Writing materials in Ancient India

Today the most common writing materials are pen and paper.
Typewriter has been in use for some 150 years. But now it is the
computer-machine that is being used more and more for writing,
publishing and disslmination. The day is not far when humans world
be conversing directly with the computers. In the twenty-first
century the responsibility of carrying and conveying human thought
will rest mainly with the computers.
Writing materials have played a very prominent role in the
development of cultures. They have helped not only in preserving the
history and culture of mankind, but have also deeply influenced the
scripts, languages as well as man's mode of thinking. To understand
ancient writing materials, therefore, is to understand ancient
cultures in a better light. In this article I will discuss mainly
Indian writing materials.
Today paper is the main material used for writing, but its origin is
not in India. Modern paper is a Chinese invention and the
word 'paper' is from Greek papyros, the tall paper-reed plant once
very common in Egypt. The Hindi word Kagaja (paper) is of Persian
origin. Paper is has been used in India only for about a thousand
years. Before that the main writing materials in our country were
birch-bark, palm-leaves and copper-plates. Besides these, agaru-
bark, bricks, earthenware, shell, ivory, cloth, wood, etc. had also
their uses as materials for writing. Today all the inscribed
materials from the past are in the custody of museums, both Indian
and foreign. But we should always keep in mind that these ancient
writing materials have served Indian literature and science for more
than two millennia. Therefore, I will first discuss the ancient
writing materials before taking up the history of paper.
Prehistoric rock paintings have been discovered at Bhimbetka,
Pachmarhi, Adamgarh, Mirzapur and many other Indian sites. Here the
paintings, in vivid and panoramic detail, depict the day-to-day life
of the cave-dwellers. These paintings, which can be called the early
pictorial writing, are done mostly in red and white and occasionally
in green and yellow. The colours were taken from local minerals and
were mixed with water and a fixative resin of some local tree or
animal tallow. The brushes used were made of twigs or, for fine
work, quills. Along with the rock paintings short Brahmi
inscriptions have also been found at Bhimbetka and some other such
sites. It is, thus, evident that in ancient India stone and natural
colours were used as writing materials for thousands of years.
Indus inscriptions, usually short and numbering about 4000, are
found on a variety of objects : (1) steatite seals, (2) sealings on
clay, miniature stone, terracotta or faience tablets, (3) copper
tablets, (4) bronze implements, (5) bone and ivory rods, (6) pottery
graffiti, and (7) miscellaneous objects, such as the unique
inscription found at Dholavira lying face down on the floor in front
of a crumbled gate and made of a white, crystalline material. We do
not know the writing material the Indus people used in their mundane
affairs or for composing their 'books'. The Sumerians and
Babylonians, contemporaries of the Indus people, used clay tablets
for their cuneiform script, which scholars are able to read. But the
Indus script, unfortunately, still remains undeciphered!
Before the discovery of the Indus Valley civilization (c. 2500-1800
BC) in 1921-22, many orientalists believed that the Vedic Indians
did not have a writing system and they transferred their scriptures
from generation to generation by the process of learning by heart.
Thus, Max Muller says : "There is no mention of writing materials
whether paper, bark or skin at the time when the Indian Diaskeuasts
(= compilers) collected the songs of the Rishis; nor is there any
allusion to writing during the whole of the Brahmana period." Much
evidence has since been obtained to show that writing was known in
the Vedic period. Shatapatha Brahmana refers to the Rishi
Vamadeva 'obtaining the Rig-Veda hymn by seeing it'. Aitareya
Brahmana says, the Rishi 'read the hymn' after he looked at it.
Marking of the ears of cows (e.g.,'8-marked cows') is also mentioned
in the Rig-Veda. These and several other references prove that the
oral tradition was available also in writing. It is, however, true
that in those days teaching was oral and study from manuscripts was
not considered as the proper method of learning.
In the Buddhist Jatakas there are many references to the art of
writing. Panini (c. 500 BC) in his Ashtadyayi refers to granth
(book), lipikara (writer) and Yavanani lipi (Greek script). In
Panini's grammar writing was an essential element in the technical
arrangement of his rules. Several times he asks the reader to 'see'
other rules of his composition. It is, thus, certain that this
grammatical work of Panini was available in the form of a
manuscript. But we have no definite knowledge of the writing
materials used in those days.
Stone was the principal writing material in use in ancient India.
Engravings on stone, as emperor Ashoka himself expresses, are "such
as to endure for a long time". Such engravings were made on rocks,
slabs, smoothed or rough pillars, images, caskets, vases, etc. Stone
slabs or columns used to be inscribed with grant-deeds, royal
eulogy, proclamations, agreements between individuals or kings and
even with literary works. For example, the Kurmashataka, a poetical
work in Prakrita by the scholar-king Bhoja of Dhara (Malwa) is
engraved on stone slabs.
Before inscribing or engraving, the stone used to be dressed by
chiselling and polished by rubbing it with another stone having a
smooth surface. Engraving on rough surface was not uncommon. The
letters were then written on the surface of the stone with ink or a
piece of chalk or painted with brush. Finally, the engraver incised
the letters on the inked or painted portion. Any damage in the
course of inscribing was immediately filled up with some sticky
material.
Putting inscriptions on stone pillars is a very old tradition.
Emperor Ashoka (272-232 BC) got his edicts inscribed on rocks and
also on stone pillars. Made of sandstone quarried from Chunar (UP),
the pillars are monolithic and highly polished. Some of the pillars
are 15 m high and weigh nearly 50 tons. These Ashokan pillars can be
seen in Delhi, Allahabad, Lumbini and several other sites.
There are also other kinds of Pillars. The Dwajastambha, which often
carried an inscription, was erected in the courtyard of a temple.
The Jayastambha carried an eulogy of a victorious king. The
Kirtistambha was erected to commemorate some pious deed. Virastambha
was put up in memory of a warrior who died fighting the enemy. The
sacrificial pillar, called Yupastambha, also carried inscriptions.
Bricks, Gold, Silver, Wood, etc.
A large number of inscribed bricks have been unearthed from
different places and are preserved in archaeological museums. Some
inscribed bricks are related to the Ashwamedha sacrifices performed
by various kings. Most of the early inscribed bricks carry Buddhist
sutras, the letters having been scratched on the moist clay, before
it was baked. Inscribed clay seals have been obtained from Nalanda
and several other ancient sites.
Specimens of some inscribed ivory bars and conch-shells have been
discovered. Precious metals, gold and silver have been used for
engraving and casting with characters. The Buddhist Jatakas often
mention the use of gold-plates for recording royal letters and grant-
deeds. The Kanha Jataka states, "He (Kanha Kumar) took in his hand a
golden plate, and reading upon the golden plate the lines inscribed
by his kinsmen of the former days, 'so much of the property gained
by such one, so much by another,' thought he ...". A gold plate with
a Kharoshthi inscription has been found in a Stupa near Taxila.
Likewise, a number of inscriptions on silver have also been
obtained, one among them being from the Buddhist Stupa at
Bhattiprolu. Also, there are inscriptions on a large number of coins
made of gold and silver.
Wooden board, called phalaka, was widely used for writing in ancient
India. On it characters were written with ink or chalk (pandu-
lekha). Phalaka was used by the students for learning to write
alphabets and also for doing elementary calculations. Later on the
term pati came to represent a wooden board and the word patiganita,
i.e. calculation done on a pati, came into use. Alberuni, the
Central Asian savant, writes, "They (Hindus) use black tablets for
the children in the schools and write upon them along the long side,
not the broad side, writing with a white material from the left to
the right". Mathematical calculation was also called dhuli-karma
(dust-work), because the figures were written on dust spread on
wooden board or on the ground. A finger of the hand or a piece of
reed was used to write on the layer of the dust.
Cloth :
Cotton cloth (called karpasika-pata or simply pata in Sanskrit) was
also used as writing material in ancient India. Nearchos (c. 326
BC), an admiral of Alexander's fleet, has mentioned that the Indians
wrote letters on well-beaten cotton cloth. Cloth was prepared for
writing by putting on it a thin layer of wheat or rice pulp and
polishing with a conch-shell or a smooth stone after the same was
dried. Writing on the pata was done with black ink. In Rajastan,
almanacs and horoscopes were prepared on scrolls of cloth. In Kerala
till recently cloth was used by traders for maintenance of accounts
of a permanent nature. In Karnatak a till the last century processed
cloth known as kaditam was in use. It was covered with a paste of
tamarind-seed and afterwards blackened with charcoal-powder. Chalk
or steatite pencils were used for writing on this black cloth.
At times silk cloth was also used for writing. Alberuni writes, "I
have been told that the pedigree of this royal family (the shahiyas
of Kabul), written on silk, exists in the fortress of Nagarkot, and
I much desired to make myself acquainted with it, but the thing was
impossible for various reasons".
When it became difficult to procure papyrus from Egypt, the Greeks
in the second century BC developed parchment, a prepared but
untanned animal skin, as a medium for writing. It was a commonly
used writing material in western Asia and Europe in early and
medieval times. In India, animal skin, being considered impure, was
not very often used for writing. However, in some Buddhist texts,
skin is mentioned among the writing materials. From a passage in
Subandhu's Vasavadatta (c. 600 AD) it is possible to infer that skin
(ajina in Sanskrit) was used for writing. On this point Alberuni
writes, "The Hindus are not in the habit of writing on hides, like
the Greeks in ancient times". But during the Muslim period a very
thin parchment called charba was used for copying, drawing, etc.
Metals :
Only a few inscriptions on iron have been discovered, the most
famous among them being on the iron pillar at Mehrauli, near Delhi.
This Sanskrit inscription in Gupta Brahmi letters of the 5th century
AD consists of six lines and mentions a king whose name
is 'Chandra'. In the courtyard of the Gopeswar temple of Garhwal
there is the five-metre high iron Trishula which has a 7th century
Sanskrit inscription incised on it.
Of all the varieties of metals, copper was the most commonly used
material to write on in ancient and medieval India. The copper-
plates were known as tamrapata, tamrapatra or tamrashasana. Fahian
(c. 400 AD) records the existence of copper-plates in the Buddhist
monasteries dating back to Buddha's time. Another Chinese pilgrim,
Yuan Chwang (629-45 AD), asserts that King Kanishka got the sacred
books of the Buddhist faith engraved on copper-plates. One of the
earliest copper-plates, the Sahgaura plate, dates back to the
Mauryan period.
Two methods were followed in preparing copper-plates : (1) by
hammering, and then engraving; (2) by casting in a mould of sand.
Most of the copper-plates have been fashioned with the hammer into
the required shape and size. The contents were then written with ink
and then the coppersmith or goldsmith engraved the letters or
incised them with a chisel. Sometimes the letters were inscribed
with a punch in the form of dotted lines.
The other method of preparing a copper-plate was to cast it in a
mould of sand, in which the letters and the emblems had been
previously scratched with a stilus or a pointed piece of wood.
These, therefore, appear on the plate in relievo. The Sahgaura
plate, the oldest tamrapatra known, has been cast in a mould of
sand.
When the document was lengthy, more than one plate was used and held
together with copper rings. For protecting the writing, the rims of
the plates were usually thickened and slightly raised. The first
side of the first plate and the last of the last plate were left
blank. Usually the number of plates in a decree or grant varies from
two to nine.
Palm-leaf :
Till paper was introduced in India sometime in the eleventh century,
palm-leaf was one of the most important materials used for writing
purposes. The palm tree, which gives palm-leaves for manuscripts, is
of two types -- Shritala or talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera) and
Kharatala or tad or palmyra palm (Borassus Flabelliformis). The
former gives leaves that are long, smooth and supple. This species
of palm grows abundantly on the Malabar coast, in Bengal, Myanmar
and Ceylon. The Kharatala or tad leaves, on the other hand, are
thick and they have a tendency to break very easily. The fibres of
the Shritala leaves are more resistant to decay than the Karatala
leaves. It is because of these reasons that Shritala leaves have
been preferred to Kharatal leaves for writing manuscripts.
To prepare palm-leaves for writing they were first dried, boiled in
water and then dried again. Then they were smoothened and polished
with a stone or conch-shell. The leaves were then cut to size, which
varied from 15 cms to 1 metre in length and 2 to 10 cms in breadth.
In South India a pointed stilus was used to incise letters on the
palm-leaf, and then lamp-black or some colour pigment was rubbed
into the incised letters. The other method, followed mostly in North
India, was to use pen and ink. Palm-leaves could not be bound. One
or two holes were bored in the leaves and then cords were passed
through them. The manuscripts were generally placed between two
wooden boards and the cord passing through the holes were wrapped
round the boards.
In a hot and humid climate the palm-leaves can not be preserved for
a very long time. Therefore, earlier palm-leave MSS of Indian origin
have been obtained mostly from Nepal, Tibet and Central Asia.
According to a reference in the Life of Yuan Chwang, the Buddhist
Canon was written on palm-leaves at the first council held soon
after the passing away of the Buddha.The oldest palm-leaf manuscript
was found in Sikiang, China. It is a drama by Ashavaghosha and
belongs to the second century AD. An old Sanskrit palm-leaf
manuscript belonging to the sixth century AD is preserved in the
Horiuzi temple in Japan. Several palm-leave MSS are preserved in the
Darbar Library at Kathmandu. Mahapandita Rahul Sankrityayan (1894-
1963) has discovered a large number of palm-leave MSS in Tibet.
Numerous palm-leave MSS of 10th and later centuries have been
obtained from Nepal, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Birch-bark :
A very popular material for writing purposes in ancient India was
birch-bark, called Bhurja-patra in Sanskrit. The birch is moderate-
sized tree growing in the Himalayas at a height of nearly 14,000
feet. The inner bark of this tree was used for writing. The Greek
writer of Alexander's time Q. Curtius mentions the tender inner bark
of trees as serving the purpose of writing material. Kalidas in his
Kumarasambhava mentions bhurja-tvak, birch-bark. Alberuni states
that people in India use for writing the bark of Bhurja, a kind of
tuz tree. He also records the method of preparation of Bhurja-
patra : "They take a piece one yard long and as broad as the
outstretched fingers of the hand, or somewhat less, and prepare it
in various ways. They oil and polish it so as to make it hard and
smooth, and then they write on it. The proper order of the single
leaves is marked by numbers. The whole book is wrapped up in a piece
of cloth and fastened between two tablets of the same size. Such a
book is called Puthi." Birch-bark leaves used to be written upon
with a reed pen and specially prepared ink.
Most of the birch-bark MSS have been obtained from Kashmir and
Orissa. The oldest Bhurja MS is the Dhammapada in Kharoshthi script
from Khotan (Sikiang) and dates back to the second century AD. Birch-
bark MSS have also been obtained from Gilgit, Central Asia and some
stupas in Afghanistan. The Bakshali MS deals with mathematics and
the Navanitakam MS with medicine, both written on birch-bark and
belonging to the 4th century AD.
Agaru-bark :
The bark of Agaru tree, which is called sanchipata in Assamese, has
been extensively used in north-east India for writing and painting.
Preparing the Agaru-bark for writing is a laborious process. Even
then a large number of sanchapati MSS have been found, some of them
also in foreign collections. Gunakar Muley

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