Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s4: Ink, Pens etc.
Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c8.s4
- Language
- English
Ink, Pens etc.
c8.s4.1
Ink (mashī or masī) has been introduced into S. India in quite recent times and apparently by the Mahrāṭhas. It is (I am informed) made of lac, and is almost indelible; water and damp have no effect on it. In the N. of India and Cashmere a similar indelible ink is used for writing on the bhūrjapatra. Dr. Bühler has found out that this is composed of charcoal made from almonds boiled in cow's urine.
c8.s4.2
Ink is occasionally mentioned in Sanskrit books, but only in the more modern, *e. g.* the Kathāsaritsāgara (i. 8, 3): “Tām (kathām) ātmaçoṇitaiḥ | aṭavyām mashyabhāvāc ca lilekha sa mahākaviḥ[^4).” This idea of writing with blood occurs elsewhere (with similar absurdities) in Indian books. Here (like the original compositions of the tales in the Paiçāca language) it is a transparent fiction of the author to account for the apparent incompleteness of his work. The Mahāvaṃso mentions hiṅgula or vermilion as used for ink.
c8.s4.3
The pen used in S. India for writing Nāgarī on paper is made of the common reed[^5).
Linked texts (2)
- Kathāsaritsāgara — Somadeva Bhaṭṭa, Sanskrit
- Mahāvaṃsa — Pāli