Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c44.s1.16

v2.c44.s1.16

*Caraka Saṃhitā* is based on an earlier work of Agniveśa, whose teacher Ātreya taught medicine in the University of Takṣaśilā (Taxilā) during the age of Buddha. The *Saṃhitā* must have been redacted in several versions by Carakas of successive centuries, till the final version was organised by Dṛḍhabala, the court physician of King Kaniṣka (AD 100). Suśruta was a teacher in the University of Varanasi during Buddha’s time, and a disciple of Dhanvantari. His surgico-medical treatise was gradually elaborated over centuries, and the extant version is generally believed to be an edition executed by the famous Buddhist chemist Nāgārjuna. Thus the two *Saṃhitās*, containing various references on minerals and metals, depict Indian progress on the knowledge of these materials over centuries (fourth century BC to second century AD).