Iron in Ancient India c6.s8.2

c6.s8.2

The gunpowder was ignited by means of a fuse, the fire being originated by percussion of powdered stone struck with a hammer. The matchlocks had wooden handles and were used by infantry and cavalry. The big guns were carried in carriages, had no wooden handles, and their range depended on the thickness of the metal-plate and bore, their length and size of balls.¹ These passages have misled many people, including the late Mr. Ramdas Sen, into believing that guns and gunpowder were known to the ancient Hindus. Dr. Rajendra Lal Mitra and Dr. P. C. Ray on the other hand regard them to be either spurious or in the nature of later interpolations.²