History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c36.s2.19

v1.c36.s2.19

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.