Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – 11-03-2023- Iron and Steel – continued (5)

Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2^nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – 11-03-2023- Iron and Steel – continued (5)

11-03-2023- Iron and steel paper continued- Results and discussion XRF analysis[1]: The samples were analysed using XRF. Figure 3 a–d shows details of composition (in wt%). Although XRF is not a reliable technique to obtain the elemental composition, we have used it to get an approximate idea regarding the composition before cutting samples. Iron shows up as a major element for each sample in the XRF analysis. Therefore, it is confirmed that the samples are ferrous (Fe). Carbon and phosphorus are the primary alloying elements in iron, which are also reported by Sukhanov et al.34. The XRF plot shows that each sample contains iron and phosphorus, which are the main elements for iron and steel (Figure 3).

The percentage of carbon is not shown due to the limitation of the XRF analysis. Other elements (non-metals Na, Cl, Ca) present in the sample as impurity during excavation are also observed in the XRF bar graph. Microstructural analysis The optical microstructure of the specimen is shown in Figure 4 a for sample AM/1 (axe).

Figure 4 a shows the region in the microstructure of the material etched with Nital. The microstructure reveals that specimen AM/1 is made using high carbon steel. Figure 4 a shows randomly oriented morphology with three-dimensional shapes such as plate, lath and sheet. The randomly oriented pattern and ultra-fine microstructure indicate that the specimen is introduced with severe thermo-mechanical processing during product manufacture or production of iron. It is also observed from Figure 4 a that various inclusions and slags are trapped inside the microstructure in rod and round shape. Figure 4 a shows that the rod-shaped inclusions are oriented in the horizontal direction and the loading/hammering during processing is vertical.

The bloomery process[2] produces a variety of similar iron and steel objects, as illustrated in the literature[3]. The inclusion and slag are generally trapped inside the bloom, and need continuous hammering to remove the slag and unburnt charcoal fuel. Therefore, the analysis suggests that the axe was perhaps made using steel which was a product of the bloomery process. Similarly, the microstructure from an optical microscope for the samples AM/2, AM/3 and VM/1 is shown in Figure 4 b–d respectively, in the polished and etched condition (Nital). Pits, micro-cracks and foreign particles can be seen in each sample, which shows their degraded state loaded with foreign particles. For sample AM/2 (Figure 4 b), the microstructure shows the network of foreign particles with metal, including voids. However, the structure observed in the rectangular box reveals the solidification microstructure. Similarly, Figure 4 c shows the columnar solidification morphology in sample AM/3. This structure is similar to that found in the cast and solidified steels. Sample VM/1 also shows a similar alternate columnar structure (Figure 4 d).

Phase analysis[4]: A detailed analysis of different samples was done using FE-SEM and EDX techniques to reveal the microstructure and phases present inside the specimen. The mirrorfinished polished samples were observed under FE-SEM without etching (Figure 5 a–d). Figure 5 a shows the photomicrograph of sample AM/1, which contains trapped oxide and slag inside the iron matrix. The alignment of rod-shaped inclusion in a particular direction indicates the thermo-mechanical processing which the axe might have undergone during manufacture. Very fine spherical pinholes are also observed in the microstructure. This could be the result of the trapped slag and unburnt charcoal as the secondary phase inside the specimen during the bloomery process. Figure 5 b shows the photomicrograph of sample AM/2, which is loaded with the cavity and pores (black region). The white part shows the iron and the dark part is the cavity under the backscattered mode of FE-SEM. Figure 5 c shows the cluster of very fine bright dendrites, wüstite, which are also reported in the available literature.

Wüstite phases are commonly available in the iron slag of the bloomery process. Prokop and Suliga8 studied the iron slag from Meghalaya, North East India, and showed that wüstite is present as an acid product for the bloomery iron-making process. In general, the production of iron from its ore produces iron, steel and slag during smelting. The steel and iron are extracted and used locally or traded to far-off places, whereas slags are abandoned near the smelting sites. The slag with the wüstite phase also signifies the microstructure from the bloomery process. The slag is loaded with various voids and a very fine structure of wüstite, and rapidly cools during smelting. Figure 5 d reveals the microstructure of iron slag for sample VM/1 with iron- and silica-rich phase in slag. Detailed analysis of the iron matrix and secondary phases was done using the EDX technique attached to FE-SEM. Figure 6 a shows the SEM micrograph for the AM/1 samples and the EDX spectrum is measured on the slag (dark region) in the micrograph. The slag is rich in metals and non-metals, including iron, which is shown in the inset table. Figure 6 b shows the chemical composition of the iron matrix (sample AM/1) free from inclusions.

The composition[5]: The composition shows the product is made of high carbon steel followed by the carburization process. The specimens are generally heat-treated in the presence of charcoal to improve the strength of the surface of the product. Therefore, the percentage of carbon is relatively higher than steel. It is also observed that the lack of brittleness shows that the product is not made of cast iron, and therefore it is suitable for weapons like axe and sword. Figure 6 c–e shows the EDX map, including the wt% of elements inside the slag for AM/2, AM/3 and VM/1 respectively. The analysis shows the slag includes various acidic products like silica and aluminium. These are mainly observed inside the steel slag, as illustrated in the literature35. It is also observed from the elemental composition and EDX map that the percentage of iron is very high inside the iron slag. The bloomery process during ancient metallurgy was not advanced, and therefore a very high amount of iron remained with the slag. Mechanical analysis The Vickers microhardness for the samples was measured and is plotted in Figure 7 with the indentation micrograph for each sample. The indentation area for sample AM/1 is much more compared to that for the rest of the samples. The size of the indent, as shown in the Figure 7 inset, decreases with increase in hardness, which is also observed in the hardness plot. It is observed that the structure of slags is highly non-homogeneous and reveals a metal–slag composite structure. Therefore, the value of micro-hardness for the slags tremendously varied from the standard deviation and showed a relatively higher value of hardness than the high carbon steel sample (AM/1).

Conclusion[6]: The iron objects collected from two different sites, viz. Ambal and Vallam in Tamil Nadu, dated mid-1st millennium BCE to 10th c. CE and 15^th to 18^th c. CE respectively, were analysed using microscopy as well as mechanical and elemental composition characterization techniques. The result shows that the cutting tool (like an axe) was made of high carbon steel, including the heat-treatment process. The study shows that the tradition of steelmaking might have been well established and the inhabitants were fully equipped with smelting and thermo-mechanical processing facilities. It is also observed that analysing a core for characterization yields more accurate results. Generally, microstructures are not identifiable in slags. However, the slags analysed in this study were loaded with substantial non-metallic materials. Thus in the absence of good quality microstructure and hardness data, a definite conclusion regarding the slags would be premature. However, the present study shows evidence of indigenous steelmaking process in southern Tamil Nadu.

These objects were broadly derived from two contexts: one in the Iron Age–early historical context (AM/1) and others in the medieval context. The production of iron in the Iron Age and early historic contexts could be different. The Iron Age society was predominantly agropastoral, and the implements were produced for agrarian and defence purposes. These samples are from habitation sites, and the Iron Age–early historical sample was part of a craft system that was producing artifacts for the community involved in agrarian operations and also in wars, and is closer to the megalithic cult tradition.

Referring to Sangam literature: The Sangam Tamil poems discuss iron technology and refer to the importance of iron swords in various battles. Thus the iron crafting tradition of the Iron Age–early historic period was in the context of warring communities. However, in medieval times different types of iron production took place; while the medieval kings were involved in battles, they required iron swords; but in household and day-to-day contexts, people used iron objects for construction and other activities. The objects from medieval contexts were mostly from nail fragments. The iron nails produced for construction would be used only once, and hence they would be of different quality. However, the implements used for cutting as part of agrarian and pastoral and battle purposes would have been prepared with care. This might explain the nature of the iron objects presented in the two groups of samples discussed here. However, this needs to be tested by collecting various objects of functional categories from the Iron Age to the medieval period to understand how functional categories determined the production patterns.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

14-03-2023.

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[1] Singh, A. K., Kanungo, A. K., Selvakumar, V., & Arora, A. (2021). Ancient high-carbon steel from southern Tamil Nadu, India: microstructural and elemental analysis. CURRENT SCIENCE, 121(2), 239.

[2] A bloomery is a type of metallurgical furnace once used widely for smelting iron from its oxides. The bloomery was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron. Bloomeries produce a porous mass of iron and slag called a bloom. The mix of slag and iron in the bloom, termed sponge iron, is usually consolidated and further forged into wrought iron. Blast furnaces, which produce pig iron, have largely superseded bloomeries.

[3]https://asc.iitgn.ac.in/assets/publications/research_papers/High_Carbon_Steel_S_TN_Current_Science_2021.pdf

[4] Qureshi, Mo Rizwan Ahmad, Nishkarsh Srivastava, Alok Kumar Kanungo, Amit Arora, and K. Krishnaraj. “Iron technology in medieval Kerala: archaeometallurgical studies on iron artefacts from Triprangode.” CURRENT SCIENCE 124, no. 3 (2023): 333.

[5] https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/124/03/0333.pdf

[6]  It is evident that they have been presenting and publishing the same subject matter, data, information, analysis etc., in different forums, seminars and journals, yet, this paper has been different from others, showing new details about the iron and steel manufacture.

K. P. Rao was virtually grabbing mike from the paper presenter and he even pushed his hand, as could been seen from the vide recorded.

He was prevented from responding to the questions.

Similarly at the other side, from the audience also, those who wanted to get clarifications were prevented on the one or the other pretext.

Here, also, K. V. Ramakrishna Rao, as an engineer wanted to ask pointed question, but, he was prevented, ……….as could be noted from the recorded video…..

Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – the second day proceedings – 11-03-2023- continued (4)

Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2^nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – the second day proceedings – 11-03-2023- continued (4)

Srinivas V. Parigar

11-03-2023 – Srinivas V. Parigar presented a paper on “Looking for Early Tamil Nadu Artistic Elements in the Deccan”: Taking the 543-900 CE period taken for the study of research, he was emphasizing that the southern art was not so impressive that were coming from the north and trying to compare the sculptures of Chalukya and Pallavas mainly. Depending upon the inscriptions, he was pointing out that the Pallava grantha character partially damaged 543 CE, When Narasimha Varman invaded and conquered Vatapi, it was destroyed. With the sculptures of Vaikuntamurthy, Ananthamurthy Vishnu, as Narasimha image is found, on the top of the head, he tries to interpret that he (Narasimha Varman –I) might have added this sculpture on the head of the Vishnu. Of course, he accepts that there is no inscriptional evidence for such an interpretation.

With Vamana-Trivikrama images, he tries to differentiate that Narasimha would have changed the Chalukya style. That is the artists and sculptors of the period would have changed the features and styles of the deities carved and thus the variance was noted.

Then with the images of Mahisasura Mardini, he was explaining different features – Durga chasing Mahisasura – points out differences. He then compared it with Ellora sculptures also. As he already pointed out that such artistic representation of the deities was evolved in the north and spread to the suth. Generation to generation, the artists had been slowly changing the depiction of Mahisasuramardini. Then he interprets the hair style and other features are also changing.

The depiction of the style of Dvarapalalas were also changing (Ayudhapurushas)- the change  might also be due to sectarian philosophy. Though he took the period 543-900 CE, he was not specifically coming out what was there in change during the period.

He was explaining the features of dwarapalakas also.

He was trying to explain how they style of Goddesses were also changing…

So when asked about the dating of the Pallava script, he avoided saying that it was not the subject of his paper (though pointed out that inscription was damaged). When K. V. Ramakrishna Rao asked about the dating of the script with reference to the sculptures of the Chalukyas, Pallavas etc., the paper presenter avoided Then, J. Soundarajan asked about the dating of the sculptures in a different way. For that, he responded that he caught the point but telling he was concentrating only on the sculptural and artistic differences. When started asking, it was announced that time was over.

Tony Joseph – Population Genetics Ancient DNA and the peopling of India (on-line): Tony Joseph discusses the chain of reasoning behind the dating of the Out of Africa migration, based on genetic, climatic, and fossil data, and the possible routes taken out of Africa into Asia. It appears that the first modern humans (Homo sapiens) with whom we can establish genetic continuity, settled in India about 65,000 years ago. This does not mean that there were no members of any Homo species in India before that and, indeed, the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh, famous for the rock art of their inhabitants, seem to have been occupied at various points in time from about 100,000 years ago. There are also Paleolithic tools from Attirampakkam in Tamil Nadu dating back to 1.5 million years ago. South Asia seems to have been highly populated for a very long time, but these older lineages who crafted the earliest tools or created the earliest rock art in the Indian subcontinent do not share genetic continuity with us, leading the Early Indians story to focus on the period from 65,000 years onwards.

It took about 5000 years before the establishment of agriculture in Mehrgarh leading to the development of the Harappan Civilization between 4600–3900 years ago (2600–1900 BCE). At its peak, the Harappan Civilization covered an area of about 1 million square kilometres (about one-third the size of India) and included cities located in presentday Pakistan, western India, and northeastern Afghanistan. Some of the important cities excavated include Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, and Dholavira. The inhabitants were the descendants of the mixing between the people from the Zagros region and the First Indians. Tony Joseph provides a fascinating account of the artefacts (including bangles and toys, water buffalo seals, standardized weights and measures, and ‘lotas’ in toilets that every house seemed to have had!), customs, and city planning in the Harappan Civilization, and trade links with other civilizations. A sticky issue has been that of the language that was spoken in the Harappan Civilization since the script has not yet been deciphered. However, based on the genetic and archaeological findings of the connection between the Zagrosians and the Harappan Civilization, it is possible that the former brought a Mesopotamian language with them, possibly a Proto-Elamite language. Elamite is extinct now but is related to Brahui, which is spoken in parts of Balochistan and is also related to the Dravidian languages of India.

Arunraj, Yatish kumar and Muthukumar presented a paper on Adichanallur, Trichy ASI. Arunraj, Director started describing the various objects found at Adchanallur. He was also comparing the findings of Alexander Rae with that of present excavated examples. He was mainly addressing the students showing many photographs. The details from his catalogue book – The two important collections which form the subject of this catalogue were brought together as tbe result of excavations conducted by Mr. A. Rea, formerly Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of India, Southern Circle, and are exhibited in an extension of the Prehistoric Gallery of the Madras Government Museum which was specially erected for their accommodation.By far the more extensive of the two finds is that from Adichanallur and other localities in the Tinnevelly or most southern district of the Madras Presidency. The Adichanallur site was first brought to notice in 1876, when it was visited by Dr. Jagor of Berlin, who secured a considerable number of articles for the Berlin Museum fur Volkerkunde. Further explorations were conducted in the winter of 1903-1904, by M. Louis Lapicque of Paris, which resulted in additional collections, and as a result of their examination M. Lapicque arrived at the conclusion that the remains belonged to a Proto-Dravidian race. A detailed investigation of the sites was conducted by Mr. Rea, at intervals from 1899 to J 905, when the present collection and a large number of duplicates were obtained. While admitting that the burialgrounds might be of great antiquity, Mr. Rea was on the whole disposed to think that they were of Pandyan origin and ight even have been in use after the commencement of the Christian era. The burial-ground at Adichanallur covers an area of one hundred and fourteen acres and is the most extensive yet discovered in South India. The funeral urns were deposited.

Alok Kumar Kanungo and Amit Arora presented a paper on “South Indian Iron: An antiquity and metallurgical study”: This paper mainly had dealt with the taken some selected sites and the iron samples and sent them for metallurgical analysis. As a pilot study (microscope, elemental composition, microstructure, carbon content and AMS dating) is carried out on selected Iron findings from the sites – Ambal, Gangaikondacholapuram, Keeladi, Mangadu, Poram, Vallam. Iron in south India goes back to c.2000 BCE, because of urbanization and cultural development. There were much evidence that Iron and steel were produced and so also articles out of them. Therefore, the people of these areas were knowing Iron alloying techniques to manufacture steel of all categories with high-temperature handling capabilities. . …Bloomery and blast iron methods were developed at different places. The Bloomery method has been the most ancient practice in steel making in India. The inclusion of slag in the microstructure as noted proves the bloomer method used. Hammering would get the required microstructure. This paper also comes under the “reverse engineering” category, as they have studied the ferrous metallic objects thoroughly with microanalysis.

The present study area is southern Tamil Nadu, the region south of River Kaveri (Figure 1 a). Humans have colonized this region from pre-historic times. The Tamil University, Thanjavur excavated the archaeological sites of Vallam, Nagapattinam and Ambal, and the Archaeological Survey of India excavated Therazhundur. These studies have resulted in establishing the cultural chronology and cultural contact of the ancient inhabitants. The study also shows that Tamil culture had spread to the neighbouring island country of Sri Lanka. This study deals with iron artefacts retrieved from two sites, viz. Ambal and Vallam. These two sites are close to the Bay of Bengal (west of 79°50′E); this strategic location played a major role in trade and cultural contact.

Ambal: The site of Ambal (10°56′53.58″N; 79°42′12.65″E) is located in Nagapattinam district (border of Tiruvarur) and was excavated under the directorship of Selvakumar32 in 2015–16. The site has been inhabited from Iron Age until the modern times, through early historic, early medieval and late medieval periods. Throughout these periods, it has yielded a good number of iron and copper implements. One of the early objects, viz. axe was found in the lowermost layer at the site, i.e. the Iron Age (Figure 1 b). Two crucibles used for possible copper working were also found in the early medieval period (Figure 1 c).

Vallam: The site of Vallam (10°42′50.4″N; 79°4′12.72″E) in Thanjavur district was excavated under the directorship of Subbarayalu.

Specimens and methods: The specimens such as axe (AM/1) and iron objects (AM/2, AM/3 and VM/1) were recovered from two habitation sites of Ambal and Vallam. Table 1 provides the sample details, associated dates and conditions of the samples. These samples were from three different periods, i.e. Iron Age, early medieval and medieval age. Figure 2 a–d shows the physical appearance of the samples before mounting for further analysis. The arrows in the figure indicate the cross-section where grinding and polishing were done before microscopy and mechanical testing. Sample AM/1 was a core part of the axe and cut from the corner of the sharp edge, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2 a. Before mounting, these samples were analysed using an XRF spectrometer (PANalytical Epsilon1, UK) to determine the chemical composition. Then the samples were cold-mounted in epoxy resin and polished using SiC papers of 120, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1200 grit size. The cloth polishing was done using water suspension of 5 μm alumina powder. The mirror-finished polished samples were chemically etched with Nital (10 ml nitric acid mixed with 90 ml ethanol) at room temperature for 60 s. The etched samples were washed under running water and ethanol, and observed under the optical microscope (OLYMPUS BX51, Japan) to determine the microstructure. The samples were analysed under a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM; JEOL JSM7600F, Japan) in the backscattered electron mode at 10 kV voltage and 48.60 μA probe current before and after chemical etching to detect different phases. EDX attached with SEM was used at 15 mm working distance and 15 kV voltage to confirm the different phases. The microhardness of the polished samples was measured at 500 g load for 15 s using the Vickers microhardness indenter. The indenter was placed at the core of the samples to collect the numerous hardness values (at least 10), and the standard deviation was calculated.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

13-03-2023.

Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – the second-day proceedings (3)

Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2^nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – the second-day proceedings (3)

The Vdakkappattu prehistoric site

Site lay out plan – above……

Trench details…..artefacts found details below……………..

artefacts list..

sectional diagram of one of the pits of the excavated site…

prehistoric tools found…..

palaeolithic tools found…..

the Pallava period sculpture found..

11-03-2023 – second-day proceedings: Appasamy Murugesan headed the 5th session on the second day. First Kalimuthu, ASI presented his paper on “Archaeological excavation at Vadakkapattu, Tamilnadu.” 500 prehistoric sites in Tamilnadu, but, only a few sites were excavated. Vdakkuppattu, locally called as Nathamedu has been chosen, of course in 1998 itself, it was discovered by ASI. We got many prehistoric tools on the surface itself. Nearly one-half metre height from the ground of the mound has already been disturbed by the local people, as they took out the materials for levelling etc., and levelled for cultivation. Recently, one Sivalinga was found, therefore, the site could have been used for worship. Then he started about the site layout, trenches etc with photographs. ……………..The pallava period sculpture was found. In short, he explained about the excavation carried on at the site. He went on to show different prehistoric tools, beads, glass bangles, terracotta figurines, iron objects, gold ornaments,  broken conical jar, potsherds with graffitis, PGW, bones, and other items found, but, accepting that they could be identified specifically. This excavation has been only preliminary nature. When the chair asked, “any question,” none came forward to ask. Incidentally, most of his presentation has already appeared in the media with sensation. A google can prove with more photographs of the site etc.

paper presented by Aruna Manathunga……

Anuradhapura period…..

Mhavamsa says the encounters between Tamil and Sri Lanka kings…..

Aruna Manathunga – “Polonnaruva- the Chola capital of Sri Lanka”: The next paper presenter was Aruna Manathunga and he had dealt with “Polonnaruva- the Chola capital of Sri Lanka” and he was pointing out that the Colas were the for 70 years.  As per Mahavamsa, the Tamil kings ruled during the Anuradhapura period. Karikalan invaded and carried away 24,000 Lankans used for building dam across Kaveri and Gajabahu in turn took revenge in thousands of Tamil as slaves. In 1173, an invasion began against the dynasties of South India by the Sinhalese king and conqueror Maha Parakramabahu. His armies first captured the Pandyan kingdom, and then advanced into Chola Nadu, attacking the Tondi and Pasi regions. In approximately 1173, the Sinhalese kingdom of Polonnaruwa, invaded the neighbouring Pandya kingdom and overthrew its leader Kulasekhara Pandyan. The Sinhalese monarch, Parakramabahu I ordered Vira Pandyan to be installed to the throne. However due to the Chola king, Rajadhiraja’s increased his involvement in the war, the Chola mainland became a target of the invading forces. After conquering the Pandyan kingdom, the leader of the expeditionary forces, Lankapura invaded the Chola states of Tondi and Pasi, which the Chola inscription describes as “striking fear into the hearts of its residents”. He burnt up to 30 kilometers of the Chola kingdom as a punishment for interference in the war. The captives were sent for works, such as repairing the stupas. Rajadhiraja instructed his general to kill Lankapura. Meanwhile, the fear-ridden residents, started performing for Shiva, expecting for relief from the invaders.The worshippers carried the worship for 28 days, until they received the news Lankapura had retreated. The chief who ruled the village of Arapakkam, Edirisola Subramanam, granted the village to a Hindu priest who helped conduct worships.

He found similarities between SEA and Sri Lanka. About one sculpture, there were varieties of interpretations. These were questioned by one participant and he (Aruna) agreed. For SEA similarity, he showed one structure, for “Karaikkal Ammaiyar,” he interpreted as “Avaloteswar.”

P. J. Cherian – Muciri Pattinam: The epicentre of Tamil classical culture: started paying tribute to I. Mahadevan…..there was continuance maritime contacts between the Mediterranean and India coast…….. The Pattanam archaeological site (N. Lat. 10°09.434’; E. Long. 76°12.587’) is located in Vadakkekara village of Paravur Taluk, about 25 km north of Kochi in the Ernakulam District in Kerala, India. This is a coastal site located in the delta of the Periyar River and is now about 4 km from the Arabian Sea coast. The Paravur Todu, presently a distributory of the Periyar, flows about 1 km south of the site. The river Periyar flows 5 km north of Pattanam. The site is surrounded by palaeo (old) channels, a backwater, lagoons and streams. Though the site is surrounded by marshy areas with saline water, the Pattanam mound has sweet water suitable for drinking, which may be one of the reasons for the ancient settlement there.

second urbanization…

Global Tamil culture, he located on the southwest, because of seasonal / trade winds…..“classical” means, the earlier period was not classical…classical was rural, kinship, social organization etc., inferior to the classical period. Muciripattinam was in no way inferior to the Greek-Roman culture..When Greek-Roman culture is meant, it is implied that all other cultures were non-classical or inferior to Greeko-Roman culture…from that time onwards, a certain type of parochialism crept into historiography…my parochialism that Tamil is superior is also developed…this attitude is continuing in the varied different ways..and such self-congratulating attitude is thoroughly established in today’s world, because of these three forces. Structural forces that existed from those classical time – 1. Straight, 2. Market and 3. Religion. Urban-rural dichotomy played economic imbalance.

Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Chinese civilizations were existing.. pyramidical power structures..existed in the classical period as power structures. Whereas the Tamil culture is more horizontal, and flexible, with rational thinking…1st cent BCE to 3rd cent CE, the Tamil culture spread to three areas – the Mediterranean, middle-east and SEA. Most of the excavated objects belong to the Early Historic period (3rd century BCE to 5th century CE). The objects and features discovered suggest that Pattanam was probably the ancient port of Muziris, or Muciri Pattinam, mentioned in classical Tamil, Greek and Latin sources as a key port in the maritime networks of the period. The Pattanam finds point to the presiding role of the Indian sub-continent in transforming the Indian Ocean into a trading lake[1].

Most of the material related to trans-oceanic trade was found in layers belonging to the Early Historic period. Non-local ceramics such as amphorae, terra sigillata, Turquoise Glazed Pottery, torpedo and ovoid jar suggest these and their contents were brought into Pattanam. The Indian Rouletted Ware sherds in significant numbers mark the links with the Indian sub-continent trade network. Other materials such as glass beads, Roman glassware and stone cameo blanks indicate trade exchanges. In this period, Pattanam seems to have achieved an urban status as seen by burnt bricks, roof tiles, terracotta ring wells and other finds like early Chera copper and lead coins. Pattanam, as presently known, had connections with the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean littorals (from East Africa to the South China region) and with other parts of the Indian subcontinent during various phases in its history spanning three millennia. The uniqueness of Pattanam is that it had contacts with the outside world before the Roman phase.

The frankincense crumbs, Turquoise Glazed Pottery, Torpedo and Ovoid jar fragments from the South Arabian and Mesopotamian regions point to the PreRoman, Roman and Post Roman links of Pattanam, from 300 BCE – 1000 CE. Ample evidence of Pattanam’s Mediterranean connections, during the period 100 BCE – 500 CE, is available at the site in the form of sherds of amphorae, terra sigillata, intaglios, cameo blanks, Roman glass fragments, Roman gaming counters etc. The Blue and White ceramics and other Chinese sherds point to later trade links of Pattanam with the eastern Indian Ocean regions, from 1500 – 1900 CE. Thus, gemstones, glass beads, semi-precious stone beads, inlays, intaglios, cameo-blanks, gold jewellery, copper coins, spices and pottery, vouch for Pattanam’s trade links with the Indian subcontinent and beyond, for much of its history (1000 BCE to CE 2000).

Cherian paper – subjected to many questions: When K. V. Ramakrishna Rao asked him the following questions,

1. What were the material evidences of the ancient Tamil that they had boats and ships to have maritime contacts with the ancient civilizations you mentioned.
2. Why Alexander should have invaded the illiterate Mauryans than the literate Tamils, when the Greeko-Romans were having much contacts with the Sangam Tamils, that too giving the best and taking the best out of them, as you claimed.
3. You claimed that the Greeko-Romans were having pyramidal structure of social hierarchy, whereas, the Sangam Tamil horizontal, thn what about the classification of மாங்குடி மருதனார் , “துடியன், பாணன், பறையன், கடம்பன் என்று இந்நான்கல்லது குடியும் இல்லை ”,

He was responding differently telling that tones teak of others (non-Indians) were found there etc., so he again he requested to give a direct answer, but, he could not give it. For the second question, he accepted that he himself wanted to raise such a question (but, praising the Geeeko-Roma classical culture indirectly). Similarly, about the non-existence of any religious object in the excavated materials,  asked, he could not answer directly. By that time, it was announced that time was over.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

13-03-2023.

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[1] P.J. Cheriann and Jeya Menon, Unearthing Pattanam- histories, cultures, crossings, Kerala Council of Historical Research, can be downloaded from here –

Click to access PAMA_Amity_Excavation_Catalogue_Masterlayout_Unearthing_Pattanam.pdf

Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – Dravidian – known and unknown (2)

Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2^nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – Dravidian – known and unknown (2)

10-03-2023 – Friday – Continuance of paper reading session: After the Minister’s visit, Appasamy Murugaiyan delved upon the nuances of syntax, grammar, linguistics, prosody, etc. With Sangam literature, he was explaining such linguistic traces, glosses and interpretations. Next, Pitchappan while presenting his views on the “Evolution of Dravidian – known and unknown” mainly repeating already published matter “out of Africa” hypothesis and theory and maintaining his stand that Dravidians came from Africa. He also claimed that “Dravidian is inclusive of language, culture and gene code”  Men originated from Africa and by 60,000 YBP spread out from Africa, unidirectionally, the Y-chromosome was spreading. Polymorphism – first man appeared in Veerumandi, near Madura, in Tamilnadu. In other words, the African primate, hominid came here to settle and evolve into a Dravidian. All the Sangam tribes Kadan, Kurumban etc., of all categories came from Africa. He undertook the 1-million-dollar project in 20006-2015 on the “Genography” project 10,000 Indian samples taken and research conducted to arrive at such results. Three unidirectional migrations represent Dravidian at different periods.  Neolithic people came from outside. How the migrated were mixed, languages cannot be determined. Root words spread occurred by 15,000 YBP. Murugan is considered as “Tamil god” Neolithic god, but, it was known in Gandhara before Sangam period. Caste system in Sangam period is noted with male domination. With chromosomes and their connection with the language speaking people are pointed out. Yet, nothing can be said definitely. Even asper the dating c.6^th cent.BCE does not help this chronology.

He was arguing that “Dravidian” evolved at different periods………………………..

For the questions asked, he maintained that humanity originated only from Africa: He claimed that he worked with the “Genographic project” and the DNA results show that humanity originated in Africa and spread to other continents. Was there any origin of man from South India and such questions were asked, but, he maintained that that humanity originated in Africa and spread to other continents. This is studied after 2500-3500 YBP, thus, much of miscegenation could have taken place. It is believed that man originated from Africa and spread to other parts of the world. He sticks to the theory, as obviously, he has been working for the project. Europeans do not accept that they originated from Europe and therefore, if they originated from India, then, evidences have to be produced.

He was stressing how humanity originated from Africa and spread……..

Tamil monkey or Dravidian monkey?: TH CM was reacting euphemistically, “Our minds become energized and happy when we say Tamil Nadu Tirunal. Nevertheless, some people tease us by saying the first monkey born in the world was the Tamil monkey. However, we are not concerned about that. Whatever we say, it is scientifically based,” he said[1]. TH CM was telling that “the first monkey on the earth was a “Tamil” monkey and such claim is scientifically based”[2], but, he (Pitchappan) says, it was a Dravidian monkey. Thus, the Tamil-Dravidian wrangle has been there linguistically and scientifically among the DNA-scientists and the Dravidian experts. As the Europeans try to have their own “Neanderthal,” Dravidians want their “Tamil counterpart.” Therefore, the hypothesized monogenetic or multi-genetic origin of hominid, homoerectus, monkey, ape, chimpanzee etc., would continue with scientific research.

Aryan invasion and Dravidan invasion or migration?: Indian history has been with the Aryan race, invasion and then, migration (through invasion and various means) hypotheses and theories. Thus, whenever the word “Arya, Aryan, Ariyan”, etc., was read, Indians think about some nomadic race coming from Central Asia entering India through the northwest and defeating the Dravidian people of the area, particularly, the Indus Valley. Though, initially, “Dravida, Dravidians, Dravidar” were not thought of, after the advent of Caldwell, such hypotheses and theories have also become popular. Thus, the Aryan-Dravidian hypotheses and theories have been part and parcel of the history books taught for the last 100 hears. As for as the Tamilnadu is concerned, such hypotheses and theories have become not only history, but also, art, archaeology, dance, drama, cinema etc., at one side and politics, political party, political ideology and so on., at the other side. Now, if the DNA research claims that Dravidian also came from Africa, then, what exactly happened in history?

Rakhigarhi or Africa? – how the archaeologists decide?: According to recent reports, with the latest works (archaeological and genetic) in and around Rakhigarhi, Sinauli, etc, the Aryan invasion hypothesis surely died its deserved death. But another theory became prevalent that said that Homo sapiens first emerged in Africa and by around some 70-50,000 years ago, a small group (possibly as few as 150 to 1,000 people), crossed the Red Sea. They travelled along the coastal route around the coast of Arabia and Persia until reaching India. This proposition was popularly called the Post Toba Theory. As per the existing models, the modern human dispersals are primarily based on lithic assemblages, a few fossils remains and genetics. According to the most popular model (MIS 5), the modern humans left Africa around 120,000 years ago and colonised the rest of the whole world by 40,000 years ago. But the recent studies tell us that as per the fossil evidence from Apidima Cave in Greece (Harvati et al., 2019[3]) and Misiliya cave in Israel[4] (Hershkovitz et al., 2018) the modern human existence outside Africa goes older than 210,000 years ago.

Pre-Toba models and other claims about the origin: However, these findings do not yet ascertain the dispersal to South Asia earlier than 120,000 years ago. The scholars of the field attribute the Middle Palaeolithic technologies’ presence in India and the rest of South Asia to the modern humans that arrived from Africa between 120,000 and 70,000 years ago (Petraglia et al., 2007). This conclusion came from a very interesting finding from the 74,000-year-old Toba Tuff deposits at the Jwalapuram site. These were the Middle Palaeolithic artefacts and resembled almost the African Middle Stone Age artefacts (Petraglia et al., 2007; Haslam et al., 2012). And that is how the Pre-Toba model (Petraglia et al., 2007) became popular to explain the initial modern human colonisation of India.

Toba, pre-Toba etc.,: Next the luminescence age testing was further carried out in various sites, and they further reinforced the pre-Toba model. The Middle Palaeolithic assemblages from Katoti in Rajasthan and Sandhav in Kutch, were found to be around 96 ± 13 and 114 ±12 thousand years old respectively (Blinkhorn et al., 2013; Blinkhorn et al., 2019). Even the research from a site in the middle of the Son Valley called Dhaba showed out middle Palaeolithic assemblages dating to around 80,000 years, thereby bringing more buttresses for pre-Toba model (Clarkson et al., 2020). These studies utilising reliable chronometric ages of Middle Palaeolithic assemblages ranging from 120 to 40 thousand years ago, hint to the notion that the South Asian Middle Palaeolithic expertise was familiarised by the modern humans as a part of the Eurasian colonisation after having branched out of Africa. Then we have the studies which show that the youngest age for the Late Acheulean assemblages from Patpara going to 137 ± 10 thousand years ago and 131 ± 9 thousand years ago in Bamburi respectively (Haslam et al., 2011). These studies corroborate the notion about the existence of archaic hominins just before the appearance of modern humans in South Asia, as understood by the Out of Africa theory.

Why not Attirampakkam?: But there is something beyond those studies which somehow has not been taken into academic consideration. At Attirampakkam Middle Palaeolithic assemblages were found which dated to around 385 thousand years ago (Akhilesh et al., 2018). As per the latest studies, it has been understood that Middle Palaeolithic technology in South Asia goes way older than academic consensus on the footprint of modern humans outside Africa (Devara et al., 2022). But just the presence of Middle Palaeolithic assemblages is not enough to decide for the existence of Homo sapiens in India a lot before the alleged dispersal around 75,000 years ago from Africa and at least simultaneous existence.

Africa or Europe?: Stringer, Chris, and Lucile Crété conclude carefully[5], “Recent progress in the recovery of environmental DNA from cave sediments promises to revolutionize our under­standing of population relationships on the ground as H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis groups interacted with each other. Few European sites in the time period between 40–60 ka contain human fossils, but many more of them could contain traces of human presence in the form of mitochon­drial and nuclear genomic material. Research so far dem­onstrates that sediment DNA can identify humans at the species and individual levels, and this could potentially map the co-existence of different populations, their sex, their kinship relations, and the extent of intermixture be­tween the different populations (Vernot et al. 2021; Zavala et al. 2021). Such breakthroughs could not have been an­ticipated even a few years ago, and no doubt there will be many more surprises to come. There is still much to learn about the ancient encounters that we have discussed in this paper, which left an indelible genetic mark on humanity today, and which makes their study so intriguing”.

10-03-2023 – Friday – Continuance of paper reading session: Last session was chaired by Ravi Korisettar and Exavation officers of the state archaeological department presented papers.

• Ramesh – Keeladi
• J. Baskar – Excavation at the settlement site of Adichanallur (2019-20 and 2020-21)
• Prabhakaran – Sivagalai
• J. Ranjith – Kodumanal excavation -2019-21
• Rangadurai  – Korkai excavation

And the details of their papers have been available in the public domain and internet, as such information has been well publicized by the TN Government.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

12-03-2023.

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[1] Indian Express, Tamil Nadu Day: CM MK Stalin recalls DMK’s role in naming State, Published: 19th July 2022 03:19 AM  |   Last Updated: 19th July 2022 03:19 AM.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2022/jul/19/tamil-nadu-day-cm-mkstalin-recalls-dmks-role-in-naming-state-2478079.html

[2] The dailies and media translated his speech as, “At that time, some people would tease us saying, “The first monkey born in the world was the Tamil monkey”. We are not worried about that. Whatever we say, we say it scientifically. Isn’t it a shame? The day that shame was wiped away, this 18th of July!”.

[3] Harvati, Katerina, et al. “Apidima Cave fossils provide earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in Eurasia.” Nature 571.7766 (2019): 500-504.

[4] Harney, É., May, H., Shalem, D., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Lazaridis, I., Sarig, R., Stewardson, K., Nordenfelt,

S., Patterson, N., Hershkovitz, I. and Reich, D. (2018). Ancient DNA from Chalcolithic Israel reveals the

role of population mixture in cultural transformation. Nature Communication 9(1): 3336, DOI:

10.1038/s41467-018-05649-9

[5] Stringer, Chris, and Lucile Crété. “Mapping Interactions of H. neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens from the Fossil and Genetic Records.” PaleoAnthropology 2022.2 (2022).

The Fourth session of Telangana History Congress held at the Kakatiya University on January 27th and 28th 2019 [3]

The Fourth session of Telangana History Congress held at the Kakatiya University on January 27^th and 28^th 2019 [3]

11.47 to 12.02 – A. Shyamala: She presented a paper on the rights of women drawing attention to the UN declaration made on women in 1945, 1975 (Mexico), 1980 (Coenhagen), 1985, (Nairobi), 1995 (Beijing) etc., at different places, where conferences were held. The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries, is an agenda for women’s empowerment and considered the key global policy document on gender equality. It sets strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas of concern: Women and poverty, Education and training of women, Women and health, Violence against women, Women and armed conflict, Women and the economy, Women in power and decision-making, Institutional mechanism for the advancement of women, Human rights of women, Women and the media, Women and the environment and the girl-child[1]. However, she did not bother about the recent Supreme Court judgment that have bearing on Indian women – consent to sex, living with other, living together relationship, hereditary rights after conversion, etc., as I pointed out.

28-01-2019 .Post lunch session – paper presentation.

12.03 to 12.23 am – Subash: He stressed that the folk paintings had narratives hidden behind. Jitendra Babu added points to his paper.

12.30 to am – Kanakaratnam: He presented a paper on Kakatiyas.

12.25 to 1.05 pm – D. Suryakumar: He claimed that there were factories manufacturing huge stones used for inscriptions. He belies that whatever mentioned in the inscriptions were true and facts. He also explained as to how the inscriptions were made. First, the content of the script was written by the Brahmins on paper, then, it was read and accepted; the inscriber started  cutting on the stone under supervision; the name of the inscriber / cutter was mentioned below the inscription or at the corner.

1.05 to 1.15 pm – On medical tourism, one paper was resented.

28-01-2019 audience

28-01-2019 audience.second day

After lunch, the paper reading session started.

28-01-2019 .Lunch.

28-01-2019 Lunch

28-01-2019 .coins displayed

2.28 to 2.40 pm: …………………..Presented a paper on Sculptural art of Kakatiyas As Kakatiyas were Saivites, they built temples to Siva mainly. Here, in this paper, he studied manly about “Nandis” in the temples built by the Kakatiyas.

2.41 to  2.50 pm : ……………..presented a paper on “Lambadi”…

There were papers presented by the B.A. M.A, M.Phil and other students for the first time also. Some papers were presented in Telugu. They were encouraged  by the audience and others.

Valedictory function invitation with the details of speakers etc 28-02-2019

28-01-2019 . Valedictory function

hakkalapalli Purushothama Rao was chief Guest, former Minister speaks

Valedictory function – 4. 00 pm: The function started by 4.30 pm, when one “Swamiji” like person the hall entered with others. Later, he was know to be an ex-minister of AP. K. Purushotham, Registrar lamented that students do not want to study history, he asked why? Now they read maths, science, engineering and other subjects, but, not history, why? Perhaps, history is not properly taught in colleges. The worry of history teaches, professors etc., are visible. Every subject has history, but, history student, lecturer, professor or historian cannot write history of other subjects, as they do not know and understand the nuances of other subjects.

Vireendar, General Secretary of THC: He thanked Vijaya Babu for hosting the fourth session of THC at the Warangal University premises by history department. He appraised the proceedings – 190 registered, more than 100 attended memorial lecture; 37 papers presented and 9 not presented, because of lack of time and they would be treated as presented. THC would publish the proceedings and he requested the sectional president to edit the papers presented. The General Body meeting and EC meeting could not be conducted, as the quorum was not there. Within few days, the proceedings would be set right as per the bye-laws. It is a fact that the history is neglected in schools and colleges and most of the students do not like to read, study history. The position should change.

Opinion of the Participants: Then, P. Hymavathy, Surya Kumar, Kanakaratnam, K. Srinivasulu and Babu Rao Naik gave their opinion about the proceedings of the THC session. Surya Kumar openly told that te Guest house isnot maintained properly in many aspects. In fact, he could not take  bath, as the geyser was not working and the he managed with his friend’s room . Kanakaratnam opined that workshops should be conducted to know more about history, historiography, epigraphy and related subjects, so that all could come, attend and understand the subject matter. Babu Rao Naik spoke in his own way, just like a politicians getting applause from the audience . B. Srinivas was thanked for sponsoring to provide bags by donating Rs. 25,000/-

Opinion of Dr Dayakar and other delegates appeared in local daily

Thakkalapalli Purushothama Rao was chief Guest, former Minister[2]: He spoke philosophically citing examples from the Sanskrit literature. He wanted to explain with four examples of characters from the literature. He explained about Satyakama Jabali[3] and Astavakra[4]. Because of his digressive narratives, he forgotten the other two examples. Perhaps, he tried to emphacize the importance of lineage, dynasty, roots, sources, for history and historiography through Jabali paradigm. Through, Astavakra, perhaps, he tried to stress that history should not be distorted and the sources, particularly, Indian literary sources might appear as “astavakra – a form bent awkwardly in eight ways,” the truth has to be brought out by analyzing critically with the available evidences.

Sudharshan Rao, chief guest: Taking clue from his yesterday’s memorial lecture, he started speaking in Telugu, he told that he would have delivered his lecture in Telugu, had he been informed so. He wished that THC should grow in coming years. He recalled as to how even the APHC suffered in the 7^th year of its starting, when 200 came from outside. Therefore, the 2^nd or 4^th session of THC should gather strength to grow. He proposed that a “Telangana Council for Historical Research” should be formed on the lines of ICHR. The TCHR would foster the interest of Telangana. He wished that the 5^th session of THC would be conducted with more vigor and strength.

After the facilitation of the VIPs, the following resolutions were passed:

1. History subject should be introduced in all schools and colleges.
2. “Indian culture” should be in the syllabus of all academic curriculum in all educational institutions.
3. “Telangana Council for Historical Research” should be constituted immediately to proceed further.
4. Even in 10^th and +12 level, history should be included.

6.55 to 7.00 pm – Vijaya Babu: Vijaya Babu vote of thanks to all participated, took part and helped in all ways. The next THC may be held in Khammam / Nizamabad. All started moving away. I felt that I was alone. I requested one known friend to drop me at the Guest house, so that I could collect my luggage and proceed to station by auto. One volunteer dropped me at the guest house and he contacted Dr Rajakumar and then informed that he would come and drop me at the station. As the time was already 8.00 pm, I was little bit worried.  Around 8.30 pm, he came and dropped meat the station. Of course, the train came late by half-an-hour.

How and where does the Telangana history go?: Some of the remarks made by the VIP speakers have been intriguing.

1. Kurra Jitendra Babu asserted that, “The papers presented so far has been useless…” Can he simply decide in this way? Had he any doubt, he could have questioned every paper presenter and expose theso-called “useless” nature of such papers!
2. Sudharshan Rao, “With the recent division of the state into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh sharing Telugu population, perhaps, the entry of third genre of ‘invented history’ as rampant in the West may have to wait in our regional sphere.” The Telangana history writers should take note of it, as how their historiography has to be combatable with the counterpart of Andhra Pradesh.
3. Of course, two worried about the status of history subject in the schools and colleges. Here, unless, awareness is created and the subject is updated to suit the current job-market, definitely, there would not be any improvement in the status.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

02-03-2019

[1] http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/intergovernmental-support/world-conferences-on-women

[2] Thakkalapalli Purushothama Rao is an Indian politician. He was the cabinet minister for Roads, Buildings and Ports, Government of Andhra Pradesh from 1993 to 1994. Presently he is the Chairman for High Power Committee on Remote Interior Area Development. Rao was instrumental in persuading Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy to have peace talks with maoists and was the government representative during the peace talks. The AICC has made him the chairman of Gandhipatham of APCC to propagate the ideals of Gandhiji, in intellectual circles he is called Gandhian Marxist. The Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University honored Rao with Doctorate in 2008 for his service to the society.

[3] Satyakama Jabala is a boy, and later a Vedic sage, who first appears in Chapter IV of the ancient Hindu text, the Chandogya Upanishad. As a boy, he enquires about his father from his mother. His mother Jabala, tells him that she went about many places in her youth, and did not know who his father was. Satyakama graduates and becomes a celebrated sage, according to the Hindu tradition, and a Vedic school is named after him, as is the influential ancient text Jabala Upanishad – a treatise on Sannyasa (Hindu monk, monastic life).[5] Upakosala Kamalayana was a student of Satyakama Jabala, whose story is also presented in the Chandogya Upanishad.

[4] Ashtavakra (Sanskrit: अष्टावक्रः, IAST Aṣṭāvakra) is a revered Vedic sage in Hinduism. His name literally means “eight bends”, reflecting the eight physical handicaps he was born with. His maternal grandfather was the Vedic sage Aruni, his parents were both Vedic students at Aruni’s school. Ashtavakra studied, became a sage and a celebrated character of the Hindu History(Itihas) Epics and Puranas. Ashtavakra is the author of the text Aṣṭāvakra Gītā, also known as Aṣṭāvakra Saṃhitā, in Hindu traditions. The text is a treatise on Brahman, Atman and monism (Advaita).

The Fourth session of Telangana History Congress held at the Kakatiya University on January 27th and 28th 2019 [2]

The Fourth session of Telangana History Congress held at the Kakatiya University on January 27^th and 28^th 2019 [2]

1. S. S. Seshan’s paper continues………………………………………………..

Judicial Enquiry Commission: The Resident, instituted a Commission of Enquiry consisting of 6 members; three were nominated by the Resident and the other three were the nominees of the Nizam’s administration. The Commission finally found that Mubarez was engaged in a conspiracy with the Nawab of Kurnool and several others with a view to overthrow the Nizam and declare himself as the ruler and also to bring an insurrection against the British.

Network of spies[1]: The Enquiry Commission became central in unearthing the contemplated insurrection of the Nawab of Kurnool. There was a letter written by Mubarez to the Nawab of Kurnool that was intercepted by the British agents. Mubarez in that letter had spelled out his plans for the final assault on the British requesting the Nawab to dispatch the needed arms for such an attack. If only that letter has reached the Nawab, and had he acted, the Enquiry Commission felt, “the results would have been very disastrous”. The letter was concealed in an amulet and was to be delivered to the Nawab of Kurnool. But on the way to Kurnool, fearing the capture by the British, Muhammad Khan the spy, tied the amulet to the hand of an old beggar woman living in a sarai, where he himself took shelter in the guise of a traveller. The amulet was recovered by the guards while combing the area and thus the entire conspiracy came to light. The letter thus brought to light the role of the Nawab of Kurnool, in the conspiracy against the English. The British at Madras, immediately sent a large military contingent to deal with Kurnool. The Nawab’s armies were defeated in October, 1839 and the Nawab was deported to Tiruchirapalle (formerly Trichinopoly in English), where he was imprisoned and Kurnool was taken over by the Company administration. Rasool Khan was murdered by one of his own servants in the prison. The Enquiry Commission also felt that Mubarez, apart from being a hand in glove with the Nawab of Kurnool, also tried to spread sedition among the Muslim sepoys stationed in Secunderabad. As a result, Mubarez had to spend the rest of his life as a prisoner in the Golconda fort till he died on June 25, 1854[2].

27-09-2019- after lunch session – Dr Raja Reddy

Raja Reddy on the richest Nizam of the world: Osman Ali Khan, Mukarram Jahs grandfather, was crowned the eighth Nizam of Hyderabad to become the richest ruler in the world with an inheritance worth US $2 billion, lost a wife to AIDS and turned his incredible fortune to dust in the Australian outback, all in the course of 30 years.

 

Now a balding 72-year-old Mukarram Jah, leads a secret life, with very few people in his own neighbourhood in Turkey aware of his existence or his whereabouts. Mukarram Jah was anointed the Nizam of Hyderabad and Berar, the richest and most powerful state in the sub-continent. It is said that Mukarram could trace his lineage back 34 generations on his fathers side to the First Caliph of Islam, Abu Bakr. According to Zubrzycki, Mukarram Jahs grandfather Osman Ali Khan, was once described as being richer than all the Fords, Rockefellers and Morgans put together. Ironically, says Zubrzycki, Jah was short of cash. There were very few rupees in the kitty to pay maintenance for the 14,792 relatives, harems with 42 ageing concubines, hundreds of illegitimate children, and 14,000 staff consisting of retainers, guards, cooks and other employees his grandfather had been caring for.

Helen Simmons asked Mukarram for a divorce but was soon diagnosed as being HIV-positive, like her homosexual friends. She died of AIDS in 1989, the first Australian woman to do so, at the age of 41, but Mukarram was cleared of the virus after tests in Switzerland. Nizam used to send convicts to Andaman and Nicobar islands and the British collected transport and maintenance charges from him. For more details on the Nizam with photographs etc., read here[3].

5.00 to 7.00 pm – Y. Sudharshan Rao: He delivered the Prof Mukkamala Radhakrishna Sarma Memorial lecture. He was talking with philosophical sting and much abstract issues, the students obviously did not like. Based on Benard Lewis book, he started interpreting as to how, “history – is remembered, recovered and invented” in the context of Telangana. He concluded[4], “Again, there was a great spurt in writing history of Telugu people when the linguistic states were formed. Regional histories and local histories are pursued with cultural, social and political themes. While mainstream Indian historiography has changed its perspective from national to Marxist, the regional histories continued to be biographic, sectional and local. With the recent division of the state into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh sharing Telugu population, perhaps, the entry of third genre of ‘invented history’ as rampant in the West may have to wait in our regional sphere”.

27-09-2019- Memorial lecture.VIPs stand together

In fact, they were busy with their cellphones, but he continued for two hours. As I used to listen to many-many such memorial lectures, I find that this has become a ritual as the speaker goes on talks or reads from his paper without caring for others. And  mostly, the listeners were forced to sit and listen to him, of course, 50% of them would be sleeping also. Later, he himself expressed that his speech was taken by the students differently!

7.00 to 8.30 pm – Cultural programme: The troupe depicted in an emotional way, “The origin of Telangana state,” projecting K. Chandrasekhara Rao since his early days, as to how he spearheaded the movement. However, too much “separatist” ideology injected in their narrative made others uncomfortable. Particularly, those who come from other states might not find any difference between the Telugu speaking people of  both states.

The second day 28-01-2019 proceedings – 10.00 to 10.42 am: Jaikishan gave a lengthy presentation on iron, steel, paper etc of Telangana. He claimed that he was the only archaeo-metallurgist doing research in industrial archaeology etc. First he was telling about the iron and steel manufactured in India that were famous in the medieval period. He was telling the story of “Damascus sword,” how it roused the interests of the Europeans to test for anti-rustic properties etc. He pointed out based on Pliny as to how Romans decided not to buy Indian steel and so on. He was mentioning about “kotla” paper manufactured in the villages of Telangana that was used by the Moghuls and also nexported to London. Most the paper manufacturers had been Muslims. The ingredients for paper manufacture were soaked and kept for 24-30 hours and then used for rolling. When I pointed out that he did not mention that Indian steel as “Wootz” and also about Dr S. Kalyanaraman who has done exhaustive research in these areas, he tried to manage and told that he knew him and he has all the books of him. Meanwhile, somebody intervened and said that he had been an expert in the field and he could talk hours together on the subject!

10.53 to 11.08 am – Kurra Jitendra Babu: He asserted that, “The papers presented so far has been useless…” Yesterday, one expert talked more than one-and-half hours and when the students were asked  what they has understood, they replied “nothing…..,” and some commented that, “…….they could have gone for a movie………………” Then, he tried show that Indians knew everything before westerners. Neils Bohr and others were indebted to Acharya Nagarjuna, Einestein dedicated his work to Thikkanna for his E = mc², and so on. He went on to assert[5], that “Sanskrit itself is a refinement of different types of Prakrit used by the different people of India…The very fact that there are no Sanskrit manuscripts found in Kalinga kingdom (modern day Odisha) is evidence enough to say that Sanskrit is not the linguistic ancestor of Telugu…… No research is being done to prove or disprove these new theories,……..unless the material is available to scholars of both the States there will be no more research”. Itappears that he has been voicing in this way at other places also[6]. The Telangana dancers have been depicted in the gopuram of Big temple Tanjore. Giriraja kavi’s grand son of Tyagaraja went to Thanjavur and thus, they were also influenced by the people of Telangana[7].  And thus, he tried to glorify Telanga for origin of everything. While Pali was the linguistic ancestor of Telugu spoken in Andhra region, a form of Prakrit was the linguistic ancestor of Telugu spoken in Telangana, he said.

I thank my friend Sudhakar Kundur for providing the following four photographs of my presentation

KVR presenting paper – locating Telangana- on “Kunjarakunjadesa of South India and its connection with the South East Asian Civilization”

 

11.00 to 11.30 am – K. V. Ramakrishna Rao: I resented my paper on “Kunjarakunjadesa of South India and its connection with the South East Asian Civilization,” and located it at the border of Andhra and Kalinga with the following conclusion:

1. The Changgal inscription proves the close, well-connected maritime trade contacts of the importers-exporters one side and the warriors, religious groups on the other side.
2. The language used, grantha script applied and the grammar-syntax exploited prove that the migration of such knowledge transfer must have taken place at least 50-100 years to attain such status far away from India. However, such transfer must have taken place natural, peaceful and acceptable to the local people.
3. Kunjarakunjadesa expression has been used associating with elephants, elephant like wrestlers and great architects. As the elephants have been used significantly connected with forest-wooden industry, building temples and other secular structures, such elephant connected experts were adorned with titles of Kunjaramallar, Kunjaramallan, Kunjaramalla Peruntacchan and so on.
4. Elephant (Kunjaram) and dwarf (Kunjaran) have been associated with Siva, as here, Agastya was associated with the building of temples on the hill and creator of Lingam, acting as Dhaksha, Architect, Brahma, or Viswakarma.
5. Cholas engaged elephant army, as they required for battles and as well as for infrastructure development.
6. The Andhra-Kalinga area had been centrally located on the Coromandel Coast between the Sri Lanka and numerous islands and Bengal and beyond, the Cholas wanted to control and exploit the area strategically. The erection of victory pillar on the Mahendragiri hill can also be noted in the context.
7. The Cholas knew evidently, the Sailendras’ connection with Sumatra / Java / Kedah and also with the Palas and the Chinese, and hence had cardial relationship initially, through the Buddhists (Vihara constructed at Nagappattinam).
8. As during the first centuries, the Palavas had been so active in those areas, they had all sorts of experts migrated already there and settled down. Here, Kalinga-Andhra coastal areas played a crucial role.
9. The Satavahanas and the Pallavas were dominating the coastal areas and as well as maritime areas till the first centuries ton 7^th-8^thcenturies and the Cholas thereafter till 13^th century.
10. Thus, the study of Kunjarakunjadesa, clarifies the cultural, commercial, religious and maritime contacts of the Coromandel Coast with that of SEA countries during the first centuries to the medieval period.

KVR responding to querries

There were querries and I answered.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

02-03-2019

My PPT presentation

I thank my friend Sudhakar Kundur for providing the above four photographs of my presentation

[1] K S S Seshan Mubarez-ud-Daulah’s era: Of passion, rebellion and conspiracy, in The Hindu, Hyderabad, JUNE 10, 2017 15:32 IST; UPDATED: JUNE 10, 2017 15:32 IST.

[2] https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/mubarez-ud-daulahs-era-of-passion-rebellion-and-conspiracy/article18955189.ece

[3] His Exalted Highness Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur, 8th Nizam of Hyderabad- Interviews and feature stories from American, Australian, British and Indian newspapers and magazines, http://cvxmelody.50webs.com/

[4] Based on the paper circulated to the delegates of THC on 27-01-2019 evening in the hall.

[5] The Hindu, Call for common Telugu research centre, by G. Venkataramana Rao Vijayawada:, AUGUST 19, 2014 00:21 IST; UPDATED: MAY 08, 2017 12:00 IST

[6] https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/call-for-common-telugu-research-centre/article11205607.ece

[7] Giriraja was born in Kakarla village, Cumbum taluk in Prakasham district (AP) has produced many of the important cultural figures of South India. Among the greatest of those was Tyagaraja, whose mother was a daughter of Giriraja Kavi. Giriraja Kavi played a major role in influencing the formative years of his celebrated grandson Tyagaraja. He was instrumental in securing a place at court for his grandson, a position that Tyagaraja soon abjured. It is to Tyagaraja’s credit that Giriraja Kavi’s musical work, created during an era that was dominated by the trinity of Carnatic music, has secured him a lasting place of honour among the greats of Carnatic music.

“Innovation of Iron Technology and its Impact on Indian Society”: Two day UGC Seminar held at Kuppam University on February 25th and 26th 2019 [2]

“Innovation of Iron Technology and its Impact on Indian Society”: Two day UGC Seminar held at Kuppam University on February 25^th and 26^th 2019 [2]

Ayub Ali chaired the session, where Dolly Thomas, J. Soundararajan, Osman Pasha, Sivaramakrishnaiah and Jammana presented papers.

25-02-2019 proceedings continued: After lunch, some papers were read, presented by the scholars and researchers. There was paper, “Porto novo iron works – retelling the story of a failed industrial enterprise of 19^th century Madras and its impact,”  supposedly presented jointly G. J. Sudhakar and Dolly Thomas, however, it was presented by the latter. I pointed out that the places chosen by the Dutch and the British had already been the iron and steel products producing sites by the Indians. In other words, they had taken over with their power. The fail could be attributed to the financial adjustments, as the British officers were engaged in the “private business.” In a recent paper also, details are given about the successful run of the factory and then changing name[1]. It is stated clearly[2], “………….the Porto Novo factory serviced the needs of India and Britain for iron and steel for more than 25 years, although after 1849, it changed names.”

Mohammed Osman Pasha and Syed Ayub Ali presented a paper, “Social customs and rituals of iron making people in Telanga,” but, it was changed to other title. How and why Golconda rulers having land locked area should engage in exporting goods through the Coromandel coast ports was an intriguing factor. For example, Machilipatnam port was situated 350 kms from the Golconda capital. For this, the paper presenter tried to give different answers to justify. The “Banjaras” were engaged in transporting the goods.

1. Soundararajan presented, “Iron age in Krishnagiri region,” based on the field work carried on by him
2. Sivaramakrishnaiah, journalist presented a paper on the recent finding of iron implements in Telangana.

Jammanna presented a paper on the leather industry of the Madhiga people. Many pointed out that he should relate his paper to the theme of the seminar.

25-02-2019 – first session – Ayub Ali heads. Jammanna presented paper

25-02-2019 – first session – Ayub Ali heads.audience

The paper of E. Ravi and N. R. Charles had been, “Usage of iron in rituals and religious structures,” however, the paper presenter Charles delved upon the metallic items – chalice, paten, ablution cup, pyx, sprinkler, thurible, cross, paschal candle stick, ciborum, baptism bowl, censer, ambry, bell and others – used in church, that too, Roman Catholic,  without giving any date etc.

Balachandran presented a paper, “Innovation of iron technology & its impact on Indian society treatment of iron in Indian English poetry, ” without having any bearing on the subject matter. As an English professor, ironically, he tried to exploit through his speech and act.

26-02-2019 – K. V. Ramakrishna Rao chaired the session. Shyamala presented paper.

26-02-2019 – KVR session.audience

The second day proceedings: 26-02-2019 – first technical session – morning: This session was chaired by me and there were papers as follows:

First, I presented my paper, “The antiquity of iron and steel technology in India: Problem, probe and product,” with PPT. In between, Jitendra and Jaikishan were asking querries and I responded and proceeded. Aravinda Kumar and Harsha Vardhan also commented, but I responded and continued.

The iron implements found at Munigak, Morasi Ghundai, Asa shrine are dated to c.2250-1950 BCE period.

Ian De Lisle[3] and her colleagues note that, “As early as 6000 BC, southern India has been creating wootz (crucible) steel.

Ann Feuerbach[4], noted that, “Artifacts of crucibles and weapons have been found in the Indian area that date back to 3000-4000 BCE”

Rakesh Tewari [5] gives dates based on B. Sekar in the range of 1687-290 BCE for earlier Indian sites and 1882-486 BCE for Gangetic plains[6]. The results indicate that iron using and iron working was prevalent in the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas from the early second millennium BCE.

IVC – Mundigak iron impements – Kenoyer

IVC – SAid Qala Tepe- iron implements – Kenoyer

IVC – SAid Qala Tepe- iron implements – Kenoyer

IVC – Ahar- iron impements – Kenoyer

Based on these specific excavated examples and datings, I suggested that the date of iron and steel and related historiography has to be correlated, corroborated and corresponded and revised accordingly.

1. Syamala with her paper “Delving into the history of iron technology in India: A historiographical study” argued that based on the archaeological evidences, history has to be written taking them into account.
2. Jayaram Natru, “Use of iron tools in domestic field in Kaviti mandal, Srikakulam District,” was just displaying current iron implements used. He accepted that he was presenting the paper for the first time.
3. Adinarayana “Iron age cultures in Andhra Pradesh: A review” Venkata Subbaia asked him that he was using his title and paper. Moreover, he could not answer the questions he asked about the sites. As the PhD scholar belongs to the same University, he could have acknowledged the papers of predecessors in his paper.
4. B. Lateeb Kumar “Iron and agriculture: A study on the impact of iron implements in the development of archaeology in Kerala.” First he claimed that from the very beginning of the common era itself, when Kerala was part of ancient Tamilakam, the people of Kerala used iron implements. However, he claimed that iron implements were not used for agriculture. “Brahminical settlements were growing in Kerala during 7^th century AD and as a result of this large areas of land were used for agricultural purpose….iron implements used………plough was introduced in south India through the Buddhist contacts…..” Thus, his views had been queer and evidently based on other interpretations, instead of archaeological evidences.
5. Bollepelly Manichanda, Aruri Devaraju and Jeshrun Shalem “Study of the utilization of Iron and steel in war fields.” Actually, the paper presenters were not available and the youngsters wanted them to be presented through their friend. Just to encourage the youngsters, it was allowed.

26-02-2019 -Jitendra chairing the second session – Ravichandra, A. Subash, John Milton, G.S.V. Prasad

26-02-2019 -Jitendra session.audience

The second technical session: The second session was chaired by Kurra Jitendra Babu. His title of the paper was “Description of metals in early and medieval Sanskrit texts,” however, he was talking about many issues. He was connected with naxalites, trustee of “Hampi mutt……,” mafia are after the land of the mutt and so on. He also passed remarks to the extent that, “I expected more important papers, but, the papers were not so good. Te papers presentedshould nt be published as such, as others would laugh at us. They have to be edited thoroughly before publishing.” He claimed that the Iranians invaded India and while returning, they erected two inscriptions at Afghanistan and Iran around 1380 BCE. When I asked give references about them, he could not give. He diverted by talking about other issues. When I asked to tell specifically, the two places, he was telling that he “would send me a book within  six months that contains all the details I want”!  Again when I asked, “was it the Bhogozkai inscription that mentions Indrasil, Mitrasil, Varunasil, Nasatya etc..,” he said “..no, they are different.” He was describing medieval chemical and siddhanta works. He was also referring a Telugu mass that describes different types of surgery and instruments. His remarks about the paper presented had been outrageous, as he cannot generalize all papers.

John Milton “Gender identities in megalithic cultures of iron age: A study of archaeological remains in Kothagudem Bhadradri district of Telngana.” He was trying to interpret that the “Mother worship” prevalent among the megalithic cultural people could have had an impact on them.

26-02-2019 -Jitendra session.audience.another view

26-02-2019 -Jitendra session.audience.another view.2

Subash “The Dutch East Indian company and the organization of iron trade in the 17^th century Golconda,” in fact, he was repeating about the Dutch trade again and again, instead of dealing with iron. He was repeating the point that nails were manufactured and they were used for building huge ships. Ayub Ali also pointing out that he was repeating, instead of giving specific examples about Iron. I also had drawn his attention to my published paper, “The Dutch Iron factory at Narsapur” in the last proceedings of the APHC[7].

Valedictory function: After one more technical session, the valedictory function was there. Prof Sarada Srinivasan, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc campus, Bangalore was the VIP. She spoke about the steel manufactured during the megalithic period in Tamilnadu and the process involved, that she called as “Tamil Nadu Process.” G. Narayanappa was the Special Invitee. After the function, the participants dispersed to their destination.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

01-03-2019

[1] Anantanarayanan Raman, Large-scale iron and steel production in the Coromandel: the earliest and longest survived Porto Novo Iron Works (1830–1859), Current Science, VOL. 113, NO. 5, 10 SEPTEMBER 2017, pp.984-989.

[2] https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/113/05/0984.pdf

[3] Ian De Lisle et al., Ancient Regional Steel quality: Historical method of steel production around the world, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, UK, 2016, p.1.

[4] Ibid, p.26.

 Feuerbach, Ann. Crucible Damascus Steel: A Fascination for Almost 2,000 Years, Jom 58.5 (2006): pp.48-50.

[5] Rakesh Tewari, The origins of iron-working in India: new evidence from the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas, 2003, pp.536-545.

[6] These dates are calibrated by Dr B. Sekar, BSIP, Lucknow. References for data sets used: Stuiver, et al. 1998a. 537.

[7] K. V. Ramakrishna Rao, The Dutch Iron factory at Narsapur, the Proceedings of the APHC, Narsapur, 2018, pp.232-239.

“Innovation of Iron Technology and its Impact on Indian Society”: Two day UGC Seminar held at Kuppam University on February 25th and 26th 2019 [1]

“Innovation of Iron Technology and its Impact on Indian Society”: Two day UGC Seminar held at Kuppam University on February 25^th and 26^th 2019 [1]

Dravidian University campus, location – Google map

Guest House and VC bungalow – Dravidian University campus, location – Google map

Coming to Kuppam again: The two day national seminar on “Innovation of Iron Technology and its Impact on Indian Society” was held at the premises of Dravidian University on February 25^th and 26^th 2019 under the auspices of the department of History, Archaeology and culture. I am visiting this campus after the APHC held in 2011 and find that the station, the road leading to the University campus etc., have changed much. The railway station has been 10 kms away from the University campus. It has been the constituency of Chandrababu Naidu, now CM of Andhra Pradesh. As age increases, the feeling that places are also appearing to be away from us. Ratnam, driver came from the University and took me to the University campus, where I was accommodated at the guest house. I noted that already, several scholars had arrived. The foundation stone for the “Faculty House” was laid by the then Governr C. Rangarajan on 29-07-2000 and it was inaugurated by N. Chandababu Naidu on 07-12-2002 after the building completion.

The foundation stone for the “Faculty House” / Guest House was laid by the then Governor           C. Rangarajan on 29-07-2000

The Faculty House was inaugurated by N. Chandababu Naidu on 07-12-2002 after the building completion.

Guest House gate and the road on a hillock with trees

The banner of the “Iron technology” seminar at the entrance of the Guest House

Another entrance of the Guest House

VC bungalow after the Guest House

The Dravidian University, profile[1]: The Dravidian University was established in 1997 at the tri-lingual junction, Kuppam in Chittoor District, A. P., 8 k.m away from Tamil Nadu, 4 km, away from Karnataka and hardly about four hours drive to Kerala, to research Dravidian languages. The Campus is named Srinivasa Vanam as a token of reverence for the grace of Lord Venkateswara, Sri Srinivasa and for the benevolent grant extended by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams for afforestation of the campus, spreading over 1093 acres with beautiful greenery and huge and small impressive hillocks presenting a typical rock garden[2]. The Dravidian University was established through a Legislature Act of Andhra Pradesh and conceived as an Inter – State Institution. The neighboring Governments of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala have extended initial support which enabled the University to take up constructions of Vemana Bhavan, Thiruvalluvar Bhavan, Narayanaguru Bhavan and Basava Bhavan remembering the great Social Saints of the South who enshrined the language cultures with their immortal thoughts. The University located in a serene rural setting with pleasant greenery spread over the spacious campus of about 1000 acres endowed with huge deposits of granite, giving a picture of rock garden, is one of the most ideally suited institution for quite and dedicated studies and research harmonizing the individual, both internally and externally. The campus absolutely pollution free.

A scientific look at the circular: The following note appeared in the circular circulated: “Historians believe that the Egyptians were the first to work with small amounts of iron about five or six thousand years ago. The metal they used was apparently extracted from meteorites. Evidence of what is believed to be the first example of iron mining and smelting points to the ancient Hittite culture in what is now Turkey. Because iron was a far superior material for the manufacture of weapons and tools than any other known metal, its production was a closely guarded secret. However the basic technique was simple and the use of iron gradually spread. As usual as it was compared to other materials, iron had disadvantages. The quality of tools made from it was highly variable, depending upon the region from which the iron ore was taken and the method used to extract the iron. The chemical nature of the changes taking place during the extraction were not understood; in particular, the importance of carbon to the metal’s hardness. Practices varied widely in different parts of the world.”

1. It is not known why historians should believe something, anything of any historical fact.
2. “The metal they used was apparently extracted from meteorites” – so there is no question of Egyptians using smelted iron.
3. “Evidence of what is believed to be the first example of iron mining and smelting points to the ancient Hittite culture in what is now Turkey” – for this also, historians have to believe, then, they can consider the recent claims of Indian iron going back to 6000 BCE.
4. The following points are scientifically and technically incorrect:
   1. “The quality of tools made from it was highly variable, depending upon the region from which the iron ore was taken and the method used to extract the iron.” – everything can be varied, till it was standardized. The Indian wootz proved standardized steel manufactured distinguishable from others.
   2. “The chemical nature of the changes taking place during the extraction were not understood” – the chemical changes occur only due to the addition of chemicals for purification etc.
   3. “…. in particular, the importance of carbon to the metal’s hardness. Practices varied widely in different parts of the world.” – The addition of Carbon to iron only makes it get converted into steel, so that it could be used for the manufacture of tools etc.
5. As for as the alloy making, % of chemical added etc., for the manufacture of high tensile carbon steels, Ultra high carbon steels etc.

A clear understanding of iron and steel and their technology thereof should be known clearly before writing anything about “Iron technology.” An “Iron processing Machine” picture appeared on the front page of the circular. Actually, it was “The original diagram of Su’s book showing the inner workings of his clock tower,” reportedly manufactured by Su Song (1020-1101 CE), a medieval Chinese scientist[3]. As by 12^th century, the Indian iron and steel products were well known all over the world, an Indian furnace could have been depicted instead. The British have accepted that the Europe derived iron and tell technology from the Indians[4]. Actually, as the subject matter involves technical nature, an engineer or metallurgist could have consulted for presenting facts.

Emeneau House, the Guest House

Emeneau Guest House – where the seminar was held: The seminar was organized at the hall of the “Emeneau Guest House,” with the chief guest – Prof Sudhakaa Yedla, VC of the Dravidian University. The key-note address was delivered by Dr N. Rajendran, VC of Alagappa University and the “Guest of Honour” was Dr S. Jaikishan, Bhawan’s New Science College, Hyderabad. Facilitation address was given by Prof S. Penchalaiah, Registrar of the University. Prof N. Kanakaratnam, convener of the seminar proposed “vote of thanks”.  Dr Aravind Kumar compered the proceedings. He introduced the VIPs and welcomed all drawing attention to “Iron man of India” and his statue made of iron. Also he had drawn the attention of Swami Vivekananda, “Men of iron and nerves of steel.” N. Kanakaratnam explained how the theme of the seminar was conceived. When he visited many temples, he used to think as to how the stones were cut into required sizes, how all processes could have been possible during the ancient and medieval periods, when such technology was not there. However, now, new archaeological evidences give date of iron to thousands of BCE period.

Aravind Kumar welcomed the VIPs

Sudhakaa Yedla’s speech was apt and highly meaningful (11.00 to 11.35 am):  He pointed out that the seminars should be dialogue and much discussion and interaction should be there. The youngsters should ask a lot of questions and then only, they could know more details.  Innovation involves inquisitiveness and curiosity. It may involve a series of failures also, but, from such failures also one can learn. Japanese do that, as I have seen in their programmes. Westerners always opposed the zero, “The Biography of a Dangerous Idea” is a book by American author and journalist Charles Seife. The book offers a comprehensive look at number 0 and its controversial role as one of the great paradoxes of human thought and history. Heliocentric theory was also opposed. But, Vedic literature point out that all planets go around the Sun. One should think with innovative ideas, as otherwise, environmental degradation and reason depletion affect man. I have listened to many during the last 35 years, but, only few could talk like him with depth of meaning and substance. In fact, his entire speech could be included in the book proposed, if any.

Rajendran (11.36 to 12.03 hrs): He started with Herodotus, “Father of History” observed that though India had been literary society, large population was illiterate. As compared to west, the literature society – knowledge system was not spread. Newton could think different about the falling of apple on the ground. He also mentioned about the European scientists’ interest in history, mentioning Newtons, “A Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms amended”. Casteism challenged to remove literature from the society. Kosambi connected iron with the rise of empire, as during wars, iron weapons must have been used[5]. Magadha controlled iron and as well as agriculture, a the army had to be fed and accordingly, the agriculture also must have flourished. In other words, the weapons of war and agriculture went together in production. Mentioning the episode of Trichy Teppakulam, he stressed that historians should have technical knowledge also, besides historical interpretation.

Penchalaiah (12.06 to 12.15 Hrs): Though he spoke for minutes, his speech had been philosophical but meaningful. Claiming that he had been a student of philosophy even today, pointed out that “philosophy is mother of all subjects.” Science can be divided into two – visible science and invisible science. There were many scientists before Aristotle. So also, before Vedic literature, Agamic literature was there. In our blood iron has been there i.em hemoglobin. He claimed that he knew the secret of Sanskrit, as he studied it. All historians are philosophers only. All scientists are philosophers, but all philosophers are not scientists.

Jaikishan was facilitated

During inauguration, the audience

During inauguration, the audience

Jaikishan (12.16 to 1.30 pm): He claimed that the Telangana Wootz iron production goes back to earlier periods, more than 10,000 years. Iron objects were introduced in Andhra Pradesh between 750 and 500 BCE. An early example of an object which had been hardened through quenching is dated to 810 BCE from Bihar. For example, from the megalithic site of Kadebakele, c. 700 BCE, tiny rings were identified which seem to have been made of pearlitic steel. Kodachadri, Moookambika temple evidence gives 375 CE. Orissa temples used iron beams exhaustively in many places. There were 37-40 iron beams recovered at Konark temple. Forge welded cast with 0.5% phosphorus gives anti-rustic property, he claims. He was showing examples of iron slag, crucibles etc., found on the groud at remote places, but, he did not any examples of excavated ones. He with his colleagues collected Wootz crucibles from three districts of Northern Telangana[6] ( Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad) and analysed using x-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS). The results indicated the wootz samples have almost the same chemical composition[7]. Such papers have been published in 2007 giving emphasis to Telangana[8]. Therefore, how these could be dated by anything is not known.  Moreover, the samples found on the earth could be dated to recent times also, as many black-smiths work and leave the crucibles, slags etc., as they could not be used for further work. The slag blocks used for the compound wall and other construction has been common, as tones of such slags are dumped road side and remote places by the bloom, billet and ingot manufacturers.  They cannot be attributed to any antiquity.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

01-03-2019

[1] http://www.dravidianuniversity.ac.in/university-profile.php

[2] http://www.dravidianuniversity.ac.in/contactus.php

Guest House phone nos: 08570 – 278362

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Song

[4] Jean Le Coze, On the question of possible transfer of steel technology from India to Europe through Muslim middle East, Indian J. of History of Science, 42(3) (2007) 337-375.

[5]  If the IVC and the Gangetic examples were taken into account, the pre-Mauryan empire has to be taken into account.

[6] S. Laxmi Srinivasa Rao and S. Jaikishan Analysis of Wootz Steel Crucible Furnace Green Slag Samples and Core Materials Collected From Northern Telangana, in International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences IJCMS ISSN 2347 – 8527 Volume 7, Issue 2 February 2018, pp.487-491.

[7] http://academicscience.co.in/admin/resources/project/paper/f201802101518271914.pdf

[8] R. Balasubramaniam, Anubhav Pandey and S. Jaikishan, Analysis of Wootz steel crucibles from North Telangana, Indian J. of History of Science, 42(4) (2007) 649-671.

460. Jaikishan, Survey of iron and wootz steel production sites in Northern Telangana, , Indian J. of History of Science, 42(3) (2007) 445-460.