History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c37.s3.4

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.∗