Chennai: Proclaiming to the world, ‘The Iron Age began on Tamil soil,’ Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday said, with immense pride and unmatched satisfaction, that the use of iron in Tamil Nadu dated back to the beginning of the fourth millennium BCE, establishing that iron usage was prominent all over South India over 5,300 years ago.
Speaking at an event organized at the Anna Centenary Library hall in Chennai by the State Archeology department, Stalin said Anthropological research had scientifically proved that the life of the metal iron began in the Tamil landscape 5,300 years ago when iron ore smelting had begun in the region for the first time in the world.
The declaration that he made was not just for the country but for the entire world, he said at the event that marked the proclamation that Iron Age started on Tamil soil, releasing the book ‘Antiquity of Iron,’ laying the foundation stone for the Keeladi open air museum and the Gangaikonda Cholapuram museum and the launch of the Keeladi website.
‘The history of the Indian subcontinent can no longer overlook Tamil Nadu. In fact, it must begin here,’ Stalin said in his X message, adding, ‘What was written in our ancient literature is now becoming scientifically proven history, thanks to the meticulous efforts of our Dravidian Model Government.’
Explaining the efforts made by the Archaeology department that had send samples to different research laboratories in the world to validate the claim that the technology to convert iron ore into iron was available on Tamil soil first, he said that when ancient Tamil literature was cited as evidence for the existence of an ancient civilization in those pre-historic times there were many who mocked at it.
Today, scientific proof has emerged to establish that all that was true. The excavations at Keeladi had established the existence of an ancient urban civilization that thrived with literary knowledge on Tamil soil, while the Sivakalai excavations had proved that paddy was cultivated on the banks of the Perunai River 2300 years ago, thanks to ancient agricultural innovations.
Establishing the glorious past of the Tamil civilization would pave the way for future laurels, he said, adding that all that had been said so far about Tamil language, Tamil culture and Tamil civilization were not literary fiction or claims made for political reasons but historical facts based on evidence.
By telling the next generation of the Tamil land’s historic greatness and antiquity, we would be guiding them to evolve into a knowledge society that would set an example for the world, he said.
On Wednesday, Stalin had promised to make an important announcement at the event on Thursday, evoking the curiosity of the people, who were not disappointed to know that historic truth about the Iron Age starting in Tamil soil.
