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Wootz steel is acrucible steel characterized by a pattern of bands and high carbon content. These bands are formed by sheets of microscopiccarbides within a temperedmartensite orpearlite matrix in higher-carbon steel, or byferrite and pearlite banding in lower-carbon steels. It was a pioneeringsteel alloy developed insouthern India in the mid-1st millennium BC and exported globally.[1]
Wootz steel originated in the mid-1st millennium BC in India. It was made inGolconda inTelangana,Karnataka,Tamilnadu andSri Lanka.[2][3][4][5] The steel was exported as cakes of steely iron that came to be known as "wootz".[6] The method was to heat blackmagnetite ore in the presence of carbon in a sealed clay crucible inside a charcoal furnace to completely removeslag. An alternative was to smelt the ore first to givewrought iron, then heat and hammer it to remove slag. The carbon source was bamboo and leaves from plants such asAvārai.[6][7] Locals in Sri Lanka adopted the production methods of creating wootz steel from theCheras by the 5th century BC.[8] In Sri Lanka, this early steel-making method employed a unique wind furnace, driven by themonsoon winds. Production sites from antiquity have emerged, in places such asAnuradhapura,Tissamaharama andSamanalawewa, as well as imported artifacts of ancient iron and steel from Kodumanal. Recent archaeological excavations (2018) of the Yodhawewa site (inMannar District) discovered the lower half of a spherical furnace, crucible fragments, and lid fragments related to the crucible steel production through the carburization process.[9] In the South East of Sri Lanka, there were some of the oldest iron and steel artifacts and production processes to the island from theclassical period.[10][11][12][13]
Trade between India and Sri Lanka through theArabian Sea introduced wootz steel to Arabia. The termmuhannad مهند orhendeyy هندي in pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabic refers to sword blades made from Indian steel, which were highly prized, and are attested inArabic poetry. Further trade spread the technology to the city ofDamascus, where an industry developed for making weapons of this steel. This led to the development ofDamascus steel. The 12th century Arab travelerEdrisi mentioned the "Hinduwani" or Indian steel as the best in the world.[14] Arab accounts also point to the fame of 'Teling' steel, which can be taken to refer to the region ofTelangana, theGolconda region of Telangana clearly being the nodal center for the export of wootz steel to West Asia.[14]
Another sign of its reputation is seen in aPersian phrase – to give an "Indian answer", meaning "a cut with an Indian sword".[8] Wootz steel was widely exported and traded throughout ancientEurope and theArab world, and became particularly famous in theMiddle East.[8]
From the 17th century onwards, several European travelers observed the steel manufacturing in South India, atMysore,Malabar andGolconda. The word Wootz was derived from theTamil wordurukku based on the meaning "melt, dissolve". OtherDravidian languages have similar-sounding words for steel:ukku inKannada[15][16] andTelugu, andurukku inMalayalam. WhenBenjamin Heyne inspected the Indian steel inCeded Districts and other Kannada-speaking areas, he was informed that the steel wasucha kabbina ("superior iron"), also known asukku tundu in Mysore.[17][18]
Legends of wootz steel and Damascus swords aroused the curiosity of the European scientific community from the 17th to the 19th century. The use of high-carbonalloys was little known in Europe[19] previously and thus the research into wootz steel played an important role in the development of modern English, French and Russianmetallurgy.[20]
In 1790, samples of wootz steel were received by SirJoseph Banks, president of the BritishRoyal Society, sent byHelenus Scott. These samples were subjected to scientific examination and analysis by several experts.[21][22][23]
Specimens of daggers and other weapons were sent by the Rajas of India tothe Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and1862 International Exhibition. Though the arms of the swords were beautifully decorated and jeweled, they were most highly prized for the quality of their steel. The swords of the Sikhs were said to bear bending and crumpling, and yet be fine and sharp.[8]
Wootz is characterized by a pattern caused by bands of clusteredFe
3C particles made by melting of low levels of carbide-forming elements.[24] Wootz contains greater carbonaceous matter than common qualities of cast steel.[citation needed]
The distinct patterns of wootz steel that can be made through forging are wave, ladder, and rose patterns with finely spaced bands. However, with hammering, dyeing, andetching further customized patterns were made.[25]
The presence ofcementitenanowires and carbon nanotubes has been identified by Peter Pepler ofTU Dresden in the microstructure of wootz steel.[26] There is a possibility of an abundance of ultrahard metallic carbides in the steel matrix precipitating out in bands. Wootz swords were renowned for their sharpness andtoughness.
T. H. Henry analyzed and recorded the composition of wootz steel samples provided by theRoyal School of Mines. Recording:
Wootz steel was analyzed byMichael Faraday and recorded to contain 0.01-0.07%aluminium. Faraday, Messrs (et al.), and Stodart hypothesized that aluminium was needed in the steel and was important in forming the excellent properties of wootz steel. However T. H. Henry deduced that presence of aluminium in the wootz used by these studies was due toslag, forming as silicates. Percy later reiterated that the quality of wootz steel does not depend on the presence of aluminium.[27]
In the 19th century, Wootz steel was studied in depth by the Royal School of Mines in an attempt to reproduce it.[28] Dr. Pearson was the first to chemically examine wootz in 1795 and he published his contributions to the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.[29]
Russian metallurgistPavel Petrovich Anosov (seeBulat steel) was able to reproduce ancient wootz steel with nearly all of its properties and the steel he created was very similar to traditional wootz.[citation needed] He documented four different methods of producing wootz steel that exhibited traditional patterns.[citation needed] His work titled “On Bulat Steels” was published in the Mining Journal (ru:Горный журнал).[30]
In the late 20th century, J.D Verhoeven and Alfred Pendray chemically analysed extant Damascus blades, reconstructed methods of production, proved the role of impurities of ore, specifically the inclusion ofVanadium (~0.005%) in carbide formation, along with the need for repeated thermal cycling of the forged blades in the pattern creation, to reproduce wootz steel blades with patterns microscopically and visually identical to ancient blade patterns.[31][32]
Reibold et al.'s analyses spoke of the presence of carbon nanotubes enclosing nanowires of cementite, with the trace elements/impurities ofvanadium,molybdenum,chromium etc. contributing to their creation, in cycles of heating/cooling/forging. This resulted in a hard high carbon steel that remained malleable.[33]
There are smiths who are now consistently producing wootz steel blades visually identical to the old patterns.[34] Steel manufactured inKutch (in present-day India) particularly enjoyed a widespread reputation, similar to those manufactured atGlasgow andSheffield.[8]
With fellow experts, the Georgian-Dutch master armourerGocha Laghidze developed a new method to reintroduce "Georgian Damascus steel". In 2010, he and his colleagues gave a masterclass on this at theRoyal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.[35][36]
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