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Cinnabar or mercuric sulphide is another substance which is intimately related to alchemy. Names for cinnabar in Sanskrit are Sindura, Hingu, Hingula, Darada, etc., out of which "Sindura" also means lead oxide. Essentially this term is applied to a red powder paste which is applied to one's forehead as a part of worship. In this sense, the earliest mention of the word is in Sanskrit texts like Brahmavaivarta purana, Skandapurana which are dated to be the works of 1000 B.C. These earlier texts do not differentiate between Sindura as mercuric sulphide or lead oxide. In Tantrik texts, however, Sindura was cinnabar and Nagasindura was the name for lead oxide. Cinnabar under the name Hingu or Hingula was known in the third and fourth centuries B.C. 12 12 'See Kautiliya Arthasastra in Primary Sources, p. 98.

143 Native cinnabar was imported from China in large quantities. It was also imported from Dardistan which The lies North of Kashmir and hence the name Darada. origin of the word Sindura cannot be traced in the Sanskrit language; furthermore, since cinnabar was imported from China, some scholars conjectured that the word "Sindura" must also have been imported from China to India and they tried to find its root in Chinese 13 language. Chatterjee suggested the original Chinese word for "Sindura" as "tsin-tung" meaning "Chinese lead". This etymology of the word "Sindura" is not very convincing since in Sanskrit texts true "Sindura" is cinnabar, i.e., mercuric sulphide and not lead oxide. Furthermore, "tung" does not mean lead in Chinese but brass or copper. 14 For these reasons "Sindura" could not have been derived from "tsin-tung" as Chatterjee suggests. In Tamil alchemical texts, we find some alchemically prepared powders which are used for transmuting base metals into gold and silver and are also P. 89. 13 14 Chatterjee, S. K., in Secondary Sources, 'See Rasaratnasamuccaya, Introduction part.

144 used as elixirs of life, and are called "senthuram". "Sen" is red in the Tamil language and "Thuram" is powder. These powders which were synthesized by using various Senthuram". 15 ingredients such as metals, minerals and plant products, are invariably dark red (brownish or purplish) in colour. A red powder made from iron is known as "Aya Probably this word "Senthuram" migrated from the South Indian languages to Sanskrit and was used for red powders (just like in Tamil), cinnabar and lead oxide long before their use in alchemical operations became known. Further, Mahavyutpatti gives a parallel Chinese word for Sindura as suan tong ku 12 17 tong which is the transliteration of the original Sanskrit word. We shall now analyse the manner in which the etymological and linguistic studies help us to establish the nature, direction and period of certain transmissions between India and China.