History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c15.s8: Mughal Glazed Ware
History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c15.s8
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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