History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s1.21

v1.c24.s1.21

The literary sources help us form an idea of the plough in ancient times. Pāṇini mentions distinctive terms for some parts of a plough: *īṣā* (the long wooden pole), *potra* (the central bent portion III. 2.183), *kuśī* (the ploughshare IV.1.42), *yuga* (yoke), *yotra* or *yoktra* (rope) and *naddhrī* (leathern throngs) (III.2.182). The absence of terms for other parts does not mean that they did not exist in Pāṇini’s time. They are equally important constituents of a plough. Possibly distinct terms for them were coined in course of time or else there was no need for recording them in a work of grammar. The *Amarakośa* (II.9.13, 14) gives a consolidated list of terms for some important parts of a plough: *yotra* or *yoktra* (rope), *nirīśa* or *kuṭaka* (the part where ploughshare is attached to the pole), *phāla* or *kṛṣika* (ploughshare), *lāṅgala* or *hala* (plough), *śamyā* or *yugakīlaka* and *īṣā* (pole) (Wojtilla, pp.325-38).