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Iron in Ancient India c6.s1: Prehistoric Iron Implements Discovered in Tinnevelly

Iron in Ancient India c6.s1

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Prehistoric Iron Implements Discovered in Tinnevelly

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A very remarkable and large number of prehistoric iron implements such as swords, daggers, tridents, spears, javelins, arrows, spades, hangers, saucer lamps, beam rods and tripods has been unearthed during the excavation of numerous burial sites in the gravelly mounds of the Tinnevelly district of the Madras Presidency, adjoining the valley of the Tāmraparni river.¹ The age of these burial sites cannot be ascertained with anything approaching approximation as the burial urns must have been sunk inside the earth in an age when the custom of cremation was not introduced into Southern India. The Pandiyan Kingdom existed from a very early time, and is referred to in an Asoka inscription 250 B.C. in Northern India.² The Pandyas were also known to the Sanskrit grammarian Kātyāyana whose date probably is not later than the fourth century B.C. Earlier and later writers mention them. In the Rāmāyana and Mahābhārat, the Pandiyans, Dravidas and Cholas are mentioned. The Pandiyans were in possession of the Tinnevelly district from the earliest historical times.³ The original line of kings seems to have continued down to their conquest by Rajendra Chola in A.D. 1064. It would be hazardous to guess if urn burial was prevalent during the reign of the earliest Pandiyan kings, the custom of burial being supplanted by cremation later on.

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¹ A. Rea's "Prehistoric Antiquities in Tinnevelly," Annual Report of Arch. Survey of India, 1902-3, 111-140.

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² Sewell's Lists, II, 221.

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³ Sewell's Lists, I, 303.

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However the most extensive prehistoric burial site was at Ādittanattur. The funeral urns were large, one-legged, elongated, globular pots of thick red earthenware, averaging less than a yard [Figure: Prehistoric Antiquities in Tinnevelly: Iron Swords and Daggers. (Annual Report, Archaeological Survey of India, 1902-3, page 132.)]

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in diameter by a slightly greater height. All the urns had flat conical covers and contained skulls or bones of a skeleton accompanied with articles of pottery and of metals such as gold, bronze and iron. The gold ornaments were oval diadems which appear to have been fastened to the forehead of a corpse. The bronzes exhibit a high degree of skill in workmanship and used for ornamental purposes in the shape of vase stands, bowls, jars and cups. No stone implements of the palæolithic or næolithic age were found. The iron implements and arms were generally found outside the urns with their points downwards, showing that they were thrust into the earth by the attendant mourners. Many of the iron implements were deeply corroded, while others were fairly well-preserved. The swords were generally two feet or two feet four inches long and about two inches broad, the blades being all double-edged. They had a spike or an iron handle at the hilt which was attached to a wooden handle, the latter having decayed in most cases through age. A collection of these swords and daggers is shown in the annexed plate. In the plate Nos. 1, 2, 4, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 are daggers and the rest are swords. The daggers were generally eight to twelve inches long and one to one half inch broad. Besides these weapons numerous axes, spades, arrows, javelins, lances and iron lamps were also found, showing that iron was used in those remote times in making implements of every description. The nature of the iron has not been determined. Southern India was famous from remote times for its steel called "wootz," and it would not be a surprise if this very remarkable collection of ancient weapons and implements turns out on examination to be specimens of steel, though the chances are that these weapons were made of wrought iron.

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