The use of iron began in the Indian subcontinent around 2500-3000 years ago by the end of the Chalcolithic Age. Now the tools made up of iron and steel during this period were more durable and stronger than Bronze ones. The coming of iron revolutionized the agriculture field in India. The production of iron tools helped in making the farming process much easier and it also helped in increasing the farm yield in greater quantity. Producing in a large quantities helped people at that time not only in subsistence farming but also to indulge in commercial farming (trading between different countries), which somehow transitioned them to live a settled life. In this way, the iron tools also helped small kingdoms to flourish.
The evidence of the specific way in which man discovered and manufactured the iron has been unknown in history. Probably the smelting of iron ore in furnaces for the purpose of glazing pottery resulted in the ashes that might have paved the way for using iron as a metal to make weapons and tools.
The references for extracting the metal from ores have also been witnessed in our Rig Veda and Yajur Veda. In fact, in Rig Vedic hymns the third metal mentioned after gold and silver was iron. The rapid development of making use of iron took place in 1400 BCE. The early evidence of iron smelting was believed to be practiced by tribal artisans in different regions of ancient India dating back to 1300 to 1200 BCE. Its use was primarily limited to areas, which had abundant iron-bearing minerals.
In India, evidence of iron tools has been found in megalithic (big stone) burial sites. These sites in India comprised modern-day Karnataka and Kerala in the south extended to some parts of central India and trans-Vindhayas. In many of these sites, the use of iron perhaps started by the end of the Neolithic and during the chalcolithic age.
The advent of iron was a turning point in the field of agriculture. With the use of this metal now people started to make tools and weapons which were strong and durable along with easy to shape. In this way, they could make a small but much sharper and lightweight tool that was difficult to make with stone or bronze. Examples of some important tools were sickles, axes, spades, and plough shares. With these now they could plow tough soil.
With the help of these tools now people began to transplant the paddy. This became a major innovation in the history of humankind. For increasing the production of paddy, people started to build more effective structures for irrigation with the help of iron tools. They built canals, wells, tanks, etc. for irrigation And with all these new varieties of crops and livestock were introduced during this period. Now in less time, a farmer can look after more crops and livestock.
With the increased productivity of agriculture, the people began to settle down in a particular area for a longer period of time instead of wandering to different places in the search of food and water. With this, the size of kingdoms also increased. And now to run these kingdoms, the king needed money or taxes from the people. As agriculture was one of the most productive sectors of the kingdom, so farmers became the main contributors to taxes. In order to increase the revenue from this field, the kings used to help farmers by making arrangements for canals, well, and tanks for raising the farm productivity.
The iron tools changed human life drastically. With the large-scale production of implements, a new pattern of permanent settlements came into being. It not only revolutionized agriculture but also laid the foundation of big kingdoms and empires,by providing military armaments like iron swords and other weapons which were used by armies and soldiers for waging wars and battles. Since the concept of communities was getting established, people had started making their territories.
The usage of iron tools also paved the way for the development of cities and towns. Due to the advancement of farming implements, now people had more free time. And more time meant that they could make extra supplies or exchange them. Some other members of the family spent part of their time in other activities like making clothes. woodworking, blacksmithing and making salt etc. Thereafter, other occupations also started emerging and started contributing to the economy. Hence, with the more advanced technologies for iron processing, human life experienced a rapid period of growth.
Now the people started making relations with other countries also. Since agriculture improved and farming led to the production of surplus grain, this, in turn, paved the path for flourishing trades. Grain was exchanged for tools and this led to the development of trade practices. Gradually with increasing trade, coins began to be used for transactions. Archaeologists have found several roman coins in different parts of India.
The Iron Age was one of the important parts of prehistory, where we do not have much of written pieces of evidence. And the advent of the iron age was significant in the history of mankind. The production of iron tools made the farming process more efficient. It changed the earlier phase of ‘’lithic’’ Age and brought great development in the socio-economic and political sphere of India with the development of larger kingdoms and different working classes with permanent dwellings. During this age, inter and intra-regional contacts developed along with large-scale commercial-based production. In a way, the beginning of iron laid the foundation for a more civilized society with the evolution of socio-cultural systems. All these developments marked an entire scenario of the nomadic hunting-gathering society of the early man.
Q1. How was iron discovered and used for tools by prehistoric people?
Ans. Humans had learned how to get iron from rocks and to make iron tools out of those rocks . The rocks in which iron was found are known as iron ore, which was melted at very high temperatures. The iron was hammered and heated in contact with charcoal which made the iron harder and stronger.
Q2. How did the life of early people change from the Bronze to Iron Age?
Ans. The Bronze Age lasted from about 1200 BCE. During this period tools were made up of bronze. But it was soon replaced by iron, which was harder and stronger than bronze hence ushered the Iron Age.
Q3. What were the major inventions of the Iron Age?
Ans. Some of the major inventions of the Iron age were iron ploughs called ‘’ards’ which were more efficient than wooden ploughs, and led to the cultivation of more land. This period also saw the discovery of salt, which helped to prevent meat for winter time.
Q4. Why is the iron age in South India called the Megalithic period?
Ans. The iron Age in South India is called the Megalithic period because the area from where the iron ore was extracted was surrounded by a big stones which were known as Megaliths.
Q5. Why did the iron age start early in India?
Ans. India did not have much deposit of tin or copper needed to make Bronze. It was more dependent on trade routes transporting from Europe. With the large population of India, it was very difficult to be reliant on imported tin and copper. On the other hand, India had excessive deposits of iron ore in different parts of India. Therefore, India was able to start with iron tools much faster than many other civilizations.
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