Iron in Ancient India c8.s1.7

c8.s1.7

The ancient method of manufacturing iron still prevails in various parts of the country, notably in Orissa, Chota Nagpur, Central Provinces, Baroda, the Deccan and Carnate, and North-Western Provinces. It has mainly passed into the hands of ignorant and in many places aboriginal tribes, but it is certain that in early times the Delhi and the Dhar pillars and the Orissan beams must have been forged by skilled metallurgists (लोहमालवित्) and engineers. Any one who studies the growth and decay of the intellectual and scientific activities of the Hindoos will see clearly that scientific industries were declining from a long time, and owing to a lack of initiative the old processes struggled on on a continuously diminutive scale until almost all industries passed into the hands of the least advanced sections of the Hindu community. It has already been stated that the iron beams of the temples in Orissa, which was famous for her iron in all ages, may have been prepared from iron manufactured in the Talchir districts where iron-smelting is still carried on by the Kols. Mr. H. F. Blandford of the Geological Survey of India says, "The iron smelters of Talchir and neighbouring districts belong to the large tribe of Cols . . . lumps of slag are frequently found in jungly districts where no iron manufacture has been carried on within the memory of the inhabitants." The author also guesses that the iron of the Delhi and Mount Abu pillars was probably obtained from Rajputana, as large hillocks of iron-slag are found in Khetri and other places in Rajputana, which is now being utilised as a flux by the native copper smelters. The iron of the Dhar pillar evidently has come from Southern India which was famous, until recently, for iron and steel.