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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c42.s2: The Text of Mahābhārata in the Light of the Archaeological Evidences

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c42.s2

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The Text of Mahābhārata in the Light of the Archaeological Evidences

v2.c42.s2.1

The date of the Mahābhārata war has been variously suggested as 3100 BC, 1900 BC, 1400 BC and 900 BC. While we tend to favour the last two dates 1400-900 BC, we also agree with Joshi (1987:20) that the kind of war that was described in the epic, with the full range of iron weapons, could not have been fought before 600 BC. Inevitably, the conclusion, as drawn by Lad (1983), emerges that there was a core of the story existing before 800 BC, essentially as a folklore and orally transmitted, which became heavily padded with the later-day experiences. Additions to the text were made in several instalments during 500-100 BC, 100 BC - AD 100 and AD 100-400. Thus, instead of discussing minerals and metals mentioned in the epic Mahābhārata as a coherent subject or referring to them as the material resources in India during any particular epoch, we should rather follow Lad (1983:66) in relating the specific references to minerals and metals with the different era during which such references were introduced in the text as additional extravaganza and distortions.

v2.c42.s2.2

Lad (1983: 66-68) pointed out several reasons to believe in the antiquity of the epic. Some of the heroes of the epic such as Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, etc. have been mentioned in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (3.17.6) and Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini (4.3.98) which correspond to the eighth century and sixth-fifth century BC period respectively. Āsvalāyana Gṛhya Sūtra (3.4.4) eulogized the epic and Sāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra (15.16) referred to the Kurukṣetra war. These Sūtras may be dated around sixth century BC. Kautilya and Patañjali have also referred to the epic. It is quite possible therefore that a small core of the epic was in circulation before the eighth century BC.

v2.c42.s2.3

An early version of the epic probably referred to the pastoral economy and unsophisticated agro-rural set up as in vogue in Bhagwānpura and Hastināpura during the OCP and early PGW era. As a matter of fact, several archaic features, not only of language and construction, but also of culture contained in the epic have managed to escape the scrubbing and polishing of later centuries’. Some of the awkward and conspicuous examples have been cited by Lad (1983:66).

v2.c42.s2.4

The food habits of some of the princely heroes are almost primitive: they cook their own meat-broths. They dress simply in cotton cloth and hardly wear decorative shoes. Sugar, quite common in India by 400 BC, is nowhere on the scene in the epic. The complete absence of coins and money economy (niṣka is more of a gold ornament than a piece of coin) proves the distant origins of the epic. Conch-shell bangles were of Harappan tradition and pearls were mentioned in the Vedas. Glass (kāca) and quartz crystal (kācamaṇi) were rarely mentioned.

v2.c42.s2.5

Although Ahicchatra and Girivraja (modern Rājgīr) occur in the epic, Pāṭaliputra founded in the sixth century BC is not mentioned, proving the antiquity of the epic. At several places in the epic, the modest descriptions fit in with the early PGW cultures in Hastināpur etc., which were hardly urban, and were at best large agro-rural settlements resembling that in the Late-Harappan Bhagwānpura. (Ghosh, 1973: 9-11; Sharma, 1983:172-73 and Joshi 1987: 27)

500-100 BC Additions

v2.c42.s2.t1.1

The first major portion of additions and accretions came during the Historical Period. The large number of gems, ornaments, iron weapons, and metal utensils mentioned in the *Mahābhārata* have their exact counterparts in the Buddhist Pāli literature. The materials were either processed in North India or brought from South India or across the Western frontiers under the influence of the Persians and Greeks, and later Scythians and Romans.

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References to *vaidūrya* or beryl (1.143.23; 2.48.30; 3.39.17; 4.36.39, etc.) clearly show that this part of *Mahābhārata* was composed after fifth century BC. The Vedic literatures do not mention beryl, and the first time this is introduced in the Sanskrit literature is by Pāṇini. The epic *Mahābhārata* itself refers to the South Indian topography which yielded beryl and other gems during the Historical Period:

v2.c42.s2.t1.3

प्रागायता महाराज षडेते रत्नपर्वताः
अवगाढ़ा हि अभयतः समुद्रौ पूर्वपश्चिमौ
नीलश्च वैदूर्यमय श्वेतश्च रजतप्रभः
सर्वधातुविनद्रुश्च शृंगवान्नाम पर्वतः
*prāgāyatā mahārāja sadete ratnaparvatāḥ*
*avagāḍhā hi abhayataḥ samudrau pūrvapaścimau*
*nīlaśca vaidūryamaya śvetaśca rajataprabhaḥ*
*sarvadhātuvinadrūśca śṛngavānnām parvataḥ*
(6.7.2-3)

v2.c42.s2.t1.4

Mount Nila (Nilagiri) probably derived its name from the sea-blue aquamarine in the Coimbatore district. The ocean and Sri Lanka have been mentioned as the chief sources of gems such as beryl, pearl and coral etc:

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समुद्रसारं वैदूर्य मुक्ताः शंखान् तथैव च
शतशश्च कुथां स्तत्र सिंहलाः समुपाहरन्
*samudrasāram vaidūrya muktāḥ śaṅkhān tathaiva ca*
*śataśaśca kuthām statra simhalāḥ samupāharan*
(2.48.30)

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The international trading port Barygaza in Gujarat or modern Broach was known as Bhrgukaccha or Bharukaccha. Its importance was acknowledged:

v2.c42.s2.t1.7

भरुकच्छं गतो धीमान् दूतान् माद्रवतीसूतः
*bharukacchaṃ gato dhīmān dūtān mādravatīsūtaḥ*
(2.28.50)

v2.c42.s2.t1.8

Mention was made of *bharukacchanivāsinaḥ* (2.47.8).

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Green beryl (*vaidūrya*) has been clearly distinguished from sea-blue aquamarine (*nīla vaidūrya*):

v2.c42.s2.t1.10

*Vaidūryaharitānīva* (5.98.10), *nadīśca bahulāvartā nīlavaidūrya sannibhāḥ* (3.39.17), *nīla vaidūrya sadrśa indanilanibhaḥ kvacit* (12.326.5). Further distinction has been made from *nilāñjana* (12.326.3) or carrollite and *indranila* (12.326.5) or sapphire.

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Emerald is the deep green variety of beryl. This gem was not available in the South, and it is doubtful whether the Udaipur, Rajasthan reserve was tapped that early. Most probably the supply of emerald came from the Asiatic side of the Ural mountains, 80 km east of Sverdlosk, or from Ethiopia or Egypt. At any rate, according to Pliny and the *Periplus*, Rome received emerald at one stage through India alone; this trade was possible only during the Christian era. The *Mahābhārata* refers to emerald, *marakata* or *masāra* in several places:

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पित्तान् मरकतं यथा
*pittān marakataṃ yathā*
(3.213.13)
मसारगल्वर्मयैः विभगैः भूषितम् हेमपिनद्रू चक्रम्
*masāragalvarmayaiḥ vibhangaiḥ bhūṣitam hemapinadrū cakram*
(12.46.33)

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Amongst the beryl-like green gems, the light green beryl was the most popular one in ancient India. The *Mahābhārata* provides evidences as to how popular beryl had become to the Indians. The sparkling green of flowers (2.155.61), petals (12.95.15), fresh moss (1.143.23), young shoots of grass (5.118.8) etc. were compared with the beautiful green *vaidūrya*:

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नदीद्वीप प्रदेशेषु वैदूर्य सिकतासु च
*nadīdvīpa pradeśeṣu vaidūrya sikatāsu ca*
(1.143.23)
वैदूर्यांकुर कल्पानि मृदुनि हरितानि च
*vaidūryānkur kalpāni mṛduni haritāni ca*
(5.118.8)

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वैदूर्यपत्र विततां मणिनलमया अम्बुजाम् *vaidūryapatra vitatāṃ maṇinālamayā ambujām* (2.3.27)

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The earliest archaeologically recovered sample of beryl was from Bhir Mound III of Taxilā (fifth-fourth century BC). Beryl beads were also obtained from Kauśāmbī (150 BC) and Sirkap III (AD 100).

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*Vidruma* or *pravāla* (coral) mentioned in the *Mahābhārata* (1.105.17, 3.212.13-14, 7.73.25, 12.326.3-5) also came from Sri Lanka and the Malabar coast and later from the Mediterranean Sea. Of course coral was known in the Chalcolithic India, and archaeological samples have been obtained in the successive periods of Prakash (Period I 1700-1300 BC, II 600-100 BC, III AD 100-300) Navdatoli (Period I 1600-1300 BC, III AD 100-300), Maski (Period I 900-400 BC, III AD 50-300). The most substantial finds however are from the Indo-Greek (Bhir Mound II Mauryan) and Indo-Roman Trading Period (Nevasa V 50 BC-AD 200). Roman corals along with many other materials were imported and found in Nevasa V. Medicinal value of coral was testified by Caraka and Suśruta around the first century AD.

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Pearls, *muktā* or *mauttika* (Pāli) also came from Sri Lanka (2.48.30) and Gulf of Mannar. In the Vedic literatures, peral was known as *kṛśan*. This was probably conch-pearl or the darker variety from the Persian Gulf or the black mis-shapen perals from the winnow oysters of the Saurashtra backwaters (Lad, 1983: 30). During the historical period, the much better species of oysters (*Pinetada Vulgaris*), flourishing in the Gulf of Mannar and noted for its beautiful silvery white colour, were exploited for the pearl trade. There are many references to pearls in the *Mahābhārata* (1.191.13; 7.73.25; 9.34.31; 9.61.32; 11.165.17 etc.) Pearl necklaces were quite common (3.108.9; 3.146.25). A delicate network of pearls known as *muktājāla* used to be hung from doorways (13.20.36-37) and pillars in an auditorium etc.

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मुक्ताजाल परिक्षिप्तं वैदूर्यमणि भूषितम् शतकुम्भमयं दिव्यं प्रेक्षागारम् उपागमत *muktājāla parikṣiptaṃ vaidūryamaṇi bhūṣitam* *śatakumbhamayaṃ divyaṃ prekṣāgāram upāgamat* (1.124.13)

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Such lavish use of pearls was possible only during the Mauryan and Post-Mauryan era. The use of bangles made out of conch-shell or *kambu* was rooted in the Harappan and the Post-Harappan chalcolithic traditions. However, at the time when the epic was written, shell bangles were used by lower class people only (2.54.13, 4.10.15-19, 4.15.2). Evidently, the newer commodities such as the fragrant *candana*, *aguru* and sandalwood from the South, were more attractive.

v2.c42.s2.t1.21

Diamond or *vajra* was very popular for its brightness *vajrasārojjvalāni* (5.98.10), but we do not know how much earlier before the first century AD (when Pannā mine was exploited), the actual diamond-mining had started in India. Sapphire (blue *indranila* 12.326.5) was obtained from the gem-beds of Sri Lanka which contained more sapphire-blue variety of corundum, and less of ruby-red variety of the same mineral.

v2.c42.s2.t1.22

Sunstone (*sūryakānta* or *arka*) and moonstone (*candrakānta*) both belong to the feldspar family. In the sunstone structure, embedded hematite or goethite crystals scatter an internal glow of yellowish or reddish beams, and thus the mineral exhibits self-luminescence. The reference 12.46.33 quoted earlier, describes the chariot of the Lord Kṛṣṇa bedecked with gold, emerald and arka or sunstone. Was Kṛṣṇa’s *syamantaka* a piece of sunstone or diamond?

v2.c42.s2.t1.23

The moonstone is an intimate combination of orthoclase and albite in an arrangement of thin layers to which it owes its beautiful blue bloom and its lovely sheen. This mineral has been available in the Kangayam district of Tamil Nadu in South India and also in the famous gem-gravels around Ratnapura in the south-western Sri Lanka.

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Quartz or rock crystal has been mentioned several times as *sphaṭika* in the *Mahābhārata* (2.3.16 & 27; 3.212.13-14; 12.326.3-5 etc.). Due to its resemblance with glass, which was used to imitate gems, it came to be known as *kācamaṇi*, and gradually got devalued as a common place material. The epic mentions few other minerals such as *nīlāñjana* (12.326.3) which is probably the blue pigment carrollite, *ásmasāra* (2.47.14) (was it iron or agate or amethyst?) which was used to make *bhāṇḍa* or containers.

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