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Eternal India
encyclopedia
Ancient Concepts, Sciences & Systems
to the wearer. Brewing alcoholic drinks (
Somarasa
) was a widely
prevalent practice.
The pottery of the Vedic age is generally designated as Painted
Grey ware (PG ware). The ceramic PG ware whose date ranges
from 1000 BC - 400 B.C. is a thin grey ware, painted, wheel made,
glossy and well baked. Decorations on the surface of the pottery
include bands, diagonal lines, dots, dashes, circles and swastikas.
The pottery types obtained by the excavation are bowls, cups and
dishes.
A number of iron objects have been found in association with
PG ware in several excavation sites belonging to the Vedic age.
These are Alangirpur in Meerut district (UP), Hastinapur (UP),
Rupar(Punjab), Nasik (Maharashtra), Ujjain etc. The iron objects
obtained are chisels, nails, hooks, bars, spikes, knives, daggers,
bowls, arrowheads, sickles, crucibles, spoons, saucepans, axes,
tongs etc. Iron smelting technique was in vogue in India between
1000-800 B.C. But unfortunately there are no evidences of practi-
cal details of metallurgical methods in ancient India.
POST-VEDIC PERIOD
The post-Vedic period and the classical age that follows is
spread between 600 B.C -740 A.D. A number of evidences avail-
able during this period indicate an array of chemical practices that
had reached a high degree ,of sophistication. Literary evidences in
this regard are available in texts like
Arthasastra
of Kautilya (3-
4 century B.C.), the medical treatises of Caraka and Susruta ( l o r
2 century B.C.) and the
Brihat samhita
(4 A.D.) of Varahamihira.
Kautilya’s
Arthasastra
is almost an encyclopedic work on all
branches of knowledge which the King is supposed to be aware of
to conduct the statecraft smoothly. One of the chapters describes
the quality and colour of pearls and gems that are brought into the
treasury. A chapter on mines and factories deals with the ores of
gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, and iron. Heaviness of the ore in
relation to the volume indicates a high metal content. According to
Kautilya copper is described as heavy, soft, greenish or reddish in
colour. The Director of mines is duty bound to establish factories for
the purification cf ores of iron, copper, lead, tin, etc. The qualities of
gold and silver are described in detail. Extracts of the roots of
Kadali
(Banana) and
Vajra
(Euphorbia antiquorum
- a kind of
hedge plant with white latex) were used for processing gold ore.
Goldsmiths and silversmiths were experts in fashioning solid or
hollow ornaments out of precious metals.
Another chapter in the
Arthasastra
details the elaborate pro-
cedures of brewing various kinds of alcoholic beverages. A wide
array of plant products were used to ferment several types of drinks
like
medaka
(rice wine),
prasanna(
bark and flowers of several
plants),
asava
(ferment of wood apple fruit) and
madhu
(fermented
grape juice).
The two celebrated medical texts
Caraka samhita
and
Susruta
samhita
give an account of the use of several minerals and metallic
products such as
silajitu
(bitumen
),mandura
(iron rust)
anjana
(black sulphide of antimony),
swarna
(gold),
ayas
(iron),
kamsya
(bronze),
gandhaka
(sulphur),
tuttha
(copper sulphate),
rajata
(silver),
tuvari
(alum) etc.
Susruta samhita
gives an account of
production of alkalies (
ksara
) which are of three kinds -
mrdu
(mild),
tiksna
(strong) and
madhyama
(medium). Preparation of
alkali involves utilization of nearly 25 types of plants (root, stem,
leaf etc) and follows an elaborate procedure. The following is one
of the procedures - plant parts of selected species are kept along
with pieces of lime stones and burnt into ash. Thirty-two measures
of this ash are mixed with 6 measures of water and filtered, the
process being repeated 21 times. The extract is then boiled in a
large iron pan till it becomes clear and pungent. To eight measures
of this liquid is added required quantities of burnt lime stone and
conch shells. This is boiled again to evaporate the liquid. To the
residue water is added again, boiled and the concentrated solution is
decanted and preserved in a jar.
Susruta samhita
also mentions a number of salts like
sauvar-
cala
(potassium nitrate),
saindhava
(rock salt),
vida
(a reddish
brown salt),
samudra
(sodium chloride),
romaka
(a type of saline
earth) etc. The text also mentions a number of organic acids.
The
Brihatsamhita
by Varahamihira is an encyclopedia which
gives a detailed account of gemmology, perfumery etc. The book
gives a list of 16 natural sources (mostly plant products) which can
be mixed in various proportions to produce as many as 174,720
types of perfumes. Plastering with meticulously prepared extracts
of plants to give
Vajralepa
(hard covering) to the roofs of temples
and mansions is also explained in
Brihatsamhita.
We will now discuss specifically chemical practices with glass,
ceramics, iron and copper metallurgy in the post-Vedic and the
classical age.
Glass objects were unknown to the Indus Valley Civilization.
The first sign of a glass object in India were beads noticed at
excavations in Maski, a chalcolithic site belonging to the first
millennium B.C. During the early centuries of the Christian era as
archaeological evidences indicate, glass beads, bangles of various
shades of colours (blue, green, red, white, orange, purple, etc.) and
glass vessels were in regular use in ancient India. At Hastinapur
and Taxila a number of glass beads belonging to 800-400 B.C. have
been found. In the Basti district of Uttar Pradesh, an archaeological
site, Kopia, has revealed the remnants of what must have been an
ancient glass factory. Excavations at Nalanda, an important aca-
demic centre of Buddhism, have revealed a number of opaque glass
objects.
Ceramic ware of the type gen-
erally known as Northern black
polished ware have been found in
many places in south India. The
ceramic wares were made on ro-
tating wheels using fine clay ma-
terial. They were subsequently
baked in kilns. The pots were
given a dressing of haematite be-
fore baking to give them a glossy
grey colour and metallic sound. The ceramic ware were finely
polished with silica, lime, compounds of alumina and magnesia.
Metal crafting perhaps had reached very exacting standards of
fine workmanship during the classical age. Artisans who have
specialized in copper, bronze, brass and iron had produced a number
of eye catching objects. Vatsyayana, the author of the
Kamasutra,
regards
Dhatu Vidya
(metallurgy) as one of the 64 branches of
knowledge. Hieun Tsang, the famous Chinese tourist, has given
details of the use of brass and copper , the latter to fashion a huge
image of Buddha.
One of the remarkable discoveries of the classical age is the
unearthing of a huge statue of Buddha (7'6" in height and about a ton