IRON 



Trade 



Indigenous 

 Industries. 



Antiquity of 

 Knowledge. 



Material of 

 Damascus 

 Blades. 



Iron Pillar, 

 Kutab. 



Arms. 

 Wrought Iron. 



Carved Steel. 



D amascening. 



Trade. 



INDIAN INDUSTKIES 



Indigenous Industries. There would seem to be "no doubt that 

 the existing manufacture of wrought iron by a direct process was 

 widespread in the country before the date of the most ancient historic 

 records, while the manufacture of the ancient wootz anticipated by many 

 centuries the cementation process, developed in Europe, for the 

 manufacture of the finest qualities of steel." " The Native iron- 

 smelting industry has been practically stamped out by cheap imported 

 iron and steel within range of the railways, but it still persists in the 

 more remote parts of the Peninsula and in some parts of the Central 

 Provinces has shown signs of slight improvement " (Imp. Gaz., 1907, 

 iii., 145). According to Mr. Syed Ali Belgrami, the Nizam's Dominions 

 furnished the material from which the famous Damascus blades of the 

 Middle Ages were made. To this day Hyderabad is noted for its 

 swords and daggers. Holland observes that so far as official returns 

 are concerned, the Central Provinces show the highest production 

 of iron, viz. from 2,400 to 4,800 tons ; but there is also a sensible 

 industry surviving in Bijawar, Panna and Orchha amongst the Central 

 Indian States, as well as in Mysore and in some parts of the Madras 

 Presidency. " Steel is made, both in the form of ingots by the 

 carburisation of wrought-iron in crucibles, and, on a much smaller scale, 

 by the decarburisation of cast-iron shot in a small open hearth." 



The antiquity of the Indian knowledge in iron may be judged of from the 

 famous pillar at the Kutab near Delhi ; from the numerous examples that 

 exist of wrought iron ; from the hammered and perforated door panels both 

 in iron and brass to be seen at the ancient palaces and tombs ; and from the 

 superb collections of arms perserved by the princes and nobles. Burma has 

 for many years been known to have attained high proficiency in wrought 

 iron. Near the Arakan pagoda of Mandalay numerous workshops exist for 

 the production of the iron ihees or the umbrellas placed as weather-cocks 

 on the pagodas of Burma. At the pagodas, balustrades in iron are also 

 frequently used, and this demand has given birth to a fairly large 

 import trade in very inferior cast-iron imitations of fine old Burmese 

 designs in wrought iron. Of Western India, Baroda is noted for its 

 wrought-iron balustrades. The engraving and carving of iron and steel 

 was some years ago an important industry in India, and Kanara, Madura, 

 Malabar, Vizagapatam and Mysore were famous for their works of this 

 class. The art is still practised at Udaipur, Jaipur, and Jodhpur. 

 Hyderabad, Deccan, and Kach are famed for their arms ; and the gold and 

 silver damascened soft-steel wares such as armour, swords, shields, caskets, 

 etc. (koftgari work) of Sialkot, Serhoi, Jaipur, are traded in all over 

 India and largely exported. The decline of the Sikh power and the modern 

 change in the methods and materials of warfare struck, however, a deadly 

 blow at the damascening art, and a serious decline both in the amount 

 and quality of the work has for years past been manifest (Ind. Art at 

 Delhi, 1903, 14-45, 460-2). 



TRADE. Imports. It is difficult to give anything like an accurate 

 conception of the total traffic in iron. The local production is but 

 imperfectly known ; an error must therefore always exist. A large 

 number of articles that are partly constructed of iron are sure to be re- 

 turned under other headings, but the figures under hardware and cutlery, 

 iron, steel, machinery, railway plant, rolling stock, locomotives, etc. 

 (Merchandise and Government Stores), give some idea of the vast magni- 



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