Copper in Ancient India c10.s1: Brass and Bronze Guns and Cannon of the Moghuls
Copper in Ancient India c10.s1
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Brass and Bronze Guns and Cannon of the Moghuls
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In the author’s “Iron in ancient India” (p. 43) an account has been given of the wrought iron guns and cannon used since the Moghul period of Indian history. The Moghul guns and cannon were also made by casting brass and bronze. Bābar, the first Moghul Emperor and the first to introduce guns into India, mentions in his well-known memoirs the casting of a copper gun under the direction of Ustad Kuli Khan. Bābar writes “Around the mould they had erected eight furnaces for melting the metal (copper). From the foot of each started a channel which ended in the mould. As soon as I arrived, the holes to allow the flow of metal were opened. The fused metal rushed into the mould like boiling water. After a time before the mould was full, the fused metal from the furnaces began to flow very slowly, either because their size or the amount of material had been wrongly calculated. Ustad Kuli Khan, in a state that cannot be described, wished to fling himself into the very midst of the melted copper. I made much of him, ordered him a robe of honour and then succeeded in calming.
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him. A day or two afterwards when the mould had cooled down, it was opened. Ustad Kuli Khan, overwhelmed with joy, sent me word that the bore of the piece had no fault and that a chamber could easily be made in it. The body of the cannon was then uncovered and a certain number of artificers were set to finish it, while he busied himself with the preparation of the chamber.”
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With the advance in the knowledge of the technique of gun-manufacture, the size of the guns increased enormously and the materials used were chiefly wrought iron and brass or bronze. The iron guns which were often as long as 30 ft. were chiefly made by welding together a large number of wrought iron rings placed side by side. The welding was done in many cases so perfectly as in the case of the Murshidabad gun manufactured at Dacca during Emperor Jehangir’s time, that the weld lines were completely invisible. As regards brass guns we know from Bernier’s account of his travels that early in Aurungjeb’s reign there were in the field with the emperor seventy pieces of heavy artillery mostly of brass. Many of these were so gigantic and heavy that 20 yoke of oxen were often required for drawing them.
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Amongst the notable brass guns of the Moghuls may be mentioned the “great gun of Agra” which was an enormous howitzer about 14 ft. long and 22½ inch in the bore into which men could easily enter crouching. It was lying near the bank of the Jamunā outside the fort. Its weight was 1049 cwts or 1469 Mds and its value, as old brass, has been calculated to be about Rs. 53,400 but if serviceable, one lac and sixty thousand rupees.¹ Many of Moghul guns and cannon were captured later on by the English. At Agra, for instance, Lord Lake captured a fine 72 pounder of brass as well as 76 brass and 86 iron guns of different kinds, mortars howitzers and gallopers. At Delhi Lord Lake captured 68 guns, mortars and howitzers, many being made of brass which were cast in India.
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¹ Irvin’s “The army of the Indian Moghuls.”
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But the most important Moghul gun made of an alloy of copper is the famous “Mālik-i-maidān” or “Monarch of the plain” which has justly been characterised by Meadows Taylor and Furgusson as “the largest piece of ordnance in the world.” A piece of the metal of which the gun is composed has been analysed and has been found to be bronze having the following percentage of composition.
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| Copper | ... | 80.427 |
| Tin | ... | 19.573 |
| | | ——— |
| | | 100.000 |
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Though its length is 14'-3" and therefore only half of the length of many of the iron guns of the Moghuls, its diameter is enormous and is as much as 4'-10" at its mouth. Its full dimensions are given below :—
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| Length | ... | 14'-3" |
| Diameter at mouth | ... | 4'-10" |
| Diameter at nozzle | ... | 4'-5" |
| Diameter at bore | ... | 2'-4½" |
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It is now resting on the walls of Bijāpur and resembles an enormous howitzer into whose belly a man standing almost erect can easily walk. The surface of the gun had been chased after casting and the muzzle worked into the shape of the head of a dragon having open jaws with small elephants between. It was cast at Ahmednagar in 1548 during the reign of Sultan Burham Nizam Shah and the place where it was cast can still be seen. The casting of such an enormous bronze howitzer as much as five feet in diameter reflects the greatest credit on the workers who manipulated the enormous amount of the alloy in casting it.
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It is needless to make any detailed mention of the smaller brass guns many of which are still to be found in different parts of India. Some of these called Isā Khān’s guns cast in the 16th century have been discovered in Bengal. One piece of the metal of one of these guns has been analysed which gives the composition of brass as used in India in the 16th century. The result of analysis is as follows¹:—
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¹ H.E. Stapleton, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, 1900, 369.
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| Copper— | 83.72 |
| Zinc (and iron)— | 13.82 |
| Tin— | 1.83 |
| | —— |
| | 99.37 |