Legend of the Mysore rockets that bloodied the British
Aerospace & Defence Analyst Girish Linganna revisits the military technology of the the Mysore Kingdom that left an impression for centuries, and influenced modern India.
FollowAt the end of the 18th century, the English East India Company controlled a sizable portion of India and subjugated several significant Indian states. However, the English had yet to attain complete and uncontested dominance over India. The largest South Indian kingdoms, such as Mysore, the Maratha Empire, and Hyderabad, to a lesser extent, maintained their independence.Â
Mysore state, located at the southwestern point of the Indian Peninsula, was the British's most tenacious and obstinate opponent. The state's capital was the metropolis of Mysore. After the death of the last major Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb in 1707, the rulers of the Mysore state were able to enhance their influence by taking advantage of power struggles inside the Mughal empire.
Mysore's dominion was expanded due to the states' invasions of the Malabar Coast and the Karnataka Plateau, which brought the states into direct conflict with the British. This state rose to prominence due to its resistance to English colonisation, which led to four Anglo-Mysore Wars.Â
Mysore, the last of the Indian princely kingdoms, lost its independence after 40 years of struggle and became part of the East India Company's territory. Nonetheless, Mysore's military technology, training, and leadership have left an impression for centuries.
Mysore established both the production and usage of firepower and the organisation of its armed forces along European lines. The East was familiar with early forms of rocketry in the past. The Chinese and the Mongols began producing them around the same time. However, because they were constructed from bamboo, they did not cause considerable damage.Â
The skilled craftsmen of Mysore started making the rockets' bodies out of iron, which was the first step in transforming these types of missiles into dangerous weapons. Rockets came in various sizes, but the most common design used an iron tube measuring approximately 20 centimetres in length and 3.8 to 7.6 centimetres in diameter, closed at one end, and coupled to a bamboo rod measuring one metre in length.Â
The black powder was housed inside the iron pipe, which functioned as a combustion chamber. A rocket powered by around 500 grams of gunpowder has the potential to travel approximately one kilometre. Some projectiles ranged up to 2 km when they were in flight.
At the height of its power, the Mysore army boasted a rocket corps of three thousand soldiers. Tipu Sultan penned a military handbook called 'Fathul Mujahidin', in which he stated that each Pushun (also known as a brigade) consisted of two hundred rocketmen.Â
Rocketeers received training to fire rockets at an angle that was determined by calculating the diameter of the cylinder concerning the distance to the target. In addition, rocket launchers on wheels that could fire anywhere from five to ten missiles virtually simultaneously were deployed during the conflict.Â
Others had iron tips or steel blades connected to a bamboo rod with bamboo, while others had holes drilled into their bodies so they could be used as incendiary weapons. The bodies of some rockets had holes in them. When these blades were mounted to the rockets towards the end of their flight, the rockets began to move along an unstable trajectory. Meanwhile, the blades turned like flying scythes, mowing down everything in their path as they travelled.
Rockets were employed effectively in the conflicts fought against the British. At the Battle of Pollilur in 1780, during the Second Anglo-Mysore War, one of them managed to get into the British ammunition supply, ultimately defeating the British army.
The British recognised the true value of innovative technology. In 1801, following the defeat of Mysore, the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich initiated a military rocket research and development programme based on Mysore technology. Multiple rockets were sent to the United Kingdom.Â
William Congreve, superintendent of military vehicles, devised the so-called 'Congreve rocket' based on these inventions. In 1806, it was first employed by the British in the conflict with the French. In the future, they utilised these rockets extensively in numerous 19th-century military campaigns. Other European nations' armies adopted them. These technologies have led to the creation of contemporary combat missiles.
Soon after gaining independence, India's visionary leaders initiated research in the field of missiles, and today, India produces most of its rockets for the military. The most successful range of military equipment made in India is the missile, thanks to the heritage of Mysore State. India can strike any part of the world if it needs. Even the Defence Research and Development Organisation laboratories that worked on missiles used to be situated inside the borders of the former Mysore State before they were relocated to Hyderabad.Â
Although India allows other nations to sell its weapons and provide it with training, it does not permit other nations to form pressure groups with a say in India's affairs. A case in point like this can also be found in the state of Mysore. The French were instrumental in developing the Mysore state's armed forces, which were structured after the European model. Even though Mysore solicited the assistance of French commanders to instruct the troops, it never permitted them to create a lobbying organisation.Â
Despite fighting against the British, it did not give the French colonists any opportunity to gain an edge. Initially, Mysore was able to adapt Western training methods to its army with the assistance of the French, who assisted the state in establishing a weapons factory in Dindigul, which is today a part of Tamil Nadu.Â
In addition to having a greater range, the artillery cannons used by the Mysore State were renowned for their accuracy. The Mysores Cavalry had earned a reputation for being a terrifying fighting force.Â
Like other empires, Mysore recognised the importance of having a naval force. In 1796, it created a Board of Admiralty and devised plans for a fleet of 22 battleships and 20 large frigates. It established three different dockyards: one each in Mangalore, Wajedabad, and Molidabad.
The fact that Mysore state, like the central forces of modern-day India, had raised centralised forces and did not rely on the militias of provincial governors is the aspect of the armed forces that is most comparable to modern-day India.Â
The majority of the military components of the Mysore state can be found ingrained in the present-day military structure of India.
