Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s1.1

v2.c43.s1.1

Kautilīya Arthaśāstra of the pre-Christian era presented a list of gems which has been mentioned by us earlier in chapter 5. The principal categories stated therein are colourless quartz (sphaṭika), red ruby (padmarāga), blue sapphire (indranīla), green beryl (vaidūrya) and yellow topaz (puṣparāga), apart from several minor ones. Diamond (vajra), pearl (muktā) and coral (pravāla) were considered separately.