Dear Dominik,

I recall reading somewhere that the sizes of bricks of the Indus civilization seem to have been standardized, in which case this is a very ancient industry in SA. In Bihar, it seems, the bricks of Nalanda and other viharas have been mined for centuries, and the use of brick in the Kathmandu valley extends to Licchavi times. So there must be some literature about this

It's time to do for SA what Needham sought to do for China .....

Best, Matthew

Matthew T. Kapstein
EPHE, Paris
The University of Chicago


From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces@list.indology.info> on behalf of Dominik Wujastyk via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
Sent: Tuesday, November 6, 2018 5:53:04 PM
To: Indology
Subject: [INDOLOGY] brick-making communities
 
Travelling in India, especially by train, one occasionally sees large mounds of bricks, or maybe they are kilns or sun-drying piles.  There are workers at these places, making bricks.  Is there a scholarly historical literature about these communities and the practice of brick-making in earlier Indian history?

--
Professor Dominik Wujastyk
,

Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity
,

University of Alberta, Canada
.

South Asia at the U of A:
 
sas.ualberta.ca