Sorry for dropping in late in the conversation....It is a weird thing that the British were studing and trying to replicate wootz, while killing the traditional industry with their imports. From what I have read, I guess the British iron was cheaper (less labor intensive) and of better quality, which probably means more homogenous than the Indian bloomery iron. Wootz was a very small part of the indian iron working. The British industrial revolution Blast furnaces will make much more steel than the traditional Indian bloomery. It is like things today all over...cheap mass produced imports over traditional local made items.
Ann
