During the 19th century a group of people in the North East Part of India called Kakching has produced Iron from its ore in their own method. But the process was banned by the then King of Manipur for he is worried that this people may rise against the king by using modern weapons made from the Iron produced by the people of Kakching.
A small description about Kakching:
It is a matter of much debate whether the term “kakching” originally referred to a group of people or a place. In the current usage it is being used for both the place and the people, I think. Traditionally, like many other communities in Manipur, Kakching was associated with a “sinpham” (an occupation). Smelting of iron is said to be the main occupation of the people of Kakching. The (main) patriarchal deity Ibudhao Khamlangba is intimately associated with the secrets of iron smelting. In an article published in 1910, by a British administrator-cum-ethnographer, J. Shakespear wrote this about the people of Kakching – “The people claim that their ancestors came from Cachar, whence their most important clan’s name, Meyang langbam, Meyang denoting a foreigner from Cachar. The story runs that the ancestors of the Meyang langbam and Khettri mayum clan were one day walking near Thoubal, and noticed some earth thrown out of a bamboo rat’s burrow, which resembled that in which iron was found in Cachar, so they gathered it and on their way home they met the Raja, who asked what they were carrying, and, being told, ordered them to experiment and report the result. Eventually the community,
Click here to get the pdf file of the extraction of Iron by the people of Kakching
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