History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c15: 3.4 Ceramic Technology

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c15

Language: English

v1.c15.s1 Black-and-Red Ware — 11 parts
v1.c15.s2 Harappan Pottery — 20 parts
v1.c15.s3 Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) — 5 parts
v1.c15.s4 Chalcolithic Painted Pottery (Central India and the Deccan) — 4 parts
v1.c15.s5 Technology of the Chalcolithic Painted Pottery — 3 parts
v1.c15.s6 Painted Grey Ware — 3 parts
v1.c15.s7 Northern Black Polished Ware — 9 parts
v1.c15.s8 Mughal Glazed Ware — 4 parts
v1.c15.s9 Chinese Ceramics — 6 parts
v1.c15.s10 References — 41 parts

3.4 Ceramic Technology

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The invention of pottery is a most important landmark in man's march from barbarism to civilization. Although the earliest occurrence of pottery is generally attributed to the Neolithic period when man first began to enjoy the luxury of settled life, recent evidence from West Asia shows that pottery came to be made by man in the later stage of the Neolithic, and that there is an aceramic stage preceding the use of pottery. In the primary Neolithic, vessels of stone and wood were used as containers as is testified by the evidence from West Asia. On the basis of radio-carbon determinations the beginnings of pottery manufacture (Melaart, p. 62) can now be assigned, with reasonable amount of certitude, to about 7000 B.C. It may also be stated that still earlier occurrence of pottery is now reported from Japan where the peasants of the Jomon culture used pottery vessels some ten thousand years ago.

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Scholars have tried to explain the circumstances leading to the making of pottery. The baskets used for storage in the pre- ceramic period were lined with clay with a view to preventing the grain from falling out through the holes in the woven pattern. Such baskets have been reported from Beidha (Israel); they are coated with gypsum plaster (Melaart, p.62). It is very likely that one such basket may have accidentally fallen into fire, burning the reed work and leaving the fired clay coating which got hardened in the process.

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This is a plausible explanation which has generally received acceptance. Probably because of this, the earlier vessels bear basket impressions. Once this was achieved, the potters art made strides and in a very short period of time we find that potters in West Asia began to fashion exquisite forms which were adorned with painted patterns as well. With the introduction of agriculture and the attendant settled life, the technique spread in adjoining areas too. In the Indian subcontinent also the earliest occurrence of pottery can be assigned to about 5000 B.C., as is clear from the recent excavations by the French Archaeological Mission at Mehergarh which is located on the Bolan Pass near Quetta (Jarriage and Lachevallier, pp. 47 to 80). Here, the earlier pottery was made by hand and shortly the potter’s wheel was introduced around 4000 B.C., enabling the potter to produce pottery on mass scale.

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The term pottery generally denotes all objects made of clay, first shaped, then dried and finally made hard and permanent by the action of heat. Hence clay is the basic ingredient of all pottery. The raw material required for pottery is abundant all over the world. It is a decomposed and disintegrated product of felspathic and granitic rocks which forms three-fourths of the earth’s surface. In India, we have some of the finest clays in the Indo-Gangetic plans. Hence, the pottery of north India has always been superior in fabric to that of the south. Pottery is abundant at ancient sites in India but its study in India was not given the attention it deserves before World War II.

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It was Sir Mortimer Wheeler, who introduced the latest techniques of archaeological excavation in India during 1944-48, and emphasized the importance of the study of pottery in Indian archaeology. As a result, ancient ceramic industries of India have been studied during the last four and half decades. However, it should be stated that scientific studies of Indian pottery are still inadequate and we do not as yet know the technology of several ceramic wares.

Black-and-Red Ware

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The black-and-red ware is one of the most important ceramic industries of ancient India (Srivastava, pp. 372-417). The vessels of this ware are usually black inside and on the rim on the exterior, while the remaining part of the external surface is red. This result in the colouration of the ceramic has generally been ascribed to the peculiar firing technique. Till recently the black-and-red pottery was taken to be characteristic of the megalithic burials of South India, but recent discoveries in different parts of the country indicate that the antiquity of the pottery goes back to the latter half of the third millenium B.C., as it has been found at Harappan sites in Saurashtra. Moreover, it is also a distinguishing feature of the Ahar culture of the Copper/Bronze Age, datable to the first half of the second millenium B.C. In Central India and the Deccan the black-and-red pottery has been found to be associated with the chalcolithic painted black-on-red pottery. (Fig.1) The ceramic also occurs in the early historical levels almost all over the country, and above all, it is a distinguishing feature of the megalithic culture of South India belonging to the latter half of the first millenium B.C. All this goes to show that the pottery was in use in India from the middle of the third millenium B.C. till about the beginning centuries of the Christian era. Its distribution is equally widespread; it is found almost all over the country from Gujarat in the west to Bengal in the east and from Punjab in the north to Kerala in the south. It will thus be clear that the BR ware has a wide distribution in the country both in terms of time and space. It may, however, be stated that it does not occur anywhere in the country after the opening centuries of the Christian era. The ware thus has a long history of 2500 years and it can be called the most important ceramic of ancient India.

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The BR pottery has been reported from outside India as well. It occurs in the Neolithic Egypt at such classic sites as Al Tasa, Al Badari and Naqda where it was formerly dated to the fourth or the fifth millenium B.C. But the new radio-carbon determinations have stretched back the beginning of settled life in West Asia to a much earlier period in the 8th millenium B.C. and consequently the date of the BR ware in Egypt may also go back to an earlier period. The pottery from these Egyptain sites has been referred to as the Black-topped ware (Honey, p. 16, Fig. 1). It also occurs in the Neolithic Greece.

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Fig.1 Chalcolithic Black and Red Ware (all except the one in the centre, top row)

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The most important problem is the technique of manufacture of the BR ware. So far it was presumed that the peculiar colour was the result of firing the pots in an inverted position in the kiln. By this process the portion of the pot, which was oxidised, turned red whereas the remaining part being fired under reducing conditions, turned black. This was the contention of Flinders Petrie and also of Gordon Childe (1937, pp. 43-44).

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This was, however, contested by Lucas who, on the basis of his own experiments, is of the opinion that the colour effect of the ceramic cannot be obtained merely by inverted firing (Lucas, pp 434-36). It is in fact due to the covering of that portion of the pot, which is to be done according to Lucas in two ways - viz. a) by the simultaneous production of the red of the body (apart from any wash of red colour) and the black of this interior and the rim or b) by producing ware wholly red first and then by a secondary operation blackening the interior and the rim.

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The first method was adopted by A.L. Mercer, a pottery manufacturer in USA., who, in one continuous operation made excellent imitations of the red-bodied black-topped ware, which are now in the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford (Gordon Childe, 1937, pp. 43-44). In this case the desired result was obtained by keeping the pot upside down with its rim being buried in sawdust to the depth of an inch. In other words this was merely the inverted firing technique.

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Lucas (pp. 434-36) also thought that some process similar to that practised by Mercer may have been in use in ancient times. But at the same time he is rather doubtful, for he is unable to conjecture how it could have been done. He is, therefore, of the opinion that possibly the method employed consisted of two distinct operations (as in the making of modern black pottery in Egypt), the first being the making of a red pot and the second being the subjecting of the rim and the interior of the pot to the action of dense smoke in order to blacken them.

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This second operation is analogous to that practised in Sudan and elsewhere at present, but instead of the whole pot being covered with chaff and other material which produce a pot entirely black on the rim only would have been covered as only this and the interior had to be blackened. G.G. Majumdar (pp. 90- 93) is also of the opinion that the BR pottery can be made only by the double firing process. Lucas (pp. 434-36) actually manufactured a few pots by employing this technique. The pots coated with a thin wash of red ochre were baked in a small electric muffle furnace. And when red hot, placed mouth downwards on a layer of sawdust in which the rim was buried. The result was a red pot with a black rim and generally, though not always, a black interior, but the red body was almost always badly smoke stained. In this process, however, the thin red wash which was applied to the pot, could be discerned even in that part of the pot which was black by merely scraping the surface and the same could also be noticed in the section.

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We thus have two different processes of making the BR pottery. However, Majumdar (pp. 90-93) is of the opinion that the Indian BR ware was the result of the double firing process. It may also be stated that according to Paramasivan (pp. 231-52) the megalithic BR pottery of India was baked at 600° 700°F. He further observes that the black-and-red colouring of the megalithic pottery from Maski (Dist. Raichur, Karnataka) is only due to the presence of iron in the clay. According to him, “If the baking is done in a reducing atmosphere, the pottery becomes black. An oxidising atmosphere gives red ware”.

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He describes three ways in which the reducing atmosphere can be created, but does not specify the way in which the Maski megalithic BR pottery was made.

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Thus there still ranges a controversy about the technology of the Black-and-red-ware. Scholars have tried to attribute the authorship of the pottery to Dravidians (Soundara Rajan, p. 74) or Aryans (Sinha, p. 11) but what seems to be the case is that this peculiar technique either originated or was introduced in Gujarat first and then diffused, in course of time to different areas. It seems to have been perfected by the megalith-builders of South India.

Harappan Pottery

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The Harappan pottery is one of the most distinctive ceramics of ancient India. The Indus or the Harappan civilisation, which has been described as “the vastest political experiment before the Roman empire,” was spread over the present states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Harayana, western Uttar Pradesh and the whole of Pakistan. Considering the distribution of the culture, it is not reasonable to expect uniformity in ceramic over such extensive area. Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1974, p. 74) rightly observes : “There is no doubt that the so called uniformity of the Harappan culture in depth has been exaggerated and is due as much to archaic methods of research as to say inherent conservation in the ancient craftsman.” But there are nevertheless certain distinguishing characteristics of the pottery which are common in all these regions. The typical Harappan pottery, both plain and painted, is made of extremely fine well levigated clay, the degraissants used were mica, sand and lime. It was uniformly fired at a high temperature and the fully oxidised cores indicate that the pottery was well baked.

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It was turned on a fast wheel as the regular striation marks suggest. It is a sturdy ceramic, producing a metallic ring when struck and is uniformly thick in fabric though thin walled vessels also occur.

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There are certain forms of the Harappan pottery which can be taken as fossil shapes (Fig.2). Among these are the goblets sometimes stamped with inscriptions, dish-on-stand, ‘S’ shaped vases, beakers, perforated cylindrical jars, storage jars with heavily beaded rims and so on. Of these the goblet, the beaker and the perforated jar are usually plain whereas the others are mostly treated with a thick bright red slip over which are found painted designs in black pigment. The design repertoire is quite rich consisting as it does of both naturalistic and geometric motifs. The most distinguishing are the intersecting circles, the overlapping scales, the pipal leaf etc. Bull, peacock and fish are also present. Besides these, narrative scenes are also sometimes met with. Bichrome and polychrome pottery too occurs at some of the Harappan sites, but is extremely rare (vide Starr & Manchanda).

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It has been suggested that the fine Indus pottery was probably made on a fast wheel. In this connection it may be stated that there are two types of potters wheel viz., the hand wheel and the foot wheel. The latter is operated by the potter with his foot and is much faster than the former. Ernest Mackey is of the opinion that the Indus pottery was turned on the foot wheel.

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It is interesting that the foot wheel is not presently used in India today except in Punjab, Sind and Baluchistan and it is very likely that the same was in use in that area since Harappan times. Presently the foot wheel is in use in many countries of West Asia such as Iran, Israel, Iraq, Egypt etc., and consequently it is not unlikely that it reached India from West Asia sometimes in the fourth millenium B.C.

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The beautiful Harappan pottery was fired in kilns specially built for the purpose. Harappan kilns have been unearthed in the course of excavation at Mohenjo-daro and Lothal. Of the two kilns laid bare at Mohenjo-daro, only one is somewhat intact and conveys us a fair idea of its functioning (Mackay, 1938, pp. 62, 102 and 177). It was located in the DK area which has yielded some of the most important structures and antiquities of the Indus civilization. The kiln, of fired clay, is elliptical on plan. It is 6 ft. long 4 ft. 9 in (1.80 x 1.47 m) wide but its height could not be known as the sides were already completely destroyed. The excavator has tried to reconstruct the kiln as follows : “A pit for the wood or reed fuel was prepared. Over this was a domed compartment to hold the vessels to be baked. Communication between the two was effected by round holes in the floor of the upper chamber (Mackay, 1938). In other words, the kiln can be said to have been provided with a fire chamber below whereas the holes were obviously provided to serve as outlets for the hot gas from below. This type of kiln, known as the vertical kiln was also in use in West Asia in prehistoric times (Singer, I, pp. 392-94).

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Fig.2 Characteristic Harappan pottery forms

Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP)

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The ochre coloured pottery constitutes a knotty problem in the archaeology of north India. The pottery was first found in the excavations at Bisauli, a copper hoard site in Dist. Badaun, U.P. and Rajpur Parasu, Dist. Bijnaur, U.P. Later in 1952 it was encountered at Bahadarabad (Dist. Dehra Dun, U.P.). Several OCP sites have since then been discovered and it has been observed that the pottery is usually found at the Copper Hoard sites in the Ganga Yamuna Doab, but the excavations so far carried out at such sites have failed to produce any evidence of Copper Hoard artifacts from stratified levels. There is thus circumstantial evidence to associate the OCP with the Copper Hoards. However, the only solitary site where both occur together in a stratified context is at Saipai (Dist. Itawah, U.P.) where the excavations have yielded a barbed harpoon of copper, a characteristic Copper Hoard type (PURA, No. 5, 1971-72, Spl no. on OCP, p.6). More evidence of this nature in future may connect the Copper Hoards with the OCP.

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The OCP occurs in north India over a large area from Bahadarabad near Dehra Dun to Noh near Bharatpur and from Kathpalon near Jullundar to Ahicchatra (Dist. Bareilly, U.P.), that is roughly the present states of Punjab, Haryana and western U.P. The forms include bowls, basins and jars of various sizes (Ibid). The OCP has affinities with Harappan pottery as is evident from such forms as the dish-on-stand, basins with beaded or beaked or everted rim, storage jars and bowl-shaped lid with a central knob. However, it is as yet a moot point whether or not the OCP has been derived from the Harappan.

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It may be recalled in this connection that Stuart Piggott (p. 238) once identified the authors of the Copper Hoard culture as Harappan refugees.

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The enigmatic feature of the OCP is its rolled nature. It has been generally attributed to its being ill-fired, and hence it is reasoned that the ochre colour of the surface has a tendancy to rub off easily. Since both the surfaces of the potsherds are considerably rolled, it has not been possible to ascertain whether the pottery is wheel thrown or hand made. It is, however, thought that the pottery is wheel made and the peeling off of the slip has been stated to be due to its being underfired (Thapar, p. 31). However, water logging and association with river silt are also said to be the causes of the rolled nature of the pottery. Examination by B.B. Lal of the OCP potsherds have shown that the surface has completely broken down due to weathering on account of prolonged action of subsoil moisture coupled with injurious soluble salts (Sinha, p. 91). According to him, “the conditions favourable for weathering may be present in the soil itself on account of subsoil moisture containing carbon dioxide and soluble salts (Sinha, p. 91). His tests indicates that the pottery is not underfired as is generally thought by archaeologists, but that it is at a sufficiently high temperature in an oxidising atmosphere (Sinha, p. 92)”. Lal does not agree that the rolled nature of the pottery is due to water- logging. He rightly questions : “How is it that at Bargaon, where ochre coloured pottery is associated with another red pottery, the effect of water logging is exhibited only by Ochre coloured pottery and not by the other pottery (Sinha, p. 92)”.

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Lal has offered a plausible explanation of the rolled nature of the OCP. In his opinion, “the pottery remained in contact with saline moisture throughout its long period of burial in the soil. An equilibrium was established between the pottery and its saline and moist environment and there was no surface erosion or disintegration in this condition of equilibrium. Once the pottery was excavated and brought to the surface, the moisture present therein evaporated leaving the solidified salts in the pores. The crystallization of soluble salts in the new environment brought the disintegration of the pottery (Sinha, p. 95)”. Lal concludes that the OCP remained exposed to atmosphere for a considerable period and consequently it underwent weathering before it was sealed by the debris of the succeeding occupants.

Chalcolithic Painted Pottery (Central India and the Deccan)

Kayatha Ware

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The discovery of the Chalcolithic phase in the prehistory of the Deccan in 1950 has brought to light a whole new range of ceramics which is essentially painted black-on-red and its varieties. These painted pottery cultures - characterised by the use of copper and stone tools and hence the label chalcolithic are distributed in Central India and the Deccan and are datable to the second millenium B.C.

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Of these, the Kayatha culture (Circa 2000 - 1800 B.C.), so named after the type site Kayatha, (Dist. Ujjain, M.P.), and the Malwa culture (Circa 1700 - 1300 B.C.) are both distributed in Malwa which roughly comprises the western districts of the present Madhya Pradesh. The former is characterised by three distinct ceramic wares viz., the Kayatha ware, the red-painted buff ware and the Kayatha combed ware (Fig. 3). The Kayatha ware is a sturdy fabric represented by bowls, dishes and large storage jars. It is treated with a red wash over which designs are executed in deep purple. The pottery is of extremely fine fabric, made of well levigated clay which is devoid of any impurities. The other ware is buff coloured and bears paintings in dark red; it is also of fine fabric but is thin walled. The most representative forms in this ware is a *loṭā* with blunt carination and globular jars with outcurved rim.

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The combed ware is not much different from the Kayatha ware so far as the fabric is concerned. It bears combed designs, but occasionally painted patterns also occur. The painted designs on all the Kayatha wares are linear and geometric such as lines and dashes and lozenges and triangles etc (Ansari and Dhavalikar, pp. 4-5).

Malwa Ware

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The Malwa ware is a well defined ceramic which is essentially buff or cream-slipped and bears painted patterns in dark brown. At least superficially it bears some resemblance with the red-painted buff ware of the Kayatha culture. The relationship between the two, however, has not yet been established. The ceramic is extremely rich in form and painted ornamentation.

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The core is somewhat coarse and the slip is considerably thick (*Fig.4*). The fossil forms comprise the typical Indian *loṭā* with a bulbous body and wide flaring mouth. But more interesting are the channel spouted-cups and pedestalled goblets; the latter have turned up at Navdatoli only. They have significant parallels in Iran and hence they have been associated with Aryans (Sankalia, 1964, pp. 315-17). The repertoire of painted ornamentation is quite rich and there are over six hundred motifs in all. They are primarily geometric such as triangles and lonzeges but there are many exquisitely naturalistic designs such as animals, birds, plants etc. One must agree with H.D. Sankalia who states that “Among all the painted pottery found in India so far, that at Navdatoli has given the larges repertory of designs (Sankalia, 1974, p. 457).”

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Fig.3 Kayatha pottery, 1-6 red painted buffware, 7-10 combed ware

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Fig.4 A Malwa ware bowl from Navdatoli (M.P.)

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Although we cannot say much about the technology of the Malwa ware, as it has not yet been subjected to scientific examination, we can have some idea of the kilns of the Malwa culture. In this connection it may be stated that the Malwa culture of Central India had spread into Maharashtra and its remains have been found in the Tapi, the Pravara-Godavari and the Bhima Valleys where it can be assigned to Circa 1600-1300 B.C. In fact at several sites, as at Inamgaon, the first settlers were the Malwa people. In Maharashtra, however, the Malwa painted pottery is of a finer fabric in a sharp contrast to the coarse fabric in its kneeler area. The vessels are treated with a wash of orange or pink and the painted designs are in black pigment.

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The designs consist of linear and geometric patterns, but naturalistic motifs such as dog, deer, bull etc., are also be met with. The jar with tubular spout, which is conspicuously absent in Malwa proper, is present in Maharashtra. The Malwa ware can, therefore, be said to have undergone some change in form and fabric in Maharashtra; it resembles more that from Eran.

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A MALWA HOUSE WITH POTTERY KILN, INAMGAON C. 1400 B.C.

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*Fig. 5 A pottery kiln of the Malwa period*

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A pottery kiln of the Malwa period (Fig. 5) was uncovered at Inamgaon (Dist, Poona, Maharashtra). Structurally it is almost identical with that of the succeeding Jorwe period at the site which will be described later. In size, it is half of the latter. It is round (diameter, 1.55 m) with a fire chamber attached to it, and is provided with fuels for hot gas. The kiln was located in a house which could be identified as that of a potter.

Jorwe Ware

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The Jorwe culture, named after the type site in Dist. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, was accidentally discovered in 1950 but its chronological position was fixed by the excavation at Nasik where the remains of this culture were found in the lowest levels assignable to the first half of the first millenium B.C. A number of Jorwe settlements have since been excavated during the last thirty years which has increased our knowledge of the material culture of these first farmers of Maharashtra. They were spread almost all over the present state of Maharashtra save the coastal strip of Konkan on the west and parts of Vidarbha in the east. A series of radio-carbon determinations suggest that the culture can now be dated to Circa 1400-1000 B.C.

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The most distinguishing feature of the Jorwe culture is its black-on-red painted pottery. It is wheel thrown and of thin to medium fabric. It is made of well levigated clay which is devoid of impurities. The vessels have a mat surface and are treated with orange to red wash. The most distinctive vessels are a concave-sided carinated bowl with a round bottom and a spouted jar with carinated profile and a wide flaring mouth. Besides these, there are high necked globular jars and storage jars with constricted neck and bulging belly. The painted decoration is in black and repertoir of designs is extremely limited. The patterns are mostly linear and geometric such as sets of lines, triangles, lozenges loops etc. (Fig. 6).

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Fig.6 Jorwe ware

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An interesting feature is the occurrence of some peculiar symbol on each and every vessel which has been taken to be the potter’s mark. Associated with this is a crude handmade red/grey ware which is characteristic of the southern Neolithic.

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A potter’s kiln was uncovered in the course of excavations at Inamgaon (Dist. Poona). It belongs to Early Jorwe period (Circa 1400-1000 B.C.). It is like a huge trough made of clay and embedded in the ground on stone foundations (Dhavalikar et al 1988; Vol.1, pt.i, pp.255ff). It appears to have been built in situ. Its maximum diameter is 1.75 m and at a depth of 60 cm from the top were found clay cushions in the kiln placed over the fire chamber. These cushions are oval in shape and have a hole in the center and a groove on the middle of each side; the holes in the center obviously served as outlets for the hot gas. In the base of the kiln were flues or air ducts radiating from the center. To the north east of the kiln was the fire passage lined with stones and reaching below the bottom of the kiln where an andiron or firedog of clay was placed. It is rectangular in shape with projecting corners and curved upper sides for supporting firewood. At the time of baking pottery the firewood on the andiron was lit and the resulting hot gas would be passed above through the flues and holes and grooves in the clay cushions. It is thus a unique kiln which has so far no parallel within the country or even beyond. But in principle it is akin to those from Indus cities which were provided with several holes for the hot gas (Mackay, 1938). The clay and iron inside the fire chamber has, however, parallels in West Asia where they have been dated to Circa 2700-200 B.C (Braidwood, Jr, pp. 371-73, Fig.290-91,A&B)

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A coarse variety of the Jorwe ware has been found recently in the excavations at Inamgaon and at a few sites in the Bhima valley. The coarser fabric is due to a lot of gritmixed as the tempering material and the tradition of painting is also on the decline. This late Jorwe ceramic is datable to Circa 1000-700 B.C.

Lustrous Red Ware

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The Lustrous Red Ware, a ceramic derived from the Harappan, is almost contemporaneous with the Jorwe ware. It occurs in Gujarat in the post-Harappan levels (AI, WS. 18-19, 1963, p.136, fig.34, pl.XXII). The lustre, according to B.B. Lal is the result of smooth burnishing with pebbles of haematite when the pot was in the green state. This left a fine powder of iron oxide securely adhering to the surface. The pot was then fired in oxidising conditions.

Technology of the Chalcolithic Painted Pottery

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All the ceramic wares of the Bronze Age/Chalcolithic period which are red wares painted with black designs with its variants such as the Harappan, the OCP, the Kayatha-Malwa, Jorwe and the Lustrous Red ware fabrics are the products of identical technology. The red colour of the surface is due to the presence of iron compounds in clay which impart the red colour to the pottery when fired under oxidising conditions.

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The temperature required for such red wares is around 800°F. The bright red slip such as that on the Harappan pottery is said to be due to ferric oxide and the presence of manganese oxide in the pigment has made them black or dark brown.

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The designs were executed with manganiferous haematite and hence they have turned black in firing. Even today the potters of north India produce black-on red painted pottery by using the same materials.

Painted Grey Ware

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The painted grey ware (PGW) is one of the most characteristic ceramic of the middle Ganga Valley (Tripathi). Technologically it has proved to be the most enigmatic pottery, and culturally too the PGW problem has been vexing the brains of scholars since its discovery in the forties. The pottery was first noticed in the excavations at Ahicchatra (present Ramnagar, Dist. Bareilly, U.P.) but the chronological position was later clearly established at Hastinapur (Dist. Meerut, U.P.) which was excavated by B.B. Lal (1954-55, pp.5-151) of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1948-49. Since then a number of PGW sites have been discovered. They suggest that the culture was spread in western U.P., Haryana, eastern Punjab and eastern Rajasthan. Recent exploration by Rafiq Mughal of Pakistan have brought to light a few PGW settlements in the erstwhile Bahawalpur state, on the fringe of Thar Parkar desert of Pakistan (Lal, B.B. *Ibid*). Similarly the misconception regarding the superficial identity between the PGW and the grey ware from Thessaly in Greece has to be removed. The author had occasion to visit the neolithic site in Thessaly viz., Sesklon and Dimini whence the grey ware has been reported. It should be remembered that in Greece the pottery occurs in Neolithic levels which are now dated in the fifth millennium B.C. and is entirely different in form and fabric.

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Nevertheless B.B. Lal (*Ibid*) is inclined to attribute the authorship of the PGW to the Aryans of the Mahabharata period. It is also important to note that the PGW is a Iron Age Culture.

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The PGW is a wheel turned pottery of extremely fine fabric. It is ash grey in colour and is painted with designs in black which are mostly linear such as groups of lines, sigmas, spirals etc. It is represented by bowls with vertical sides and dishes with incurved rim. The core of the pottery is uniformly grey but the surface colour sometimes changes into light orange as is evident from the specimens from Ahicchatra. Although the technique of producing the ceramic was not clearly known till recently, the experiments by K.T.M.. Hegde have been helpful in understanding it (Hegde, 1975, pp. 187-190). He observes: “After painting, the pots were stacked in a saggar. The gaps between the pots in the saggar were probably filled with goat droppings or some other carbonaceous material.......and sealed the saggar in a kiln, gently raising the temperature of the kiln to about 800°C and retaining the kiln at that temperature for some time, at least over twelve hours. In this way red ochre pigment was reduced into magnetite and the evenly baked PGW was produced”(Hegde, 1975, *Ibid*). Thus according to him, the black pigment of the painting is magnetite. The black slipped pottery which is found associated with the PGW at many north Indian sites, also belongs, technologically to the same class as the PGW. The black slip, according to Hedge, was produced by the application of liquid clay containing finely ground red ochres burnishing it and then firing the ware under reducing conditions (Hegde 1975, p.198)

Northern Black Polished Ware

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The Northern Black Polished Ware (NBP) is perhaps the finest of the Indian ceramic wares of the ancient period (Krishna Deva and Wheeler, pp. 55-59).It is a most distinctive pottery which displays a high degree of technological excellence. As the very name signifies, it is essentially a pottery of northern India but has a very wide distribution in terms of space. It is found almost all over of north India, having its focus in the ancient Magadha region of Bihar, that is the area around modern Patna. It is found in Bengal and also in Central India but rather rarely in Gujarat and Maharashtra. A few specimens have also turned up as far south as Amaravati near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. Outside India it occurs in the present day Pakistan and even beyond in eastern Afghanistan. In terms of time it can be assigned to a period from 600-200 B.C., broadly but the recent C-14 dates place the beginning of this ware slightly later in 4th century B.C.

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Although the bulk of the pottery is black, that is having a black slip, we come across specimens of different colours ranging from steel grey to bluish black and even red and silver and golden NBP has also been reported. Sometimes reddish blotches are seen on vessels. Painted NBP has been reported at Sravasti. The pottery is made of extremely fine clay and the core is usually grey. It is treated with a thin slip which bears extremely high, almost mirrorlike polish. It is represented mostly by bowls with straight sides and dishes with incurred rim and the ware is thus akin to the PGW in form and fabric. It is, therefore, not unlikely that it may perhaps represent the further stage of technological development of the PGW. Besides, there are lids with flat terminals and carinated handles. The mirror-like polish of the NBP has proved to be extremely enigmatic and has so far eluded all attempts at solving the mystery. Several scientists have offered their own explanation based on their experiments, but there does not seem to be any general agreement within sight.

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Among the early attempts to explain the technology of the NBP, the noteworthy is that by Sana Ullah. His analysis revealed that “the slip on the pottern contains about 13% ferrous oxide which is responsible for the black colour. The original slip was evidently a highly ferruginous (possibly consisting of a finely levigated mixture of clay and red ochre) ground in water and applied to the surface of the vessel before firing.

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The black colour was doubtless developed by the action of reducing gases formed in the kiln. The polishing might have been done before or after the firing. The coating is not a siliceous glaze (Sana Ullah, p.58).

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Yet another authority has suggested that the pottery was fired at a very high temperature in saggars, as was done in the case of the PGW. This is very likely in view of the similarity in fabric of both the PGW and the NBP (Rowson).

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Bimson, an expert of the British Museum, has also explained the technology of the ceramic. In his option, cited by sir Mortimer Wheeler, “The unfired pots were dipped in a suspension of ferruginous inorganic material, probably resembling red earth and that after firing to a temperature of 800° the kiln was sealed so that the pots cooled in a reducing atmosphere. The mineralogical identity of the “red earth” has not been discovered and the main problem, namely the precise nature of the surface layer, still remained unsolved (Wheeler, 1959, p. 30).

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According to K.T.M. Hedge, the mirror-like polish of the NBP ware “was produced by an application of liquid clay, quite similar to that employed for manufacturing the body of ware, but which in addition to levigation was carefully further shifted and cleaned for the purpose of reducing heavier particles like felspar, quartz and limestone present in the clay by means of suspending and stirring the clay in water. This clear clay liquid was then peptized by the addition of an alkali containing material” (Hedge, 1962, pp.159-161; 1966, p.623). The clay solution thus prepared and treated with a little alkali gives a black shiny slip when fired in reducing conditions.

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The Alkaline material used by the NBP potters, according to Hedge, was sājji māṭṭi. He produced the NBP in his laboratory using ground red ochre and sājji māṭṭi in clay (Hedge, 1975, 188). H.C. Bharadwaj, on the basis of his experiments, observes that “We may tentatively suggest that the black colour of the slip is materially on account of carbon and our experiments and observations do not substantiate the presence of magnetite or ferrous silicate.” (in Sinha, p.19)

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Although there does not seem to be any general opinion about the technology of the NBP, K.T.M. Hegde’s observations are significant. He observes: “It appears that the potters were experimenting. They first used red ochre as the painting medium to decorate the Painted Grey Ware. In the second stage they ground it with clay and *Sājji māṭṭi* to produce the black slip on the Black Slipped Ware. In the third stage, they ground it with clay and *sājji māṭṭi* to produce the lustrous slip-glaze on the Northern Black Polished Ware. All the there wares were baked in a reducing atmosphere. The NBP was their highest achievement (Bharadwaj, 1975, p.190).

Mughal Glazed Ware

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This is essentially a ceramic with its surface treated with a glaze. It occurs almost all over the country in the levels assignable to the mediaeval period. The ceramic is rather coarse in fabric and is usually represented by bowls and dishes, and sometime small pots. In a majority of cases the glaze is pale green in colour in limitation of the Chinese Celadon.

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Although it has not yet been scientifically examined, the glaze can be said to be the result of the use of powdered glass in the solution. The glaze was applied when the pot is in the leather hard condition. In several cases we notice that the glaze has a tendency to run on.

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A coarser fabric of the glazed ware has been reported at Hastinapur (Dist: Meerut, U.P.). It is of whitish colour and has a sandy core (Lal, 1954-55, p.71). Only two types, bowl and dish, are represented in this ware (Fig. 7). An interesting feature of this ware is the ring base which is common to almost all the vessels. The designs, both geometric and floral, are painted in blue or chocolate brown and sometimes white too. Similar pottery is found in Afghanistan where it is known as the ‘Timurid Ware’ and the Indian variety appears to have been imported from there (Hethington, pp. 15ff). But it should be noted that the technology of glaze has a very high antiquity in India; even the Harappans produced a type of glazed ware Sankalia, 1970, p. 11). In the post- Harappan period, no glazed ceramic worth the name was produced in India. The glazing technique was perfected by the Chinese and the credit of medieval glazed wares in India ultimately goes to them.

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Fig.7 Mughal glazed ware

Chinese Ceramics

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The Chinese ceramic wares occur in different parts of the country in early medieval levels. They can be divided into two groups viz., i) the Celadon and ii) the Porcelain. The former also is a glazed pottery but can be distinguished on account of its greenish colour. It is roughly coloured with crackled surface. The other variety is usually white coloured with paintings in blue, sometime stamped with the mark of the manufacturer (Fig. 8). However, in terms of time, the Celadon ware has an earlier beginning going back to 7th century A.D. Both the wares occur in India and have a datable value.

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The name Celadon is generally supposed to have been based on the colour of the costume of a character, Celadon, in *L’Astree*, a 17th century French romance. But this is rather incorrect for according to some, the name is derived from ‘Salahdin’ a Sultan of Egypt who sent forty pieces of this ware to Nur-ed-din, Sultan of Damascus in 1171 A.D. (Savage, p. 40). The ware was much in demand because of its supposed medicinal properties as also for its aesthetic quality.

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Fig.8 Chinese porcelain, a bowl from Ahmednagar (Maharashtra)

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It was Marco Polo, the great Venetian traveller, who described the manufacture of the Chinese porcelain which he witnessed the country of Kubla Khan. He gave it the name porcelain because it resembled the shells of the genus porcellana (Savage p.38). The Chinese, however, call it tzu because of the metallic sound it produces when struck. The ceramic is made of a mixture of Kaolin (meaning ‘high ridge’, a place where it was found; it is the same as China clay) and pai-tun-tzu. The latter was used in powdered form for glazing as early as third century B.C. Later it came to be used in the body of the ceramic (Honey, p.13). The Celadon was made locally mostly in the Cheking province of China. It was already in production before the end of the Tan Dynasty (618-906). Much of it was specially made for export and its distribution began before A.D. 883, the date of the abandonment of Samarra on the Tigris, where the ceramic has been found. Al-Biruni (A.D. 973-1048) refers to the export of the wares to India. Marco Polo (1288) who gave them the name porcelain, also describes the route of export from China to India through Sumatra - Martaban (Burma) from where it was transhipped to the Malabar coast, Gujarat, Cambay and Malwa (Savage, p.95)

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The Chinese Celadon was held in high esteem in the medieval world probably because it resembled jade and was therefore thought to possess the qualities of the latter such as smooth, resonance and durability. But the Sultans in West Asia perhaps attached to it the quality of revealing poison in food when placed in it - a characteristic of jade. This would explain the export of mostly dishes and bowls of Celadon ware to West Asia and also to India under the Mughals. This belief in the magical properties of the Celadon have been recorded in 13th century by the philosopher Āṭ-Ṭusi (1201-74) in a book on precious stones written for Halaku, the Mongol conqueror of Baghdad, to instruct him in the appreciation of the gifts and ornaments presented to him. At-Tusi states that poison in food placed in a Celadon vessel would cause it to sweat, and that powdered Celadon porcelain would act as a tooth salve and would check nose bleeding. In other forms of the legend current in India and Persia, it is affirmed that “if poison is present, the dish will crack or change colour or the food will change its smell” (Honey, pp. 95-96)

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The Chinese porcelain is usually represented by bowls and dishes, all with foot rings. The vessels of China clay were fired into porcelain at about 1300°C. With the help of a less decayed and more fusible form of the felpathic material called by the Chinese pai-tun-tzu. This latter is the same as petuntse in the 18th century French phonetic equivalent. It actually means “little white rocks”, because the material was sent to the potter in the form of small bricks after being pulverised and refined (Honey, p.13). The ware was placed in saggars or otherwise supported by firing setters and was fired in a continuous tunnel kiln which was a Chinese invention.