History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c13.s1: Discovery of Metals
History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c13.s1
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Discovery of Metals
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So far as the discovery of metals and the development of metals technology is concerned the universal opinion is that the focal point of these discoveries is Iran and its nearby area and in India the metals technology has been introduced by Aryans or Hittites who migrated from that area, but in a recent lecture Sharma,R.S.(1988) has opined that Aryans were originally Indians and most of the discovery of metals technology is indigenous. It is an universal belief that native metals like Gold, Copper and probable Meteoritic Iron have been the first to be discovered as early as 6000 to one million years before Christ.
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The golden yellow glitter of the native Gold has been probably the main force behind the development of the metals technology although this has been a worthless metal for the Stone Age men who wanted to fabricate war tools like arrows, axes and hammers from this metal. Mahamud (1988) has rightly mentioned that the glitter of Gold has been destined to play the most sinister role in the history of mankind and for the sake of possession of this metal many blood thirsty wars have been raged and monstrous crimes committed.
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According to Prakash, S. (1965) the discovery of fire (4000 B.C.) has played a vital role in the extraction and processing of metals. Atharvans or Angiras or Athar Vangiras are supposed to be the first to discover the fire. It is believed that the legends associated with the Promethens in the Greek Mythology actually had its
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अश्मा च मे मृत्तिका च मे गिरयश्च मे पर्वताश्च मे सिकताश्च मे वनस्पतयश्च मे हिरण्यं च मेऽयश्च मे श्यामञ्च मे लोहञ्च मे सीसञ्च मे त्रपु च मे यज्ञेन कल्पन्ताम् ॥ १३ ॥
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रत्नवान् धनवान् आत्मा । भुरिशतश्वरी । पंचमः ॥
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भा०—(अश्मा च) सब प्रकार के पाषाण, हीरे आदि, (मृत्तिका च) सब प्रकार की मिट्टियां, (गिरयः च) पर्वत, उनसे प्राप्त भोग्य पदार्थ, (सिकताः च) बालुकामय देश, (वनस्पतयः च) वनस्पतियां, (हिरण्यं च) सुवर्ण, (अयः च) लोहा, (श्यामं च) श्यामलोह, (लोहं च) लाल-लोह, कान्तिसार आदि (सीसं च) सीसा और (त्रपु च) टीन, रांगा आदि ये सब धातु भी (मे यज्ञेन कल्पन्ताम्) शिल्प, रसायन, भूगर्भ विद्या आदि के प्रयोग से मुझे प्राप्त हों । roots in India and the word Promethens comes from the Sanskrit word *Pra-Mantha* i.e. fire produced by manthan or rubbing action. In this context a *Sruti* from *Yajurveda* is quoted in *Fig.4* which clearly mentions the production of metals from *Yajña Kuṇḍa*.
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Fig. 4. Sanskrit text on the evolution of iron and other metals as mentioned in Yajurveda in Chapter 8
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Thus we see that ‘Agni’ has played a vital role in the extraction and working of metals. In the present chapter the metal technology has been mentioned from the point of view of their occurrence in nature, the scientific and technological feasibility of their extraction and study of the thermomechanical treatment of these metals for the production of various objects found in daily use of the ancient Indians.
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These descriptions are presented here in three sections viz. extraction of pure metals like, Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, Tin, Lead, Zinc, Mercury etc., the technology of their alloying and the technology of fabrication and thermo-mechanical treatment.