Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3.t11.6

v2.c43.s3.t11.6

The turquoise of Niśāpur was considered to be as precious as ruby and sapphire of Sri Lanka and the emerald of Egypt. The name turquoise is the French word for Turkish; the mineral travelled to the West from Persia through Turkey. Tagore (1879: 386-87) quoted a Sanskrit text saying that emerald comes from the sea-coast of Turuṣka (translated as Turkey). The name tārkṣya (in RRS, 4.5-4.6) has been translated as emerald. Possibly there was a confusion between blue turquoise and bluish green emerald. The word turuṣka (used in AM, 287 and GP, 1.71.4 in connection with the source of emerald) means storax or a balsam obtained from the foreign tree of Ligendamber.