss used a rope divided into 12 equal parts could be arranged into a (3,4,5) triangle, which naturally forms a right angle.

• Egypt: The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (circa 1650 BCE) and rope-stretching techniques reveal the Egyptians applied the theorem in practical geometry long before his time. Again, predating Pythagoras’s birth by over a millennium.
  

• India: The Sulbasutras (circa 800 BCE) explicitly describe geometric principles equivalent to the Pythagorean Theorem.

Pythagoras: The Man, the Myth, the Legend:

Maybe Pythagooras came to the conclusions alone, after all, this is a universal truth, not an opinion, and it’s natural for anyone to discover it with no prior knowledge of anyone else’s contribution. Interestingly though, Pythagoras has three main biographies written by Herodotus, Laërtius, and Iamblichus. All three of them record his travel to Egypt (the latter stating that he lived there for 20 years) to study with Egyptian priests and scholars in a period when Egypt was the center of advanced knowledge, particularly in geometry and religious philosophy. Egyptians were the absolute masters of geometry. So much so that they could ensure their buildings were precisely aligned with the cardinal directions and celestial bodies. The point I am making here is that even if he had formalised the proof of the theory, then he had certainly learnt it in Egypt.

The Politics of Erasure: Rewriting History for Power

So you mean to tell me that Western Historians chose to base their historical record on a bizarre claim by Proculas, and dismissed direct evidence that points elsewhere. No rational historian who read the data and used any form of reasoning (deductive, aristotelian logic, common sense, literally any form of reasoning) would attribute it to Pythagoras.

Western historians systematically overlooked older evidence to elevate their own cultural narratives. And this isn’t just about credit. It’s about power. History framed through a Western lens subtly reinforces the idea that innovation and progress are uniquely Western traits, downplaying the contributions of other civilizations.

Pleases make it stop

In the early 1900s, American archaeologist Edgar Banks unearthed the Plimpton 322 tablet in what is now southern Iraq. Instead of preserving this artifact in its cultural context, Banks sold it to George Arthur Plimpton, who named it after himself. An ancient mathematical treasure was, quite literally, looted and rebranded. Imagine, for comparison, a Muslim prince stealing the U.S. Declaration of Independence and renaming it the Omarian Document.

Tutankhamun if chicken started writing history.

Taking this approach even further, let’s consider Lord Carnarvon, the benefactor of the excavation that unearthed Tutankhamun’s tomb. By this logic, he clearly deserves all the credit. After all, what's a 3,000-year-old artifact compared to a wealthy patron with a knack for turning his fortune into historical legacy? Perhaps we should rename it the Lord Carnarvon Mask—Tutankhamun, no doubt, would understand the necessity of such a rebranding.

The Integrity Question 

Ironically, Western academia champions rigorous standards against plagiarism. Yet, when it comes to history, these principles are tossed aside. It's time we demand academic integrity that extends beyond the classroom and research papers, reaching into how we document our shared past and respect cultural and intellectual heritage. An honest world begins with an honest retelling of history. For now, historical integrity is fully compromised.