Its Fame Goes Back To Very Old Times.
Ctesias Mentions Two Wonderful Swords Of Such Material That He Got From
The King Of Persia And His Mother.
It is perhaps the ferrum candidum of
which the Malli and Oxydracae sent a 100 talents weight as a present to
Alexander.[2] Indian Iron and Steel ([Greek:
Sidaeros Indikos kai
stomoma]) are mentioned in the Periplus as imports into the Abyssinian
ports. Ferrum Indicum appears (at least according to one reading) among
the Oriental species subject to duty in the Law of Marcus Aurelius and
Commodus on that matter. Salmasius notes that among surviving Greek
chemical treatises there was one [Greek: peri baphaes Indikou sidaerou],
"On the Tempering of Indian Steel." Edrisi says on this subject: "The
Hindus excel in the manufacture of iron, and in the preparation of those
ingredients along with which it is fused to obtain that kind of soft Iron
which is usually styled Indian Steel (HINDIAH).[3] They also have
workshops wherein are forged the most famous sabres in the world.... It is
impossible to find anything to surpass the edge that you get from Indian
Steel (al-hadid al-Hindi)."
Allusions to the famous sword-blades of India would seem to be frequent in
Arabic literature. Several will be found in Hamasa's collection of ancient
Arabic poems translated by Freytag. The old commentator on one of these
passages says: "Ut optimos gladios significet ... Indicos esse dixit,"
and here the word used in the original is Hundwaniyah.
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