Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c24.s2.8

v1.c24.s2.8

Indians knew the art of making iron and alloying this with carbon before the first millennium before Christ. The ‘bright iron’ of Ezekiel (27.19) must have been special Indian iron. Ctesias mentioned two wonderful swords of such material which he had from the king of Persia. Probably the same material was the ferrum candidum of which the Malli and Oxydracae sent 100 talents’ weight as a present to Alexander. Ferrum indicum also appears in the lists of durable articles under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus.