[INDOLOGY] Gemology in S. Asia?

[Andrew Nicholson]

Dear Colleagues,

Thanks to all who responded to my query off-list. Based on your
recommendations, I've put together the following mini-bibliography:

Babb, Lawrence (2013). Emerald City: The Birth and Evolution of an
Indian Gemstone Industry. Albany: SUNY Press.

McHugh, James (2013). "Gemstones," in Brill's Encyclopedia of
Hinduism, ed. Knut Jacobsen. Leiden: Brill.

Meulenbeld, G.J. (1999-2002). A History of Indian Medical Literature,
vols. 1-4. Groningen: E. Forsten.

Tank, Raj Roop (1971). Indian Gemology. Jaipur: Dulichand Kirtichand Tank.

Wojtilla, Gyula (2011). "Ratnasastra in Kautilya's Arthasastra," in
Scientific Literature in Sanskrit, ed. S.R. Sarma and Gyula Wojtilla.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Also of note is the new research project in Heidelberg, "Garnet in
South Asia: Historical and Archaeological Sources."

All the best,
Andrew
__________________________
Andrew J. Nicholson
Associate Professor
SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5343
(631) 632-4030
http://philosophicalrasika.com/


On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 4:41 PM, Andrew Nicholson
<andrew.nicholson at stonybrook.edu> wrote:
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> A professor in the English department at my university approached me
> with a question about a text she had encountered, S.M. Tagore's
> Manimala (1879). I explained to her what is going on in that
> interesting quadrilingual (Sanskrit-Hindi-Bengali-English) work.
> However, she has other questions about the history of gems and
> gemology in South Asia that are well outside my range of expertise.
>
> I was wondering if some of you might recommend books on the cultural
> history of precious stones in S. Asia (preferably accessible to
> someone with limited knowledge of S. Asia). Additionally, if one of
> you who is an expert on the history of gems in S. Asia might be
> willing to answer her questions, or if there is another colleague
> off-list who might, I'm sure she would be very grateful if I could put
> you in touch via e-mail.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>
> Andrew
> ____________________________
> Andrew J. Nicholson
> Associate Professor
> SUNY Stony Brook
> Stony Brook, NY 11794-5343 USA
> http://philosophicalrasika.com/