History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c36.s2.9

v1.c36.s2.9

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.