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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c40.s2: Extractive Metallurgy

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c40.s2

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Extractive Metallurgy

v2.c40.s2.1

An ore is defined as a metal-bearing rock from which metal may be extracted by process or extractive metallurgy. The art of making copper from its ore was known in the Pre-Harappan age, and iron-making was discovered around 1200 BC. The Vedic literatures contain references to blacksmiths or kārmāra blowing air (dhma) in a furnace. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa mentions bhastrā merely as a leather bag. Pāṇini explains for the first time, the use of leather bellows in a furnace for blowing air into it. A furnace may have more than one bellow in which case it is called bahubhastrikā (7.3.47). Bellow pipe and pair of bellows with nozzles have been found in the Parthian stratum in Sirkap during the excavations at Taxila.

v2.c40.s2.2

The word bhraṣṭṛ in Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.4.47 and 8.2.36 — meaning ‘one who roasts’ — suggests that sulphide ores were probably roasted before smelting. Samid-dṛṣada, fuel stone or firewood was mentioned by Pāṇini (5.4.106). Was it coal or lignite by chance, or some plain hard firewood? Probably it was used in the metallurgical furnace. The scholars who do not have metallurgical background may have difficulty in appreciating the link between the words pūta (cleaned, purified) and pūti (foul smelling, putrid, stinking). Copper and other sulphide minerals were purified (pūta) in the furnace or smelter which produced foul furnace (pūti) smell (gandha) of sulphur dioxide. Thus, the sulphide smelting furnace could be called pūtigandhi (Pāṇ., 5.4.135). Crude metal was further purified in crucibles. Pāṇini does not seem to mention mūṣā, the Indian word for crucible, which appeared in the post-Pāṇini literatures. However, Pāṇini mentioned sruva or ladle (6.3.115) from which liquid gushes out, and might have observed molten metal being poured from a ladle for the operation of casting in mould.

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In the Vedic literatures, the word maṇi was used in a general sense indicating anything ‘which decorates’. Quite a few materials of organic origin were known and used: ivory, conch-shell, coral, pearl, etc. In Pāṇini, we find the mentioning of several colouring agents — some organic dyes such as raucanikā, haridrā, lākṣā (known even earlier), kajjala or lamp black, etc. and some inorganic pigments such as rocanā (4.2.2) which is probably yellow arsenic sulphide, called orpiment.

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Lohitaka (red) and sasyaka (blue gem) are mentioned by Pāṇini (5.4.30 and 5.2.68). The most interesting reference about a mineral in Pāṇini is related to cat’s eye, beryl or vaidūrya. In 4.3.84 Pāṇini states that the minerals came from the city of Vidura, and that is how the word vaidūrya (originating in Vidura) was derived. Later, it was stated by Patañjali that the mines of vaidūrya were in the mount Vālavāya, but the gem was cut in Vidura (Bhāṣya, 4.3.84; 2.3.13). We are not sure about the location of Vālavāya mountain. This was probably in the Deccan. Pāṇini had geographical acquaintance down south up to the site of Aśmaka on the river Godāvarī. The city of Vidura was probably in the Vidarbha region in Madhya Pradesh. The pale green gem mineral vaidūrya became one of the most precious items adored by the Indians.

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Pāṇini explained in 5.4.94 that ayas stands for metal in general, but when qualified, it could mean a specific metal such as kālāyasa, black metal or iron, lohitāyasa, red metal or copper. Thus ayas was taken both as a genus (jāti) as well as species (saṃjñā). Unless qualified otherwise, ayas sometimes meant iron. The world *lauha* meaning iron evolved much later. It could have originated either from *loha* (red) meaning that which is extracted from the red ore of hematite; alternatively, it could have been a verbal derivative from *lu* which means to cut, sever, or divide, *lauha* meaning something which cuts, severs or divides. The second postulate receives some support from the fact that *lavitra* meaning a sickle (3.2.184) is related to the verb *lū*.

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Another word related to *ayas* is *ghana* or *ghna*. *Ghana* means compact, solid, hard, firm, dense (Pāṇ., 3.3.77-78). Pāṇini continues in the text 3.3.79-83 to explain that *ghana* is often used as *ghna* or *han*, meaning one which destroys or deforms. In this sense, *ayoghana* or *ayoghna* meant forge hammer or sledge hammer (3.3.82), *udghana* carpenter's bench, *vighana* hammer or mallet, *drughana* an axe (3.3.82) *stambaghana* meaning small hoe for weeding clumps of grass and so on. A related word, *parigha* (3.3.84) or *parighana*, earlier used in the Vedic literatures, meant an iron beam used for locking or shutting the gate or an iron club. From the word tongs (*kutilikā*), the blacksmith, *karmāra* was also known as *kautilika*. Whereas *ayasmaya* meant metallic (1.4.20), *ayo-vikāra* stood for iron fabric (4.1.42) and *āyah-śulika* meant iron spike (5.2.76).

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Pāṇini mentioned that the words *lohitāyasa* (copper), *trapu* (tin), *kāṃsya* (bronze or bell metal) had been used in the Vedic literatures. A newly defined term *trāpusam* meant modification or *vikāra* of *trapu*, i.e., an alloy of tin, just as *jātusam* meant modification of *jatu* or lac (Pāṇ., 4.3.138). This shows that tin and bronze (copper-tin alloy; *kāṃsa*) were commonly used during Pāṇini's time. Whether *kāṃsa* meant brass (copper-zinc alloy) also, is not known. Possibly brass became popular in Taxilā after the instrusion of the Greeks. *Ghosa* came to mean bronze long after Pāṇini's time. Pāṇini was probably the first to mention the word *kupya* indicating base metal other than gold and silver (3.1.114).

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