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History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s2: Domestic Operations and Appliances

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s2

Language
English

Contents

Domestic Operations and Appliances

Devices and methods

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*Cūlās* : Several houses in the Indus Valley settlement of Kalibangan had both underground and above-ground mud hearths, the latter with a comfortable bridged side-opening for feeding fuel (Ghurye, 1979, pp. 372-380). *Cūlās* with knobs, both of round and square shapes, and with one to three mouths, have been unearthed in sites at Ahar, Navdatoli and Jorwe dated 1500-1000 BC (Sankalia, 1977, pp. 100-124) and in Atranjikhera dated 600 BC (Ghurye, 1979, p.400). One of the Ajanta frescoes depicts a kitchen with knobbed *cūlās* (Yazdani 1952, pp, 58, 104), and they persist in India to this day.

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*Ovens* : Baking ovens of various sizes have been excavated in Mohenjodaro, but some at least are really very large kilns for firing pottery objects of large size (Sankalia, 1970, p.13). Baking (*puṭapāka*), though known, is not a common style of Indian cooking.

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*Spits* : The Vedic sacrifices (as we shall see ) involve roasting a whole animal, or pieces of meat, on skewers or spits. In cooking language, *tanduram* means grilling and *bharjanam* dry roasting (Krishnamurthy, 1984, p. 227). At a picnic described in the *Mahābhārata* (Sengupta, P. 1950, p. 547), “cleanly cooks under the supervision of diligent stewards, served large pieces of meat roasted on spits...... young buffalo calves (were) roasted (whole?) on spits with ghee dropping on them”. A *Paṭṭupāṭṭu* poet (*Rasanayagam*, 1926, pp. 130-160) of the third Tamil Sangam period (about the 3rd century AD) describes “fine large pieces of fat meat roasted on iron spikes” and elsewhere roasted pork is noted with relish (Nilakantha Sastri 1958, p.130). The modern *kābab* has an old history.

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*Grilling* : Though a *tāva* for grilling does not seem to have been specifically identified in the Indus Valley, a typical dough-kneading plate with sides sloping outwards was recovered at Mohenjodaro (Mackay, 1938, Pl. 64, Item 13). The *Sūtra* literature rocords the baking of flat cakes on a broken earthen jar (*kapāla*), and a grilling vessel (*vapāsrapaṇi*) (Prakash, Om, 1961, pp. 34-57). Among the items of the sacrificial *puroḍuśa* offering described in the Gṛhya sūtras is the *apupa*; this "implies a great advance in the art of baking," in that it is a cake baked on a flat vessel and a pan with a varying number of hollows resembling dishes, yielding a variety of shapes to the cake itself (Apte, 1939, pp.95-102). A stone with depressions is still in use in parts of south India to bake a type of rice *appam* called *kuzhi*. Several baking techniques recorded in the 17th century AD in Karnataka (*Sūpa Śāstra*, (a), p.268), but probably in traditional use much earlier, were: baking on a hot flat or concave griddle (*battala*); on a hot tile (*kencu*): between two plates with live coals placed both above and below; and directly on coals, after which the outer charred crust was discarded before consuming the cooked core.

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Steaming : The Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang in the 7th century AD stated that "India does not know the use of the steamer". While specific devices may not have been in widespread use, steaming as a way of cooking was known. The *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* of Varāhamihira, dated about 505 AD, describes a barley dish, *yavaka*, as *svinnabhaksya* or a steamed food (Shastri, 1969, pp.209- 216). Among traditional cooking operations were *svedanam* or steaming, the others being *bharjanam* (dry roasting), *talanam* (drying), *apakva* (frying), *pacanam* (cooking in water ), *kvatanam* (parboiling), *tanduram* (grilling), *puṭapāka* (baking), and *bhāvita* (seasoning). A Kannada work written in 920 AD mentions the *idalige* (idli) (*Sūpa Śāstra*, (b), p.255), and steaming was probably achieved, as it was slightly later, by the simple expedient of tying a cloth (on which the material was placed in lumps or small wicker baskets) over the wide mouth of a vessel in which water was boiled. A related product, the *kaḍubu*, was not through-steamed like the porous *idli*, but spread out on leaves or trays and surface-steamed to a denser product. In making the *puṭṭu* of Kerala, alternate layers of broken rice and coconut are introduced into a wide bamboo tube in which a pierced metal disc is placed on the lower node. A funnel is loosely inserted on top for steam to escape, and the tube is then tightly fixed on the spout of a vessel in which water is boiled to effect steaming. The antiquity of this simple domestic technology remains to be established. A vessel that occurs commonly even in many neolithic sites, and later in the Indus Valley, is a tall earthen cylinder with perforations all over it (Wheeler, 1959, p.103); one use suggested for this, among many others, is that it is a vessel for steam cooking (Ghurye, 1979, p. 383).

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Cooking under pressure : The virtues of cooking over a slow fire is noted in the *Bhela Saṃhitā* (c. 150 AD) (Prakash Om, 1961, pp.87-101) and again a century later in the *Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa* (Prakash Om, 1961, pp.203-239). Now generally called *dumpukht* or simply dum cooking, this involves slow simmering of the materials in a vessel, on which a well-fitting lid is sealed all round using a thick dough of wheat. The practice is called *kaṇikā* in Kannada, and is mentioned in a work of 1606 AD (*Supa Śāstra*, (b), p. 255), but is probably older. It is in common use even today for making pullao all over the country, live coals being placed both below the vessel and on the lid for slow, gentle baking with aroma retention.

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*Founding and cleaning rice*: Rice pounders have already been described under post-harvest operations, and domestic devices were no different. In the charming cooking vignette which occurs in the *Daśakumāracarita* (6th-7th century AD (Kale, 1925, pp.111- 115),the maiden, after pounding the grain, dries the mass briefly in the sun, turns it over and over, and then separates the chaff without breaking the grains by striking them gently with the edge of a stalk. Use of the *surpa* or winnowing tray for removing extraneous matter like sticks and stones from grain at any stage must go back at least to its first mention in Vedic times. The *Amarakośa* (c.450 AD) lists two names for sieves, *cālāni* and *titau* (Deshmukh, 1981, pp.99-110).

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*Churning butter*: The Indus Valley seals depict bulls, among them those of the Kankrej breed (Randhawa, 1980, p.184, Fig.96), pointing to the distinct likelihood of dairy operations which could well have included the churning of soured milk into butter. The *Ṛgveda* has several references to the churning of curds with a corrugated stick, the mixture after the operation being termed *prasadiya* (Prakash, Om, 1961, pp. 34-57). Freshly-prepared butter later acquired the name *navanitha*, while butter prepared from fresh milk was variously termed *phanta* (Pāṇini),*kṣirotanavanitha* (Suśruta) and *payasarpis* (Varāhamihira) (Shastri, 1969, pp. 209- 216). The Lakṣmaṇa Temple (c. 925 AD) at Khajuraho shows in *Kṛṣṇa-Līlā* scenes a stick, standing in an earthen pot, which was churned with the help of a rope (Prakash Vidya, 1982, p, 127) exactly as is done at present. Another charming butter-making device of unknown antiquity common in parts of south India is a convex piece of coconut shell with three pierced holes, fixed on a long bamboo stem; this is worked up and down in a tall cylindrical bamboo or tinned copper vessel to achieve concussion and release of butter in the diluted curd that is being churned. A beautiful Tamil poem, *Perumpanūrrupadai* in the *Paṭṭupāṭṭu* anthology of about the 4th century AD (*Rasanayagam*, 1926, pp. 130-160; Srinivasa Iyengar, 1930, pp. 57-70) describes how the cowherdess sells buttermilk that has been made by “pulling the strings of the *mattu* (churning rod) which creates a sound resembling the growl of a tiger”. The curds themselves are noted as having earlier been seeded using a pat of the previous day’s curd which looked like a “white mushroom”.

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She then sets off on her selling errand “placing the pot, with its speckled mouth, on her head supported by a circlet of flowers”. The Sangam literature of the period is replete with references to cream (*eḍu* or *perugu*), curds, buttermilk, butter and ghee (Srinivasa Iyengar, 1930, pp. 57-70). The finding of vast mounds of ash burnt from cattle dung, dated around 2200 BC, in many sites along the valley of the River Krishna in south India (Allchin, 1963) would argue for the existence of cattle keeping and dairy products from times long before the Aryan advent.

Kitchen and table utensils

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*Indus Valley*: Among drawings of the metal objects found at Mohenjodaro (Mackay, 1938 b) are to be seen the following: a *thāli*-like pan (Mackay, 1938 b, Pl 68, Item 20); a flat deep dish with sides sloping outwards resembling a modern dough-kneading pan (Mackay, 1938 b, Pl. 64, Item 13); a round, concave *tāvā*-like plate (Mackay, 1938 b, Pl. 82, Item 3); and a copper frying pan with the edges turned inwards to create a comfortable handle, either long or short (Mackay, 1938 b, Pl. 71, Item 42, Pl. 82, Item 11). The *thālī* (there are actually two of them of slightly different sizes) is again seen in a photograph of a hoard of copper and bronze objects, all corroded together (Mackay, 1976, Pl. 19), found beneath the floor of a small house; this also shows a largish tray with a wide, flat rim. Another heavy copper pot of exquisite design with a square open top was found at Mohenjodaro (Dikshit, 1939), and resembles the *kumbha* of current times used for fetching water from well or river.

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Numerous copper and bronze objects were found at Chanhudaro, which was apparently a great centre of metal working; one was a lota-shaped vessel with a long spout pointing up from near the base (Allchin, 1963). Kitchen knives made of ribbon flakes of chert were plentiful, and even the cores from which they had been struck were found in abundance (Allchin, 1963).

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Nearly a thousand copper objects that preceded the Harappan civilisation were found at Ganeswar; it appeared to be a manufacturing centre that employed copper ore from Khetri, and perhaps supplied the needs of nearby towns like Kalibangan, Mohenjodaro and Harappa (Agrawala, R.C., 1984, p. 157). Copper ore from the Aravalli range was certainly the source of the metal over a good part of the area (Agrawal amd Ghosh, 1973 (a), p.401). Scarcity of tin, which forms 10-20 percent of bronze, accounts for paucity of objects made of the latter, even though they are harder, keener and more cutting than those of pure copper (Agrawal and Ghosh, 1973,(a), p. 401). Iron is first noticed about 800 BC in a few megalithic sites; the Vedic word *ayas* is now believed to have first meant copper, which was later termed red *ayas*, after the use of iron, called either. white *ayas* or *loha*, became common (Chaudhuri, 1988, p. 321). Initial use of iron was for weapons or agricultural implements like ploughshares. Its real impact occurred after about 200 BC, when its carburation to steel incorporating about one percent of carbon was discovered (Agrawal and Ghosh, 1973,(b), p. 391) and the use of the bellows enabled greater heat intensity. Both bellows and iron ploughshares are frequently referred to by Pāṇini (Thakur, 1932, pp. 111-112).

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Vedic Period : Even the *Ṛgveda* mentions a large number of utensils (Prakash, Om, 1961, pp. 34-57, Iyengar, 1932, pp. 28, 47 ff.). Special *soma* storage vessels were the *amatra, ahara, kośa, dru, kalasa, camu* and *droṇa*, and for other liquids there were vessels like the *kumbha, acecana*, a gold *kalasam*, a bag for milk (*dṛti*), a water bucket (*udañcana*) and nested vessels (*dhiṣaṇa*). *Patra, camasa* and *graha* were drinking cups, while *ukha, garma* and *pacana* were cooking pots, and *caru* a covered cauldron. Spoons and ladles included the *juhu, upasecani, śruk, śruva, darvi* and *neksanam*, while *pavitra* and *karotara* were strainers, and *suna* and *svādhiti* were knives. *Grāvan* and *adri* were grinding stones for *soma*, *ulukhala* and *vanaspati* (later called *musala*) were a mortar and pestle, and *dṛsad* a flat grinding stone. *Śūla* was a roasting spit, *dhamatr* a blower or bellows, *titau* was a sieve, and *surpa* a winnowing basket of wicker. A general term for a leather cask used to store water, liquor and curds was *dhrti*, and for a leather bag *krvi*. A minority opinion was that the *ulukhala* was a shallow, wide-mouthed mortar for grinding, while the *musala* was the long heavy, waisted pounder (Sircar, 1967, p. 194).

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Table 1 — Utensils of The Vedic Sacrifice

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| **Containers** | | |
| *pātra* | : | sacrificial wooden vessels, placed in pairs on the sacrificial grass, and of five kinds (*upaṃsu*-, *urdhva*-, *ṛtu*-, *śukra*- and *manthi*-) for different uses |
| *sambharani* | : | wooden vessel in which is placed the wet, pounded soma stalks |
| *droṇakalāsa* | : | bucket-type vessel covered with a filter to receive strained soma juice |
| *pūtabhṛt* | : | clay trough to hold prepared soma juice |
| *camasa* | : | oblong tub with handle, of ten types, for use by different priests for various purposes, such as: holding soma, drinking soma (by the priest); holding sacred water; and holding food in the vow rite |
| *agrāyaṇasthālī* | : | vessel to receive strained soma juice in the agricultural rite when new fruits are eaten |
| *śarāva* | : | earthen dish holding water with which a new mother is sprinkled |
| *pinvana* | : | two milk vessels |
| *sarpirdhāna* | : | bowl for butter |
| *idapātra* | : | deep oblong container with a flat rim to hold ghee |
| *pranitapraṇāyana* | : | -do- |
| *nināhya* | : | earthen waterpot buried in the ground to keep its contents cool |
| **Large earthen cooking pots** | | |
| *ukha* | : | square pot used to boil flesh |
| *mahāvīrā* | : | wide-mouthed pot in which milk and ghee are heated |
| *gharma* | : | large earthen pot in which milk is boiled |
| *kumbha* | : | cooking vessel in which rice is boiled |
| *śrāpana* | : | cooking vessel |
| **Ovens, Baking, Roasting** | | |
| *culli* | : | clay oven |
| *kuplu* | : | -do- |

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| *bhrāstra* | : | -do- |
| *śūla* | : | skewer of wood on which certain animal organs were roasted |
| *gārhyapatya* | : | potsherd for taking purodasa |
| *kapālas* | : | -do- |

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Fire Utensils

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| *araṇi* | : | a spindle (worked with a length of string) and a wooden board with a friction hole |
| *sata* | : | two large vessels for carrying embers |
| *parisása* | : | tongs to lift the gharma from the fire |
| *upavesana* | : | wooden poker for stirring the fire, and for removing embers |
| *dhrṣti* | : | a pair of pokers used to stir the fire and to remove embers |

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Strainers

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| *pāvitra* | : | strainer made of sheep’s wool for filtering soma juice |
| *karotara* | : | a strainer |

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Ladles, Spoons

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| *śruk* | : | collective term for large wooden ladles used for libations, with a yoni-shaped bowl ending in a lip |
| *juhu* | : | a sruk |
| *dhruva* | : | -do- |
| *upabhṛt* | : | -do- |
| *pracarani* | : | -do- |
| *darvi* | : | a small ladle with a long, slim handle and a tiny, lipless bowl for sprinkling libations |
| *śruvi* or *śruva* | : | -do- |
| *tragbila* | : | -do- |
| *vitasti* | : | -do- |
| *pariplava* | : | spoon without a handle for drawing out soma |
| *havani* | : | spoon, used e.g. by the agnihotr |
| *grahani* | : | spoon, used e.g. to hold the prasadaiya of butter and buttermilk |
| *pariplupātra* | : | a ladle |
| *antardhāna* | : | -do- |
| *prasaka* | : | a decanting vessel with a long handle and a large, cup-like bowl |

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Offering Vessels

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| *vāyavya* | : | waisted, spouted cylinder used to make offerings to twelve deities |

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| *urdhvapātra* | : | waisted, spouted cylinder |
| *anvaharyasthālī* | : | -do- |
| *agrayanasthālī* | : | -do- |
| *akaraphalika* | : | snake-shaped board, one-arm long, on which sesame seeds are offered in the sacrifice |

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Stirrers, Scrapers

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| *parsva* | : | stirrer-spoon for the *vasa* (marrow) |
| *makṣana* | : | wooden scraper with a square, flat head for stirring flour and boiling water in preparing purodasa; it is discarded after use |

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Cutters

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| *svadhiti* | : | knife to dissect sacrificed animal |
| *sāsa* | : | kitchen knife |
| *sphya* | : | wide, dagger-shapped wooden implement used for several purposes in the sacrifice |

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Pounders, Grinders

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| *ulukhala* | : | wooden mortar |
| *musāla* | : | wooden pestle for the *ulukhala* |
| *dṛśad* | : | lower, flat grinding stone |
| *dṛśadputra* | : | upper milling stone |
| *upala* | : | -do- |
| *pesani* | : | the two milling stones taken together |

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Baskets

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| *palva* | : | winnowing basket holding sacrificial grain |
| *śūrpa* | : | winnowing tray of bamboo or reed |

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Leaf Utensils

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| *pātravali* | : | plate or cup made of leaves stapled together with splinters |
| *pārṇapuṭa* | : | a funnel of folded *palāśa* leaf, in which a lump of boiled rice is hung on a tree. |

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The Gṛhya and Śautra vedic sacrifices enshrined in the *Sūtras* employed an enormous number of utensils of rigidly specified design and structure. These are shown in Table 1 (Vesci, 1985; Sen, 1978). The soma rites were performed three times a day, and employed twelve main vessels for various types of cooking, like *sthālīpāka*, cooking in a pot, and *śutagrāva*, roasting on a spit. The *pravargya* rite, which is part of the soma sacrifice, required the making each time of a special, round, fired clay vessel with a wide mouth called a *mahāvīra*, which is heated intensely in the course of the rite (Vesci, 1985, p. 215). For the *ajamedha*, or goat sacrifice, a special clay cauldron called the *gharma* had to be made for cooking the meat (Vesci, 1985, p. 69). The *aśvamedha* or horse sacrifice also called for a huge square clay cauldron termed the *ukha* for cooking the flesh, and hollow metal skewers for roasting certain organs after their dissection (Vesci, 1985, p. 32). In contrast to the potter’s wheel that was in use much earlier to turn clay in the Indus Valley, these large clay vessels had all to be kneaded by hand to exacting schedules using certain special clays (e.g. from an ant-hill, or from a place snouted open by pigs). Similarly the *aṣṭaka* cake had to be made with exactly four full *śaravas* of rice. The sacrificial *puroḍāśa* cake of rice or barley flour had to be baked in a flat clay vessel with a specific number of hollows of various shapes for different purposes (Apte, 1939, pp. 95-102).

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Not surprisingly, some of these vessels, like the *drona*, *kumbha*, *kalasa*, *ghaṭa*, *śarava* and *sthālī* later became volume measures (Srinivasan, 1979, pp. 71-79).

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Many objects from these Vedic times are instantly recognisable as being in use even today. The *culli* is the *cūlā* of the present, the spit is in use by Rajputs for roasting a whole pig to give a dish called *śūlā*, the scraping utensil *dhṛṣṭi* is now the *kunti*, the flat grinding stone *dṛṣad* with its cylindrical roller is found in every Indian kitchen, and a deep form of the stone mortar with its stout upright grinding stone is an essential item in a south Indian home. *Kalāśas*, *kumbhas* and *pātras* are all with us, often in metallic form, as are the *bharjanapātra* as *kaḍāhi* (from *kaṭāha*, a word of Prakrit origin (Sagar, 1933, p. 184) that occurs in the *Rāmāyaṇa*, *Suśruta Saṃhitā* and *Sūryasiddānta* (Monier Williams, 1851, p.549), the *ajyasthālī* as *tāvā*, and the small waisted cylindrical kitchen mortars for pounding spices. Leaf plates and cups, then *pātrāvali*, now *patroli* or *paṭṭal*, are still in use. Some old utensils have altered. The small soma pounder is now a tall cylindrical vessel to be worked by a person while standing, and the *sthālī* has changed its name to *thālī*, and its function from a cooking to an eating utensil.

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*Utensils of later times*: Panels dated 50-20 BC in the great stupa at Sanci depict a ladle for ceremonial libations, a small goblet with crossed straps, and a beautiful spouted ewer with a fitted lid and a curved handle on top like a modern kettle (Dhavalikar, 1965).

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A Buddhist monk was permitted to carry eight items : *bhṛṅgāra*, water jar; *saraka*, drinking cup; *īhavika*, water bag; *piṭaka*, basket; *kumbhi*, cooking pot; *tattaka*, plate; *pariyoga*, dish; and *kadapiyan*, pan (Prakash, Om, 1961, pp.58-86). Utensils mentioned by Patañjali (mid-2nd century BC) include a tiny water-jug, *kuṇḍikā*, for the use of students, and a cauldron, *ukha* (Puri, 1957, pp. 89-115). The *Rāmāyaṇa* mentions three drinking goblets, *śarava*, *karaka* and *golvarka* (Sharma, 1971, pp. 232-242), an iron pan *lauhi*, a deep frying pan *kaṭāha* (modern *kaḍahi*) and a boiler *pithara* (Prakash, Om, 1961, pp. 102-131). The *Amarakośa* (5th century AD) includes the deep frying pan *kaṇḍu*, the roasting plate *bhrasta* (*tāvā*?), ladles *kambhi*, *kajaka* and *tardu* (with a wooden handle), strainers *karkari* and *galantika*, a goblet *kausa*, a pot *pithara* and leather bottles *kutuh* and *kuṭup* for storing oil (Deshmukh, 1981, pp. 99-110). The portable *śigrī* of today was called *culli*, *aṅgāradhanika* or *hasauṭi*. Kālidāsa has *kumbha* for a big pitcher, and *ghaṭa* for a small one (Upadhyaya, 1947, p, 216). At three places in the *Harṣacarita* occur various utensils, though mentioned in rather a tangle (Cowell and Thomas, 1961). These have been sorted out (Agrawala, 1940) as various very large water pots alinjara, mahakumbha, gola and kantakita (also called panasa, since it has the shape of a jackfruit), small pots kusumbha, karkari and votakuta, jars kalasa and kumbha, a cup kosa, and an earthen vessel for molasses (phanita-sthālī). Frying pans (kaṭāha) are here again, besides baking trays talaka and sakatika, simmering pans tapika (Hindi tai), the saucepan as caru, the tāvā as tapaka, spits as hastaka and śūla, and baskets as pitaha.

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The Ajanta paintings of about the 8th century AD show kitchens with a cula, and globular cooking pots, placed one over the other, slung from the roof (Yazdani, 1952, pp. 58, 104; Schlingloff, 1987, p. 104).

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Utensils in south India : Some of these have already been described in the preceding section under the subhead ‘Devices and Methods’. The literary record may now be considered.

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The oldest Tamil writings of the Sangam period (Srinivasa Iyengar, 1930, pp.57-70 and 1932, pp. 253-300; Sreedhara Menon, 1979, pp.121-126); date from about 100 BC to the 6th century AD, when kingdoms and trade were flourishing and kitchen technology must have already come a long way. The ural and ullūkal (words that obviously resemble the Sanskrit ulūkhala) were mortars made of both wood and stone used to pound paddy and rice. Grinding stones frequently took animal shapes, such as that of a tortoise; they were called ammi, tiruvai, āttukal and kulavi, while the stone mullers that paired with them were termed puttil and vatigai. Pots were fashioned out of either clay or stone, and had many names; pānai, śatti, śal, talam, midā, pāṇā, mittava, and mallāy, with its lid madukku. Liquor was served in a bowl called mandai (Subrahmaniam, 1966, pp. 306-309). The kundam was a versatile container, used for example to hold toddy (kallu kuṇḍam), and so was the kalam. Pots could be suspended from the roof in a rope sling (simili), or kept in stands called paṭṭādai, śumudu or śummadu. There were many spoons: the agappai was itself of three kinds (tatta-, sanda- and sirra-), and there were others called sattuvam, karaṇḍi, muttai, taduppu, maravai, toṭṭi, kinnam, marakkal (or abanam) and vaṭṭi. The vattil was a flat spoon of stone, wood or metal. There were wood friction devices to raise fire, censers to hold embers (tadavu, indalam) and pokers (nelikol) for raking the fire. The winnowing pan (śurpa in Sanskrit) was murram, the sieve was salladai, and there were plates called sinnam, sulagu, tattu and mirrul for various purposes. The bamboo coop for protecting food from flies was called kudu. Kitchens had mats (pāy) to sit on, and lofts for storage (paran, idanam, kaludu, padagam and panavai). Leaf plates fashioned out of the ambal (lotus), banyan and teak are mentioned in the earlier literature; by the 8th century AD, use of banana leaves had become common (Pillay, 1975, p. 284). Practically all these utensils and words persist to this day. As in the north, some vessels later evolved into measures of volume, like the kalam, padi, nāli and ūri (Srinivasan, 1979, pp. 71-79). Fire was raised by friction between pieces of wood, and a perpetual fire was kept going in pots called kumpatti. Into this was poked a stick called sulundu, sometimes tipped with sulphur (Srimvasa Iyengar, 1930, pp. 57-70).

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A vessel that today is considered distinctively south Indian is the kūja, a clay drinking water-storage vessel with a globular base and a stout neck, of about the same height as the base, flaring slightly outwards. It has first been noted in Cemetery H of Harappa, which is a repository of utensils of unknown origin that differ from those in the main settlement (Sankalia, 1971, p. 259), and later in Jorwe about 1600 BC (Dhavalikar, 1985, p. 3). Thereafter the utensil disappears, to reappear about 1300 AD after the Muslim advent. Its antiquity in south India is not known.

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Lacking copper ore, south India largely skipped the chalcolithic stage, and copper utensils have been found only in a few sites like Hallur, Tekkalatotta, Utnur and Payampalli between 2500 and 900 BC (Sankalia, 1970, p. 45). Iron came into use even by 1000 BC to make hunting weapons and agricultural tools. Later came domestic utensils, but those made of stone and earthenware are preferred for cooking even to this day.

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Except for some items of specific regional utility, it is clear that all over India domestic utensils are very much the same. Writing in the early 18th century AD in Sanskrit, King Basavarāja of Keladi (Krishnamurthy, 1984, p. 227) in present-day Karnataka uses Sanskrit terms without awkwardness to denote many utensils then in use in a southern kitchen, like *gharatta* for grinding stone, *pravani* for frying pan and *kharpava* for *tāvā*. Regionally, Punjab has the distinctive *tandoori* baking oven. Kashmir has items with a Central Asian association like the *traemsarposh* used to serve Wazwan food, the *khaṇḍakari* or *samovar* used in brewing the aromatic *kahwah* tea, and certain distinctive ladles used in cooking and serving.

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