Changes

Rigveda begins with a prayer to Agni to bless mankind with all worldly pleasures. One of the major contributions of the discovery of fire and pyrotechnology was its use for the extraction of metals from their minerals. Prakash<ref>Prakash, S. (1965) ''Founders of Science in Ancient India'', New Delhi: The Research Institute of Ancient Studies.</ref>  postulated and described the havankund (yajnakunda) as the open air laboratory of the Vedic times which may have been responsible for the discovery and development of the many new uses of the thermochemical energy.<ref name=":0" />  

Rigveda begins with a prayer to Agni to bless mankind with all worldly pleasures. One of the major contributions of the discovery of fire and pyrotechnology was its use for the extraction of metals from their minerals. Prakash<ref>Prakash, S. (1965) ''Founders of Science in Ancient India'', New Delhi: The Research Institute of Ancient Studies.</ref>  postulated and described the havankund (yajnakunda) as the open air laboratory of the Vedic times which may have been responsible for the discovery and development of the many new uses of the thermochemical energy.<ref name=":0" />  

= Historical evidence of Iron in Ancient India =

== Historical evidence of Iron in Ancient India ==

Rapid developments in iron making and its use took place around 1400 B.C. The history of early iron smelting, practiced by the tribal artisans in different regions of ancient India dates back to 1300 to 1200 B.C. The use of iron was relatively unknown except in areas where iron bearing minerals were abundant. Prakash and Tripathi<ref>Prakash, B., and Tripathi, V., (1986), ''Iron technology in ancient india,'' In Historical Metallurgy, September, pp. 568-579.</ref> have documented the early iron age cultures, which could have been independent of each other, arising in five different zones of India. These five cultures were  

Rapid developments in iron making and its use took place around 1400 B.C. The history of early iron smelting, practiced by the tribal artisans in different regions of ancient India dates back to 1300 to 1200 B.C. The use of iron was relatively unknown except in areas where iron bearing minerals were abundant. Prakash and Tripathi<ref>Prakash, B., and Tripathi, V., (1986), ''Iron technology in ancient india,'' In Historical Metallurgy, September, pp. 568-579.</ref> have documented the early iron age cultures, which could have been independent of each other, arising in five different zones of India. These five cultures were