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 10 - Concluding Remarks
4 (of 16)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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ferrous metallurgy, the use of mineral-based medicines and
the technological contact with China through Tibet. Ray
(1956 97 believed that the knowledge of zinc metallurgy
came to India from China, but this was an erroneous view.
India was the first to make zinc and brass; what we learnt
from the Chinese were precipitation of copper from solution
by scrap iron, the arts of making paper and gunpowder etc.
Scientific, Concepts Related to Material Science
Notwithstanding the technical excellence related to
minerals and metals in ancient India, the question remains as
to the level of scientific appreciation in the ancient world.
The Harappans were meticulous about measurements and
standardisation, and it is a pity that their scripts have not
yet been deciphered. The Vedic literatures illustrate basic
advancements in linguistics, mathematics, geometry and
astronomy which are outside the purview of our studies.
Atharvaveda speculated (4.10.1-7) about the cause
of origin of conch-shell and conch-pearl. Along with a
mythological theory of these gems originating from 'gods'
bones', the other theory proclaimed that the materials
could have grown in the sea under atmospheric influences.
This mixture of belief in mythology and rational thinking
continued for centuries. We find Varahamihira declaring
(BS.80.3) in the fifth century A.D. that the wonderful
