History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c36.s2.14

v1.c36.s2.14

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.”