Indian pottery science

1. Pottery Science in ancient India
By Dr. A.S. Nene* and
*Professor of Civil Engineering (Retd), VNIT Nagpur
Email ID – prof.ashok.nene@gmail.com
Abstract: The paper deals with ancient Indian pottery. Pottery was one of
the 64 arts of Shilpa Shasta. More than 80 pottery products were produced
in India. Many references about brick earth, moulds for bricks, brick kiln,
and fire word for kilns etc are available in Vedic literature. Different types of
bricks, their dimensions, curing etc are mentioned in Shilpa Samhitas.
Mudra or Seals made of fired bricks, used by various kings, are found in
archeological excavations. Techniques of producing floating bricks were
known to village potters. Coloring and glazing of pottery products using
herbs and minerals was common. First part deals with ancient Indian pottery
and the second part deals with bricks making and bricks as construction
material. Three case histories of ancient bricks are also presented.
Introduction: It is believed that the world’s first pot was made by
Vishwakarma, (the celestial architect) by taking little skills (Kala) from
various gods and molding into a pot (Kalash or Kumbh). In India people of
certain castes such as Kalita, Kewat and Koch by heredity deal with pottery.
These people are known as Hiras and Kumaars. The Kumar is derived from
‘Kumbhakar’ and means maker of pots.
PART A -ANCIENT INDIAN POTTERY
Potters Earth: Potters use local soils of different colors such as red, dark-
blue , grey, or ant-hill soil. The local names for pottery clay are; Kumar
mitti, Hira mitti, and murha, etc. The potters generally use alluvial sandy or
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2. silty soil from river banks. They also use red clay is obtained at shallow
depths from site near to the base of hill.
Process of preparation: The process of preparation of the earth for use
includes following steps;
• Pounding the clay by immersing into a vessel full of water.
• Removal of impurities.
• Decanting the excess water after 3 to 4 hours, covering the settled
clay with ash to remove excess moisture.
• Mixing of some materials (Plasticizers) to improve the quality of clay.
• Keeping the soil aside for 3 to 5 days for maturation.
The plasticizers commonly used were a) horse dung, b) charcoal ash and c)
some sea salt to increase permeability.
Method of manufacture: The process includes following steps;
• Placing the lump on potter’s wheel
• Rotating the wheel and shaping the clay lump into desired size
and shape.
• Cutting the excess part of the lump.
• Sun drying the product.
• Polishing or coloring the surface.(Decoction made from wild date
or pine)
Implements: Implements used are; a) Potter’s wheel, b) the rolling board,
c) Moulds, d) Mallets, e) Polishers and kiln .
Potters’ Wheel: Majority of articles, except larger vessels, are handmade
and molded upon a revolving wheel or ‘Chaak’. The Chaak is either -
i) A circular disc cut out of a single piece of stone about 1 m. in
diameter, or
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3. ii) An ordinary wooden wheel with two spokes forming two
diameters at right angles. The rim is thickened by the
addition of mud coating strengthened with fiber.
The wheel is supported on iron pivot fixed in the ground. The wheel is
rotated by a stick ‘Chakrait’.
The other instruments required by the potters are:-
• Thapa or Pitni - a wooden mallet used for beating vessels into shape
while still moist.
• Suriya or Pindi – A stone flat on one side and convex on other side
used to support the blows of mallet.
• Dora or Chhin” –A String for separating the molded vessel from the
rest of clay.
• Ptyamati or Pota – A piece of cloth for smoothing the surface of mould
while it is on the wheel.
• Chakora – A dish of water in which the potter constantly moistens his
hands.
• Thapia – A scraper used for sharpening the edges of pots. Also known
as Chilni , Wacha or Saira.
Local names of products: Following list gives the local names of household
pottery in India.
• Water vessels- Mataki , Kalsi, Kunja or Surahi,etc.
• Cooking pots – Handi, Tijel, Malsa, Sard, Kard, Chatu, Khuli etc.
• Eating and drinking vessels – Thali, Shanak, Badna, Gelas, Bati and
khuri etc.
• Articles used in Worship – Ghat, shankh, Aarati, Dhunachi and idols.
• Miscellaneous articles- clay toys, Delko, hukka, Chilim (smoking pipes)
etc.
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4. Coloring and ornamentation: Before baking the pottery has to be colored.
Red ochre is used to give it a red and chalk to give a white tinge. Black color
is obtained by putting goat’s or sheep’s dung in the kiln and completely
stopping all outlets. A coating of yellow clay is put on the vessels prior to
baking to give them a glaze. The yellow clay is soaked in water for eight
days and then strained and thickened by boiling. A decoction made from a
bark of Tinsa tree and applied to the pot to give a gloss to the vessel. Red
color is made from red lead, yellow from arsenic, green from mixing arsenic
and blue indigo and black from lamp black or charred rice or reeds. Before
application the colors are mixed with mucilage obtained from kernel of
tamarind seed or the gum adhering on the seed of Bel fruits. After painting
the pots are varnished with white of ducks’ eggs. Images of deities are
further improved with mica powder. Various colors are applied post burning.
Ornamental Pottery wares of Chunar, Azamgarh, Lucknow are famous.
Ancient References: Many references are available in Shilparantra and
quoted below.
• Earthen pots: Mix floor of Satu, powder of Amaksh ,Tatwasi and
coconut water to clay in a proportion of 8 parts of clay and 1 part of
admixtures.
--
• Ceramic pots: Prepare a mixture of Swesha, Guggul and Kunda grass
(one sixteenth of clay) and curd (one eleventh of clay). Apply this
mixture to clay pot before baking in a kiln.
--
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5. • Glazing of earthen pots: Apply a mixture of Ghee, honey and Herb
powders (Kapittha, Bilwa and Niryas) to clay pots. This process
imparts glazing to the glazed clay pots.
--
• Coloring of Clay pots: Mix sesame powder and resins of Kapittha and
Beal trees. Add desired coloring agent (Kushta, Red ochre, orpiment
etc). Polish the pot with the mixture to impart suitable color.
Alternatively take equal parts of Sandal wood, Karpur, Gorochan and
Agaru. Add clay parts to the mixture in linseed oil. Apply this mixture
to earthen pots.
--
Part B - BRICKS AND ROOF TILES
Introduction: The Sanskrit word for brick is "Istika" meaning comfort
giving or well being. According to Shatapatha Brahman the tired god
Prajapati was rejuvenated by other gods by offering him as a sacrifice to the
fire. On being burnt, the mud blocks of fire place (Yadnya kund) turned into
a baked brick. From the various Vedic texts it can be said that Sage Angirus
was an authority on brick making. Yajurveda (c,13) mentions the name of
Medhatithi as brick designer.
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6. A brick is a cheap and durable building material which can be used very
easily. Bricks are easy to mould and fire. All over the world the material is
being used for thousands of years.
Processes of Brick making : The process of making bricks is mentioned in
Shilparatna (c14, v48-51). Various stages involved in brick making are
discussed below,
• Selection of site for brick earth and collection of soil.
• Wetting & Kneading the brick earth, mixing of additives.
• Hand molding of bricks
• Sun dying of bricks
• Kiln Preparation and firing the bricks
• Cooling and quenching of bricks
• Rejecting damaged or non standard bricks
• Testing of bricks
• Classification & qualities
Selection of soil for brick making: Soil should be selected from sites
which are inhabited by humans. The excavated soil should be sun dried and
mixed with water full of algae and kneaded to make soft lump.
Colors of brick earths are different but soils of four basic colors such as
white, red, yellow or black are common. As per Vishnudharmottar Purana
(Vol. 3 Chp.91), Vastu Vidya (Chp.16) and Mayamat (Chp.15), white soil is
considered as best and black soil is the worst.
Additives for brick earth: Texts such as Shilparatna (C14, V48.) and
Mayamat (C17, V 17) recommends following additives be added to improve
the quality of brick earth,
• Green algae,hairs of animals,
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7. • Extracts of barks of milky trees and fruit extracts
• Fine sand and ferrous soils
• Decoction of Trifala ( three fruits-Amala, Hirida and Behada)
2. Brick Earth
Bricks and Roofing tiles: Mix extracts of barks of trees (Pipal and Agar) in
wet clay. Knead the clay daily for 30 day and the use for bricks or roofing
tiles. Ref. SV2
- , --
Moulds and Molding of bricks: The bricks were made in the wooden
moulds of the required sizes. The moulds were made in such a way that the
wooden planks on all the four sides and the bottom could be separated.
Vastu Vidya recommends that wooden moulds for bricks should have
minimum thickness of 20 mm. Aapstamb Shulbsutra has mentions the
dimensions of moulds instead of the bricks. Many texts describe the
procedure for hand molding of clay bricks and drying of bricks.
Special shaped bricks: Vastu Vidya (c.19) mentions some special shaped
bricks are prepared by cutting the corners of partially dry bricks.
Firing of bricks: In ancient times, bricks or tiles were baked in closed Kilns.
Detailed description is given in Shilparatna (c14.v51-54), Vastuvidya
(c6.v20-32) and Shilpadipak (c10v20) about construction of kiln, type of fire
wood, smoke vents etc.
The bricks were allowed to bake for ten to fifteen days. After the fire
extinvished , bricks or tiles were taken out.
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8. Cooling and quenching of bricks: The fire should be extinguished after 15
days and bricks should be immersed in water for a period of six to twelve
months before these are used for construction. Ref.SV3.2
Quality Control for standard bricks: Bauddhayan Shalbsutra gives
information about the measurement of bricks to be used in constructing Holy
pyre (Yadnya). It is also noteworthy that bricks were used as per
requirements for constructing a circular firepot, bricks were used that could
fit into the surface of the circle. The description of Hansmukhi (pentagonal)
and Choukoni (four sided) bricks is also found in Boudhyayan Shulbasutra.
Such bricks were used to construct altar (Holy pyre).
Brick Classification: Shilparatna (c14.v55-57) , Kashyap-Shilpam(c 4.24 )
and Ishan Shivgurudev paddhati (c27.v70) gives gender classification. It is
based on the shape of the bricks. The qualities of the bricks are not
considered here.
Baked bricks were classified in three types as under,
• Masculine - Bricks with the same width at the front and the back and
having parallel edges were classified as masculine. Masculine bricks
are the best and are recommended for buildings palaces from their
foundations to the tops.
• Feminine - Bricks with lesser width at the front than at the back and
having curved but parallel edges were classified as feminine. Feminine
bricks may be used for building temples of Goddesses.
• Neuter - bricks with greater width at the front and having curved but
non parallel edges were neuter. Neuter bricks are to be discarded but
such bricks are broken into pieces and used for other purposes. Ref.
Shilparatna part 1.v48 and Vishnudharmottar Puran
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9. Essential qualities of bricks: In Shatpath Brahman, a black brick is
termed as a bad brick. There are also instructions not to use broken bricks
or pieces. In Bandhayan Shulbsutra, It is mentioned that broken, cracked,
old black bricks and bricks bearing marks of wood or stone should not be
used. Ishan Shivgurudev Paddhati (c27.v69) and Hayashirsh, Panchratra,
(c2.v19-23) mentions unsuitable bricks and the defects as below,
• without specific dimensions
• Non-uniformly baked
• Different color inside and outside.
• with broken corners, containing pieces of stone pebbles and coal
The essential qualities of a good brick as specified by the Indian Standards
Bureau are the same as those mentioned in aforesaid text. I.S. 2117-1967,
Roof Tiles: There is no mention of roof tiles in the Vedas, Brahmans or
Strantsutra. Only Shilparatna and Vastuvidya contain some information
about roof tiles. The clay which was used for making bricks was also used for
making tiles.
The processes of baking tiles and the Kilns were similar to those used for
bricks. Tiles are classified into ten types according to their shapes. Vastu
Vidya (c16.v6-12) contains information about these nine types of roofing
tiles.
1. Neevraloshta 2. Urdhwaloshta 3. Turyakloshta
4. Kroorloshta 5. Dhwathloshta 5. Agraloshta
7. Gartakonaloshta 8. Konaloshta 9. Putloshta
10.Keelloshta
Construction with bricks: In ancient times, walls were constructed by
arranging bricks in Toda or Patti mode, which is termed as ‘bond’ in English.
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10. Even in those days ‘Sahul’ -plumb bob’ was used to check the verticalness or
perpendicularity of the wall.
Baudhayan Shulbsutra has given two rules for fixing (arranging) bricks. The
joints between bricks should not be exactly on top of one another, so that in
the joint between two bricks in the next layer should not be above the joint
in lower layer but on the surface of the bricks. The bricks should be arranged
in a straight line, i.e. in a perpendicular manner. Care was also taken to see
that the surface of the bricks was plane and not uneven (Shilparatna
c12.v20).
As per Mayamat Chp.12, bricks should be immersed in water, taken out and
then used for construction.
Vasturatnakar cautions that new and old bricks or sun baked and fired bricks
should not be used together. New bricks should be used before old ones are
used.
Brick bonds: At present many methods are used for fixing bricks like
English, Flemish and American bonds. In pre historic times also, there were
many methods of fixing bricks, which in many ways were similar to the
present methods. If the joints in the bricks in third layer come exactly above
the joints in the first layer, the arrangement is called ‘Mallaleel’ If the joints
in the bricks in fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth, twelfth and fourteenth layers
come exactly above the joints in the first layer, the arrangements are called
Brahmraj , Panchparva , Poogparva , Devsandhi , Swana and Dandak
respectively. The second is stronger than the first, the third stronger than
the second and so on.
Case Studies:
A -Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa Civilization
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11. Archaeologists discovered two 4000-year-old cities, Mohenjo-Daro and
Harappa 400 miles apart, along the banks of the Indus River in Pakistan. The
foundations of many houses were constructed on top of massive mud brick
platforms. The size of large mud bricks used for the construction of such
platforms is 10 x 20 x 40 cm (a ratio of 1:2:4). The people of Mohenjo-Daro
and Harappa lived in sturdy brick houses that had as many as three floors.
The houses had bathrooms that were connected to sewers. Their elaborate
drainage system was centuries ahead of their time.
B-Bricks of Maharashtra during 10th to 17th centaury
Names of saint Gora kumbhar (1267 to 1317 AD) and Guru Ramdas swami
are associated with bricks. Saint Gora kumbhar was potter by profession. He
was resident of a town Tera doki (near Kurduwadi). The special feature of
this town is that bricks used for ancient temples, are light weight and float
on water for few hours (3 to 48 hours). These temples are 800 to 1200
years old. The sizes of bricks vary from 350x175x75 mm to
450x225x150mm. The bricks from this town were sent for laboratory testing
and the results are as below,
• Bricks are properly fired (not sun dried)
• Bricks are older than 1000 years
• Lighter by 2 to 10 times compared to modern bricks
• Bricks contains micro pore partially interconnected
Swami Ramadas was guru of Shivaji Maharaj and used to advise him time to
time and he had given written instructions about various aspects of bricks
and brick construction.
The contents of his instructions can summarized as below,
• Bricks should be of uniform size and with square corners
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12. • Size should be 9x7x3 tasu.(1 tasu = 37.5 mm)
• Brick earth should be prepared by proper mixing of red clayey soil,
ash, dung of cow or horse.
• Soil mixed with water should be kneaded frequently
• The soil should be free from gravels
• Moulds should be used for casting bricks. Sides should be fixed by
driving nails.
• Bricks should be sun dried and then fired in kilns. The fire wood should
be dried of medium size.
C-Lakshmana Temple, Sirpur
The Lakshamana temple is located in the village Sirpur in Mahasmand
district of Chattisgarh at a distance of 90 km from the state capital of Raipur.
The archaeological remains in and around Sirpur consists of both Hindu and
Buddhist monuments in the form of temples and monasteries. Among them,
the most well preserved magnificent temple is the east facing Lakshmana
temple built by Vasata, the mother of Mahasivagupta Balarjuna in 7th
century AD.
Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, this brick temple stands on a high massive
platform accessible by steps in the north and the south. The plan of the
temple consists of a garbagriha, antarala and a mandapa. The exquisitely
carved doorframe depicts figures of Seshasayi Vishnu along with his other
incarnations. This temple is one among the best examples of brick temples
of ancient India.
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13. Lakshamana temple
Concluding remarks
• In ancient times brick walls were constructed using sun burnt or burnt
bricks joined together with mud or lime mortar.
• Thin bricks were used for roofs and ceiling.
• Sizes of ancient bricks were quite different than those of present
bricks.
• Shapes and sizes were governed by its function.
• Process of preparation of brick earth was different than present one.
• Herbal additives were used.
• Process of hand molding of bricks is still followed in rural areas.
References
(For part A)
1. Hallifax, C.J. (1892.),” Monograph on The Pottery and Glassware
Industries of the Punjab -1890-91”, Civil and Military Gazette Press,
Lahore
2. Gait, E.A.,(1895),” Note on the manufacture of Pottery in Assam”, Pub.
Director of Land Records and Agriculture, Assam.
3. Mukherji, T.N.(1895),” Pottery and Glassware of Bengal”, Printed by
Government Printing Press, Kolkata.
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14. (For part B)
• Bandhayan Shulbsutra,
• Hayashirsh, Panchratra, (c2.v19-23)
• Ishan Shivgurudev Paddhati (c27.v69 &70)
• Kashyap-Shilpam(c 4.24 )
• Mayamat (C17, V 17) (C15) C12
• Shilpadipak (c10v20)
• Shulbsutra (Aapstamb)
• Vastu Vidya
• Vastu Vidya (c.19),C16,v 6-12 ,v 20-32
• Vasturatnakar
• Vishnudharmottar Purana (Vol. 3 Chp.91),
***.***
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