The Riddle Of The Indian Iron Column - Alternative View

The Riddle Of The Indian Iron Column - Alternative View
The Riddle Of The Indian Iron Column - Alternative View

Video: The Riddle Of The Indian Iron Column - Alternative View

Video: The Riddle Of The Indian Iron Column - Alternative View
Video: Riddles of the temple of Ramappa. [No. A-007. 2018 year.] 2024, November
Anonim

Just half an hour's drive from the old center of the Indian capital, on one of the squares, near the Qutub Minar, there is an iron column more than one and a half thousand years old. In India it is called "the wonder of the world", people always crowd around it.

Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs - locals and foreign tourists alike - flock to see the nearly three stories high iron column.

However, people have flocked to her since ancient times - these were crowds of pilgrims: it was believed that if someone leaned his back against the column and clasped her hands, he would be happy. Another option is to make your wish come true.

And what, in fact, is the matter? And the fact that this column has been standing for one and a half thousand years is washed by rains, and … does not rust. And made of iron.

The column was erected in 415 in honor of King Chandragupta II, emperor of the Gupta dynasty, who died in 413. This is stated in the corresponding inscription in Sanskrit: “King Chandra, beautiful as the full moon, reached supreme power in this world and honor of the god Vishnu."

Originally, the column was in the east of the country, crowned with the image of the sacred bird Garuda and stood in front of the temple. (Garuda in Hinduism is a riding bird (vahana) of the god Vishnu, a fighter with naga snakes. In Buddhism, this is one of the symbols of the enlightened mind.)

In 1050, King Anang Pola moved the column to Delhi. In general, it was not easy to do this: the iron colossus weighs, according to various estimates, 6.5-6.8 tons. The lower diameter of the column is 48.5 cm, towards the top it narrows to almost 30 cm. The height is 7 m 21 cm.

Impressive? Oh yeah! But much more impressive is the fact that the monolith is 99.72% pure iron! Impurities in it are only 0.28%. At the same time, only subtle spots of corrosion can be seen on the black and blue surface of the column. Why doesn't the column rust? A question of questions. It deprives scientists of sleep and piques the curiosity of ordinary onlookers.

Promotional video:

Image
Image

Guides, by the way, often tell legends about the exclusivity of their “wonder of the world”. According to one of them, stainless steel was used to create the column. However, analysis by Indian scientist Chedari shows that the column does not contain alloying elements that lead to increased corrosion resistance.

So really, why exactly in 16 hundred years the column has not been eaten away by rust, the very rust that annually destroys many tons of iron in the world? Especially if it's not steel. And this is in India, where monsoon rains fall from June to September!

That is why scientists are racking their brains over and over again: who and, most importantly, how made this unique column? After all, pure iron is still a rarity. Metallurgists produce it using a very complex method. How did the ancient craftsmen manage to make this miracle, before which centuries are powerless? On this score, many hypotheses have been put forward, including fantastic ones.

For example, some writers and even researchers have seriously argued that the Chandragupta Column was the work of aliens or the inhabitants of Atlantis. The second common hypothesis, again, linked the origin of the iron colossus from Delhi with space. Say, the column was made of an iron meteorite that fell to the ground.

But even here not everything is smooth: the authors of this hypothesis could not convincingly explain how the meteorite in those distant times was turned into a column. After all, we are talking about casting (or forging) a "statue" more than seven meters long and weighing almost seven tons … (By the way, versions suggesting that the iron column in Delhi was cast or forged from one single piece of iron are currently being questioned.

Some scholars argue that the column was made by forging individual iron crumbs (a cricket is a solid spongy mass of iron obtained by heating, or reduction, ore without melting the latter) weighing up to 36 kg. The evidence is clearly visible impact marks and weld lines, as well as low sulfur content (thanks to the charcoal used to smelt the ore) and a large amount of non-metallic inclusions (insufficient hammering).)

But back to hypotheses. I must say that no one, by and large, took the "cosmic" hypotheses seriously. But the public listened to the opinion of Dr. Subbarauapp, chairman of the National Committee on Indian History.

According to the scientist, the inscription on the column says only about the time of its installation in Delhi, and not about the "date of manufacture". That is, the column could have been created much earlier than the 5th century.

It is known that there was once a “great iron age” in India: which began in the 10th century. BC, it lasted for over a millennium. At that time, Indian metallurgical masters were famous throughout Asia, and Indian swords were highly valued even in the Mediterranean countries.

Ancient chronicles report that during the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the ruler of one of the Indian principalities presented the commander with a hundred talents of steel (according to current views, not such a valuable gift - 250 kilograms, but at that time steel was highly valued).

Image
Image

In many ancient temples, iron beams up to 6 m long are found. Historians report that the iron tools used in the construction of the Egyptian pyramids for stone processing were made in South India, which had a lively trade with Rome, Egypt and Greece.

India was so famous in the East for its steel products that the Persians, when talking about something superfluous and unnecessary, had a saying: "To carry steel to India." In general, the presence of such a large iron product in the 5th century. symbolized a high level of state wealth. Even after 600 years, in 1048, describing (from hearsay) the column, Biruni from Khorezm considers it to be just a legend.

It turns out that already at the time of Macedonian - in the IV century. BC. - Indian metallurgy was at a very high level. But if this is so, if even at that time Indian craftsmen possessed the secret of "large-size" casting from stainless iron, then why only the Column of Chandragupta survived to this day? Only she and nothing else ?! Isn't it strange? Strange, and therefore casts doubt on the very hypothesis of Dr. Subbarauapp.

According to another version, the column was accidentally smelted "by eye", as was the case in ancient times. With such smelting, very large deviations in the quality of the metal are possible. That, they say, one of such exceptions could be a column.

According to one author, ancient metallurgists ground a sponge of wrought iron into powder and sieved it to obtain pure iron. And then the resulting pure iron powder was heated to red heat and, under the blows of a hammer, its particles stuck together into one whole - now it is called the method of powder metallurgy.

Another rather popular version of the origin of the Chandragupta Column is again called fantastic. This hypothesis is connected with the history of the Harappan civilization, which once lay in the valley of the Indus River.

The heyday of this civilization, as scientists believe, lasted almost ten centuries - from the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. One of the most significant monuments of that era is the city of Mohenjo-Daro, the ruins of which were discovered during excavations in 1922. This city died 3500 years ago, and died suddenly, overnight. Even in the process of excavations, the question arose: how was the big city destroyed - with brick and stone houses, pavements, water supply, sewerage?

According to the scheme drawn by historians, everything could have happened according to the following scenario: a catastrophic flood, an epidemic, and, in addition, an invasion of conquerors were superimposed on the usual process of the decline of culture and trade.

But! First, the proposed explanation smacks of "vinaigrette" - too much is mixed. And secondly, the decline of culture is a long process, and everything in Mohenjo-Daro suggests that the catastrophe happened suddenly. Flood? But in the ruins no traces of a rampant water element were found. Epidemic? It does not strike people suddenly and at the same time - people walking the streets or going about their business.

However, judging by the location of the skeletons, this is how it was. With good reason, we can also reject the version of a surprise attack - none of the skeletons have traces of wounds inflicted by weapons. But in Mohenjo-Daro traces of a special kind were found - traces of a powerful nuclear explosion. So, in any case, says the English scientist D. Dovenport, and his Italian colleague E. Vincenti joins him.

They say that if you look closely at the destroyed buildings, you get the impression that a clear area is delineated - the epicenter in which all buildings are leveled to the ground. From the center to the periphery, the destruction gradually decreases, and the outlying buildings are best preserved. So, a nuclear explosion? But excuse me, we are talking about events that took place before our era!

And even if there was an explosion, then, therefore, there was a civilization that possessed such a scientific and technical potential that we never dreamed of. And if the masters of this ancient civilization managed to make a nuclear bomb, then it was not difficult for them to make such a trifle as a stainless column.

Meanwhile, scientists have repeatedly expressed the idea that the secret of stainless steel is hidden in its composition. In order to test this hypothesis, in 1912, 1945 and 1961. Indian experts took iron samples for chemical analysis of the Chandragupta column. It turned out that, in comparison with modern steel grades, the phosphorus content in the samples under study is five times higher, but the percentage of manganese and sulfur, on the contrary, is extremely small.

Image
Image

Alas, these valuable data did not bring scientists any closer to solving the "corrosion resistance" of the Indian "wonder of the world." All this remains to be seen. Fortunately, time permits: the dog barks, the caravan moves on, centuries pass, and the column stands …

By the way, the iron column in Delhi gained popularity among Europeans after the works of the English orientalist and Indologist Alexander Cunningham more than 150 years ago, but few people know, but a similar column of even larger dimensions, made in the 3rd century, rises in the Indian city of Dhar.

Inquisitive scientists have conducted a number of studies on the iron pillars in Dhar and Delhi. For example, English scientists took small pieces of metal from the columns as samples for physical and chemical analysis in London.

Upon arrival in London, it turned out that the samples … were covered with rust. Soon the Swedish materials scientist I. Wranglen and his colleagues discovered a zone of severe corrosion on the column. It turned out that in the area where the column was embedded in the foundation, it rusted to a depth of 16 mm along the entire diameter. In the air - does not rust, in contact with the ground - does it rust? Strange, agree! Either to rust everywhere, or not to rust anywhere. And corrosion on samples “torn off” from the column is generally beyond understanding.

Another mysterious monument of antiquity is the statue of Buddha from Sultanganj, cast from pure copper and weighing more than a ton. According to scientists, this statue is not less than 1500 years old and there is still no scientific explanation of how the ancient Indian blacksmiths were able to make such a work of art.

Now the statue of the copper Buddha is in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and the plaque with its description reads: "The statue of the Buddha, which is about 1500 years old, has been preserved almost intact, which makes it a unique landmark in the world."