Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c20.s3.t7: Iron in the Vidarbha Megalithic Culture
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c20.s3.t7
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Iron in the Vidarbha Megalithic Culture
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Thus it is evident that the Iron Age in the Vidarbha area emerged in the framework of a well-established chalcolithic culture and strong metallurgical (tin, gold, silver etc.) traditions. We do not know whether the metallurgical traditions in the Vidarbha area were inherited from the earlier Megalithic culture of the Peninsular region in the south.
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15 km west of Nagpur are the twin megalithic sites of Junapani (habitational) and Mahurjhari (burial). In Mahurjhari, burials were found along with skeletons, offence items like lances, swords, spears, a dagger with iron blade and copper hilt; utility items like a cauldron and nail-parers of iron; ornaments of gold, objects of copper, beads of carnelian, some etched, crystal, agate etc. (Deo, 1973) Junapani has yielded hoes, flat axes with cross-ring fasteners, horse bits and chisels with long blades. Typologically similar and nearby megalithic sites of Takalghat-Khapa have been C-14 dated to seventh-sixth century BC: 615 ± 105 BC and 555 ± 100 BC. Later, Mahurjhari became a very important centre for processing of semi-precious stones and bead-making. The megalithic site of Kaundinyapura (associated with Rukmini, Krishna’s wife) also yielded etched carnelian beads. The iron objects, claimed as ‘cast steel’ (?) in view of high carbon, and obtained by G.G. Pearse in 1869 from the stone circles at Wurre Gaon near Kamptee and Nagpur, also probably belong to the pre-Christian megalithic era. These objects are kept in the British Museum.
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45 km north-east of Nagpur, Naikund must have been the principal iron- [Figure: Fig. 12.4: Megalithic Iron Smelting Furnace Reconstructed from the Evidence Obtained at Naikund 700 BC.
(a) circular clay bricks, (b) bloom, (c) tuyere, (d) cinder, (e) tapped slag, (f) charcoal.]
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smelting megalithic site in the Vidarbha region. It yielded daggers, spears, axes, nail-parers etc. V.D. Gogte used geophysical method (Deo, 1985: 107) — a modified three probe resistivity survey — to locate an iron-smelting site at Naikund. There were the remains of a furnace built of curved bricks and with a clay pipe for blowing in air, perhaps with the help of leather bellows (fig. 12.4). Gogte calculated that in a single operation this furnace could turn out nearly 3 kg of pure iron out of about 10-12 kg of ore. He further pointed out that the people used local ore. (Deo and Jamkhedkar, 1982; Deo, 1985: 92)
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Around the furnace were found abundant remains of iron slag and a fragmentary iron axe similar to those found in the habitation and burial sites. Some idea about the date of this megalithic iron technology is obtained from the C-14 dates for the Vidarbha megaliths ranging from 615 ± 105 to 540 ± 105 BC. (Deo and Jamkhedkar, 1982: 56)
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The specimens from Mahurjhari, Takalghat and Naikund show high percentages of pure iron — 99.1, 99.6 and 98.2 per cent respectively. Whereas Takalghat sample of iron does not contain any appreciable amount of carbon, Mahurjhari specimen contains 0.9 per cent carbon and Naikund sample has a little over 1 per cent of carbon. These figures show a basic identity of technology and suggests professional expertise. Gogte (1983) examined the Mahurjhari sample; evidence of banded structure, widmanstätten structure, ferrite and pearlite indicated that the iron pieces were forged at high temperature.
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Today the available accounts of the Megalithic culture in Peninsular and Central India and the Iron Age thereof are far from complete or adequate. Surely there are many sites yet to be discovered; many discovered sites have not been fully excavated. Scientific analysis of many samples are yet to be done.
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We have highlighted the early contribution of Iron Age in the Hallur sites (1200-1000 BC) and the notable development in the Naikund area (700-600 BC). These are the key features of the Megalithic Iron Age which continued for more than a millenium — Bastar, M.P. tradition still survives (Prakash and Igaki, 1984) — and spread from the south towards north India.
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Prakash Period II (600-100 BC) artefacts mentioned in chapter 8 included iron implements. The settlement started six hundred years after the expiry of the preceding chalcolithic culture in 1200 BC and iron appeared almost from the inception, i.e., 600 BC. Thus the iron-using tradition must have been brought from elsewhere — either the Naikund or the Ujjain nuclear zone. The earlier samples were found heavily corroded. Two shaft-hole axes of 100 BC level were metallographically analysed and revealed equiaxed ferrite with a small amount of pearlite structure implying carburization. (Athavale, 1964-65)
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There are many megalithic monuments north of the Vindhya mountains in the districts of Banda, Vārāṇasī, Mirzapur, Allahabad etc. At Kotia on the right bank of the Belan in district Allahabad, there is a definite association of iron with the megalithic structures dated 270 BC ± 105. The megalithic tradition of iron-making spread as far as the Chota Nagpur region in Ranchi and survived there amongst tribals until very recent times. Thus apart from Atrañjikhera area, the West Bengal-Bihar area and the Southern Peninsular Megalithic area constituted second and third nuclear zones for Iron Age culture whose influence spread and possibly met each other in the Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh area during the Historical Period.
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The Chalcolithic sites of Eran, Kayatha, Ujjain and Nāgdā in Madhya Pradesh and Inamgaon in Maharashtra show Iron Age occupations at the top. Ujjain and Nagda might have received impetus for iron-making from the Atrañjikhera era during the early Historical Period.
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There is controversy about the date of the earliest Iron Age in Eran: 1100-1000 BC or 700 BC. (Ghosh, 1989: Vol. II, pp. 135-36) In any case the tradition of iron-making must have diffused from the Yamuna-Ganga doab sites of Atrañjikhera, Hastināpura etc. Banerjee (1965: 28-32) cited literary evidences about the abandonment of the flooded site of Hastināpura during king Nichakshu’s time and re-settlement of the population at Kauśāmbī near Allahabad; he argued that this might have taken place around 800 BC. Ghosh (1989: Vol II, pp. 214-15) supports this date for the pre-NBPW phase at Kauśāmbī, and disagrees with the suggestion of G.R. Sharma (1969), the excavator, who had suggested a much earlier date. Kauśāmbī shows iron in its earliest phase; varieties of the offence weapons however proliferated only after the NBPW era had started in 500 BC. Similarly, the site of Rajghat, Vārāṇasī has its earliest date in eighth century BC and the varieties of iron equipments appeared 600 BC onwards.