Minerals and Metals in Ancient India (2 Vols. Set)-Arun Kumar Biswas, Sulekha Biswas-DKPD-9788124600481
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| In two volumes, the
book tells the fascinating, coherentlywoven story of the Minerals and Metals
— from across the entire sub-continental sprawl of the old-world India
(including Pakistan and Bangladesh). Covering a vast span of over five
millennia: from the Pre-Harappan Chalcolithic sites, like Mehargarh, Mundigak
and Ganeshwar to about ad 1200, Volume 1 is a brilliant effort to unravel the
mysteries of ‘archaeo-materials’ — with scientific inquiry into both the
modes of production and use of minerals, gems, metals, alloys and other
kindred artefacts. Including, as he does, a chronological discussion of the
‘specifically excavated’ sites, from Mehargarh to Taxila, Professor Arun
Biswas captures a panoramic view of the hoary, richly variegated cultures —
which, in their final analysis, lead him not only to question the
diffusionist theory concerning the ‘Aryan intrusion’, but also to highlight,
among a range of his first-time-arrived conclusions, the primacy of India in
the areas of non-ferrous ore mining, production of carburised iron, wootz,
steel, forge-welding of wrought iron, distilled zinc and high-zinc brass.
Barring the foreign travellers’ accounts, the volume draws exclusively on
archaeological evidence. Volume 2 approaches the theme from the viewpoint of
indigenous literary sources — chronologically marshalling over three thousand
years of Sanskrit writings: ranging from Rigveda to Rasaratnasamuccaya.
Reviewing, among other things, the entire gamut of studies in gemmology
(ratnashastra) and alchemy (rasashastra), the authors here set out a
meticulous analysis of Rasaratnasamuccaya: a fourteenth century text,
high-lighting the climactic heights of iatrochemistry in ancient India. With
detailed explanations of Sanskrit technical expressions, the volume also
tries to correlate, wherever possible, literary evidence with archaeological
data. Sponsored by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi,
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India has involved years of the authors’
painstaking research. Together with maps, figures, tables, appendices and
illustrative photographs, it will evoke enormous interest in geologists,
metallurgists,archaeo-metallurgists, mineralogists, gemmologists, historians
of science, archaeologists, Indologists, and the scholars of Indian pre- and
ancient history. |
| Book |
| ISBN |
9788124600481
|
| PUBLISHER |
DKPD |
| Binding |
Hardcover
|
| Edition |
`1996 |
| Language |
ENGLISH |
Tags:
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India (2 Vols. Set)-Arun Kumar Biswas,
Sulekha Biswas-DKPD-9788124600481
