Indian Epigraphy c9.t4: 4. Paper

Indian Epigraphy c9.t4

Language: English

4. Paper

c9.t4.1

It is generally believed that the Chinese first made paper in 105 A.D.⁸ Indians must have known paper through the Chinese travellers and I-tsing seems to refer to Indian paper,⁹ though it was certainly not a popular writing material.

c9.t4.2

⁸ See P. K. Gode’s ‘Migration of Paper from China to India’ in K B. Joshi’s *Paper Making as a Cottage Industry*, pp. 205 ff. Al-Bīrūnī says, “It was in China that paper was first manufactured. Chinese prisoners introduced the fabrication of paper in Samarkand, and thereupon it was made in various places, so as to meet the existing want” (Sachau, *Alberuni’s India*, Part I, p. 171). The Arabs are supposed to have begun to use paper from the middle of the 8th century A. D. (Wayriffe, *Arabica and Islamica*, p. 11; cf. Barnett, *Antiquities of India*, p. 229).

c9.t4.3

⁹ See Gode, loc. cit.

c9.t4.4

There is no doubt that the practice of writing on palmyra leaves and birch bark was much more popular, even though the word *śaya*, Sanskritized from Chinese *tsie* meaning ‘paper’, occurs in Sanskrit-Chinese lexicons of the 8th century A.D., which also recognise *kakali* or *kakari* no doubt Sanskritized forms of *kāghaz*.¹

c9.t4.5

¹ P.C. Bagchi, *Deux Lexiques Sanskrit-Chinois*, Tome I, p. 287.

c9.t4.6

In writing manuscripts of books on paper, the sheets were generally cut according to the size of palmyra-leaf or birch-bark sheets and perforation for the string was made in the same way as in the leaf and bark manuscripts. For writing the manuscripts of important works, sometimes a paste, prepared by boiling rice or wheat powder in water, was applied to both sides of the paper sheets and, when it was dried, the sheets were rubbed with conch-or cowrie-shell, etc., to make the surface smooth.

c9.t4.7

The earliest paper manuscript discovered in Gujarat was copied in 1223-24 A. D.² M. A. Stein³ refers to a Kashmirian manuscript of the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* on paper which was copied in 1089 A.D. Some manuscripts, written on paper, covered with a layer of gypsum, in North Indian characters of about the 5th century A.D. or a slightly earlier date, were discovered near Yarkhand in Central Asia.⁴ But they may have been written outside India.

Linked texts (1)

Śatapathabrāhmaṇa — Yājñavalkya & Śāṇḍilya (Vedic teacher), Sanskrit