Craft Ecology: Traditional Ironworking in the Chotanagpur Plateau and The Impact of Industrial Mining and Environmental Change

This paper examines the impact of environmental change on traditional ironworking societies in the Chotanagpur Plateau, in Eastern India, particularly in Purulia (West Bengal) and Hazaribagh and Chatra (Jharkhand). Part of the Iron Belt due to the rich mineral resources,  traditionally these regions were home to communities of indigenous iron smelters and blacksmiths such as the Asur, Lohra, Karmakar, and Karmali. The paper explores the ecological sustainability of  traditional ironworking in the light of decline due to factors such as past forest laws, deforestation, industrial mining activities, changing climatic patterns, and technological change.