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History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c17.s3.t4: Beryl and Emerald in Indian History

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c17.s3.t4

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Beryl and Emerald in Indian History

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The popularity of green beryl or vaidūrya in ancient India is clearly revealed from the writings of Pāṇini, Kauṭilya and Patañjali. The Greek and Roman writers also attested to this fact. Rufus described king Saubhuti presenting ’his spectre made of gold and set with beryls’ to Alexander (McCrindle, 1896, 1969: 220). Several Buddhist relic caskets contained semi-precious stones, quartz crystal, carnelian and malachite bird and beryl reliquary (as in 2nd century B.C. site of Bhattiprolu, near Guntur, Andhra Pradesh). The Buddhist monks and nuns were asked not to use shoes ornamented with, and bowls set with vaidūrya or beryl which must have been popular luxury commodities during the pre-Christian era (Mahāvagga 5.8.3; Cullavagga, 5.9).

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Pliny of the first century A.D. wrote in his Naturalis Historia (37.5) that beryl was seldom found outside India, and that the Indians had discovered how to make counterfeit gems, and specially beryl, by staining crystal. Marshall has corroborated this through his observations on the Taxilan samples. Solinus of the third century A.D. drew upon Pliny, and wrote: “The Indians rub down the beryl into hexagonal forms in order to impart vigour to the dull tameness of the colour by the reflection from the angles. Of the beryl the varieties are manifold”. The Greeks accompanying Alexander were surprised to note the Indians’ fascination for green beryl which possessed only light colour. The Greeks might have introduced the Egyptian emerald of brighter greenness to the Indians who continued to import the same as marakata during the post-Christian era of trade with the Romans.

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The Ratnaśāstra texts are full of poetic descriptions related to light green beryl, intense green emerald and bluish ultramarine: ‘like the peacock’s tail, the wing of the nīla- kaṇṭha, parrot’s wing, moss, fresh grass, glow-worm’s back, the sirisa flower’ and so on (RP 152, 158-159; Garuḍapurāṇa, 1.71. 1- 29, Manimālā, 362-364 and 377-379). Skanda Purāṇa (23.135) categorised different kinds of beryl and emerald, and recorded the geographical locations of their mines.

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*The Antiquity of Diamond Mining in India*

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No C-14 dating of ancient diamond mine in India is available. Reviewing the position, Bauer (1968: 141) commented that the working of the most important diamond deposits known at present ‘do not date back to very remote periods, probably in all cases subsequent to the year 1000 A.D. and sometimes much later’. We disagree on the basis of literary records, but do not have specific C-14 dates or archaeological evidences to counter Bauer’s statement. Fig. 1 shows the diamond fields in India as drawn in 1896 (Bauer: 1968,144). Possibly several of these sites were known in the ancient period.

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Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra of the late 4th century B.C. was probably the first text to describe the Indian diamond or vajra and the mode and area of its occurrence (2.11.37-41). The mine and stream deposits were listed as their sources.

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It is hard to identify the precise locations of the place- names mentioned in Arthaśāstra, Bṛhatsaṃhitā, Ratnaparīkṣā, Agastimata etc. regarding the diamond fields but we may conjecture the following locations: eighty miles south-east of Nagpur on the Sath river, a tributary of Wainganga (Vena of the Bṛhatsaṃhitā), the present Wairagadh, anciently known as Vajragṛha, the Kośala region of Ākarāvantī around the famous Pānnā in Madhya Pradesh, the region around the Golconda mines formerly known as Matanga, the Kalinga mine of Hirā-Kund (literally means diamond mine), the alluvial sources from the Mahanadi in the Sambalpur district, the Koel river etc.

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During the first century A.D., the precise source of the Indian diamonds was not known to the Roman traders, but later Ptolemy reported the diamonds coming from Sambalpur (Sabarae), the Sank branch of the Brahmani river, the Kośa or Kośala (panna) etc.

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Diamond was used not only as gem but also as an abrasive. Gwinnett and Gorelick (1988: 187-193) have studied one of the seven rock crystal artifacts obtained from Arikamedu (dated not later than 300 A.D.) and proved that this ‘lapidary training piece’ was drilled with a twin diamond drill.

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The drill holes were studied with a technique known as functional analysis, in which an impression of the hole was made using a silicone material. This model in effect turned the hole inside out. The impression was then coated with conductive gold and examined in an Amray 1000 Scanning Electron Microscope, and observations recorded on Polaroid film.

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The details clearly revealed the use of diamond drills in processing hard rock crystal artifacts at Arikamedu.

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Agate and carnelian were mined, processed and used even in the Pre-Harappan times. Yellowish varieties containing hydrated ferric oxide used to be dehydrated on heating and thus reddened to beautiful carnelian in an age-old practice. The best known deposits are found in the Rajpila hills at Ratanpur, on the lower Narmada river.

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Ball (1881: 507-513) reported the Ratanpur mine shafts to be 4’ ft in diameter and about 30’ ft deep with galleries branching off on all sides.

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Furthermore, Peyton (Paithan or Pratisthana) on the Godavari has been identified as Plithana of the Periplus (1st century A.D.) where agate and onyx used to be mined and sent to Broach for processing and export (Ball, 1881: 505).

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We would now mention one non-gem mineral resource widely used in ancient India. The major source of sodium has been the riverine efflorescent alkaline *reh* deposits which ruin agriculture but aid industries. These natural deposits of *reh* salts, known as *khari* in Bihar, *kallar* in Punjab, *chavudu* in Andhra Pradesh, were used in the ancient times for making glass, providing glaze in the NBPW ware etc.

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*Sāji māṭṭi* is the name of the crude mixtures of sodium salts lixiviated out of *reh* and concentrated, and sold for making soap, glass, detergents etc. Typical compositions of *reh*, *sāji māṭṭi* and salt lake bittern are given in Table 5.

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Auden et al (1942) estimated that the *reh* - infested districts of Utter Pradesh alone produced 0.5 m ton Na₂CO₃, 0.6 m ton NaHCO₃ and 0.3 m ton Na₂SO₄. Similar data from other states have been compiled by Brown and Dey (1955).

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Limited space does not permit us to discuss the huge variety of gem and non-gem minerals used in ancient India. Some idea regarding the enormity of the subject may be gleaned from the long list of post-Christian era Sanskritic words related to metals, gems and non-gem minerals (Biswas, A.K., 1991). We mention only a few non-gem minerals of commercial importance in ancient India: *adrija* (bitumen), *abhraka* (mica), *kajjali* (cinnabar), *karpūrarasa* (calomel), *kāṃksi* (alum), *kasisa* (green vitriol or ferrous sulphate), *kharpara* (zinc ore), *gandhaka* (sulphur), *gāndhāra* (red lead), *culikā lavaṇa* (sal ammoniac), *tankana* (borax), *tala* (orpiment), *tutthaka* (blue vitriol), *nilāñjana* (stibnite), *makaradhvaja* (mercuric sulphide), *manaḥśilā* (realgar) *mākṣika* (pyrite), *svarṇamākṣika* (chalcopyrite), *mṛddāraśṛṅga* (anglesite or litharge), *rasaka* (calamine), *rasakarpūra* (mercuric chloride), *rasasindura* (mercuric sulphide), *rasāñjana* (stibnite), *varāṭikā* (marine nodule), *vahnimṛttikā* (fire-clay), *vimalakā* (pyrite), *kāṃsya vimala* (arsenopyrite), *śilājatu* (bitumen), *sarjikā mṛttikā* (river-bed alkaline *reh*), *sasyaka* (blue vitriol), *sīsaja* (red lead), *suvarcikā* (borax), *srotāñjana* or *sohta* (carrollite), *haritāla* (orpiment, also löllingite?), *hiṅgula* (cinnabar) etc. ¹

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Table 5 — Typical compositions of *reh*, *saji matti* and bittern (compiled from La Touche, 1912, Auden, 1942, and Brown and Dey, 1955)

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| | Moradabad *reh* | Meerut *reh* | Kanpur *saji matti* | Sambhar bittern | Lonar Lake incrustation fractions |
| Na₂CO₃ | 9.66 | 4.68 | 27.02 | 14.5 | 8.2-33.2 |
| NaHCO₃ | 8.55 | 3.96 | 4.28 | 9.1 | 6.3-24.4 |
| NaCl | 1.92 | 3.88 | - | 28.6 | 28.0 (av.) |
| Na₂SO₄ | 8.66 | 1.19 | 33.98 | 40.5 | 2.0 (av.) |
| | | | | K₂O | 4.3-10.3 |

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