Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c42.s3.3

v2.c42.s3.3

From the Vedic age, *niṣka* was known as a prominent gold ornament and sometimes as a decorative lump of gold. In the *Mahābhārata*, this has been mentioned as an ornament for both men and women (1.67.2; 7.19.35); a round piece of gold, tied at the neck in a string or chain (7.91.26), at times several such pieces strung into a necklet (7.138.17). Rarely *niṣka*, *śatamāna* and *sāna* were mentioned as coins or money-exchanging units. Gold vessels were frequently mentioned but these were probably too costly to be left behind and to be subsequently recovered as archaeological items. Silver pitchers — *kalaśa* (15.3.12) and *kumbha* (8.6.37) — were probably items imported through Graeco-Roman trade (2.34.4; 2.47.16). Bell metal and brass (*kāṃsya*) were used as milking and drinking vessels (2.45.26; 2.49.3; 15.34.13-14). Sometimes these were gilded with gold (4.63.47).