‘Iron Age began on Tamil soil 5,300 yrs ago,’ Stalin declares citing artefacts tested in labs abroad

Releasing report by Tamil Nadu archeology dept at Anna Centenary Library, Stalin says samples excavated from archaeological sites in the state were sent to labs around the world.

Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin releasing state archeology department report in Chennai on 23 January. He later tweeted: With immense pride and unmatched satisfaction, I have declared to the world: “The Iron Age began on Tamil soil!” | X/ @mkstalin

Chennai: Armed with findings of the state’s archeology department which trace the earliest use of iron in Tamil Nadu to 3345 BCE, CM M.K. Stalin declared Thursday that the “Iron Age began on Tamil soil!” 

Findings released by Stalin suggest that the Iron Age in Tamil Nadu was contemporaneous with the Copper/Bronze Age of the Indus Valley Civilisation—about “5,300 years ago”. 

Releasing the report titled, ‘Antiquity of Iron: Recent radiometric dates from Tamil Nadu’ at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai, Stalin said samples excavated from various archaeological sites in the state were sent to laboratories around the world.

As a result, the earliest recorded use of iron in Tamil Nadu has been traced to the first quarter of the 4th millennium BCE. “I am telling the world, the technology of smelting iron began in Tamil Nadu around 5,300 years ago. I am saying it with scientific evidence. We can now confidently say that iron was introduced in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, around 3345 BCE. It is confirmed through reports of samples that were sent to laboratories around the world including those in Florida in the United States,” said Stalin.

With immense pride and unmatched satisfaction, I have declared to the world:

“The Iron Age began on Tamil soil!”

Based on results from world-renowned institutions, the use of iron in Tamil Nadu dates back to the beginning of 4th millennium B.C.E., establishing that iron usage… pic.twitter.com/YYslKX7K5F

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) January 23, 2025

The Iron Age marks the period in human history when iron became the primary material for crafting weapons and tools. In India, it traditionally dates back to around 1000 BCE, following the Indus Valley Civilization (3300 BCE–1300 BCE).

In August 2022, Stalin had told the Tamil Nadu Assembly that iron implements excavated from Mayiladumparai in Krishnagiri district dated back to 4,200 years—the oldest in India at the time, but not anymore.

Since DMK came to power in 2021, Thursday marked the first time Tamil Nadu government, instead of merely making an announcement, released a comprehensive report, including lab test reports for carbon dating, to back claims based on archeological findings.

Stalin also declared Thursday that iron was introduced to the world from Tamil land. “It is a matter of great pride for Tamil, Tamil people, Tamil Nadu and the Tamil land. It is a gift from the Tamil land to humankind,” he said.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader’s quest to prove the ancient roots of Tamil culture began just months after he took charge as chief minister.

Having already cited carbon dating reports to say that civilization existed in Thoothukudi around 3,200 years ago, he announced in the legislative assembly in September 2021 that history of the Indian Subcontinent will be rewritten from Tamil land.

On 5 January this year, during a conference marking the centenary of the discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation, Stalin said at Chennai’s Egmore Museum that the Copper/Bronze Age of Indus Valley Civilisation was contemporaneous with the Iron Age of southern India, particularly Tamil Nadu. But he did not release the exact dates. 

The dates have only now been made public citing the report authored by Professor K. Rajan, academic and research adviser to the state’s department of archeology, and R. Sivanantham, its joint director.

“When cultural zones located north of Vindhyas experienced the Copper Age, the south of Vindhyas might have entered into the Iron Age due to the limited availability of commercially exploitable copper ore. Thus, the Copper Age of North India and the Iron Age of South India are probably contemporary,” says the report, a copy of which ThePrint has seen.

Rajan told ThePrint that the dates were not released hastily. “Only if we are giving one date, people may not agree. But, this time, we have tested multiple samples and we have given multiple dates starting 2175 BCE from Mayiladumparai to 3345 BCE from Sivagalai. So, all this proves that the Iron Age began from South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu.”

Tamil Nadu Finance Secretary Udhayachandran, who is also commissioner of the state’s archaeology department, hailed the findings as a milestone. “A civilization develops only when they get to use the iron. It all starts from the iron. They start making weapons, they start making other objects which would eventually lead them to farming and then the civilization thrives. So, in that aspect it is important,” he told ThePrint.

Iron chisels, axe & swords excavated in Sivakalai

According to the report, of the total samples tested, five were taken from the Sivakalai burial site in Thoothukudi district. Of the five, four charcoal samples and one paddy sample were sent to various labs for carbon dating.

“The paddy sample collected from an Urn-2 of Trench A2 was dated back to 1155 BCE. The other three dates falling between 2953 BCE and 3345 BCE yielded iron objects. In this sense, the introduction of iron in Tamil Nadu goes back to the first quarter of the 4th millennium BCE,” says the report.

According to the report, at least 85 iron objects were excavated from the Sivagalai burial site alone.

“The iron objects were placed both inside and outside of the urn. Inside, it was placed at the bottom of the urn. More than 85 iron objects consisting of knives, arrowheads, rings, chisels, axes and swords were collected at various levels from both inside and outside of the urn,” it says.

The next important site after Sivagalai, was the Adichanallur excavation site, also in Thoothukudi. According to the report, archaeologists excavated bowls, ring stands, plates, lids, pots, jars of fine varieties, black and red ware, black polished ware, white painted black and red ware from this site.

“The charcoal sample collected in association with iron object at a depth of 220 cm from layer 4 in the trench laid in habitation mound at Adichanallur by TNSDA yielded a conventional date of 2060 BCE and calibrated date of 2517-2513 BCE (mean value of 2517 BCE  and 2613 BCE ). This date pushed the introduction of iron to mid-3d millennium BCE,” says the report.

The report adds that the excavation conducted in 2021 at Mayiladumparai in Krishnagiri district yielded cultural items such as microlithic tools, neolithic celts, neolithic tool polishing grooves, rock paintings, Iron Age graves, Tamılı (Tamıl-Brähmi) inscribed potsherds, memorial stones and trade guild inscriptions covering the time-span from Microlithic times to the Late Medieval period. Testing of samples from this site earlier traced the introduction of iron in southern India to the 2nd millennium BCE.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)