Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c27.s1.t2.2

v1.c27.s1.t2.2

Bronson (1986: 39-46) has compiled the information on the various processes of making wootz in pre-modern India, studied by the previous scholars. (Buchanan 1807; Heyne 1814; Voysey 1832; Heath 1839; Schwartz, 1901; Coomaraswamy 1956; Rao *et al.*, 1970 etc.) The common denominator of most of the processes was to heat the charge of iron and vegetable matter in a sealed crucible. Voysey (1832: 247) observed a process at Golconda (Hyderabad) in which low-carbon and high-carbon iron smaples were fused together. Additional carbon could have come from rice husk in the crucible wall.