Iron in Ancient India c6.s6.1

c6.s6.1

Besides the celebrated pillar at Delhi there exist two other iron pillars in India, viz. at Dhar, the ancient capital of Mālava, and on Mount Abu in Rajputana, respectively, to which I would like to attract the attention of the scientific world. Fergusson¹ in his "History of Indian and Eastern Architecture"; Vincent Smith² in his article "The Iron Pillar at Dhar," and Barnes³ in his "Dhar and Mandu" have already dwelt on the subject of the great iron pillar at Dhar, whilst a full account of this pillar has been given by Mr. H. Cousens in the annual report of the Archaeological Survey of India, 1902-3 (pp. 205—212), and a translation of Akbar's Persian Inscription has been given in "Epigraphica Moslemica."⁴ It is rather strange that the attention of the scientific world has not sufficiently been drawn to this pillar as in the case of the one at Delhi, though as regards dimensions the Dhar pillar comes to be the bigger of the two, the former being 43' 8" long and the latter 23' 8". Vincent Smith has rightly remarked, "Whilst we marvel at the skill shown by the ancient artificers in forging a great mass of the Delhi pillar, we must give a still greater measure of admiration to the forgotten craftsmen who dealt so successfully in producing the still more ponderous iron mass of the Dhar pillar monument with its total length of 42 feet."