'India ink'
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Was 'India ink' invented in India, as its name suggests?
Earlier elsewhereTechnology & engineering
Indian claim
India had its own black ink, 'masi', made from soot or burnt materials with binders, used to write on palm leaves and birch bark; the English name 'India ink' is sometimes taken as proof of an Indian origin.
Evidence for the Indian claim
- Indian manuscripts and the Ajanta paintings used carbon-based black inks and pigments.
Commonly credited to
The carbon-black stick ink that Europe called 'India ink' (also 'China ink') was a Chinese product; the name came from trade through India.
Evidence for the other claim
- Lampblack-and-glue ink sticks were made in China from well before the Common Era.
- In English, 'India ink' and 'China ink' were used for the same Chinese product reaching Europe through Asian trade.
What historians and scientists say
India did have its own ancient carbon ink, but the product named 'India ink' in English was Chinese in origin.