Wootz Steel Smelting Technology

Timeline

1. -201–1000Deccan Plateau, South India · IndiaSouthern Indian artisans developed a smelting method of sealing sponge iron and plant-based carbon sources in clay crucibles and calcining them for long periods, producing high-quality high-carbon steel ingots. Archaeological and textual evidence indicates the technology was already quite mature before 1000 CE.
2. 1400–1500Malabar Coast · KeralaBetween 1431 and 1440, southern Indian wootz steel was exported through Malabar and Coromandel ports to Persian, Arab, and East African markets; European merchants also obtained this steel through intermediaries. Military demand of the Vijayanagara Empire and oceanic trade together sustained high output in the steel-producing regions.
3. 1750–1850South India · IndiaAfter British colonial rule introduced modern steelmaking techniques such as the Bessemer converter, traditional crucible steel production gradually shrank due to cost and scale disadvantages. By the mid-nineteenth century, indigenous wootz steel smelting in southern India had almost vanished, and the craft knowledge was partly lost.