History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent

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History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent
Dagger and its scabbard, India, 17th—18th century. Blade: Damascus steel
inlaid with gold; hilt: jade; scabbard: steel with engraved, chased and gilded decoration.
History of science and
technology in the
Indian subcontinent
By subject

The history of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent began prior to the 3rd millennium BCE.

romanized: áyas, lit. 'metal; copper; iron').[2] The Indian cultural and commercial contacts with the Near East and the Greco-Roman world enabled an exchange of metallurgic sciences.[3] The advent of the Mughals (established: April 21, 1526—ended: September 21, 1857) further improved the established tradition of metallurgy and metal working in India.[4] During the period of British rule in India (first by the East India Company and then by the Crown
), the metalworking industry in India stagnated due to various colonial policies, though efforts by industrialists led to the industry's revival during the 19th century.

Overview

Recent excavations in Middle Ganga Valley done by archaeologist Rakesh Tewari show iron working in India may have begun as early as 1800 BCE.[5] Archaeological sites in India, such as Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila and Lahuradewa in the state of Uttar Pradesh show iron implements in the period between 1800 BCE – 1200 BCE. Sahi (1979: 366) concluded that by the early 13th century BCE, iron smelting was definitely practiced on a bigger scale in India, suggesting that the date the technology's inception may well be placed as early as the 16th century BCE.[6]

The

Vindhya range and West Bengal
.

Perhaps as early as 500 BCE, although certainly by 200 CE, high quality steel was being produced in

Arabic: فولاذ, romanized: fūlāḏ, lit. 'steel; wootz') and wootz
by later Europeans, was exported throughout much of Asia and Europe.

Will Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization I: Our Oriental Heritage:

"Something has been said about the chemical excellence of

Persians
, and by the Persians from India."

Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and other texts

The Sanskrit term ayas means metal and can refer to bronze, copper or iron.

Rigveda

The

Dasyus had ayas (RV 2.20.8). In RV 4.2.17, "the gods [are] smelting like copper
/metal ore the human generations".

The references to ayas in the Rig Veda probably refer to bronze or copper rather than to iron.

D. K. Chakrabarti
(1992) argued: "It should be clear that any controversy regarding the meaning of ayas in the Rgveda or the problem of the Rgvedic familiarity or unfamiliarity with iron is pointless. There is no positive evidence either way. It can mean both copper-bronze and iron and, strictly on the basis of the contexts, there is no reason to choose between the two."

Arthashastra

The

coins.[9]

Other texts

There are many references to ayas in the early Indian texts.[10]

The

romanized: śyāmāyas / śyāma-ayas, lit. 'black metal'), refers to iron or not. In later texts the term refers to iron. In earlier texts, it could possibly also refer to darker-than-copper bronze, an alloy of copper and tin.[11][12] Copper can also become black by heating it.[13] Oxidation with the use of sulphides can produce the same effect.[13][14]

The

ploughshare that has got hot during the day when thrown into the water splashes, hisses and smokes in volumes..."[9]

In the

Silparatna) describe the lost wax technique in detail.[15]

The

Madura.[15] According to the History of the Han Dynasty by Ban Gu, Kashmir and "Tien-chu" were rich in metals.[15]

An influential Indian metallurgist and alchemist was Nagarjuna (born 931). He wrote the treatise Rasaratnakara that deals with preparations of rasa (mercury) compounds. It gives a survey of the status of metallurgy and alchemy in the land. Extraction of metals such as silver, gold, tin and copper from their ores and their purification were also mentioned in the treatise. The Rasa Ratnasamuccaya describes the extraction and use of copper.[16]

Archaeology

Chakrabarti (1976) has identified six early iron-using centres in India:

Gangetic valley, eastern India, Malwa and Berar in central India and the megalithic south India.[9] The central Indian region seems to be the earliest iron-using centre.[17]

According to Tewari, iron using and iron "was prevalent in the Central

Vindhyas from the early 2nd millennium BC."[18]

The earliest evidence for smelted iron in India dates to 1300 to 1000 BCE.[19] These early findings also occur in places like the Deccan and the earliest evidence for smelted iron occurs in Central India, not in north-western India.[20] Moreover, the dates for iron in India are not later than in those of Central Asia, and according to some scholars (e.g. Koshelenko 1986) the dates for smelted iron may actually be earlier in India than in Central Asia and Iran.[21] The Iron Age did however not necessary imply a major social transformation, and Gregory Possehl wrote that "the Iron Age is more of a continuation of the past then a break with it".[22]

Archaeological data suggests that India was "an independent and early centre of iron technology."[23] According to Shaffer, the "nature and context of the iron objects involved [of the BRW culture] are very different from early iron objects found in Southwest Asia."[24] In Central Asia, the development of iron technology was not necessarily connected with Indo-Iranian migrations either.[25]

Baluchistan
and northern Afghanistan, or the lack of migrants from the north-west who could have procured tin.

Indus Valley Civilization

The

Indus Valley civilization, iron ore and iron items have been unearthed in eight Indus Valley sites, some of them dating to before 2600 BCE.[28]
There remains the possibility that some of these items were made of smelted iron, and the term "kṛṣṇa-ayas" might possibly also refer to these iron items, even if they are not made of smelted iron.

Lothali copper is unusually pure, lacking the arsenic typically used by coppersmiths across the rest of the Indus valley. Workers mixed tin with copper for the manufacture of celts, arrowheads, fishhooks, chisels, bangles, rings, drills and spearheads, although weapon manufacturing was minor. They also employed advanced metallurgy in following the cire perdue technique of casting, and used more than one-piece moulds for casting birds and animals.[29] They also invented new tools such as curved saws and twisted drills unknown to other civilizations at the time.[30]

Metals

Copper

Copper technology may date back to the 4th millennium BCE in the

Himalaya region.[16]
It is the first element to be discovered in metallurgy,
alloys were also used to create copper-bronze images such as Buddhas or Hindu/Mahayana Buddhist deities.[15] Xuanzang also noted that there were copper-bronze Buddha images in Magadha.[15] In Varanasi, each stage of the image manufacturing process is handled by a specialist.[31]

Other metal objects made by Indian artisans include lamps.[32] Copper was also a component in the razors for the tonsure ceremony.[15]

One of the most important sources of history in the Indian subcontinent are the royal records of grants engraved on

Brahmi
inscriptions in India.

Brass

Brass was used in Lothal and Atranjikhera in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE.[33] Brass and probably zinc was also found at Taxila in 4th to 3rd century BCE contexts.[34]

Gold and silver

The deepest gold mines of the Ancient world were found in the Maski region in Karnataka.[35] There were ancient silver mines in northwest India. Dated to the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. gold and silver were also used for making utensils for the royal family and nobilities.the royal family wore costly fabrics that were made from gold and silver thin fibres embroidered or woven into fabrics or dress.

Iron

See also: Iron pillar of Delhi and Dhar iron pillar
The iron pillar of Delhi.

Recent excavations in Middle Ganges Valley show iron working in India may have begun as early as 1800 BCE.

Quintus Curtius wrote about an Indian present of steel to Alexander.[39] Ferrum indicum appeared in the list of articles subject to duty under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus.[9] Indian Wootz steel was held in high regard in Europe, and Indian iron was often considered to be the best.[40]

Wootz and steel

Main articles: Wootz steel and Damascus steel

The first form of crucible steel was wootz, developed in India some time around 300 BCE. In its production the iron was mixed with glass and then slowly heated and then cooled. As the mixture cooled the glass would bond to impurities in the steel and then float to the surface, leaving the steel considerably purer. Carbon could enter the iron by diffusing in through the porous walls of the crucibles. Carbon dioxide would not react with the iron, but the small amounts of carbon monoxide could, adding carbon to the mix with some level of control. Wootz was widely exported throughout the Middle East, where it was combined with a local production technique around 1000 CE to produce Damascus steel, famed throughout the world.[41] Wootz derives from the Tamil term for steel urukku.[42] Indian wootz steel was the first high quality steel that was produced.

Henry Yule quoted the 12th-century Arab Edrizi who wrote: "The South Indians excel in the manufacture of iron, and in the preparations of those ingredients along with which it is fused to obtain that kind of soft iron which is usually styled Indian steel. They also have workshops wherein are forged the most famous sabres in the world. ...It is not possible to find anything to surpass the edge that you get from Indian steel (al-hadid al-Hindi).[37]

As early as the 17th century,

silica
from the glass that gave wootz its unique properties.

After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, many Indian wootz steel swords were ordered to be destroyed by the East India Company. The metalworking industry in India went into decline during the period of British Crown control due to various colonial policies, but steel production was revived in India by Jamsetji Tata.[37]

Zinc

Zinc was extracted in India as early as in the 4th to 3rd century BCE. Zinc production may have begun in India, and ancient northwestern India is the earliest known civilization that produced zinc on an industrial scale.[43] The distillation technique was developed around 1200 CE at Zawar in Rajasthan.[33]

In the 17th century, China exported Zinc to Europe under the name of totamu or tutenag. The term tutenag may derive from the South Indian term Tutthanagaa (zinc).

Postlewayt's Universal Dictionary of 1751 still wasn't aware of how Zinc was produced.[34]

The Arthashastra describes the production of zinc.[46] The Rasaratnakara by Nagarjuna describes the production of brass and zinc.[47] There are references of medicinal uses of zinc in the Charaka Samhita (300 BCE). The Rasaratna Samuchaya (800 CE) explains the existence of two types of ores for zinc metal, one of which is ideal for metal extraction while the other is used for medicinal purpose.[48] It also describes two methods of zinc distillation.[34]

Early history (—200 BCE)

Recent excavations in Middle Ganges Valley conducted by archaeologist Rakesh Tewari show iron working in India may have begun as early as 1800 BCE.[36] Archaeological sites in India, such as Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila and Lahuradewa in the state of Uttar Pradesh show iron implements in the period between 1800 BCE-1200 BCE.[36] Sahi (1979: 366) concluded that by the early 13th century BCE, iron smelting was definitely practiced on a bigger scale in India, suggesting that the date the technology's early period may well be placed as early as the 16th century BCE.[36]

Some of the early iron objects found in India are dated to 1400 BCE by employing the method of radio carbon dating.

Southern India (present day Mysore) iron appeared as early as the 12th or 11th century BCE.[50] These developments were too early for any significant close contact with the northwest of the country.[50]

The earliest available

Jamuna Doab region of India, consisting of bronze but more commonly copper.[51] Diverse specimens have been discovered in Fatehgarh, where there are several varieties of hilt.[51] These swords have been variously dated to periods between 1700 and 1400 BCE, but were probably used more extensively during the opening centuries of the 1st millennium BCE.[51]

The beginning of the 1st millennium BCE saw extensive developments in iron metallurgy in India.[50] Technological advancement and mastery of iron metallurgy was achieved during this period of peaceful settlements.[50] The years between 322 and 185 BCE saw several advancements being made to the technology involved in metallurgy during the politically stable Maurya period (322—185 BCE).[52] Greek historian Herodotus (431—425 BCE) wrote the first western account of the use of iron in India.[49]

Perhaps as early as 300 BCE—although certainly by 200 CE—high quality steel was being produced in southern India by what Europeans would later call the crucible technique.[53] In this system, high-purity wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed in a crucible and heated until the iron melted and absorbed the carbon.[53] The first crucible steel was the wootz steel that originated in India before the beginning of the common era.[54] Wootz steel was widely exported and traded throughout ancient Europe, China, the Arab world, and became particularly famous in the Middle East, where it became known as Damascus steel. Archaeological evidence suggests that this manufacturing process was already in existence in South India well before the common era.[55][56]

Periplus Maris Erythraei mentions weapons of Indian iron and steel being exported from India to Greece.[58]

Early Common Era—Early Modern Era

The world's first iron pillar was the

Persia.[58] European scholars—during the 14th century—studied Indian casting and metallurgy technology.[62]

The Iron pillar in the Qutb Complex
The Brahma from Mirpur-Khas,5th century metal sculpture
Akbarnama—written on August 12, 1602—depicts the defeat of Baz Bahadur of Malwa by the Mughal troops in 1561. The Mughals extensively improved metal weapons and armor used by the armies of India.

Indian metallurgy under the Mughal emperor Akbar (reign: 1556–1605) produced excellent small firearms.[63] Gommans (2002) holds that Mughal handguns were probably stronger and more accurate than their European counterparts.[64]

Srivastava & Alam (2008) comment on

Indian coinage of the Mughal Empire (established: April 21, 1526 - ended: September 21, 1857) during Akbar's regime:[65]

Akbar reformed Mughal currency to make it one of the best known of its time. The new regime possessed a fully functioning trimetallic (silver, copper, and gold) currency, with an open minting system in which anyone willing to pay the minting charges could bring metal or old or foreign coin to the mint and have it struck. All monetary exchanges were, however, expressed in copper coins in Akbar's time. In the 17th century, following the silver influx from the New World, silver rupee with new fractional denominations replaced the copper coin as a common medium of circulation. Akbar's aim was to establish a uniform coinage throughout his empire; some coins of the old regime and regional kingdoms also continued.

Statues of Nataraja and Vishnu were cast during the reign of the imperial Chola dynasty (200–1279) in the 9th century.[62] The casting could involve a mixture of five metals: copper, zinc, tin, gold, and silver.[62]

Nataraja Statue, chola dynasty

Considered great feat in metallurgy, the hollow, Seamless, celestial globe was invented in Kashmir by Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman in 998 AH (1589-90 CE), and twenty other such globes were later produced in Lahore and Kashmir during the Mughal Empire.[66] These Indian metallurgists pioneered the method of lost-wax casting, and disguised plugs, in order to produce these globes.[66]

Colonial British Era—Republic of India

Modern steel making in India began with the setting of first blast furnace of India at Kulti in 1870 and production began in 1874, which was set up by Bengal Iron Works. The Ordnance Factory Board established Metal & Steel Factory (MSF) at Calcutta, in 1872[67][68] The Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was established by Dorabji Tata in 1907, as part of his father's conglomerate. By 1939 Tata operated the largest steel plant in the British Empire, and accounted for a significant proportion of the 2 million tons pig iron and 1.13 of steel produced in British India annually.[69][70]

Native arms production

The first iron-cased and metal-cylinder rockets (Mysorean rockets) were developed by the Mysorean army of the South Indian Kingdom of Mysore in the 1780s.[71] The Mysoreans successfully used these iron-cased rockets against the Presidency armies of the East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars.[71]

  • A painting showing the Mysorean army fighting the British forces with Mysorean rockets, which used metal cylinders to contain the combustion powder.[72]
    A painting showing the Mysorean army fighting the British forces with Mysorean rockets, which used metal cylinders to contain the combustion powder.[72]
  • A Mysorean soldier using his Mysorean rocket as a flagstaff (Robert Home, 1793/4).
    A Mysorean soldier using his Mysorean rocket as a flagstaff (Robert Home, 1793/4).

See also

References

  1. ^ See Tewari (2003) and Arnold, 100-101.
  2. ^ wisdomlib.org (2017-12-20). "Ayas, Ayās, Āyas, Ayash: 15 definitions". wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  3. ^ For Near East see Edgerton, 56 and Prasad, chapter IX. Greco-Roman world: Mondal, 2-3.
  4. ^ Gommans (2002)
  5. ^ e.g. R. Tewari 2003
  6. ^ "The origins of Iron-working in India". Archaeology Online. April 29, 2014.
  7. ^ (e.g. Frawley 1991)
  8. ^ "Location of Brahmavarta and Drishadwati River is important to find earliest alignment of Saraswati River", Sudhir Bhargava, International Conference, 20–22 Nov. 2009, "Saraswati-a perspective" pages 114–117, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Organised by: Saraswati Nadi Shodh Sansthan, Haryana.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Chakrabarti 1992
  10. ^ A review of literary references to Ayas in the early Indian texts can be found in Chakrabarti 1996 and Chakrabarti 1992.
  11. ^ (Sethna 1992: 235)
  12. ^ Agarwal, Vishal (2003), "A Reply to Michael Witzel's 'Ein Fremdling im Rgveda'" (PDF), Journal of Indo-European Studies, 31 (1–2): 107–185
  13. ^ a b Kazanas, Nicholas: Addendum to The AIT and Scholarship
  14. ^ In AV 11.3.7. Lohita (red copper) is compared with blood, and syama (swarthy metal) with flesh (maam-sa). This could be an analogy that describes how black metal (flesh) is produced by red metal (blood). Kazanas, Nicholas: Addendum to The AIT and Scholarship
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Chakrabarti 1996
  16. ^ a b "Copper Technology in the Central Himalayas Goes Back to 2000BC". www.infinityfoundation.com.
  17. ^ e.g., Cf. Chakrabarti 1992; Erdosy 1995
  18. ^ Rakesh Tewari 2003
  19. ^ (see Bryant 2001: 246-248)
  20. ^ (Bryant 2001: 246)
  21. ^ (see Bryant 2001: 247)
  22. ^ cited in Bryant 2001
  23. ^ Rakesh Tewari 2003; Chakrabarti 1976, 1992:171; Tripathi, Vibha. 2001; Erdosy 1995
  24. ^ Shaffer 1989, cited in Chakrabarti 1992:171
  25. H. P. Francfort
    , Fouilles de Shortugai, Recherches sur L'Asie Centrale Protohistorique Paris: Diffusion de Boccard, 1989, p. 450
  26. ^ Jim Shaffer 1992 "The Indus Valley, Baluchistan and Helmand Traditions: Neolithic Through Bronze Age." In Chronologies in Old World Archaeology. Second Edition. R.W. Ehrich, (Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. I:441-464, II:425-446., cited in Possehl 1992
  27. ^ Gregory Possehl, The Indus Civilization, 2002:94
  28. ^ (see Bryant 2001: 246-248, 339)
  29. ^ S. R. Rao, Lothal (ASI, 1985), pp. 42
  30. ^ S. R. Rao, Lothal (ASI, 1985), pp. 41-42
  31. ^ Chakrabarti 1996, with reference to Mukherjee, M. 1978
  32. ^ "The Brilliance of Traditional Lamps". www.chennaionline.com. Archived from the original on 2000-12-03.
  33. ^ a b "The Bill of Contentions". www.infinityfoundation.com.
  34. ^ a b c Craddock et al. 1983
  35. ^ They date to the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. Srinivasan, Sharda and Srinivasa Rangnathan. 2004
  36. ^ a b c d Tewari (2003)
  37. ^ a b c d e Srinivasan, Sharda and Srinivasa Rangnathan. 2004
  38. ^ Srinivasan, Sharda and Srinivasa Rangnathan. 2004; W. Egerton, Indian and Oriental Armour, London (1896).
  39. ^ J.M. Heath 1839, quoted by Chakrabarti 1992; G. N. Pant, Indian Arms and Armour, Vol. I and II, National Museum, New Delhi (1980)
  40. ^ e.g. James Stodart 1818, Robert Hadfield, quoted by Chakrabarti 1992:3-6, 119; Robert Hadfield, Sinhalese iron and steel of ancient origin, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, 85 (1912).
  41. ^ C. S. Smith, A History of Metallography, University Press, Chicago (1960); Juleff 1996; Srinivasan, Sharda and Srinivasa Rangnathan 2004
  42. ^ "Wootz Steel: An Advanced Material of the Ancient World". Archived from the original on 2007-06-03. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
  43. ^ Craddock et al. 1983. (The earliest evidence for the production of zinc comes from India. Srinivasan, Sharda and Srinivasa Rangnathan. 2004)
  44. ^ "India Was the First to Smelt Zinc by Distillation Process". www.infinityfoundation.com.
  45. ^ [1]Arun Kumar Biswas, Zinc and related alloys Archived 2008-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
  46. ^ "TKS Book Series".
  47. ^ [2]; Srinivasan, Sharda and Srinivasa Rangnathan. 2004
  48. ^ "Mining Archaeology and Smelting Related to Indian Zinc Ore". Archived from the original on 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  49. ^ a b c Ceccarelli, 218
  50. ^ a b c d Drakonoff, 372
  51. ^ a b c d Allchin, 111-114
  52. ^ Richards etc., 64
  53. ^ a b Juleff 1996
  54. ^ Srinivasan & Ranganathan
  55. ^ Srinivasan 1994
  56. ^ Srinivasan & Griffiths
  57. ^ a b c Craddock (1983)
  58. ^ a b Prasad, chapter IX
  59. ^ Balasubramaniam, R. (2002)
  60. ^ An introduction to ancient india metallurgy.
  61. ^ Edgerton, 56
  62. ^ a b c Mondal, 2-3
  63. ^ Gommans, 154
  64. ^ Gommans, 155
  65. ^ Srivastava & Alam (2008)
  66. ^ a b Savage-Smith (1985)
  67. ^ "Indian Ordnance Factories: Metal and Steel Factory". 2017-11-26. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  68. ^ Gupta / TNN /, Jayanta (2017-03-14). "Water leakage may have caused blast at Metal and Steel Factory". The Times of India. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  69. ^ Rao, K.N.P. BRIEF HISTORY OF IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IN INDIA (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  70. ^ Chikayoshi Nomura, "selling steel in the 1920s: TISCO in a period of transition," Indian Economic & Social History Review (2011) 48: 83–116, doi:10.1177/001946461004800104
  71. ^
    Seringapatam
    in 1792 and 1799 these rockets were used with considerable effect against the British." - Encyclopædia Britannica (2008), rocket and missile.
  72. ^ "Missiles mainstay of Pak's N-arsenal". The Times of India. 21 April 2008. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 2011-08-30.

Terminology for ayas

  • lohayasa, lohitayas, lohitam, loha, loham: "red metal", copper, bell metal
  • naga: lead
  • raitya: brass
  • ravi: copper
  • sisaga: lead
  • syamayas, syama, syamam, syamenayasa: "black metal".
  • sisa, sisam, sisaka: lead

Other terms

  • Prastarika: metal trader
  • Sulbhadhatusastra: science of metals
  • panchaloha, sarva loha: the five base metals (tin, lead, iron, copper, silver)

Further reading

External links

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