Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c16.s1: Gunpowder

A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c16.s1

Language
English

Gunpowder

v1.c16.s1.1

The ancient Hindus are sometimes credited with the knowledge of the art of manufacturing gunpowder, in support of which the several recipes given in the Sukranīti or the Elements of Polity of Sukrāchārya which we have already had occasion to quote, are cited. Take for example the following:—

v1.c16.s1.2

सुवर्चिलवणात् पञ्च पलानि गन्धकात् पलम् ।
अन्तर्धूमविपक्कार्कसुह्याद्यङ्गारतः पलम् ॥ 201
शुद्धात् संग्राह्य संचूर्ण्य सम्मोल्य प्रपुटेद्रसैः ।
सुह्यार्काणां रसोन्सय शोषयेदातपेन च ।
पिष्टा शर्करवच्च तदग्निचूर्ण भवेत् खलु ॥ 202

v1.c16.s1.3

सुवर्चलवणक्षाराः षड्वा चत्वार एव वा । नालास्वार्थाग्निचूर्णं तु गन्धाक्षारौ तु पूर्व्ववत् ॥ 203

v1.c16.s1.4

गोलो लोहमयो गर्भघटिकः केवलोऽपि वा । सौसस्य लघनालाथेंऽन्यधातुभनोऽपि वा ॥ 204

v1.c16.s1.5

लोहसारमयं वापि नालास्त्रं त्वन्यधातुजम् । नित्यममार्जंनस्वच्छमस्त्रातिभरव्रतम् ॥ 205

v1.c16.s1.6

अङ्गारस्यैव गन्धस्य सुवर्चलवणस्य च । शिलाया हरितालस्य तथा सीसमलस्य च ॥ 206

v1.c16.s1.7

हिङ्गुलस्य तथा कान्तरजसः कर्पूरस्य च । जतोर्नील्याय सरलनिर्यासमथ तथैव च ॥ 207

v1.c16.s1.8

समन्त्राधिकैः शरेरग्निचूर्णान्यनेकशः । कल्पयन्ति च तद्विद्यायन्त्रिकाभादिमन्ति च ॥ 208

v1.c16.s1.9

क्षिपन्ति चाग्निधोगास्त्रं लक्ष्ये सुनालगम् ॥ 209

v1.c16.s1.10

नालास्त्रं शोधयेदादौ दद्यात्तत्राग्निचूर्णकम् । निवेशयेत्तद्गडेन नालमूले यथा दृढम् ॥ 210

v1.c16.s1.11

ततः सुगोलकं दद्यात् ततः कर्णेऽग्निचूर्णकम् । कर्णचूर्णाग्निदानेन गोलं लक्ष्ये निपातयेत् ॥ 211

v1.c16.s1.12

(1) Ed. J. Vidyáságara, pp. 555-57.

v1.c16.s1.13

“Take five *palas* of saltpetre, one *pala* of sulphur and one *pala* of charcoal, prepared from the wood of *Calotropis gigantea* and *Euphorbia neriifolia* by destructive distillation¹; powder them and mix them intimately and macerate them in the juice of the above-named plants and of garlic and afterwards dry the mixture in the sun and pulverise it to the fineness of sugar. Gunpowder (lit. fire-powder) is thus obtained. 201-202

v1.c16.s1.14

¹ अन्तर्धूमविपक्क : lit., (wood) charred by smoke circulating through it.

v1.c16.s1.15

“If the fire-powder is to be used for a gun, six or four *palas* of saltpetre are to be taken, the proportion of charcoal and sulphur remaining the same as before. 203

v1.c16.s1.16

“For a gun with a light barrel, balls of iron or of other metals are to be used. 204

v1.c16.s1.17

“The gun made of iron or of other metals are to be constantly kept clean and bright by the skilful artillerymen. 205

v1.c16.s1.18

By varying the proportions of the ingredients, *viz.*, charcoal, sulphur, saltpetre, realgar, orpiment, calx of lead, asafœtida, iron powder, camphor, lac, indigo and the resin of *Shorea robusta*, different kinds of fires are devised by the pyrotechnists giving forth flashes of starlight.” 206-208

v1.c16.s1.19

From the circumstantial details given above, especially of the method of preparing the charcoal, one is naturally led to suspect that the lines relating to gunpowder as quoted above are later interpolations. The suspicion is further enhanced when it is borne in mind that in the Polity of Kāmandakī, an ancient work of undoubted authenticity, there occurs no reference whatever to firearms nor is there any in the Agnipurāna in which the subject of training in the use of arms and armours takes up four chapters, archery forming the leading element.¹

v1.c16.s1.20

¹ See Intro. to Dr. R. L. Mitra’s edition of Agnipurāna.

v1.c16.s1.21

The more rational conclusion would be that the Sukranīti is a patch work in which portions of chapter IV were added some time after the introduction of gunpowder in Indian warfare during the Moslem period.² Dr. G. Oppert, however, stands up for its antiquity.

v1.c16.s1.22

² Dr. R. L. Mitra, judging from the description of guns alone, concludes this portion to be spurious;—vide Notices of Sanskrit Mss. Vol. V. p. 135.

v1.c16.s1.23

In Halhed’s “Code of Gentoo Laws,” there is a passage which is sometimes quoted as a proof that

v1.c16.s1.24

M. Berthelot’s concluding remarks on Marcus Græcus’ “Book of Fire” are equally applicable to Sukraniti :—

v1.c16.s1.25

the ancient Hindus knew the use of firearms. Halhed, not having an acquaintance with Sanskrit, had to depend on the Persian translation of the Sanskrit digest prepared by some learned pundits. We have been at some pains in finding out the original text which is generally credited to Manu. It is only by a forced interpretation that anything in Manu may be taken to refer to a projectile discharged from a gun.¹

v1.c16.s1.26

¹ The passage in Manu runs thus:

v1.c16.s1.27

" Mais je n'insiste pas, si ce n'est pour rappeler comment ces additions manifestent le caractère véritable de la composition de ces manuscrit et livres de recettes, déjà répandus dans l'antiquité et dont lis formules sont venues jusqu'au XVIIIe siècle, parfois même jusqu'à notre temps. Le *Liber ignium* en est un exemple, et l'analyse précédente montre bien comme il a été composé avec des matériaux de dates multiples, les uns remontant à l'antiquité, les autres ajoutés à diverses époques, dont les dernières étaient contemporaines, ou très voisines de celle de la transcription de chaque manuscrit." "La Chimie au moyen âge" T. I.135.

v1.c16.s1.28

(1) The passage in Manu runs thus:

v1.c16.s1.29

न कूटायुधैर्न्याद् युध्यमानो रणे रिपून् ।
न कर्णिभिर्नापि दिग्धैर्नाग्निज्वलिततेजनैः ॥ मनु, VII.90

v1.c16.s1.30

We give below the commentaries of Medhātithi and Kullūka Bhatta :—

v1.c16.s1.31

In Sanskrit literature, there are frequent but vague references to ‘agni astra” or firearms, but we have no reason to suppose that the combustible matter these fire arms contained supplied a motive power of the nature of gunpowder. The fire missiles were probably of the same category as the

v1.c16.s1.32

कूटानि यानि वह्निःकाष्ठमानि अन्तर्निशितशस्त्राणि । कार्ण्यः शराः, ये शल्यस्य मूले मध्ये वा कर्ण्याकारैः क्रियन्ते । ते हि प्रविष्टा दुरुद्धरा भवन्ति, प्रहारैरभिन्नमपि शरीरं मद्रेगं भिन्दन्ति । दिग्धाविषोपलिप्ताः । अग्ना ज्वलतमादीपितं तेजोमयफलकं येषा, एतैर्नयोद्धव्यम् । इति मेधातिथिः ।

v1.c16.s1.33

कूटान्यायुधानि वह्निः काष्ठादिमयानि, अन्तर्गढनिशितशस्त्राणि तैः समरे युध्यमानः शत्रून् न हन्यात् ; नापि कर्ण्याकारफलकैरनापि विषाक्तैर्नाप्यग्निप्रदीप्तफलकैरित्यर्थः । इति कुल्लूकभट्टः ।

v1.c16.s1.34

The correct rendering should be as follows :—" The king sha not slay his enemies in warfare with deceitful or barbed or poisoned weapons, nor with any having a blade made red hot by fire or tipped with burning materials"; Bühler, who also follows the above commentators, thus translates : "when he (the king) fights with his foes in battle, let him not strike with weapons concealed (in wood), nor with (such as are) barbed, poisoned, or the points of which are blazing with fire." Whereas Halhed's version is : "the magistrate shall not make war with any deceitful machine or with poisoned weapons or with cannon and guns or with any other kind of firearms."

v1.c16.s1.35

‘Greek fire,’ *i.e.* arrows or darts tipped with oiled flax, resin, regalar, naptha or other bituminous substances discharged from bows; sometimes elaborate machines being devised to hurl the weapons with more deadly effect. In the Udyogaparava of the Mahābhārata, Yudhisthira is described as “collecting large quantities of resin, tow, and other inflammable articles for his great fratricidal war.” ¹ But there is nothing to show that gunpowder of any sort was in use or any chemical which would act as a propelling agent. ²

v1.c16.s1.36

¹ See Dr. Mitra’s “Antiquities of Orissa,” I.121.

v1.c16.s1.37

² In the 11th century, Kásmír remained safe behind its mountain ramparts and was hermetically sealed to all foreigners with out exception. Here, according to Albírúni, Hindu sciences retired and took shelter when the Mohammedan invasion of India began. But in the indigenous mode of warfare no reference to gunpowder is to be found; thus we read in Kalhana’s Rajatarañginì that in 1090 A. D. “he (Kandarpa) threw into the mêlée burning arrows smeared over with vegetable oil, struck by which the enemies caught fire. Believing that he knew [the use of] the weapon of fire (*agneya astra*), they became frightened and fled in bewilderment, cursing their return.” Stein’s Trans. Vol. I. p. 344.

v1.c16.s1.38

The mention of gunpowder and of some sort of explosives with identical formularies occurs almost simultaneously in the Latin redaction of the work on “Fire” by Marcus Græcus and in the writings of Roger Bacon about the 13th century.¹ Greek fire was introduced into Constantinople from the East abuot the year 673 and the Byzantines evidently knew that saltpetre was its basis; but they kept this knowledge strictly a secret, and abstained from speaking of it by any distinct name lest the information might leak out. Thus the very word saltpetre

v1.c16.s1.39

The original passage is

v1.c16.s1.40

ततस्तान् नाराचान् निक्षिपेत् स संयुगे ।

लिप्तानौषधितैलेन विद्धा यैः प्राज्वलन् दिशः ॥

आग्नेयं वेत्यसावस्त्रमिति मूर्खा विशङ्किताः ।

ते दूरं प्रययुर्भीता निन्दन्तः पुन रागमम् ।

VII. 983, 989.

v1.c16.s1.41

For further references to similar fire-missiles see Mahánátaka or Hanumána Nátaka in Wilson's “Hindu Theatre,” Vol. II. ed. 1835, appendix, pp. 369-70.

v1.c16.s1.42

The first record of the use of cannon and gunpowder in Indian warfare is in the memoirs of Baber. In 1528 he forced the passage of the Ganges near Kanauj with the aid of artillery. For much valuable information on the subject of the early Asiatic fire-weapons the reader may consult an exhaustive article by Maj. Gen. R. Maclagan in the “Journ. As. Soc., Bengal,” Vol. XLV. pp. 30 ff.

v1.c16.s1.43

(1) ‘La Chimie au moyen” âge, I. p. 94.

v1.c16.s1.44

is conspicuous by its absence in the literature of the ancients. Niturm (natron) was all along exclusively applied to carbonate of soda.¹

v1.c16.s1.45

¹ Cf. “C’est par erreur que la plupart des éditeurs des auteurs grecs ou latins traduisent ces mots par nitre ou salpêtre, substance presque inconnue dans l’antiquité, et que apparaît seulement à partir du VI e siècle à Constantinople, avec le feu grégeois dont elle était la base. Les anciens parlent aussi du nitrum factice, préparé avec es cendres de chêne, c’est-à-dire du carbonate de potasse.”—“Intro la l’étude de la Chimie,” p. 263.

Linked texts (6)