Includes bibliographical references (pages 144-149).

1. Wootz Steel as the Acme of Mankind’s Metallurgical Heritage.
2. The Three Ages of Civilisation : the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages.
3. Steel and the Sword.
4. The Romance of Wootz Steel and the Damascus Sword.
5. Crucible Steel and Indian Armoury : Sixteenth to Nineteenth Century Accounts.
6. European Excitement : Sixteenth to Early Twentieth Century Experiments.
7. Replication o f Wootz : Twentieth Century American Adventures.
8. On Pattern-welded Damascus Blades : Imitation as the Best Form of Flattery.
9. Archaeometallurgy o f Wootz : a Beginning without an End.
10. Ancient Steel Meets Modern Science : Twenty First Century Advances.
Suggestions for Further Reading

This book sets out to capture the romance and adventure of the tale of wootz steel — of how Indians were the world leaders in antiquity in the manufacture of this legendary high-grade steel, which was highly prized and much sought after across several regions of the world over nearly two millennia. It appears lair to claim that wootz steel as an advanced material dominated several landscapes: the geographic landscape spanning the continents of Asia and Europe; the historic landscape stretching over two millennia as maps of nations were redrawn; the literary landscape as celebrated in myths and legends, poetry and drama, movies and plays; and, not least of all, knitting together the religious landscape through trade and other interactions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastnanism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity.This is unique as no other advanced material can display such multifaceted splendour.

The significance of this book to the history of technology lies in the fact that although Indian wootz steel was such an important material in the metallurgical history of mankind, there are no books or monographs devoted to Indian contributions on this subject, while there are some books which have been written related to 'Damascus' steel and blades more often focussing on the fine collections of Persian or Arab armoury. Therefore, to spread the message of the role of Indians and India in developing legendary high grade steel, in this book, instead of adopting a scholarly style usually associated with research
monographs in archaeometallurgy, the text has been oriented towards a wider readership, inclusive of school and college students. Furthermore, to make the book more reader friendly, illustrations especially made by reputed artists have been included.

The modem steel industry of India owes much to the pioneering vision of J. N. Tata. His death centenary is being observed in 2004. He was succeeded by J. R D. Tata, whose birth centenary is also being celebrated in 2004. To commemorate this double centenary, this book has been prepared with support from Tata Steel.