Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c27.s1.t5: Concluding Remarks on Wootz
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c27.s1.t5
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Concluding Remarks on Wootz
v1.c27.s1.t5.1
The issue raised by Bronson (1986) as to whether India produced crucible steel much before sixteenth century AD is wide open for further research. The last word on the subject is yet to be written. While we must wait for fresh archaeological evidences, the circumstantial evidences from the literature seem to be re-assuring. Alexander must have been presented with a variety of carburised iron which could be converted to steel. Third century BC Pāṇḍu Rājār Dhibi craftsmen employed quench-hardening technique to produce sharp and hard steel from carburised iron. Taxila hypereutectoid steel assayed as much as 1.23 per cent carbon.
v1.c27.s1.t5.2
The Periplus of the second century AD records export of Indian iron and steel. During the Gupta era, there were several methods to quench-harden and produce steel sword. The Indian export item ‘steel’ or high carbon iron could have been produced by ‘lamination technique’, (which we have discussed in chapter 12), or the crucible method. The thirteenth century text Rasaratnasamuccaya refers to several kinds of crucible, including closed crucibles, to be used at high temperatures and reducing environments. Al-Idrisi’s writing (12th century AD) (quoted earlier) clearly shows that ‘Indian workshops fused iron with ingredients’ (presumably in crucibles) and from this ‘forged the most famous sabres’.