[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Travellers (1500–1858)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel) › [Les six voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier) › [Travels in India (Ball)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball) › 73.2 # Travels in India (Tavernier) 73.2 Travels in India (Ball) 73.2 - **Language:** English ### [73.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73.2) Indigo is made from a plant which is sown every year after the rains, and which, before preparation, much resembles hemp. It is cut three times in the year, and the first cutting takes place when it is about 2 or 3 feet high ; and it is cut to within 6 inches of the ground. The first leaf is without doubt better than those which follow, the second yielding less by 10 or 12 per cent than the first, and the third 20 per cent less than the second. It is classified by the colour, as seen when a morsel of the paste is broken. The colour of the indigo made from the first crop is of a violet-blue, which is more brilliant and more lively than the others, and that of the second is more lively than that of the third. But besides this difference, which causes a considerable effect on the price, the Indians manipulate the weight and quality, as I shall elsewhere explain. After the Indians have cut the plant they throw it into tanks made of lime, which becomes so hard that one would say that they were made of a single piece of marble. The tanks are generally from 80 to 100 paces in circuit, and when half-full with water, or a little more, they are filled up with the cut plant. The Indians mix it and stir it up with the water every day until the leaf (for the stem is of no account) becomes reduced into slime or greasy earth. - [Previous: 73.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73.1) - [Next: 73.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73.3) - [Up: 73](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73.2) · Pramāṇa