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International Journal of
DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH

ISSN: 2230-9926 International Journal of Development Research

Vol. 06, Issue, 12, pp.10784-10788, December, 2016

Full Length Research Article

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION OF CHEMISTRY IN ANCIENT INDIAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
*Chhavi Purwar
Dept. of Chemistry, Pt. J.L.N. College, Banda (U.P.)

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article History: Ancient India, an important role in the development of chemistry was made by
Received 01st September, 2016 Ayurveda which used a variety of minerals. Science and technology in ancient and
Received in revised form medieval India covered all the major branches of human knowledge and activities. In
18th October, 2016
Accepted 19th November, 2016
any, early civilization, metallurgy has remained an activity central to all civilizations
Published online 30th December, 2016 from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, to all other civilizations that followed. The
Indus valley civilization was the earliest society, the story of early chemistry in India
Key Words: begins from here. Traces of cement had been ford in the era of Mohanjodaro. According
Chemistry,
to RigVeda, tanning of leather and dyeing of cotton was practiced during this period.
Metal, After Vedas classical texts which give valuable information about the chemical
Metallurgy. activities of this period. The major chemical products of this period were glass, paper,
soap, dyeing, cosmetics and perfumes, alcoholic lacquers, pharmaceuticals, gun powder
and saltpeter. Nagarjuna (metallurgist) and Kanada were chemist of ancient period.
Indian and Persian army used arrows tipped with iron. In the Gupta age metallurgical
operations were found. Nataraja statue the god of dance is made of five metals Pancha
Dhatu and Iron Pillar, Delhi is as a silent witness to assert the striking metallurgical
skill of the Hindus. Paintings found on walls of Ajanta and Ellora also testify to the high
level of chemical science achieved in ancient India.
Copyright©2016, Chhavi Purwar. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

INTRODUCTION The basic idea of smelting reached ancient India from

Mesopotamia and the near East. Coinage dating from the 8th
Ancient India, an important role in the development of century BC to the 17th century AD and numismatic evidence of
chemistry was made by Ayurveda which used a variety of the advances was made by smelting technology in ancient
minerals. Chemistry in Ancient India was called Rasayan India. Much of chemistry grew out of the early efforts is to
Shastra, Rasatantra, Rasa Kriya or Rasa Vidya roughly develop an elixir and to turn base metals into gold.
translating to 'Science of Liquids'. Science and technology in
ancient and medieval India covered all the major branches of MATERIALS AND METHODS
human knowledge and activities, including mathematics,
astronomy, physics, chemistry, medical science and surgery Data and evidences were collected from secondary sources
etc. Ancient India was a land of sages, saints and seers as well which include books, articles, reference materials, wikipedia
as a land of scholars and scientists. Ancient India's etc. from 2200 BC-1200 AD.
contribution to science and technology include principles of
chemistry did not remain abstract but also found expression in
practical activities like distillation of perfumes, aromatic DISCUSSION
liquids, manufacturing of dyes and pigments and extraction of Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BC)
sugar. In any early civilization, metallurgy has remained an
activity central to all civilizations from the Bronze Age and the The earliest urban civilization in India and in fact, one of the
Iron Age, to all other civilizations that followed. earliest civilizations in the world, was the Indus Valley
Civilization, or the Harappan Culture. Archaeologists, findings
showed a well developed urban system with public baths,
*Corresponding author: Chhavi Purwar, streets, granaries, temples, houses with baked bricks, mass
Dept. of Chemistry, Pt. J.L.N. College, Banda (U.P.).
production of pottery and even a script of their own which
depicted the story of early chemistry.
10785 Chhavi Purwar, Significant contribution of chemistry in ancient Indian science and technology

In pottery making chemical processes were carried out in

which materials were mixed, fired and moulded to achieve
their objectives. In the Rajasthan desert many pottery pieces of
different shapes, sizes and colours were found. At Mohenjo
Daro it was found that for the construction of a well, gypsum
cement had been used which contained clay, lime, sand and
traces of CaCO3 and light grey in colour. Burnt bricks were
manufactured on a large scale for making houses drains,
boundary walls, public bath etc. Many useful products were
plasters, hair washes, medicinal preparations etc. which had a
number of minerals in them used by Indus Valley people. The
Harappans made Faience, a sort of proto-glass which was used
for ornaments. They forged and smelted a number of objects A vast number of statements and materials presented in the
like lead, copper, silver and gold and they improved the ancient Vedic literature can be shown to a agree with modern
hardness of copper for making artifacts by using tin and scientific findings and they also revealed a highly developed
arsenic. The Indus Valley residents had access to gold and scientific content in these literatures. The great cultural wealth
copper mining and the place was possibly a source of semi- of this knowledge is highly relevant in the modern world.
precious stones. This can be seen in the jewelleries discovered Copper utensils, iron, seals, gold and silver ornaments, and
in the area. The people made tools and weapons from copper terracotta discs and painted a grey ware pottery have all been
and bronze but not iron. found in thirty five Archaeological sites in North India.
Scientific dating of these artifacts corresponds to the non-
aryan invasion model of Indian antiquity.
Brahmanas, Puranas and Upanishads throw light on the
chemical activities of this period Kautilya's Arthashastra
described collection of pearls, corals, diamonds, shells and
production of salt from sea. Sushruta Samhita explained the
importance of alkalies and classified it into three categories
mrdu, tiksna and madhyama Varahamihira in Brihat Samhita
wrote about alum and sulphate or iron as mordants for dyeing
of textile fabrics. Various cement preparation and their types
which were applied to temples and other buildings were also
mentioned. The major chemical products of this period were-
Glass: Glass is a solid fused mixture of lime, alkali, sand and
metallic oxides. They were coloured by adding colouring
agents like metal oxides. The Ramayana, Kautilya's
Arthashastra, Brihatsamhita mention glass being used.
Evidences of glass slag and glazing are found in Hastinapur,
Takshila, Nevasa Kolhapur, Maheshwar and Paunar.

Paper: Paper was known to India in the 7th century from the
Chinese traveller 1-I sing's account. Paper making was
practiced all over the country in places like Murshidabad,
sialkot, Mysore, Ahmedabad, Zafarbad.
Archaeologists like R.D. Banerjee and Sir John Marshal has Soap: For washing clothes ancient Indians used certain plants
rediscovered this historic set in the 1920's and gave the world a and their fruits like the soap nuts of Ritha and sikakai. Indians
peek into ancient culture and civilization. The oldest preserved definitely began to make proper soaps in the 18th century AD.
measuring rod is a copper alloy bar which was found by the In Gujarat, the oil of Eranda (Ricimus communis), seeds of
German Archaeologist Eckhard Unger while excavating at plant Mahua (Madhuca indica) and impure calcium carbonate
Nippur. The bar dates from c. 2650 BC and he claimed it was were used by them. These were used for washing but gradually
used as a measurement standard. The earliest available swords soft soaps for bathing were made.
of copper and bronze are recovered from the Harappan sites
date back to 2300 BCE throughout the Gangas-Jamuna Doab Dyeing: A number of classical texts like Atharvaveda (1000
region of India. BC) mentioned some dye stuffs. Synthetic dyes were made by
mid nineteenth century. The principal dyeing materials were
The Vedic age turmeric madder, sunflower orpiment, cochineal, lac and
kermes. Some other substance having tinting properties were
According to Rig Veda shows that during this period
Kampillaka, Pattanga and Jatuka.
tanning of leather and dyeing of cotton were practiced. During
the period 1000-400 BC they made a particular kind of Cosmetics and perfumes: Varahamihira's Brihatsamhita gives
polished grey pottery known as painted Grey ware. The references to perfumes and cosmetics. The Bower Manuscript
amazing golden gloss of the Northerns Black Polished Ware (Navanitaka) contained recipes of hair dyes which consisted
could not be replicated and is still a chemical mystery. These of a number of plants like indigo and minerals like iron
wares indicated the mastery with which the kiln temperatures powder, black iron or steel and acidic extracts of sour rice
could be controlled and later the skill with which the gruel. Gandhayukti gave recipes for making scents, mouth
atmosphere could be reduced. perfumes, bath powders, incense and talcum powder.
10786 International Journal of Development Research, Vol. 06, Issue, 12, 10784-10788, December, 2016

Table. Archaeological evidences of ancient India

Period of time Cultural age Objects

C 2000 BC Neolithic Terracotta jewellary of clay
1800 BC-1500 BC Chalcolithic
1400 BC-1050 BC New chalcolithic Copper bronze
2600 BC-1900 BC Indus valley civilization Traces of cement, baked bricks, seals, ceramic pots,
(bronze age) signboard, necklaces, bangles,pottery,gold jewellary,
dancing statue
1500 BC-1000 BC Vedic civilization(Iron age) Tanning of leather, dyeing of cotton, glass, paper,
soap, cosmetics, perfumes, alcoholic lacquer, arrows
1000 BC-500 BC Brahamanic age
500 BC-200 BC Epic age (rise of Arrows tipped with iron
Mauryan dynasty
240-554 AD Gupta´s period Iron pillar, gold coin,cave paintings, Nataraj statue
700-1600 AD Rajputs Dynasty Gold jewellary,sward, shield, arrow

Ink: Ink was used from the 4th century BC from excavations As an alchemist, he was adept in the art of transmulating base
seen at Takshila. Rasaratnakara gives the recipe for ink which metals to look like gold. The Arabs learnt this technique from
was made from nuts and myro balans. Colours of ink were him and called it Alchemy. The most famous work of
made from a combination of different types of plants, resins Nagarjun was Rasaratnakara, which deals with the formulation
and other materials. The Ajanta caves displayed some of rasa or mercury compounds. He has also discussed methods
inscriptions that were written with coloured ink, made from for extraction of metals like gold, silver, tin and copper.
chalk, red lead and minium. Paintings found on walls of
Ajanta and Ellora which look fresh even after 1000 years, also Kanada: Kanada was a sage who lived in the 6th century BC.
testify to the high level of chemical science achieved in He was born in Prabhas Kshetra near Dwaraka of Gujarat. He
ancient India. was the first proponent of the 'atomic theory' and stated that
the atom is indivisible and the world is made up of atoms.
Alcoholic Liquors: Somarasa, which was mentioned in the Kanada also added that there are varieties of atoms that are as
Vedas, Kautilya's Arthasastra listed a variety of liquors such as different as the different classes of substances.
Medaka, Prasanna, Asava, Arista, Maireya and Madhu. Barks
of plants, stem, flower, leaves, woods, cereals, fruits and Persian and Greek Invaders
sugarcane were some of the sources for making these liquors.
They were also used in dyeing, mixing and dissolving In 520 BC the Persian kings ruled many parts of India for
operations and for binding and distilling mercury. In Sushruta about a century and a half. The Greek historian Herodotus has
Samhita, alcoholic beverages were referred to as 'Khola' observed that Indian and the Persian army used arrows tipped
Designing of retorts was first done in India which was used to with iron. Ancient Romans were using armor and cutlery made
control the distillation of zinc which is a very volatile metal. of Indian iron.
Pharmaceuticals: In the preparation of medicines from plant
and animal extracts, a number of chemical processes like Chemistry and metallurgy under Gupta Empire
purification, extraction, distillation, sublimation, combustion,
precipitation, dilution and decocting were required to be used. In the Gupta age no books dealing with chemistry and
A member of medicines in later periods also used Mercury and metallurgy are found. Nagarjuna is mentioned as a great
gold. chemist. The famous Iron Pillar near the Qutub Minar, Delhi
stands as a silent witness to assert the striking, metallurgical
Gunpowder and saltpetre: The discovery of saltpetre (i.e. skill of the Hindus. This pillar has not yet been rusted or
potassium nitrate) and its chief application in gunpowder was corroded despite it being exposed to rain and sun for the last
a crucial factor in the history of chemistry. Firearms were 1500 years. The use of mercury and iron in medicines shows
mentioned in RigVeda, Atharva Veda, Kautiliya's Arthasastra that chemistry must have been practiced. Varahamihira was a
and Manusmriti. Rasopanishada described the preparations scientist of many fields.
of a gun powder mixture. Tamil texts also describe the
preparation of fireworks using sulphur, charcoal, saltpetre,
mercury, arsenic, camphor etc. Gun and Gunpowder are
mentioned in sukracharya's sukra-Nitisara.

Metallurgy: Casting of metals, extraction of metals from their

ores and smelting of metals was proficiently carried out by the
Indian alchemists. The Ramayan and the Mahabharata mention
weapons where the arrowheads were coated with a number of
chemicals providing their knowledge of Alchemy. In India
itself, certain objects testify to the higher level of metallgy
achieved by the ancient Indians.

Nagarjuna (Metallurgist): Nagarjuna was a great Indian

scientist who was born in Gujarat is 931 A.D. He was a
reputed chemist, an alchemist, a metallurgist and a
mediaireman.
10787 Chhavi Purwar, Significant contribution of chemistry in ancient Indian science and technology

Weapons, armour & Helmet of Rajputs Period

Guptas minted different types of solid gold coins-standard,

Archer, Battle Axe, Ashvamedha king and Queen Tiger slayer
and Lyrist. The Gupta craftsmen distinguished themselves by
their work in iron and bronze. Bronze images of the Buddha
began to be produced on a considerable scale because of the
knowledge the smiths had of advanced metal technology.
Metallurgical science was far more advanced in this period.

Rajputs Period

On the whole, growth of the knowledge of science slowed

down in this period science society became increasingly rigid,
thinking was mostly confined to traditional philosophy and
India developed as insular attitude cut off from the main
currents of scientific thought outside India, science did not get
proper scope or opportunity to develop.
10788 International Journal of Development Research, Vol. 06, Issue, 12, 10784-10788, December, 2016

In Medieval period, gold making and elixir synthesis were the The list of inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley
two main characteristic streams of alchemy. The Rasvidya or Civilization refers to the technological and civilization and
Indian Alchemy texts show the use of number of organic and civilization achievements of this period. High level of
Inorganic substances. These rasas or minerals were divided chemical science has also been found in painting on walls of
into subsidiary or Upa and Superior or Maha Rasas. In the Ajanta and Ellora. Armour and cutlery made of Indian iron
Rasas shastra texts mercury is referred to as the king of Rasas were used by Ancient Romans Ceaseless encouragement and
though it is a metal. It was considered to possess divine understanding of the ancient chemistry of India will encourage
properties and the most potent of all substances due to its people for further progress in field of chemistry.
heavy weight, fluidity, silvery white and shiny appearance and
its property of combining with others substances readily. Acknowledgement
Before it could transform human body, mercury had to
undergo 18 processes. Author is thankful to the Principal Pt. J.N.P.G. College, Banda
(U.P.) for the suggestions given during the preparation of the
Conclusion manuscript.

Ancient India′s development was found in a variety of REFERENCES

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