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== Summary ==
This article describes some famous artillery pieces with connections to the era of the British in India.
{{Template:Origin|text=The information and images in this article has have been provided by Elizabeth Hancox, FIBIS member and acknowledged expert on guns.}}
== The Celebrated Bhurtpore Gun at Woolwich==
=== Tiger Howitzer ===
'''IMAGE'''
Captured at Tipu Sultan’s fortress at the [[Battle of Seringapatam 1799|Battle of Seringapatam]] in 1799.
The guns were captured 7 years later in action at the [[Battle of Ferozeshah]], not far from [[Ferozepore]] where the guns were first presented.
=== Mughal/Sikh Artillery ===
'''IMAGE'''
Indian brass gun on its carriage. Calibre 4.75in; length of bore 7ft 7.5 in; total length 8ft 8in. The ornamentation of this gun is peculiar and quite oriental. The carriage is decorated with thin iron plates of similar design to the ornament on the gun. The dolphins represent an animal somewhat like a rhinoceros. The vent is iron and plugged.
'''IMAGE'''
Elevation of 193 as drawn by Capt. Ralph Smyth, Bengal Artillery in 1848 after its capture during the [[1st Sikh War]] 1845-6
Bronze 8.33 lb (7 seers)
Panjab, probably Lahore, late 18th to early 19th century
Calibre 4.1
This is one of several cannon produced between 1760 and 1825 based on ‘Zamzamah’ or ‘Kim’s Gun’ which was cast in Lahore in 1761. It is a fine example of the Mughal casting tradition already in the Panjab before the Sikhs took over. Similar pieces have been dated to as late as 1825.
The barrel is decorated in the Mughal style with palmette borders and a vase and flowers motif. The button is decorated with a lotus flower and the dolphins in the shape of makara (mythical water demons); motifs widely used in Indian art.
By the mid 1820s ornate cannon of this type were being replaced by similar, more streamlined, types which were both lighter and easier to produce. The closest contemporary British equivalent, a brass 9-pounder introduced in 1719, weighed almost 531lbs less and was a foot shorter.
At some point in its service life, probably in the 1820s, the barrel was remounted by Sikh engineers on a Napoleonic-style split trail carriage and aiming was improved by attaching a strap around the button connected to a capstan elevating screw.
‘Zamzamah’ (now in Lahore) was used by Ahmed Shah at Panipat in 1761.
