Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c25.s1.6
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c25.s1.6
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v1.c25.s1.6
Active mining for reef gold went on in many gold fields of South India, such as Bellara, Kabligatti, Wynad and elsewhere. The famous inscription on the Tanjore temple shows that during the eleventh century AD gold (and not silver) was the most common precious metal in India. The metal was obtained from the mines by the eleventh-thirteenth century AD kings of South India, the Vijaynagara kings (1336-1560), and later by Ṭipū Sultān. Ball (1881: 182-83) described Wynad gold mine: