THE 
MANGANESE-ORE DEPOSITS OF INDIA 
PART III 
ECON^OMICS AND MINING 
CHAPTER XXT. 
ECONOMICS & MINING 
History of the Indian Manganese Industry. 
The working of manganese- ores by the natives of India — Vernacular nanaeg 
for manganese -ore. 
The fluctuations in the price of manganese-ore. 
History of the modern manganese industry in India — Madras — Central Provinces 
— Central India — Bengal — Bombay — Mysore. 
Although, as far as I am aware, there are no ancient records on 
The working of manga- Subject, it Seems probable that 
nese-ores by the natives of the existence of manganesc-ores in India 
has been recognized by the natives of the 
country from time immemorial. They probably regarded them 
as a sort of iron- ore and made some use of them both in iron- 
smelting, and for colouring glasses and enamels, as well as occasionally 
confounding them with surma or antimony suiphide, then using them 
for colouring the eye-brows black. Thus, as noted on page 595, I found, 
when at Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats, that the Dhavads or 
local iron-smelters had a separate word — imral — for manganese- ore ; 
they said they used to put a certain amount of it into the charge when 
smelting iron. Further, an anonymous writer i states that there is a 
tradition amongst these Dhavads that the Phoenicians used to carry 
away manganese- ore. The use at the present day of manganiferous iron. 
1 The Indo-European Commercial Intelligence and Trade Register, T, p. 47^ 
(1907) 
HI A 2 
