Mughal artillery
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Mughal artillery included a variety of cannons, rockets, and mines employed by the
Mughal commanders such as Mir Jumla II was noted for their shared traits of Asian lords for their fondness for cannon artilleries, and how he is willing to employ European engineers such as crews of a vessel named Ter Schelling.[3]
History
Artillery was not widely employed in Central Asia prior to the 16th century, despite Chinese mortars having been known to the Mongols hundreds of years earlier. Even some use of cannon at
Artillery remained an important part of the Mughal military, in both field deployment and incorporation into defensive forts. However, transportation of the extremely heavy guns remained problematic,
Later emperors paid less attention to the technical aspects of artillery, allowing the Mughal Empire to gradually fall behind in weapon technology,
Weaponry
Mughal cannon making skills advanced during the 17th century.[19] One of the most impressive Mughal cannons is known as the Zafarbaksh, which is a very rare composite cannon, that required skills in both wrought-iron forge welding and bronze-casting technologies and the in-depth knowledge of the qualities of both metals.[20] Some devices to support the maintenance also developed, such as and A machine invented by Mughal officer, Fathullah Shirazi, known as "Yarghu" which could clean sixteen gun barrels simultaneously and was operated by a cow.[21]
The Ibrahim Rauza was a famed cannon, which was well known for its multi-barrels.[22] François Bernier, the personal physician to Aurangzeb, observed Mughal gun-carriages each drawn by two horses, an improvement over the bullock-drawn gun-carriages used elsewhere in India.[23]
Despite these innovations, most soldiers used bows and arrows, the quality of sword manufacture was so poor that they preferred to use ones imported from England, and the operation of the cannons was entrusted not to Mughals but to European gunners. Other weapons used during the period included rockets, cauldrons of boiling oil, muskets and
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Daulatabad cannon
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Kalak Bangadi cannon.
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One of the Daulatabad cannons
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Kilkila cannon
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Aurangabad cannon
The Mughal military employed a broad array of gunpowder weapons larger than personal firearms, from rockets and mobile guns to an enormous cannon, over 14 ft (4.3 m), once described as the "largest piece of ordnance in the world."[25] This array of weapons was divided into heavy and light artillery.[11][25][1] According to historian Irfan Habib, one cannot "estimate the amount of metal used in the artillery of the Mughal army, or the amount of gunpowder it consumed, but in view of the numbers employed in the artillery (over 40,000 men), it is certain that at any time some tens of thousands of matchlocks (surely not less than 25,000, on these numbers) must have been in use; and we know that excessively heavy cannon were much favored in India."[26]
Heavy artillery
Extremely heavy artillery was an important part of the Mughal military, especially under its early emperors. Babur deployed guns capable of firing cannonballs weighing between 225 and 315 lb (102 and 143 kg) against a 1527 siege, and had previously employed a cannon capable of firing a 540 lb (240 kg) stone ball.
Other heavy artillery included mortars[11][25] A record of Mughal mortar which designed by Shirazi and used in Siege of Chittorgarh were capable firing an ordnoance as heavy as 3,000 lbs.[31] Mines also deployed by sappers against fortress walls.[25] Although these weapons had noticeable successes, such as the victory at the Siege of Chittorgarh in 1567, their preparation and deployment came at the cost of substantial Mughal losses.[28]
Light artillery
Mughal light artillery, also known as artillery of the stirrup,
The mobile field artillery has been seen as the central military power of the Mughal empire distinguishing the Mughal troops from most of their enemies. A status symbol for the emperor, pieces of artillery would always accompany the Mughal emperor on his journeys through the empire. The Mughal artillery's main use in battle was to counter hostile war elephants which were common in warfare on the Indian subcontinent. But although emperor Akbar personally used to design gun carriages to improve the accuracy of his cannons, the Mughal artillery was most effective by scaring the opponent's elephants off the battlefield. The ensuing chaos in the hostile ranks would enable the Mughal armies to defeat the enemy's troops.[32]
Grenadiers and rocket-bearing soldiers were also considered part of the Mughal light artillery.[25] The Mughals artillery corps employed rockets,[33]: 48 [34]: 133 which are considered as predecessor of Mysorean rockets that employed by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan[35] Despite it packs considerable punch on the battlefield, the rocket are qute lightweight and easy to transport, as it was recorded that a camel can carry up to 20 Mughal rockets.[33] During Akbar reign, he ordered many rockets as it is recorded that he once ordered 16,000 rockets for a single garrison.[33]
See also
References
- ^ – via Cambridge Core.
- ^ Athar Ali, M (1971). "Presidential Address". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 33. Indian History Congress: 175–188 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Francisco Bethencourt & Cátia A.P. Antunes (2022, p. 116)
- ^ unknown (1590s). "1526, First Battle of Panipat, Ibrahim Lodhi and Babur". Baburnama.
- ^ ISBN 978-9231038761.
- ^ ISBN 978-0756665418.
- ^ ISBN 978-0803213449.
- ISBN 978-1851095568.
- ^ ISBN 978-0803244238.
- ISBN 978-8182745018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0415239899.
- ^ Clarence-Smith, William Gervase, Science and technology in early modern Islam, c.1450-c.1850 (PDF), Global economic history network, London School of Economics, p. 7
- ^ Clarence-Smith, William Gervase, Science and technology in early modern Islam, c.1450-c.1850 (PDF), Global Economic History Network, London School of Economics, p. 7
- ^ Bag, A. K. (2005), Fathullah Shirazi: Cannon, Multi-barrel Gun and Yarghu, Indian Journal of History of Science, pp. 431–436.
- ^ ISBN 978-0521566032.
- ISBN 978-8126900855.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-241-1066-9.
- ISBN 978-81-7022-195-1.
- ISBN 978-81-7211-201-1. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Balasubramaniam, R.; Chattopadhyay, Pranab K. (2007). "Zafarbaksh – The Composite Mughal Cannon of Aurangzeb at Fort William in Kolkata" (PDF). Indian Journal of History of Science. 42. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2015.
- ^ Alvi, M.A.; Rahman, Abdur (1968). Fathullah Shirazi: A Sixteenth Century Indian Scientist. New Delhi: National Institute of Sciences of India.
- ^ Douglas, James (1893). Bombay and western India: a series of stray papers. Vol. 2. Sampson Low, Marston & Company.
- ISBN 978-0-7546-5259-5.
- ISBN 9780801859540.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Irvine W. (1903). The Army Of The Indian Moghuls: Its Organization And Administration. Luzac. pp. 113–159.
- ^ Habib, Irfan (2011). "Potentialities of Capitalistic Development in the Economy of Mughal India". The Journal of Economic History. 29 (1). Cambridge University Press: 32–78 – via Cambridge Core.
- ^ Unknown (1590–95). "Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during Akbar's attack on Ranthambhor Fort". the Akbarnama. Archived from the original on 2014-05-19. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
- ^ ISBN 978-1861891853.
- ISBN 978-0224009782.
- ISBN 978-0312410179.
- ISBN 9781399070157. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- ^ Rothermund, Dietmar (2014). "Akbar 'Der Große'" [Akbar 'The Great']. Damals (in German). Vol. 46, no. 1. pp. 24–29.
- ^ ISBN 9781317245315. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
- ISBN 9780521791588. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
- ISBN 9781482829617. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
rockets were upgraded versions of Mughal rockets utilised during the Siege of Jinji by the progeny of the Nawab of Arcot
Further reading
- Khan, Iqtidar Alam. (1991). "The Nature of Handguns in Mughal India: 16th and 17th Centuries." Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 52, 378–389. JSTOR 44142632
- Khan, Iqtidar Alam. (2004). Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India. Delhi, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195665260
- Khan, Iqtidar Alam. (2005). "Gunpowder and Empire: Indian Case." Social Scientist, 33(3/4), 54–65. JSTOR 3518112
- Nath, Pratyay. (2019). Climate of Conquest: War, Environment, and Empire in Mughal North India. Delhi, Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199495559.001.0001
- Roy, Kaushik. (2012). "Horses, guns and governments: A comparative study of the military transition in the Manchu, Mughal, Ottoman and Safavid empires, circa 1400 to circa 1750." International Area Studies Review, 15(2), 99–121.
- ISBN 9789004506572. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
External links
Media related to Mughal artillery at Wikimedia Commons