History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c36: Writing-materials

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c36

Language: English

v1.c36.s1 Engraving, Embossing, Painting and Scratching — 11 parts
v1.c36.s2 Use of Chalk, Reed and Stilus with Colour or Ink — 24 parts
v1.c36.s3 References — 11 parts

Writing-materials

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The early human civilizations have urged from time to time to keep a record of their thought and have used some sort of writing-materials for this purpose.

During the Vedic period in India, learning spread verbally through words from the teacher to the disciple. Possibly reading and writing were not known at that time. With the discovery of scripts, the method of writing the verbal transmission of thought was gradually replaced by written records. The available materials used for writing, found in India, are generally of two types - hard and soft. Stone, metals, shells and earthenwares are examples of the former. On these, writings were carried out by engraving, embossing, painting and scratching, as the case may be; while the more or less soft materials are represented by wooden board (*pāṭī*), dust (*dhūli*), birch-bark (*bhūrja-patra*), palm-leaves (*tāḍa-patra*), leather (*ajīna*), cotton cloth (*kārpāsīka paṭa*) and paper. Engraving and embossing were effected by sharp instruments, while reed, chalk, stilus with colour or ink were employed for softer materials.

Engraving, Embossing, Painting and Scratching

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(1) *Stone* : The earliest hard material used for writing was stone. Engravings on stone are everlasting. Such engravings were made on caves, smoothed or rough pillars, slabs, lids of vases, caskets, etc. These deal with official and private records, royal proclamations, land-grants, eulogies and memorials.

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The usual process (Pandey, 1952, Pt.1, p. 76) of inscribing or engraving a stone consists of chiselling and polishing it by rubbing it with another stone having a smooth surface. Parallel lines were then drawn upon the surface of the polished stone by means of a piece of chalk. The writings were attempted within the parallel lines by a calligrapher with ink, chalk or dye; finally, the engraver engraved the letter. Any damage in the course of engraving was immediately filled up with some plastic materials.

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(2) *Metals* : Of the varieties of metals like gold, silver, brass, bronze, iron, and tin, copper was most commonly used as the material to write on in ancient times.

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An inscribed plate or piece of copper was called *tāmrapatra*, *tāmrasāsana*, *śāsanapatta* (plate for official decree), *dānapatra* (plate for land-grant), depending on the contents of the inscription. Different kinds of historical documents - for example, land-grants, official decrees, sacred books or literary works were engraved on copper, and in many cases, they have been preserved as specimens in different museums.

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Two processes relating to the preparation of copper-plates, as evident from the historical records, are (i) by hammering, then engraving; (ii) by casting in a mould of sand.

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Usually copper-plates were hammered into the required shape or size. (Fleat, 3(2), p. 172). Traces of such hammer-blows can easily be detected on many such copper-plates. The contents of the documents were first written with ink and were scratched by an expert-writer on the plate; letter were then incised with a chisel by a goldsmith or blacksmith. In certain cases, as can be found in the southern Indian records, the copper-plate was besmeared with a layer of a mud-like substance and the writing was done with a pointed piece of iron, which was again incised by a blacksmith with a fine instrument.

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In another process the writing on copper-plate was done by casting in a mould of sand. A particular reference to the preparation of Sohgaura copper-plate (Fleet, 1907, p. 510) may be made here. The plate, instead of being hammered, was cast in a mould of sand, on which letters and emblems were previously scratched with a pointed instrument. These, therefore, appeared on the plate in relievo. The engraving of letters in some early epigraphs, like the Kalwan plate, was done by dots instead of continuous strokes. Incorrect letters of the record, in certain cases, were re-engraved after hammering; traces of earlier letters in such cases appear to be exhibited. With a view to preserving the document, rims of the plate were raised and thickened.

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Generally, long documents engraved on two or more plates, were attached by copper-strings, passed through round holes in the plates.

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Besides the common use of the copper-plate, a number of coins made of gold or silver have also been used as writing materials. They serve as sources of information regarding the foreign rulers in India such as the Greeks, the Śakas and the Parthians. Several written documents (Buhler, 1959, 1, p. 116) on brass, bronze, iron, tin, etc., have also been found.

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(3) *Shell* : Specimens of some inscribed conch-shells have been discovered from the ruins of a Buddhist establishment at Salihundam in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh (*Indian Archaeology*, 1953-54).

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(4) *Bricks, earthenwares, terracottas* : A number of specimens of inscribed brick (*EI*, XXX, p. 118 ff) have also been unearthed in different parts and preserved in archaeological museums. Earthen-wares (*Indian Archaeology*, 1955-56) and terracottas had also their use as materials for writing. Bricks or earthenwares were generally scratched before being dried or baked (*EI*, XXX, p. 85 ff)

Use of Chalk, Reed and Stilus with Colour or Ink

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(1) *Wooden board* : In ancient India (about the 5th century B.C.), the wooden board, known as *phalaka* (Buhler, 1959, 1, p. 93) was used. On it writings could be done by means of a piece of chalk (*pāṇḍu-lekha*). The method was used for educational purposes. In the beginning of the seventh century A.D., the term *pāṭi*, (Datta, 1935. 1, pp. 123-24), a non-Sanskritic word, represented a wooden board and the word *pāṭigaṇita* means the calculation made on the *pāṭi* (board).

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In the work of Al-Bīrūnī (Sachau, 1910, 1, p. 182), the great Arabian scholar, it runs as follows : “They (i.e., the Hindus) use black tablets for the children in the schools and write upon them along the long side, not the broad side, writing with a white material from the left to the right”.

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The work of mathematical calculation was also called *dhūli- karma*, dust-work Datta, 1935, pt 1, pp. 123-124). The figures were written on a layer of dust spread on a board or on the ground. A piece of reed was used to write on the layer of the dust.

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(2) *Birch-bark (Bhūrja-patra)*: *Bhūrja* (Baetula *Bhojapattra*), the inner bark of the tree was the most popular material for writing manuscripts, specially in northern-western India (Buhler, p.112). Upon it writings were carried out with a reed pen and ink of special kind. This tree grew in abundance in the Himalayan region, from which it spread to other parts of the country. In the early Sanskrit texts, the bark has been described as spotted like the skin of an elephant.

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Al-Bīrūnī (Sachau, 1910, 1, p. 171), in his book, has given an account of its preparation, which is as follows: “In central and northern India, people use the bark of the *tuz* tree, one kind of which is used as a cover for bows. It is called *bhūrja*. They take a piece, one yard long, and as broad as the outstretched fingers of the hand, or somewhat less, and prepare it in various ways. They oil and polish it, so as to make it hard and smooth and then they write on it.”

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From the statement given above it appears that Al-Bīrūnī himself was well acquainted with the locality where the birch- tree grew in abundance.

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Al-Bīrūnī (*Ibid*) also describes the making of a book with such barks in the following manner: “The proper order of the single leaves is marked by numbers. The whole book is wrapped up in a piece of cloth and fastened between two tablets of the same size. Such a book is called *puthi* (cf. *pusta, pustaka*). Their letters, and whatever else they have to write, they write on the bark of the *tuz* tree.”

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(3) *Palm-leaves (tāḍa-patra)*: For writing manuscripts palm- leaves *tāḍa* or *tāla* (borassus flabelliformis) and *tāḍa* or *tāli* (corypha umbraculifera or *C. taliera*) were widely used, specially in southern India. About the use of palm-leaves for writing upon, Al-Bīrūnī (*Ibid*) has observed, “The Hindus have, in the south of their country, a slender tree like the date and coconut palms, bearing edible fruits and leaves of the length of one yard and as broad as three fingers, one put beside the other. They call these leaves *tārī* (Sanskrit *tāli* or *tāḍi*) and write on them.”

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For writing manuscripts, the palm-leaves were at first dried, then soaked or boiled in water for a considerable time and dried again. After that the leaves were polished with conch or cowrie shell or a smooth piece of stone and, finally, cut into the required size (Pandey, 1952, pt. 1, pp. 69-70; Buhler, p. 114). In the south, the letters on the leaves were incised with a stilus and were made black by the application of ink with lamp-black. At somewhat later date, these leaves were used for writing purpose with pen and ink all over India.

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Leaves of the short length were punched in the middle of the one, while longer leaves were punched in the middle of both the ends. In this connection Al-Bīrūnī (Sachau, 1. pp. 171-182) writes, “They bind a book of these leaves together by a cord on which they are arranged, the cord going through all the leaves by a hole in the middle of each... They write the title of a book at the end of it, not at the beginning.”

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Leather (ajina) : While the parchment was commonly used as writing material in western Asia and Europe in early and medieval times, its use in India, if at all, was very rare. In some Buddhist texts, according to D’Alwis (Buhler, p. 114) skin is mentioned as a material used for writing upon. On this point Al- Biruni (Sachau pt. 1, p. 171) writes, “The Hindus are not in the habit of writing on hides, like the Greeks in ancient times.”

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Cloth : The Cotton cloth (Buhler, p. 112-pata, kārpāsika paṭa) was also used as writing material in ancient India. Al-Bīrūnī (Sachau, pt. 2, p. 11) has also stated that he was told about the existence of a pedigree of the Shāhī royal family of Kabul in the fortress of Nagarkot and this is said to have been written on silk.

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Nearchos (4th century B.C.), an admiral of Alexander’s fleet, has first mentioned that the Indians used to write letters on well-beaten cotton cloth (Buhler, p. 20). Cloth was made smooth and non-porous with the application of a thin layer of wheat or rice pulp on it. It was further polished with a conch-shell or stone after the same was dried and letters were written on it with black ink (Pandey, 1952, pt. 1, p. 72).

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Paper: Paper, as a writing material, was hardly known in India before the eleventh century A.D., as there is no Sanskrit word available for paper. It is, however, suggested by some scholars (Bagchi, I, p. 287) that two words Saya and Kakali or Kakari, the Sanskritised forms from Chinese tsie or kaghaz occurring in the Sanskrit-Chinese lexicon of the 8th century A.D., mean paper. It is generally believed that the Chinese first invented paper in the first century A.D. and afterwards its use spread out rapidly to other countries. In the works of Al-Bīrūnī we find the following information. “It was in China that paper was first manufactured. Chinese prisoners introduced the fabrication of paper in Samarkand, and thereupon it was made in various places, so as to meet the existing want.”

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A paste made by rice or wheat pulp was applied on both sides of the paper sheets. These sheets were further polished with conch-shell or stone-roller, so that ink might, not be absorbed in the body of the paper and spread out on its surface (Sachau, pt. 1, p. 71).

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Though there was difference regarding the preparation of pulp from different materials, yet it is known that generally the rags were thoroughly cleansed, boiled and beaten into a pulp with water to the consistency of cream. A finely woven wire sieve was dipped into the vat (dāba). A horizontal shaking motion was given to the sieve, which caused the fibres to felt or interlock, the water draining away through the fine holes in the sieve. The sheet was then placed between felt and subjected to pressure. After drying, the paper was dipped in size (*maṇḍi*) to render it non-porous, and finally dried and smoothed it through roller under pressure. To size the paper and render it fit for ink, a glue, somewhat gelatinous, was first prepared in the vessel which contained this mixture, a rod was placed and a cleft stick used for holding the sheet of paper during the process of dipping. As soon as the paper had been saturated, it was withdrawn by gently rolling it round the stick which had been laid over the vessel. The sheet of paper was afterward hung to dry. It was then smoothened and polished by rubbing it on wood with the convex side of a chank-shell. Jute, sunn, ambaree, moorve, old sacks and finishing nets were also used as raw materials. Forbes Royle states that the fibrous parts of many lily and aloe-leafed plants have been converted into excellent paper in India; the fibres of tiliaceous, malvaceous and leguminous plants are employed for the same purpose. (Ghori and Rahman, 1966, pp. 133-49).

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The other process of paper-making was like this (Ray, 1956, pp. 234-35). Here the raw materials were old clothes, old tents, the bark of certain shrubs and trees etc. After having been washed well and soaked in water for several days, these materials were beaten with a wooden hammer or *dhenkī*. The pulp was mixed with a little water in a lime-lined (*cūṇam*) reservoir, where the beating operation was also carried out. The workmen dipped their moulds into the reservoir, and the mixture, when lifted out, would become paper. It was then removed, and each sheet drawn through a second reservoir of water and then hung up to dry. A quantity of gum arabic was dissolved in water into which the beaten pulp was placed. The water in the second reservoir, through which the sheet were drawn, also contained gum in the form of a mucilage, as well as some alum dissolve in it. The moulds or forms used by the workmen were generally made of bamboo. The gum (gum arabic) was obtained as an exudation from a tree, known commonly as the babool tree.

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Ink: The Sanskrit equivalents for the word ‘ink’ are *maṣi* (*maṣi*, *masī* or *maṣī*) and *melā*. The former is derived from the Sanskrit root *mas* (himsavam), which etymologically means “crushing or pounding,” whereas the latter from *mel*, i.e. to mix (Bothlingk and Roth). It is therefore to be noted that the two words indicate the very techniques for the preparation of ink, i.e. by pounding and mixing the ingredients properly. That the ink was used for the purpose of writing is attested by accounts left by the Greek writers like Nearchos and Curtius (4th century B.C.), where it is stated that Indians wrote on paper and cotton cloth with ink (Pandey, p. 83). It is evident that for writing upon softer material like birch-bark, palm-leaves, cotton-cloth, paper, etc., stilus with ink was employed.

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Writing-ink was generally of two types - durable and non- durable. Of these the first one was used for writing manuscripts and important documents and could not be washed away with water. This durable and ever-lasting ink (Ojha, p. 155) was prepared from lac, mixed with water, borax, *lodhra* (*Symplocos racemosa*) and lamp-black of sesamum, all boiled into a homogeneous mixture; while the ordinary one (Pandey, p. 84) was prepared with some kind of pulverised charcoal mixed with water, gum, sugar or with some other adhesives.

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It is to be noted in this connection that the earliest record for the recipes for ink-making in India is found in the *Rasaratnākara* of Nitya Nātha Siddha (c.A.D.

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1200). These recipes, mostly of vegetable substances, again, are equated with those of hair-dyes, as described in the *Nāvanitaka* (c. 2nd century A.D.).

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Other coloured substances (Pandey, p. 84) like red, yellow, green, etc., were used also for writing and painting purposes. Of these, red-coloured preparation was made either from *alaktaka* (red dye) or vermilion, mixed with gum in water for writing and painting purposes. Besides, the powder of gold silver mixed with gum in boiling water was used for painting and artistic writings.

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The instruments for writing on softer materials, as described in the Sanskrit texts, were *lekhani* (stilus, pencil), *tuli* (brush) (*Amara*, III. 10.32) *varṇaka* (instrument for writing a letter) (*Lalitavistāra*, ch.10), *varaṇa-vartika* (coloured pencil) (*Daśakumāra carita*, Ucchāsa, II).

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Al-Bīrūnī’s visit and his records on India testify quite a number of such writing materials in India and elsewhere.

Linked texts (6)

Daśakumāracarita — Daṇḍin, Sanskrit
Tibetan translation ('Chi med mdzod) — Classical Tibetan
Salihundam
Piramiyam Inscription of the 42nd year of Kalimūrkka-Vikrama-Chōḷa — Tamil
Sohgaura copper plate (ed. Bühler 1896) — Prakrit
Lai Inscription of Vikramadēvī ; Year 32 — Sanskrit

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c36: Writing-materials

Contents

Writing-materials

Engraving, Embossing, Painting and Scratching

Use of Chalk, Reed and Stilus with Colour or Ink

References

Linked texts (6)