Samuel O'Reilly designed a tattoo machine, which has a niddle to pierce the skin and reach the 'dermis', the inner layer of the skin, and puts some color pigments there. the number of times it will pierce ur skin depends on the resolution u want...;)... anyway, it might not be barbaric anymore but painful enough.

though islam doent allow the permanent tattooing it allows the henna tattooin only for the women. im quoting two lines -
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