The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c13.4

c13.4

*Names for Light Cannon.* For the lighter guns we come across many names, several of which are probably different words for practically the same thing. The names that I have collected are 1) *Gajnāl*, 2) *Hathnāl*, 3) *Shutarnāl*, 4) *Zambūrak*, 5) *Shāhīn*, 6) *Dhamākah*, 7) *Rāmjanakī* and 8) *Rahkalah*. There is also a word *rahrau* (literally, “mover, traveller”) used on fol. 100*b* of the *Tārīkh-i-ʿĀlamgīr Sānī*. Referring to the dismantling of the Dihlī fort by Aḥmad Shāh Abdālī in 1170 H. (January 1757) it says: “the great and small cannon that were on the bastions and over the gateways were brought down; also the *rahrau* of the moveable (*jinsī*) artillery”. In reality there seem to have been only two classes of light artillery, which may be designated respectively, (I) Swivel-guns or Wall-pieces, (II) Field pieces. The distinction lies in the fact that the first class, the smaller pieces, were carried on the backs of animals, while the second were transported on some sort of wheeled carriage. The *Rahkalah* (Nº. 8) represents the second of these classes, and the other seven belong to the first category.