IKS-121

Introduction to Indian Knowledge

System

Unit I: Science in Ancient India

Vedic Metallurgy / Chemistry from the medical
schools of ancient India
 Vedic Metallurgy

• Metallurgy is defined as a process that is used for the extraction

of metals in their pure form. The compounds of metals mixed
with soil, limestone, sand, and rocks are known as minerals.
Metals are commercially extracted from minerals at low cost.
These minerals are known as ores.
 Introduction
India has had a high tradition of metallurgical skills.
• The two important sources for the history of Indian
metallurgy are archaeological excavations and literary
evidences. The first evidence of metal in Indian subcontinent
comes from Mehrgarh in Baluchistan, where a small copper
bead was dated to about 6000 B.C.E
• Archaeological excavations have shown that Harappan
metalsmiths obtained copper ore from Aravalli Hills,
Baluchistan or beyond. Many bronze figurines of humans
and animals have been unearthed from Harappan sites
 Introduction
Systematic excavations at Mohenjodaro in Sindh and Harappa in
Punjab show that during the mature Harappan period, the metal
workers perfected the metallurgical skill.
Harrapans used metals like tin, arsenic, lead, antimony, etc., for
alloying.
They had also perfected the wax technique of metal casting in as
early as the third millennium B.C.E.
They melted and forged a variety of objects from metals such as lead,
silver, gold and copper.
They improved the hardness of copper for making artefacts by using
tin and arsenic.
These Vedas mention the extraction and processing of metals such
as gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, iron and their alloys.
 Copper
 Copper metallurgy in India dates back to the beginning of Chalcolithic culture in the sub-
continent.
 Copper and bronze were used for making weapons, tools and cheaper ornaments.
 Copper found at Mohenjodaro contains an appreciable amount of lead and also some objects
made of copper which also contain nickel. An alloy of copper and arsenic was also used at
Mohenjodaro.
 One of the resource zones for copper was Aravalli range. There are deposits of copper, lead,
silver and zinc ores in the Aravalli hills. The copper ore of this region contains 4 per cent to 8
per cent arsenic.
 Many copper objects obtained from Harappa and Mohenjodaro contains high level of arsenic.
This suggests that metal workers of Harappan civilisation obtained copper ore from this
region of Aravalli hills.
 In Rajasthan, the copper mining areas are along the eastern flank of Aravalli hills extending
from Bharatpur, Alwar and Khetri region in North East to the South of Udaipur.
 There are evidences of deep mining in the Rajpur Dariba in the district Udaipur
 Copper

A chemical analysis of a fragment of an axe from Nal shows that it is made

up of 94% pure copper with 5% of nickel in it.
Though chalcopyrite ore is abundant in Aravalli Hills, the percentage of
copper is poor in the ore but the percentage of copper in many examined
samples was found to be 98 per cent.
This purity in copper is equivalent to the purity of present time blister
copper.
Evidence of ore dressing, roasting, fluxing and extraction of copper
consistently in 98 per cent purity prove that advanced stage of
metallurgical processes was reached and maintained in Chalcolithic
period.
 Iron

• Recent excavations in the central parts of Ganges Valley and

Vindhya Hills have shown that the art of iron smelting and
manufacturing of iron artefacts was well known in eastern
Vindhyas and it was in use in the Central Ganga Plain.

• Asur Munda and Agaria tribes of India have been the main
tribes concerned with the manufacture of iron. Agaria tribe
practiced iron smelting on large scale. This tribe has been
living in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Eastern Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa.
 Iron

 Tribsman at Kamarjoda, Chiglabecha and Jiragora, who could construct their

traditional furnace and operate them to produce wrought iron bloom.
 These furnaces were meticulously designed and constructed using pre-shaped
curved clay bricks. The refractory clay used in the bricks was obtained from
the places close to the site of operation.
 The design criteria such as shaft taper, bosh to top diameter and bosh angle
in these primitive furnaces have been found to be almost same as in modern
blast furnaces of 1960–70.
 The ancient furnaces have relatively large hearth diameter because these
produced semi-solid sponge iron and liquid slag instead of molten cast iron
and slag because forging operation is not possible on cast iron due to
brittleness.
 Iron
 When iron ore is reduced by charcoal in solid state, it forms porous
iron blocks. Therefore, reduced iron blocks are also called sponge iron
blocks. Any useful product can only be obtained from this material
after removing the porosity by hot forging. The iron so obtained is
termed as wrought iron. The process control achieved by the ancient
iron smelters was so high that they could produce 6–10 tons of
wrought iron of almost uniform quality used for the manufacture of
objects like the world famous Iron Pillar at Delhi.
 Engraved Sanskrit inscription suggests that it was brought here from
elsewhere in the Gupta period. The average composition of the
components present in the wrought iron of the pillar besides iron are
0.15% C, 0.05% Si, 0.05% Mn, 0.25% P, 0.005% Ni, 0.03% Cu and
0.02% N. The most significant aspect of pillar is that there is no sign of
corrosion in spite of the fact that it has been exposed to the
atmosphere for about 1,600 years
 Iron
 High purity of the metal (> 99 per cent) and presence only of traces of
injurious elements, and clean environment prevented it from rusting.
Also most recently, Balasubramaniam has explained that a composite
layer of iron hydrogen phosphate formed on the pillar prevents it from
rusting.
 Rapid industrialisation and the increase in traffic in and around Delhi is
raising the sulphurous gases in the environment. If this remains
uncontrolled, corrosion may occur and weaken the matrix of the pillar.
 Another famous iron pillar is located at Mookambika temple in
Kodachari Hill in a town near Mangalore. It also belongs to the same
period. The iron beams lying in the Surya temple at Konark are still
bigger in size. Non corroding iron beams were being used extensively in
the construction of temples in Orissa dating back to the sixth and
thirteenth centuries C.E.
 Zinc
• There is archaeological evidence of zinc production in Rajasthan at Zawar around the
sixth or fifth B.C.E. Due to low boiling point, zinc tends to vaporise while its ore is
smelted. As a result, its vapours present in the furnace are reoxidised and the metal
is lost.
• Therefore, zinc is produced by distillation technique.
• India was the first country to master zinc distillation. The technique used for
distillation in Zawar was designed for downward distillation in which vapours were
condensed in a lower container. The distillation of the pallets of roasted ore mixed
with charcoal powder, salt, etc., and borax as flux was carried out in brinjal shaped
retorts.
• In excavation at Zawar, these retorts have been found. Each distillation unit had two
chambers. Lower chamber was separated from the upper chamber by perforated
bricks. Charged retorts were fixed in the perforations with their mouth projecting out
in the lower chamber. The mouth of the retort was sealed and fixed in the collecting
earthen pots. Earthen pots were kept in the lower chamber of the distillation unit.
Earthen pots were dipped in a water trough for cooling the vapours of zinc coming
out of the retort. Upper part of the retort was heated by making fire in the upper
chamber. Zinc vapours coming in the earthen pot cooled inside it due to cold water
surrounding the earthen pot. This technique was also applied to mercury. Indian
metallurgists were masters in this technique. This has been described in the
Sanskrit texts of fourteenth century.
 Gold and Silver
• Harappans also used gold and silver as well as their joint
alloy electrum. Variety of ornaments such as pendants,
bangles, beads, rings, etc., have been found in ceramic or
bronze pots. Early gold and silver ornaments have been found
from Indus Valley sites such as Mohenjodaro (3000 B.C.E).
These are on display in the National Museum, New Delhi.
India has the distinction that the deepest ancient mines in
the world for gold are in Maski region of Karnataka with
carbon dating from mid first millennium B.C.E. A sample of
silver containing Ag 94.5; Pb 0.42; Cu 3.68; insoluble 0.38
per cent was found in Mohenjodaro. The process of extracting
silver was known to the people of Mohenjodaro.
• Hymns of Ṛgveda gave earliest indirect references to the
alluvial placer gold deposits (i.e., deposits of gold minerals
formed in stream) in India. The river Sindhu was an
important source of gold in ancient times.
 Gold and Silver
 It is interesting that the availability of alluvial placer gold in the river
Sindhu has been reported in modern times also. It has been reported that
there are even now, great mines of gold in the region of Mansarovar and in
Thokjalyug. The pāli text Aṅguttara Nikāya narrates the process of the
recovery of gold dust or particles from alluvial placer gold deposits. Although
evidence of gold refining is available in vedic texts, it was Kauṭilya
Arthaśāstra, authored probably in third or fourth century B.C.E., during
Mauryan era, which has much data on the prevailing chemical practices in a
long section on mines and minerals including metal ores of gold, silver,
copper, lead, tin and iron. Kauṭilyas’ Arthaśāstra describes a variety of gold
called rasviddhā, which is naturally occurring gold solution, Kalidas also
mentioned about such solutions. It is astonishing how people recognised
such solutions.
 The native gold (i.e., gold found in nature) has different colours depending
upon the nature and amount of impurity present. It may be that the different
colours of native gold were a major driving force for the development of gold
refining
 Chemistry of Medical School of Ancient India
 In India the origin of alchemy can be traced back to the Vedic age. Medicinal plants
are classified into two categories according to Atharvaveda; ayusani (promoting
longevity) and bhaisajya (curing diseases).
 In the Ayurvedic period the term ayusani gave place to Rasayana.
 Therefore Rasayana represents drugs which improve the circulation of body fluids
and thus helps in prolongation of life.
 The Vedic people had a strong appeal for gold and for an exhilarating drink called
soma. Both were exalted to a divine position.
 The Atharva Veda mentions about gold as a heavenly blessing which confers
longevity on a person who wears it. Soma rasa according to Rig-veda was drink of
immortal gods.
 During medieval period alchemists were busy in their activities. In
order to develop new methods they used earlier knowledge of
metals, minerals and plant materials.
 Among the metals most frequently used were gold, silver, iron,
lead, copper, zinc, tin and mercury. Besides these arsenic, Sulphur
were also used .

 The important minerals were generally called rasas which were further divided into
maha (superior) and upa (subsidiary) rasas. The metals were called dhatus. Although
mercury is a metal but it was considered maharasa, the king of rasas.

 In the alchemical texts it is mentioned by various names like; parada, sita, rasendra,
svarnakaraka (maker of gold), sarvadhatupati, Sivaja (born of Siva), Siva virya (semen of
Siva) and Harabija (seed of Siva).
 The metals which have been mentioned in rasashastra texts are gold, silver, copper, & iron
which are considered pure while lead and tin are considered as odorous (puti).
 In the alchemical texts various plants have been mentioned some of which have medicinal
value. The roots, leaves or seeds of these plants aid indigestion.
 According to Alberuni most of the medicines prepared in Rasayana. Were from plant sources
.Regarding animal products, their excreta, flesh or some other parts of their bodies were
processed and used but comparatively the use of metals and minerals in alchemy was more
pronounced. According to rasavadins minerals and metals couldn‟t give desired alchemical
 The alchemical texts have given the details of processes for the preparation of different types
of bhasmas
 Preparation of different types of bhasmas
• Gold bhasma: In this thin gold leaves were to be coated with a paste made of mercuric
sulphide and the juice of custard lime, dried and incinerated. This process was to be
repeated ten times, after which bhasma could be used as medicine. It could also be
prepared by a process that involved cinnabar, sulphur, realgar and sal ammoniac
(ammonium chloride) as well as gold and citrus juice. Used against bronchial asthma,
arthritis and diabetes.
• Silver bhasma: One method of preparing this was that silver foils were to be coated on
both sides with kajali prepared from mercury and sulphur, and ground in citrus juice. These
were dried and powdered sulphur was spread over them above and below. These were
then placed between two earthen plates, sealed and heated in a sand-bath for a day, over
a strong fire. When it got cold, the product was mixed with powdered pyrites in equal
quantities and ground well with lime juice and then heated for a long time till the silver was
reduced to its bhasma form. Used against eye disorders, jaundice, anaemia and liver
disorders.
 Preparation of different types of bhasmas
• Copper bhasma: It was prepared by keeping copper leaves immersed in cow's urine for
15 hours and then taken out. Copper leaves are placed in the paste of Cangeri (oxalis
corniculata) and kajali (prepared from mercury and sulphur) is also put in it. The pot was
closed with lid and heated on high flame for three hours. After cooling it, the mass is
powdered and thus the product called copper bhasma became ready for use. Used in
Heart Diseases , Tuberculosis as well as eye problem.
• Lead bhasma: For its preparation mercury was added to molten lead along with barks of
arjuna (Terminalia arjuna), vibhitaki (Terminalia belerica), ashwagandha (Withania
somnifera),. pomegranate and apamarga (Achyranthes aspera). These were heated
together for 21 nights, all along constantly stirring by an iron ladle. The product obtained is
finely powdered. According to alchemical texts lead bhasma was excellent for rasayana
therapy. Used in Diarrhea, Spleen Enlargment and Diabetes.
Thank You