The Sword of Tipu Sultan and Wootz Steel


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

The Sword of Tipu Sultan and Wootz Steel

The Sword of Tipu Sultan and Wootz Steel: Tipu Sultan, who ruled Mysore till 1799, fought four wars with the British and died fighting with his sword in his hand. Tipu’s legendary swords are now part of valuable collections in museums in England.  The sword had an incredibly hard and sharp edge that could easily rip through the opponent’s armour. This quality of the sword came from a special type of high carbon steel called Wootz which was produced all over south India. Wootz steel when made into sword produced a very sharp edge with a flowing water pattern. This pattern came from very small carbon crystals embedded in the iron. Francis Buchanan who toured through Mysore in 1800, a very after Tipu Sultan’s death, has left us an account of the technique by which Wootz steel was produced in many hundreds of smelting furnaces in Mysore. In these furnaces, iron was mixed with charcoal and put inside small clay pots. Through an intricate control of temperatures the smelters produced steel ingots that were used for sword making. Wootz is an anglicised version of the Kannada word Ukku, Telugu hukku and Tamil and Malayalam urukku- meaning steel. Indian Wootz steel fascinated European scientists. Michael faraday, the legendary scientist and discoverer of electricity and electromagnetism, spent four years studying the properties of Indian Wootz (1818-22).years studying the properties of Indian Wootz (1818-22).

Tipu's sword made in the late 18th century.

There is a reason why the iron smelting decline in the later years so following points are:

  • The iron smelting declined in the later years because the swords and armours making the industry died with the conquest of India by the British and imports of iron and steel from England displaced the iron and steel produced by craftpersons in India.
  • Secondly, production of wootz steel required a highly specialized technique of refining iron. But iron smelting in India was extremely common till the end of the 19th century.
  • In most villages , furnaces fell into disuse and the amount of iron produced came down.
  • One more reason was the new forest laws imposed when the colonial government prevented the people from entering the reserved forest , the iron smelters could not find wood for charcoal, and they also could not get iron ore.
  • Defying forest laws, they often entered the forest secretly and collected wood, but they could not sustain their occupation on the basis for long.
  • Many gave up their crafts and looked for other means of livelihood.
  • In some areas, the government granted access to the forest. but the iron smelters had to pay a very high tax to the forest department for every furnace they used. they reduced their income. by the late 19th century , iron and steel was being imported from Britain. Ironsmiths in India began using imported iron to manufacture utensils and equipments. this inevitably lowered the demand for iron produced by local smelters.
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