Chemistry of ancient india

ancient Indian chemistry

1. Chemistry of ancient India Edited by Dr. A.S. Nene Retd. Professor of Civil Engineering, VNIT Nagpur

2. The Sanskrit name for ‘chemistry’ is Rasayan shastra. Rasa means a liquid or mercury, which is the only metal available in liquid state. If powdered mica is mixed with mercury and rolled into a ball, it is converted into solid form. Such material is sold in market as Paarada-maNi or Paarada-shivaling .

3. Dhatuvad or Kimaya (Alchemy) is a secret process of converting certain cheap metals such as copper, tin or zinc into silver or gold. But modern scientists do not believe in this theory and term it as unscientific.

4. Except Kolar mine, there is no gold mine that exists in India. The total annual production of gold in India is less than 0.2 % of annual worldwide gold production. But the total gold stock in India is around 30 % of the total gold stock in the world.

5. The gold in India is available as Streedhan (gold possessed by women) or the gold in the treasury of rich temples of Balaji , Sai Baba or lord Padmanabha . For the last 100 years annual import of gold (mostly from England) was not more than 1.5 tons. How and when India produced the huge quantity of gold?. The answer to the question may be the alchemy science of India.

6. The word Kimaya is an Arabic word for alchemy. During 16 th and 17 th centuries, it was believed that, Yogis (ascetic persons) of India knew this art. Therefore hundreds of travelers (especially from Arab countries) visited India to acquire the secret of this art but could succeed. The origin of ancient Indian chemistry might be in Dhatuvad (Alchemy) or a curiosity of transformation of metals .

7. Dr . P. C. Ray was first to trace the origin of ancient Indian chemistry. In 1910 Dr. Ray edited Vagbhatta’s book entitled” RasarNav ”.

8. Chemistry is a science of elements and changes in them. Articles of iron, copper and gold were made since Vedic period. The progress of the science of chemistry was mainly through Ayurveda during 5 th century B.C. to 5th century A.D. Ayurveda texts such as Charaka and Sushrut Samhita also contains information about chemistry. Subsequently Chemistry was developed as an independent science.

9. Major Sanskrit texts: The list of major Sanskrit texts on Rasayan shastra is shown in a table below . Siddhayog Chakradutt Rasaratnakar Rasavrudaya Kakachandeshvarimat Rasaprabhakarsudhakar RasarNav RasachintamaNi Rasaratnasamuchchyay Rasakalpa Rasarajalaxmi Rasaratnamalika Rasapradeep Dhaturatnamala Dhatukriya Found in Tibet Sarveshwarrasayan Dhatuvad Rasayanshastraodhdati

10. The period of the above texts is 1 st to 12 th century A.D. Nagarjuna was a famous Buddhist chemistry scholar. Vagbhatta (of 12 th century) was another famous authority on Ayurveda.

11. Archeological evidences Artifacts of Mohenjo-Daro and Hadadappa civilization (3000 to 4000 B.C.) found in archeological excavations. Clay pottery articles were made from chemically stabilized soils from different places. Different shades of red and yellow colors were due to copper, nickel and zinc minerals present in the pottery clays.

12. Art of pottery was advanced in that period. Open or closed kilns, capable of producing 700 degree temperature, were in use. Use of iron, manganese, silica and lime was common in Indus civilization (3000 to 4000A.D.).

13. Artifacts of this period, such as daggers, chisels, spears and sewing needles were found. Similarly articles like swords, copper, axes arrows etc were in various excavation projects throughout India and are available in various state museums.

14. Kautilya’s Arthashastra ( 4 th century B.C.) Contains lot of information on mining, metallurgy, chemistry etc. Purification and extraction of metallic ores like gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and iron etc is described in this text.

15. mentions about metal alloys for minting of coins, alkalis and acids of different types to be prepared from organic substances. Preparation of soft wines by fermentation of rice and other flours or from fruits and sugarcane is described in details.

16. Five types of common salt and 84 types of wines - Charak Samhita Uses of various chemicals such as copper sulphate , cinnabar, lead oxide-mercury combination for surma (eye powder )-. Vagbhatta’s Astangrhudaya mentions cosmetic items and perfumes and various types of cementing materials and procedures of their preparation - Bruhat Samhita Chemistry in Ayurveda and other texts

17. Glass manufacture was part of chemistry. products were rich in qualities such as transparency, uniform density and color and smooth finish. Glass manufacture

18. 18 types glass products of 5 th century were found in archeological excavations in Uttar Pradesh ,Bihar and Bengal and Karnataka. The chemical analysis of the artifacts indicated that these contain Silica, Alumina, ferric and titanium oxides, lime, manganese etc, which are used in modern glass industry.

19. RasarNav Description of ancient Indian chemistry would be incomplete without information on classic text Rasarnav (RSRN). The author of the text is unknown but its period of earliest manuscript is 12 th century A.D. The entire text is in a form of dialogue between lord Shiva and his wife Parvati and contains 18 chapters.

20. The main subjects covered in the text are, metals, precious stones, soils, sands etc used in making various chemical, colors, medicines cements etc. The chapter number, title and its contents of the book are given in next slide.

21. No. Title Contents 1 Tantravtar Introduction, Tantric traditions. 2 Dikshavidhan Who should teach and whom 3 Mantranyas Selection of proper Mantra, selection of place 4 Yantamooshagni varNan Equipments, crucibles, colors of flames, checking of purity of metals. 5 Aushadha NirmanN Types of ingredients, oils, poisons,liquids , color based classification 6 Abhrakadi lakshyaN Origin and types of mica, their properties

22. 7 Maharas& UparaS 8 types of mercury,6 types of sulphur and 6 types of metals. 8 Beejasadhan Purifiacation of metals (other than mercury) 9 Vidakathan Purification and culturing of mercury 10 Rasashodhan Purification of ingredients by different processes. 11 BalajaraN Curing /preservation of ingredients 12 Rasabandhan Mixing of ingredients, calcinations and division

23. 13 Drutibandhan Mixing of liquids and suspensions 14 Vajrabandha Preparation of adamantine glues for joining stones etc. 15 Loharasabandhan maharas & uparas Casting of metals, 16 Rasaranjan Mixing of colors for metals of different colors. 17 Lohavedha Welding of iron and other metals 18 Dehaveda Effects of medicines on different parts of body, precautions etc.

24. The text Rasarnav contains very specific Sanskrit terms related to chemistry. The terms are shown in a table below . Glossary of terms The glossary of terms Alkali Coal of bamboo Load stone Alkali of Mandar plant Cow dung cakes Nine precious stones Bee wax Crucible Potassium Carbonate Black mica Decoction (of herbs) Roofing clay tile Black pepper Five herbs for red color Secondary metals Cast iron Asafetida/ Hing Slag of mercury Clay bricks Jute plant Five types of salts

25. Conclusions The science of Indian chemistry progressed with use of more and more metals, herbs, precious stones and new extraction processes. It had many applications in Vastushastra (building construction) and Ayurveda (Medicines). The technical terminology was rich. It had clear well drafted specifications for various processes.

26. New containers instruments and machines were developed. Various Gurukuls (schools) with qualified and experienced teacher were available. There was no caste or class barrier for students. This science was considered as important and practicable.