The Carnelian Mines of Rajpipla
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Mindat locality entry on Rajpipla
Extensive beds of carnelian and agate at Rajpipa in State of Gujarat in India have been dug since at least about 1500 AD to provide raw material for the region's extensive lapidary industry.
By all period accounts, the agates of Rajpipa were the finest produced in India, and many considered the best of Rajpipa agate to equal the agates of Idar Oberstein. Having formed in amygdules in the Deccan basalts, the agates had been liberated by weathering and erosion making recovery a simple matter of soil removal to reach a poorly-consolidated, rusty congomerate layer in which the carnelian nodules are situated. The produce of the Rajpipla agate-field went directly to Khambat ("Cambay"), one of the primary centers for the lapidary arts in India, where it wa sfashioned into cabochons, beads, and other decorative items.
The earliest detailed description of the Rajpipla carnelian mines appears to by that of John Copeland, Esq. "of the. Bombay Medical Establishment", publish his "Account Cornelian Mines Near Baroach" describing his 1814 journey to observed the Rajpipla carnelian mines first-hand:
…We passed in our left the little village of Rutunpoor, in which resides a thanadar on the part of the Rajpiplee state (whose jurisdiction is only in matters of police, and confined to the district dependent on this village), and proceeded onward by a narrow footpath through a jungle, having rising ground almost the whole way to the mines. The diversity of scenery – hills and valleys, pebbly beds of rivers, precipitous rocks, and extensive plains covered with jungle – was sufficiently romantic. On account of the tigers with which the country abounds, no human habitations were found nearer the mines than Rutunpoor, which is seven miles off.
The miners reside at Neemoodra, where alone the stones are burnt. The mines are in the wildest parts of the jungle, and are very numerous; they are shafts working perpendicularly downward about four feet wide; the deepest we saw was fifty feet: some, extend in an horizontal direction at the bottom, but in consequence of the earliness of the season few had reached a depth sufficient to render this turn neccessary, and in those that it has not carried many feet. In using the term "earliness of season" it is proper to mention, that the nature of the pits is such as to prevent their being worked a second year on account of the heavy rains, which cause the banks to fall in, so that new ones are opened at the commencement of every fair season. We arrived at the mines about seven o'clock A.M., when none of the workmen had come except one, who accompanied us as a guide from Neemoodra. We were informed that the fire damp was not uncommon in the mines, and that the miners did not descend till the sun had risen sufficiently to dispel the vapours. We went to the bottom of one pit, about 30 feet deep, without any assistance from ropes or ladders, by means of small niches for the feet and hands on opposite sides of the pit, but understood that the miners always made use of a rope to hold by, of which we could not avail ourselves, as the workmen at the close of their labour carry to their homes the simple instruments of their vocation, together with the stones which the day's labour has acquired. The soil is gravelly, consisting chiefly of quartz sand reddened by iron, and a little clay.
The nodules may weigh from a few ounces to two or three pounds, and lie very close to each other: but for the most part distinct, not in strata, but scattered through the mass, and in the greatest abundance. I saw none of a red colour at the mines; some were blackish olive, like common dark flints, others somewhat lighter; and others lighter still, with slight milky tinge. The first, our guide informed us, would he black when burnt; the second, red; and the third, white. In this he may have been correct ; hut I doubt the fact as to the first, which we found in a proportion inconsistent with the well known rarity of a black cornelian. I confess myself of opinion that there can be no precise rules drawn from the appearance of the stones before, for that which they will assume after burning, because it depends partly on the degree of heat they undergo. A red cornelian by an intense heat will become white; but, as far as my observations go, no stone of the former colour is found so in the mines (excepting jaspers), although a large proportion of them assume it at Neemoodra. Many also after having been burnt show both colours, sometimes distinct and sometimes mixed, and of a pinky hue; while the colour was uniform, or very nearly so, in all which I remarked at the mines. The lightest coloured stunts come out of the fire in a much more delicate and transparent white than before, and often surrounded by a cortex of red, but without any distinct line separating the colours. We were unfortunate in the time of visiting, Neemoodra, for all the good stones had been removed, and only a few heaps of refuse left. I saw none imbedded in rock, as flints are in chalk; some nodules on being broken showed a mixture of quartz and agate, and others, in a crust of quartz minutely crystallized on the inner surface, contained a black oxide of iron of a powdery appearance, many pieces of which we found by itself in the gravel. Hematites, chiefly of the brown and green (with red spots) varieties, mocha stones, and jaspers of various colours, are very common here; indeed the last was found in almost every part of the province we visited on our route. Each stone is chipped in the mine to discover its quality, and those which are approved separated from the refuse, heaps of which lay at the mouth of every pit which had been worked.
I shall now attempt to give an account of the mode in which the cornelians undergo the action of fire, as derived from the testimony of a respectable native attached to the andulut at Baroach, who was formerly in the cornelian trade, and had himself superintended the process at Neemoodra ; his account is corroborated by our personal observation, and by what we learned on the spot. The stones are brought to this village every evening, spread on the ground, exposed to the sun to prepare them for the further process, and turned every fifteenth day till the time of burning, which is only once a year, one month before the commencement of the monsoon. They are then put into round earthen pots about fourteen inches in diameter, the bottoms of which having been taken out, and the pots inverted, mouth downwards, the pieces taken from the bottoms are put inside, and placed over the mouths to prevent the stones falling out; in this state the pots are placed side by side in a trench of indefinite length, but of which the depth and breadth are about two feet, having a layer of five or six inches of dry goat's dung below, and the same above the pots. This is set on fire about 8 o'clock in the evening; all the fuel is consumed before day break, when the pots are removed from the trench to the open air for the stones to cool, which requires about three hours; after this they are taken out of the pots, piled into heaps, and again chipped for the same purpose as when taken from the mines, and are finally thrown into a pit where they remain till called for (more to be out of the way of thieves, than as constituting any part of the operation. From Neemoodra the cornelians are carried to Cambay by the merchants who come from thence, where they are cut and formed into the beautiful and much sought after ornaments peculiar to the place. I ought to have mentioned, that the miners do not forsake a pit on meeting with a spring, hut merely change the direction ; the water never rising to any great height.
In 1832, a young British lieutenant name G. Fulljames had the opportunity to examine the carnelian diggings. He reported:
From Ruttunpoor we proceeded to the mines, distant one and a half kos [about 4.5 miles], through a thick jungle. The whole road and all the nalas were strewed with Agates; but these are not of a good description, and are therefore not used. To the left of the road is a high hill, covered with jungle, and on the summit there is a peer's tomb. The only people residing there are a few sidees or negroes, who say that they were born and bred on the spot whither their fathers came from Broach. The mines that are now worked are situated on the sloping side of a small hill, covered with jungle, and extend upwards of four miles. At the time there were upwards of one thousand men at work, chiefly Coolies and Mussulmans. Each man collects a maund and a half of good stones daily. The shafts of the mines are about four feet in diameter, so that the miners in going up and down do not require the assistance of ropes, &c. They cut niches in the sides of the shafts for their toes to rest upon, and by pressing their backs firmly against the sides they in this manner ascend and descend without danger or difficulty. This I myself accomplished easily after going down two or three mines.
The average depth of the shafts is thirty feet. I descended into one that was thirty-eight feet. The galleries run off in every direction, or wherever the miner's fancy leads him to dig. Their height is five feet and their width about four. The roof is arched, and the soil is a stiff clay in which the stones are embedded. The galleries seldom extend more than one hundred yards in length ; but many of them join those of other mines. To each of the mines there are thirteen men attached, who work by turns; each man must send up so many basketfuls of earth and stones, when he is relieved. All the other people are employed in sorting and trying the stones as they are brought up. They seat themselves around the mouth of the shaft and try each stone, which is done by chipping off a piece with another stone. From the appearance of the fracture they are able to judge whether the stone is good or not; the finer and more compact the stone the better it will be when burned, and the blacker it appears at first the redder it will become after undergoing the same operation and when ready for being cut and polished.
The stones are brought up by means of a rude roller or pulley supported by four pieces of wood let into the ground. This, with a small iron pick, not steeled in order that the miner may not be injured by the sparks, a few bamboo baskets, and one rope, compose all their implements. In one mine they had tapped a spring of fresh water at thirty feet, and had been obliged to abandon it until the hot season, when they stated they should be able to work it again.
A typical Victorian carnelian seal
Each miner on his return to Ruttunpoor in the evening carries a basketful of good stones, when they are spread out on the ground and exposed to the sun. They are thus collected for a whole year, and turned every four or five days: the longer they are exposed to the sun the deeper or brighter the colour becomes when the stone is polished.
In the month of May they undergo the process of burning, which is effected by placing the stones in black earthen chatties or pots. The pot is placed with the mouth downwards and a hole is broken in the bottom ; a piece of broken pot is then placed over the hole, and the whole is then covered with sheeps'-dung, as no other material is said to answer for fuel in this operation. The pots are arranged in single rows, and the fires, which are always lighted at sunset, are allowed to burn till sunrise, when the pots are examined, and should there appear any white spots on the surface of the chatty, it is considered that the stones are not sufficiently burned, and they are allowed to remain for a short time longer. After this process the stones are all re-examined: those that have flaws, &c., are thrown aside, and those that are not sufficiently burned are laid by for next year's burning; the remainder are sold for exportation.
The revenue derived from the mines is very insignificant at present; but with proper management I should say it might amount to something considerable, if we may judge from the custom derived by the Nawaub of Cambay, where almost all the stones are cut and polished and pay a heavy duty both on importation and exportation. Very few, if any, stones are now cut at Broach. It may be proper to add here a description of the process of cutting, polishing, &c., the stones, as carried on at Cambay in the present day.
The most extensive consumption of Agates is required for the manufacture of beads, of every variety of size and colour, which are in demand for exportation to the African and Arabian coasts, as also for the islands of Zanzibar and Mozambique, where they are bartered for ivory, gold-dust, rhinoceros'-horns, &c. The stones are in the first instance broken into small pieces by means of hammers, and the beads are formed in the rough in the following manner: An iron pin is driven into the ground with the sharp point upwards. The person operating places the part of the stone he wishes to break on this point, and with a small hammer he strikes the stone and continues the process until it has become partially round. This operation is performed chiefly by women, boys, and young girls. The work is then carried to another person, who proceeds with the operation. He has a large slab of hard sandstone before him, placed in a sloping or inclined position, and with a clam made of two pieces of wood, with a joint at one end, with two nails in the centre by which the stone is held ; he works the stone over the surface of the slab, constantly changing its position, so that in a very .short time it becomes round. After this it goes to the polisher and then to the driller. The hole is drilled by means of diamond dust and water. The drill is supported on a small frame and worked by a long bow backwards and forwards. Seals, &c., are all cut in this way, except those that require flat surfaces. This is effected by a lap, made of coarse lac and koorun (country emery), and formed into a thin wheel, two feet in diameter, supported on two pivots, and worked by a strap of leather pulled backwards and forwards. Bloodstones, Agates, &c., are formed into various articles by means of sheet-iron wheels of various diameters, worked as the others, and supplied with diamond-dust and water. The Carnelian beads are finished by putting a number into a bag in which they are shaken together.
In 1878, J.W. Campbell published an account of the Rajpeepla agate-beds. Although he cribbed Fulljames' first two paragraphs in toto (and without acknowledgement of source), he offers additional information on the post-recover treatment of the agates:
At the mine mouth the stones are chipped, and the likely ones carried to Ratanpur, the village of gems, and there made over to the contractor or his agent. The average outturn of two men, working from eight to ten hours, is from ten to forty pounds weight of stones.
The contractor divides the stones into two classes, those which should and those which should not be baked. Three stones are left unbaked: an onyx called mora or bawa ghori, the cats'-eye called cheshamdar or dola, and a yellow half-clear pebble called rori or lasania. Of these the mora or bawa ghori onyx is of two kinds, one dark with white veins, the other greyish-white with dark veins. These stones are found in different shapes, and are seldom more than one pound in weight. Except these three varieties, all Ratanpur pebbles are baked to bring out their colours. During the hot season, generally in March and April, the stones are spread in the sun in an open field. Then in May a trench, 2 feet deep by 3 wide, is dug round the field. The pebbles are gathered into earthen pots, which, with their months downwards and a hole "broken in their bottoms, are set in a row in the trench. Round the pots goat and cowdung cakes are piled, and the whole is kept burning from sunset to sunrise. Then the pots are taken out, the stones examined, and the good ones stowed in bags. About the end of May the bags are carted to the Narbada and floated to Broach.
Here they are shipped in large vessels for Cambay, and are offered for sale to the carnelian dealers. The right of working the Rajpipla mines is every year put up to auction. It would of late seem to have become more valuable, as the average for the last four years (1873-76) has been £323, (Rs. 3,230), compared with £189 (Rs. 1,890) in the twenty previous years. The contractors are generally Baroda and Cambay merchants, Vanias and Bohoras by caste.
By exposure to sun and fire, among browns the light shades brighten into white, and the darker deepen into chesnut. Of yellows, maize gains a rosy tint, orange is intensified into red, and an intermediate shade of yellow becomes pinkish-purple. Pebbles in which cloudy browns and yellows were at first mixed are now marked by clear bands of white and red. The hue of the red carnelian varies from the palest flesh to the deepest blood-red. The best are a deep clear and even red, free from cracks, flaws, or veins. The larger and thicker the stone, the more it is esteemed. White carnelians are scarce. When large, thick, even-coloured, and free from flaws they are valuable. Yellow and variegated stones are worth little.
Bibliography
Campbell, J. W., Bombay Gazetteer, Vol VI, p 205, 1878
Quoted in:
Ball, V. Manual Of The Geology Of India Part III. Economic Geology
Calcutta 1881
Copeland, John F. "Account of the Cornelian Mines Near Baroch"
Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register, London 1820
Fulljames, G.
“A Visit. December, 1832, to the Carnelian Mines, situated in the Rajpeepla Hills, to the Eastward of Broach” Transactions, Bombay Geographical Society Vol. 2 p. 74
Reproduced in:
King, Charles W. Gems and Decorative Stones
London 1867
Completed: 22 January 2008
Major Revision: 27 January 2007
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Tony Nikischer
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Tony Nikischer
25th Jan 2008 4:32pm