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Iron Pillar at Delhi

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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures

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The Delhi iron pillar (Fig. 1) is testimony to the high level of skill achieved by the ancient Indian ironsmiths in the extraction and processing of iron. Hadfield (1912) undertook the first systematic scientific study of the Delhi iron pillar. Results of scientific studies conducted in 1961 were summarized in a special issue of the NML Technical Journal (Vol. 5, 1963). A review of its corrosion resistance appeared in 1970 (Wranglen, 1970). While Anantharaman (1997) has reviewed the known scientific facts about the Delhi iron pillar, Balasubramaniam (2002, 2005) has compiled several new insights into the historical, scientific, and technical aspects of the Delhi iron pillar.

Iron Pillar at Delhi, Fig. 1
figure 98 figure 98

Delhi iron pillar located in the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in the Qutub Complex at New Delhi

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References

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Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the co-operation of the Archaeological Survey of India.

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  1. Kanpur, India

    R. Balasubramaniam

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  1. R. Balasubramaniam
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Correspondence to R. Balasubramaniam .

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  1. Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, USA

    Helaine Selin

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Balasubramaniam, R. (2016). Iron Pillar at Delhi. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7747-7_8658

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