Artillery in India: Malik-E-Maidan and Kadak Bijli

Malik-E-Maidan

(Pintrest Photo)

The Malik-E-Maidan also Malik-i-Maidan (lit. 'Lord of the Battlefield'), is a 16th century cannon, located at Burj-E-Sherz (Lion Tower), Bijapur Fort, Bijapur, India. 4.45 metres (14.6 ft) in length and cast in bell metal, it is the largest surviving block of artillery from the Medieval period.

A bronze basilisk/shaika siege cannon cast by the Ottoman artillery master Muhammed Bin Hussein Rumi, sent during the reign of Sultan Burhan Nizam Shah I (1549) in Bijapur Fort in India. It weighs approximately 5.5 tons, is 4.2 m long and 70 cm in diameter. This cannon is one of the indicators of the cannon casting ability of the mid-16th century, as well as how artistic additions could be made when there were no restrictions. The figure embossed on the front of the cannon barrel shows a lion with its mouth open swallowing an elephant. Aside from the symbolic values ​​it carries, such decorations on these cannons are designed to accompany the myths they are attributed to. When we imagine a marble cannonball weighing hundreds of kilos emerging from this barrel with flames behind it, it becomes clearer why the cannon is likened to a dragon or sa’ika. (Okay Sütçüoğlu)

Sultan Burhan Nizam Shah I of Ahmednagar presented the cannon to his son-in-law, Sultan Ali Adil Shah I of Bijapur. In 1565, the cannon was used in the Battle of Talikota by the Bijapur Sultan Ali Adil Shah I, attacking Aliya Rama Raya of the Vijayanagara Empire as part of the combined Deccan Sultanates force. After the victory of the Deccan Sultanates the cannon was named Malik-i-Maidan. At some point in the next 59 years, control of the cannon was transferred from the Bijapur Sultanate to the Ahmadnagar Sultanate.In 1625, Prime Minister Malik Amber of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate transported the Malik–i-Maidan with the help of trained war elephants from Daulatabad Fort south to Sholapur, as part of his invasion of the Bijapur Sultanate. He would later transport the cannon north again, as he retreated after unsuccessfully besieging of the city of Bijapur, and subsequently used it in the Battle of Bhatvadi against the Mughals and Bijapur Sultanate.The cannon, among the world's largest in its category, was attempted to be moved to Great Britain by the East India Company as a war trophy, but due to its huge size and un-conditioned transport infrastructure the cannon could not be transported. (Wikipedia)

The Malik-e-Maidan is made of bell metal, measuring 4.45 metres (14.6 ft) in length. The muzzle gauge is 700 millimetres (28 in) and 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in overall diameter, weighing 55 tons. According to legend, the cannonball could travel up to 500 metres (1,600 ft). The cannon's muzzle is decorated with a low relief of the head of a lion with its jaws open, swallowing an elephant. Three inscriptions can be found on the cannon, of which two were inscribed during Burhan Nizam Shah I of Ahmednagar as per the inscriptions. It was cast at Ahmadnagar from bell metal by Muhammad Bin Husain Rumi in 1549. The third inscription was added by Aurangzeb when he conquered Bijapur in 1685–86. (Wikipedia)

(Wikimedia Commons Photo)

Malik-E-Maidan cannon in 1880.

(Rana Safvi Photo)

Malik-E-Maidan cannon.

(Mark Griffin Photo)

Malik-E-Maidan cannon, top view.

(Pinakpani Photo)

Kadak Bijli, the cannon in Jhansi fort in Uttar Pradesh

Jhansi Fort or Jhansi ka Qila is a fortress situated on a large hilltop called Bangira, in Uttar Pradesh. It served as a stronghold of the Karhade Brahmin Kings in Balwant Nagar (old name of Jhansi) from the 11th through the 17th century. (Wikipedia)

5.50m X 1,80m, diameter .60m.