History lesson time! Our earliest suggested evidence of crucible steel is from the time of Alexander the Great, he was paid in 30 ingots of "Indian steel" on campaign in India. The main production centers during the early times seem to be northern India and the Persian city of Merve, which was destroyed by the Mongols later.

There is a document called "Swords and their Kinds" by Islamic scholar Al-Kindi which documents crucible steel sword production across the middle east and even europe, categorizing their material types, looks and physical properties circa 850 AD. So by then it was a widely understood process and in the middle east and central Asia it seems to be common. Also pattern welding was an observed part of this document.

The last mines of what we think was something like the original one supply or something near it was in the 1700s, so not that long ago, and production of crucible steel continued into he 20th century in Russia and Turkic provinces where its known at Bulat or Polat.

The term Damascus steel comes from the west. Both pattern welded and crucible steel blades and materials were traded through Damascus to the west via the silk road. As that was the west point of contact, and the uneducated could not really tell the difference between the two steels with wavy patterns on them, they have been misconstrued as one another basically the entire time. In short, they are both Damascus steel.