Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c38.s4.1

v2.c38.s4.1

For agriculture, the Ṛgvedic people used plough which had various names e.g., *phāla* (4.57.8, 10.117.7), *lāṅgala* (4.57.4), *vṛka* (1.117.21, 8.22.6), *sirā* (4.57.5 & 8, 10.101.3-4). *Sītā* (the name of the heroine in *Rāmāyaṇa*) means the line or furrow tilled by the plough. The tip of the plough known as *phāla* or *śunā* (4.57.5 & 8) might have been made of sharpened stone during the neolithic age, but was metallic in the chalcolithic era. Sickles *dātra* (8.78.10) and *sṛṇi* (10.101.3) — were used for cutting the crops.