History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c12.s1.t13.6

v1.c12.s1.t13.6

Rajasthan was a major mining province some 3000 years ago, with production on a substantial scale continuing 1200 years, under sometimes extreme technical difficulties. Smelting and silver refining were equally technically advanced. Zinc smelting was done as early as 9th century (and there are slight indications of much older origins). It was perfected as an industrial scale process around the beginning of 13th century, in all probability at Zawar. Fig. 13 shows the clay retorts scattered around the ruins of Zawar which were used for zinc smelting. The early miner located the ore and continued to assure himself that he was mining ore not waste. With poor illumination the main judgment between ore and waste would have been by the heft or “Weight”.