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{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
In the [[prehistory of the Indian subcontinent]], an "[[Iron Age]]" is recognize as succeeding the [[Late Harappan]] (Cemetery H) culture.<ref>The archaeological term "Iron Age" began to be commonly applied to Indian prehistory in the 1960s (N. R. Banerjee, ''The Iron Age in India'', 1965).
Note that the use of "Iron Age" for the [[Kali Yuga]] is earlier but unrelated, referencing references the mythological "[[Ages of Man]]" of [[Hesiod]].</ref>
The main Iron Age archaeological cultures of present-day northern India are the [[Painted Grey Ware culture]] (1300 to 300 BCE)<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/37419677/An_Overview_on_the_Iron_Age_in_South_Asia Uesugi, Akinori, (2018). "An Overview on the Iron Age in South Asia", in (ed.) Akinori Uesugi, Iron Age in South Asia, Kansai University], Fig. 6, pp. 9-12.</ref> and the [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] (700 to 200 BCE). This corresponds to the transition of the [[Janapada]]s or principalities of the [[Vedic period]] to the sixteen [[Mahajanapadas]] or region-states of the early historic period, culminating in the emergence of the [[Maurya Empire]] towards the end of the period.

The earliest evidence of [[iron smelting]] predates the emergence of the Iron Age proper by several centuries.<ref> "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"
Rakesh Tewari (2003), [http://archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/iron-ore.html ''The origins of Iron-working in India: New evidence from the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas.''] Archaeology Online</ref>

==Researches==

A team of archaeologists discovered several iron artifacts, including small knives, in [[Telangana]] in 2015, dating back to 1,800 BCE to 2,400 BCE. These iron artefacts were tested at the [[National Geophysical Research Institute]] (NGRI).<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|date=2015|publisher=[[Times of India]]}}</ref>

R. Tewari (2003) radiocarbon dated iron artefacts in [[Uttar Pradesh]], including furnaces, tuyeres and slag between c. 1800 and 1000 BCE. Iron using and iron working was prevalent in the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas from the early second millennium BCE.<ref>Rakesh Tewari (2003). The origins of iron working in India: new evidence from the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas. Antiquity, 77, pp 536-544. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00092590.</ref> The beginning of the use of iron has been traditionally associated with the eastward migration of the later [[Vedic period|Vedic people]], who are also considered as an agency which revolutionised material culture particularly in eastern Uttar Pradesh and [[Bihar]]. Scholar Rakesh Tewari states that new finds and their dates suggest the need for a fresh review. According to him, the evidence corroborates the early use of iron in other areas of the country, and attests that India was indeed an independent centre for the development of the working of iron.<ref>Rakesh Tewari (2003), [http://archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/iron-ore.html ''The origins of Iron-working in India: New evidence from the [[Central Ganga Plain]] and the Eastern Vindhyas.''] Archaeology Online</ref><ref name="Tewari - Iron Eastern Vindhyas">{{cite journal|last1=Tewari|first1=Rakesh|title=The origins of iron working in India: new evidence from the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas|journal=Antiquity|date=Sep 2003|volume=77|issue=297|pages=536–544|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00092590|citeseerx=10.1.1.403.4300|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/article_S0003598X00092590|access-date=2 February 2015}}</ref>

The earliest Iron Age sites in [[South India]] are [[Hallur]], [[Karnataka]] and [[Adichanallur]], [[Tamil Nadu]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070527142322/http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/25/stories/2007052502532200.htm Front Page : Some pottery parallels]. The Hindu (2007-05-25). Retrieved on 2013-07-12.</ref> at around 1000 BCE.<ref>Rakesh Tewari (2003), [http://archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/iron-ore.html ''The origins of Iron-working in India: New evidence from the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas.''] Archaeology Online.
Agrawal et al. 1985: 228-29.
Sahi (1979: 366)</ref> Mahurjhari near [[Nagpur]] was a large bead manufacturing site.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20210107132105/http://www.heritageuniversityofkerala.com/JournalPDF/Volume3/22.pdf</ref>

==See also==
*[[Stone Age]]
*[[Indus Valley Civilization]]
*[[Vedic Period]]
*[[History of India]]
*[[Epic India]]
*[[Mahajanapadas]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Kenoyer, J.M. 1998 Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. Oxford University Press and American Institute of Pakistan Studies, Karachi.
*Kenoyer, J. M. 1991a The Indus Valley Tradition of Pakistan and Western India. In Journal of World Prehistory 5(4): 331-385.
*Kenoyer, J. M. 1995a Interaction Systems, Specialized Crafts and Culture Change: The Indus Valley Tradition and the Indo-Gangetic Tradition in South Asia. In The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity, edited by G. Erdosy, pp. 213–257. Berlin, W. DeGruyter.
*Shaffer, J. G. 1992 The Indus Valley, Baluchistan and Helmand Traditions: Neolithic Through Bronze Age. In Chronologies in Old World Archaeology (3rd Edition), edited by R. Ehrich, pp. 441–464. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
*Chakrabarti, D.K.
** 1974. Beginning of Iron in India: Problem Reconsidered, in A.K. Ghosh (ed.), Perspectives in Palaeoanthropology: 345-356. Calcutta: Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay.
** 1976. The Beginning of Iron in India. Antiquity 4: 114-124.
** 1992. The Early Use of Iron in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
** 1999. India An Archaeological History. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
* {{citation |last=Chakrabarti|first=Dilip K. |chapter=Mahajanapada States of Early Historic India |title=A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation |publisher=Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab |year=2000 |isbn=8778761778 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8qvY8pxVxcwC&pg=PA375 |pages=375–393}}

[[Category:Iron Age Asia|India]]
[[Category:Ancient India]]
[[Category:Prehistoric India]]
[[Category:Archaeology of India|Iron Age]]
[[Category:History of India]]
[[Category:Iron Age by country|India]]

Iron Age in India - Revision history

Kartikshina85855: cleaned up intro for accuracy

2409:4060:2E0D:589A:0:0:9C4A:1F14 at 12:59, 18 June 2021