Agricultural technology and banglemaking in India

Agricultural technology and glassmaking in India
The most sacred things for Indian society were the agriculture and the women .The purity of races of plants and humans were safeguarded alike.The bangles,mirrors and the like for women and for the Devi idol during social occasions was a must for the people.The food production and the production of bangles for reproductive women was alike and therefore these two important technologies are dealt with in the same chapter.
Agricultural technology in medieval India:-
High fertility of Indian soil is noted with a rare degree of unanimity amongst India’s own and foreign observers.Two crops a year is cultivated according to Vedic text Thaithireeya samhitha(A Concise history of science in India New Delhi 1971.pp 353,377-78; Labour in ancient India ,New Delhi 1971 .pp 35-36)Megasthenes ,Koutilya,Varahamihira corroborate this in their works.Ibn Batuta of 14thcentury in 14th century and Akbar’s historians in 16th century ,Rev William Tenant has noticed the multiple crops ,two and even three crops a year.There is variation in soil fertility in India and this has to be appreciated when this statement is studied.In 18th century Major Beatson found Nellore,Ongole,Calaitri ,Neucataghire under continuous cultivation,and lush green even if there had not been a drop of rain for four months but the Guntur was a miserable contrast to this.
Because of continuous cultivation,virtual absence of practice of fallowing is there.The term Khila or Khila-kshethra is but fallow land from which plough is withdrawn temporarily before ne creativity/crops.Unlike virgin and abandoned lands fallow is an integral part of cycle of cultivation and requires intensive ploughing than land under a crop ,for its clods must be repeatedly broken to evenly spread out soil and weeds must be ploughed back or burnt down to be turned into green manure and potash.Thus fallow land is not any land that is not under cultivation.Both fallow and lea land are under culture of cultivation.About Bengal agriculture Colbrooke and William Tenant has said that Indians allow land a lea,but never a fallow.Lea is the field temporarily left untilled ,allowing it to regain its fertility by its own.The Parauti land (one among 4 categories mentioned by Ain –i-Akbari)is closest to this lea.(Colbrooke calls it Lay).Parauti is gradually brought to the continuously cultivated Polaj land.Clearly then,fallowing is a rigourous exercise and crop /field rotation (if not crop rotation).Fallowing is doen on soil that is quickly exhausted.The lea or brief withdrawal of plough from field would indicate a soil indicate soil with greater innate capacity for recouping its exhausted fertility ,without human intervention.Thus Khila ,indifferently translated as fallow can be of much use in reconstructing history of ancient and medieval agriculture.
The two crop system without fallow is different from the European agriculture.The western arable land lay fallow under a regime of two –field rotation upto end of first millennium AD.Seed :yield ratio stood at 1:1 .6 or 1:2..5.Only in 13th century a three crop rotation came to Southern Europe.This allowed 2/3rd of arable land to be sown within an year and raised seed yield ratio to 1:4.A third of the land still yielded nothing over the year in Europe.Compared with continuous cultivation in India with seed :yield ratio of 1:12 for each crop this was a very dismal level of productivity for Europe.Only in 18th century did western Europe wasa bale to eliminate fallow ,through rotation of crops,and obtain one crop every year from each field.This was the “agricultural revolution” which made the 18th century the threshold of progress in Europe.And the lessons were taught from India ,as we know from history.But ,this revolution was not needed in India ,but Europe did not see the geographical peculiarty of India and made our existing systems crumble with agricultural reforms unsuitable for India.
In India with two crops a year,without fallow system,what explains the fertility of Indian soil? Some part of fertility must get exhausted with each harvest and unless renewed ,land just cannot go on yielding crops.The fertility renewal has to take place either naturally through deposit of fertile silt in river valleys with each annual inundation or by artificial manuring or admixture of both.
Indus and Ganga carry around a million tons of suspended matter daily.In 29 years from 1902-1930 silt deposit between Sukkur and Kotri (Indus)was 1300 square miles.The Indus soil is coarser than silt in Ganga basin and Indus drop the detritus early while Ganga carry silt further grinding it very fine and very fertile.Yet even in Indus plains the cultivation of food grains require no manure and involves an absolute minimum skill and effort and aid of implements.Ganges plains ahs 40000000-45000000 acres cultivated land and double cropping adds 20-25 % to this.The hydraulic engineer Sir William Willocks argued in favour of shallow canals for Ganga that would ensure overflow irrigation carrying muddy river water into fields ,due to this reason.During Mughal times cultivation was done only in the most fertile regions .And this explains the relatively lesss fertile lands from Mughal to British periods in India.(Before Mughal times all fertile and other lands were cultivated in traditional way and fertility and food production was very high,sufficient for entire land .(The reason for reduction is political and due to changes in tax systems which is discussed in another chapter).The relativelyless lands were brought under plough by British with less yield,more effort from farmer and same landtax as on fertile land .
Manure:- Applied in two different ways.1 Solutions prepared with mixtures of different fertilizing agents and applied to seeds before sowing for better germination.2.Applied to field at time of sowing ,or when seedlings are formed.
Arthasasthra recommends mixture of honey ,clarified butter,fat,cowdung for plastering cut end of seeds of sugarcane.Seeds of bulbous roots plastered with honey and clarified butter.Cotton seeds with cowdung .Manure of bones and cowdung for trees.The sprout of seeds ,when grown were manured with fresh haul of minute fishes and irrigated with milk of snuhi(Euphorbia antiquorum).Arthasasthra recognize the fertilizing quality of cowdung ,bones and fishes.Especially for the trees .The practice of keeping bones under the roots of fruit trees like jackfruit is still practiced inancestarl rites as a symbol.Harshacharitha of Baana says the farmer fills a cart with cowdung and other refuge of fields to restore fertility.Krishiparasra knows compost from cowdung.(for paddy).Ain considers farmers owning four oxen,two cows,and one buffalo for every plough is too poor to be taxed.But this condition changed with British rule.The forests were spared the aggression of plough even under Mughal rule and pastures for cattle was provided there in ample amounts.The care of pastureland shows the care taken for cattle and its manure for agriculture.Arthasasthra says the king earmarks areas for pasture in each village.If someone is not allowed to enter pastureland ,that obstruction is a crime and has to be taxed for 1000 panam.A officer was looking ater the pastures as in Arthasasthra times even in Mughal times.In 17th century Manrique saw enormous herds of cattle grazing in pastures of Bengal ,and the area was richly cultivated.In Europe oats was cultivated as fodder for catle.In India the hay from paddy and wheat was used as fodder and green grass in forests and pastures were enough so that separate fodder cultiavation was not done.The stubble left in fields after harvest was for cattle.The animal dropping from cattle was easily available as fuel and manure.The restoration of fertility depended upon this and ban on slaughter of cattle was for humanitarian as well as agroeconomical consideration.Even in areas where rivers do not bring fertile slit the animal droppings served a good manure.By first half of 19th century the scarcity of manure was felt acutely so that it was applied only to particular crops like sugarcane ,maize,jowar,cotton and tobacco which were important for the British empire and which could not be produced without manure .The utility changed from the selfsufficiency of entire people to needs of a few in power.And agroeconomy was totally changed by removal of ban on cow slaughter /lack of manure/lack of grazing grounds by forest laws/and lack of food for common people/famine made artificially in a vicious cycle.The ecological high fertility of Indian soil ,even with the presence of the rains which gives moisture for germination became less and less due to these problems to which the land was not subjected even during the Mughal regime.
In olden days the plough just upturned the deeper soil and exposed it to sun and made it dry.Deep ploughing reduce rather than enhance soil fertility and this was known to Indian farmers who adopted a superficial ploughing and also slash and burn cultivation.the simple light plough scratching ground ,under the climate and soil condition was the best for India as Lt Col.G.B.tremenheer remarked.In England the objective was to break up hard mass of mould or stiff clay and get rid of superfluous moisture while in India in light and tractable soil scarcely a clod can be seen and to preserve in subsoil ,the rain and moisture it imbibes at certain periods ,is the cultivator’s greatest and special care.Deep ploughing was unsuitable in several areas in India.Just allow the roots to penetrate and seure a free acess of air.that is sufficient.Turning up moist soil from deep below and exposing that to hot sun and drying wind was injurious.The lack of iron in old ploughs (wooden)was due to this and not due to lack of knowledge of iron as we have seen in the previous chapters on mettullurgy.The argument that the peasants were unable to purchase iron and therefore they lacked iron was a claim which the Marxian theorists (but not Marx) made later on.The reasoning was based on assumption that if iron plough was used the production would have been more as happened in England and Europe but as we have explained above this was not the case.When west Europe started to use iron in plough (after they came in contact with mettullurgy of India)they misplaced their experience of increased production in the Indian context .(pp 112 Technology in ancient and medieval India Anirudha Roy and S.K.Bagchi).In India in certain regions iron plough was used as early as 800 BC and Paanini refers to iron ploughshare.At Atranjikara and Taxila several iron tools for agriculture was unearthed .Brihaspathi says iron 12 pala in weight made into 8 angula long 4 angula broad makes a ploughshare.If price of iron in terms of wheat at end of 16th century was thrice that it was in 1914 as Moreland has shown,that was an argument in favour of the use of just a little bit of iron in medieval plough ,given its durability and its assumed high productivity.
Rgvedic plough(sira,Langala)was simple ,light .In Atharvaveda heavy ploughs drawn by 6 to 8 oxens is described.(This is for use of other purposes as we will discuss later in other chapters ).Kathakasamhitha mention yoke of 12 to 24 oxen.Panini mentions 2 types of big plough Hali and Jitya.Panini’s big plough is equated with Brihaddhala of stone inscription of Cahamana Vigraharaja AD 973 used in Ajmer-Jaipur region (where the climatic conditions differ from paddy growing /wheat growing regions of plains of India).Krsi-Parasara recommends normal yoking of 8 oxen to plough and 6 for ordinary use.Four oxen amounted to cruelty and of two to killing of a cow.Whetehr he describes this for one plough or for doing it in turns with animals to relieve animals is disputed.Till 12th century the variation of plouh size existed in India based on regions,and the use to which the cattle power was utilized.In Punjab a heavy Munna and a lighter Hal were two different types of ploughs.
Multiple ploughing was done.Panaini says twice or thrice while Pathanjali says five times.Arthasasthra says 3 for a good harvest.Amarakosa suggests two or three.Krishiparasara says 2 to 5 ,the larger the better.The type of crop also determines the number of ploughing required.For sugarcane the field is ploughed continuously for 8 months and the practice is called Athmas.
Seed was sown with seeddrill which evoked much praise from Henry Elliot.In march 1872 two drawings of drill were done by Lockwood,Kipling at Khangaum.One has three channels joined at top to a single round cuplike receptacle.The other has two channels separated from other but joining at a common platform at bottom.Each is drawn by a pair of giant oxen .Each channel drop one seed at a time at a regular distance .The soil area for each seedling will be thus equal.It was used in maharashtra,South India,Bihar,and in the Northwest India.
Leveling the soil was done by a manually operated stick ,so that the seed is covered by soil.The running of a plank over the soil drawn by oxen done in large fields.The ox-driver stand on plank,legs drawn apart,to put even pressure. The instrument was called sohaga in Persian language .Its function is to cover seed with soil,break clods,and thus spread moisture evenly .The tool moves transversely over soil.
Use of harrow:-
Kotisa in Amarakosa is harrow.Tuhfat-i-Punjab mentions it as Dandal as a very heavy plank with teeth at one end drawn by four oxen and pressed by two men.This was for paddy cultivation and was a highly sophisticated harrow .(Punjab had limited paddy cultivation and this was introduced later ,but before the Mughal period itself).The later commendator John Capper talks of this Indian harrow contemptuously as a mere board pierced with rough pegs,or even a bough of a tree on which two children sit to give it necessary pressure.
For sowing seeds seeddrill was used .Transplantation of paddy seedlings was done extremely carefully.In 17th century seeds were sown in three stages;Early,late and still later so that even if some of tehm do not germinate ,others would .The seedlings form and weeding and loosening of soil around plants for letting air into roots begins.Both these proceses take place simultaneously and with same instrument ,the hoe.Krishiparasara recommends weeding of paddy twice.Amarkosa mentions an instrument Khanitra which is indifferently translated as hoe or spade.Mid-19th century report of Punjab by Tremenheere noted that hoeing and weeding of some crops like sugarcane ,maize and larger kinds of millet occur in early stages of their growth.The hoe is a small instrument withnarrow iron blade and short handle used by cultivators in sitting position,as is done to this day.
Irrigation differs from one plant to another.Irrigation was important to Indians right from antiquity.Indian history has a impressive record of this score.Both state and individual initiative made substantial contribution and led to considerable technological and economical development ,as noted by Harbans Mukhia pp 115 Technology inancient and medieval India).State effort was very important .Sudarshan lake in Gujrat by Mouryan rulers in 4th century BC was repaired by Saka rulers in 2nd entury AD and Gupta rulers in 5th centuryAD and thus irrigated fields for eight centuries continuously.Nanda rulers canals in Orissa,served for 5 centuries.Its maintainance was done by local rulers.Imperial and provincial dynasties constructed and maintained reservoirs of canals in Punjab,Rajasthan,UP,Bihar,Bengal,Eastern Deccan,Kashmere,Kavery Delta .Firuz Tughlaq and Shah Jahan in 14th century followed same pattern.
Individual peasant initiative was there .The farmers irrigated with water on shoulders(Kumbakaara in arthasasthra ).The simplest Dhenkli consisted of a post buried into ground at edge of a well at one end and shaped like a fork at other.A long pole fixed at midway on the fork worked on lever principle with a bucket hanging on to pole at the well end and a stone of weight at other .One man can operate the device by pulling the rope down into well and releasing it to pole ,lift waterfilled bucket and then upturn bucket to let water flow into channel which would take water to field or garden.This device was labour intensive and capable of using in shallow water and irrigated fields not far away from well.Its low capital and running costs brought it to reach of all peasants uniformly and was very popular.In Kerala this is called a Thekku and the bucket is a thekkukotta.The more capital and labour intensive device which require labour of two men and ne or two oxen is called the Kaalathekku in Kerala.This device was noted by Babur in his book and he called it Chadas.In this a pulley is attached to forked pole through axle overlooking the watersource .The large leather bucket is called the chadas and it is lowered into water over the pulley.When filled ,the oxen carry the rope some distance and thus pull bucket up which would be emptied into a channel by one of the two men.The other one at the other end would guide the oxen back to the well to lower the container again for filling.Babur seeing this for te first time was horrified at the thought of the filth(dung and urine)in the rope beingcarried to well.The advantage is it operates in very deep wells and tanks (from which usually drinking water is not drawn)and can be used in areas where a relatively low water table exists.The amount of water lifted is larger and could irrigate larger fields away from water source.Babur saw for some crops bothmen and women carrying water in pitchers by repeated efforts too (showing individual effort by farmer ).People were more hardworking .
The three stage evolution of waterwheels:-An arghatta is a rim round which pot is attached .It is operated with human energy and collects water from surface of pond or riverside.The wheel (saquya)is with a bucket chain and pindrum gear and draw water from well and moved by bullocks.This increase irrigation in medium water table areas and whoever able to invest in a pucca well and a wheel and pulley can irrigate fields at will.Bullocks attached to it reduce human effort.In 1969 Irfan Habib pointed out that this was introduced to India after Turkish conquest.
But between the arghatta and saqiya was a stage (three stage history ,not two stage)in India.The bucket chain but with no gearing.In a pucca well to invest in a Persian wheel was costly and only very few in a village did that.The brickline pucca well were in use right from Kusana days(to the minimum)but only 41 out of 528 wells in 18 villages of Pargana Dausa in east Rajasthan was pucca well.The wells initiated a greater systematized cultivation in India even before Asoka times .Overdosing of crops was prevented by systematic use especially in areas with water shortage.The capital investment in bricklines wells with the wheel (with or without pulley)suggested a shift to higher value crops.Here it is noteworthy to add that what Logan in his Malabar manual called the Persian wheel in Malabar paddy fields was not the Saqiya or Persian wheel but the human energy powered(even women on the wheel)wheel which was an indigenous production since Mohenjodaro Harappa times .The method of drawing water from shallow wells,deep wells,ponds and rivers varied ,and the nature of crops and the availability of rain,and human labour and cost effectiveness had induced Indians (Indian artisans)to devise the equipments in three or even four different stages continuously over time is the truth.What was taught to Persia was only the last stage depended upon their climatic conditions,the human energy /labour power needed and the availability of state fund .The low water tables in Persia needed more power and with less labour there and the kings ready to invest money for improving that condition,the Indian artisans might have taught them how to overcome their problem by the cuppy and wheel mechanism and instead of oxen they were advised to use camel or horse .(The earlier stages being suitable for low water tables like Malabar etc continued and the wealthy households only used the saqiya to draw water from kitchen wells .All others ,having a shallow well system with high water table resorted to earlier methods only.).
The true spade:-Discovered inTaxila and
The sickle:-described from Rgvedic times and excavated from Taxila are used in India even now.
The minnowing baskets and the sieve,instrument to scrape black cotton soil in Madhyapradesh (sanchi museum AD 200)called bhakhar still in use in the area,auger for making holes in apple tree for grafting were also in use.
System of grafting:-Described in detail in Dar Fannn-I –Falahat.The male and female parts of plants were known and maadha(maatha)and nar (naran/man)is used for these parts.In Punjab crop rotation was not very popular like other parts of India.Wheat was sown in fields year after year .In dry seasons and in bad times millets were sown.In 13th 14th century Ganges plains had dense forests which kept te water table quite high.By 16th century great parts of it were lost to arable lands.(Cambridge economic history of India Vol 1 .pp 48)By 20th century no forests are there in Ganges plains.Within 400 years the land had been subjected to a drastic change by human activity.
Harappans had rice cultivation in Kathiawad ,wheat,barley,sesamum,peas,apart from cotton .Rgveda knows barley ,sesamum(both black and white)cucumber,bottlegourd,sugarcane.Yava is indicative of a generic name including barley and wheat.Arthasasthra has 17 kinds of crops of which 10 are foodgrains.(counting two varieties of rice as one)By 12th century AD 24-25 kinds of crops ,vegetables,fruits were cultivated.The rice itself had several varieties.
Sunyapurana says more than 50 varieties of paddy were grown in Bengal alone. Ain says :-If a single grain of each variety is collected they would fill a large vase.In 1920 about 40 varieties were grown with regional variation. The same was reported in 16th century as well.Al,a shrub of red dye had disappeared during Akbar’s reign ,and tea ,coffee,potato ,tobacco,groundnuts ,sweetpotato ,oats and maize came to the new list.
When the co-operation between state and people stoped and how it happened and how it is increasing even now is a topic that requires an open mind and a lot of understanding of human progress and priorities of the ruling powers .The history of agricultural production in India has to be studied in that light to understand where we are strong and where we are not ,and instead of looking at all the developments happening in other countries(which are geographically different from ours)we should be able to strengthen our points of selfsufficiency in food production especially with a population explosion.The selfsufficincy in food production will make India a super power and all other nations will need help from a country which produce food ,and has all natural resources that the world needs.And by a judicious barter (as our ancestors did with a foresight)we can ,with the modern technology make wonders .The positive thinking and collective action and co-operation will make any nation a world power.It is not war but peaceful co-existence of all that everybody needs.India can bear a torch in this respect by her knowledge and ancient cultural and geographical knowhow and judicious use of it in modern context.
Dams /Bandh:-
The Government of Rajasthan ,Irrigation department’s technical report (May 1980)says the name of their work is”Remodelling of Manasagar Bund and canal system”.
What is the term bund in ancient India ?We come across Sethubandhan in Ramayana.Sethu is a bridge and bandh is a construction that join two areas (or people)together.This term is used for Mansagar dam with a strong structure as well as to the small anicuts made in Malabar alike .Even now in Malabar people depend upon bunds for irrigation of Puncha Kol fields of rice and it is a joint endeavour by state and people right from ancient times.
When Babur journeyed from Kalpi to Chanderi he noticed three dams thrown across between hills in his own words.He also saw 3 large tanks in front of Chanderi created by the farmer rulers who threw dams across (bendler yapip/band-haa-andaaktha).Such pre-modern dams are listed in several other works.In Rajasthan rain water conservation for irrigation was essential and the farmer rulers of pre-Mughal India did this admirably well to make the land fertile.The knowledge of soil chemistry,topography and hydrodynamics is essential for such endeavours.But archeologists are not very enthusiastic to study such evidences of human labour ,effort as well as intelligence.The dam-building in ancient India is therefore not well studied.Between Amber and Ajmer are Anasagar,manasagar at Ajmer and Amber respectively and embankment of Gund Talao at Kishangarh .These premodern dams or bunds were surveyed in 1980 by Iqtidar Alm Khan and Ravindrakumar.The Mansagar dam/Bund has three distinct parts :-
1.Structure upto plinth level
2 superstructure rising from plinth in successive storeys
3.Fortification represented by battlemented rampart rising on downstream side of superstructure.
Mansagar is 2 Kms from North-east of city of jaipur.The land where the lake now stands was marshy land .It forms the bed of a rivulet passing through a narrow gorge in hills ,used to flow to northeast.This rivulet is called Darbhaavathy.The dam was made in 1732-35..Supervised and built by Gangaram ,minister of Kachwaha king Jai Singh Sawai.The indigenous tradition of dambuilding which Babur noticed were made us eof by Ganga Ram ,who was a person well versed in that tradition.
The dam is built on Trabeate principle with stone,rubble and mortar to plug a gorge.the length is 202 meters.It creates a water reservoir on western side that extends upto road connecting Jaipur to Delhi.On southern bank of reservoir is the Jal Mahal.The bed of reservoir slopes in west-eastern direction.At base of dam it is 3 and ½ gaz lower than its level near steps of Jal Mahal.The catchment area of lake is 10 sq miles /16.09 square Kms and full tank level before modifications was at R.L 117 ft /35.66 m.Water flowing out irrigates 1648 acres /667.206 hectares of land.Two canals flow to east.One originates at spillway.There are 2 sluices for outflow of water on eon left and other 95 m to the south of it.(Rl 95 ft and 105 ft respectively/28.96 m/32.004 m)An old spillway on right flank (135 ft/41.15m) existed.By 1980 the irrigation department of Rajasthan had demolished the original spillway .
Important points: 1.The dam is a gravity dam built on principle of Trabeate.This suggests a pre-Turkish technique .This tradition survived in Rajasthan Rajput chieftains areas until 18th century when British changed it.
2.The structural features like exposed part of plinth extending for several meters towards lake,5 bastion-like projections rising from plinth to height of second platform in superstructure and creation of 3 different heights are for countering toppling effects or sliding of superstructure as also for preventing tension.This shows the awareness of basic problems of dam engineering of the architect and of the pre-Turkish tradition he was following .The Mansagar dam is still operational and in AD 1981 it survived the fiercest floods in living memory to its accurate planning.(Comparison of Mullaperiyar dam can be doen with this basic knowledge in mind .So also the oldest dam said to be made by Perumthachan in AD 5th century and modified by modern Government can be also studied to know its peculiarities ).
3.Sluices designed in form of small tanks located between lake and opening of tunnels carrying water across the dam with an aim to regulate water discharge,to prevent silting of tunnel and to protect mouth of tunnel from seepage and erosion resulting from continuous contact with and pressure of lake water.
4.The battlement rampart atop downstream wall continues on the flanking hills.It comprise fortification scheme (of jaipur township)of which the dam was a part.It serves two military purposes.
Strengthen defence of fortified space by providing continuous water supply .
Serves as a massive bulwark blocking entry into fortified space.Thus it is a durga (as described in ancient texts )as well as a reservoir and a Bandh in the true sense of the word.
It is interesting to note that the term bundh is still used for the small scale anicuts made by people to protect and irrigate their vast ricefields in Malabar and the dams of such type were initiallymade by the Emperor kolathiri(Perumpadappu swaroopam or Cochin )and later on when Zamorin took up a portion of land by combined effort of Zamorin and Cochin and with co-operation from people of the land.The purpose of irrigation was same but it was not meant for protecting a city or a kings military base ,but entirely for popular agricultural benefits on a amss scale co-operation and the instruments and technology used is the same as described in ancient texts with indigenous methods which had stood the test of time for several millennia.The people as wel as the successive Governments of modern India has to know this history of our motherland if they have to plan effectively for each regions on a regional ,national and global basis.Mere words would not do.The knowledge and systematic planned co-operative actions to get desired results are needed for proper genuine leadership and for a responsible enlightened citizenship.




Glassmaking:-
People of MohenjoDaro and Harappa knew how to mould and fuse articles of faience and glaze quartz beads with a frit akin to glass.Glass bangles of chalcolithic age is unearthed from Maski and Rupar.Glass is called Kaacha in Sanskrit which is literally a lens.In satapathaBrahmana it is mentioned (for decorating horse in Aswamedha glass beads used)showing the antiquity of the technology.Vinayapitaka(shoe with decoration of kaacha is forbidden for a Bhikshu),medical texts(Charaka and Susrutha prescribe glass vessels for preserving medicines) describes it too..Both in Sanskrit and paali the word kaacha is familiar and popular.Yajurveda mentions kaacha as a material for making female ornaments by stringing with gold thread.Susruthasamhitha says vessels of glass and cats eye (a rare jewel)is good for serving food.It is a better surgical instrument according to him.Koutilya mentions how glassbeads are pierced in molten stage ,and kshepana(setting of glass fragments)in ornaments for preparation of glass-gems .In Amarakosa of 7th century singhaana(glass vessels)sikhyaakaacha(glass-cup)kaaachasthaali (glassdish)are mentioned.In alchemical texts innumerable types of glass vessels are described.Vyaasoyogicaritha by Somnath Kavi(AD 1446-1539)mentions use of spectacle for good eyesight.
1 specimens ,objects from various archeological sites give indirect idea of the techniques used.
2.The technique of potters adopted by glassworkers furnish useful guides.
3 acoount of techniques followed from ancient times still practiced in indigenous glass-making centers .
The glass making centers:-
1.Kopia in UP.In Basthi district where Pipra stupa is nearby.5th century BC .Clay crucibles used for melting glass also seen.The glass pieces are sodalime with high % of alumina.The tiny glassbeads perforated with extremely fine holes which are difficult to be seen with naked eye.These are brilliantly coloured and polished.
2.Taxila.at head of Sind Sagar Doab.Excavated glass articles at Bhir mount,sirkap,sirsukh,dharmarajika stupa.Bhir mound is the most ancient among them.(6th century BC).Bangles,beads,seals,conical flasks of sea-green colour .Art of glassblowing and decolourising glass by manganese and colouring with various metallic oxides known.
3.Arikkamedu in Tamil Nad,Coromandel coast near Pondichery.Beads,bangles,bowls from 1st century BC.4 or 5 pillarmoulded bowl of white iridescent glass found.(Italian).Several rods of glasslike material looked like fossil wood.Contains glass and various metallic oxides used for producing different colours like olive green,bottle green,cobalt blue.Whitish film on surface of some specimens due to prolonged burial in soil.The fine threading holes suggest they were used as perforated beads .Others have no holes and are solid.A core of sand found among several rods.
4.Brahmapuri(Kohlapur)on right bank of Panchaganga river.(1438-1518 the area was under Bahmani sultans).Beads,bangles,rings of different size,shape ,clour.Glassware,slags,part of kline ,ash mixed with lime found.
5.Nevasa. (On Pravara ,a major tributary of Godavary)has six phases extending from early Paleolithic 1,50,000 BC to Muslim-Maratha period of AD 1700.From phase 1V glass was known and through V to V1 it developed as a cottage industry of fine quality.The workers are skillful and careful from the finds.
6.Sirpur (Chattisghar of MP )Storage jars (ranjans)in which glass is melted or annealed in ancient times.
7 Ahmednagar (Baluchipura in MP).chinese bowls of Ming period.
8.Mughal period :-Hukkah bowls,dishes and dishcover,spittoons,mirrors,spectacles and miscellaneous articles.Made by glassblowing.But glass was not pure and had lot of air bubbles and seeds.So opaque than earlier ones from India.Glazed earthenware tiles in mosques ,palaces the glazed appearance is due to glass.
9.Dutch and English specimens with distinctive Indian designs

Materials and tools and techniques :-
Raw materials: 1.Fundamental constituents like soda,lime,silica which are drawn out into threads ,blown thinner and can easily be moulded.Potash and oxides of lead in many samples in later date.
2.Colouring agents.Metallic oxides. Like manganese,dioxides,nickel oxide,selenium.
Chemical analysis of 18 sites from India show the Indian glass workers were aquainted with both these for plain and coloured glass.Lead oxide and barium oxide n some specimens is important.Lead in glass is for makingcrystal glass.Barium gives high resistance to heat.Indian workers were aware of these earlier than Babylonian,Assyrian and Roman glassworkers(Ancient India.8.1952.pp 25-26)Presence of SnO2 and Sb2O2 in Taxila specimens show this pacifying agent was known.High % of SiO2 (60 -80 %)is seen in some specimens.

Furnace:-Glassmaking kline in Nevasa (3-4th century AD)is a circular oven of 2-6 inch diameter with 1.7 inch depth made of burnt clay.Around it was found abundance of dichrome glass,slag lime and cowdung.Lothal excavation showed circular furnace of 6 inch diameter with hanging roof having 4 openings.Surface is plastered with mud.Improved clines and clay pots were used in early ancient India is ascertained from evidence from archeology.
Glasss pots and muffles:-Pots used in connection with kline and a crucible was found in Mohenjodaro.Thick and coated with clay and sand,it is used for melting glass.It is either a crucible or a muffle for firing glass.A thin pottery plate 4.17 inchdiamter 02 inch thick having thick cement of mud and straw round edge showing evidence of burning.This is used to seal up the fuel of a furnace.Similar pieces are still used in India for the purpose .A small open vessel (along with 2 others of same shape,size)covered with a grey paste heavily fired more than once had a smooth interior and rough outside used as a kind of muffle.
Tools and implements:-for working molten glass,bangles and bowls .
1Ankri,adhkar,unkri,upri:-iron rod 2 ft long,hooked at one end and fixed on to wooden handle at other.For stirring molten glass and taking it out of crucibles.
2.Aaraag ,sallakha,suja:- long pointed spit of irn of uniform thickness
3.mala,Bala,thapi,pathia:- A moulding and pressing tool of iron like a big spoon,used for taking out metal while in some districts it is shaped like a heavy blunt dagger.In Kerala similar thing is used in kitchen and called a Thavi.
4.Tokla.An iron rod with a thick butt tapering off to a point.
5.Bardhana,barauna,bidarka,or unar:-short piece of stout iron wire fixed into light bamboo handle at one end and sometimes hooked sometimes straight at the other end.It is inserted between the inchoate bangles to prevent its sticking to them.
6Chitarana.Iron rod used in Saharanpur and Etah for twisting molten glass for certain types of bangles.
7.Kalchul or karchuli:- iron ladle used for transferring the molten glass from one crucible to another.
8.Kalbul,sunder,surtari:-clay cone fixed on a iron handle for shaping bangle.In Punjab it is called sarabandhi and salendhi ,sarkandi or kalbut.

Modeling:-Modelled on sand-core were the earliest bangles.The glass batch(ingredients)was fused in a clay crucible and allowed to cool ,the defective parts chipped off and discarded and lumps of metal reheated to be rolled into rods.Core of sand affixed to tapering metal rod and vessel was modeled by winding glass rods spirally round the core.Surface then smoothed by marving or rolling the glass on a smooth surface.When vase is completed the metal rod and coresand were removed.These early samples have a coating of sand on inner surface .Thsi is a roublesome procedure illsuited for production of large vessels of glass.
Moulding:- Molten glass poured and pressed intoa mould.The moulds for objects of clay and metal was known from ancient days.This was adopted for glass also.Production of glass in a crucible is to get a shape of crucible on cooling.Beads,and larger and heavier objects were made on a mould in India.The sand moulds could be destroyed once the object was extricated.Red sandstone mould also was used.Monochrome translucent variety of glass bangles with pentagonal sections were made with moulds.Flat tile with depressions for square beads is got from Kolhapur.At Kondapur bead is made by taking 2 shades of pale blue glass and swirling with a layer of milky white opaque glass between them.These are then moulded into a bead.This left a brilliant white zonal line in central part.These moulds were used by goldsmiths for repousse work in metals also.
Glassblowing:-Towards 1st century BC the glassblowing had evolved.Blowing glass into a mould developed into free blowing.Fragnments of a very fine bowl is discovered in Taxila.This was made by taking canes made of threads of white and colourless glass twisted together to form a spiral and then winding the canes ,when plastic ,round the inside of a mould and fusing them together with heat and pressure.To form a rim a piece of blue and white glass was used.
Annealing:-Glassware develop strain as a result of rapid cooling.Removal of this is by allowing the highly treated prepared article to cool slowly to lower temperatures like 500 degree C.
Glass bead manufacture:- In an iron container a mixture of powdered quartz or very pure sand with alkali(soda,potash or nitre)and lime is heated to fusion to form uniform molten mass.Before heating colouring materials containing iron,copper ,manganese,cobalt were added.When a syrupy mass is got stirred with iron bar on the end of ehich is gathered viscous mass of red hot glass.Then fixes another rbar in the mass and gives the bar to a second one,who runs with it at full speed pulling glass mass into a rod,lwhich solidifies instantly by cooling and appears as a shiny rod ,25-30 yards long .This is cut to handy lengths of 2-3 ft.The glass rods are the raw material for making the simplest kind of beads,the so-called wound beads.
Wire-winded beads:-Glassrod is mealt at one end and fold the softened rod into a ring round a copper wire or iron held in the other.When glass ring close round the wire rest is cut off ,wire with glass ring turned and heated till it is nicely round or oval.When 3 or 4 rings are turned round wire is laid aside to cool.In cooling ,metal contracts more than glass and beads can be stripped off ,specially as the wire has been turned round in ashes and fine sand.According to diameter of wire a wide or narrow perforation is thus made in the bead.When the wire tapers the perforation also tapers.If the heat if not enough to melt a thick rod of glass ,and the beads were made by winding a rod of one or 2 millimeters,diameters several times round the tapering wire or other core (Multiple winding).At Brahmapuri in Kohlapur beads were made by a wire-wound process by coiling softened glass rod round a spoke and twirling it to a requisite shape.Disc beads with a lensshaped cross section are found to have been made in this way .Careful tooling is required for the process of shaping them to square barrels ,square ,bicone,globular beads and hexagonal cylinders.(These shapes were produced in India).In Indian specimens the wire was a stationary one initially showing the oldest method and only later did the rod revolve around axis mechanically.(At Maheswar and Navdatoli).If revolution used inner surface is smooth.The rough inner surface mean the process was slow and wire was stationary and process was slow one.At Brahmapuri the simplest monochrome bangles are made,by putting out a wire from molten glass kept around the furnace in small crucibles.
In gold-foiled beads a layer of gold foil is pressed on a glass matrix when hot and laid over again withanother coating of transparent glass.As the foil is not a cementing article the materials do not form homogenous mass and the tendency of bead is to break at foil layer.
Technique of plain bangles:-
A few big blocks of crude glass are laid on floor of furnace in contact with fire.After a few minutes heating,thrown into a basin of cold water,when they break into small pieces.Transfered to crucibles containing half-molten glass along with colouring matter as they may be required.When thouroughly fused with ,the mass transferred to second crucible for complete melting.Then dip the end of a iron hook (ankuri)into molten glass ,and take out a small ball of glass enough to for one bangle.This is wound up on end of a iron spit(salaakha)into a thick irregular ring.A daggershaped tool(Mala)is taken and resting the tip of iron spit ,round which the glass ring is wound up on a stone slab(patri)squeezes ring with the daggershaped tool till partially cooled.Ring is detached from spit ,by iron wire(bahora)to which it is removed.From end of the iron wire transferred to tip of tapering clay cone(Kalbut).The workman then holds the clay cone towards the opening of furnace ,pressing the thin handle of iron wire which is inserted between clay cone and glass ring.Rubbing the open palm against handle beneath it backwards and forwards over stone slab the cone is spun rapidly round ,and glass ring upon its tip become gradually enlarged and slips down to broad base of cone until it has grown to size of bangle .It is then slipped off and thrown to cool into pit between stone slab and furnace.
Bangles and fragments from different archeological sites are both monochrome and polychrome types.The glass used is translucent.Only very few are opaque and brittle in Indian sites.

Polychrome or multicoloured bangles:-
With designs and decorations and multicolours ,the procedure is more complex.The presence of them in different sites show the workmanship of Indian artisans.Wires of plastic glass placed one above another and subsequently fused to show vertical bands of various colours is seen in Maheswar and Navdatoli.The wires of differently coloured plastic glasswere twisted to give a spiral pattern to bangles.Small lumps of colourless plastic glass were laid over surface of differently coloured bangles ,revealing a design of eyes or dots.In bangle of Brahmapuri ,two or three thin wires of different colours of glass were so placed on thick white band of colourless glass and then polished off to give smooth surface ,so that it look like a painting on white background.Bangles from Nevasa showed skillful combination of wires of different coloured glass arranged one above other and then fused together.A specimen of polychrome bangle from Bellary showed that after moulding the body part ,a pattern was produced by applying a lemon-yellow glaze to its surface.The band of lemonyellow glaze is lighter than the cobalt-blue glass of the body.
The methods used by local workers of present time is almost the same as used by the ancient and medieval times shows the continuity of the technique and its popularity among society.The crafts and professions in ancient India have been handed over from the first intelligent human ancestor Manu ,according to common belief to each of the expertise Kaaru(artisan)and followed and improved upon with grace and tradition.Therefore the continuity.