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The decorative bell capital of the Delhi iron pillar

  • Archaeotechnology
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Abstract

The design and construction of the decorative bell capital of the 1,600 year old Delhi iron pillar attests to the high degree of skill of the ancient Indian blacksmiths in working iron. Detailed visual observations clearly establish that the decorative bell capital is not a single piece of metal, but is composed of separate pieces that have been individually constructed by forge welding. A critical analysis of the fitting methodology of the Delhi iron pillar’s decorative top indicates that the individual pieces were fit around a cylindrical hollow iron shaft, which was connected to the main body of the pillar by means of an insert.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

    R. Balasubramaniam

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  1. R. Balasubramaniam
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Author’s Note: According to the Gupta period Sulba Sutras (a compendium of rules concerning measurements), the ancient Indian measure of length, omitting microscopic measurements, was the angulam, which measured one inch. This was divided into eight yavas. For greater lengths, 12 angulas equaled one vitasti (12 inches or one foot), and two vitastis equaled one hasta or aratni. Further, four hastas resulted in one danda. In this article, the ancient Indian length measures are used in the figures. For ease of reading, U.S. standard measurements are used in the text.

R. Balasubramaniam is an associate professor in the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology.

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Balasubramaniam, R. The decorative bell capital of the Delhi iron pillar. JOM 50, 40–47 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-998-0378-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-998-0378-3

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