Iron in Ancient India c6.s8.4

c6.s8.4

² I am afraid it cannot well be contended that the portions of Chapter IV which give accounts of gun, cannon and gunpowder were mere later interpolations, as guns and cannon have been mentioned in many places throughout the work, suggesting the idea that the work was written, at any rate rewritten, after the introduction of guns and gunpowder in India. Besides mentioning guns and gunpowder Sukraniti mentions Yavanas or Mlechchas living in 'North and Western' India, evidently referring to the Mussalmans. That the work could not have been written before the fourteenth century is borne out by the fact that it mentions 'Zinc' as one of the seven metals, while as a matter of fact only six metals were recognized