Mughal Cannon Foundries
The Principal Foundries of the Mughal Empire
The foundry at Agra was the most important of the imperial centres, and it was active from the early years of Akbar’s reign until the eighteenth century. The Agra foundry cast both bronze and iron cannon, in a range of calibres from the light farangi field piece to the heaviest zarb-zan siege gun, and the surviving specimens carry inscriptions naming the reigning emperor, the year of casting, and often the name of the master founder. The Delhi foundry was of comparable importance, and the two establishments between them supplied the bulk of the imperial artillery train throughout the seventeenth century.
The Lahore foundry, established in the early seventeenth century, was the principal centre of the western frontier, and its products armed the armies that campaigned in Afghanistan and Qandahar. The Jaunpur foundry, in the eastern provinces, cast both cannon and the smaller matchlock barrels for the armies of the east, and the Allahabad and Ahmadabad foundries served the central and western provinces respectively. The Burhanpur foundry, established in the late sixteenth century, was the principal centre for the Deccan campaigns, and its products armed the armies of Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan in the long struggle with the Deccan sultanates.
The Deccan sultanates of Bijapur, Golconda, and Ahmednagar maintained their own foundries, and the cannon cast at these centres, particularly at Bijapur, were the equal of the best Mughal products. The most famous single specimen of Indian cannon founding is the Malik-i-Maidan, cast at Ahmadnagar and captured by the Mughals after the fall of that kingdom in 1600; the piece is now mounted on the ramparts of Bijapur.
The Craftsmen: The Rawat Family and the Foreign Specialists
The craftsmen who staffed the imperial foundries were organised in formal hereditary establishments, and the master founders were often members of long-established artisan families. The most celebrated of these families was the Rawat family of Delhi, who served as the principal master founders of the imperial artillery for several generations. The family was of Rajasthani origin, and the name Rawat, meaning “chieftain” or “leader,” is suggestive of the high status accorded to the master founder in the imperial karkhana. Members of the Rawat family cast some of the most impressive surviving specimens of Mughal cannon, and their names appear in the inscriptions of pieces now preserved in the Government Museum at Madras, the Indian Museum at Calcutta, and various European collections.
The Process of Casting
The process of casting a Mughal cannon was a substantial industrial undertaking. For the larger pieces, a pit was dug in the foundry floor, and a model of the cannon, slightly oversized to allow for the contraction of the cooling metal, was prepared in clay, loam, or wax. The model was covered with a thick layer of clay and straw, the assembly was dried in the sun or in a low oven, and the inner model was then removed, leaving a hollow mould. The core-bar, which would form the bore of the finished cannon, was suspended in the centre of the mould, and the whole assembly was then placed in a casting pit and surrounded with earth.
The metal for a bronze piece was prepared in a separate furnace, typically a large charcoal-fired shaft furnace, and the proportions were approximately nine parts copper to one part tin, with small additions of other metals to improve the casting qualities. The molten bronze was poured into the mould through a series of channels, and the cooling process took several days for the larger pieces. The cast piece was then extracted, the exterior was trimmed and polished, the bore was finished by boring, and the piece was tested at the imperial ranges.
Iron cannon, which were considerably cheaper to produce but more prone to bursting, were cast by a similar process in the iron-producing regions of central India, particularly in the forests of the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The iron was typically produced in small blast furnaces, and the casting of an iron cannon was a slower and more uncertain business than the casting of a bronze piece.
The Famous Specimens: The Malik-i-Maidan and the Jaunpur Cannons
The most famous single specimen of Indian cannon founding is the Malik-i-Maidan, the “Lord of the Battlefield,” a massive bronze gun captured by the Mughals at the fall of Ahmednagar in 1600. The piece weighs approximately 55 tons, and it was cast at Ahmednagar in the 1540s. The Malik-i-Maidan was carried to Bijapur as a trophy, and it was mounted on the ramparts of that city’s citadel, where it remains to this day. The piece is decorated with elaborate inscriptions in Persian, and it is one of the most impressive examples of early modern Indian military technology.
The Jaunpur cannons are another important group of surviving specimens. The Jaunpur foundry was active from the late sixteenth century, and the surviving pieces include both siege guns and lighter field pieces. The most impressive of the Jaunpur cannons is the massive bronze piece cast during the reign of Akbar, which is now preserved in the Jaunpur fort. The inscriptions on the piece give the name of the reigning emperor, the year of casting, and the name of the master founder, and the piece is one of the few surviving examples of a Mughal imperial inscription on a working cannon.
The Foundry in Siege Warfare
Sources
- Iqtidar Alam Khan, Gunpowder and Firearms (2004), ch. 5.