Anurag Tiwari

18CY20008: Chemistry

Traditional Domain:

Indian Chemistry Through The Ages

Contemporary domain:
 Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BC)
 The Historic Period
 Chemical Arts and Crafts in Later Periods
IIT Kharagpur  Medieval Alchemy (AD 800-1300)
 Modern Chemistry

9424774432 Key Statement

Chemistry is essential for meeting our basic needs of food,
clothing, shelter, health, energy, and clean air, water, and soil.
[email protected] Chemistry is often referred to as the central science because it
joins together physics and mathematics, biology and medicine,
and the earth and environmental sciences.
References
 Indian Chemistry Through The Ages
(Ancient and Modern chemistry)
It is now known that alchemy (the older form of chemistry) had made great strides in India. Ayurveda,
which used a variety of minerals, also played an important role in the development of chemistry. It
developed as iatrochemistry, which was closely related to medicine. The two main incentives for the
development of chemistry were the age-old desires of human beings: to live forever and to get rich. Much
of chemistry grew out of the early efforts to develop an elixir and to turn base metals into gold. It is also
interesting to note that Needham claimed that earliest distillation of alcohol is attested to through the
archaeological finds at Taxila. In fact, the ancient name of alcohol is khola, which sounds so similar to it!

1. Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BC)

The Indus valley civilization was the earliest society, which had developed an elaborate urban system
depicted in terms of streets, public baths, temples and granaries etc. They also had the means of mass
production of pottery, houses of backed bricks and a script of their own. So we can say that the story of
early chemistry in India begins from here.

Pottery: It could be regarded as the earliest chemical process in which materials were mixed, moulded
and fired to achieve desirable qualities. Thousands of pieces of pottery
were found in the Rajasthan desert, varied in shape, size and colour. They show that prehistoric people
knew the art of making pottery by using burnt clay.Coloured and wheel made pottery was found at
Harappa. Pottery was decorated with various designs including geometric and floral patterns as well as
human and animals figures. Remains of glazed pottery were also found at Mohenjodaro.

Pottery and Mud Plaster

Bricks: Burnt bricks were manufactured on a large scale for making houses, drains, boundary walls,
public bath etc.
Cement: Gypsum cement had been used in the construction of a well in Mohenjodaro. It was light grey
and contained sand, clay, traces of calcium carbonate and lime.
Minerals: The Indus valley people used a number of minerals for a variety of useful products such as
medicinal preparations, plasters, hair washes etc. Faience, which is a sort of proto-glass, was quite popular
with the Harappans and was used for ornaments. They also smelted and forged a variety of objects from
lead, silver, gold, and copper; and also used tin and arsenic to improve the hardness of copper for making
artefacts.
2. The Historic Period
According to Rigveda, tanning of leather and dyeing of cotton was practised during this period. During the
period c.1000-400 BC they made a particular kind of polished grey pottery known as Painted Grey Ware.
Other varieties of pottery, for example, red or Northern Black-Polished (N.B.P.) Ware (600-200 BC), were
also made later. These Wares indicate their mastery of control of kiln temperatures as also of the reducing
atmosphere. The golden gloss of the NBP Ware is still a chemical mystery and could not be replicated. After
the Vedas , came the classical texts like Brahmanas, Upanishads and Puranas, which also give valuable
information about the chemical activities of this period. Kausalya's Arthasastra (KA) was a scientific
landmark of this period. KA described the production of salt from the sea and collection of shells,
diamonds, pearls and corals. Charka Samhita and Subrata Samhita were two celebrated Ayurvedic treatises
on medicine and surgery. Chemical knowledge of the times especially that related to medicine was
compiled in them

Northern Black Polished Ware

3. Chemical Arts and Crafts in Later Periods
Glass making, pottery, jewellery making, dyeing of clothes and tanning of leather etc. were the major
chemical arts and crafts in the early periods. As a result of this expanded activity, the alchemical
knowledge increased. Following were the major chemical products that contributed to the development
of chemistry.

Glass: Glass is a fused solid mixture of a number of substances like lime, sand, alkali and metallic
oxides. It is of various kinds - transparent, opaque, coloured and colourless. No glass objects were
found at the sites of the Indus valley civilization, except for some glazed and faience articles. A
number of such glass objects were found at Maski in south India (1000-900BC) , Hastinapur and
Taxila (1000-200BC). In this period glass and glazes were coloured by the addition of colouring agents
like metal oxides. Ramayana, Brhatsamhita, Kautilya's Arthasatra and Sukranitisara mention the use of
glass. There is ample evidence to suggest that ancient India glass making was quite widespread and a
high degree of perfection was achieved in this craft. There was a traditional glass factory at Kopia in
Basti district of Uttar Pradesh. Glass slag was found at Kolhapur, Nevasa, Paunar and Maheshwar.
Glass furnaces of late medieval period were found at Mysore. The Mughal period (AD1526-1707) saw
the flourishing of the art of glass making in India.

Paper: From the Chinese traveller I-tsing's account it appears that paper was known to India in the
seventh century AD. In the beginning the process of papermaking was simple and more or less similar
in all parts of the country. The main centers of paper making in medieval India were Sialkot, Zafarbad,
Murshidabad, Ahmedabad, Mysore etc.

Soap: For washing clothes ancient Indians used certain plants and their fruits like the soap nuts of
Ritha and Sikakai. Fruits like Sriphala and Sarsapa (Brassica compestris) were also used to wash
different kinds of clothes. Guru Nanak's prayer written in the late sixteenth century AD contains the
earliest reference to soap. There were references to soap like substances called Phenaka in the second
and third century AD texts like Manusmrti and Yajnavalkyasmrti. Indians definitely began to make
proper soaps in the eighteenth century AD. In Gujarat, the oil of Eranda (Ricinus communis), seeds of
plant Mahua (Madhuca indica) and impure calcium carbonate were used by them. These were used for
washing but gradually soft soaps for bathing were made.

Dyeing: Plants and their products like madder, turmeric and safflower were the principal dyeing
materials. Orpiment and some insects like lac, cochineal and kermes were the other materials used for
dyeing. A number of classical texts like Atharvaveda (1000 BC) mentioned some dye stuffs. Dyes were
extracted from inorganic substances by repeatedly soaking and mixing them in water and allowing the
materials to settle. Then the solution was taken out and spread on a pot and evaporated to get the dry
dye. Some other substances having tinting properties were Kampillaka (Mallotus phillippinesis),
Pattanga (Cesalpinia sappan) and Jatuka (a species of Oldenlandia). A large number of other materials
were also used for dyeing. Synthetic dyes were made by mid-nineteenth century.
Ink: An inkpot was unearthed during the excavations at Taxila, which suggests that ink was known
and used in India from fourth century BC. The Ajanta caves displayed some inscriptions that were
written with coloured ink, made from chalk, red lead and minium. Chinese, Japanese and Indians had
used Indian ink for quite a long time. The recipe for ink was also given in Rasaratnakara of
Nityanatha. The ink made from nuts and myrobalans kept in water in an iron pot was black and
durable. This ink was used in Malabara and other parts of the country as well. Special ink prepared
from roasted rice, lampblack, sugar and the juice of plant Kesurte (Verbsina scandens) was used in the
Jain manuscripts. Ink was made both in liquid and solid forms, by using lampblack, gum of the plant
Mimosa indica and water in the nineteenth century. Tannin's solution became dark blue-black or
greenish by the addition of ferric salts and it seems that this fact was known to Indians during late
medieval period, and they used this solution for ink making.

Alcoholic liquors: Somarasa, which was mentioned in the Vedas, was probably the earliest evidence
of the use of intoxicants in India. Kautilya's Arthasastra listed a variety of liquors such as Medaka,
Prasanna, Asava, Arista, Maireya and Madhu. Caraka Samhita also mentioned sources for making
various Asavas: cereals, fruits, roots, woods, flowers, stems, leaves, barks of plants and sugar cane.
About 60 Tamil names were found in Sangam literature, which suggest that liquors were brewed in
south India since the ancient times. Medieval alchemical texts also mentioned fermented liquors and
their methods of preparation. Alcoholic liquors were classified into the following categories depending
on their applications in alchemical operations:

1. Dasanapasani Sura: used in dyeing operations

2. Sarvacarani Sura: used in mixing operations of all kinds
3. Dravani Sura: used in dissolving substances
4. Ranjani Sura: used in dyeing operations
5. Rasabandhani Sura: used in binding mercury
6. Rasampatani Sura: used in distillation of mercury
Ajanta Paintings
4. Medieval Alchemy (AD 800-1300)
Alchemy in India flourished in the medieval period. The Indian alchemy had two characteristic streams:
gold making and elixir synthesis. The two faces of the alchemical practice, the metallurgical and the
physico-religious, were superimposed to get a single picture wherein mercury and its elixirs were used
in the so called transmutation of the base metals into noble ones, as well as for internal administration
for purifying the body, rejuvenating it and taking it to an imperishable and immortal state.

Numerous alchemical texts were written between the ninth and the fourteenth centuries AD. Some texts
are such that the alchemical ideas form only a part of them, while some other texts are wholly devoted
to alchemy. Those that come under the second category include the following:

Rasahrdayatantra by Govind Bhagwatpad

Srasaratnakara by Siddha Nityanatha
Rasarnava by an unknown author
Srasendracudamani by Somadeva
Rasaratnasamuccaya by Vagbhatta
Rasaprakasasudhakara by Yasodhara
Rasarajalaksmi by Ramesvara Bhatta
Rasendracintamani by Dhundukanatha
Rasendracintamani by Ramacandra Guha
Rasasara by Govind Acarya
Rasakaumudi by Sarvajnacandra
Rasabhesajakalpa by Surya Pandita
Rasasamketakalika by Camunda
Lohapaddhati by Suresvara
Kankaligrantha by Nasirshah
Rasamuktavalina by Devanatha

Besides, there are several works whose authorship and dates have not yet been established. Among them
may be mentioned Dhatukalpa, Dhatumanjari, Dhatumaranam, Rasagrantha, Rasakalpalata,
Rasanibhandha, Suvaranatantra, Tamrakalpa, Abhrakakalpa, Paradakalpa, Jaranamaranadi, Sutapradipa
etc. These texts are either fragments of major texts or generally based on them. Practitioners of the
Siddha system of medicine wrote a number of alchemical texts known as Mappu texts in the Tamil
language. The more prominent Siddhas were Agastyar, Bogar, Ramdevar and Karuvurar. There were
alchemical texts written in other Indian languages as well, for example, in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada,
Marathi, Bengali and Oriya.
Importance of Mercury: The texts of Indian alchemy (rasavidya) reveal that a wide variety of inorganic
and organic substances were used and plant as well as animal products, but more of the former. The
important minerals are generally referred to as rasas and, in later texts they are classified into maha
(superior) and upa (subsidiary) rasas. Mercury, though a metal, is extolled as the king of rasas, the
maharas, and has several names in the rasasastra texts: parada, sita, rasendra, svarnakaraka (maker of
gold), sarvadhatupati and, more significantly in a mythological setting, Sivaja (born of Siva); Siva virya
(semen of Siva) and Harabija (seed of Siva). More than two hundred names of plants have been
mentioned in the texts, but many of them have not been properly identified from the point of view of
modern botanical nomenclature. Generally their roots, leaves or seeds are used for aiding digestion
processes. As for the animal products, their excreta, flesh or some other parts of their bodies were
diligently processed and used.
The texts written in the medieval period primarily dealt with gold-making and elixir syntheses. Elixir or
Rasayana was a substance that could transform other base metals in to gold and silver, as well as confer
longevity and immortality when taken internally. If an elixir proved successful in transmutation of metals
it was supposed to be safe for internal administration as well. Owing to its heavy weight, silvery white
and shiny appearance, fluidity, and its property of readily combining with other substances, mercury was
considered as the most potent of all substances and as possessing divine properties. The potions
containing mercury were supposed to give longevity and immortality, thus making it the main ingredient
of the powders used in the transmutation and as elixirs. Mercury had to undergo 18 processes before it
could be used for transforming either metals or human body. These processes were as follows:

Svedana: steaming or heating using water bath

Mardana: grinding
Murchana: swooning or making mercury lose its form
Utthapana: revival of form
Patana: sublimation or distillation
Rodhana: potentiation
Niyamana: restraining
Sandipana: stimulation or kindling
Gaganabhaksana: consumption of essence of mica
Carana: amalgamation
Garbhadruti: liquefaction (internal)
Bahyadruti: liquefaction (external)
Jarana: calcinations
Ranjana: dyeing
Sarana: blending for transformation
Sankramana: acquiring power of transformation or penetration
Vedhana: transmutation
Sevana: becoming fit for internal use
These were known as the samaskaras. Briefly the processes are as follows:
Svedana consists in streaming mercury with a number of vegetables and mineral substances; mardana
involves rubbing the streamed mercury in a mortar with vegetable and acidic substances to remove some
more impurities; in murchanam mercury is rubbed in a mortar with another set of vegetable substances,
till it loses its own character and form; in utthapana the mercury is steamed again in alkalis, salts, the
three myrobalans, alum, etc.; patana involves distillation (3 types: urdhva, adah and tiyak); rodhana
involves mixing the distilled mercury with saline water in a closed pot; in niyamana the process is
continued by streaming mercury for 3 days with a number of plant products, alum borax, etc.; sandipana
involves steaming with alum, black pepper, sour gruel, some alkalis and some plant substances;
ganganagrasa involves fixation of the desired degree of the essence of mica for its consumption; in carana
mercury is boiled with sour gruel and leaves of some kinds of cereal plants, alum etc.; garbhardrti
involves treating mercury with other metallic substances; in bahyadrti the essences of the minerals or
metallic substances are utilized in the molten or liquid state; jarana involves heating mercury with the
desired minerals or metals, alkalis and salts; ranjana involves colouring by a complex process; in sarana
mercury is digested with gold, silver etc. in an oil base; kramana requires smearing mercury with a
number of plant extracts, mineral substances, human milk etc. and then heating them ; vedhana consists
in rubbing the treated mercury with oil and a few other materials so that it acquires the power of
transmutation; and finally sarayoga it is available for internal use.
Nagarjuna and Rasarnava
The earliest available alchemical text in Sanskrit, Rasaratnakara by Nagarjuna was probably part of a
larger text Rasendramangala written by the same author. Nagarjuna was the most prominent scholar in
the field of Indian alchemy. There appeared a number of alchemical treatises in the eleventh to twelfth
century AD namely, Rasarnava, Rasahrdaya, Rasarnavakalpa etc. Among them, Rasopanisad and
Rasarnava were the largest consisting of about 2600 verses.

5. Modern Chemistry
Chemistry developed mainly in the form of alchemy and iatrochemistry during AD 1300-1600. But from
the early seventeenth century onward a marked decline in the alchemical writings was observed. Alchemy
that was practised with full enthusiasm started to fade from the beginning of the Tantric period. This was
possibly on account of the realization that alchemy could not deliver the goods it promised. Now it was a
period of the ascendance of iatrochemistry. After the decline of alchemy, iatrochemistry probably reached
a steady state over the next 150-200 years, but then it too, declined due to the introduction and practice of
western medicine in the 20th century. During this period of stagnation, the pharmaceutical industry based
on Ayurveda continued to exist, but it too gradually declined. There was a large time gap between the
giving up of old methods of production of certain chemicals and the adoption of newer methods based on
modern chemical ideas. When the old ones become out fashioned, it took about 100-150 years for the
Indians to learn and adopt new techniques and during this time the foreign products poured in. As a result
the indigenous units using traditional techniques gradually declined, due to the adverse policies of the
rulers. Decline in demand was the other main reason for this.
The Indian dyes were superior in quality and low priced and brought a large return to the Europeans
trading companies. Therefore, the East India Company till the beginning of the nineteenth century
supported the indigo plantation. But, when Huemann discovered synthetic indigo in 1890, the indigo
cultivation in India suffered and finally stopped. Thus the synthetic dyes completely overtook the natural
dyes. Modern science appeared late on the Indian scene, i.e., only in the later part of the nineteenth
century. By the mid nineteenth century European scientists started coming to India. A science college was
established in Calcutta in 1814. The study of chemistry was first introduced in the Presidency College of
Calcutta in 1872, followed by post-graduate teaching in chemistry in 1886. The Indian Association For
Cultivation Of Sciences was established in 1876. Early chemists like P.C.Ray and Chuni Lal Bose were
actively associated with it. P.C.Ray was well aware and proud of the fact that Indians had made
considerable progress in the field of chemistry during the ancient and medieval periods, as was evident
from his two volumes on History of Hindu Chemistry. After Ray, Chandra Bhusan Bhaduri and Jyoti
Bhusan Bhaduri were the ones who conducted significant researches in the field of inorganic chemistry.
R.D. Phookan sowed seeds of research in physical chemistry. Thus a bunch of young scientists started
taking keen interest in modern scientific research activities. P.C.Ray established the Bengal Chemical Of
Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. in Calcutta; J.K.Gajjar with the help of Kotibhaskar and Amin established the
Alembic Chemical Works in 1905 at Baroda; and Vakil in 1937 established the alkali industry under
Tata's patronage and Tata Chemicals Ltd. came into existence. The Indian chemical industry was thus
established and it continued to grow with a slow but a steady pace in the 20th century.

It is interesting to note that the western world is now veering around to the alternative medicines, based
on traditional Indian recipes and iatrochemistry, so much so that the global annual trade in herbal
products has reached $60 billion.
Key References
Main Sources:
Subbarayappa, B.V. 1999. Indian Alchemy: its Origin and Ramifications. In Chemistry and Chemical
Techniques in India (Ed.) Subbarayappa, B.V., Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilisations.

Deshpande, Vijaya Jayant. 1998. History of Chemistry and Alchemy in India from Pre-historic to Pre-
Modern Times. In History of Indian Science and Technology an Culture AD 1000-1800 (Ed) A.
Rahman. Delhi: Oxford.

Other References:
Habib, Irfan. 2000. Joseph Needham and The History of Indian Technology. Indian Journal of History of
Science 35(3): 245-274.

Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China. Vols. IV (2), V(4). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. (Especially pages 85-6,97,104-7 and 131-2).

Ray, P.C. 1909. History of Hindu Chemistry. Vols. I & II. London: Williams and Norgate.