Metallurgy, Materials & Chemistry
Diamond cutting, polishing and drills
6th c. CE (polishing); earlier drillsIndian craftspeopleRatnapariksha; Al-Biruni's accountPan-Indian / unspecified
501 CE
Techniques for cutting/polishing diamonds and diamond-tipped drills for making stone beads.
- Dated
- 501–600 CE
- As scholars put it
- 6th c. CE (polishing); earlier drills
- Originator
- Indian craftspeople
- Source text
- Ratnapariksha; Al-Biruni's account
- Region
- Pan-Indian / unspecified
- Discipline
- Metallurgy, Materials & Chemistry
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- Medium
- Verification
- Reference-cited
Meanwhile in the West
Diamond working spread outward from India.
Fair to say
Modern faceting is a later European refinement.
Path to modern innovation
Diamond tooling is vital in modern industry.
Builds on
1,000 BCETransmission
Al-Biruni (11th c.) records the lead-plate polishing method.
References
- 1Ratnapariksha
- 2Al-Biruni
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-101 on GitHub.