[INDOLOGY] glass in ancient India

[Lubomir Ondracka]

I just went through this publication:
S. N. Sen and Mamata Chaudhuri: Ancient Glass and India, New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy, 1985 (available from DLI).

The authors discuss many archaeological findings of different glass objects (including flasks and bottles) and from my quick reading it seems that all ancient flasks and bottles found in India are of foreign origin.

So it is highly probable that the technology of producing glass bottles is rather a latecomer in India.

Best,
Lubomir


On Thu, 7 Jul 2016 14:48:02 +0200
Dagmar Wujastyk <d.wujastyk at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thank you, Prof. Bhattacharya. I have just read the article proposed by
> Lubomir Ondracka, and it makes reference to Lal's work. Glass beads and use
> of glass for pottery glazes seems to have a very long history in India
> indeed. However, there was nothing in the article on bottles or glass
> vessels, except for an unreferenced claim that glass vessels are mentioned
> in the Amarakośa.
> The Suśrutasaṃhitā seems to describe glass plates (Sūtrasthāna 46.453), but
> the earliest mention of a glass bottle I could find in medical literature
> was in the Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā. I am sure it also occurs in alchemical
> literature.
> With kind regards,
> Dagmar Wujastyk
> 
> On 7 July 2016 at 14:28, Dipak Bhattacharya <dipak.d2004 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > 7.6.16
> >
> > Dear Professor Wujastyk,
> >
> > Though this is in reply to your mail it does not directly address the
> > question you raised. Hence  I apologize. Still, what I may point out for
> > you is that the existence of glass was evidenced in the second level from
> > below at Hastināpurā dated circa 1100 – 800 BC by B.B.Lal (ASI Annual
> > Bulletin, No.5 1954-55). There is a discussion on the matter.  I do not
> > know of anyone having questioned Lal’s dating and finding.
> >
> > Incidentally I might refer to the earlier views of Karl Hoffmann who
> > assumed *kāca* to be a borrowed word from OP *kāsa*. I made a long
> > discussion on the matter in 2004, but that was in Bengali. I have not yet
> > been able to complete an attempted English translation of the monograph.
> >
> >
> > I shall be glad if this helped in any way.
> >
> > Best
> >
> > Dipak Bhattacharya
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 7, 2016 at 1:32 PM, Dagmar Wujastyk <d.wujastyk at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Dear all,
> >>
> >> Can anyone point me to publications on the making and use of glassware in
> >> ancient India? I am particularly interested in bottles (kūpī), as these
> >> appear relatively late in medical literature in the context of alchemical
> >> procedures.
> >>
> >> Many thanks!
> >>
> >> Dagmar
> >>
> >>
> >> Dr Dagmar Wujastyk
> >> University of Vienna
> >> Institute for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies
> >> Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.7
> >> 1090 Vienna
> >> Austria
> >>
> >> http://ayuryog.org
> >>
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