A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c14.9

v1.c14.9

The wrought-iron pillar close to the Kutub near Delhi which weighs ten tons and is some 1500 years old; the huge iron girders at Puri; the ornamental gates of Somnath and the 24-ft wrought-iron gun at Nurvar—are monuments of a bye-gone art and bear silent but eloquent testimony to the marvellous metallurgical skill attained by the Hindus. Regarding the Kutab pillar, Fergusson says: "It has not, however, been yet correctly ascertained what its age really is. There is an inscription upon it, but without a date. From the form of its alphabet, Prinsep ascribed it to the 3rd or 4th century; Bhau Daji, on the same evidence, to the end of the 5th or beginning of the 6th century. The truth probably lies between the two. Our own conviction is that it belongs to one of the Chandra Rajas of the Gupta dynasty, either subsequently to A. D. 363 or A. D. 400."