Ancient India's Contribution to Chemistry

“Ancient Indian theories , were brilliant imaginative explanations
of the physical structure of the world, and in a large measure,
agreed with the discoveries of modern physics. “

- A.L. Basham,
Australian Indologist

Organic and Inorganic Chemistry

Parallel to the development of the concepts of atom and atomic permutations and combinations in physics there also was a similar development of ideas in the area of Chemistry. However given the nature of chemistry, the ideas did not remain confined to an abstract level. Indian ideas about chemistry grew by experimentation. The areas of application of the principle of chemistry were: the smelting of metals, the distillation of perfumes and fragrant ointments, the making of dyes and pigments, the extraction of sugar, etc.

Incidentally, the empirical nature of chemistry is also reflected in the word we use for substances i.e. Padartha which is a combination of two words Pada meaning 'step' and Artha which itself means 'meaning'. Thus the word Padartha can be literally * translated to mean 'meaning in steps'. Perhaps, this reflects the fact that in chemistry, knowledge was acquired step by step through experimentation and the actual process of day-to-day activities.

In ancient India, chemistry was called Rasayan Shastra, Rasa-Vidya, Rasatantra and Rasakriya all of which roughly mean 'Science of liquids'. There also existed chemical laboratories and chemicals works, which were called Rasakriya-nagaram and Rasakriya-shala which literally mean 'School where liquids are activated'. A chemist was referred to as a Rasadnya and Rasa-tantra-vid which mean 'Person having knowledge about liquids. Apart from the term Rasa which means liquid, another word, Dravya which means slurry, was also used to refer to chemicals. Thus, in ancient India, chemistry was evidently developed to a significant level.

Metallurgy was an important activity the world over. In fact the discovery of smelting of metals made possible the progress of society from the Stone Age to the Bronze and Iron Ages. In the area of smelting metals, Indians had acquired proficiency in the extraction of metals from ore, and also in the casting of metals. In very early times: around 2000 B.C. the idea of smelting metals was known in Mesopotemia and the Near East. It is possible that Indians could have borrowed the idea from an outside source. It is generally agreed that the Aryan tribes who are said to have destroyed the Indus Valley civilization had bronze weapons which helped them to overcome the otherwise more advanced people of the Indus cities.

Though Indians could have had borrowed the idea of smelting metals from an outside source, they seem to have had used metals in warfare from around 1500 B.G when the Aryans are said to have invaded the Indus Valley cities. The next definite reference to the use of metals by Indian soldiers is by the Greeks. The Greek historian Herodotus has observed in the 5th century that "Indians in the Persian army used arrows tipped with iron". Indian steel and iron were reportedly being used by the Romans for manufacturing armour as well as cutlery. But these references apart, it is in India itself that we find actual objects that reflect the advancement of the technique of smelting.

The Iron Pillar at Delhi

The Iron Pillar at Delhi is one such instance. This Pillar, located near the Kutab Minar, is estimated to have been cast in the Gupta period i.e. about 1500 years ago. The Pillar is 7.32 meters in length, tapering from a diameter of 40 cm. at the base to 30 cm, at the top and it weights about 6 tons. It has been standing in open for more than a millennium in the heat, dust and rain, but except for the natural erosion it has not caught rust. This kind of a rust-proof iron had not been smelted anywhere else in the world, till we invented the stainless steel a few decades ago.

Another instance of Indian metallurgy is the copper statue of Gautama Buddha found at Sultan Ganj in Bihar. The statue is 2.13 meters high and weighs nearly a ton. There are many such examples that bear testimony to the excellence in smelting metals achieved in India in ancient times.

The ironsmiths who had cast the iron pillar and the statue of Buddha must not only have been experts at their job but they must have inherited the technique that had been perfected over many generations. The Iron Pillar itself testifies to the fact that Indian metallurgy and chemistry had reached a high stage of perfection more than 1500 years ago. Nagarjuna was one such practitioner of the technique of combining various metals in order to invent a superior metal.

The Makara (Spire) over Hindu temples were always adorned with brass or gold toppings (Kamandals). The earliest reference to the advances made in Smelting technology in India are by Greek historians viz, Philostratus and Ktesias in the 4th century B.C.

Nagarjuna was born at Fort Daihak near the famous shrine of Somnath in Gujarat in 931 A.D. He was a chemist, or an alchemist, as his efforts had been concentrated on transforming the base metals into gold. We are told that he had acquired such a reputation, due to his activities, that the people believed that Nagarjuna was in communion with gods and goddesses who had blessed him with the power of changing base metals into gold and the extracting of 'elixir of life'.

Nagarjuna apparently revelled in the idea of his being looked upon as blessed by the gods. He himself added to this 1belief by writing his treatise, Rasaratnakara in the form of a dialogue between him and the gods. The treatise dealt with the preparation of rasa (liquids, mainly mercury). Nagarjuna has discussed various combinations of liquids in this volume. His treatise, the Rasaratnakara also gave a survey of the status of metallurgy and alchemy as it existed in India in those days.

Methods for the extraction of metals like gold, silver, tin and copper from their ores and their purification were also mentioned, in Rasaratnakara. In his attempt to prepare the 'elixir of life' from mercury, Nagarjuna made use of animal and vegetable products, apart from minerals and alkalis. For the dissolution of diamonds, metals and pearls, he suggested the use of vegetable acids like sour gruel and juices of fruits and bark.

In his treatise, he has also listed the apparatus that was used by earlier alchemists. The process of distillation, liquefaction, sublimation and roasting were also mentioned. Nagarjuna also discussed, in detail, the possibility of transmutation of base metals into gold. But although he could not produce gold, these techniques did yield metals with gold like yellowish brilliance. Till today these methods are being used to manufacture imitation jewelry.

Nagarjuna has also discussed methods for the preparation of mercury like calamine. Later Nagarjuna seems to have turned towards organic chemistry and medicine. He has written a text called Uttaratantra which is supposed to be a supplement to an earlier text the Shusrutasamahita which is said to have been written by Shusruta in the 8th century B.C.

Nagarjuna's Uttaratantra deals mainly with the preparation of medicinal drugs. He also wrote four Ayurvedic treatises named Arogyamanjari Kakshaputatantra, Yogasara and Yogasatak.

Thus Nagarjuna seems to have been a copious writer. As he lived in the 10th century his works incorporate the ideas of earlier chemists and physicians. Only a few decades after Nagarjuna, India was invaded by the Mohammedans: Mahmud of Ghazni had raided and plundered Nagarjuna's hometown of Somnath in 1020 A.D. It is possible that Nagarjuna's texts fell into the hands of the invaders.

While the invaders ruthlessly destroyed the architectural achievements of this country and imposed their despotic rule, they also transmitted Indian sciences to the outside world.

Alongwith Mahmud of Ghazni came scholars like Al Beruni who studied Indian texts and translated them into Arabic. Many Indian ideas of medicine were incorporated into the Unani system of medicine of the Arabs. Nagarjuna's works could not have escaped their attention. It is possible that the technique of alchemy was borrowed by the Arabs from India. In the ancient world there is no reference to alchemy. We first hear of it in the medieaval Europe. The homeland of the Arabs is not rich in metals, thus alchemy and the smelting of metals could not have been indigenous to the Arabs.

Thus the Arabs seem to have borrowed the technique of transforming base metals info gold-like metals from India. The Arabs called the technique Al Kimia which according to the Oxford Dictionary literally means the 'transformation of metals'. Al means 'The' and Khimia which is derived from the Greek term Khemia means 'to transmute metals'.

But westerners did not appear to have had the knowledge of the technique of alchemy. This is borne out by the fact that the term Alchemy which the westerners use for describing this technique was borrowed from the Arabs. The word A1chemy is obviously a corruption of the term Al Kimia which the Arabs gave to the technique of converting base metals into gold like substances which they culled out from Indian texts on the subject.

-Sudheer