Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.557

c8.557

The Dalmardan cannon was lying half-buried by the side of the Lalbundh lake and was mounted and preserved under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act. It is made of sixty-three hoops or short cylinders of wrought iron welded together and overlying another cylinder also of wrought iron. Though exposed to all weathers, it is still free from rust, and it has a black polished surface. Its length is twelve feet and five and a half inches, the diameter of the bore being eleven and a half inches at the muzzle. It is the same cannon which was fired by Madanmohana when Bhāskar Paṇḍita attacked Viṣṇupura at the head of the Mahrattas. It bears a Persian inscription. A couple of cannons still lie on the high rampart just outside the front gate.