It's very tempting to look at today's brickmaking castes and make the leap to Indus technology.  I've done it myself.  But then one must remind oneself of the vast depth of time we're considering.  It seems impossible that this craft could really be genetically connected with practices 4500 years ago.

That's why I'm asking about history, really, to see how far back the current practices are documentable.

As for the Needham Project, O. P. Jaggi had a go at it.  Not that good, but sometimes one is surprised.

Best,
Dominik

--
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



On Tue, 6 Nov 2018 at 10:07, Matthew Kapstein <mkapstei@uchicago.edu> wrote:
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