The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c12.78

c12.78

The use of naphtha and Greek fire was known from very early times; incendiary arrows and javelins as well as pots of combustibles were hurled against the enemy; the Dehlī army used grenades, fireworks and rockets against Tīmūr.⁸ The best defence against fire was provided by vinegar.⁹ The term Kushkanjīr finds mention in the thirteenth century; in accordance with a dictionary compiled in the fifteenth century it seems to have been a crude form of cannon.¹ The translation of *sang-i-maghribī* as *midfa‘* in the *Zafar-u’l-wālih* lends support to the idea that artillery was already in use under ‘Alā-u’d-dīn Khaljī; the sultanate, however, does not seem to have made much progress in this direction. It was in the provincial kingdoms of Gujrāt and the Deccan that this arm was properly developed.² Ibrāhīm Lodī had no fire arms at Pānīpat.³ Sher Khān fully recognized the importance of artillery, and when he became the master of Bengal, he overshadowed the Mughuls in the strength of his guns. Indeed so dependent were the Sūrs on their heavy artillery that Mīrzā Haidar Daghlāt advised Humāyūn to seize Kashmīr and entrench himself there, for Sher Shāh would never be able to take his guns into the mountains.⁴ Under the Mughul emperors, the chief engineer of the artillery, who was also a military commander, was called *mīr-ātish*. Sher Shāh and his successors made their own guns and some very large pieces were manufactured.⁵