Early iron smelting in the Ganges plain
Siderurgia temprana de la llanura del Ganges
- Date
- c. 1800 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Malhar, Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Credited to
- Middle Ganges cultures
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Slag, tuyères and iron tools radiocarbon-dated at Malhar, Lahuradewa and Raja Nala-ka-tila point to local iron smelting at the start of the 2nd millennium BCE. They suggest Indian ironworking arose independently of the Anatolian tradition.
Tewari's dates (2003) are disputed; the consensus places widespread iron use in India around 1200-1000 BCE.
What it led to
- iron tools for clearing the Ganges plain
- second urbanisation of northern India
- iron and steel tradition that led to wootz