Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c33.8

v2.c33.8

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.