कवि कालिदास - पुस्तकम्

[Subrahmanian R]

Dear Scholars,

 

I learn from the memoirs of Al Biruni that in the South India during that time [say 11th Century AD] people used palm leaves for writing. They bound a book of these leaves together by a cord on which they are arranged, the cord going through all all the leaves by a hole in the middle of each.

In the Central and Northern India, people used the bark of the tuz tree - say one yard long and as broad as the outstretched fingers of the hand. The 'prepared' bark was used for writing. The whole book is wrapped up in a piece of cloth and fastened between two tablets of the same size. Such a book is called puthi (cf. pusta, pustaka).

In two places [to my knowledge] in the works of Kavi Kalidasa there are references to Pustakam or palm leaf as a writing material. In Syamaladandakam - '.. . . . पुस्तकं चापरॆणांकुशम्’. ’हस्ते किं ते? ताली पत्रम्’.

I wonder what type of Pustakam Kavi Kaladasa refers to in the Syamaladandakam. Was palm leaf being used by school-going children during Kalidasa's period for writing?

Scholars may throw some light on this.

Respectful regards.

R Subrahmanian