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Indian Epigraphy c9.t12: 1. Ink

Indian Epigraphy c9.t12

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English

1. Ink

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Ink for writing is called *maṣi*, *maṣī*, *masi* or *masī* and *melā* in Sanskrit. It was prepared with lamp-black or charcoal mixed in water with gum, sugar, etc. The ink was put in pots called in Sanskrit *maṣi-bhājana*, *melāmandā*, *melāndhu*, *melāndhukā*, *maṣimaṇi*, *maṣi-pātra*, *maṣi-bhāṇḍa*, *maṣi-kūpikā*, etc.

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Writing ink was generally of two kinds, viz. lasting and washable, the first of which was used in copying manuscripts and the second for writing things like letters and the account-books of shop-keepers. Cheap ink was made of lamp-black mixed with catechu, gum, etc.

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For preparing lasting ink, the resin of the pipal tree was ground nicely and mixed with water kept for sometime in an earthen pot. It was then boiled on fire and a quantity of nicely ground borax and lodhra was mixed with it while boiling. This thing was ultimately strained through cloth. To the liquid thus prepared¹ was mixed lamp-black, made by burning sesame oil in lamps, in order to make the colour of the liquid sufficiently black. This process of preparing black ink was prevalent in Rajasthan till recent times.²

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¹ This was called *alakta* used by women for dying certain parts of their body especially the feet and the lips.

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² See Ojha, op. cit., p. 155.

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The ink for writing manuscripts on birch-bark sheets was made by boiling the powder of the burnt husk of almond in cow's urine.³ Writing in this ink could not be washed away with water.

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³ Bühler's Kashmir Report, p. 30.

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Among coloured inks, red ink was the most popular. Often *alakta*, referred to above, was used for writing. Another kind of red ink was made of vermilion mixed with gum in water. Red ink was used to write particular expressions and passages (e.g. colophons of chapters) in a manuscript, on which the copyist wanted to put special stress.

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By mixing green colour with gum in boiling water, people prepared green ink. Similarly yellow ink was made from the yellow orpiment. Such special inks were used as red ink was done. For deleting a letter or a group of letters, often it was covered with yellow orpiment or encircled by a line or endowed with one or more small vertical strokes above the letter or letters. These marks were sometimes made in coloured ink. Coloured ink is mentioned in the Puranic sections dealing with the donation of manuscripts.¹ Chalk, red lead or minium (*hiṅgula*) was generally used as a substitute for ink.²

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¹ Hemādri’s Dānakhaṇḍa, pp. 549 ff. See R. L. Mitra, *Notices of Sans. Mss.*, p. 3, Plate 1.

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² Bühler, op. cit., p. 98.

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Gold and silver powder was mixed with gum in boiling water in order to prepare golden and silvery ink respectively. Such costly inks were used generally by painters. But sometimes they were used in writing letters and manuscripts on behalf of rich people.³

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³ See Ojha, *Bhāratīya Prācīn Lipimālā*, p. 156, note 1.

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The writing on cloth and birch bark referred to by Nearchus and Curtius suggests that ink was used by the Indians in the 4th century B.C. The word *lipi*, from the root *lip*, found in Pāṇini’s grammar (c. 5th century B. C.) and the inscriptions of Aśoka (c. 272-232 B.C.), points to the same conclusion. A pre-Christian record written in ink has been found on a relic vessel from the ruins of Andher.⁴ One of the earliest manuscripts written in ink is the Kharoṣṭhī *Dhammapada* from Khotan. Several records painted in ink on stone have been discovered in different parts of India.⁵

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⁴ Cunningham, *Bhilsa Topes*, p. 349, Plate XXX, 6; cf. pp. 295-308.

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⁵ Cunningham, *ASR*, Vol. XXI, p. 119, Plate XXX; *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXVIII, p. 275; Vol. XXXI, p. 168; etc.

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