Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c42.s2.1

v2.c42.s2.1

The date of the Mahābhārata war has been variously suggested as 3100 BC, 1900 BC, 1400 BC and 900 BC. While we tend to favour the last two dates 1400-900 BC, we also agree with Joshi (1987:20) that the kind of war that was described in the epic, with the full range of iron weapons, could not have been fought before 600 BC. Inevitably, the conclusion, as drawn by Lad (1983), emerges that there was a core of the story existing before 800 BC, essentially as a folklore and orally transmitted, which became heavily padded with the later-day experiences. Additions to the text were made in several instalments during 500-100 BC, 100 BC - AD 100 and AD 100-400. Thus, instead of discussing minerals and metals mentioned in the epic Mahābhārata as a coherent subject or referring to them as the material resources in India during any particular epoch, we should rather follow Lad (1983:66) in relating the specific references to minerals and metals with the different era during which such references were introduced in the text as additional extravaganza and distortions.