Copper in Ancient India c6.s1.6

c6.s1.6

In the Atharvaveda, the last of the Vedas (being composed at Circa 1000 B.C.), copper continues to be designated as the red metal (*lohita*). In Atharva, XI, 3, 7, *lohitamaya* has been used in contrast to *śyāmamaya* or black metal, evidently iron.¹ In Atharva, VI, 141, 2, a knife made of “red metal” has been mentioned.² In addition to the word *lohita*, the modern equivalent of copper viz. *tāmra* occurs in one passage (Atharva, X, 2, 11)³ which has been translated by Whitney simply as “red” but by Griffiths as “Copper-hued.” It is doubtful if the word really meant copper, as we find that in the Brāhmans composed later than the Atharvaveda copper continues to be designated as *lohita* or *lohitāyas*. The word *tāmra* for copper appears to have become current in the 3rd century B.C. as it occurs in the ancient medical treatises of Charaka and Sushruta as well as in Kautilya’s Arthasāstra.