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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c41.s11: Iron and Steel Armoury

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c41.s11

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Iron and Steel Armoury

v2.c41.s11.1

A bar and a broken sword of steel were found at the bottom of the Khan Baba stone Pillar of Heliodorus (dated before 125 BC). The sword assayed 0.7 p.c. carbon and was certified by Sir Robert Hadfield as having been ‘deliberately manufactured as steel’ (*Archaeological Survey Report*, 1913-14, pp. 203-4). This discovery lends credence to the *Arthaśāstra* mentioning *vṛtta* (steel) and various war equipments such as *khaḍga* (sword). M. Rostovtzeff (1941) was of the opinion that the best kind of steel was Indian in origin; gradually the technology was adopted in Persia and Asia Minor, and in the post-Christian era, Indian wootz was imported to Syria to produce the famous sword of Damascus and the damascene steel.

v2.c41.s11.2

The *Arthaśāstra* outlined the duties of the Superintendent of the *āyudhāgāra* or Armoury; he should supervise making of weapons, armours and accoutrements by artisans, and also of machines for use in battles, for the defence of forts and for assault on the enemies’ cities (2.18.1). Various kinds of iron or steel swords were described: *nistriṃśa* (with curved tip and beyond thirty *aṅgulas*), *maṇḍalāgra* (straight with a round tip), *asiyaṣṭi* (thin and long), each variety provided with hilts made of horn of the rhinoceros or buffalo (2.18.12-13). The razor-type (*kṣurakalpāḥ*) weapons were: *paraśu* (all metal 24 *aṅgulas* long), *paṭṭasa* (an axe with a trident at one end or both ends), *kuthāra*, *khanitra*, spade, *trakaca* or saw, *kāṇḍacchedana*, a big axe, etc. (2.18.14). Various shields and armours like *lohajālikā*, *paṭṭa*, *kavaca*, etc. were manufactured (2.18.16). Arrows were iron-tipped (2.18.11). The fixed and mobile ‘machines’ were used to hurl metallic and stone missiles (2.18.5-6).

v2.c41.s11.3

Since casting of iron needed high temperature, and was not invented in ancient India, big objects of iron were usually made by hot forging of smaller pieces (7.3.8-9) of ingot such as those described earlier:

v2.c41.s11.4

तेजो हि संधानकारणं, नातप्तं लोहं लोहेन संधत्त।

v2.c41.s11.5

tejo hi samdhanakaranam, nataptam loham lohena samdhatta | Various equipments for mineral and agricultural processing such as implements for weighing and measuring, grinding stones, pestle and mortar, pounding and crushing machines, scatterer, winnowing basket, sieve, etc. (2.15.62), and blacksmithy equipments such as bellow, pincer, vice, anvil, dies, chisels and crucibles (4.4.20) were mentioned in the Arthasastra.

Cites (2)