History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c15.s8.3

v1.c15.s8.3

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.