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Astronomy
Chapter 10
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The S & T Heritage of India
• Gold coin of the Gupta king Samudragupta (330 – 376 CE)
kept at the British Museum.
• Stamping such coins with intricate details requires
knowledge of mining, extraction of Gold and further
metal forming techniques such as die casting.
• Archaeological and literary evidence suggests that using
metal working technology Indians were making
• Military equipment, agricultural implements
• Ornamental pieces, idols, coins
• Other items for medical applications
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Wootz Steel
Rise and Fall
• A unique Indian process of making steel
• widely sought for manufacture of swords in the eastern Mediterranean region
• Produced as early as 700 BCE in several places in India
• exported to and traded throughout ancient Europe and the Arab world
• The Arab mentioned (12th century CE), “the Hindus excelled in the manufacture
of iron and it was impossible to find anything to surpass the edge of Indian steel”
• By the end of the 17th century CE, shipments running into tens of thousands of
wootz ingots were traded from the Coromandel coast to Persia
• Michael Faraday, the inventor of electricity was fascinated by wootz steel and
enthusiastically studied it
• The British Raj introduced production taxes and mining bans - must have been
partly responsible for the disruption of mining and steel manufacture
Source: Ranganathan, S. and Srinivasan, S. (2006). “A tale of Wootz steel” Resonance (June 2006), pp 67 – 77; Prakash, B. (1977) “Metals and Metallurgy”, Chapter 3
[3.2] in History of Technology in India Vol. I, Ed. A.K Bag, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, pp 80 – 174.
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Understanding the S & T Heritage of India
Three approaches
(a)The archaeological evidence that shows how S & T
1 ought to have been deployed in ancient times
(a)Living examples of physical entities that point to
2 the use of good S & T practices
(a)Literary resources pointing to the use of S & T in
3 ancient times
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S & T Heritage of India
Some facts
• Excavations of Kalibangan in Rajasthan and Lothal in Gujarat
• Functional town-planning, dwelling houses built of different sizes of burnt
bricks but of a standard proportion of dimensions, tiled flooring, well-
developed drainage systems, and pottery which are both utilitarian as well as
decorated
• A man-made dock at Lothal for berthing boats (or smaller size ships) - a
trapezoid basin measuring about 214 m x 36 m
• Several travellers’ accounts (such as that of Herodotus, Ktesias, Hiuen
Tsang, and Pliny) reveal how famous the Indian metalsmiths were for
their quality and workmanship
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S & T Heritage of India
Mining & Ore Extraction
• Archaeological examination of vicinity of major mining centres of modern India
shows that these have extensive ancient mine workings and debris, and heaps of
slags and retorts
• Unique skills in mining & working with iron and steel, copper and its alloys, zinc
• The tradition of underground mining in India goes back to 13th century BCE
• The art of smelting zinc ore and recovery of zinc metal by distillation must have
been discovered before the 4th century BCE
• Discovery of a brass vase containing 34.34% zinc in Takshashila
• Hindustan Zinc Limited has conducted multiple studies on the history of mining
and smelting at Zawar, Rajpura-Dariba, and Rampura-Agucha
• Studies providing intricate details on how the ancient Indians were performing
the copper mining in the Khetri mines in Rajasthan are available
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S & T Heritage of India
Metalworking
• Bronze statue of a dancing girl found at Mohenjo-Daro bears testimony to the
technological skills of the ancient craftsmen
• Evidence of the skills of the craftsmen in drilling fine holes and casting the statue using the lost wax
process (known in modern times as the cire-perdue process)
• The smelters and metalsmiths had gained a high degree of knowledge regarding furnace
design, combustion of fuel, refractories, and skill in operating the furnaces at the desired
temperature
• The knowledge of the Indian metal smiths on Iron-Carbon alloy was clearly superior and
ahead of the times
• Indians were the first to introduce Zinc to human civilization and also to develop Cu-Zn
alloys
• Indian metal smiths were adept in alloy technology as they could produce alloys of
controlled composition
• Indians developed good skills in designing and casting a variety of artefacts and deployed
good moulding and diecasting methods
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S & T Heritage of India
Gold Extraction
• The process for the extraction of gold in ancient times has
been analysed and documented by Bharat Gold Mines Ltd.
• The main purpose of the extraction of gold was to make
ornaments and coins
• It was also used as “Suvarna Bhasma” in Āyurvedic preparations.
• Ancient craftsmen could subject the purified gold metal
bar to metalworking techniques such as forging, punching,
embossing, etc. so that ornaments of intricate designs
Royal Ear rings, Andhra Pradesh,
1st century BCE
could be produced
• Gold coins were either made by die casting in clay moulds
or by the technique of punch marking
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Zinc Extraction
Downward Distillation Process
• India was the first to introduce Zinc to the rest of the world between 600 to
200 BCE
• Rajasthan was a major mining province dating back to about 1000 BCE
• Estimated that about 15,000 tonnes of Zinc ought to have been mined and
processed
• Extraction of metallic zinc flourished on an almost semi-industrial scale by
the mid-14th century CE
• Zinc was exported to other countries even before the 11th century CE
• Zinc extraction by downward distillation process
• Zinc has a melting point of 410o C and a boiling point of 930o C.
Source: Sen, S.N. and Subbarayappa, B.V. • In the open air at about 550o C Zinc gets oxidized to ZnO (Zinc Oxide).
(2009). “A concise history of Science in India”, • The only viable method to extract Zinc is to rapidly cool the Zinc vapour to
Indian National Science Academy, Second
Edition, pp 429. around 500o C to produce liquid metal thereby preventing its reoxidation
• Ancient Indians made this possible using the downward drift reduction
distillation process
• Description of a yantra in Rasa-Ratna-Samuccaya for extraction of Zinc
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Copper in Ancient Times
Copper was in Great Use
• A colossal copper statue of Buddha (7 ½ feet, 1
ton) was discovered at Sultanganj in the district of
Bhagalpur in the ruins of an old Buddhist
monastery.
• Another statue, 80 feet high was reportedly
witnessed by the Chinese traveller Hieun-Tsang
Copper statue of Buddha Prehistoric copper swords near Nalanda in a Vihara of brass constructed by
discovered at Sultangunj. discovered at Fatehgarh
King Śilāditya (606-647 CE).
• The principal use of copper was to mint coins by
the kings
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S & T Heritage of India
Copper Alloys
• Brass articles of the 1st century BCE to 1st century CE have
been found on the excavation of some ancient stupas
• Hiuen Tsang has written that Indians knew the method of
preparing brass from a mixture of copper and Calamine
• Brass along with bronze was used in making statues of
gods and goddesses in the Middle Ages
• Making of idols using pañca-loha (a combination of five
metals – gold, silver, copper, zinc, and iron)
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Brass Objects in Ancient India
Sl. No. Date and site Archaeological Specimen
1 ~ 1500 BCE Lothal No. 4189 Copper object
2 Harappan Rosdi Chisel, Celtrod, bangle
3 4th century BCE, Takshashila Vase Bm
4 2nd century BCE, Takshashila Bangle
5 2nd Century CE, Gujarat Female figure carrying flower-container Indo-Parthian
6 5th Century CE, Gandhara Buddha
7 6th Century CE, Akota Ambika
8 7th Century CE, Mahudi Rishabhanatha
9 8th Century CE, Kashmir Shiva
10 9th Century CE, Nalanda Buddha
11 11th Century CE, W. Tibet Manjusri
12 Gujarat 1350 CE Ambika
Adopted from Biswas, A.K. (1993),
“The Primacy of India in Ancient Brass 13 ~ 1480 CE Model Temple with four doors 10 X 24.5 cm
and Zinc Metallurgy” Indian Journal of 14 ~ 1485 CE Vishnu-Naryana
History of Science, 28 (4) pp 309 -330. 15 Rajasthan 15th -16th centuries CE Rajput Prince on Horse
16 Gujarat 1554 CE Kal Bhairava
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Iron Pillars & Iron Beams
• Iron pillars
• At Kutub Minar (Mehrauli near Delhi) which
weighs about 6,000 kgs
• At Dhar (12th century CE) which weighs
7,000 kgs, nearly twice as big as the Delhi
pillar
• Another on Mount Abu
• Iron Beams
• 29 iron beams in the Konark temple in Orissa
• Gigantic iron beams at Konark, which lay
buried in the sea sand for a few centuries
were recently unearthed
• Numerous iron beams at Puri and
Bhubaneswar and 239 pieces found in the
Puri Gunduchibāri temple
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Cannons
• Cannons found at
• Nurwar
• Mushirabad
• Dacca (in Bangladesh)
• Bishnupur
• Bijapur
• Gulbarga, and
• Thanjavur,
• bear ample evidence to the
medieval Indian blacksmith’s
skill in design, engineering, &
construction of large forge-
welded iron objects
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Iron & Steel
• A special type of high carbon steel was
produced in India from as early as the
fourth century BCE, known as wootz
steel
• Numerous Aśoka pillars of stone neatly
carved out of single pieces of stone of
gigantic dimensions points to the use of
saws and chisels made out of steel in
India in the 4th century BCE
• The Suśruta Saṁhitā has mentioned
the fabrication of more than 100
surgical tools made of iron-carbon
alloys and the process of heat
treatment to obtain a razor-sharp
edge that is capable of splitting a thin
hair into two longitudinally
A sample set of tools designed by Sushruta using Fe-C alloy
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Classification of Fe-C steel alloys
As per Rasa-ratna-samuccaya
Type of Iron Name Properties
Kānta-loha (Soft Bhrāmaka Very soft, magnetic iron
Iron) Cumbaka Mildly magnetic, sticks to iron pieces
Karṣaka Attracts iron objects
Drāvaka Strong magnetic iron
Romaka Permanent magnet, develops magnetic field around it
Tīkṣṇa-loha Khara Develops good cutting edge, breaks on bonding
(Carbon Steel) Sāra Softer iron, it has fibrous fracture
Hṛnnāla Hard and tough, has fibrous fracture
Tārāvaṭṭa Develops good cutting edge
Vājira Good hardening and tempering property, bluish in colour, hard cutting edge
Kāla Develops hard cutting edge after tempering
Muṇḍa-loha Mṛdu Soft, brittle, low melting point
(Cast Iron) Kunṭha Grey iron
Kadāra White cast iron
Source: Bag, A.K. (1977), History of Technology in India Vol. I, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, pp 126.
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Iron-carbon alloys in different regions of India
Yuktikalpataru (11th century CE )
• Crouñca - iron is supposed to be two times better than Sāmānya (probably
Muṇḍa-loha)
• Kaliṅga (Orissa) - 8 times better than Crouñca iron
• Bhadra - 100 times better than Kaliṅga iron
• Vajra - 1000 times better than Bhadra iron
• Pāṇdi - 6 times better than Vajra iron
• Niravi - 10 times better than Pāṇdi iron
• Kānta - Ten billion times as good as Niravi iron
सामान्याद् ि�गुण�ो�ं किलदर्शगुणस्ततः । कले: शतगुणं भ�ं भ�ा��ं सह�धा || 85.31
व�ात् षि�गुणः पािण्ड�नर्रिवदर्शिभगुर्णैः । ततः को�टसह�ेण �यस्कान्तः �शस्यते ॥ 85.32
sāmānyād dviguṇañcoktaṃ kalirdaśaguṇastataḥ | kaleḥ śataguṇaṃ bhadraṃ bhadrādvajraṃ sahasradhā || 85.31
vajrāt ṣaṣṭiguṇaḥ pāṇḍirniravirdaśabhirguṇaiḥ | tataḥ koṭisahasreṇa hyayaskāntaḥ praśasyate || 85.32
Manufacture of Steel in India
• Steel may be prepared in two ways:
• By removing part of the carbon of cast iron before it is converted into
wrought iron;
• By carburising wrought iron or making it combine with the requisite quantity
of carbon
• The second process was discovered in England only in the 18th
century CE, while Indian iron was prepared by this process from time
immemorial
• The iron produced by the Indian method is always wrought iron,
unlike cast-iron which is produced in modern blast furnaces
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Manufacture of Steel in India
• Wrought iron is first obtained by the direct method, viz. heating the ores of
iron with charcoal in small blast furnaces
• To convert the wrought iron into steel
• Each piece is cut into three parts, put into a crucible, together with a handful of the
dried branches of “taṅgedu" (Cassia auriculata) and another of fresh leaves of
"vonaṅgady" (convolvulus laurifolia)
• The mouth of the crucible is sealed with a handful of red mud and is arranged in
circular order with their bottoms turned towards the centre in a hole made on the
ground for the purpose
• The hole is then filled up with charcoal and large bellows are kept blowing for six
hours,
• The crucibles are then removed from the furnace, and water is thrown on them
whilst yet hot. The steel is found in conical pieces at the bottom of the crucibles
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Lost wax casting of idols
and artefacts
• Process adopted for producing metal sculptures based on an
original sculpture
• The beautiful idols and icons made during the Chola era were
produced using bronze using this technique
• also used to produce idols using a combination of five metals (Gold,
Silver, Lead, Copper, and Zinc) known as pañca-loha idols
• A pattern of the desired shape is made out of beeswax first (the process is
known as Madhūcchiṣṭa Vidhānam)
• A mould is then prepared by applying coatings of prepared clay slurry on it.
• Later, when the refractory clay slurry has dried the wax is removed by
baking the refractory shell
• Before casting the molten metal, the refractory shell is generally embedded
in a box filled with the sand-clay mixture for further support to the
refractory wall.
• After pouring the metal and its solidification the mould is carefully
dismantled to take out the metal casting. Further refinements and finishing
touches are given by filing, chiselling, engraving, and polishing.
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Lost wax metal casting process
Literary sources…
• Chapter 14 of Viṣṇu-saṃhitā, which is a part of Viṣṇu Purāṇa, dated to 5th
century CE mentions the need to make a wax model first before making a
metal replica
• Chapter 68 of Mānasāra has details on Madhūcchiṣṭa Vidhānam
• Manasollāsa and Abhilāṣita-cintāmaṇi of 12th century CE also provide a
detailed account of the method of preparation of wax pattern and slurry
coating
• As per these texts, the composition of the clay slurry coating consisted of
clay mixed with a certain proportion of finely ground charred rice husk and
sodium chloride
• Some studies point to the use of the lost-wax technique currently by the
tribals of Bastar for producing various brass and bronze objects
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Extraction of metallic components
• Three groups of experts were working on the extraction of metals from the
ore.
• Metalworking engineers and metalsmiths - they mine the ore and extract the metal.
• Āyurvedic practitioners - they also extracted metals and prepared therapeutic
formulations using the powder form of the metals (bhasma).
• Alchemists - were involved in extracting metals and used them in their alchemical
preparations.
• While the second and third groups worked on a smaller scale, the
metalworking engineers engaged on a bigger scale.
• Rasaratna-samuccaya has described a variety of crucibles (Mūṣā) and
furnaces for the manufacture of Āyurvedic medicines.
• Describes in total 51 kinds of metallurgical tools (upakaraṇas), 36 kinds of equipment
(yantras), 17 types of crucibles, and 9 types of furnaces
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Apparatuses used for extraction of metallic components
Dola-yantra Pātana-yantra
Uses a suspension mechanism using which the Is used whenever a sublimation or distillation process is
ingredient to be subjected to some treatment is kept in involved. In this version of Pātana-yantra for the downward
a piece of cloth, tied, and suspended using a rod. This is distillation process, the vapour passes through a pipe into
immersed in a pot half-filled with the desired liquid. another pot kept alongside. The second pot is cooled with
water and the vapour condenses into liquid and is collected
in the second pot.
Source: Sen, S.N. and Subbarayappa, B.V. (2009). “A concise history of Science in India”, Indian National Science Academy, Second Edition, pp 426-430.
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