When in India "died" wootz?

mahratt · 19th February 2016, 12:38 PM

Jim,
I always thought that not every iron ore is suitable for the production of wootz steel ... Maybe I'm wrong. Correct me please.

Jim McDougall · 19th February 2016, 03:42 PM

Good points Ariel, the exhaustion or depletion of iron ore in one location would not preclude further deposits in other regions. So then we return to the abandonment of the skills required in processing the wootz..
If the demand for the regular forms of steel in accord with the development of British industry in India became the primary demand, then of course the skilled workers in wootz would have diminished.

Mahratt, that is an interesting thought, and again, I am very much a novice at metallurgy so bear with me. While it does seem possible that ore may have differences in its content, I had thought that the processing of wootz had more to do with the manner of smelting. The methods of placement in crucibles with the ore and other components, temperatures and cooling as well as the carburizing components...wood, leaves etc. seem to have varied in the different locations producing wootz.

I know there are some very knowledgeable metallurgists and skilled metal workers in our ranks here in addition to you guys and those who have already entered here, so maybe they might add some perspective as well.

Emanuel · 19th February 2016, 04:29 PM

I am in general agreement with you Ariel. I just pointed out that crucible steel production and the production of blades with this material might have continued in very small quantities and on a non-industrial basis. Not just Rajput Rajas used and collected these objects, as I mentioned, and not finding any published ones from the Rajput royal collections does not mean they didn't exist

. Again, just looking at Sikh craftsmen and their ability to maintain their craft into the 21st century suggests that somewhere on some scale however small, the production of wootz and wootz blades continued until relatively late.

Regarding the skill vanishing, my understanding is that the skill and knowledge required to produce this metal in both India and Central Asia was concentrated in key production hubs, under the patronage of powerful groups. Once that hub was destroyed, or the patronage was removed for whatever reason, be it military, economical, political or fashionable, the concentrated skill was rendered obsolete and the skill dispersed.

So I agree that the need and desire for wootz/bulat/pulad changed, and the concentrated skill just had to move on.

Ann Feuerbach, and Anosov before her documented numerous ways of making crucible steel with more or less pronounced patterns. The type of ore did not seem to matter too much, but cleaner iron ore certainly made the process easier. Dr. Ann found documented evidence of relatively poor material used in crucible furnaces in both India and Central Asia (Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan). Running out of cleaner ore did not mean the ore with more impurities could not be refined further before the crucible process.

ariel · 19th February 2016, 05:33 PM

Emanuel and Jim,

Agree. I only doubt we can use modern Pakistani creations as an argument: the metallurgy of crucible steel is far too well known now and there were no wootz blades from that area until the sudden emergence of commercial interest in them :-) Finding occasional wootz blades on obviously new-ish sabers and chooras proves nothing: they were most likely remounted. Wootz forging is a complex craft; even now modern wootz examples from the best bladesmiths cannot compare in their pattern with the old ones. Maintaining proficiency while forging one blade every couple of years is unlikely.

We shall wait for Elgood's Jodhpur collection book to widen the net. Would be nice to have similarly well-researched accounts from other royal arsenals, but that's what we have.

As to South Indian examples, they (surprisingly, taken into account Sri Lanka, Golconda etc. sources of wootz ingots) forged their blades primarily from plain steel. Wootz was rarely if ever used. Why it was so, I do not know.

Perhaps, they knew something about comparative worth of wootz vs. steel blades :-)))

mahratt · 19th February 2016, 06:46 PM

Emanuel, Jim,
I understand so - again have our general arguments and no facts about the "disappearance" wootz (from historical sources the mid-late 19th century). But in the 1840s prinyts Saltykov sees in India a lot wootz items for sale .... (What he wrote in his letters). Probably all wootz bought Europeans for their collections

This version is also a good explanation of the "disappearance" of wootz steel in India

Jim McDougall · 19th February 2016, 11:28 PM

Still remaining intrigued by this topic, I thought it time to revisit Egerton (Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms", 1880), and found some interesting contemporary observations:

pp.56-59,

"Wootz or Indian steel exported from Cutch to ports on Persian Gulf".
p.57,
"the Indian steel, however, has never equaled the European in toughness and flexibility. It is either too brittle , like the best tempered blades, or soft and easily bent like some of the blades used in Southern India".
(this cited from Walhouse, in the 'Indian Antiquary' 1878)

He notes Wilkinson describing the manufacture of steel,
"...the iron of Hyderabad is said to furnish the best steel exported to Persia"
Further he notes the Persian merchants who frequent the furnaces say that in Persia they have in vain endeavored to imitate the steel formed from it. It is found at Konasanundrum and Dimdurti, twenty miles east of Nirmsal and is made from a magnetic iron ore diffused in a sandstone looking gneiss or schist, passing by insensible degrees into hornblende slate.

It is noted that 3/5 of this iron is mixed with 2/5 from the Indore District where ore appears to be a peroxide and that mixing of the two must have some effect on the crystallization producing the beautiful 'water'.
p.58
The name of Arnachellam of Salem as an armourer has been known over the past 50 years in India (remember Egerton wrote in 1880).

The excellent steel of Coimbatore and North Arcot is much used. At Elgundel there is a manufacture of swords, daggers and spearheads of the steel obtained there.

p.59
In Mysore the iron is made from the black sand found in the channels of all the rivers. Near Seringpatam there are FIVE FORGES where steel is made, principally FOR EXPORTATION. It is used for stonecutters chisels and sword blades.

The swords of Persia are so generally worn by Indian rajahs that the process converting Indian steel into these finely watered blades must be mentioned,
and he describes Ispahan, Khorassan, Kazveen and Shiraz as THE LAST PLACES SWORD BLADES chiefly made.

In looking through these references, which I add here as talking points regarding elements of our discussion, I am wondering about some of the notes...for example, the forges in Mysore making steel.......it seems unlikely that wootz would be used for chisels! ? so then was this regular type steel (sword blades as noted) ? or indeed wootz as suggested in the earlier notes.

So we seem to have a substantial industry of steel producing in these regions c. 1870s but how much was actual wootz to me seems unclear.
That the Persians would visit the forges and not be able to imitate the steel suggests perhaps some sort of consistency in the ore? as certainly they would have seen the process being performed.

estcrh · 20th February 2016, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

In looking through these references, which I add here as talking points regarding elements of our discussion, I am wondering about some of the notes...for example, the forges in Mysore making steel.......it seems unlikely that wootz would be used for chisels! ? so then was this regular type steel (sword blades as noted) ? or indeed wootz as suggested in the earlier notes.

Jim, I believe that tools and swords etc were made with crucible steel, but not all items made with crucible steel showed watering as in wootz / damascus steel, that had to do with the method of forging, it was a two part process.

19th February 2016, 12:38 PM	#1
mahratt Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Russia Posts: 1,042	Jim, I always thought that not every iron ore is suitable for the production of wootz steel ... Maybe I'm wrong. Correct me please.

19th February 2016, 03:42 PM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,190	Good points Ariel, the exhaustion or depletion of iron ore in one location would not preclude further deposits in other regions. So then we return to the abandonment of the skills required in processing the wootz.. If the demand for the regular forms of steel in accord with the development of British industry in India became the primary demand, then of course the skilled workers in wootz would have diminished. Mahratt, that is an interesting thought, and again, I am very much a novice at metallurgy so bear with me. While it does seem possible that ore may have differences in its content, I had thought that the processing of wootz had more to do with the manner of smelting. The methods of placement in crucibles with the ore and other components, temperatures and cooling as well as the carburizing components...wood, leaves etc. seem to have varied in the different locations producing wootz. I know there are some very knowledgeable metallurgists and skilled metal workers in our ranks here in addition to you guys and those who have already entered here, so maybe they might add some perspective as well.

19th February 2016, 04:29 PM	#3
Emanuel Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,242	I am in general agreement with you Ariel. I just pointed out that crucible steel production and the production of blades with this material might have continued in very small quantities and on a non-industrial basis. Not just Rajput Rajas used and collected these objects, as I mentioned, and not finding any published ones from the Rajput royal collections does not mean they didn't exist . Again, just looking at Sikh craftsmen and their ability to maintain their craft into the 21st century suggests that somewhere on some scale however small, the production of wootz and wootz blades continued until relatively late. Regarding the skill vanishing, my understanding is that the skill and knowledge required to produce this metal in both India and Central Asia was concentrated in key production hubs, under the patronage of powerful groups. Once that hub was destroyed, or the patronage was removed for whatever reason, be it military, economical, political or fashionable, the concentrated skill was rendered obsolete and the skill dispersed. So I agree that the need and desire for wootz/bulat/pulad changed, and the concentrated skill just had to move on. Ann Feuerbach, and Anosov before her documented numerous ways of making crucible steel with more or less pronounced patterns. The type of ore did not seem to matter too much, but cleaner iron ore certainly made the process easier. Dr. Ann found documented evidence of relatively poor material used in crucible furnaces in both India and Central Asia (Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan). Running out of cleaner ore did not mean the ore with more impurities could not be refined further before the crucible process.

19th February 2016, 05:33 PM	#4
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Emanuel and Jim, Agree. I only doubt we can use modern Pakistani creations as an argument: the metallurgy of crucible steel is far too well known now and there were no wootz blades from that area until the sudden emergence of commercial interest in them :-) Finding occasional wootz blades on obviously new-ish sabers and chooras proves nothing: they were most likely remounted. Wootz forging is a complex craft; even now modern wootz examples from the best bladesmiths cannot compare in their pattern with the old ones. Maintaining proficiency while forging one blade every couple of years is unlikely. We shall wait for Elgood's Jodhpur collection book to widen the net. Would be nice to have similarly well-researched accounts from other royal arsenals, but that's what we have. As to South Indian examples, they (surprisingly, taken into account Sri Lanka, Golconda etc. sources of wootz ingots) forged their blades primarily from plain steel. Wootz was rarely if ever used. Why it was so, I do not know. Perhaps, they knew something about comparative worth of wootz vs. steel blades :-)))

19th February 2016, 06:46 PM	#5
mahratt Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Russia Posts: 1,042	Emanuel, Jim, I understand so - again have our general arguments and no facts about the "disappearance" wootz (from historical sources the mid-late 19th century). But in the 1840s prinyts Saltykov sees in India a lot wootz items for sale .... (What he wrote in his letters). Probably all wootz bought Europeans for their collections This version is also a good explanation of the "disappearance" of wootz steel in India

19th February 2016, 11:28 PM	#6
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,190	Still remaining intrigued by this topic, I thought it time to revisit Egerton (Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms", 1880), and found some interesting contemporary observations: pp.56-59, "Wootz or Indian steel exported from Cutch to ports on Persian Gulf". p.57, "the Indian steel, however, has never equaled the European in toughness and flexibility. It is either too brittle , like the best tempered blades, or soft and easily bent like some of the blades used in Southern India". (this cited from Walhouse, in the 'Indian Antiquary' 1878) He notes Wilkinson describing the manufacture of steel, "...the iron of Hyderabad is said to furnish the best steel exported to Persia" Further he notes the Persian merchants who frequent the furnaces say that in Persia they have in vain endeavored to imitate the steel formed from it. It is found at Konasanundrum and Dimdurti, twenty miles east of Nirmsal and is made from a magnetic iron ore diffused in a sandstone looking gneiss or schist, passing by insensible degrees into hornblende slate. It is noted that 3/5 of this iron is mixed with 2/5 from the Indore District where ore appears to be a peroxide and that mixing of the two must have some effect on the crystallization producing the beautiful 'water'. p.58 The name of Arnachellam of Salem as an armourer has been known over the past 50 years in India (remember Egerton wrote in 1880). The excellent steel of Coimbatore and North Arcot is much used. At Elgundel there is a manufacture of swords, daggers and spearheads of the steel obtained there. p.59 In Mysore the iron is made from the black sand found in the channels of all the rivers. Near Seringpatam there are FIVE FORGES where steel is made, principally FOR EXPORTATION. It is used for stonecutters chisels and sword blades. The swords of Persia are so generally worn by Indian rajahs that the process converting Indian steel into these finely watered blades must be mentioned, and he describes Ispahan, Khorassan, Kazveen and Shiraz as THE LAST PLACES SWORD BLADES chiefly made. In looking through these references, which I add here as talking points regarding elements of our discussion, I am wondering about some of the notes...for example, the forges in Mysore making steel.......it seems unlikely that wootz would be used for chisels! ? so then was this regular type steel (sword blades as noted) ? or indeed wootz as suggested in the earlier notes. So we seem to have a substantial industry of steel producing in these regions c. 1870s but how much was actual wootz to me seems unclear. That the Persians would visit the forges and not be able to imitate the steel suggests perhaps some sort of consistency in the ore? as certainly they would have seen the process being performed.