''Rasaratna Samuccaya'' (

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets, writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī script, Brā ...

: रसरत्न समुच्चय) is an Indian

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

treatise on

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

. The text is dated between 13th to 16th century CE. The text contains detailed descriptions of various complex

metallurgical Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

processes, as well as descriptions of how to set up and equip a laboratory and other topics concerning Indian alchemy. It is a work that synthesises the writings and opinions of several earlier authors and presents a coherent account of medieval Indian alchemy.

Among the diverse scientific content of this text is:Ancient Indian Chemistry.
Hindu culture (blog) * Systematic approach to the

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. (Rasaratna Samuccaya 6/2) * Philosophy of scientific explanation. * Two kinds of

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

with

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

calamine Calamine, also known as calamine lotion, is a medication made from powdered calamine (mineral), calamine mineral that is used to treat mild itchiness. Conditions treated include sunburn, insect bites, Toxicodendron radicans, poison ivy, poiso ...

and

Smithsonite Smithsonite, also known as zinc spar, is the mineral form of zinc carbonate ( Zn CO3). Historically, smithsonite was identified with hemimorphite before it was realized that they were two different minerals. The two minerals are very similar in a ...

. (Rasaratna Samuccaya 2-149) * Color and nature of the mineral. (' Artha-sastra' '2 -30) * Color of minerals with

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

. * Properties of some chemicals, such as

calcium carbonate Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a common substance found in Rock (geology), rocks as the minerals calcite and aragonite, most notably in chalk and limestone, eggshells, gastropod shells, shellfish skel ...

. (Rasaratna Samuccaya 3 / 130-131) *

Distillation Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

of mercury. (Rasaratna Samucchaya 3/144) * Explanation of the

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

(Rasārṇava 7/97) * The color of the flame (Rasārṇava 4/51) * Three types of iron (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5/69) * Two kinds of tin (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5 / 153-154) * The lead (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5/170) * The

metal (Rasataraṅgiṇi 19/95) * The brass (Rasendra Cūḍāmaṇi14 / 154) * The bronze (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5/205) * Conditions of a laboratory and the people who work within it.

References

External links

Indian Institute of Science and HeritageIntroduction
*[http://sarit.indology.info/exist/apps/sarit/works/sarit__rasaratnasamuccaya_bodhin%C4%AB_%E1%B9%AD%C4%ABk%C4%81 Electronic text based on the 1927 Calcutta printed edition, with extracts from the Bodhinī commentary, in the SARIT library.] History of chemistry History of metallurgy Historiography of India {{India-book-stub

Contents

References

External links