Iron in Ancient India c6.s8.1

c6.s8.1

It has already been pointed out that a form of iron fire-weapon was known even in Vedic times (p. 5). It is also undoubted that some sort of fire-weapon was known during the epic age as we find frequent mention of 'Satagni' (killer of hundreds), 'āgneya-astra' (fire-weapon), and 'nālika-astra' (tube-weapon) in the epics and ancient Sanskrit literature. But it seems that guns and cannon and the use of gunpowder were unknown in India before the Moghul conquest. Guns were first employed by Babar in the first battle of Panipat in 1526 and were introduced in Southern India by the Portuguese. Guns and cannon, as well as formula for the manufacture of gunpowder, have been given in a Sanskrit work entitled Sukraniti, a compilation evidently of the sixteenth century. In Sukraniti, khudra-nālika stands for small guns or matchlocks and brihannālika for big guns or cannon. The matchlock was 2½ cubits long with a longitudinal bore of the thickness of the middle finger and provided with two raised points in order to take aim.