Essay name: Minerals and Metals in Sanskrit literature
Author:
Sulekha Biswas
Affiliation: Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj University / Department of Sanskrit
This essay studies the presence of Minerals and Metals in Sanskrit literature over three millennia, from the Rigveda to Rasaratna-Samuccaya. It establishes that ancient Indians were knowledgeable about various minerals and metallurgy prior to the Harappan era, with literary references starting in the Rgveda.
Chapter 7 - A millennium of Ratnashastra (gemmology) literature in India
2 (of 85)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
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of gem minerals. Many battles and conquests took place for acquisitior
of fertile lands as well as mines of precious metals, ores, and gem
minerals.
The second century A. D. Tamil text Shilappadikaram was one
of the early literatures which recorded the grandeur of the gem
markets in India and the Indo-Roman trade related to gems. During
and after the ascendency of the Gupta Period, outstanding Sanskrit
literatures on gemmology such as Brhat Samhita (B.S), Ratnapariksa (AP)
Agastimata (A M) etc. were published. Some Prak峁泃 literatures like
Angavijj谩 are also worthy of notice. One millennium of Indian studies
on gems culminated in the 13th 14th Century A.D. compendium texts
such as Rasa-Ratna-Samuccava (RRS), Ravanaparikkha (RYP). In the 19t
century, S.M. Tagore published Manimata (MM), a beautiful collection.
of extracts from the earlier Sanskrit texts related to Ratnasastra.
