Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c24.s1.t3.4

v1.c24.s1.t3.4

Jadeite, Nephrite and Asbestos belong to the Actinolite family. The first two might have travelled from Turkestan and China to the West. But we cannot say with certainty whether the materials were known as ‘iaspis’ or ‘yashm’ as suggested by Warmington, and whether much of this commodity passed through the territories of the Bactrian and Kuṣāṇa kings in India for the Romans. The Romans obtained incombustible fibrous mineral called asbestos or chrysotile, ‘valued it as highly as best pearls, and had it woven into wicks, handkerchiefs and shrouds’. They must have obtained their supplies from Badakshan, Afghanistan, which also seems to have been the source of the hand-towels of asbestos sent by king Aśoka to his counterpart in Sri Lanka on 247 BC.