Minerals and Metals in Ancient India

In Two Volumes, The Book Tells The Fascinating, Coherentlywoven Story Of The Minerals And Metals From Across The Entire SubContinental Sprawl Of The OldWorld India (Including Pakistan And Bangladesh). Covering A Vast Span Of Over Five Millennia: From The PreHarappan Chalcolithic Sites, Like Mehargarh, Mundigak And Ganeshwar To About Ad 1200, Volume 1 Is A Brilliant Effort To Unravel The Mysteries Of ArchaeoMaterials 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 FirstTimeArrived Conclusions, The Primacy Of India In The Areas Of NonFerrous Ore Mining, Production Of Carburised Iron, Wootz, Steel, ForgeWelding Of Wrought Iron, Distilled Zinc And HighZinc 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, HighLighting 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,ArchaeoMetallurgists, Mineralogists, Gemmologists, Historians Of Science, Archaeologists, Indologists, And The Scholars Of Indian Pre And Ancient History.