Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c6.55

v1.c6.55

iv) **Paper-Making Technology:** Before the discovery of paper, people in ancient India used broad leaves of palm plants, birch barks, leather, wood chips, iron and copper plates to write chronicles. In China, during the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun improved paper-making technique, and the use of paper gradually became popular. Direct trade contacts between India and China were established from the early Western Han Dynasty. During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, visiting Indian monks and merchants became familiar with the paper. Soon, paper along with silk became important items for import to India. The paper-making technique might have been introduced into India between the Jin Dynasty (265-420 CE) and the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). There is, however, still no accurate and direct historical evidence for its movement to India. After the Tang Dynasty, India-China traffic and cultural exchanges became deeper and more frequent. The Sanskrit name of “paper” was *Jia jia li* (*kākari*) in Yi Jing’s *Fan yu qian zi wen* (*Thousand Sanskrit Words*). The Sanskrit name of *kākari* or *kākali* for “paper” was also included in another Sanskrit-Chinese book in the Tang Dynasty, ie Li Yan’s *Fan wen za ming* (*Miscellaneous names in Sanskrit*). This indicates that India had the word for “paper” by the Tang Dynasty. Extrapolating from this, it may be argued that the “kākari” in Sanskrit (“kāgad” in Hindi and “kāgaz”