- The first reference to glass-making was found in the Indian epic Mahabharata.
- Material evidence does not give any indication of glass beads in the early Harappan Civilisation.
- The first material evidence was found in the form of beautiful glass beads from the Painted Grey Ware culture of the Ganges Valley (1000 BC).
- In the Vedic text called Satapatha Brahmana, the term used for glass was kanch or kaca.
- Evidence has been found of the glass industries in Brahmapuri and Kolhapur in Maharashtra which produce specialised glassware, called lenticular beads.
- Evidence of spectacles has been found in the Sanskrit text Vyasayogacharita.
- In the southern part of India, archaeological evidence has been found of glass at Maski, which is a Chalcolithic site in the Deccan.
- The Mughals gave patronage to the art of glassware and utilised it as decorations in their monuments like the Sheesh Mahal.
- Today’s glass centres
- The most exquisite ones are made in Hyderabad and are called ‘Churi ka jodas’. Apart from this, Firozabad is famous for glass chandeliers.
- Another centre for glass is the city of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh which produces ‘panchkora’ or glass toys for children.
- Patna (Bihar) also produces a peculiar kind of decorative glass bead called ‘Tikuli’.