The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c14.s2.21

c14.s2.21

² Agurihas are one of the 12 tribes among the Munda group of Chota Nagpur plateau and Central India. They are professional iron smelters. "The furnaces of the Agurihas are generally erected under some old tamarind tree on the outskirts of a village, or under sheds in a hamlet where only Agurihas dwell, and which is situated in convenient proximity to the ore or to the jungle where charcoal is prepared. The furnaces are built of mud and are about three feet high, tapering from below upwards from a diameter of rather more than two feet at base to eighteen inches at top, with an internal diameter of about six inches, the hearth being somewhat wider..........A bed of charcoal having been placed in the hearth, the furnace is filled with charcoal and then fired. The blast is produced by the usual kettle drum like bellows, which are worked by the feet ......From time to time, ore and fuel are sprinkled on the top of the fire, the proportions used not being measured, but probably the operators are guided by experience as to quantities of each which produce the best results. From time to time, the slag is tapped off by a hole pierced a few inches from the top of the hearth. Ten minutes before the conclusion of the process, the bellows are worked with extra vigor and the supply of ore and fuel from above stopped. The clay luting of the hearth is then broken down, and the ball of giri, consisting of semi-molten iron, slag and charcoal, is taken out and immediately hammered, by which a considerable proportion of the included slag, which is still in a state of fusion, is squeezed out..........In some cases, the Agurihas continue the further process, until after various re-heatings in open furnaces and hammering, they produce clean iron......" BALL, VELENTINE, "On the Auranga and Hutar coalfields and iron ores of Palamau and Toree", *Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India* XV, Art. 1, pp. 121-122.