History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c37.s3: Paper, Ink, Soap, Cosmetics, Etc.

History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c37.s3

Language: English

Paper, Ink, Soap, Cosmetics, Etc.

c37.s3.1

The art of paper-making was possibly introduced into India from Nepal at or about 1000 A.D. It attained a high degree of technical excellence in Nepal in those early days. It was from China that paper came to Nepal. The industry flourished in China much earlier and entered Nepal between the 7th and 9th centuries A.D., when the Chinese influences impressed themselves deeply on Nepalese culture and civilization. Nepal paper once commanded a very extensive market, and was exported southwards to Hindusthan and northwards to Sokya-gumba, Digarchi and other places in Bhote. It was used all over Kumayun and was sold at Patna, Saran, Janakpur, Darbhanga, Purnea, Gorakhpur, Balarampur and Tardah in Oudh.

c37.s3.2

The view that the art of paper-making was brought to India by the Moghuls is no longer acceptable. No direct connection can be traced between the Nepal paper-making and the Moghul court. The process followed in Nepal differs considerably from those practised in Kashmir and the Punjab under the imperial patronage.

c37.s3.3

Mahuan, the Chinese interpreter, who visited Bengal in A.D. 1406, stated that the people of Bengal manufactured paper from the bark of a tree, and that the paper was smooth and glossy like a deer's skin.

c37.s3.4

During the Moghul and the Peshwa period the industry flourished throughout the whole country, mostly in the Punjab. It is said that Sialkot produced paper worth 9 lacs of rupees in Jehangir's time. Paper was produced at Multan, Rawalpindi, Jalalpur, Delhi, Lahore, etc. ... The materials employed were old clothes, old tents, the bark of certain shrubs and trees, etc. .... These materials were beaten with a wooden hammer or *dhenki*, after having been well-washed and soaked in water for several days. The pulp was mixed with a little water in a lime-lined (*chunamed*) reservoir, where the beating operation was also carried out. The workmen dip their moulds into the reservoir, and the mixture, when lifted out, instantly becomes paper. This is then removed, and each sheet is drawn through a second reservoir of water and then hung up to dry. A quality of gum arabic was dissolved in the water into which the beaten pulp was put ; the water in the second reservoir, through which the sheets were drawn, also contained that gum in the form of a mucilage, as well as some alum dissolved in it. The moulds or forms of the workmen are generally made of bamboo. The gum (gum arabic) is obtained as an exudation from a tree, known commonly as the *babool* tree.∗

c37.s3.5

∗ References—P K. Gode—*Studies in the Regional History of Paper Industry, Migration of Paper from China to India* K B Joshi—*Paper-Making* ; All India Village Industries Association, Maganwadi, Wardha, 1944

c37.s3.6

Soap

c37.s3.7

Soap was possibly introduced into India by the Mohammedans, though the Hindus had made use before of alkaline lyes for a long time, obtained from the ashes of plants. They had also a substitute for soap in several berries. The crude soaps were made in the beginning from *sarjikakshara* (trona or natron), common salt, sesamum oil and goat's suet.

c37.s3.8

Ink

c37.s3.9

Ink was used to be prepared in early days in India, both in the solid and in the liquid form, from lampblack collected by burning linseed oil in an earthen lamp. This was mixed with the gum of *Vachellia farnesiana* and a little water, and then rubbed in an iron mortar with a wooden pestle for several hours. This paste was afterwards treated with an infusion of gall-nut in water, and the whole mass was ground again in the same iron mortar for a few hours. The pasty mass was finally dried in the sun to admit of its being made into lumps. The lumps again were further dried by sun's heat.

Linked texts (1)

Rasaratnākara — Nityanātha Siddha, Sanskrit