History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c38.s1.1

c38.s1.1

In ancient India the useful arts and sciences, as distinguished from mere handicrafts, were cultivated by the higher classes. In the White Yajurveda and in the Taittiriya Brahmana, we meet with the names of various professions which throw light on the state of society of that period ; unfortunately a knowledge of these perished with the institution of the caste system in its most rigid form. Among the sixty four *kalas*, or arts and sciences, which are enumerated in the old work of Vatsayana, called Kamasutra ( circa 5th century A.D. ), occur the names of the following :