Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c33: Preface
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c33
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- English
Preface
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*Minerals and Metals in Ancient India* Volume I dealt with the archaeological evidences (foreigners' travel accounts also noted) showing the use of minerals and metals in ancient India, the period spanning from the Pre-Harappan era up to AD 1200.
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This Volume II covers the period between the *Ṛgveda* and the early fourteenth century AD text *Rasaratnasamuccaya* dwelling on the indigenous literary evidences on the use of minerals and metals in ancient India, more particularly the relevant Sanskrit literature.
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The archaeological evidences clearly prove that the ancient Indians were familiar with gems, non-gem minerals and metals, even before the Harappan era. The literary evidences however start with the *Ṛgveda* which, we believe, was contemporaneous with the Harappan civilization in the Sarasvati Valley.
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After an introduction to the subject in chapter 1, this dissertation begins with the *Ṛgvedic* evidences of the ancient metallurgy in India (chapter 2). The post-Ṛgvedic literature (chapter 3) mentioned specific metals including iron, a few gems and non-gem minerals. Surprisingly however, the details of iron-making or the newly invented potteries such as PGW/NBPW are not found even in the later Vedic literatures; this is probably an effect of the casteist division in the society.
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Pāṇini’s *Aṣṭādhyāyī* contains the etymological roots of many technical terms, evolved during the post-Vedic period, and refers to bellows, beryl and coins (chapter 4) which have been found during the archaeological excavations at Taxilā. Kautilīya *Arthaśāstra* describes the Mauryan political economy, the emergence of a large state, the increasing role of mines in the state economy, a large variety of gems constituting the elements of international trade and the diversity of alloys, coins and ornaments (chapter 5).
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Chapter 6 in this volume examines the references to minerals and metals in the epic *Mahābhārata* which must have been compiled in the present form over several centuries.
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A millennium of the *Ratnaśāstra* texts is the subject-matter of chapter 7, in which the large variety of gems mentioned in the Sanskrit texts have been discussed from the modern scientific standpoint. Similarly, the *Rasaśāstra* texts dealing with chemical and metallic transformations, which evolved over centuries, have been discussed in chapter 8.
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Whereas *Rasaśāstra* or Indian alchemy indulged in an extravaganza of wild concepts such as conversion of base metals to gold, discovering a drug for immortality and so on, the subsequent literatures on iatrochemistry became more realistic. *Rasaratnasamuccaya* of the early fourteenth century AD period, is a pinnacle of Indian iatrochemistry and discussed in our penultimate chapter 9.
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The last chapter summarises our findings; furthermore two specific topics are discussed therein. The problem of correlating the evidences in the Sanskrit literatures and the archaeological evidences has been critically examined. Secondly, we have made a brief presentation of the irrational as well as the rational or positive elements of philosophical thinking in India as revealed in the Sanskrit literatures related to minerals and metals.
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Several appendices are presented at the end of this volume. The technical words appearing in the literature have been stratified: (A) modern scientific nomenclatures, then those belonging to, (B) *Ṛgveda* and post-*Ṛgvedic* period, (C) Pāṇini’s *Aṣṭādhyāyī*, (D) Kauṭilīya *Arthaśāstra*, and (E) post-Christian eras. The entire Sanskrit literature on minerals and metals has been scanned from a modern standpoint, and therefore, appendix ‘A’ fittingly provides scientific information on the minerals discussed in this thesis. Our studies on the subject up to AD 1200 (earlier Volume I and this Volume II) are being extended to cover the pre-modern period (AD 1200-1900) as well.
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Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 1995
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Arun Kumar Biswas
Linked texts (5)
- Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit
- Rasaratnasamuccaya — Vāgbhaṭa (alchemist), Sanskrit
- Aṣṭādhyāyī — Pāṇini, Sanskrit
- Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit