Minerals and Metals in Sanskrit literature
by Sulekha Biswas | 1990 | 69,848 words
This essay studies the presence of Minerals and Metals in Sanskrit literature over three millennia, from the Rigveda to Rasaratna-Samuccaya. It establishes that ancient Indians were knowledgeable about various minerals and metallurgy prior to the Harappan era, with literary references starting in the Rgveda. The thesis further examines the evolutio...
12. Iron and Steel Armoury
A bar and a broken sword of steel were found at the bottom of the Khan Baba stone Pillar of Heliodorus (dated before 125 B.C.) The sword assayed 0.7 p.c. carbon and was certified by sir robert Hadfield as having been 'deliberately manufactured as steel' (Archaeological Survey Report, 1913-14, pp. 203-4). This discovery
V-24 lends credence to the Arthasastra mentioning vrtta (steel) and vafious war equipments such as Kharga (sword). M. Rostovtzeff (1941) was of the opinion that the best kind of steel was Indian in origin; gradually the technology was adopted in Persia and Asian Minor, and in the post-Christian era, Indian wootz was imported to Syria to produce the famous sword of Damascus and the demascene steel. The Arthasastra outlined the duties of the Superintendent of the ayudhagara or Armoury; he should supervise making of weapor amours and accoutrements by artisans, and also of machines for use in battles, for the defence of forts and for assault on the enemies' cities (2.18.1). Various kinds of iron or steel swords were described: nistrimsa (with curved tip and beyond thirty angulas), mandalagra (straight with a round tip), asiyasti (thin and long), each variety provided with hilts made of horn of the rhinoceros or buffalo (2.18.12-13). The razor-type (Kaurakalpah) weapons were: parasu (all metal 24 angulas long), pattasa (an axe with a trident at one end or both ends), Kuthara, Khanitra, spode, trakaca or saw, Kandacchadana, a big axe etc. (2.18.14) Various shields and armours like lohajalika, patta, kavaca etc. were manufactured (2.18.16) Arrows were iron-tipped (2.16.11) The fixed and mobile 'machines' were used to hurl metallic and stone missiles (2.18.5-6).
V-25 Since casting of iron needed high temperature, and was not invented in ancient India, big objects of iron were usually made. by hot forging of smaller pieces (7.3.8-9) of ingot such as those described earlier: tejo hi samdhanakaranam, nataptam loham lohena samdhatta | Various equipments for mineral and agricultural processing such as implements for weighing and measuring, grinding stones, pestle. and mortar, pounding and crushing machines, scatterer, winnowing basket, sieve etc. (2.15.62), and blacksmithy equipments such as bellow, pincer, vice, anvil, dies, chisels and crucibles (4.4.20) were mentioned in the Arthasastra.