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Large Iron Pillars from Ancient & Medieval India

Omkar Nath Mohanty

RSB, Bhubaneswar

Introduction

India had a rich heritage in science and technology : in astronomy, mathematics, medicine, metallurgy,
ceramics , textiles and so on. Its pre-eminence in technology however got blunted with industrial revolution, as
the time for high volume production and the unit cost of production could be drastically brought down with the
advent of electricity and new processes. Nevertheless, the level of excellence that the Indians achieved in the
ancient times held the outside-world in awe.

In the post stone-age, India was one of the leading countries that engaged in metallurgical activities in the
Copper & Bronze age ( 3000 B.C.) and is believed to be one of the earliest to have ushered in the Iron Age
(1000 B.C.). Indeed, the Indians were able to produce advanced iron and steel products, unknown to the
western world. For instance, the ‘Wootz Metal’ ( the word ‘wootz’ believed to be derived from the original
Kannada word, ‘‘ukku’ for steel ) which was an iron-base material with high carbon that is intrinsically brittle ,
served as the base material for making superior quality Damascus swords demanding high ductility. Further,
the patterns on the surface of the sword also baffled many and it took several hundred years for modern
scientists to decipher. A number of these swords are preserved in museums around the globe, one such was
used by the redoubtable Tipu Sultan.

The iron beams at Konark, among the largest found in the country and perhaps anywhere else from that
period, inspires awe in the common man even today. It is now known that each of these beams is a
composite, comprising several small flat plates that are all welded together through a forge-welding process. A
good deal of investigation still remains to be done on these beams to gain a deeper insight into the process of
their manufacturing and their structure-property correlation.

Similarly, the Iron pillar of Delhi (Gupta period, ~ 400 A.D.), apart from its aesthetic appeal, also attracted the
attention of scientists to uncover the mystery behind the rust-free nature in spite of its exposure to the ravages
of elements for 1600 years. The Delhi Iron Pillar, shifted from Madhya Pradesh was justifiably hailed as a ‘rust-
less wonder’ and only after some very demanding research work, could one establish the cause of its
resistance to rust. Interestingly, there is another pillar, the Dhar Pillar, in Madhya Pradesh, that in size
exceeds even the .Delhi Iron Pillar.The third pillar is in Mandu also around Dhar. The Fourth and the last of the
iron pillars found in India is located in Kodachadri in Karnataka.

Excepting the Delhi Iron Pillar that was built around 400 AD, the other pillars are believed to have been
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constructed during 12 . – 13 . century AD.
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Interestingly, the early Indians did not know how to make molten pure iron since this melts around 1536 C
and no container ( crucible ) material was available that would endure this high temperature. However, they
could make excellent low-carbon ‘wrought iron’ after expelling the low melting slag ( formed by mixing
fragments of iron ore with charcoal and heating up the mixture ), by repeated hammering.The high carbon iron-
base material ( e.g. Wootz metal ) used to be made by exposing the low carbon wrought iron to a ‘carburizing’
atmosphere for picking up carbon.

The present paper would deal in brief, with the various Iron Pillars of India.
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Delhi Iron Pillar ( DIP )

The iron pillar in Delhi( Fig. 1 ) is located in the courtyard of the Quawwat-ul-islam mosque, adjacent to the
Qutub Minar. It is now established that it was built during the reign of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya
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(375-413) in Udaypur in Madhya Pradesh and moved to its current location in Delhi around the 11 . Century
by Iltutmish . The inscriptions on the pillar have provided the initial clue about its builder.The identity of
Chandra and Vishnupadagiri (which appear in the oldest Sanskrit inscription on the Pillar) was studied and it
was shown that Chandra could beunambiguously identified based on a detailed analysis of the archer type
gold coins of the Imperial Guptas. Further, Udayagiri in Central India was identified as Vishnupadagiri based
on geographical, historical and archaeological evidences.

The exceptional resistance to atmospheric corrosion has attracted the attention scientists around the globe.
Since the first article on DIP by a well-known British metallurgist Robert Hadfield in 1912, many scientific
investigations have been carried out to understand its corrosion resistance behavior for such a long time (
~1600 years ).By far the most comprehensive and insightful work has been done by Prof. R.Balasubramaniam
( who has sadly passed away at a very young age ).

In the year 1961, the Iron Pillar was dug out to understand the state of the buried portion of the pillar as it was
observed that the iron in the region where the stone platform meets to ground was in a corroded condition.
This buried portion was found to have a lead sheet.

Fig.1 : The Iron Pillar in Delhi in the premises of Quawwat-ul-islam mosque, next to the Qutub Minar

Some of the physical dimensions of the pillar are shown in Fig. 2 below.
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Fig.2 : Relative dimensions of the Iron Pillar. The unit U measures 1’’ and equals one Angulum

From the above sketch ( unit U represents inches ),one would find that from the platform the pillar stands
around 21 ft. As mentioned earlier, the pillar is believed to have been brought its final height by hammering
and joining together pieces of wrought iron at elevated temperatures ( forge-welding ). There was some debate
about the position of the pillar while building u the height. It is mostly agreed that the pillar was built up in a
horizontal position and then brought to the vertical position. The total weight of the pillar is ~ 6.3 tons.

The chemical analysis ( Table – I ) carried out indicate that it is made of ( low-carbon ) wrought iron with
enhanced phosphorous and low sulphur. Subsequent investigations carried out using electron probe
examination reported the presence of Cu (0.03%), Ni (0.05%) and Mn (0.07%) in places.
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Table – I : Composition of DIP at various locations

It would be seen from the above Table that the composition ( in particular, the carbon content) varies from
place to place. This is due to the fact that chunks of wrought iron, produced from different iron ores have been
forged together.

Fig.3 : Rust structureformed on mild steel, wethering steel and Delhi Iron Pillar (R.Balasubramanim )

The nature of the corrosion resistance of Delhi iron pillar (DIP) has been addressed by a number of
researchers. It is by and large agreed that the slag content in the iron, and in particular P-content contributes to
the corrosion resistance. Indeed, corrosion measurements were done on the standing pillar at different heights
IGCAR, Kalpakkam Group. It was found that the propensity to corrosion differs at different places. This is
attributed to varying compositions at different places. The role of the rust layer in imparting corrosion
resistance was studied by several groups. A thorough characterization of the same, done by Balsubramaniam
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is presented in Fig. 3 above. It established that the major constituents of the scale were crystalline iron
hydrogen phosphate hydrate (FePO4_H3PO4_4H2O), a-, g-, d-FeOOH and magnetite.The iron oxide/oxy-
hydroxides were present in the amorphous form, Initially, the corrosion rate of iron is high due to the presence
of slag particles. This results in enhancement of surface P content. In the presence of P, the formation of a
protective amorphous compact layer of d-FeOOH, next to the metal surface,is catalyzed and this confers the
initial corrosion resistance. The critical factor contributing to the superior corrosion resistance of the DIP,
however, is the formation of iron hydrogen phosphate hydrate, as a thin layer next to the metal± meta loxide
interface. The formation of the crystalline modification of this phosphate from the amorphous form is aided by
alternate wetting and drying cycles (i.e. the environmental factor). The rate of corrosion is further lowered due
to the low porosity content of the crystalline phosphate phase. The formation of passive film on the DIP has
been compared with the rust formation in normal and weathering steels in Fig. 3.

On the whole, the story of Delhi Iron Pillar ( DIP ) is fascinating from the historical perspective including
astronomy ( at the original place of Vishnupadagiri, now Udaygiri ) and of course, from technological stand-
point. It is a testimony to India’s glorious achievements in the past.

Dhar Iron Pillar

Dhar, situated near Indore in Madhya Pradesh, was founded as the capital of Malwa by Bhoja (1010–1053
AD). Local tradition holds that Bhoja constructed the pillar. The achievements of the iron industry in Malwa
during Raja Bhoja’s reign have been well documented . Bhoja was well versed in iron metallurgy as he, in his
Yuktikalpataru, discusses the manufacture of iron weapons and refers to earlier texts on iron metallurgy like
Louharnava, Louhadspa and Louhapradipa.

Fig.4 Pillar lying in three broken pieces at Lat Masjid,Dhar, near Indore
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Dhar first came into Muslim hands around 1300 AD when Allaudin Khilji subdued Malwa as far as Dhar. In its
original condition, the pillar, topped with a trishul (trident) capital, was located in front of a Shiva temple. This
temple was located at the very site where the present Lat Masjid stands. The masonry basement topped with
stone boulders, in front of the Lat Masjid, appears to be the original erection site of the Dhar iron pillar.

Fig.5 : Three Fragments of Dhar Iron Pillar set in position in the 1980s by the Archaeological Survey of
India. The longest piece is of square cross section; the second changes from sq. to octagonal
and the third piece is octagonal throughout

The fractured top of the third section indicates a missing fourth piece of the pillar. A relatively higher
percentage of slag inclusions on this portion probably suggests that a fracture took place at this location when
the erect pillar was first thrown down. Based on the fact that the octagonal part of the once erect pillar
required greater length ( compared to the square portion ) Cousens proposed that the total length of the
original pillar was probably a little short of 50 ft. Although it is proved that there is a missing fourth piece, the
nature of this piece and the pillar's capital are not known.

The resemblance of the pillar to the Sivalingam in symbolic terms has been discussed by scholars based on
the square and octagonal cross sections. From these considerations, it has been concluded that the final
cross section of the pillar in the missing fourth piece must have been circular, based on the iconographic
description of the Sivalingam. It is, therefore, probable that the pillar must have originally crowned by a trisul or
trident, which is the usual symbol of Lord Shiva.

The schematic picture is shown in Fig. 6 . It would be observed that the total height exceeds 40 ft. Further, the
varying geometry of the pillar makes it interesting. It is also established that the Dhar Pillar was not buried
under ground, it was held in position by rods & cables tied to stones ( Fig. 7 ).
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Fig. 6 : Schematic of the Dhar Pillar at various portions

and their dimensions

Fig.7 (b) Holes on the body of pillar for inserting ropes / cables

Dhar Pillar was not buried in the ground, it was held in upright position
by rods and cables tied to boulders.

Proposed Reconstruction of Dhar Pillar according to Roessler (1995 ).

Holes used to tie rods / wires ( for keeping the Pillar in position )

Fig.7(a) Nature of fixing of the Dhar Pillar

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The Method of Joining Iron Blocks & Butt Welding of the Plate on the Pillar Surface, proposed by Prakash
( 1989 ) are shown in Fig. 8 (a) and (b).

Fig 8 : Joining Process adopted in Dhar (a) isometric view and 8 (b) cross-section ( Prakash )

The chemical composition of the Dhar Iron Pillar was determined. According to Tylecote, (quotating from
Hadfield and Graves), the chemical composition of Dhar pillar iron is 0.02% C and 0.28% P. Local
compositions were determined using electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) by Bala Subramaniam. The
composition varied from one location to another, correlating with the micro-structure, one region (containing
pearlite) showed 0.683% C, 0.693% P, 0.013% Mn and no sulphur, while from another location (containing
both ferrite and pearlite), the composition was 0.276% C, 0.851% P. and 0.075% Ag. ( people believed,
Asthadhatu was used ! ) .The entrapped slag was also analyzed and it was found that they were essentially
fayalitic. A typical composition of slag obtained was 55.8% Fe, 27.8% Si, 0.1%Mn and 16.3% P.

The corrosion studies done on the Dhar Iron Pillar showed good general corrosion resistance; but high
propensity to pitting corrosion due to the presence of slag particles.

A comparison with Delhi Iron Pillar showed that the height of this pillar would reveal that this lesser-known
pillar is about double the height of and heavier ( by at least a ton ) than the Delhi Iron Pillar. Unfortunately, the
fragments of the pillar are arranged by ASI in Dhar and the fourth piece is still missing. It is time this great
monument was revived to its past glory. It is worthwhile at this point to recall what has been said of the Dhar
Pillar by Vincent Smith :

“while we marvel at the skill shown by the ancient artificers in forging a great mass of the Delhi pillar,
we must give a still greater measure of admiration to the forgotten craftsmen who dealt so successfully in
producing the still more ponderous iron mass of the Dhar pillar monument “

It has been opined that The Dhar pillar in the fully revived state would be the largest ancient forge
welded iron pillar in the world !
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Iron Pillar at Mandu

The iron pillar currently stands in front of Jami Masjid at Mandu

in MP, not far from Dhar. The exact age of the pillar has not been
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established yet; speculated to be around 12 . Century AD.

Fig.9 : Iron Pillar at Mandu

Campbell, in his report on Mandu says :

"In front of the gateway of the at mosque, in the center of a masonry plinth about 3 feet high, stands an iron
pillar about a foot in diameter at the base and 20 feet high." Cousens visited Mandu in February 1901,and
noticed that this tall iron pillar was wrapped around with an old flag. He further mentions that this iron pillar was
known as Allaudin's Sang (spear).

The pillar rests on a circular masonry platform. This platform rises 3'7" from the ground level. The iron pillar is
embedded in the center of this platform. The pillar's diameter at the platform level is 11.8“;its total height is
11'5". At a height of 5' from the platform level, evidence of a joint can be noticed. The pillar exhibits a fairly
smooth surface especially in the lower regions due to contact with humans; this portion does not show signs of
severe corrosion. In the upper regions, the surface is of reddish hue. More work is required on this pillar, both
from technological as well as scientific point of view.

Iron Pillar at Kodachadri ( in Karnataka )

Located in Adi-Mookambika temple at Kodachadri village in a remote forest area of the Western Ghats in
Karnataka.Kodachadri is about 40 kms. from Kollur , a town located in the plains, about 120 km north of the
well-known port city of Mangalore in South Canara District of
Karnataka.

Fig. 10: Iron Pillar at Kodachadri

Rising not less than 10 m above the platform level, with a

rectangular cross-section of 8.5 cm * 5.8 cm and characterized by
rough, serrated and slightly reddish surface ,the pillar displays
evidence on top for local melting, flow of melt and solidification,
ostensibly caused by lightning during the monsoons. The total
height is estimated to be ~ 14 m, including the hidden portions in
the platform and below the ground
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Concluding Remarks

The iron making process and in particular, the process of fabrication was unique for the iron pillars of India.
Although the bloomer process of iron making for making wrought iron invariably contained slag, their corrosion
resistance was good, ostensibly due to higher phosphorus content. The manufacturing process for the pillars
could be summarized below

Fig. 11 : Schematic of the manufacturing method ( starting from iron making

to forging ) adopted for iron pillars in India
( following Balasubramaniam )

The Delhi Iron Pillar ( originally from Madhya Pradesh ) and the Dhar Iron Pillar ( in Madhya radish ) are
wonderful examples of our heritage in building structures with iron. More attention need to be paid in
preserving and renovating these monuments and the academia and the Government have to work together in
gaining more scientific facts.

Selected References :

1. Anatharaman, T.R. 1997, The Rustless Wonder – A Study of the Iron Pillar at Delhi,
New Delhi: Vigyan Prasar.
2. Balasubramaniam, R. 2002, Delhi Iron Pillar – New Insight, New Delhi : Aryan Books International
and Indian Inst. of Advanced Studies,Shimla .
3. Balasubramaniam, R, 2000, “On the Corrosion Resistance of the Delhi Iron Pillar”
Corrosion Science, vol. 42 , p. 2103