CHAPTER-4
ROCKET TECHNOLOGY
AND WARFARE
CHAPTER – 4
ROCKET TECHNOLOGY AND WARFARE
Some scholars working on Fire-arms in Mughal India have confused
themselves with certain terms and expressions. Pankaj Kumar Dutta in his
article on ‘Some Fire-Arms in Mughal India’ 1 erroneously interprets Kahak
Banha as a rocket. Akbaranama itself make a reference that ‘Kahak Banha
which are a kind of fire-works were being discharged against the Imperial
army.’ The only imperial army in India during the 17th century was the Mughal
army. Somebody was using the Kahak Banha against the Mughals. Who were
they? But Pankaj takes it as a Mughal invention! This was nothing but a device
used as part of the fire-works in the festivals and that is why it fell directly in
the enemy camp itself, disturbing its elephants.
The evidence of the use of gun-powder India comes clearly from the 13th
and 14th centuries. But the technology was not used for propelling cannonballs 2 but only for pyrotechnic works during festivals and important occasions.
It is stated that fire-arms, in contrast to fire-weapons may have been used for
the first time during the second half of the 18th century in some regions of
1
Pankaj Kumar, “Some Fire-Arms in Mughal India” in Anirudh Roy and S.K Bagchi (Ed.) Technology in
Ancient and Medieval India, Delhi, 1986, pp.41-45.
2
Iftidar Alam Khan. Origin and Development of Gun-Powder Technology in India, 1250-1500, Indian
Historical Review IV No.1, July 1977, pp. 20-29.
101
India, including Gujarat, Malwa, Kashmir, Deccan and Malabar 3. Although we
do not have strong evidence for the use of fire-weapons in the battle field, it is
true that they had a crude knowledge of the use of fire-arms. It was only after
the entry of Portuguese in 1498, we have clear evidence of the use of fire-arms
in the battle-field.
According to Pankaj Kumar, there is no information on any surviving
rocket specimen of Akbar-Jahangir period. He mentions two rockets preserved
in the collection of the Victoria Memorial, which was presented by the Nizam
of Hyderbad in 1905. According to him, these were reported to be a part of the
stock made in Golconda at the time of Aurangazeb’s invasion of the fort during
the reign of Tana Shah. 4 But the rockets can also be a part of the booty received
by the allies (English, Nizam and the Mahrattas) in the fourth Anglo-Mysore
war in 1799. On the one hand he says these were part of the stock of rockets
made in Golconda to be used against the Mughal invasion. Yet, he has no
hesitation to argue that it was a Mughal invention. Pankaj Kumar further talks
about the information given by Forbes, Moor and Wilks 5 and uses their
writings in support of his theory of fire-arms in Mughul India. But he
conveniently ignores the fact that all these writers have concentrated on South
India and Mysore in their writings.
In many Mughal miniatures of the period of Jahangir and Shahjahan
period, one comes across supporting stands attached to gun. Even in Red Fort,
3
4
5
Khan, Early Use of Cannon and Musket in India AD 1442-1526, IHC Hyderbad Session, 1978.
Also, J.N.Sarkar, Military History of India, pp. 54-56.
Pankaj Kumar, Op. Cit., p.42.
Ibid.
102
according to Pankaj Kumar there is a ‘shutarnal’ in the Archeological Museum.
According to him, it is small cannon that can be mounted on a camel. But
immediately he jumps to the conclusion that what was to be mounted on the
Camel’s back could be a rocket launcher. It is common logic that was placed
on the Camel was some kind of cannon and not rockets. In support of his
argument, he quotes Bernier (1952) on the Battle of Samugarh. According to
him Dara had placed in front all his cannons in a line tying each other with
chains, then lined a great number of Camel-guns followed by the musketeers of
the cavalry and the rest. Unfortunately, this statement of Bernier on the field
arrangement is repeated by Pankaj Kumar to argue that what has been
mentioned as Camel-guns should be construed as rockets 6. The Mughals have
left behind virtually everything they manufactured or utilized, including their
war armoury, helmets, military dresses, swords, knives, cannons, muskets etc.,
except the imaginary rockets.
Therefore it is difficult to argue with firmness about rocket-system
which survived in India during the 17th and early part of the 18th century. If the
Mughals knew this advanced technology of sending missiles to the enemy
camps, then every battle which the Mughals fought would have become
decisive in their favour.
There was a time when some scholars – both Indian and European –
struggled hard to bring home the argument that in ancient India, fire arms were
6
Constable A, (Ed.) Bernier’s Travels in the Mughal Empire, 1891, p. 48.
103
used 7. Most of them used the text that Sukraniti to argue that fire-arms did in
fact, existed in ancient India. But Lallanji Gopal argued that Sukaniti was a
nineteenth century text and hence many of its inferences could not be accepted.
There were also attempts to show that when the army of Sultan Muhammad of
Ghazni came to invade India, he had used fire-arms. However, in recent times,
scholars have argued that fire-arms could be traced in India only from the 13th
or 14th century. Similarly, some argue that gun powder may have been used in
India from the 13th and 14th centuries. But gun-powder was originally used in
India not for propelling cannon balls, but for the pyro-technique presentations.
The main source of European impact in India in the sixteenth century
was largely through the agency of the Portuguese. It is not certain whether firearms were in common usage in the Malabar Coast before the arrival of Vasco
da gama. But, according to Whiteway, the use of fire-arms might have known
to people of the Malabar Coast 8. According to some accounts of 1502, the
Zamorin already had two pieces of cannonry in position 9. But this was certainly
inferior in quality and those who were operating them were not efficient
enough to aim at the enemy or to unload the cannon.
Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut realized the importance of fire-arms, while
dealing with the Portuguese in the battlefield. Therefore, the Zamorin was
perhaps the first Indian ruler to make a serious effort to learn technique of fire–
7
8
9
Vaidya, G.N, “Fire-arms in Ancient India”, Royal Asiatic Society, New Series III-IV, 1927-28, pp. 2738.
Whiteway R.S, The Rise of Portuguese Power in India 1497-1550, London, 1899, p. 37.
Absan Jan Quasar, The Indian Response to European Technology and Culture 1498-1707, 1998,
p.47.
104
arms. According to Varthema, the Zamorin was successful in getting the
services of two Italians from Milan who deserted the Portuguese to accept the
tempting offers of the Zamorin. Vartheme says that these Milanese had made
between four and five hundred pieces of ordinance, large and small… not only
did they make the artillery themselves, but they also taught the Pagans to make
it, … moreover, that they had taught fifteen servants of the King to fire
spingarde.. they gave to a Pagan the design and form of a mortar of metal.
There was also a Jew here (in Calicut) who had built a beautiful gallery and
had made four 10 mortars of iron”…According to Castanheda 11, four Venetians
had come to Malabar in 1505 to cast guns. This was the reason why the
‘moors’ at Cannanore could use 140 pieces of artillery12 in a naval battle
against the Portuguese.
It was the Zamorin who set the first example to employ the European in
the field of fire-arms production and training. This practice was later on
followed by several Indian rulers, including the great Mughals. That is why
Bernier states that “…. their (Mughal) artillery men receive great pay,
particularly all the Fraugnis or Christians – Portuguese, English, Dutch,
German and French; fugitives from Goa and from the Dutch and the English
companies”. 13
10
11
12
13
The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema 1503-1508 (trans by) J.W. Jones and G.P. Badger, London, 1863,
p. 262.
Whiteway, p. 37.
Varthema, Op. Cit., p. 281.
Bernier, Travels in the Moghul Empire, 1656-68 (Tr. By A. Constable), Reprint, New Delhi, 1968, p. 217.
105
There was a European with a strange name, Mansur Khan Faringi, about
whom Jahangir makes a reference. This European was perhaps a Muslim
convert or a Turkish Christian. Jahangir had put him in charge of 4000 Zat and
3,000 Sawar 14. Mansur Khan Faringi had detached himself from Prince
Khurram, when he rebelled against Jahangir, his father Careri describes his
meetings with the Europeans especially the French, in the ‘Christian gunnow
Quarter’ in Aurangzeb’s camp. Mir Jumla had taken the Fort of Gandikot with
the help of the French, English, Dutch and Italian gunners. When Prince Dara
wanted to employ Manucci 15, he literally rejoiced because he was told that ‘the
Europeans, who served this prince, had a good life of it and received adequate
pay. The art of European warfare of the 16th -17th century war taught to the
Mughuls by large number of Europeans who were employed in the Mughul
services, particularly the army. These included the rise of mortars, making
trenches, mining etc. In Bengal there were 100 European soldiers in the
Mughal army with a European commander. Shivaji 16 also had taken the
assistance of the European engineers to detonate a mine to blow up the castle of
Surat 17. Thus, it is clear that there was a great dependence on the Europeans
and the European technology during the days of the Mughals. The process had
started with the Zamorin after 1498 and expanded under the Mughals during
14
Careri in the Indian Travels of Thevenot and Cereri tr. S.N. Sen, p. 217.
Manucci, 1, pp. 293-95.
16
John Burnell, Bombay in the Days of Queen Anne, Haklnyt Society, 1935, p. 19.
17
Frayer 1, p. 223.
15
106
the 17th and early part of the 18th centuries. According to J.N.Sarkar 18 before
Babur fire-arms were totally unknown in India.
It was during the Mughal period that we come across a general tendency
towards adopting Europeans technology in the field of warfare. Mir Jumla is
reported to have had in his service a certain Maille, from 19 Amsterdam, to
establish gun foundries. In 1663 he appointed one Thomas Pratt 20, an
Englishman, to build boats and for manufacturing ammunition. According to
John Burnell, during the last decades of the 17th century, a priest of the
Augustine order had established an armoury for the Mughal army with enough
weapons to arm 600 men. The armoury assisted of ‘arbine, bayonet and
granado’, besides a vast number of stinkpots being supplied from the four or
five forges in his yard…. So that he hath in a manner quite turned the Church
into an arsenal”. The Mughals also wanted direct technical advice for the
manufacture of fire-arms. For example, in 1666, Aurangzeb asked the English
factors to send him “five gun-founders and two engineers or pioneers” 21.
The use of fire-arms, guns, cannons, match-locks was known before
Tipu Sultan as we come across the evidences from Zamorins Malabar to
Mughal India. But we do not have any clear evidence of the missile technology
anywhere in India, prior to Tipu.
Tipu Sultan in addition to trying to give country a stable administration,
tried to excel in the technical field also. He tried to give his best in every field
18
Sarkar, J.N. Military History of India, pp. 50-56.
Tavernier, Vol. II, Op. Cit., pp. 289-90.
20
Manucci, Vol. II, p. 87.
21
Burnell, Op. Cit., pp. 143-144.
19
107
he laid his hands on. Tipu tried to develop rocket as a missile. Apart from the
rockets, his many other experiments with new technology distinguished him
from the rest of his contemporaries and this was a fact which did not escape the
eyes of the British.
Here we have several letters and correspondences of the British referring
to Tipu’s technological development. A painting of the Tipu’s Rocket Man by
Robert Home is still preserved in Albert Museum. In fact, Major Dirom, who
fought Tipu in 1792, was really surprised to come across a mathematical
instrument in the Sultan’s tent. He wrote that “this gives probability to accounts
we have received that the Sultan 22 has turned his attention to the Science of
Fortificaition and he had been his own engineer.
The British soldiers and its guns were well aware of the modern
technology that Tipu used. In as early as 1792 itself Lieutenant Moore had
found an ingenious machine. He saw that “It was simple in construction as to
be worked by a pair of bulls which bored at once fifty muskets and a gun.
Tipu’s guns were as good as any in the world 23. Many officials were amazed to
see some of the most used by Tipu during warfare.
Tipu had the habit of getting French magazines regarding artillery how
to prepare gun powder manufacture etc. Tipu also had within his fort two
foundries for cannons, three buils with machineries for boring guns, musquets,
four large arsenals etc.
22
23
The English Factories in India 1665-67, p. 165.
Article by Amitabha Gosh. Rockets of the Tiger - Tipu Sultan, A Collection of Seminar Papers edited
by Aniruddh Ray (Kolkata, 2002), p. 167.
108
Many of the local writers and Tipu’s biographer Kirmani lands Tipu for
getting beautiful guns made by his workmen. They also manufacture barrels,
scissors, pecks, clocks, dagger called Sufundra. A shield was woven and
formed so as to resist a musket ball.
Tipu’s achievement in the field of technology did not confine only to
military operations but it did extend to other fields like agriculture, weaving,
metallurgy, public works etc. He had always in mind the welfare of the people.
We see that he constructed good roads, planted lot of trees. He had developed
good rapport with not only French but also with West Asian countries like
Persia, Yeman, Oman, Muscat, Bahrain etc 24.
During Tipu’s technology was developing in all directions. This as I said
earlier showed its art in the field of metallic especially while dealing with
coins. Tipu’s coins were being regularly struck milled and must have a regular
diatrical which was unknown elsewhere in India 25. Tipu had several mints in
his territory. This was because he wanted decentralization of money supply to
avoid any rupture of normal commercial transactions in case any place with
under British control.
Tipu’s coins were so neatly milled on their edges so that nobody could
cut their edges. Copper coins included double paisas, and fractions. These coins
have name of the mints 26. In fact, the British were amazed to see this.
24
Meera Sebastain, State Capitalism in Mysore under Tipu Sultan – An Essay in Interpretation,
Seminar on Tipu Sultan, Mysore 1989, pp. 94-99.
25
R. Vanaja, Indian Coinage, New Delhi, 1938.
26
Ibid.
109
Coming back to the making of missiles, it must be stated that the
knowledge on this was not totally unknown earlier. In fact, Chinese were the
first to develop rockets, mainly for fire-works. But it was in the 18th century,
Mysore that missiles were used in the battle field on a regular basis. In
difficulty hilly territory in particular, where maneuvering artillery was difficult,
Tipu’s rockets caused havoc among British troops both physically and
psychologically. Many British soldiers who were prisoners made drawings of
these rockets and people using rockets and they termed as Rocket men. The
mural of Srirangapatna also gives several descriptions about this.
During the Anglo-Mysore War Tipu began using these rockets and to
the dismay of the British soldiers they had no clue as to how from where these
missiles attacked them. In fact, Major Dirom in his glossary of his account
published in 1792 had to explain in detail what a rocket meant 27 for the
Britishers here in India and England to get themselves acquainted with that
technology. According to Major Moore, “A missile weapon, consisting of an
iron tube of about a foot long and an inch in diameter, fixed to a bamboo rod of
10 to 12 feet long. The tube being filled with combustible composition, is set
fire to, and directed by hand, flies like an arrow, to the distance of upwards of a
thousand yards. Some of these rockets have a chamber and burst like shells” 28.
This quotation gives exact meaning of the rocket and gives lot of
information. Tipu’s rockets were not merely used as incendiary, they could also
carry a pay load of destruction. Tipus’s rockets then could be considered as the
27
28
Amitabh Ghosh op.cit p. 173.
Edward Moore, A Narrative., 1792 London, 1794 p. 153.
110
first missile because while the rocket could carry itself, the propellant, its
casing and the stabilizing stick, the missile was distinguished by its ability to
carry something more like the sword fire rockets.
As far as the concept of War Rocket is concerned the term came from
the French language 29. It was a French word, and the term was called as
‘Rocquet’. Tipu termed Rockets as Shuhab. Though the term rocket emerged
from the French word, French manufacturers did nothing to improve rockets
during Haidar Ali’s or Tipu’s time. In fact, there were a lot of misconceptions
regarding the manufacture of rockets. Many regarded it was French
mercenaries who manufactured it but actually this was not so. They did not
learn when they were employed in Tipu’s army. It is true that Napoleon was
considered as the best political ally of Tipu but French had nothing to do with
the rockets in India.
In fact, during the war between Napolean and England, the so called
fathers of modern rocketry, within a Congreve’s rocket cause havoc and the
French and their ally. Had the French supplied the technology to Tipu, they
would not have been bewildered more than a decade later by British rockets
emulated after Tipu. Tipu in fact in 1778 itself had written a letter to Napoleon
asking for help for improving his manufacturing activities. He had requested
for the procurement of 4 founders of brass, four founders of iron cannons, 4
paper makers, 12 manufactures of glass, 2 naval engineers and 2 good ship
29
Arnold Placey, Technology in world civilization, London, 1990.
111
builders 30. He was contemplating technological assistance from French but his
request materialized or is not known. Tipu on the other hand did not depend
upon the French for the rockets or the gun powder.
A rudimentary knowledge of the rocket technology existed earlier to
Tipu. Joseph Needham gives information of this knowledge in China, in his
celebrated book Clerks and Craftsmen in China and the West (Cambridge,
1970) Arnold Pacey’s book entitled Technology in World Civilization MIT,
1993) and F.H.Winter’s book The First Golden Age of Rocketry (London,
1990) give substantial information on the history of rocketry.
Missiles were used to a considerable extent in the battlefield only during
the period of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. It was only during the Anglo-Mysore
wars that the English felt 31 the impact and consequences of the missiles as a
formidable and modern weapon. In difficult mountainous terrains, where
manoeuring of heavy artillery was difficult Mysorean missiles caused havoc
among the British troops. In fact, Tipu’s rockets had caused havoc among the
British troops, both physically and psychologically.
In 1972 Major Dirom in his writings, gives a detailed account of what a
‘rocket’ means, in his glossary also, which clearly proves that the British
readers were quite unaware of this new weapon. Even in 1794, Moore’s
account of the war against Tipu, we come across a glossary which provides an
explanation on the rocket, because the British public had no idea as to what a
rocket was. According to this glossary, this was the explanation of the rocket.
30
31
Irfan Habib (ed.) Confronting Colonialism – An Introduction by him (pp.xxx)
Gosh, Op.Cit., p. 172 in Anirudh Ray (Ed.) Tipu Sultan and His Age, Calcutta, 2002.
112
“A missile weapon, consisting of an iron tube of about a foot long, and
an inch in a diameter, fixed to a bamboo rod of 10 to 12 feet long. The tube
being filled with combustible composition, is set fire to, and directed by hand,
flies like an arrow, to the distance of upwards of a thousand yards. Some of
these rockets have a chamber and burst like shells. At the Smithsoman
institution in Washingoton D C where you have the National Air and Space
Museum, there is on display two models of Tipu’s rockets built to scale after
the original ones preserved in the Woolwich Museum in England 32.
In fact, Tipu’s rockets were not used as incendiary. In fact, they could
carry a pay load of destruction has been mentioned in the glossary of Dirom
that “some of these rockets have a chamber and burst like shells” 33. Therefore,
it is true that these rockets were not merely decorative, but an advanced
weapon which was used mainly in the Anglo-Mysore wars by the Mysorean
ruler. Thus the credit for using the missiles in a war front for the first time in
the world goes to Tipu Sultan.
Tipu also fixed sword or knife fixed rockets. It was because of its
frequent use and regularity in the battle field that Tipu had recruited almost
5000 soldiers who were trained rocketmen and they constituted a separate
battalion like the infantry and the cavalry.
32
33
Amitabha Ghosh, Op.Cit., p. 173.
Dirom, Op.Cit., pp. 297-300.
113
The structure of a rocket
During the period of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan the rockets which Mysore
manufacturer had certain basic characteristics. Firstly, it consisted of a metal
cylinder (using) containing the combustion powder (propellant) tied to a long
bamboo pole or sword which provided the required stability to missile. The
rockets preserved in the Royal Artillery Museum have the follows
specifications 34.
a. Casing 2.3 inch O.D x 10 inch long (.58 mm x 254 mm long) tied with
strips of wide to a straight 3 ft 4 inches (-1.02 m) long sword blade.
b. Casing 1.5 inches O.D x 7.8 inches long (-37 mm O.D x 198 mm long),
tied with strips of hide to a bamboo pole 6 ft. 3 inches (-19 m) long.
For these rockets, the metal cylinders which were used was hammered
soft iron. As we have stated in an earlier chapter on Iron and Steel industry, the
technical proficiency of the blacksmiths in making the best quality iron and
steel was superb. According to Roddam Narasimha, the quality of metallic
cylinder represented considerable advance over earlier technology. The rockets
which were made in Europe did not have metallic casing. The early European
rockets had combustion chambers made of some kind of paste boring. For
example, geissler in Germany used wood, covered with soil-cloth soaked in hot
glue. It is stated that this experiment by geissies was in 1668 in Berlin, Which
was not considered to be a successful venture.
34
See Von Braun W, Ordway . History of Rocketry and Space Travel, 1966.
114
The use of iron casing in Mysore helped in packing the gun powder in
greater densities so that it increased the bursting pressure. The rockets made in
Mysore had greater range. It varied between 1000 yards to 1 ½ miles (2.4
kms.). According to Baker the author of the book The Rocket, the Mysorean
range was an “outstanding performance for the time”.
When we look at the etymological meaning of the word rocket, we find
that its origin can be traced to the French word Racquet. Tipu himself used the
word Shuhab. Although the etymology can be traced to the French language,
the technology had nothing to do with the French. The French craftsmen and
engineers were in the service of Tipu, but their services were not taken in the
making of rockets, because they had no knowledge of it. 35 If the French already
had greater knowledge on the rockets, they would have certainly used it against
the British in 1807 that the rockets made by Congreve found favour with the
British army. The earlier attempts of Congreve miserably failed because he was
experimenting with paper catridges till 1806 36 instead of containers made of
iron used by Tipu. Congreve could not use iron containers for the simple reason
that in England, iron making ever in the early 19th century was primitive 37
compared to that of the Indian iron and steel industry of the 18th or the early
19th centuries. In fact, most of the early Congreve rockets failed because of the
use of paper catridges which imposed serious limitations on the bursting
pressure that they could contain. By 1816-17, the East India Company
35
See Baker, The Rocket, London, 1978.
Amitabh Ghosh, Op.Cit., p. 176.
37
Arnold Pacey, Technology in World Civilization, MIT, 1993, p. 81.
36
115
introduced Rocket troops in Bengal, almost 50 years after Mysorean rocketmen
appeared on the war-front. It was during the same period that Congreve
established a Congreve Rocket and Ordance Stores at Essex London, for
supplying his rockets to the English East India Company Congreve’s son,
William Congreve Junior studied the two of the
rockets of Tipu Sultan
preserved in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich which was founded by Capt.
William Congreve his father. Tipu can be called the real father of modern
rocketry, instead of William Congreve who was wrongly attributed its
Fatherhood. Congreve claimed himself to be an independent innovator-cummanufacturer of the rockets 38. He wrote several letters to the military top brass
and the Royalty in England on the utility of using rockets in the battlefield. He
wanted government support for his venture.
A large number of writings on rocketry appeared between 1800 to 1820
in England and this happened specifically after the fall of Tipu Sultan. In 1806
a book was published in London, with the title, ‘Memoir on the Possibility,
the Meaning and the Importance of the Description of the Boulonge
Flottilla by William Congreve. In 1807, he brought out another book entitled,
A Concise Account of the Origin and Progress of the Rocket System etc.,
London, which was republished in 1810. William Congreve brought out one
more book in 1809 under the title, Detail of a Plan for Attaching to Cavalry
Regiments – a Proportion of Rocket artillery, London. Another publication
was brought out in 1810 with a second edition, entitled, The Different Modes
38
Amitabh Ghosh, Op. Cit., p. 175-176.
116
of Use and Exercises of Rockets both for bombardment and for the field. In
1827, Maj. Gen. Sir William Congreve published a book under the title A
Treatise on the General Principles, Powers and Facility of the Congreve
Rocket System.
After the Napoleonic Wars, East India Company began to encourage the
use of rockets. By 1816-17, the Company introduced rocket troops in Bengal
and Madras. Thus, Tipu’s rockets with some changes by Congreve came back
to India, to be used against the Indians and the Burmese. However, Congreve
could not claim any kind of monopoly after 1820’s. One Capt. Samne Parlby39
of the III Bengal Troop of Horse Artillery started designing and manufacturing
his own rockets and in 1824 approached the government for a trial of his Indian
made rocket. The trial took place near Dum Dum (the area near the airport) and
Capt. Parlby’s rockets proved to be more effective than the Congreve rockets.
Congreve retaliated by alleging that his secrets were copied by someone 40.
However, the British administration decided in favour of the Congreve rocket,
because it was made in the “mother country”.
Use of the early Rockets in Battle field
The earliest narration of the effects of the use of rockets in the battlefield
comes from Pollilur battle which was fought on 10 September 1780 as part of
the second Anglo-Mysore war. Col. Wilks gives 41 a graphic description of the
incident. The village of Pollilur lies between Kanchipuram and Arakonam. “In
39
Winter, F.H. The First Golden Age of Rocketry, London, 1990, p. 172.
Ibid.
41
See, Wilks Historical Sketches of the South of India in an Attempt to Trace the History of Mysore,
1810.
40
117
July that year, Hyder, with 80,000 men and 100 guns had come down upon the
plains of the Carnatic, like an avalanche, carrying destruction with ghim”.
Hyder and Tipu achieved a famous victory at Pollilur and it is widely held
that 42 A strong contributory factor was that one of the British tumbri’s was set
on fire by Mysorean rockets. The scene is immortalized in the famous mural at
Darya Daulat Bagh in Srirangapatna.
While writing on this war, Sir Alfred Lyall remarked in 1914 that the
fortunes of the English in India had fallen to their lowest water-mark. 43
It was during the second Anglo – Mysore War that the rockets were used
widely in the battle field. We have a large number of references about it in the
various records. Innes Munro wrote a book entitled, A Narrative of the
Millitary Operation on the Coromandal Coast, which was published in
London in 1789. Innes Munro had accompanied the British troops on their
various campaigns in South India and therefore he had first-hand information
on the battles between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British and therefore his
information is reliable. In the afore-said book, there is clear information on the
use of rockets against the British troops by the Mysore army 44.
During the Third Anglo-Mysore War, Lt. Col. Knox was attacked by
rockets near Srirangapatna on the night of February, 1792 while he was
advancing from the north towards river Kaveri. During the 4th Anglo-Mysore
War, rockets were again used on several occasions. Col. Wellesley (Lord
42
Forrest D. Tiger of Mysore, 1970.
See R.C. Majumdar, Raychowdhuri and Dutta K. An Advanced History of India as quoted by
Roddam Narasimha, Rockets in Mysore and Britain, 1750-1850 AD, p.8.
44
Innes Munro. A Narrative of the Military Operation on the Coromandal Coast etc. London, 1789,
43
118
Wellington), the hero of Waterloo, had to encounter the rocket attacks in
Mysore. Forrest states, “At this point (near the village of Sultanpet) there was a
large tope, or grove, which gave shelter to Tipu’s rocketmen and had obviously
to be cleaned out before the siege could be pressed closer to Seringapatam
island. The commander chosen for this operation was Col. Wellesley, but
advancing towards the tope after dark on the 5th (April 1799), he was set upon
with rockets and musket-fire, lost his way and as Beatson politely put it, had to
postpone the attack… until a more favourable opportunity should offer”.
119