Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3: Item-wise Discussion on Gems with Decreasing Hardness

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3

Language
English

Contents

Item-wise Discussion on Gems with Decreasing Hardness

Diamond (10)

v2.c43.s3.t1.1

Diamond (vajra, later also known as bhidura and hīraka, hīrā) was known as the hardest gem or mineral. Its property became proverbial in Bhavabhūti’s *Uttara Rāmacarita* (2.7): *vajrādapi kaṭhorāṇi* . . . ‘something tougher or harder than even diamond’. Apart from its gem quality, diamond was used as an abrasive. It was mentioned in the *Maṇilakṣaṇa* chapter of the *Skanda Purāṇa* (*SP*, 23.79) that diamond cannot be scratched by any other gem.

v2.c43.s3.t1.2

Various texts (*AS*, 2.11; *Bṛ. Saṃ.*, 79.10) referred to streams, mines and placer deposits as the sources of diamond: *srotaḥ khaniḥ prakīrṇakam*.

v2.c43.s3.t1.3

All the manuals listed eight sources of diamond, but as Finot suggested, several of these were trading places and not actual mining areas. The bank of the Veṇā (Wainganga near Nagpur) had diamond mines; the place seems to be Wairagadh formerly known as Vajragṛha. This place, the area of Vidarbha, had been mentioned by Kauṭilya as Sabhārāṣṭra. Kosala or South Kosala meant the Bundelkhand area around Pannā; the diamond field of this area tempted many invaders such as the Kuṣāṇa King, Kaniṣka. Mataṅga is the tract between Kṛṣṇā and Godāvarī, including the area of the Golconda mines. Kaliṅga included the Mahānadī alluvium in the Sambhalpur district of Orissa. (Shastri, 1969:325-27)

v2.c43.s3.t1.4

Good diamonds were supposed to be *ujjala* or bright, *adoṣa* flawless, *amala vāritara* free from impurities and transparent like water. Rain-bow like colour, *ambudendradhanuḥ* was a desirable property (*RRS*, 4.27). Ibn al-Afkānī, an Arab gemmologist, commented: “Indians prefer white and yellow diamonds because of the red rays, that emanate from them when viewed against the sun, and the spectrum resembling the rainbow”. (quoted by Sarma, 1984:48)

v2.c43.s3.t1.5

Śilappadikaram was probably the first text classifying diamond into four ‘castes’: brāhmaṇa, white and light yellow; kṣatriya red; vaiśya dark yellow or smoky and śūdra, black or impure. This casteist slant in gemmology persisted for more than a millennium.

v2.c43.s3.t1.6

Another mehtod of categorisation was in terms of the crystalline properties. Pure diamond crystal was known to be octahedral, with eight symmetric facets (*samaphalaka*), twelve sharp edges (*dhārā*), six prominent solid angles (*koṇa*):

v2.c43.s3.t1.7

षट कोणा अष्ट फलका द्वादश धारा: सन्ति वज्रे च . . .।
. . . समफलकम् उच्चकोणं सुतीक्ष्णधारं च वारितरम् अमलम।।
*ṣaṭa koṇa aṣṭa phalakā dvādaśa dhārāḥ santi vajre ca . . .*
*. . . samaphalakam ucchakoṇam sutīkṣṇadhāraṃ ca*
*vāritaram amalam ॥*
(*RYP*, 23-24)

v2.c43.s3.t1.8

Defective diamonds apart from having flaws such as crow’s foot (*kākapada*), spot (*vindu*), streak or line (*rekhā*), impurities (*samala*), etc. may also be geometrically defective (RYP, 25; AM, 27). Such defective samples may be barley-shaped (yavākāra), broken (sphuṭita) such that these have unequal solid angles (hinādhikakoṇam), sometimes only one solid angle (ekaśṛṅgam) or even roudness (vartulam). On this consideration, RRS (4.26-28) classified diamond gems into three genders or categories — masculine, feminine and neutral. The samples with well-defined facets, edges and angles are ‘masculine’. The feminine samples are concave, flat or cylindrical. The neutral (napuṃsaka) samples are spherical or blunt at the tips and slightly heavy.

v2.c43.s3.t1.9

RRS typified most of the Ratnaśāstra texts while endorsing sex- and caste-based chauvinism. It not only divided diamond (and most other gem categories) into ‘castes’ (based on colour) and ‘genders’ (based on geometrical features) but also recommended that persons of specific caste and gender should use diamonds of the corresponding type only. It went further, and noted with an air of conclusion that categorisation of all objects into castes and genders is of universal applicability.

v2.c43.s3.t1.10

स्त्री पुं नपुंसकं वज्रं योज्यं स्त्रीपुन्नपुंसके
श्वेतादिवर्णभेदेन . . . स्व स्व वर्णफलप्रदम्
. . . पदार्थेषु अखिलेषु अपि।।
strī pum napuṃsakaṃ vajraṃ yojyaṃ stripunnapuṃsake |
śvetādivarṇabhedena . . . sva sva varṇaphalapradam
. . . padārtheṣu akhileṣu api ||
(RRS, 4.29-31)

v2.c43.s3.t1.11

Pricing (mūlyam) of diamond and other gems was elaborately discussed in most of the Ratnaśāstra texts (AM, 49-52; Br. Saṃ. 79.12-16; RP, 39; Finot, xxx). From the data, it appears that price of diamond (in kārṣāpaṇas) per unit mass (in taṇḍulas) varied approximately with the square of the mass. With a tenfold increase in mass (from 2 to 20 taṇḍula or 4 carats) price per unit mass increased 100 times (200 to 2 lakh kārṣāpaṇas). Thus absolute price increased proportionately with the cubic power of the mass of the diamond sample. The price came down with various kinds of defects which were listed.

v2.c43.s3.t1.12

While Br. Saṃ. and RP fixed the price of diamond on the basis of weight only, AM (42 and 49-52) suggested that volume should also be considered. Ideally, a piece of diamond having the volume of a barley grain should have the weight of a grain of rice (AM, 42). Evidently, specific gravity was recognised as an important consideration. AM and subsequent literatures (GP, 68.38 and 47; MM, 139) have created confusion by commenting that lighter diamonds are necessarily better and hence more valuable. Agastimata or AM (49-52) suggested that the specific gravity of diamond could vary within the range — 75 + 25 per cent; this is ‘pure imagination’ in the words of Finot. The comment in *AM* 50: *tripādam tarate toye*, i.e., a diamond floats on water when it weighs three quarters less than the ideal mass for the same volume’, is very useful since it implies *Agastimata’s* opinion that diamond is four times denser than water, or that its specific gravity is 4.0 (the true value is 3.52). When it is stated that heavier pieces are impure and hence less valuable, what is implied is contamination of diamond with a heavy mineral such as zircon (sp. gr. average 4.68). That a diamond piece having lower weight per unit volume or specific gravily should fetch more price (*AM*, 49-52) was a preposterous suggestion, because such a piece would also be grossly impure. (Sarma, 1984: 50-53) The text in *AM*, 50, quoted before, was seriously misunderstood, and *Garuḍa Purāṇa* (68.38) even commented that a good piece of diamond should float in water!

Corundum, Ruby and Sapphire (9)

v2.c43.s3.t2.1

It has been indicated in Table 7.2 that pure corundum (*kuruvinda*) is colourless, and specific lattice substitutions in Al₂O₃ induce specific colour and produce gems such as red ruby or *padmarāga*, blue sapphire or *indranīla*, etc. These three minerals have high hardness (9), and only diamond is harder than them (*AM*, 238). Kauṭilya mentioned the use of *kuruvinda* as an abrasive (AS, 2.14.48).

v2.c43.s3.t2.2

Buddhabhaṭṭa made an interesting statement that ruby and sapphire cannot be scratched by any mineral other than diamond and corundum (*RP*, 137); similar statements have been repeated in *GP*, 1.70.27 and *MM*, 213:

v2.c43.s3.t2.3

कुरुविन्दं तथा वज्रं विमुच्य अन्येन केनचित्।
न शक्यं लेखनं कर्तुं पद्मराग इन्द्रनीलयोः।।
*kuruvindaṃ tathā vajraṃ vimucya anyena kenacit*
*na śakyaṃ lekhanam karttuṃ padmarāga indranilayoḥ*

v2.c43.s3.t2.4

Sarma (1984: 51-52) has expressed surprise in the above statements since ruby and sapphire have the same Al₂O₃ lattice as corundum, and are supposed to have similar hardness. However trace substitution by low energy oxides of Cr, Fe etc. might lower surface free energy and hardness of Al₂O₃ by a small amount, and this may be detectable when pure corundum powder is mounted on a grinding wheel. Bauer (1968: 282) has reported slight differences in hardness values of the varieties of corundum, and the fact that ruby is slightly softer than sapphire.

v2.c43.s3.t2.5

*Padmarāga* or red ruby used to come to the ancient India from the gem-beds of Sri Lanka. The valley of the river *Rāvaṇagaṅgā*, overgrown with Areca-palms was strewn with varieties of ruby (*GP*, 1.70.3-17). *Padmarāga* was also known as *māṇikya* and *cunni* (from *cūrṇikā*, small pieces). Best ruby has been described as red like lotus (*padmarāga*), transparent, brilliant, heavy and clear. *Agastimata*, 213 classified ruby on the basis of the amount of radiance emitted above, below and on sides, when held against the sun. If the radiance spreaded all around, indicating lack of crystallinity, then the piece was considered to be spurious (*RYP*, 68).

v2.c43.s3.t2.6

Ruby was known to exist in different shades of red. *Padmarāga* was the red variety with a tinge of white, *nilagandhi* red with a blue or black tint, *saugandhika* yellowish red. The last one was probably known in the West as the orange *padparadsca* (a corrupt form of the word *padmarāga*), the yellowish aurora-red gem from Sri Lanka. (Herbert Smith, Gemstones pp. 289-90) Dull-hued red variety ‘with its lustre remaining within’ was sometimes called *kuruvinda* (*GP*, 1.70.13). Crimson-yellow variety was known as *karundaka* or *kaurandaka* (*MM*, 407; *GP*, 1.74.2). A transparent variety slightly red and yellow was known as *kāṣāyaka* (*RP*, 218; *GP*, 1.74.3). A red variety which appeared to be smeared with milk (*dugdhaliptasma*) was defined as *laśunapadam*, like *laśuna* or garlic (*NRP*, 115).

v2.c43.s3.t2.7

Rose-red balas-ruby belongs to an altogether different category. It is not Al₂O₃ but a spinel or mixed oxide, MgAl₂O₄. It is softer than ruby, its hardness being eight in the Moh’s Scale. Like Al₂O₃, it is colourless when pure, chromium substitution making it red. Spinels come in a wide variety of colours, but here we are concerned with rose-red spinels which have been known as balas-rubies or *rubis balais*. Spinels are abundant in the ruby mines of Badakshan. In the thirteenth century AD, Marco Polo collected spinels with rubies in the province of Balascia on the Upper Oxus, which is identical with the Badakshan of the present-day. Bauer writes (1968: 298) that the term ‘balas-ruby’ is derived from the place-name Balascia. However, we propose that both these names were derived from the Sanskrit term *bālasūryaka*, the crimson-coloured morning sun. Kautilya mentioned *bālasūryaka* as a variety of *padmarāga* or ruby (*AS*, 2.11.29). Thus it is quite likely that ever since Kautilya’s time, the Indians were familiar with the spinel ruby mines of Badakshan. These mines remained famous for more than a millennium. In 1315, Thakkar Pheru wrote:

v2.c43.s3.t2.8

अतितेजः अग्निवर्ण लालं बंदखसाण देशे
*atitejaḥ agnivarnam lālam bandamkhasāṇa deśe*
(*RYP*, 104)

v2.c43.s3.t2.9

At that time, spinel ruby was known as *lāl*. At times, ruby (9), spinel ruby (8), hyacinth variety of zircon (7-1/2) and hessonite variety of garnet (7-1/4), appeared to have similar reddish yellow colour, but these could be easily distinguished from one another by scratch tests since their hardness values (given in parenthesis) are different.

v2.c43.s3.t2.10

*Indranīla* or sapphire was known to the Indians as a different category of gem-mineral (*AS*, 2.11.31), but we know now, that this is blue corundum (vide Table 7.2). According to Buddhabhatta (*RP*, 195-196; also supported in *GP*, 1.72.17-18 and *MM*, 405), a sapphire in which the colours of the rainbow sparkle is an *indranīla*, and the one which turns the milk in a bowl blue, is a *mahānīla*. The Agastimata however labels the second variety as *indranīla* (*AM*, 268), the sapphires from Sri Lanka *mahānīla* and the rest of the sapphires from other sources as plain *nīlas*. Utpala, mentioned in *Arthaśāstra* and *Maṇimālā*, is greenish blue and could be aquamarine rather than sapphire.

v2.c43.s3.t2.11

The *Ratnaśāstra* texts described *indranīla* occurring in different shades of blue, and we know today that sapphire can be deep-blue, the most admired tone being ‘intense cornflower-blue’. Sapphire could be whitish blue leuco-sapphire or *somānaka* (*RP*, 219; *GP*, 1.74.3) or possess a yellowish tinge (‘Oriental topaz’). We have already mentioned that sapphire is slightly harder than ruby (Bauer, 1968: 282). The word ‘sapphire’ came from the old Arabic (also Hebrew) ‘sapeer’ meaning ‘to scratch’, something which is hard. Its hardness enabled it to be distinguished from less hard blue gems like aquamarine, lapis lazuli, and blue-coloured materials like quartz, glass or marble (*GP*, 1.72.14). Garuda Purāṇa mentioned various defects (grain boundary, holes etc.) of some sapphire samples, their occasional contamination with mica and moderate thermal resistance (*GP*, 1.72.6 and 11). The Indians received the best variety of sapphire from the Padmākara province of Sri Lanka (*MM*, 397), which must have been around the modern Ratnapura on the Kaluganga.

v2.c43.s3.t2.12

Like blue to yellow transition, sapphire was known to have blue to red transition also, and such reddish blue coloured corundum samples could be called either sapphire or ruby. As a matter of fact, the Arabs guessed (without any scientific knowledge) that sapphires and rubies belonged to a transitional single group of gem mineral, and they called this *Yāqūt* which, according to Al-Afkānī, occurred in seven varieties. (Sarma, 1984:61; Wiedemann, 836-40) Both ruby and sapphire crystals, specially the dark coloured ones, are dichroic, i.e., appearing differently coloured when viewed through mutually perpendicular axes. The famous ‘Sapphire Marveilleux’ appears blue by day and red amethystine by night (*Maṇimālā*, p. 459). Sapphire with a dash of red has been known as *tittibha* (*MM*, 423) A deep blue gem dashed with red was known as *nīlāṅga* or violet-ruby (*Maṇimālā*, part 2, pp. 514-15).

v2.c43.s3.t2.13

Asterias or star Sapphire is a special variety which when viewed against light appears like a six-rayed chatoyant star. This is due to the reflection of light from the surface of a multitude or microscopically small tubular cavities or rifts enclosed in the crystal, and grouped into three sets, each of which is parallel to a face of the hexagonal prism. (Bauer, 1968: 284) This variety of *indranīla* was mentioned by Kauṭilya as *śravanmadhya* (AS, 2.11.31) which has been interpreted by one Sanskrit commentator as streaming interior or ‘having rays shooting like flowing water’.

v2.c43.s3.t2.14

Most *Ratnaśāstra* texts have discussed the pricing pattern of rubies and sapphires. Sapphire was considered to have different shades of colour which were equated to ‘castes’, e.g., whitish blue (brāhmaṇa), reddish blue (kṣatriya), yellowish-blue (vaiśya) and black-blue (śūdra) etc. (RYP, 82).

Gem Minerals Containing Beryllium

v2.c43.s3.t3.1

We would now discuss the family of gem minerals containing beryllium, variously coloured, specially green and blue, and having similar hardness. In terms of chemical composition, a sharp distinction has to be made between chrysoberyl (hardness 8-1/2) BeAl₂O₄, a mixed oxide, and beryl (hardness 7-3/4) Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈ a cyclo-silicate. The difference in their hardness could be easily tested using another gem, topaz having an intermediate hardness of eight. In absolutely pure form, both chrysoberyl and beryl are colourless. Their colours in the gem form arise on account of lattice substitutions by other elements as specified in Table 7.2. Due to chromium and iron, chrysoberyl samples assume green and yellow colour respectively, the more usual green colour often merging into golden yellow.

v2.c43.s3.t3.2

Milky white or greenish white cloudy chrysoberyl samples (not the clear and transparent ones) exhibt chatoyancy. Extending across the curved surface of such stones is a silvery line or streak of light, when viewed in a strong light. These samples are called chrysoberyl or oriental cat’s eye. The phenomenon of chatoyancy is due to the existence in immense numbers of microscopically small cavities arranged in a particular direction or a bundle of microscopic channels running parallel to a single direction. When viewed at right angles to this direction, a band of light is visible running across this bundle. The stone is usually cut along this direction so that maximum number of light-reflecting cavities are close to or on the surface producing maximum chatoyancy.

v2.c43.s3.t3.3

Quartz cat’s eye samples (hardness 7) show similar chatoyancy or a wave of milky light reflected from the surface, the effect in this case arising due to the presence of large number of fibres of asbestos aligned in a specific direction.

v2.c43.s3.t3.4

Beryl, *vaidūrya* in Sanskrit, has a hardness (7-3/4) different from those of chrysoberyl (8-1/2) and quartz (7), and the modern literature does not indicate that chatoyancy is observed in any beryl sample. However, green chrysoberyl sometimes looks like green beryl, and since the former gem exhibits chatoyancy effect occasionally, the Indian word *vaidūrya* has in some instances been used (unfortunately) to indicate cat's eye gem also. We would like to elaborate this point with some details.

v2.c43.s3.t3.5

Pāṇini referred to *vaidūrya* coming from Vidura. Later Patañjali, the commentator of *Aṣṭādhyāyī*, explained that the gem actually came from the Vālavāya mountains, and was only processed in the town of Vidura (which must have been located somewhere in South India). Centuries later, Buddhabhatta wrote about Koṅgavālikasīmanta near the Vidura mountain as the source of beryl or *vaidūrya* (RP, 199):

v2.c43.s3.t3.6

अविदूरे विदुरस्य गिरेः उत्तुंगरोधसः।
कोंगबालिकसीमन्ते मणेः तस्याकरः अभवत्।।
*avidūre vidūrasya gireḥ uttuṅgarodhasaḥ |*
*koṅgabālikasīmante maṇeḥ tasyākaraḥ abhavat ||*

v2.c43.s3.t3.7

Sarma (1984: 68) opined that the etymological link between Vidura and *vaidūrya* was ‘a fiction invented by the grammarians’, but we do not agree with him, since Patañjali’s explanation has been clear enough. Patañjali’s *vālavāya* (mountain) is similar to Buddhabhatta’s *vālika*.

v2.c43.s3.t3.8

It is well-known that Koṅga kingdom once governed the beryl mine of Coimbatore of the Salem district from which beryl gems were supplied to the Romans. Alfred Master has suggested (‘Indo-Aryan and Dravidian’, In *Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies*, Vol. XI, 1943-46, pp. 297-307) that the *veluriya*, the Pāli word was actually a Dravidian word preceding Pāṇini’s *vaidūrya*, and both were the adjectival forms of *Velur* (or modern Belur), which is in the heart of the beryl mines of Coimbatore. The AD 500 inscription of the Gaṅga king Durvinita mentions both Vēḷur as well as the Punnāṭa kingdom described by Ptolemy as ‘Punnāṭa in which is the beryl’. Vēḷur might have been known to Pāṇini as Vidur (‘the far away city’) where the beryl gem from the nearby mountains were processed.

v2.c43.s3.t3.9

Thus, the identity of *vaidūrya* with beryl is well-established. It was known to be quite different from cat’s eye. Kauṭilya listed beryl *vaidūrya* and cat’s eye *mārjāraksaka* as distinctly separate gem (AS, 2.11.30 and 39). Kauṭilya never mentioned *marakata* (emerald, the darker green variety of *vaidūrya* or beryl) which used to be imported to India from Egypt probably after his era. In the post-Christian era, we find *vaidūrya* and *marakata* being mentioned together to mean the same family of green gem.

v2.c43.s3.t3.10

Probably Buddhabhatta’s writing had created for the first time the confusion vis-a-vis beryl and cat’s eye. He wrote (RP, 200) :

v2.c43.s3.t3.11

वैदूर्यरत्नमयो विविध अवभासा:
तस्मात् स्फुलिंगानि वहा इव सम्भवन्ति
vaidūryaratnamayo vividh avabhāsāḥ
tasmāt sphuliṅgāni vahā iva sambhavanti

v2.c43.s3.t3.12

According to this text, vaidūrya is many-hued and one variety appears to have specks of fire on the surface. Finot translated this as “comme un jaillissement d’étincelles” indicating chatoyancy, and equated vaidūrya with cat’s eye. Buddhabhaṭṭa’s description indeed reminds one of chrysoberyl cat’s eye. Possibly, he made the mistake of using the term vaidūrya in a wide sense. This is obvious when he refers to a wide range of colour for vaidūrya: the conventional green (RP, 203), blue as well as golden red (RP, 202 and 208). Finot was certainly wrong (1898 : xlv-xlvii, and 43-45; also Agastimata Appendix 9 quoted by Finot in p. 135) in equating vaidūrya with cat’s eye. At any rate, this confusion had started with Buddhabhaṭṭa, and as Sarma (1984: 68) pointed out, Māgha made a similar mistake in using the word vaidūrya to indicate bidālakṣaṇa or chatoyancy of cat’s eye (Śiśupālavadha, 3.45). RRS, 4.57 description of vaidūrya is actually that of cat’s eye. As we have indicated earlier, the confusion arose probably due to greenish chrysoberyl cat’s eye and beryl occurring at times in the same matrix.

v2.c43.s3.t3.13

The confusion was however not perpetuated. Kālidāsa gave the right description of vaidūrya by referring to its long columnal (ratnaśalākā) grass-green crystals (Kumārasambhava, 1.24). Chrysoberyl was rightly recognised as a separate mineral karketana, by Buddhabhaṭṭa himself rudhira hemamadhuprakāśam (RP, 222; also 221-30). This gem was known to be ‘uniformly coloured, light-red like copper or yellow like honey’ (MM, 426). Garuda Purāṇa describes it as possessing ‘burning fiery brilliance of honey, shedding brilliant rays as if heated in fire’ (GP, 1.75.2 and 4) which reminds us of Buddhabhaṭṭa’s Sphuliṅga bahā (RP, 200), a description wrongly assigned to beryl (it could represent golden beryl, a gem softer than chrysoberyl but occurring with beryl). Pāribhadra, ‘a transparent water-green gem’ was equated by Tagore (Manimālā, part 2, p. 509) to aquamarine, a variety of beryl; it could be chrysoberyl also.

v2.c43.s3.t3.14

We have earlier described the modern scientific observations on milky white chrysoberyl cat’s eye and quartz cat’s eye. These were known to Kauṭilya as mārjāraksaka (AS, 2.11.39) and in Navaratnaparīkṣā as laśuna or garlic-like appearing as dugdhaliptasma or smeared with milk:

v2.c43.s3.t3.15

दुग्धलिप्तस्मम् यत् तु लशुनपदम् उच्यते

v2.c43.s3.t3.16

dugdhaliptasmam yat tu laśunapadam ucyate (NRP, 115 in Finot, p. 160)

v2.c43.s3.t3.17

Pheru described the chatoyancy of this gem accurately by comparing it with a human body that has horripilation pulaka or has the hair erect and aligned:

v2.c43.s3.t3.18

लशुनक: बिडालाक्ष: सपुलकम्। laśunakah biḍālākṣaḥ sapulakam । (RYP, 93)

v2.c43.s3.t3.19

The one which is cat’s eye with horripilations.

v2.c43.s3.t3.20

Thus we cannot agree with Finot that vaidūrya is cat’s eye and lahśuniyā or laśunaka its synonym. As a matter of fact, Alfred Master (quoted by Sarma, 1984: 67) has proved on the basis of a number of Pāli, Prākrt and Sanskrit passages that vaidūrya has the clear sense of beryl (‘Indo-Aryan and Dravidian’ by Master, In Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. XI, 1943-46, pp. 297-307). Occasional identifications of vaidūrya with cat’s eye (such as in Maṇimālā, 226, 228) have been erroneous and unfortunate.

Vaidūrya and Marakata

v2.c43.s3.t4.1

Kautilya was the first to describe the vaidūrya gem:

v2.c43.s3.t4.2

वैदूर्य उत्पलवर्ण: शिरीषपुष्पक उदकवर्ण वंशराग: शुकपत्रवर्ण: vaidūrya utpalavarṇaḥ śirīṣapuṣpaka udakavarṇa vaṁśarāgaḥ śukapatravarṇaḥ (AS 2.11.30)

v2.c43.s3.t4.3

Beryl is of the colour of the blue lotus, of the śirīṣa flower, of the colour of water, green bamboo, parrot’s wing.

v2.c43.s3.t4.4

While describing beryl as many-hued, Buddhabhaṭṭa emphasized that its principal colours resembled the neck of the peacock and greenness of bamboo (RP, 203) : śikhi-kantha nila veṇudala prakāśa.

v2.c43.s3.t4.5

Agastīya Ratnaparīkṣā, 78 mentions

v2.c43.s3.t4.6

शुकपत्र वंशपत्र शैवालहरिता दूर्वापत्रनिभा खद्योत पृष्ठ संकाशा śukapatra vaṁśapatra śaivālaharitā dūrvāpatranibhā khadyota prstha saṁkāśā

v2.c43.s3.t4.7

Similar description has been provided in GP, 1.73.6-7. In chapter 6, we have presented extracts from the Mahābhārata which describe the nature of colour of the light and deep green blue beryl-cum-emerald-cum-aquamarine, which belong to the same family.

v2.c43.s3.t4.8

The family of beryl is a cyclosilicate Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈ which crystallises in the hexagonal system, sometimes occurring as long six-sided prisms, terminated by a basal plane (vide Kālidāsa’s long grass-green *ratnaśalākā* mentioned before). In pure form, beryl is colourless. Lattice sustitution by a very small quantity of chromium (in the form of Cr³⁺) makes the crystal light grass-green (typical *vaidūrya* of the early Sanskrit literature). Larger proportion of chromium (typically 0.2 per cent or above) results in intense green colour: ‘beautiful and deep emerald-green to grass-green, unrivalled in depth and brilliancy and comparable to the fresh green of a meadow in spring’. (Bauer, 1968: 308) This variety is well-known as emerald or *marakata* which was not mentioned by Kautilya, and the best samples were imported later to India probably from Ethiopia, Egypt, and during the Muslim period, from Turkey. Lattice substitution by iron to the extent of 1/2 to 2 per cent makes the crystal light blue, and such natural crystals have been known as aquamarine or *pāribhadra*. Greenish blue *utpalavarna* in *AS*, 2.11.30 an *indīvara śyamavapu utpala* in *Manimālā* (p. 510) is likely to be aquamarine. Ancient India was famous for the light-green as well as light blue beryl/aquamarine, the best supplies originating from Paddur, Kangayam and several other sites in the Coimbatore district. Beryl is also known to occur in yellowish green and pure golden yellow colour.

v2.c43.s3.t4.9

*Marakata* or emerald became popular in India only after Kauṭilya’s era. Buddhist monks and nuns were asked not to use shoes ornamented with, and bowls set with *vaidūrya*:

v2.c43.s3.t4.10

न वेलुरियमया पादुका धरितव्वा
*na veluriyamayā pādukā dharitavvā*
(*Mahāvagga*, 5.8.3)
न वेलुरियमया पठ्ठो धारेतव्वो
*na veluriyamayā paṭhtho dhāretavvo*
(*Cullavagga*, 5.9.1)

v2.c43.s3.t4.11

These were texts dated around 300 BC, in which *marakata* did not appear.

v2.c43.s3.t4.12

Evidently *marakata* or emerald was imported to India during the onset of the Christian era.

v2.c43.s3.t4.13

Though the occurrence of emerald in Ethiopia had been known to the ancients, the locality became completely forgotten. The earliest known emerald locality is in upper Egypt, not far from the coast of the Red Sea. The ancient mines discovered by Cailliaud in AD 1819 have been dated as early as 1650 BC; these are located in a depression of the long range of mountains which borders the west coast of the Red Sea. The mines are in Jebel (Mountain) Sikait (also Sakketto, from Sanskrit Saikat?) and Jebel Sabara (Zabara or Varvara in Sanskrit). Pliny mentioned the rocks about Coptos, as containing the celebrated mines of the old. These mines, known as Cleopatra’s emerald mines, located a little south of latitude 25°N, were close to the sea-coast as well as the desert and known as such by the Indian traders. The name marakata bears the imprint of maru (desert) and kata (from Pliny’s ‘Coptos’ or saikata meaning sea-coast or the mountain Sakketto?). In the justification of our hypothesis regarding the origin of word marakata, let us quote some Ratnaśāstra texts. Buddhabhaṭṭa wrote (RP, 150):

v2.c43.s3.t4.14

तद् वर्वरालयम् अतीत्य मरोः समीपे
स्थानम् क्षितेः उप पयोनिधि तीर देशे
तत् प्रत्ययान् मरकत आकरताम् जगाम।।
tad varvarālayam atitya maroḥ samīpe
sthānam ksiteḥ upa payonidhitīra deśe
tat pratyayān marakata ākaratām jagāma ||

v2.c43.s3.t4.15

The location of the marakata mine (ākara) past the sea-coast (tīradeśe) mountain Varvara and near the desert (maroḥ samīpe) has been strongly suggested. Agastimata (287) writes:

v2.c43.s3.t4.16

विषमस्थाने उदधेः तीरसन्निधौ धरणीन्द्र गिरिः तत्र
viṣamasthāne udadheḥ tīrasannidhau dharaṇīndra giriḥ tatra

v2.c43.s3.t4.17

and Ratnasaṃgraha (13) mentions:

v2.c43.s3.t4.18

म्लेच्छदेशे महाशैले शुकपक्षनिभ मरकत
mlecchadeśe mahāśaile śukapaksanibha marakata

v2.c43.s3.t4.19

as the source of marakata.

v2.c43.s3.t4.20

The Mahābhārata (12.46.33) has used another name for emerald, and that is masāragalu, masāra or masāraka. Monier-Williams explains in his Sanskrit Dictionary that Egypt was named as Misar or Misar in Sanskrit, and galu means a gem. Therefore masāragalu may be interpreted as the gem from Egypt, and that is consistent with the etymological origin of marakata explained earlier. The fourth century AD Prākṛt text Aṅgavijjā (58.20) mentions veruliya, maragata as well as masārakalla.

v2.c43.s3.t4.21

Emerald has few more name-equivalents in Sanskrit: harinmaṇi (green gem), garuḍodgāra, gārutmata, pannā, etc. The last three may be briefly explained. Ratnaparīkṣā and Agastimata narrated the myth or the folklore that gems had been derived from the body of the slain demon Bala: diamond from his bones, pearl from the blood, sapphire from the eyes, emerald from the bile, etc. The mythical bird Garuda had taken the green bile of the demon in its mouth and then vomitted it (hence the name gārutmata and garuḍodgāra) ‘on a mountain on the sea-coast near a desert beyond Barbara country’. We have earlier quoted the original Sanskrit text (RP, 150). Agastimata (285) mentioned Garuḍa as the king of the serpent-demon: pannagādhipaḥ. Panna also means something fallen down or dropped. Thus, the dropped bile of the serpent-demon or emerald also came to be known as pannā. It is an open question whether the location of the famous diamond mine in Bundelkhand was named Pānnā because it also yielded some emerald or pānnā. The Sanskrit word marakata was the origin of smaragdos in Greek, smaragdus in Latin, esmeralda in Spanish and emerald in English.

v2.c43.s3.t4.22

However, the Egyptian emerald had been known in Europe from a very early date. Herodotus mentioned the emerald colum in the temple of Hercules in Tyre ‘emitting a splendid light in night’. Plato mentioned the use of emerald. Aristotle’s disciple Theophrastus wrote that ‘smaragdos assimilates the colour of water into which it is thrown to its own colour’. Caesar and Cleopatra met in a hall of tortoise-shell, studded with emerald and topaz gems, Egypt having mines for both. Emperor Nero used to watch the feats of the gladiators, through an eye-glass of emerald. With the onset of the Indo-Roman trade during the first century BC, the Indians, long used to light-green vaidūrya or beryl gems, started importing and using the intense green-coloured gem of the same family viz., marakata or emerald. Some emerald might have been imported from Turuṣka or Turkey (MM, 357) during the Muslim period. The name tārkṣya stood for emerald (RRS, 4.5); Garuḍa was the son of Tṛkṣa.

v2.c43.s3.t4.23

The Ratnaśāstra texts such as RP, 152; MM, 377-379; GP, 1.71.12-17 described the colour and hue of the best quality emerald, and quite naturally used many of the adjectives and similies applied to beryl and aquamarine:

v2.c43.s3.t4.24

The peacock’s tail, the wing of the nīlakaṇṭha, parrot’s wing, moss, fresh grass, glow-worm’s back, the śirīṣa flower and so on. Agastimata (299) referred to the important property of emerald ‘spreading its green colour all around (pārśvarañjana) when viewed against light’:

v2.c43.s3.t4.25

कृत्वा करतले चैव भास्कराभिमुखं धृतम्।
रञ्जयेत् आत्मपार्श्व च महामरकतम् स्मृतम्।।
kṛtvā karatale caiva bhāskarābhimukhaṃ dhṛtam ।
rañjayet ātmapārśva ca mahāmarakatam smṛtam ।।

v2.c43.s3.t4.26

Buddhabhaṭṭa wrote (RP, 158-159): ‘When sun’s rays fall on it, shoots diffusion of light all around . . . infused light makes it appear like a green meadow: सवितुः करसम्पर्कात् च्छूर्यति सर्वाश्रयम् दीप्त्या . . . . . . अचिरप्रभा समद्युति नवाशद्वल सन्निभ भाति savituh karasamparkāt cchuryati sarvāśrayam dīptyā . . . . . . aciraprabhā samadyuti navaśādvala sannibha bhāti

v2.c43.s3.t4.27

Maṇimālā recorded (362-364) certain outstanding statements about emerald which ‘illumines a place when exposed to the sun; which is not extremely green, yet the splendour of which looks like the lightning’s play among fresh grass’ (MM, 362-363) and lastly ‘the sight of which instills the liveliest pleasure into the mind’: यश्च मनसः प्रसादं विदधाति निरीक्षित मतिमां च तत् मरकतम् महागुणम् इति रत्नविद्यां मनोवृत्तिः yaśca manasaḥ prasādaṃ vidadhāti nirīkṣita matimāṃ ca tat marakatam mahāguṇam iti ratnavidyāṃ manovṛttiḥ (MM, 364; also RP, 160 and GP, 1.71.12-15)

v2.c43.s3.t4.28

Garuda Purāṇa’s detailed description of marakata gems (GP, 1.71.1-29) clearly includes the characteristics of light green vaidūrya, bright marakata and bluish-green pannā, all belonging to the same family.

v2.c43.s3.t4.29

Perfect emerald gems were known to be rare, and the expression ‘an emerald without any flaw’ became proverbial. Defective pieces of emerald were sometimes encrusted with śilājatu (bitumen), stained and sand-grained (RP, 163). Bhallātaka and putrikā were common imitations, usually lighter, and losing brilliance on exposure and when rubbed (RP, 165-167; GP, 1.71.20-22). Fake emeralds were known to be softer and to be easily tarnished on application of lime which contrarily brightened real emeralds (MM, 382-83).

v2.c43.s3.t4.30

An emerald ‘endowed with virtues’ was known to ‘fetch more price than a ruby of equal weight’. As a corollary, the depreciation in the value of an emerald had to be more than that of ruby (RP, 173-74; GP, 1.71.28-29).

v2.c43.s3.t4.31

Skanda Purāṇa categorised the emeralds as those with quality and those with defects. The emeralds ‘with quality’ were further subdivided: गाढं दुर्वदालनिभं शलक्षणं उल्लसितं स्मृतम् पेशलं कलिमाग्राभं पित्तं शुकगरुत्प्रभम् मुग्धं तु तुलसी श्यामं पृथकं पद्मपत्रवत् gāḍham durvādalanibham ślakṣṇam ullasitam smṛtam

v2.c43.s3.t4.32

peśalam kalimāgrābham pittam śukagarūtprabham
mugdham tu tulasi śyāmam pṛthakam padmapatravat
(SP, 23.135)

v2.c43.s3.t4.33

That which resembles the green grass is called gāda; the pretty small one is called ullasita. That similar to the petals on top of a bud is called peśala; the one which reflects the feather of a parrot is called pittam. The mugdha variety is like tulasi (leaf) and pṛthaka resembles lotus

v2.c43.s3.t4.34

Skanda Purāṇa referred to the vaidūrya (beryl) mines in Ilāvṛta and on the Western parts of Mahāmeru. More specifically the mines were said to be located in:

v2.c43.s3.t4.35

गोरक्षे मागधे देशे पारसीके च सिंहले
मलये च त्रिकुटे च द्वीपान्तर महीषु च
gorakṣe māgadhe deśe pārasīke ca siṃhale
malaye ca trikuṭe ca dvīpāntara mahīṣu ca

v2.c43.s3.t4.36

Gorakṣa, Magadha country, in Persia, Siṃhala, Malaya and Trikuṭa mountain and in areas in distant islands.

v2.c43.s3.t4.37

The vaidūrya processed and set in jewellery by an expert artisan and that set by an inexperienced artisan naturally differed in containing defects and therefore in prices. (GP, 73.14)

Topaz (8) Puṣparāga or Puṣyarāga

v2.c43.s3.t5.1

Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra (2.11.30) mentioned puṣyarāga as a gem, yellow like turmeric. Buddhabhaṭṭa mentioned the same name adding that the gem came from the Himālayas. Navaratnaparīkṣā described the gem (NRP, 159):

v2.c43.s3.t5.2

ईषत् पीतम् पविच्छायम् स्वच्छं कान्त्या मनोहरम्
पुष्यरागम् इति ख्यातम् रत्नम् रत्नपरीक्षकैः।।
īṣat pitam pavicchāyam svaccham kāntyā manoharam
puṣyarāgam iti khyātam ratnam ratnaparīkskaiḥ ||

v2.c43.s3.t5.3

faintly yellow, bright lustre, transparent, excellent appearance.

v2.c43.s3.t5.4

Manimālā quoted passages in which the gem is called puṣparāga and compared with śanapuspa or śana flower (MM, 392-94; see also ARP, 87). Br. Saṃ. (80.5) and GP (1.74.1) also used the name puṣparāga. The latter text namely GP also preferred to categorise a large number of yellowish gems, such as those from the ruby-sapphire family, under the category of puṣparāga or topaz. Evidently this is not scientific.

v2.c43.s3.t5.5

Pure topaz (hardness eight) is colourless [Al(F,OH)]₂ SiO₄, which could acquire many colours such as blue, red, yellow, etc. Ferrous oxide, lime, alkali, water etc. contribute to the colours. In the Indian context, we are concerned with saffron-yellow ‘Indian topaz’ which came from Sri Lanka and possibly from the Himālayas as well.

v2.c43.s3.t5.6

Topaz was found in the former times in Abyssinia and in the same district of Egypt in which emerald occurred, and it is likely that the two minerals were imported together to India. The stone was called in Hebrew pittdoh, which was possibly derived from the Sanskrit pīta or yellow. The modern name ‘topaz’ was derived from the Greek topazion which meant ‘to seek’. An island in the Red Sea, usually covered by mist, was named Topazion and the yellow mineral found in this island was also given the same name. Pliny confused the nomenclature by calling this not-so-hard yellow mineral (actually peridot) as ‘topazion’ and labelling the actual hard topaz found in Abyssinia and Egypt as chrysolite. Topaz or puṣparāga was known in the Muslim period as pokhrāj. Yellow corundum and yellow quartz were recognised (through their different values of hardness) as ‘false topaz’.

Zircon, Garnet and Tourmaline

v2.c43.s3.t6.1

These three gem-minerals were known in the ancient world but were often confused with each other on account of their similar hardness and due to their occurrence in a wide range of colours, often resembling each other (vide Table 7.2).

v2.c43.s3.t6.2

Zircon (hardness 7-1/2) is the orthosilicate of zirconium, ZrSiO₄. Pure zircon is colourless, little iron giving it a colour which is brownish shade of orange, a mixture of red and yellow. Strongly reddish-yellow variety of zircon is known as hyacinth; this contains more iron in the ferric form. Pale straw-yellow or colourless zircon known as jargon contains iron in the ferrous form. Inter-conversion between hyacinth and jargon is possible by heating under oxidising or reducing atmosphere.

v2.c43.s3.t6.3

Hyacinth has been often confused with hessonite or cinnamon-stone variety of garnet, Garnet family of minerals has the general formula R₂²⁺R₂³⁺(SiO₄)₃ where R²⁺ and R³⁺ could be any bivalent and trivalent metallic cation respectively. Naturally, a wide range of minerals of diverse colour are possible in the garnet family, and actually exist in nature. Hessonite is calcium-aluminium garnet with some replacements by Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺. In colour, hessonite resembles cinnamon and the seed of pomegranate or ‘grenat’ (from which the name ‘garnet’ has been derived). A deeper red variety of garnet, now known as ‘almandine’, was christened by Pliny as *carbunculus alabandicus* (from Alabanda in Asia Minor) or *carbunculus* (the name was loosely used to represent diverse red stones).

v2.c43.s3.t6.4

Hessonite and hyacinth are so much alike that lot of hessonite, though inferior in brilliance and luster, were bought and sold in the European market as the coveted hyacinth. Similarly, the lighter variety of zircon or jargon from Matura in Sri Lanka often passed as ‘Matura diamond’ on account of its transparency, brilliance and high refractive index.

v2.c43.s3.t6.5

The varieties of zircon can be distinguished from other gems through their remarkably high specific gravity (4.61-4.82) and characteristic hardness 7-1/2 which is slightly more than that of garnet (hardness 7-1/4 and sp. gr. 3.6-3.7) and much less than that of diamond (hardness 10 and sp. gr. 3.52). We have mentioned earlier that the heavier or ‘Matura variety of diamond’ was considered to be impure or fake diamond (AM, 49-52); this came from the gem gravel of Sri Lanka as jargon.

v2.c43.s3.t6.6

The name zircon came either from jargon (‘the worthless diamond’) or Arabic *zargun* (zar — gold and gun — colour in Persian). The Indian *Ratnaśāstra* texts referred to light yellow jargon as well as reddish-yellow hyacinth variety of Zircon.

v2.c43.s3.t6.7

In the pre-Christian era, Kauṭilya mentioned, but did not describe *gomeda* or zircon, excepting bracketing it with *gomūtra* or cow-urine (AS, 2.11.30 and 39). Agastiya *Ratnaparīkṣā* made a complete series of descriptive statements about *gomeda* or zircon (ARP, 82-86; repeated later in *RRS*, 4.54) :

v2.c43.s3.t6.8

गोमेदसमरागत्वद् गोमेद रत्नम् उच्यते
सुस्वच्छम् गोजलच्छायम् स्वच्छम् स्निग्धम् समम् गुरु।
. . . मसृणम् दीप्तम् कबद्ध कान्ति अति स्निग्धम्
धवलम् पिंजरम् पीतकाभम् चतुवर्णम् हि गोमेदम्।।
*gomedasamarāgatvād gomeda ratnam ucyate*
*susvaccham gojalacchāyam svaccham snigdham samam guru |*
*.... masṛṇam dīptam kabaddha kānti ati snigdham*
*dhavalam piñjaram pitakābham catuvaṛṇam hi gomedam ||*

v2.c43.s3.t6.9

Zircon (*gomeda*) is coloured like cow-flesh (*gomeda*), also like cow-urine. It is transparent, smooth, and very heavy. It may be many-hued (*kabaddha*), white, light yellow or *piñjara* (reddish-yellow, golden, tawny brown); thus, it could have four ‘castes’ (*caturdhā jātiveda* in Agastimata Appendix 4-5 in Finot, p.134).

v2.c43.s3.t6.10

*Navaratnaparīkṣā* contains the comparison of zircon with honey and cowurine (NRP, 161): मधुविन्दुसमम् चापि गोमूत्राज्यसमप्रभम् गोमेदकम् madhuvindusamam cāpi gomūtrājyasamaprabham gomedakam

v2.c43.s3.t6.11

Bright golden colour hemāraktojvalam of zircon was emphasized in Laghu Ratnaparīkṣā (15). Rayaṇaparikkhā (RYP, 100) compared the colour of zircon with that of indragopa or cochineal insect, and mentioned its sources such as the valley of the Narmadā. The other two sources, mentioned as Sirināthakula and Parevaga country, are not identifiable:

v2.c43.s3.t6.12

श्रीनाथकुल परेवग देशेषु तथा नर्मदादीमध्ये।
गोमेद इन्द्रगोपः सुस्निग्धः पाण्डुरः पीतः।।
śrīnāthakula parevaga deśeṣu tathā narmadānadīmadhye |
gomeda indragopaḥ susnigdhaḥ pāṇḍuraḥ pītaḥ ||

v2.c43.s3.t6.13

Maṇimālā contained some more statements on gomeda (MM, 330-337), which was stated to be available in the Himālaya and the shore of the Indus (MM, 330). Opinions were divided as to the price of a sterling gomeda, ‘some maintaining it to be double that of a proportionate mass of gold (evidently zircon in this case was made to pass as diamond), some holding it to be equal to that of a vidruma (coral), some to that of cāmāra (bushy tail of Bos Granniens) (MM, 336). Fraudulent jewellers were known to fabricate false gomeda with crystal, just as transparent or light-coloured zircon or gomeda sometimes passed as diamond belonging to one of the four classes or castes (MM, 337).

v2.c43.s3.t6.14

During the middle of the seventeenth century AD, Nicols wrote about the availability of zircon in Cannanor, Calicut and several places in the Kerala seacoast.

v2.c43.s3.t6.15

Like zircon, garnet has also been widely available in different localities in India, e.g., Sarwar mine in the Kishangarh district in Rajasthan, Kondapalli in the Godavari district, etc. We are not sure whether the ancient gemmologists of India could distinguish between the hyacinth variety of zircon from the hessonite or almandine variety of garnet, both kinds of material occurring widely in India and Sri Lanka, having similar or overlapping colours and not-too-different values of hardness.

v2.c43.s3.t6.16

Is Pulaka Garnet?

v2.c43.s3.t6.17

The dictionary meaning of pulaka is horripilation, and we have explained earlier that this is a fit description of cat’s eye gem showing chatoyancy. Kautilya mentioned pulaka and śuklapulaka (AS, 2.11.35) which could represent chrysoberyl cat’s eye and quartz cat’s eye; these were later termed as laśunaka (garlic). Neither Kauṭilya nor Varāhamihira (Bṛ. Saṃ. 80.4) described pulaka.

v2.c43.s3.t6.18

Śukla (white) pulaka was certainly not the brownish red garnet. Yet Buddhabhaṭṭa used this name to describe something which could be garnet or a chatoyant cat’s eye (RP, 242) :

v2.c43.s3.t6.19

गुञ्जान्जन क्षौद्र मृणालवर्ण एते प्रशस्त पुलक प्रतिष्ठितः।
सूत्रैः उपेताः परमाः पवित्रा मांगल्यरूपा बहुरूपचरिताः।।
guñjānjana kṣaudra mṛṇālavarṇa ete praśasta pulaka pratiṣṭitaḥ ।
sūtraiḥ upetāḥ paramāḥ pavitrā māṅgalyarūpā bahurūpacaritāḥ ।।

v2.c43.s3.t6.20

Pulaka is of many hues. It could be black and red or black-spotted red like the guñja berry, or like honey or stalk of the lotus. It could also appear threaded, striated and auspicious.

v2.c43.s3.t6.21

Later Garuda Purāṇa elaborated the two parts of the description given in RP, 242. In the first part guñjāñjana kṣaudra mṛṇālavarṇa was repeated and additional statements were made gandharva vahni kadali sadṛśa avabhāsaḥ — looks like musk-deer, fire or the plantain tree’ and that the gem is available in Dāsārṇa (Dhasāna in Central India), Mekala mountain (source of the Narmadā) and Vāgadava or Bagdad (GP, 1.77.2 and MM, 430). This description could correspond to garnet.

v2.c43.s3.t6.22

Garuda Purāṇa elaborated the second part : śaṅkhābja·bhṛṅgārka vicitravarṇāḥ svacchāḥ māṅgalyayuktā citrā pulakā transparent and like the conch, the lotus, the bee or the sun, threaded or striated (GP, 1.77.3 and MM, 431). The second description matches more with the transparent and light coloured chrysoberyl or quartz of the cat’s eye variety with horripilation or chatoyancy, rather than the dark red coloured garnet. It may be noted that we had referred earlier to the statement in RYP, 100 that the Narmadā Valley abounds in gomeda or zircon having the colour of indragopa or cochineal insect. This could easily pass as guñjāñjana pulaka or garnet.

v2.c43.s3.t6.23

It is quite possible that pulaka described in RP, 242 and GP, 1.77.2-3 corresponds not to garnet but to cat’s eye varieties only. Bauer (1968: 492) mentioned that quartz cat’s eye deposits of reddish brown colour (resembling garnet) were available in Quilon, Cochin and in several other places of Malabar coast. This variety of quartz cat’s eye as well as green chrysoberyl cat’s eye were available in Sri Lanka also.

v2.c43.s3.t6.24

Similar colours of different varieties of gems often confused the ancient gemmologists, who were not equipped with the knowledge of modern science. Pliny for example, tended to call most red gems as carbunculus, and then subdivided this family into categories: male and female. The former was ruby, and the ‘female’ carbunculus matched with hyacinth zircon or hessonite garnet. This confusion probabaly existed in ancient India too. Reddish garnet was known probabaly by more than one name. Apart from pulaka (which indicated cat’s eye also) the other name for garnet was śikhari. Tagore (1879: 514-15 in Maṇimālā) quoted āraktakāyaṃ śikhari and attributed this to reddish or pale-red cinnamon-stone or hessonite variety of garnet.

v2.c43.s3.t6.25

Another gem mineral which has created some confusion is tourmaline. It is like garnet, a group of isomorphous substances with SiO₄ groups (also B₂O₅ groups) and possessing similar hardness (7-1/4) and same range of colour. The chemical formula has been tentatively suggested as H₉Al₃ (B.OH)₂ Si₄O₁₉ in which nine atoms of hydrogen are replaceable by variable amounts of Al, Mg, alkalies and colour-inducing Mn, Fe, Cr, etc. Mn induces the darker red shade, Cr³⁺ and Fe²⁺ green colour and so on. Tourmaline can be black, blue, green, red etc. Usually it is vertically striated and has resinous luster. Its specific gravity varies between 2.9 to 3.3. It is birefringent (two refractive indices) and dichroic (appearing differently coloured when viewed along different crystallographic axes).

v2.c43.s3.t6.26

Ancient India was acquainted with the Sri Lankan tourmaline, of yellowish green colour which resembled chrysolite or peridot of lower hardness (6-1/2), and of brown colour which resembled hyacinth variety of zircon. The name ‘tourmaline’ arose from Turamali, the place in Sri Lanka which supplied zircon, and similar gems to Europe during the beginning of the eighteenth century AD.

v2.c43.s3.t6.27

We are not certain about the Sanskrit equivalent of tourmaline. Tagore (1879: 514-15) quoted a text: śvetam harinnilam ativa diptam gandhararatnam khalu vajratulyam and translated this as tourmaline (gandharva) which is white, green or blue and bright like lightning. Vajratulya could also mean ‘hard and sparkling like diamond’. It may be recalled that in GP, 1.77.2 the word gandharva appeared along with pulaka and garnet. This has been quoted before. On the other hand, the text of Rasaratnasamuccaya has equated vaikrānta ‘which possesses eight edges, eight facets, six angles, which is smooth, heavy and associated with mixed colours or play or colours’ miśrita varṇe yukta vaikrānta (RRS, 2.53). It was said to resemble vajra and could cut down or deform the metal: vikṛntayati lohāni tena vaikrāntaka smṛtaḥ (RRS, 2.60).

v2.c43.s3.t6.28

Tourmaline of course resembles diamond in lustre and high refractive index, but its hardness (7-1/4) is much less than that of diamond (10). We wonder whether blue sapphire (hardness 9) was misunderstood as blue vaikrānta of so-called ‘high hardness’. RRS (2.65-66) mentioned purification of vaikrānta with salty, alkaline and acidic liquids or solutions, and extraction of metal (2.69-71) or sattvapātana from vaikrānta. In this connection we may recall that Kauṭilya mentioned about a metal vaikṛntaka and its ore vaikṛntaka dhātu. We discussed the problematic identity of these two materials, and opined in chapter 5, that the ore could be magnetite and the metal iron. Did the authors of *RRS* equate vaikrānta or black tourmaline with Kauṭilya’s vaikṛntaka dhātu or magnetite, and proceed to extract metal (sattvapātana) from the former?

Quartz (7) Family of Gem-Minerals

v2.c43.s3.t7.1

Quartz is pure silica, SiO₂, and has hardness seven in the Moh’s scale; it represents the headship of a family of a very large number of minerals occurring in the earth’s crust. Silica occurs in nature either as crystalline quartz in unhydrated form, or as chalcedony sub-group of minerals (hardness 6-1/2) which is hydrated silica SiO₂, nH₂O. In pure forms both these materials are colourless, but trace quantities of specific oxides render specific colours and gem-like qualities to them.

v2.c43.s3.t7.2

Quartz has been known as ‘rock-crystal’ when it appears as transparent crystal; this was erroneously believed in the ancient world as ‘very hard ice congealed in intense cold’. The Sanskrit name has been sphaṭika* which was known to occur in the Kāverī Valley, Vindhya mountains, China, Nepal (*RP*, 246; *GP*, 1.79.1), in the Himālayas, Sri Lanka, shores of the Tāpī or Tāptī (*NRP*, 153; *MM*, 435), etc.

v2.c43.s3.t7.3

Ratnaparīkṣā (*RP*, 247) recognised that sphaṭika could be as transparent as ākāśa (sky) or taila (oil). Maṇimālā (*MM*, 443) defined:

v2.c43.s3.t7.4

आकाशशुद्धम् तैलाख्यम् स्फटिकम्
ākāśaśuddham tailākhyam sphaṭikam
Quartz as transparent as sky, is called taila or tailākhya.

v2.c43.s3.t7.5

Rasaratnasamuccaya (*RRS*, 4.92) described:

v2.c43.s3.t7.6

गंगातोयविन्दुच्छवि विमलतमं निस्तुषं . . .
. . . पाषाणैर्यन्निघृष्टं स्फुटितमपि निजां स्वच्छतां नैव जह्यात्
gaṅgātoyavinducchavi vimalatamam nistuṣam . . .

v2.c43.s3.t7.7

∗ Alfred Master drew attention to the Ṛgvedic (1.62.4,1.121.10,4.50.5 and 8.32.35) word phaligam probably meaning crystal. Sphaṭika first occurs in a late Upaniṣad. The Pāli word continued to be phalika. Master suggested that the word had a Dravidian origin.

v2.c43.s3.t7.8

...pāṣāṇairyannighṛṣṭam sphuṭitamapi nijam svacchatām naiva jahyāt

v2.c43.s3.t7.9

The best variety has a shade like a drop of gaṅgā’s water, very clear, free from chaff. When rubbed on stone, it may be broken, but never loses its transparency.

v2.c43.s3.t7.10

The property of light-transparency in quartz has been emphasized in Rayanparikkhā: darpaṇa iva sitam white as mirror (RYP, 95).

v2.c43.s3.t7.11

Jyotirasaka (AS, 2.11.35) and muktajyotirasa (MM, 441) might have been different names of transparent rock crystal permitting migration of rays. Yāska had mentioned (Nirukta, 7.23) that double or plano-convex lens ground from rock-crystal was used to converge rays and to produce fire (Wilhelm Rau, Brennlinse in alten Indien, Mainz 1983; also Vedic Bibliography, fourth volume item no. 31). When used for such a purpose, rock-crystal was known as a ravikānta or sūryakānta (NRP, 155; MM, 437 and RYP, 96).

v2.c43.s3.t7.12

सूर्यांशुस्पर्शामात्रेण वहनिम् वमति तत्क्षणात्
सूर्यकान्त तद् आख्यातम् स्फटिकम् रत्नकोविदः
sūryāṃśusparśamātreṇa vahnim vamati tatkṣaṇāt
sūryakānti tad ākhyātam sphaṭikam ratnakovidah

v2.c43.s3.t7.13

MM 441 described the same property, but termed the material as Muktajyotirasa:

v2.c43.s3.t7.14

अत्यन्त निर्मलं स्वच्छं स्रवतीव जलं शुचि।
ज्योतिर्ज्वलनम् आश्लिष्टं मुक्त ज्योतिरसं द्विज।।
atyanta nirmalam svaccham sravatīva jalam śuci ।
jyotirjvālanam āśliṣṭam mukta jyotirasam dvija ।।

v2.c43.s3.t7.15

In translucent or opaque form, quartz was compared with the white portion of the eye, the white lotus or conch-shell, sometimes with its colour slightly altered:

First 132 of 327 passages. Read on

Linked texts (19)