The Chinese and locals in Sri Lanka adopted the production methods of creating Wootz steel from the Chera Tamils by the 5th century BC.
[8][9] In Sri Lanka, this early steel-making method employed a unique wind furnace, driven by the monsoon winds, capable of producing high-carbon steel and production sites from antiquity have emerged, in places such as
Anuradhapura,
Tissamaharama and
Samanalawewa, as well as imported artifacts of ancient iron and steel from Kodumanal. A
200 BC Tamil trade guild in Tissamaharama, in the South East of Sri Lanka, brought with them some of the oldest iron and steel artifacts and production processes to the island from the
classical period.
[10][11][12][13] The Arabs introduced the South Indian/Sri Lankan wootz steel to
Damascus, where an industry developed for making weapons of this steel. The 12th century Arab traveler
Edrisi mentioned the "Hinduwani" or Indian steel as the best in the world.
[1] Another sign of its reputation is seen in a Persian phrase – to give an "Indian answer", meaning "a cut with an Indian sword."
[14] Wootz steel was widely exported and traded throughout ancient
Europe and the
Arab world, and became particularly famous in the
Middle East
