The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c13.35

c13.35

Rockets were an invariable part of the equipment of a Moghul army. Bernier, 48, speaks of their being used by Dārā Shukoh at the battle of Samūgaṛh in 1658, and references to them might be multiplied almost indefinitely. Ashob, fol. 241a, speaks of the great number of rockets which fell into Nādir Shāh’s hands with the rest of Muḥammad Shāh’s artillery in 1152 (1739). The rocket, according to this writer, was invented and first used in the Dakhin. In his time they were chiefly carried on camels, each of which carried ten rockets besides the rocket man. At times they were conveyed on carts drawn by two or four bullocks, each cart carrying fifteen rockets, besides the necessary attendants. The idea of the Congreve rocket, introduced into the British service in 1806, is said to have been obtained from those used by Tipū Sultān at Seringapatam in 1799, where Congreve was present as a subaltern. But rockets were not peculiar to Maisūr, they had been used in all ages and before that time had spread all over India. They were used by the Nāgpur Rajah at Jabalpur in 1817 (Fitzclarence, 87).