A FORENSIC APPRAISAL OF ART OF WRITING AND WRITING MATERIALS SUCH AS INK, PAPER AND WRITING INSTRUMENTS IN PERSPECTIVE OF INDIAN ANTIQUITY

Summary

The study traces the origin of ink, paper, writing instrument and art of writing in perspective of Indian antiquity and in the light of India’s past -unraveled by researchers, testimony of foreign writers, literary evidences and paleographic facts along with a few old religious & astrological documents like almanacs, horoscopes etc., written ‘Sanskrit’ language. A prolific art of writing, well developed scripts e.g. "Brahmi", a well-established Grammar "Sanskrit" and writing materials such as ink, paper like material, leaves, wood, birch-bark, some stub pen like writing instruments were in existence in India during 2 to 4 century BC. Positive evidences in the form of inscriptions, writings engraved or incised on metals, stone, ivory etc. present and preserved at one or the other places in the countryside which have survived for centuries, while their contemporaneous work written on perishable materials like leaves, bark,etc. perished. This paper opens with a few lines of the book FORENSIC EXAMINATION OF INK AND PAPER, PAGE 10-11: '"India" ink....is a misnomer', authored by Richard L. Brunelle and Robert W. Reed for re-look and discussion, since this study has relevance to the production and perfection of art of writing and writing materials in perspective of Indian antiquity.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

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