History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c13.s2.t4.157

v1.c13.s2.t4.157

Ball (1881) writes that the ‘Wootz’ steel was much sought in the Eastern Mediterranean countries even earlier than Christian Era. The Indian masters had realised the effect of addition of ‘C’ to iron and the excellence of the cutting edges formed on such steel weapons. Wootz steel was being produced in several places in India and exported to the West even as early as 700 B.C. for the manufacture of famous ‘Damascus Swords’. This sword had attained its reputation for edge sharpness, flexibility, strength and the typical surface structure on the sword’s surface. Fig.34 shows the typical surface structure of the sword developed by ‘Damascusizing’ and ‘watering’ treatments. Inspite of innumerable attempts made by the technician and metallurgists of the Western World this type of structure has remained a fascinating mystery. The details of these attempt have been reviewed in great detail by Piaskowski (1974), Yater (1983, 1983- 84, Thomsen (1987), Kedzierski and Stepineski(1987), Antiens (1987) and many others. Paiskowski has concluded that "Although the research on Dasamcene steel did not lead to its widespread production but the extent of interest shown by the research workers has enriched the imagination of scientists and has had a decisive influence on the development of science and technology". The latest study on the development of steel having this famous pattern has been by Verhoevens et al(1987). Raj and Sundaram (1990) have mentioned that in USA a patent has been obtained at Stanford for ‘ultra high carbon steel’ with 1.3% to 1.7% C (same as Wootz steel which has shown super plastic property along with hardness and strength and this may be produced in bulk for making the automobile and aircraft components.