The ancient world used Simple Machines to get mechanical advantage and force multiplication.
It is known that pulleys were used in ancient Egypt around 1900 BCE. Given the complex urban landscape in Harappa and common technologies, it is likely that it was harnessed there too.
Ancient Kuntala region of southern Karnataka yielded coins dated between 600 BCE — 450 BCE. The coins show a complex system of pulleys with one big central pulley and two smaller pulleys, and with a rope threading thru the three pulleys.
Three samples of coins are shown below (http://coinindia.com/galleries-kuntala.html)
The third set shows complex markings on the obverse side, which could be some ancient script. Notice that Edakkal caves in Kerala also show similar criss-crossing lines based undeciphered script.
The picture below shows a 3-wheel pulley system with an advantage of 3, and can be compared with the pulley system shown in the coins.
The complex pulleys shown in the Kuntala coins confer a mechanical advantage of at least 3. It must have been a significant enough advancement to highlight in these silver coins.
Western accounts exalt Archimedes’ work on simple machines which unfortunately obscures earlier contributions from other parts of the world.
One can imagine using the Kuntala pulley system for large construction works — dare we say the megalithic structures seen in southern India — dolmens?
Megalithic structures in southern India are usually dated as 4000–3000 years old. Menhirs, dolmens and stone circles have been discovered at several sites in Karnataka, Andhra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The larger dolmens in Karnataka were up to 3 meters in height, and would have needed significant cooperative effort by several people. It might not be unreasonable to propose that they were aided by such pulleys and other simple machines, given the use of iron in that era.
Southern India had proven expertise in iron-making as early as 2000 BCE, as evidenced by finds in Telangana. Pulleys would probably have been driven by heavy coir ropes, commonly used in ancient India, built from the strong fibrous husks of coconuts.
The Mahajanapada period, and urbanization all over India, and the construction of large temples and buildings would have harnessed a number of technologies, including such pulley systems.
The ancient world continues to throw up surprises on the use of simple technologies to achieve great feats of engineering.