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History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c20: 4.3 Dyes, Mordants and Pigments

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c20

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English

Contents

4.3 Dyes, Mordants and Pigments

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Man is a lover of beauty. He likes to add colour to the objects around or change their colours to make them look more beautiful and delightful to the eye. Colour is defined as a quality which can be cognised only by the eyes¹. The moment any object is seen, the eyes are first attracted to its colour. Hence, ever since the dawn of civilization, man was inclined to make different objects more pleasing by painting them with beautiful colours and by dyeing a few objects like fabrics etc. in delightful colouring materials. Painting and dyeing have got their utilitarian value also. They protect the surface from getting affected in changing atmospheric conditions, hide the defects on the surface of different objects like structural walls, cloth, hair, etc., and prevent metals from getting corroded.

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Colouring of any object can be done by means of dyestuffs and pigments. Though dyes and pigments are both colouring agents, dye-stuffs are defined as chemical compounds which have the property when in solution to colour vegetable or animal fibres permanently with or without the use of auxiliary agents (Riegal, p.508). Pigments are insoluble in the coating material whereas dyes dissolve in and colour the coating material. Pigment is an insoluble substance used to give colour or tint to paints and other surface coatings (Newman 1963).

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Reason for dye activity among dyes is found in their basic or acidic substituents. It is easy to dye wool or silk because they are essentially protein and have both basic and acidic properties. But dyeing cotton is difficult without the prior use of mordants which are substances found to be capable of penetrating and adhering to the fibres. The dye added after using mordants forms an insoluble product in the cotton fibres.

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It is indeed surprising that people in Ancient India and even those who belonged to pre-historic times had the knowledge of the properties of different colouring agents, both organic and inorganic, and knew the techniques of making use of dyes, mordants and pigments for colouring and painting different objects.

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Dyes and Dyeing

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There are many archaeological and literary sources to prove that the art of dyeing was in vogue ever since the dawn of civilization in India. Dyes and dyeing are problems with which man was concerned since ancient times. A dye is a coloured substance which imparts more or less permanent colour to other materials. All coloured substances cannot be used as dyes. Some coloured substances, usually organic chemical compounds may be added to cloth in water and after a period of soaking, usually accompanied by heat and agitation, the cloth will be coloured and the colour also remains fast.

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Dyes which are prepared in the form of powder, paste or solution are utilized generally in colouring cotton, wool, silk, cloth of natural fibres, in cosmetics, in the manufacture of ink etc. Many soluble dyes are converted into pigments by forming insoluble salts (by replacing sodium in a dye salt with calcium) for use in lacquers, paints, etc (McGraw-Hill). Dyestuffs are used for artificial colouring of food articles and soft drinks. They are also used for colouring hair, fur, metals, etc.

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Dyes for Textiles

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In India, the art of using dyes to ornament fabrics has an ancient origin. The discovery of a fragment or maddar-dyed fabric at Mohenjo-daro sticking to a silver vase leads us to believe that Indus Valley people were acquainted with the technique of dyeing cotton with red colouring matter of the maddar root and that mordant process of dyeing cloth was known in India 5,000 years ago (Indian Printed Textiles, 1950). During this period spinning of cotton and wool seems to have been very popular among all classes of people for the whorls made of cheap as well as costly materials have been found. From the drawings of figures of men and women on the walls of these ancient sites, it becomes evident that Indus valley people donned themselves in clothes with different designs and that they were acquainted with the art of dyeing cotton with the red colouring matter of the maddar root after using some mordant. Since many dyeing vats are also found, it is proved that dyeing of fabrics was practised on large scales as a profession.

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Vedic texts provided evidence to the fact that the art of dyeing and printing textiles had reached a developed stage even in those early days. It is said that the robe of a king who is initiated to perform Rājasūya Yajña was fully worked or painted with designs of various forms of the yajña. On the occasion of marriage, bridal dresses were beautifully decorated with lovely designs and golden motifs (Śat. Br. 5.3. 520). Mention of words like rajayatri in Vedic texts clearly indicate that dyeing cloth was practised as a profession and a separate professional group was engaged in this (Śukla YV, Adhyāya 30; Vāj. S. 3). During this period, people were using cotton, woolen and silken cloths. Wool was first dyed in the desired colours and from this dyed wool, cloth was made (Śat. Br. 5.3. 521). The dyes used during the early period were natural colouring agents like saffron, henna, extracts of plants, leaves, flowers, fruits etc.

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Buddhist literature also testifies to the fact that colours were obtained for dyeing purposes from the roots, stems, barks, leaves, fruits and flowers of trees. With these dye-stuffs many beautiful designs of flowers, hoods of serpents etc. were made on the dresses of varied colours of the gṛhasthas (MV. 8.10.29). Among the dyes or colours used by ancient Indians, we find frequent mention of indigo (nīla), lac (lākṣā), turmeric (haridrā), maddar (manjiṣṭhā) and resin (rajana). In Samyutta Nikāya it is said that just as a dyer or painter with dyes or lac or turmeric or indigo or maddar and a well-smoothed wooden panel or wall or piece of cloth can produce the form of a woman or a man completed in every detail, similarly the uninstructed ordinary person brings body (rūpa) into existence, brings feeling, perception etc. also into existence (SN. III.22.100). The Vinaya texts of the Buddhists also describe six sources of dyes for robes - dyes made from roots, trunks, barks, leaves, flowers and fruits of trees. The dye was extracted from these raw materials and the robes were dyed in a trough. Ever since the day of Indus valley civilization, the process of preparing the solution of dyes in large vats and dipping and agitating the cloth in them were followed by the dyers.

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There are many references to cotton fields, use of dyed cotton and silken clothes in ancient Prākṛt texts also. It is mentioned that cotton seeds were treated with red lac juice in a special manner to get red-tinged cotton(Sar. S. Arhaṭa Prakaraṇa) Dyed cloth was liked by everyone in ancient India, and women, especially, were proud of wearing dyed garments. Raktadukūla or red silk was very popular. Plantain green also was a favourite colour. Red blouse was considered an ornament for women. The orange-red colour is described as the colour of kusumbha flower. Literary texts of this period are replete with references to the colour indigo. Indigo is a very fast colour and was used in a large scale for dyeing cloth as it sticks well to the cloth. Abhisārikās who were eager to meet their lovers in the dark, used to don themselves in dark blue dresses dyed in indigo so that they could not be seen by others in the dark (Gāt. S. II.65; IV.60; VI.69; VI.45; Gau V. 255). Our ancients could name different colours and hundreds of different tints by identifying them with the natural colours of the flora and fauna.

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Kauṭilya has furnished a list of different types of textiles, viz., kṣauma (rough silken cloth), dukūla (fine silk), kṛmitāna (Chinese silk) and kaṅkata (cotton cloth). In the list of dye- stuffs, haritāla, manaḥśilā, hiṅgula, loha, varṇadhātu etc. are mentioned. Among the different types of woolen dress material, Kauṭilya mentions varṇaka (dyed woolen blanket) and saumitika, a black woolen cloth spread on the howdah of elephants. Among the woven woolen cloth, there is a mention of vanacitra, a type of dress-material in which different floral designs are made in the weaving itself. This implies that yarns were dyed in various colours and woven in different patterns. Bhingisi is another type of blanket in which eight pieces are joined to each other and this is black in colour. White shawls from Bengal and black ones from Puṇḍra Deśa are mentioned. Another cotton cloth well-known during the time of Kauṭilya was that fine variety from Madurā with different desings made of dots. It is quite probable that the famous tie-and-dye varieties of Madura saris are meant here (AS 1988. II.22.6; II. 11.103-108).

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In the epics and purāṇas also we get many references which throw light on the popularity of dyed clothes among all classes of people. The garment of Añjanā was yellow with a red border. Abhisārikās attired themselves in blue clothes. The hermits’ robes and also perhaps the dresses of servants were usually dyed in yellowish red colour (Vāl R. IV.66.12; VII.26.17; I.4.4 etc) As regards dyes and colours, the purāṇas often refer to white, blue, yellow, red and multicoloured clothes.

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It is well-known that Lord Kṛṣṇa is described as wearing yellow coloured clothes while his brother Balarāma is fond of blue robes. Even other deities are described as wearing different coloured clothes. In the list of occupations a raṅgajīvin is referred to from which it can be inferred that the art of dyeing was well-known (Bra. Pu 44.30). It may also refer to a painter. Kṛṣṇa and Balarama defeated the raṅgakāraka of Kaṃsa and took away dyed clothes from him. Lord Kṛṣṇa is also described as wearing clothes decorated with powdered pigments of gold (suvarṇāñjana cūrṇa)². From all these references it is evident that generally, locally prepared vegetable and mineral dyes were in use. Most common colours in the early centuries were white, red, yellow, green, black and blue. Some colours were of darker as well as of lighter shades. Some became deeply set after a wash, being coloured with the help of a machine. Even though the references to the technique of dyeing cloth with the help of machines are found in later medieval texts (Bas. Pu. III.V. 160), we may presume that this was practised even in ancient India because dyed clothes were very popular then.

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Varāhamihira of about 6th century A.D. supplies lots of information on dyed clothes and garments of ancient India. We get references to garments of various colours, clothes dyed in yellow, blue, red, etc.and the people who wear them (Br.S.LXXXVI.15.40; C.8; XXIV.18; LVII.32; LXXXVI.25 etc). White cloth was considered as best suited for dyeing in red, black and other colours.

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Women attending auspicious functions like marriages and brides were attired in clothes coloured in Kusumbha flowers (Carthalus tinctories). Ascetics wore saffron red garments and were known as kaṣāya (YY. II.1; XII.14; Viv. P. 10.12).

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Śivatattvaratnākara, an encyclopaedic work of the 17th century is a storehouse of information related to ancient Indian culture. We get information about different colours in which clothes were dyed. People were fond of wearing cotton, silken and woolen clothes collected from different parts of the country dyed in different colours like blue, black, smoky shade (grey), rosy pink, violet like jambu fruits³. Clothes were made beautiful with lots of attractive designs of animals and birds and also with different patterns of lines and dots in red, black, yellow and green colours. Clothes were dyed in mañjiṣṭhā, lākṣā, sindura, haridrā, nīlī, abhaya, (extract of a yellow myrobalan tree),etc⁴. Kings were advised to wear parrot green and peacock blue coloured silken and cotton clothes in spring season, white in summer, red woolen clothes dyed in mañjiṣṭhā in rainy season. Beautiful pink and grey clothes of very fine quality should be worn in autumn. In winter and during travel, clothes dyed in kusumbha and lākṣā should be selected. From these references and also those in other texts like Abhilasitārtha Cintāmaṇi of Someśvara of the 12th century, we can gather that all types of clothes like woolen, silken, fur and even those made from plant fibres were dyed in different pleasing colours.

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Several other literary works in Sanskrit of the early centuries also contain many references to the wide use of dyed clothes in ancient India and that particular colours like blue, red, etc. were liked by all classes of people.

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The above instances are adequate to provide ample proof of the developed state of textile industry in ancient India and particularly that of textile dyeing industry in those days. Even though direct information with regard to the technique applied in dyeing industry is very meagre in the ancient texts, to some extent it can be inferred from the references to the materials mentioned therein.

Mordants

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Dyes which have little or no affinity for certain substances may yet be fixed on them if a mordant is first applied. Mordants are substances found to be capable of penetrating and adhering to fibres. Since wool and silk have both acidic basic properties, they are easily dyed. But dyeing cotton is difficult as it requires the prior use of mordants. The dye added after mordanting forms an insoluble product in the cotton fibres.

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The discovery of a fragment of a maddar-dyed fabric at Mohenjo-daro is a strong evidence to prove that the mordant process of dyeing cotton cloth was known in India 5,000 years ago. The hundreds of references in our ancient texts about dyed cotton fabrics in different colours with different floral and geometrical designs suggest that dyers of ancient India knew the use of mordants and selection thereof for different types of textiles.

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Early in the 6th century A.D., Varāhamihira has alluded in Bṛhat Saṃhitā to the preparation of fast dyes for textile fabrics by the treatment of natural dyes like mañjiṣṭhā with alum and other chemicals (like sulphate of iron, kāsīsa in Sanskrit) as also with cowdung⁵. Tuvarī (alum) is described as colour-binding substance of maddar. It is well-known that alum and sulphate of iron are even now largely used as mordants.

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Tuvarī or alum is described as a fragrant earth produced in the mountains of Surat in Saurastra and which dyes cloth and fixes the colour of maddar. It is called saurāṣṭrī also and when applied to white cloth it serves as a mordant for dyes. A variety of it is slightly yellow and is called pītikā and another variety sphuṭikā is soft and acidic⁶. The two varieties of tuvari are also called phullikā and khaṭikā⁷. In Amarakośa of 600 A.D., kāṅkṣī, tuvarī and saurāṣṭraja are mentioned as synonyms. Since a large number of dye-stuffs and dyed textiles are mentioned in ancient texts, it becomes evident that dyers were using basic mordants like iron sulphate and aluminium sulphates for acid dyes and that for basic dyes, acid mordants like tannic acid were used.

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Since all dyes are not soluble in water, they have to be rendered water soluble by reduction or they have to be synthesised on the fibres (usually cotton) by means of methods like diazotization. Indigo or nīlī which have been very popular ever since the pre-Christian era and was an article of export to Egypt and other countries, is also an insoluble dye (vat dye) and our ancients knew the technique of making it soluble by reduction with which the dye could be impregnated in the cotton fibres by exposing to air or by oxidization. Besides alum, iron sulphate, etc., rind of lemon, flower of cotton, lime, lemon, green dried mangoes, myrobalans etc. were also used as fixing agents or mordants. Mordanting effect of each varied and each one influenced that final colour obtained. In some dyes, alum produced yellow colour, in other it yielded orange blue (Jaggi, I.p. 165)

Dyes and Cosmetics

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Dyes were used in cosmetics also. Chief among the cosmetics in ancient India was a paste of sandalwood, often coloured with lac and other dyes, smeared over the body and applied in different patterns. Collyrium (eye-salve) or añjana made of dark powdered antimony was very popular. Vermilion (sindura), lac (laksā) and a yellow pigment gorocana were used for marking as tilaka on the forehead. Lips, tips of fingers, toes, the palms and soles of feet were often dyed with red lac. Exposed parts of the body were also often painted with these dyes in different designs (Basham, pp 212-213). Betel leaves were chewed with lime and areca to redden the lips.

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Works like Nātyaśāstra supply funds of information regarding the use of dyes in beautifying the body⁸. Even children used to paint their body with colouring stuffs like extracts of minerals (dhāturasa). Mehndi or henna, a colouring material was used for colouring the palms, soles of feet, nails, hands, etc.

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Henna, well-known by the names mendi, mendhikā, mehndi, marudāṇī(Tamil), gorante (Kannada), all over India is a perennial shrub grown in India and Indian women are fond of making a paste of these leaves with lime for colouring their palms. It leaves a brownish red colour. A reddish dye is extracted from the leaves. The popular mendī or mehndi is identified with madayantikā which was used as an unguent or aṅgarāga⁹. Madayantika in Suśruta Samhitā (Ci, Ch. 25) is described as a dye-stuff to colour the nails (Gode, p 351). In the tantric work Rasārṇava, madayantikā is said to belong to pītavarga, a group of yellow dyes¹⁰. Even though it is said that henna leaves were used in ancient Egypt and Rome for colouring the hair, Indians also were equally acquainted with this colouring material known by the name Mendī eversince the ancient days, especially in South India.

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In Rasaratnakara, a few recipes are given for the preparation of kuṅkuma (used as tilaka). Boiled essence of palāśapuṣpa should be kept in the sun in a wide vessel. In that should be dropped rice powder in the proportion of 1:20. Then lime, of half of the volume, should be mixed and stirred well in bright sunshine. Out of this, pellets can be prepared which will have bright red colour like kuṅkuma. Rice and palāśapuṣpa should be ground well into a soft paste and then dried to make pellets of kuṅkuma. Kuṅkuma can be prepared from gairika and rajanī with soaked wood of neem or coconut shell (RNa, Gandhavāda Sec. 115-119, Gode, p. 91). In a similar manner coloured raṅgoli were also prepared.

Hair dyes

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People in ancient India were highly fashion conscious and they used special dyes to blacken their grey hair. Varāhamihira gives a method of preparing hair dyes from kodrava taṇḍula (grains of harika, Paspalum scrobiculatum) and Loha cūrṇa.(Bṛh. S.77.1-3) In the Bower manuscript, there is a mention of sulphates of copper and iron boiled with the oil of beleric myrobalan as a remedy for turning grey hair into black in a formula for hair-dye (Bower Ms.,Ray, p.68). Even though the manuscript is said to be of the 14th century A.D., the contents should represent knowledge acquired in earlier centuries. P.K. Gode had made mention of a very ancient work Nāvanītaka of 2nd century A.D. in which recipes for hair dyes are given. It is advised that after washing the hair with chebulic and emblic myrobalans, the hair should be anointed with a paste of alambusa (Sphaerantus indicus) and indigo. A paste of indigo, rock salt, long pepper with water is a hair-dye which will turn the grey hair black as antimony. Several such recipes are given to prepare hair dyes (Nāvanītaka, Gode, Vol.I)

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Among the several ingredients prescribed for the preparation of hair-dyes, several plants and minerals are included as colouring agents. Rocana (Bezoar), Kācamācī (Solanum nigrum), nīlikā, nīlī (dyers indigo), abhaya (harītakī), inknut, ayoraja, powder gum, tuttham (copper sulphate), kāsīsam (iron sulphate, green vitriol), nīlotpala (blue lily), jambū (black plum), kakubhaphalam (fruit of Arjuna tree), añjanavarṇa (mud of the colour of añjana), asana kaṣāya (extract or dicoction of asaṇa), mardayati (henna) and a few more.

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Madayantikā, which is mentioned in many ancient texts, is mentioned in Navanītaka as an ingredient for hair-dye. It is identified as mendī also for colouring nails. Hence madayantikā was, no doubt, a plant yielding a dye used in the preparation of cosmetics and hair-dyes during the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. Some of the ingredients given above were obviously used as dye- producing agents in hair-dyes. Some among them were used as dye- producing agents in ink manufacture also.

Dyeing agents in ink

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Dyeing agents are required in the preparation of inks also. The relic vase of the stupa at Andher, believed to be of 2nd century B.C. contains inscriptions written with ink on its surface. The inkpot found during the excavations at Taxila was on examination found to contain black carbon mixed with earth and this provides an evidence for the use of carbon ink in ancient India during the Kuṣāṇa period. (Archaeological Report, 1929, 30.209). There are several other archaeological evidences which throw light on the use of ink even before the Christian era. In ancient times, red lead and minium (hīngula) were used as substitutes for ink. The Kharoṣṭi documents from Khatan prove the use of ink in the 1st century A.D. Ancient painted inscriptions are still found fresh in the caves of Ajanta. The Jains have also used coloured inks extensively in their manuscripts. Professional writers were known by the names lipikāra and śāsana lekhaka (Śiv.R. V 15.86). It is well known that scholars and poets were writing on birch bark and palm leaves.

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All these references imply that ink was used extensively for writing and that ink manufacture was in vogue. Ink for writing on bhūrjapatra (birch bark) was made by converting almonds in to charcoal and boiling the coal thus obtained with gomutra (urine bovis). Though nothing much is said about the recipe of ink in any ancient texts, in lexicons like Śabdakalpadruma we come across many synonyms for masi like masijalam, kālī, añjanam, rañjani, malīñambu, etc. We can gather a few details regarding the preparation of ink in ancient India from a few sources of the later medieval period also. Buchanan has recorded ink manufacture in the form of liquid and solid. Lampblack was collected from earthen lamps of linseed oil and was mixed with the gum of Mimosa indica and a little water and rubbed in an iron mortar for three hours. Gall nuts were infused in the water and strained infusion was added to the rubbed material. After rubbing for six hours, the pot was kept in sunshine till they reached the consistency to make small lumps which were again dried in the sun (Ray, pp. 235- 36; Gode, pp.24-25). Even today lampblack is used as an essential ingredient for ink with an addition of gum, inknuts, sugar, etc.

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Jain texts contain preparation of different inks for writing on paper and on palm leaves. The former is made by mixing a coffee coloured infusion of roasted rice with lampblack and then adding sugar and sometimes juice of a plant called kesurte. For the other type also juice of kesurte was used with a dicoction of wheat flour. Since such inks are completely free from mineral substance, strong acids do not injure the substance of the paper and hence the writing never fades and it retains the gloss also.

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Generally the dye-stuffs producing black and red colour were used in preparation of inks. Sometimes haritāla (yellow orpiment) also was used. The use of haritala was very common in old manuscripts for correction of letters or deletion. Clothes were marked with marking inks known as dhoby's ink prepared generally from organic dyes like ink nuts etc. free from carbon.

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Rasaratnākara of Nityanāthasiddha of about 1200 A.D. gives recipes for preparing ink for writing on palm leaves and birch barks. The ingredients prescribed are abhaya (haritākī, chebulic myrobalan), āmalaka (Emblic myrobalan), nīlikā (dyer's indigo), kāsīsam (Green vitriol), vibhītaka (Beleric myrobalan), kārṣṇayam (black iron), sahacarapatram (Justicia ecbolium), oil of vibhitaka, flowers of sahacara, seeds of mango, asanakusuma (flowers of kino tree), lohacūrṇam (powder of iron), extract of decoction of asana, etc. Most of the above ingredients are no doubt dye-producing agents used in the preparation of inks of various colours (Ray, p.236)

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Several literary works of ancient India contain many references to the use of cloth for writing, particularly for writing letters. Valkalapaṭṭikā or piece of bark garment was used for writing purposes. Passages from kādambarī of Bana refer to this and also to the use of fine white cotton stuff. The main ingredients that are mentioned in these passages are the extracts of leaves of tamāla tree mixed with the fragrant ichor of elephant and a dark blue dye.¹¹

Other uses

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Ancient Indians knew the technique of adding kunkuma (saffron) dye to karpūra or camphor powder by placing the camphor powder in a crucible after treating it with kunkuma (Siv.R. VI. 25.50,51) In those days, drinks and sweets were also covered by adding approved colouring agents. We get a suggestion of this in Sivatattvaratnākara which gives a method of colouring curds (Siv. R. VI. 19.234-127).

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From the various references mentioned above from ancient and medieval texts, it becomes clear that along with the art of spinning and weaving, the secondary art of dyeing also flourished in Ancient India. Most of the colouring substances were obtained from vegetable sources like roots, trunks, barks, leaves. flowers and fruits.

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The dyers' class known by the name *rangakāraka* made their own colours and solutions from the raw materials. Generally, dye-producing vegetable substances were diluted in water in the form of powder, juice or lump and then boiled for preparation of dyes. Dyestuffs from animal sources were obtained by soaking the insects in water and squeezing them. Mineral colours were obtained by means of simple chemical processes.

Metals and Minerals

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At the beginning, even though natural organic and plant materials were used as dyes, in the course of the Gupta Age, as Tantric cult developed and alchemical techniques were practised, dyes also were prepared from minerals and other substances by means of several chemical processes. The art of dyeing, in this manner, has indirectly helped the development of chemistry in ancient India.

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Mineral dyes were utilized in colouring cotton, wool, linen, silk, cloth of natural fibres, ink, hair, cosmetics etc. Many soluble dyes were converted into pigments by forming insoluble salts for use in paints, inks etc. Many works of the Tantric period contain information on dyes being utilized in colouring metals also.

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In the texts dealing with alchemy and allied topics of ancient and middle ages we come across words like *loharañjaka*, *rasarañjaka*, *sūtarañjaka* etc¹². It is quite probable that in 4th or 5th century A.D., people were efficient in the techniques of colouring metals and minerals for several purposes. *Rasārṇava*, a tantric work says, "Iron, lead and copper are coloured by means of calamine - the whole thing turns into gold"¹³. *Rasaka* (calamine) is of three kinds, of the colour of the earth, of the colour of stones and of the appearance of treacle. *Rasaka* mixed with certain organic matters and roasted three times with copper converts the copper into a golden stuff. To obtain vermilion (*sindura*) of the colour of rising sun, it is advised that ash of mercury and sulphur of equal weights should be rubbed and roasted in a covered crucible. Blue vitriol (*tuttham*) which is of the colour of the neck of peacock, saffron (*kunkumam*), calamine (*rasaka*) and also the excreta of a young calf, the poisons (*visa halahala*), powdered *Plumbago zeylanica*, (*raktacitracūrṇa*), all in equal proportions should be rubbed with acids and dried in shade.

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Then adding honey to the mixture it should be smeared on a thin sheet of lead. When roasted in a covered crucible, the lead gets a beautiful colour fit to be used for bedecking gods (*Rṇv* VII.31-34; XIV.81; XVII. 70.74; Ray, pp 138-139).

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Apart from the Sanskrit texts dealing with alchemy in ancient India, a few Tibetan texts also furnish some information on the chemical process of colouring metals with organic and inorganic dye-stuffs. *Bilva* (wood apple), *dāḍima* (pomegranate) and a special kind of dye (*smantshos*) are to be burnt and mixed with sour wine in a copper pot for three days. In this manner, a paint will be prepared which should be applied twenty one times to a thin piece of iron and it becomes copper (copper coloured) [*Dhātuvāda*, 2,3, vide Ray] for Extracts.

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A plant named *kuṣṭha* (*Costus speciosa*) grown in the Himalayas are often mentioned in ancient Indian medical texts. It is said that the leaves of this plant drop a fluid towards the earth having a colour like bright gold. This has a dyeing effect when comes into contact with the ashes of pure lead and quicksilver. It turns copper mixed with silver into a golden material (*Dhātuvāda* 12). *Hingula* alum, blue vitriol etc. are said to be favourable for importing colour to quick-silver (*Śiv. R.* VI. 15.50-51; *Rhr*, Pātala VIII). To brighten the blue tinge of the precious stone *nila* (sapphire), it is said that the gem should be placed in a bronze vessel filled with indigo juice mixed with the juice of citrus fruit (*Śiv. R.* VI. 17.112)

Pigments

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Pigments are insoluble substances used to give colour or tint to paint and other surface coatings. It is generally distinguished from dye which is soluble and penetrates the tissues of fibres of any organic material (Newman, Vol.I). Pigments contribute to the optical and other properties of paints, finishes and coatings. Pigments for paint should be insoluble in their vehicle and chemically inert to it. They should have good covering or spreading power and clean intense colours. Since they are insoluble in the coating material, they are mechanically mixed with the coating and are deposited when the coating dries up. Their physical properties are not changed by incorporation in and deposition from the vehicle. Pigments may be classified according to composition as organic or inorganic or by source as natural or synthetic. Generally, for all practical purposes the classification may be done by colour or by function (McGraw-Hill, Vol-4). Since the pre-historic days, pigments were used in preparing slips and paints for potteries, for artistic paintings of pictures and portraits, for coating surfaces and walls etc.

Pottery Painting

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Pottery and pottery-painting were practised in India ever since the dawn of civilisation. People in very ancient settlements were well-acquainted with the art of making potteries of burnt clay and painting various designs on them. A large variety of ochres, haematites, pigments and organic colours were used by potters for slipping and painting the pots.

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Archaeologists are of the opinion that various earliest settlements of pre-historic India that have been unearthed represent independent cultures of their own and a classification has been made on the basis of techniques employed in pottery painting. From this is implied that these inhabitants of very early settlements were well-acquainted with the techniques related to pottery making and painting which involved the use of varied pigments for slipping and painting the clay pots.

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The art of painted and polychrome pottery had also developed. Actually, this knowledge of the prehistoric man in making use of different dyes and pigments to beautify objects like potteries and also the simple techniques he adopted for that purpose led to the development of paint technology in India.

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Regarding the pre-historic cultures, archaeologists have given a broad classification as Buff-ware culture and Red-ware culture based on the colours of the potteries found in those settlements. The potteries of the former culture have a buff-body painted over with designs in a purplish brown or black paint. The Amrinal pottery body, generally, is a very fine buff or pink and white slip is frequently applied as a background for painting designs. Polychromic pottery vessels with red, blue, green and yellow paint were also found in this settlement.

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Another series of sites of settlements of pre-historic India representing the Kulli culture is characterized by its painted pottery styles. Clay figurines also have been found here. The painting of the pottery body here is generally of black colour with an occasional use of red or white colour on which designs are also painted.

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The Zhob red-ware culture show more or less a distinctive painted pottery style with a red pottery body. The painting is stylish with red and black designs on the red body of the pots (Ray, pp.1-2).

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During Indus valley civilization potteries were produced on a mass scale on potters' wheel. Though the pottery is for the most part plain, decorated and painted potteries were also made by the Harappan workers. Black geometrical designs were painted on a deep lustrous slip.

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This characteristic of 'red and black' pottery of Harappan civilization is easily recognizable. A few polychrome potteries that have also been unearthed in these sites are painted in green and red on a buff slip. Chemical analysis has revealed that red or solomon colours in these objects are due to the presence of iron components in the clay. The slip of bright red colour found on some potteries is due to ferric oxide. The black and chocolate designs that are found painted on the body owe their colour to oxides of manganese. The colouring agents used by the Indus valley people are used even today by potters. Many of the ancient techniques of selecting and applying colouring materials have come down to the present time also.

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A large variety of ochres, haematites, pigments and organic colours were used by the potters of ancient India as they are done today. As a rule, slip treatment also was given to the pots before they were fired. Slipping serves two purposes it helps in closing the pores and secondly, it provides smooth surfaces helpful in painting a design on them. Slipping was done by dipping the pot after burnishing in a solution or by painting with a solution formed by the finest portion of the clay used for making the pot or of any suitable material. For slip preparation also ochres, pigments or clay were considered as suitable materials.

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The colours of slips used at Mohenjo-daro were buff, cream, pink and red. The first two seem to be natural ones. Lighter pink shades are attributed generally to traces of iron in the clay which on firing threw a pink colour. But the darker pink shades seem to have been produced by the addition of a slight red colouring. Red slips were produced by mixing red ochres with the clay or by using red ochre itself in solution as a slip. Dark red colour of the slips seems to have been derived by the use of red oxide in the slip (Jaggi,I,p. 100). The colours of these slips neither vanish nor fade in firing.

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As of today, in ancient India potters were preparing slips with red or yellow ochres which when applied emit a lustre on the surface. For black and chocolate shades, a manganiferous haematite. was used. Different varieties of ochres and haematites, which are known today by different local names in different parts of India, were made use of for colouring slips, like geru rangamati, dhau, multānimatti, etc. It is said that the manganese oxides frequently associated with ferric oxide give a pure black colour when rich in manganese. If iron in the mixture preponderates it gives a chocolate colour.

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Excavations at Sanci, Taxila and other places also have revealed further information regarding the character of pottery in India from about 500 B.C. to 100 B.C. The body of the potteries of these different sites consist of a finely levigated clay, usually grey but sometimes reddish in sections. This is covered with a brilliantly burnished slip having the quality of a glaze, with colours from jet black to grey, metallic steel blue occasionally varied with reddish brown patches.

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In this context, it is noteworthy that the polished stone surfaces of many of the Sanci stupas were reddened with a translucent stain which has the advantage of not obscuring the texture of the stone or the delicate details of the carvings. Sanci paintings on walls have been found to be made by mixing red ochre with lime-wash to give red or *geruka* (brownish yellow) colour (Ray, pp. 77-78). Red lead or minium has also been found as an ingredient for the application of red paint. Excavations at Arikamedu in the 1st and 2nd century A.D. have brought out potteries with burnished slips and some of them are glazed. The polished bright red slip has been identified as haematite. A slip of ferruginous clay was also applied to some (Ray, p. 83)

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The potteries unearthed from the pre-historic sites like Mohenjo-daro and Harappa and later on at Sanci and other places reveal the fact that people of these ancient days were acquainted with the properties of different colouring materials and pigments. Different varieties of ochres and haematities were used to prepare slips of different shades. The methods of slip preparation also varied from place to place. Most of the potteries found in these settlements were also painted. The technique of painting pots before firing and also painting designs on them after firing was in vogue. Mostly organic colours were used to paint the surfaces. For white pigment, lime, limestone, chalk and rice powder were used. To prepare black pigment, burnt cocoanut shell powder, soot, powdered charcoal, black iron oxide etc. were used.

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During Vedic times and later on, ritual pots were painted with floral and geometrical designs in red, yellow blue and green colours. Vermilion (mercuric sulphide) or *dhau* (ruddle) was used from red pigment, yellow colour was obtained from turmeric or from yellow earth (a kind of ochre), blue from indigo, green from leaves, of particular trees and iron sulphate. Grey was prepared from a kind of haematite, orange pigments were obtained by mixing red and yellow colours. Copper sulphate was mixed with red pigment to obtain purple pigment. Usually these pigments were prepared in plain water.

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Since different types of ochres, haematites, and local mud etc. were used for slips and also for painting the potteries, it is evident that methods like filtration, decantation, rubbing on a slab of granite with water, boiling with some other ingredients like calcium, *khadira* (catechu), soda etc., collecting barks and leaves from particular trees and allowing them to sour by adding rice starch etc. were adopted in preparing the pigments.

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Archaeologists have unearthed another important variety of pottery from the ancient Harappan sites known as faience. It is a vitreous substance with a glazy surface often coloured by the addition of suitable mineral matters (Ray, p.12).

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The painted grey-ware pottery is also well known from 100-400 B.C. approx. It is a thin grey deluxe ware, wheel made, well-burnt, glossy and painted with many decorative motifs.

Tinted Glass

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Even though no glass objects have been recovered from Indus valley areas, in ancient Indian literature there are references to glass and coloured glass articles which give evidence to the manufacture of glass and its use in India as early as 800 B.C. (MV. VIII.3; Cu. V. IX.1; Rām. II 90.27; ÁS II.11). Archaeological evidences also prove that glass beads, bangles, jars, tiles etc. were made from 6th or 5th century B.C. onwards. Most of the glass objects were coloured.

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Glass manufacture which was practised as an indigenous industry in ancient India and particularly in the south is brought to light from excavations at Arikamedu, Uraiyur and other places. Along with this, the technique of colouring glass also developed.

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The glass specimens show that the glass makers of ancient India were highly competent in giving different colours and shades to glass objects. Chemical analysis has revealed that the colouring agents were obtained generally from the metallic ores. Different chemicals added to them finally led to attribute different shades of colours and glazes to the glass objects. Coloured glass was prepared by mixing silicates of soda, lime and appropriate metallic oxides (Jaggi, I p.203). Copper oxide, iron oxide, manganese oxides were generally used to give colours to the glass articles. Different coloured glass beads of the early centuries with yellow matrix covered with green glass were discovered in Nasik, Kolhapur, and some other parts in South India and these are said to be of Satavahana period. A special type of glass beads of 350 A.D. to 750 A.D. found at Ahicchatra is of gold foil glass. Layers of gold foils were poured in between two glass layers. All these prove that craftsmen in ancient India were highly skilful in the sophisticated technique of using metallic ores and chemicals as pigments in colouring very high temperature melting media like glass.

Art Painting

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According to mythological sources it is believed that the principle of art painting was produced in the days of yore by the great sage Nārāyaṇa for the benefit of the world when he created the celestial nymph Urvaśī. The great sage used mango juice to create the beautiful nymph by drawing with it her picture on his thigh. From this painting Urvaśī emerged as a lovely maiden. Thus the first picture of painting was created with mango juice as the colouring material. Through this beautiful picture the sage Nārāyaṇa imparted the principles of perfect portrayal through different colours to Viśvakarma (Vi. Pu, Citrasūtra, 35, 1-5).

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However, leaving aside the mythological episode, the origin of paints dates back to pre-historic times when the people of that early period recorded some of their activities in colours (generally red and black) on the walls of caves. These were only crude earths or clays suspended in water. By about the Vedic period, ancient Indians had a wide number and variety of colours for painting pictures.

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In pre-historic cave painting, *gairika* was used as a pigment and black colour was painted with burnt wood. During Indus valley civilization, white, red, black, yellow, green colours were used. Painting had developed well in Vedic period also even though no specimen is available. Buddhist literature also is replete with references to different types of painting in different colours (*Kus*, 531; *MV*.5.10.3; 8.29). Auditoriums were decorated with beautiful paintings on the wall (*Nāṭ*. 290-291).

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In the Ajaṇtā caves, the paintings in the 9th and 10th caves are said to be created in 1st or 2nd century B.C. Specimens of paintings of Gupta period can be seen in the other caves of Ajaṇtā, Badāmi Bāg, Chittannavāsal in Tamil Nad, and also in the temples of Kanci and Tanjore at South India. In Ajaṇtā paintings extracts of plants and minerals were made use of in preparing pigments. First, the wall of the caves were prepared with a special *lepa* or coating and then the outline of the figure to be painted was drawn with black lines. Ellora mural paintings and Tanjore paintings of the 11th century are very famous for the beautiful depiction of figures in attractive bright colours and tints.

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At Ajaṇtā, Bāg and other caves, the colours most freely used were white, red and brown in various tints, a dull green and also blue. For white colour, sulphate of lime was used. Red and brown tints were obtained from compound of iron. Blue colour was obtained by grinding calcined lapislazuli - a costly semiprecious mineral usually imported. For yellow, the ancient painters used orpiment, a natural arsenic sulphide. In fresco paintings the pigments should be capable of resisting the decomposing action of lime and hence extra attention had to be bestowed upon selection of proper pigments. The fresco paintings testify to the knowledge and skill of the painters in preparing permanent colours out of vegetable and mineral sources.

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In ancient and medieval period, as seen even today, the main doors and entrances of houses were decorated with the figures of Ṣaṣṭī Devatā, Nāga, auspicious motifs like *svastika*, lotus etc. These were done with a paste of *haridrā*. Doorsteps of Hindu homes were decorated with colourful designs drawn with coloured powders called *Raṅgoli*. Red ochre, chalk powder, charcoal, green powder of dried leaves of some plants, *haridrā*, *nīlī* etc. were used for drawing *Raṅgoli*.

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Varāhamihira has referred to the art of painting as *citrakarma* and painters were known as *citrakāra*, *citrajña*, *alekhajña*, etc (*Bṛh. S*. LVII.14; V.74; IX.30; X.10; XVI.12)

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It is declared that among all arts and skills, painting is the foremost. Just as Sumeru is the best among mountains so also painting is the foremost among all arts (*Vi Pu*. II.43.39). This suggests that ancient Indians knew the art of selecting colours and mixing them to achieve different shades. Vātsyāyana has summarised the principles of the art of painting of the 8th century A.D. under six categories amongst which *varṇikabhaṅga* or mixing of colours is one¹⁴.

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From these references it becomes clear that the art of painting was in a highly developed state even in ancient India and that people knew the technique of preparing pigments for painting beautiful pictures and also suitable vehicles or media for the pigments.

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Among the Purāṇas, Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa is valued as an authoritative work on the techniques of different aspects of the art of painting. To begin with, it gives a recipe for preparing a lepa or coating to smoothen the wall before painting a picture on it. It is said that three varieties of brickpowders should be mixed with a third proportion of it with clay. To this should be added fragrant gum-resin (guggula), bees wax (madhucchiṣṭam), honey (madhu), a type of grass (kuṇḍaraka), molasses (guḍam) and safflower (kusumbha) soaked in oil, in equal proportions. Powder of lime three-fourths burnt with bel fruit pulp and lampblack should be added. After adding one-fourth part of sand, the mixture should be soaked in water for a month to make it lubricous. With this paste a smooth and firm coat is applied on the wall (Vi Pu. III.40.1-10).

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White, yellow, red, black and blue, these are the five primary colours and these in different combinations in different proportions produce hundreds of intermediate tones¹⁵. This work gives formulae for different colour compositions also. Blue and yellow when mixed produce green colour. It may be pale with a greater medium of white or deeper with blue. There are three distinct shades of each colour by mixing white in less, equal or greater proportions. Green colour can be obtained by mixing yellow and blue. It may be retained as pure green or it may be made pale green by adding white. The green colour may be made deeper by aggravating blue. Thus, by enhancing or lessening of the colours mixed, many subtle varieties of any colour could be created. Beautiful tints are produced by mixing in calculated proportions different colours. As an example it is said that red lākṣā tint mixed with white like the lodhra flower becomes red like the lotus, a colour extremely charming. Some of the tints produced with one predominant tone are given like yellowish green of durva grass, light wood apple green, green like green pulse, blue like blue lily, and so on.

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The colours mentioned in Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa are of mineral and vegetable dyes like yellow orpiment (haritāla), lime (sudhā), lac (lākṣā), vermilion (hiṅgula), indigo (nīlī), lapislazuli (rājāvarta), red lead (sindura), lead (trapu), lampblack, mica, etc. and several more¹⁶.

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Colours can also be produced from metals in the form of very thin and fine sheets or a liquid. These metals are gold (kanaka), silver (rajata) and copper (tāmra). Metal colours are to be laid in delicately thin sheets or by liquefying them by chemical methods. Hide glue and bakula resin glue act to fix and strengthen the colour for which vermilion juice is also added. Juice of durva grass, bark resin, glue of elephant hides etc. fix and strengthen the colour of the pigments and these cannot be destroyed even when washed.

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Poets like Bāṇa and others have mentioned subtle shades of colours in their literary works. The colours mentioned are not just poetic fancy because works like Viṣṇudharmottara-purāṇa have suggested a myriad by clever combinations of colours in various proportions. Literary works in Sanskrit are replete with references to shades and tints produced by different combinations of colours. Yellow and blue make green while red and blue make purple. Peculiar white of haritāla śaila is different from swan white. Red is found in different tints like that of bandhuka flowers, kuṅkuma red, kusumbha rāga red, blood red like a bunch of ghātaki flowers, sindūra colour of mandāra flowers, mañjiṣṭha red, reddish like the morning sun and so on¹⁷. Likewise, different shades of other colours including black and white are mentioned or suggested in different contexts. All these imply that people in ancient India were highly colour conscious and were able to prepare different paints by combining two or three colour pigments.

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*Silparatna*, *Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi* and *Śivatattva-ratnākara* also are some of the texts which deal with the art of painting, colours, mixing of colours, preparation of pigments etc. All these texts treat the subject more or less in a similar manner without much variation.

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A *citraka* or *citrakāra*, an artist should have perfect knowledge about different colours and know the use of proper colours in the paintings and he should take great care in mixing different colours.¹⁸

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It is said that fresh buffalo hide should be boiled with water. When sticky butter-like paste is formed, it should be made into small pieces and dried till the pieces become hard. This is called *vajralepa* or adamantine which is very useful for painting in two ways - to prepare the coating for the surface to make it smooth and flawless for painting pictures and to prepare the vehicle or media to mix the pigment for painting. Pigments of different colours have to get suspended sometimes with additives so that they could be used as paints. Hence it is said that the above mentioned pieces of *Vajralepa* should be placed in strong mud vessel filled with water and then heated. When they get melted they may be added to any colouring pigment proportionately to get a particular desired shade. Adding soft white sand and conch powder to this *vajralepa*, the wall or the surface should be smeared with this paste and allowed to dry three times till it becomes smooth and glossy. Then the moon-white mineral called *nāga* found in Nilagiri, embedded in rock should be mixed with this *vajralepa*. This mixture should be applied on the surface of the wall slowly and gently. The wall then becomes ready for painting beautiful pictures (*Siv. R.* VI.2.10-18).

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