History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s3.t4.3

v1.c26.s3.t4.3

Sanskrit has *tila* for sesame seed and *taila* for its oil. From the time of the *Bhaviṣya Purāṇa* onwards, the composite word *taila* (or *tila*)-*pesana-yantra* stands for an oil press (Monier Williams, 1851, p. 549). *Tailikas* or oil millers find mention in Panini (Monier Williams, 1899, p.448), in the *Mahābhārata*, and *Arthaśāstra* (Shyamasastry, 1923, pp. 112-113) and in early Buddhist literature. Some sort of a wheel or circle (*cakra*) seems to have been involved, and the oil miller is called a *cakrin* in the *Amarakośa* (Deshmukh, 1981, pp. 99-110). Did the *tailika* walk round in a circle operating the unit, or was there an edge-runner of some kind? The use of animal power is never mentioned, and indeed is believed by some authorities to have never been employed in India for such traction before the Christian era (Roy and Bagchi, 1983, (a), p.1). The *Arthaśāstra* has a list of oilseeds crushed (Shyamasastry, 1923, pp. 112-113), with their oil yields given as one-sixth, one-fifth and one-fourth; these are the sesame, linseed, safflower, *mahua*, *ingudi* (*Balanites aegyptiaca*), neem, *kapittha* and *kusamra* (identity uncertain). The oilcake is termed *ghanapinyaka*, the first-ever mention of the term *ghana* for an oilpress (Shyamasastry, 1923, pp. 112-113).