Book Title: Studies in the Bhagavati Sutra
Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Previous | Next

Page 321
________________ 296 Dyeing Industry It is learnt from the BhS that the dyeing industry was fully developed during its period, as it is evidenced by the fact of the process of dyeing cloth and the mention of three kinds of colour, viz. mineral colour (dhaturatta red ochre)', organic (mamjittha Indian Madder), and prepared colour (khamjanaragaratta collyrium). STUDIES IN THE BHAGAWATI SUTRA The term 'Raga' denotes both colour and dye-stuff. So the cloth dyed in red ochre was called 'dhaturattavattha' (dhaturakta vastra), while one coloured in collyrium was known as khamjanaragaratta. The reference to 'Lakkhāvāṇijja' (Lac trade) in this canonical work clearly shows that Laksa (lac) was another dye-product of this industry. Tailoring The references to various kinds of dresses, as already mentioned in the seventh section of the fourth chapter on 'Social conditions', clearly show the development of the tailoring profession by which a section of the society as known to the BhS used to earn their livelihood. [Ch. V The existence and continuation of the art of tailoring are further supported by the fact that even the female attendants and waiting maids belonging to different Indian tribes and foreign countries were dressed in their respective national costumes. "Sadesanevatthagahiyavesahim". Mining and Metallurgy The references in the text to trade in various metals, such as, gold, silver, bell-metal, gem, jewels, pearls, etc., many kinds of ornaments, utensils and weapons used by the people of its society clearly show a highly developed industry of mining and metallurgy of its period. It was one of the most essential parts of the economic structure based on the co-ordinated foundation 1 Bhs, 2, 1, 90. 8 Ib, 6, 1, 229, Jain Education International 2 Ib, 8, 6, 334. 4 Ib, 9, 33, 380. For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686