Mughal artillery

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Mughal artillery included a variety of cannons, rockets, and mines employed by the Mughal Empire. This gunpowder technology played an important role in the formation and expansion of the empire. In the opening lines of Abul Fazl's famous text Ain-i-Akbari, he claims that "except for the Mediterranean/Ottoman territories (Rumistan), in no other place was gunpowder artillery available in such abundance as in the Mughal Empire." [1] Thereby subtly referring to the superiority of the empire's artillery [2] over the Safavids and Shaibanids. During the reign of the first three Timurid rulers of India—Babur, Humayun, and Akbar—gunpowder artillery had "emerged as an important equipage of war, contributing significantly to the establishment of a highly centralized state structure under Akbar and to the consolidation of Mughal rule in the conquered territories." [1]

Contents

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

Battle of Panipat 1526-First Battle of Panipat-Ibrahim Lodhi and Babur.jpg
Battle of Panipat

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 Hisar by the Timurid Sultan Husayn Mirza in 1496 did not lead to a substantial military role for artillery in India, [5] nor did the presence of Portuguese ship's cannon at the 1509 Battle of Diu. [6] However, following the decisive Ottoman victory over the Safavid Empire at the 1514 Battle of Chaldiran, Babur incorporated artillery and Ottoman artillery tactics into his military. [5] Although authorities disagree about how many cannons he brought to India, [7] Babur's artillery played a "key role" in the establishment of the Mughal Empire. [8] In 1526, the First Battle of Panipat saw the introduction of massed artillery tactics to Indian warfare. [7] Under the guidance of Ottoman gun master [5] Ustad Ali Quli, Babur deployed cannons behind a screening row of carts. Enemy commander Ibrahim Lodi was provoked into a frontal attack against Babur's position, allowing him to make ideal use of his firepower. [9] [10] This tactic also panicked Lodi's elephant cavalry, beginning the end of elephant warfare as a dominant offensive strategy in India. [7] These new weapons and tactics were even more important [9] against the more formidable army faced in the Battle of Khanwa the following year. [7]

Portable Cannon Portable Cannon.jpg
Portable Cannon

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, [9] even as weapon technology improved during the reign of Akbar. [11] In 1582, Fathullah Shirazi, a Persian-Indian Mughal officer, developed a seventeen-barrelled cannon, fired with a matchlock. [12] Shirazi also invented an anti-infantry volley gun with multiple gun barrels similar to a hand cannon. [13]

Later emperors paid less attention to the technical aspects of artillery, allowing the Mughal Empire to gradually fall behind in weapon technology, [14] although the degree to which this decline affected military operations is debated. [11] Under Aurangzeb, the Mughal technology remained superior to that of the breakaway Maratha Empire, [7] but traditional Mughal artillery tactics were difficult to employ against Maratha guerrilla raids. [15] In 1652 and 1653, during the Mughal–Safavid War, prince Dara Shikoh was able to move light artillery through the Bolan Pass to assist in the siege of Qandahar. [11] But problems with the accuracy and reliability of the weapons, [14] as well as the inherent defensive strengths of the fort, [16] failed to produce a victory. By the 18th century, the bronze guns of the declining empire were unable to compete with the standardized production of European cast-iron weapons [11] and performed poorly against colonial forces, such as Jean Law de Lauriston's French troops. [17]

Weaponry

"Yarghu": machine for cleaning gun barrels Yarghu.jpg
"Yarghu": machine for cleaning gun barrels

archaeological research has recovered guns made of bronze from Kozhikode which dated from 1504 and Diu, India which dated from 1533. [18]

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] Shirazi also developed an early multi-gun shot. Unlike the polybolos and repeating crossbows which used in ancient Greece and China respectively, Shirazi's rapid-firing hand cannon had multiple gun barrels that fired gunpowder, akin to volley gun. [22]

The Ibrahim Rauza was a famed cannon, which was well known for its multi-barrels. [23] 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. [24]

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 manjaniqs (stone-throwing catapults). [25]

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." [26] This array of weapons was divided into heavy and light artillery. [11] [26] [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." [27]

Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during Akbar's attack on Ranthambhor Fort Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during the attack on Ranthambhor Fort.jpg
Bullocks dragging siege-guns up hill during Akbar's attack on Ranthambhor Fort

Heavy artillery

Extremely heavy artillery was an important part of the Mughal military, especially under its early emperors.

Emperor Babur reportedly 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. Humayun did not field such massive artillery at the Battle of Kannauj in 1540, but still had heavy cannons, capable of firing 46 pound lead balls at a distance of one farsakh . [29] These large weapons were often given heroic names, such as Tiger Mouth (Sher Dahan), Lord Champion (Ghazi Khan), or Conqueror of the Army (Fath-i-Lashkar), [26] [30] and inscriptions, sometimes in verse. They were not only weapons, but "real works of art". [29] Their artistry did not make them easier to move, however. Rugged passes and water crossings were insurmountable barriers, [26] and even when they could be moved, it was a slow process requiring sixteen [29] or twenty oxen for relatively moderate cannons such as Humayun's. Muhammad Azam Shah was forced to abandon his heavy artillery en route to the Battle of Jajau. [26] The largest such weapons, such as Muhammad Shah's "Fort Opener", required a team of "four elephants and thousands of oxen" and only rarely reached their siege targets. [31]

Other heavy artillery used by the Mughals are Wökhul [32] (mortars). [11] [26] The largest recorded Mughal mortar was designed by Shirazi, which used during the Siege of Chittorgarh were capable firing a cannonball as heavy as 3,000 lbs. [33] Mines also deployed by sappers against fortress walls. [26] 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. [29] [34] Another recorded mortar usage also recorded in 1659 during the conflict between Aurangzeb against his brother, Shah Shuja. [35] [36]

The Mughals artillery corps employed hand grenades [26] and rocket artillery. [37] : 48  [38] : 133  Under Akbar's reign, Mughal rockets began to use metal casing, which made them more weatherproof and allowed a larger amount of gunpowder, increasing their destructive power. [37] : 48  Mughal ban iron rockets were described by European visitors, including François Bernier who witnessed the 1658 Battle of Samugarh fought between brothers Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh. [38] : 133  Mughal rockets are considered a predecessor to the Mysorean rockets later employed by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in the 18th century.

By the 17th century, Indians were manufacturing a diverse variety of firearms; large guns in particular, became visible in Tanjore, Dacca, Bijapur and Murshidabad. [39]

Light artillery

Camel-mounted swivel gun (zamburak) Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi Camel Artillery Man.PNG
Camel-mounted swivel gun (zamburak)

Mughal light artillery, also known as artillery of the stirrup, [11] [16] consisted of a variety of smaller weapons. Animal-borne swivel guns saw widespread use in several forms. [14] Elephants carried two pieces of "elephant barrel" (gajnal and hathnal) artillery and two soldiers to fire them. The elephants served only to transport the weapons and their crew, however, they dismounted before firing. "Camel guns" (shutarnal or zamburak ) and "swivel guns" on the other hand were carried on camel-back and were fired while mounted. [26] Other light guns were mounted on wheeled carts, pulled by oxen [26] or horses. [6]

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. [40]

Grenadiers and rocket-bearing soldiers were also considered part of the Mughal light artillery. [26] The Mughals artillery corps employed rockets, [37] : 48  [38] : 133  which are considered as predecessor of Mysorean rockets that employed by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan [41] 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. [37] During Akbar reign, he ordered many rockets as it is recorded that he once ordered 16,000 rockets for a single garrison. [37]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mughal Karkhanas</span> Mughal manufacturing houses and workshops in South Asia

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References

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  37. 1 2 3 4 5 Andrew de la Garza (2016). The Mughal Empire at War Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500-1605. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9781317245315 . Retrieved 6 December 2023.
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  40. ↑ Rothermund, Dietmar (2014). "Akbar 'Der Große'" [Akbar 'The Great']. Damals (in German). Vol. 46, no. 1. pp. 24–29.
  41. ↑ "Will Slatyer (February 20, 2015). The Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes - Debt Before Dishonour Timetable of World Dominance 1400-2100. Partridge Publishing Singapore. 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

  1. 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
  2. Khan, Iqtidar Alam. (2004). Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India. Delhi, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195665260
  3. Khan, Iqtidar Alam. (2005). "Gunpowder and Empire: Indian Case." Social Scientist, 33(3/4), 54–65. JSTOR   3518112
  4. 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
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