Question

Why did the Indian iron smelting industry decline in the nineteenth century?

Answer 1

Hint: Francis Buchanan, who visited Mysore in 1800, a year after Tipu Sultan's death, left us an account of the technology used to create Wootz steel in Mysore's hundreds of smelting furnaces. Iron was combined with charcoal and placed inside little clay pots in these furnaces. Smelters produced steel ingots that were utilised for sword manufacture not just in India, but also in West and Central Asia, thanks to meticulous temperature control.

Complete answer:
The downfall of the Indian iron smelting industry in the nineteenth century was caused by the following factors:
- People were barred from entering the restricted woodlands after new forest rules were enacted. Indian smelters were unable to obtain wood for charcoal and iron ore as a result of this. As a result, many smelters quit their positions and looked for other opportunities.
- For each furnace operated, iron smelters were required to pay a substantial fee to the forest authority. As a result, their revenue was cut.
- Iron and steel were imported from Britain by the late nineteenth century. India's ironsmiths began to use imported iron. The demand for iron generated by local smelters was unavoidably reduced as a result.
-By the early twentieth century, smelters were facing competition from the country's growing iron and steel sectors.

Note: The production of Wootz steel necessitated a highly specialised iron refining procedure. Iron smelting, on the other hand, was quite widespread in India until the late eighteenth century. Every area in Bihar and Central India, in particular, had smelters that utilised local ore reserves to make iron, which was widely employed in the creation of everyday implements and tools.