Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11.s6.t3: Copper

v1.c11.s6.t3.1

The best known deposits of copper in India are those of Singhbhum in Bihar and Orissa. Remains of old excavations and mounds of copper slag from a worked out ore have been noted in Indore. Old copper workings are common in Madras, Coimbatore, Guntur and especially Nellore. Many places in the Punjab and Rajputana yield copper, the most important being Khetri and Singhana, both in the Jaipur area. In Afghanistan ancient copper workings have been found near the Safed-Kuh between Kabul and Kurram. Rich veins of copper ore are also said to exist in the Shah Maqsud and the Sirdars of Kandahar. Copper ore is abundant in Persia. Amongst all the above sources, the copper localities nearest to Mohenjo-Daro are: the Jaipur state of Rajputana, the Shah Maqsud and the other areas in Southern Afghanistan and Robat in the extreme west of Baluchistan. (MS-II, 676)