A History of Agriculture in India v1.c35.s8: Advanced Iron Technology and Manufacture of Agricultural Tools
A History of Agriculture in India v1.c35.s8
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Advanced Iron Technology and Manufacture of Agricultural Tools
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The iron-pillar standing near the Qutab Minar in Delhi was erected by Kumaragupta I, A.D. 415, in honour of his father. In spite of the lapse of so many centuries, the iron of this pillar has not rusted. This pillar measures 7.21 metres (23 feet 8 inches) from the top of the bell capital to the bottom of the base; and the diameter diminishes from 41.6 cm (16.4 inches) below to 36.6 cm (12.05 inches) above. The material is pure, rustless, malleable iron. It was made by some sort of welding process, and the weight is estimated to exceed six tonnes. V. Ball in his Economic Geology of India, p. 338, 1st ed., 1881, remarked: ‘It is not many years since the production of such a pillar would have been an impossibility in the largest foundries of the world, and even now there are comparatively few where a similar mass of metal could be turned out.’³ Its size and contents indicate that iron technology had reached a high level in Gupta rule. The iron ore from southern Bihar and central India was exploited for the manufacture of iron. From iron, weapons as well as agricultural tools were manufactured on a large scale. It is these agricultural tools and their use in the cultivation of land which provided the base for the prosperity of the people, and ushered in the so-called Golden Age. This also shows that Golden Ages are the products of iron tools and a progressive agriculture.
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³ Garratt, G.T. (Ed.), The Legacy of India, 1967, p. 338