Historical perspective of iron in ancient India

Iron is an important metal which has influenced the march of civilization over atleast 5000 years and it has been in the service of man from the dawn of time. The ancient scriptures and legends have extensive references about the use of iron. The archaeological evidences show that iron was being made all over India and there was no written records of the process of manufacturing iron. The technology has been handed over from one person to another within a limited group. Unfortunately this art phased out with the development of new technology during 19-20 century. The paper discusses the various sources of existence of iron, its utilization and importance right from pre-Rig Vedic period upto the first half of 20 century.