Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c8.s1.t1: Palm-Leaf
Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c8.s1.t1
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Palm-Leaf
c8.s1.t1.1
Before the advent of paper, which was probably introduced in India, at the earliest, in the 12th century, palm-leaf, coarse cloth and wooden panels served as writing and painting materials. But once paper was introduced, it gradually ousted palm-leaf. The increasing cost,³ difficulties of transportation from the South and Burma, the troublesome methods of writing on palm-leaf, and the political turmoil resulting from the internecine warfare between the Rājpūt states, on the one hand, and the Muslim invaders on the other, all combined to make the use of palm-leaf almost prohibitive. Yet again, paper, which probably came from Central Asia and Persia, was more easily available, and the burnished paper served as an excellent writing material. This easy availability of paper appealed greatly to the Jain writers and painters, though palm-leaf, which had served as writing material for centuries past, continued to be used on a much lesser scale for some time, till paper finally replaced it altogether. The art of writing on palm-leaf has been forgotten to such an extent that we are unable to say by what methods the writers made ink stay on the smooth palm-leaf surface, and we are unable to confirm which inkmaking formula from the several available is the simplest and best.
c8.s1.t1.2
³ There is a palm-leaf in the Jñāna Bhaṇḍār at Pāṭan datable to 14th century which gives the purchase price of palm-leaf. It works out at six annas per leaf. Jaina-chitra Kalpadruma, I, p. 25, fn. 31.
c8.s1.t1.3
The palmyra tree, which yielded palm-leaves for writing and painting, is known tāla in Sanskrit, its Hindī and Gujarātī equivalent being tāḍ. This palmyra is of two species śrī-tāḍ and khar-tāḍ, the latter grows in Gujarāt and elsewhere and its fronds are thick, liable to break at the slightest pressure, and its fibres have the tendency to rot and weaken in the course of time. Palm-leaves from this variety are not used for writing or allied purposes. Śrī-tāḍ, the second variety, grows abundantly in Madras, Ceylon, Burma, Bengal and elsewhere. Its fronds are smooth and delicate, measuring at times more than 37" × 3", which is their usual size. Its fibres do not decay easily and its elasticity prevents it breaking even under undue pressure. The fronds of this palmyra yielded palm-leaves for writing.
c8.s1.t1.4
It has been found from experience that the palm-leaves as they grow old develop a tendency to affect adversely cloth or paper coming in their contact. Muni Puṇya-vijayajī⁴ has observed that in the palm-leaf manuscripts certain paper leaves replacing the lost or decayed palm-leaves, in course of time, appear even in worse condition than the original leaves of the manuscripts. This may be due, as explained by Muni Puṇyavijaya, to certain acid property of the ink which weakens the texture of the paper. From his personal observations also, he has found that the cloth wrappers of the palm-leaf manuscripts develop a tendency to turn black within a few years. Now, here is a point for museum chemists to determine the chemical properties of the various kinds of inks employed in writing on palm-leaves and find out the actual cause of the deterioration of paper and cloth coming in contact with those inks.
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⁴ Ib., p. 29.