Landscapes of Technology Transfer: Swedish Ironmakers in India, 1860-1864 (review)

This study originated during the steel crisis in Sweden of the mid-1980s, when Jan af Geijerstam noticed that as Swedish mills closed, often the technology was transferred to India. This led in turn to the uncovering of an episode in the transfer of ironmaking technology in the 1860s, when three Swedish technologists were invited to India by the British to supervise the building of ironworks at Kumaon, in the foothills of the Himalayas, and Burwai in West Nimar.

Af Geijerstam's three-part book deploys an impressive range of manuscripts from collections in India, Britain, and Sweden combined with the investigative techniques of industrial archaeology. The first part examines the imperial context provided by the extension of British power over India. By the 1850s it seemed that the gigantic railway construction schemes in India could not be adequately supplied with iron produced there. British ironmaking was based almost solely on coal, while the famous Swedish iron and steel industry was still based on charcoal, and the plan was to fuel the ironworks in India with charcoal. Hence the British turned to Sweden, recruiting three engineers—Nils (Wilhelm) Mitander (1833–1903), Julius Ramsay (1827–1874), and Gustaf Wittenstrom (1831–1911)—who are discussed in the second part of the book. The third part offers a detailed discussion of the technology, looking at the special features of the Indian industrial landscape.

The pioneering ventures soon failed. The Burwai works was to include a blast furnace to produce pig iron and it had all the facilities for the processing of the pig iron into marketable iron. But Mitander's first blow in 1862 was also the last. The government decided to put no more money into the scheme and Mitander left India in 1864. At Kumaon, a more ambitious undertaking, the blast furnace began producing pig iron in 1860. Even though there were frequent interruptions and the results were variable, plans were nevertheless made to increase the size of the works under Ramsay and Wittenstrom. Yet by 1863 this project had also been abandoned and the two Swedes had departed.

In his conclusion, af Geijerstam patiently disentangles the reasons for failure. Although the immediate causes were a lack of funds and poor output, other factors were at work too. The European system of production was based not only on a particular technology but also on social organizations that had been built up over time and were not easily duplicated in India. The technology was deeply alien to the Indian socioeconomic systems: af Geijerstam likens the two ironworks to hi-tech islands that were disconnected from the Indian environment. It would have been possible to build up the requisite knowledge and investment with long-term government support, but this was compromised after 1860 as iron imports to India became cheaper. British policy (always ambiguous) now demanded that India become a market rather than a competitor, thereby undercutting the ironmaking ventures.

This is a very traditional work of scholarship, highly detailed and bearing the imprint of the thesis from which it originated. The whole story could have been compressed into an interesting article, but instead it has been expanded into a coffee-table book, beautifully illustrated with maps, diagrams, and photographs, some in color. It is clearly a labor of love and like all such efforts it demands a certain dedication on the part of the reader to see the story through to the end. Nevertheless, as a case study in technology transfer it is a welcome addition to the literature. It is rooted in current theories and methodology and there is a useful bibliography. Because the problems involved in launching steelworks in difficult environments are already well-known, af Geijerstam's findings are not startlingly original. But previous studies have looked mostly at Europe and North America. By looking at the transfer of ironmaking technology to India, this study strikes a new note and commands our attention.