History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c37.s1.6

c37.s1.6

It may be assumed as suggested by Gode (loc. cit) that some of the recipes for fireworks in India might have been brought from China and then modified by the substitution of Indian ingredients for the Chinese materials. For, fireworks, fire-arms, and military pyrotechnics were developed in China much earlier than in any other country. The Chinese had real fire-arms in the 13th century A.D., and they achieved considerable skill in manufacturing fireworks Preparation of explosive powder, containing sulphur, charcoal, saltpetre, paper, oil, etc., for military purpose, was known to them as early as 1000 A. D ¹