Editing Iron Age (section)

====South Asia====
{{main|Iron Age in India}}
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 bar:India color:era
 from: -1800 till: -200 text:[[Iron Age in India]]
 bar:Period color:era
 from: -1800 till: -300 text:[[Janapada]]
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 from: -700 till: -300 text:[[Mahajanapadas]]
 bar:[[Magadha]] color:era
 from: -1700 till: -832 text:[[Brihadratha dynasty|Brihadratha]]
 bar:[[Magadha]] color:era
 from: -832 till: -667 text:[[Pradyota dynasty|Pradyota]]
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 from: -667 till: -413 text:[[Haryanka dynasty|Haryanka]]
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 from: -413 till: -345 text:[[Shaishunaga dynasty|Shaishunaga]]
 bar:[[Magadha]] color:filler 
 from: -345 till: -321 shift:(0,4) text:[[Nanda Empire|Nanda]]
 bar:[[Magadha]] color:filler 
 from: -321 till: -200 text:[[Maurya Empire|Maurya]]

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Dates are approximate
* {{color box|#f2d97f}}{{color box|#ffd880}} Prehistoric (or proto-historic) Iron Age {{color box|#cccccc}} Historic Iron Age

The earliest evidence of [[iron smelting]] predates the emergence of the Iron Age proper by several centuries.<ref>{{cite journal|quote=the date of the beginning of iron smelting in India may well be placed as early as the sixteenth century BC ... by about the early decade of thirteenth century BCE iron smelting was definitely known in India on a bigger scale.  | last=Tewari | first=Rakesh | title=The origins of iron working in India: new evidence from the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas | journal=Antiquity | publisher=Cambridge University Press (CUP) | volume=77 | issue=297 | year=2003 | issn=0003-598X | doi=10.1017/s0003598x00092590 | pages=536–544}}</ref>  Iron was being used in [[Mundigak]] to manufacture some items in the 3rd millennium&nbsp;BC such as a small copper/bronze bell with an iron clapper, a copper/bronze rod with two iron decorative buttons, and a copper/bronze mirror handle with a decorative iron button.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.harappa.com/sites/default/files/pdf/Kenoyer1999_Metal%20Technologies%20of%20the%20Indus%20Valley%20Tradition.pdf|title=Metal Technologies of the Indus Valley Tradition in Pakistan and Western India|website= Harappa|access-date=2019-01-03}}</ref> Artefacts including small knives and blades have been discovered in the Indian state of [[Telangana]] which have been dated between 2400 and 1800&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Rare-discovery-pushes-back-Iron-Age-in-India/articleshow/47322021.cms|title=Rare discovery pushes back Iron Age in India |website=The Times of India|date=18 May 2015 |access-date=2019-01-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rao|first=Kp|title=Iron Age in South India: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh|url= https://www.academia.edu/37685699|journal=South Asian Archaeology}}</ref> The [[history of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent]] began prior to the 3rd millennium BC. Archaeological sites in India, such as Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila, Lahuradewa, [[Kosambi]] and [[Jhusi]], [[Allahabad]] in present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]] show iron implements in the period 1800–1200&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Tewari" /> As the evidence from the sites Raja Nala ka tila, Malhar suggest the use of Iron c.&nbsp;1800–1700&nbsp;BC. The extensive use of iron smelting is from [[Sonbhadra district|Malhar]] and its surrounding area. This site is assumed as the center for smelted bloomer iron to this area due to its location in the Karamnasa River and Ganga River. This site shows agricultural technology as iron implements sickles, nails, clamps, spearheads, etc., by c.&nbsp;1500 BC.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ranjan|first=Amit|title=The Northern Black Painted Ware Culture of Middle Ganga Plain: Recent Perspective|url= https://www.academia.edu/37049072|journal=Manaviki|date=January 2014}}</ref> Archaeological excavations in Hyderabad show an Iron Age burial site.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/iron-age-burial-site-discovered/article1335326.ece |work=The Hindu |title=Iron Age burial site discovered |date=2008-09-10 |author=K. Venkateshwarlu}}</ref>

However, reviewing the claims of early uses of iron during c. 1800-1000 BCE, archaeologist [[Suraj Bhan (archaeologist)|Suraj Bhan]] noted, "the stratigraphical context and chronology of iron is not beyond doubt" at these sites (namely Malhar, Dadupur, and Lahuradeva) — although "there is no doubt" that iron was being used in the Ganges Plains "a few centuries before the rise of urbanization [...] around 600 BCE".<ref>{{cite journal | last=Bhan | first=Suraj | title=North Indian Protohistory and Vedic Aryans | journal=Ancient Asia | year=2006 | volume=1 | pages=173–178 | doi=10.5334/aa.06115 | doi-access=free | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272715407}}</ref>

The beginning of the 1st millennium&nbsp;BC saw extensive developments in iron metallurgy in India. Technological advancement and mastery of iron metallurgy were achieved during this period of peaceful settlements. One ironworking centre in [[East India]] has been dated to the 1st millennium&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Drakonoff">{{cite book | last=Diakonoff | first=I. M. | title=Early Antiquity | publisher=University of Chicago Press | publication-place=Chicago | date=1991-08-27 | isbn=0-226-14465-8 | page=372}}</ref> In [[Southern India]] (present-day [[Mysore]]) iron appeared as early as 12th to 11th centuries BC; these developments were too early for any significant close contact with the northwest of the country.<ref name="Drakonoff"/> The Indian [[Upanishad]]s mention metallurgy.<ref>{{cite book | last=Olivelle | first=Patrick |authorlink=Patrick Olivelle | title=Upaniṣads | publisher=Oxford University Press | publication-place=Oxford New York | date=1998 | isbn=0-19-283576-9 | page=xxix}}</ref> and the Indian [[Mauryan]] period saw advances in metallurgy.<ref>{{cite book |authorlink1=John F. Richards|first1=J. F. |last1=Richards|first2=Gordon |last2=Johnson |authorlink3=Christopher Bayly|first3=Christopher Alan |last3=Bayly |year=2005 |title=[[The New Cambridge History of India]] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=64}}</ref> As early as 300&nbsp;BC, certainly by 200&nbsp;AD, high-quality steel was produced in southern India, by what would later be called the [[crucible steel|crucible technique]]. In this system, high-purity wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed in a crucible and heated until the iron melted and absorbed the carbon.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Juleff | first=Gill | title=An ancient wind-powered iron smelting technology in Sri Lanka | journal=Nature | volume=379 | issue=6560 | date=1996 | issn=1476-4687 | doi=10.1038/379060a0 | pages=60–63 | bibcode=1996Natur.379...60J | url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v379/n6560/abs/379060a0.html }}</ref>

The protohistoric Early Iron Age in Sri Lanka lasted from 1000&nbsp;BC to 600&nbsp;BC. Radiocarbon evidence has been collected from [[Anuradhapura]] and Aligala shelter in [[Sigiriya]].<ref>{{cite web|first = Lahiru|last = Weligamage|year = 2005|url = http://www.lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1002|title = The Ancient Sri Lanka|website = LankaLibrary Forum|access-date = 10 October 2018|archive-date = 10 January 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200110221944/http://www.lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1002|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name=Deraniyagala>{{cite thesis| last=Deraniyagala | first=Siran Upendra | title=The prehistory of Sri Lanka: An ecological perspective | via=ProQuest | url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/f58bbe60f92ff62f46f6792d629d2d51/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Karunaratne |last2=Adikari |year=1994 |chapter=Excavations at Aligala prehistoric site |editor-last1=Bandaranayake |editor-last2=Mogren |title=Further studies in the settlement archaeology of the Sigiriya-Dambulla region |location=Sri Lanka |publisher=University of Kelaniya: Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology |page=58}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mogren |year=1994 |chapter=Objectives, methods, constraints, and perspectives|editor-last1=Bandaranayake |editor-last2=Mogren |title=Further studies in the settlement archaeology of the Sigiriya-Dambulla region |location=Sri Lanka |publisher=University of Kelaniya: Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology |page=39}}</ref> The Anuradhapura settlement is recorded to extend {{cvt|10|ha}} by 800&nbsp;BC and grew to {{cvt|50|ha}} by 700–600&nbsp;BC to become a town.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Allchin | first=F. R. | title=City and State Formation in Early Historic South Asia | journal=South Asian Studies | volume=5 | issue=1 | date=1989 | issn=0266-6030 | doi=10.1080/02666030.1989.9628379 | pages=1–16}}</ref> The skeletal remains of an Early Iron Age chief were excavated in Anaikoddai, [[Jaffna]]. The name "Ko Veta" is engraved in [[Brahmi script]] on a [[seal (insignia)|seal]] buried with the skeleton and is assigned by the excavators to the 3rd century BC. Ko, meaning "King" in Tamil, is comparable to such names as Ko Atan and Ko Putivira occurring in contemporary [[Brahmi]] inscriptions in south India.<ref>{{cite book | last=Intirapālā | first=Kārttikēcu | title=The evolution of an ethnic identity: the Tamils in Sri Lanka c. 300 BCE to c. 1200 CE
 | publisher=South Asian Studies Centre Sydney | publication-place=Colombo | date=2005 | isbn=0-646-42546-3 | page=324}}</ref> It is also speculated that Early Iron Age sites may exist in [[Kandarodai]], Matota, [[Pilapitiya]] and [[Tissamaharama]].<ref name=Deraniyagala/>

The earliest undisputed deciphered [[epigraphy]] found within the Indian subcontinent are the [[Edicts of Ashoka]] of the 3rd century&nbsp;BC, in the [[Brahmi script]]. Several inscriptions were thought to be pre-Ashokan by earlier scholars; these include the [[Piprahwa]] relic casket inscription, the [[Barli inscription|Badli pillar inscription]], the [[Bhattiprolu]] relic casket inscription, the [[Sohgaura copper plate inscription]], the [[Mahasthangarh]] Brahmi inscription, the [[Eran]] coin legend, the [[Taxila]] coin legends, and the inscription on the silver coins of [[Sophytes]]. However, more recent scholars have dated them to later periods.<ref>{{cite book |first=Dilip K. |last=Chakrabarty |title=India: An Archaeological History: Palaeolithic Beginnings to Early Historic Foundations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPQtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT356 |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-908814-0 |pages=355–356}}</ref>