The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c22.56

v1.c22.56

Passing to a wider point of view we must pause to record the fact that certain allusions in the epic to fire-weapons have been adduced to prove that the Hindus used gunpowder in the great war. How baseless is this supposition has already been demonstrated by the present writer, and he can only repeat that all mention of fire-weapons in the Hindu epic refers to arms magically blazing such as arrows or wheels. No gun or cannon is mentioned and gunpowder is unknown¹.