Badakshan mines in Present is located in Afghanistan is famous for Lapis Lazuli.

Past human cultures used various raw materials found from the natural context, for example, shell species of Turbinella pyrum from the Gulf of Kachchh, agate-carnelian from Khandak near the Harappan site of Surkotada and other locations in Gujarat, lapis lazuli from the Badakshan mines of Afghanistan, high quality steatite from northern Rajasthan, and turquoise from Central Asia.