Gunpowder Composition
for Rockets and Cannon
in Arabic Military
Treatises
In Thirteenth and
Fourteenth Centuries
A Gap in the
history of gunpowder and cannon
In some
documented histories of warfare and weapons in the Middle Ages and
the Renaissance there is a noticeable gap in the history of
gunpowder and cannon in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Some Authors jump from China in the far east to Europe in the far
west with the slightest reference or no reference at all to the
Arabic and Islamic lands that spanned the whole distance between
east and west. In the thirteenth century, technology could hardly
have been transferred between the two extremities of the old world
unless it passed through the Arabic and Islamic medium and subjected
to more developments.
For some of
the key Arabic words in this article, please see
here.
It is not
our purpose in this paper to review the history of gunpowder and
cannon in China and Europe. We shall revisit some Arabic sources
that were known and repeatedly discussed since the middle of the
nineteenth century, and shall add few more manuscripts and sources
that were not discussed before[1].
We shall analyse gunpowder composition for rockets and cannon as
they are given in these manuscripts, and shall discuss briefly the
development of cannon in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in
the Mamluk Kingdom and in Muslim Spain. We conclude with a brief
note about fireworks.
Potassium
nitrate
In a recent
paper[2]
it was shown that Arabic alchemists knew potassium nitrate since the
start of Arabic alchemy at the time of Khalid ibn Yazid (d. c. 709).
It was known under various names, was used as a flux in
metallurgical operations and for producing nitric acid and aqua
regia. Recipes for these uses are found in the works of Jabir ibn
Hayyan (Geber, d. 815),
Abu Bakr al-Razi
(Rhazes, d.932) and other alchemists.
Throughout
the centuries potassium nitrates in Arabic was known by a variety of
names, and the most important of these was natrun. It was
called also: buraq; al-shiha that is found at the feet of
walls; milh al-ha’it (wall salt); flowers of asyus
stone; salt of asyus stone; salt of stone; shura;
shuraj; suraj; milh al-dabbaghin (tanners salt); shabb Yamani
and lastly barud.
Purification of potassium nitrates
Before
potassium nitrate can be used effectively in gunpowder it should be
purified. Two processes are found in Arabic literature:
1- The process of
Ibn Bakhtawayh
(early 11th Century)
Ibn
Bakhtawayh, the physician, in his book Al-Muqaddimat
(composed in 420/1029), described the freezing of water at any
season by using potassium nitrate calling it shabb Yamani
(Yamani alum). (See the article on potassium nitrates in this Web
site).
2- The
process of Hasan al-Rammah (13th Century)
Hasan
al-Rammah describes in his book al-furusiyya wa al-manasib
al-harbiyya (The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious
War Devices)
[3] a complete process for the purification of potassium
nitrate. This same process became a standard one in Arabic sources
and we find it in various military treatises. It runs as follow:
“Take from
white, clean and bright (or fiery) barud (saltpetre) as much
as you like and two new (earthen) jars. Put the saltpetre into
one of them and add water to submerge it. Put the jar on a
gentle fire until it gets warm. Skim off the scum that rises (and)
throw it away. Make the fire stronger until the liquid becomes quite
clear. Then pour the clear liquid into the other jar in such a way
that no sediment or scum remains attached to it. Place this
jar on a low fire until the contents begin to coagulate. Then
take it off the fire and grind it finely.”
[4]
The
procedure is further continued using wood ashes, which would
precipitate calcium and magnesium salts:
“Take dry
willow wood, burn it, bury it (smother it) as is with the harraq
(tinder). Take by weight two thirds of saltpetre and one third of
ashes of wood, which has been carefully pulverized, and put the
mixture into the jar, and if the jar is made from copper so much the
better. Add a little quantity of water and apply heat until the
ashes and saltpetre no longer adhere together. Beware of sparks”
In this
method calcium salts are removed by adding potassium carbonate in
the form of wood ashes. Thus calcium carbonates are precipitated and
can be removed leaving the chemically equivalent amount of potassium
nitrate in solution. Saltpetre is obtained from this solution by
crystallization.
The method
of al-Rammah is the first in which wood ashes were used in the
manufacture of saltpetre. Partington says that “the claim that Roger
Bacon used wood ashes is based on an arbitrary manipulation of a
text, and the first clear account of the process known to me is that
of al-Hasan al-Rammah.”
[5]
Use of
potassium nitrates during the Crusades:
A subject
that is still in its initial stages of investigation is the early
use of potassium nitrate during the Crusades. There are advocates of
the theory that potassium nitrates were used as a component of Greek
fire whether Byzantine or Arabic.[6]
We shall mention here few cases that suggest the use of nitrates by
the Arabs during the time of the Crusades.
a- In the
year 564 H/1168 AD the Firanja (the Franks or the Crusaders)
besieged al-Fustat (old Cairo). Shawar[7]
decided to burn the city. Al-Maqrizi says that 20000 pieces of
karaz shami (ceramic Damascus grenades) full of incendiary
materials were used. Al-Fustat continued burning for 54 days.[8]
Mercier obtained several grenades from the site and their contents
were analysed. The tests proved the existence of potassium nitrates.[9]
b- A
military treatise that discusses military fires on a large scale is
entitled Treatise on Stratagems in Wars, the Capture of Towns,
and the Defence of Passes.[10]
This gives a large number of Greek fire recipes. It describes
Islamic military technology during the twelfth century. In one
recipe natrun is one of the combustible ingredients.[11]
c-During the
fifth Crusade that was directed against Egypt, Damietta was besieged
in 1218 and the besieged used Greek fire extensively in their
defences. Lalanne believes that the Arabic jars of fire contained
potassium nitrates.[12]
d- The
seventh Crusade was directed against Egypt also. Louis IX led a
well-prepared invasion and occupied Damietta in 1249. By this time
gunpowder was known in Syria and Egypt and in the battle of
al-Mansura in 1250, in which Louis IX was taken prisoner, the use of
large pots full of gunpowder and other combustibles was the key in
the victory of the Arab Army. Joinville who was an officer and an
eyewitness of the battle described eloquently these projectiles and
their effect on the Frankish army. His description left no doubt
among some historians that he was describing projectiles containing
gunpowder.[13]
In their history of rockets published on the internet NASA says “the
Arabs adopted the rocket into their own arms inventory and, during
the Seventh Crusade, used them against the French Army of King Louis
IX “
[14]
e. Gunpowder
was used extensively in 1291 at the very end of the Crusades during
the siege of Acre, in which the city capitulated. The extensive
mining of the city walls by gunpowder was described by Western
historians. Military fires using gunpowder were projected by a large
number of manjaniqs (trebuchets), and huge amounts of arrows
carrying gunpowder devices were thrown by archers. Thousands of
engineers were reported to have participated in the siege.[15]
Gunpowder
composition of al-Rammah’s rockets (1280 AD)
Al-Rammah (d
695 AH/1295 AD) deals extensively in his book with gunpowder and its
uses .The estimated date of writing this book is between 1270 and
1280. The front page states that the book was written as
"instructions by the eminent master Najm al-Din Hasan Al-Rammah, as
handed down to him by his father and his forefathers, the masters in
this art and by those contemporary elders and masters who befriended
them, may God be pleased with them all ". It is unmistakable from
this statement that Al-Rammah compiled the inherited knowledge. The
large number of gunpowder recipes and the extensive types of
weaponry using gunpowder indicate that this information cannot be
the invention of a single person, and this supports the statement of
the front piece in his book. If we go back only to his grandfather's
generation, as the first of his forefathers, then we end up at the
end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth as the
date when gunpowder became prevalent in Syria and Egypt.
The book
contains 107 recipes for gunpowder.[16]
There are 22 recipes for rockets (tayyarat, sing. tayyar).
Among the remaining compositions some are for military uses and some
are for fireworks. The gunpowder composition of seventeen rockets is
shown in the following table. Five rockets are not included because
their ingredients included other materials. We limited ourselves for
the sake of comparison to the three main ingredients.
Gunpowder
Composition for 17 Rockets from al-Rammah (1280 AD)
No.
|
Descrption
|
KNO3
|
S
|
C
|
18a
|
Tayyar
(rocket)
|
10
69
|
1.5
10.33
|
3
20.67
|
19a
|
Tayyar
(rocket)
|
10
74.77
|
1.125
8.41
|
3.25
16.82
|
21a
|
Tayyar
(rocket)
|
10
76.92
|
1
7.70
|
2
15.38
|
22a
|
Tayyar
(rocket)
|
10
74.07
|
1.25
9.26
|
2.25
16.67
|
23a
|
Tayyar
(rocket)
|
10
75.95
|
1.083
8.23
|
2.083
15.82
|
25a
|
Tayyar
(rocket)
|
10
71.43
|
1.5
10.71
|
2.5
17.86
|
26a
|
Tayyar mujarrab
(tested rocket)
|
10
75.47
|
1.625
12.27
|
1.625
12.26
|
28a
|
Tayyar muqdah
(roast rocket)
|
10
71.43
|
1
7.14
|
3
21.43
|
1b
|
Tayyar Majnun
(mad
rocket)- lifts
I
Dam. ratl + 7.5
Ouqiyya =2.13 kg
|
12
74.42
|
1.375
8.53
|
2.75
17.05
|
2b
|
Tayyar (rocket),
lifts 1 Dam. Ratl
=
1.85 kg
|
9
83.72
|
0.875
8.14
|
0.875
8.14
|
3b
|
Tayyar Tunsi
(Tunisian rocket)
|
11
73.33
|
1.25
8.34
|
2.75
18.33
|
4b
|
Tayyar sakran
(
drunk rocket)
|
10
76.93
|
1.125
8.64
|
1.875
14.43
|
5b
|
Tayyar buruq
(lightning rocket)
|
10
74.07
|
1.375
10.19
|
2.125
15.74
|
6b
|
White tayyar
(rocket) without
sparks
|
10
74.07
|
1.25
9.26
|
2.25
16.67
|
34b
|
Heavy tayyar
(rocket)
lifts 1.25 Dam. Ratl
=
2.313 kg
|
12
68.57
|
1.75
10
|
3.75
21.43
|
36b
|
Tayyar
(rocket) for arrows
|
12
88.07
|
1
7.34
|
0.625
4.59
|
Average for 17
rockets
|
75
|
9.03
|
15.97
|
Notes:
Series (a) are the main gunpowder formulations of al-Rammah. They
are 65 in number and occur on pp. 70-77 of the published Arabic
text. Series (b) are the second series of formulations. They are 42
in number and occur in pages 131-137. First line is in dirhams and
second line shows percentages.
If we look
at the table and the graph, we notice that most ratios fall around
the median lines with few odd points only. The median value for
potassium nitrates is 75 percent. The minimum odd value is 68.57
percent and the extreme odd one is 88.07
It is
reported by Hall that most authorities regard 75 percent potassium
nitrate, 10 percent sulphur, and 15 percent carbon to be the best
recipe.[17]
Al-Rammah’s median composition for 17 rockets is 75 nitrates, 9.06
sulphur and 15.94 carbon which is almost identical with the reported
best recipe.
Gunpowder
composition for rockets in funun al-naft of St. Petersburgh
MS
We shall
describe the St. Petersburgh manuscript in more detail when we
discuss cannon. There is a chapter in this manuscript under the
title ‘funun al-naft min al- jidd wa al-hazl’ (The art of
gunpowder for serious work or for pleasure). It gives a list of
gunpowder compositions for pleasure (fireworks) and for war
including five compositions for rockets as shown below.
[18]
Rockets from
St. Petersburgh MS., early 14th Century
KNO3
|
S
|
C
|
|
76.19
|
6.67
|
17.14
|
|
74.07
|
7.14
|
18.52
|
|
74.77
|
5.6
|
19.63
|
|
75.47
|
5.66
|
18.87
|
|
71.43
|
7.14
|
21.43
|
|
Average
|
74.38
|
6.5
|
19.12
|
Gunpowder
composition in al-Karshuni manuscript for miscellaneous military
purposes 11th century
The Karshuni
manuscript (written in Arabic with Syriac script), which belongs to
the period ninth to eleventh century according to Berthelot and
Duval[19],
gives a few compositions of gunpowder. If we discount such an early
date, then it is possible that these were later additions from the
thirteenth century as was supposed by Lippmann. The following are
the ones related to military uses.[20]
Gunpowder
Composition in the Karshuni MS. 11th-12th Century
(Possibly
13th c additions)
KNO3
|
S
|
C
|
|
71.43
|
10.71
|
17.86
|
|
83.33
|
8.33
|
8.34
|
|
71.53
|
14.23
|
14.28
|
|
66.67
|
16.66
|
16.67
|
|
68.97
|
10.34
|
20.69
|
|
Average
|
72.37
|
12.06
|
15.57
|
Gunpowder
composition in Beshir Agha manuscript for rockets and other uses-
14th Century
This is a
military treatise of unknown author and unknown date. From the text
we infer that it was written in the first half of the fourteenth
century. The author says the Franks are ignorant of the art of
gunpowder and its uses and he warns in strong terms against
revealing its secrets to them. This implies that the author was
writing in the last days of the Crusades. The following are
gunpowder recipes for rockets and other military uses:
[21]
Beshir Agha
MS
|
Gunpowder
composition of rockets from `Iyarat al-naft manuscript
13th-14th centuries
This
manuscript contains a large number of gunpowder recipes, totalling
about 239. Its title is `Iyarat al-naft
(Formulae of Gunpowder)
[22]. Its author is not known but the copy that we
consulted was copied in 774/1372; the original should be much
earlier.
Al-Rammah’s
book was compiled in about 1270-80 and this one could be compiled on
the first decades of the fourteenth century. It gives recipes for
fireworks as well as for military purposes. We have selected all the
rockets recipes that contain only the three main ingredients of
gunpowder:
[23]
Gunpowder Composition for Rockets from Iyarat al-naft
MS, 14th Century
|
|||
KNO3
|
S
|
C
|
|
72.07
|
9.06
|
18.92
|
|
71.43
|
11.93
|
16.64
|
|
71.43
|
10.71
|
17.86
|
|
74.08
|
11.11
|
14.81
|
|
75.47
|
11.32
|
13.21
|
|
71.43
|
10.71
|
17.86
|
|
67.47
|
16.86
|
15.71
|
|
74.77
|
6.54
|
18.69
|
|
72.72
|
9.1
|
18.18
|
|
74.07
|
5.56
|
20.37
|
|
70.97
|
12.1
|
16.93
|
|
71.43
|
12.5
|
16.07
|
|
69.56
|
11.6
|
18.84
|
|
Average
|
72.07
|
10.7
|
17.23
|
Gunpowder
composition for the earliest cannon (13th to early 14th c)
Four Arabic
treatises describe or mention small portable cannon.[24]
All these treatises report that cannon were used in the battle of
`Ayn Jalut in Palestine in 1260 between the Arab Army and the
Mongols, in which the latter were defeated. It was used once more
against the Mongols in 1304. The purpose of the early cannon and
other gunpowder devices as we shall see was to frighten the enemy’s
horses and cavalry and cause disorder in their ranks. The St.
Petersbugh MS is the most renowned among the four manuscripts.
Renaud and Fave attributed it to Shams al-Din Muhammad. The only
literary figure with this name at this period is Shams al-Din
Muhammad al-Ansari al-Dimashqi (d.1327) who, like al-Rammah, was
from Damascus, and both were contemporaries. Al-Dimashqi is well
known for his cosmography in which he described the use of fireworks
in Hama in central Syria.
[25] In the St. Petersburgh MS. the cannon is described
as follows:
[26]
“Description
of the drug (dawa’) that you put in the cannon (midfa`)-
Its composition (`iyaruhu) is: potassium nitrate (barud)
ten, charcoal (fahm) two dirhams and sulphur (kibrit)
one and a half dirhams. Grind it finely and fill one third of
the cannon (midfa`). Do not fill more otherwise it will
split. Then let the wood turner make a wooden plug (midfa`)[27]
of the same size as the mouth of the cannon (midfa`). Ram
(the gunpowder) tightly and place on it the ball (bunduqa) or
the arrow, and give it fire at the ammunition (al-dhakhira).
Measure the cannon (midfa`) at the hole; if it (i.e. the
midfa`) is deeper than the hole then it is defective and it will
punch the gunner (al-rami), so understand this.”
The
composition of 10 dirhams of saltpetre, one and a half dirhams of
sulphur and two dirhams of charcoal gives the percentages of 74.1
nitrates, 11.1 sulphur and 14.8 charcoal.
In the
Istanbul manuscript the description is as follows:
[28]
“The drug
that you put in the cannon (midfa`): potassium nitrate (barud)
ten, charcoal (fahm) two dirhams, sulphur (kibrit)
one dirham. Grind finely, and fill one third of the cannon (midfa`),
not more. Seal it (i.e. the gunpowder) by the device after you have
rammed it; then place the ball (bunduq) or the arrow and give
fire to the ammunition (al-dhakhira)”.
In these
cannon the percentages of gunpowder are 77 nitrates, 7.7 sulphur and
15.3 charcoal.
We have
another gunpowder composition for cannon in Kitab al-aniq[29]
and a fourth one in Kitab`iyarat al-naft . The four
compositions are listed together as follows:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
St.
Petersburgh MS. p.156, Illustration of Khita’i arrows,
rockets, military midfa`,
al-su`at(rockets
that seek a destination) and gunpowder crackers.
In this
illustration the midfa` (cannon) has a carrying stick.
We see also
on the right what looks like a bomb or an incendiary jar.
Tactics of
using the early cannon
The
following text from St. Petersburgh manuscript describes the use of
the early cannon along with other gunpowder devices in battle
tactics:
St.
Petersburgh MS., p. 159, Illustration of the faris (knight)
who frightens the horses of the enemy and the two foot soldiers
accompanying him. On the right, the foot soldier is carrying a
hand-held midfa` (cannon), and on the left the soldier is
carrying a sprinkling club. The mounted knight carries a lance to
which gunpowder cartridges are attached. The three men and the horse
wear also fireproof clothing to which gunpowder cartridges are
attached.
“The kings
of old times did not engage in war except by stratagem. The Prophet
said: war is trickery. This was the practice until the time of
Halawun (Hulaku or
Hulegu) when the people of Egypt used this trick and defeated the
Tatars (Mongols). Horses (of the enemy) dare not face fire and the
horse will run away with its rider. The way to do it is to choose a
number of cavaliers and furnish their lances from both ends with
gunpowder (barud
[30]). The cavalier will wear a garment (qarqal)
with its front face made of black thick woolen cloth (balas).
It is strewn with balls of linen fiber (mushaqq) that have
metal wires at their ends so that they are inserted into the garment
and the helmet. The horse is also draped with thick woolen cloth (balas).
His hands will be smeared with dissolved talc so that he is not
burnt by fire. In front of them will be whatever they choose from
foot soldiers furnished with sprinkler maces, crackers (sawarikh,
explosive charges) and cannon (madafi`). They (the cavalrty
and the foot soldiers) will take their place in front of the army.”
[31]
More detailed
description of the attire of the cavalier, the horse and the foot
soldiers is given in the manuscript. There is a detailed description
on how to train the horses to get them used to the loud explosive
noise of the cannon and the gunpowder crackers. The method of
conducting the attack to frighten the
enemy’s
horses and causing them to run away is also described.
This tactics of
using the portable cannon continued throughout the century and was
the precursor of portable firearms. Muhammad Ibn Mankali in one of
his military treatises (written around 764-78/1362-70)
[32]wrote:
“If the Franks who
are facing us are cavalry then we shoot at them with incendiary
arrows and cannon since their horses will be frightened away and
when their mobilization is in disarray then they will be chased.”
The use of the
portable cannon continued and it was used in celebrations in
addition to its use in warfare.
The French traveller, Bertrandon
de la Brocquiere, visited the Holy Land in 1432 and wrote his book
The Voyage
d’Outremer.
When he was in Damascus he saw the celebrations on the occasion
of the return of pilgrims from Mecca after the hajj. He
says:
“The day
after my arrival I saw the caravan coming from Mecca. It was said
that there were more than three thousand camels. The lord and
all the notables of the city went out to meet the caravan.”
[33]
“There were
also at least thirty men around the mahmal camel, some
carrying crossbows and others with unsheathed swords in their hands.
Some had little cannon which they fired from time to time”
[35]
The
development of cannon in the fourteenth century in the Mamluk
Kingdom (Syria and Egypt)
In 1340 AD,
Ibn Fadl Allah al-`Umari wrote a handbook for government officials
in which he described the main weapons that were used in the attack
or the defence of towns.
[36] He describes cannon that were used in the attack of
walled cities. “They throw balls that batter the tops of parapets
and break the columns of arches”. The cannon developed within four
decades into a siege engine along with the trebuchet. It is reported
by the historian Salih ibn Yahya that in 743/1342 the besieged in
al-Karak mounted on its walls five trebuchets (manjaniqs) and
many cannon.[37]
It is also reported that in 753/1352 the governor of Damascus
fortified greatly the citadel by mounting on it gunpowder cannon (al-makahil
bi al-madafi`).[38]
Al-Qalqashandi described in his encyclopaedia, Subh al-a`sha,
the prevailing siege engines in 767/1365. About cannon he
says:
“Among them
(i.e. the siege engines) is the gunpowder cannon (makahil
al-barud). These are the cannon (madafi`) that use
gunpowder. They are of different types. Some of them throw huge
arrows that can almost pierce stones. And some throw iron
balls weighing from ten Egyptian ratls ( about 4.53 kg) up to
more than one hundred (45.3 kg). I saw in Alexandria during the
Ashrafiyya State, (of Sultan) Sha`ban ibn Husayn[39],
when Prince Salah al-Din ibn `Arram, God have mercy on him, was
governor, I saw a cannon made of copper and lead and bound by iron
ends. A huge heated iron ball was projected from it in the maydan
(parade square
or hippodrome), and it
fell into the Silsila Sea outside Bab al-Bahr (Sea Gate), which is a
faraway distance.”
[40]
At this same
period a military treatise called al-Aniq fi al-manajiq was
written by Ibn Aranbugha al-Zaradkash. The author presented the book
to the Atabik (chief commander of the army) Mankali Bugha al-Shamsi
who was in office between 769/1367 and 774/1372. The following
illustration shows cannon for shooting arrows, mounted on an
adjustable stand for pointing the gun at various angles of
projection[41].
The gunpowder composition for these cannon is ten dirhams of
potassium nitrate, 1.125 sulphur, and 2.5 charcoals. This gives the
percentages of 73.4 potassium nitrate, 8.26 sulphur and 18.34
charcoals.
Development of cannon in al-Andalus and al-Maghrib in the 13th and
14th centuries
We have no
extant Arabic military treatises left to us from al-Andalus and al-Maghrib
regarding gunpowder. But since this symposium is taking place in
Granada, the seat of the last Moorish kingdom in al-Andalus, it
befits us to give a brief account of the history of cannon in this
area.
[42]
Reports
about the use of cannon by the Arabs in Spain are given in the works
of Spanish and Arab historians who were closer to the times of the
events or even have witnessed them. When they wrote their accounts
they did not have the same thinking that triggered the debate among
historians of gunpowder and firearms of the 19th and the first
decades of the 20th centuries. The question about the first nation
to formulate propulsive gunpowder or to use cannon was irrelevant to
them. In the last three decades of recent history some scholars
adopted a more balanced attitude and started to free themselves from
the euro centric way of looking at historical sources. In this brief
survey, we shall present the primary reports about the main events
without trying to confuse the reader with the disputations of the
past two centuries.
Most of the
argument arose when some historians tried to interpret the Arabic
word naft to denote naphtha or a mixture of incendiary
ingredients containing naphtha. A study of the titles of treatises
dealing with gunpowder composition given in this article will make
it clear that naft denoted in fact gunpowder. The term
naft was used originally for military fires of any composition,
and as soon as the new mixture of saltpeter-sulphur-charcoal
was known, the word naft was applied to it. So the treatise
of `Iyarat al-naft mentioned above means Formulations of
Gunpowder as we have seen.
In the
Vocabulista (a Latin-Spanish Arabic vocabulary compiled in the
region of Valencia, in the 13th century), one finds the word naft
opposite Ignis and Ignem excutere. In the later
historical accounts this word denoted gunpowder. In al-Andalus in
the course of the second half of the 15th century, gunpowder became
barud, and saltpetre became milh al-barud.
Naft (pl. anfat) then denoted cannon, and naffat
denoted gunner.
[43]
When we
discuss the development of gunpowder and cannon in al-Andalus and
al-Maghrib countries, we must take into account their parallel
development in the Arab east namely in the Mamluk Kingdom.
Another
factor that is relevant to our study is the fact that potassium
nitrates were abundant in Muslim Spain, and it was the only country
in Europe having these natural deposits.[44]
Watson says in his Chemical Essays: “The lands of Spain, says
the author of its Natural History, if properly managed, would supply
all Europe with saltpetre to the end of the world.”
[45]
The
Arabs
are reported to have used rockets on the Iberian Peninsula in 1249;
and in 1288 rockets attacked Valencia.[46]
This report needs to be investigated further in order to determine
the sources of information.
Peter,
Bishop of Leon, reported the use of cannon by the Arabs while
defending Seville in 646 AH/ 1248 AD.
[47]
Ferdinand III harassed Seville increasingly and kept the town under
siege for 17 months until it surrendered.
[48] At this
same time, in the Mamluk Kingdom, gunpowder was already in use in
warfare during the Crusades, and if the devices used in Seville were
not cannon, then they were most probably projectiles utilizing
gunpowder similar to those used by the Mamluks in the battle of
al-Mansura in 1250 against Louis IX.
In 660 /
1262, King Alfonso X of Castile succeeded in conquering the city of
Niebla. The siege was not easy either for the besiegers or for the
Muslim inhabitants due to the strength of the town’s defences, so
the siege lasted nine months and a half. It is reported that
Almohads in defending the city used machines that resembled cannon,
which projected stones and fire accompanied by thundering noises.
Some Spanish histories consider that this was the first time that
gunpowder had been used in warfare in Spain.[49]
Ibn Khaldun
(8th/14th century) says that the Marinid Sultan Abu Yusuf Ya`qub,
when besieging the town of Sijilmasa in 672-3/1274:
“Brought
into action against this town mangonels (majaniq) and ballistas
(`arradat), as well as a naft engine (hindam al-naft
i.e. gunpowder cannon) which discharged small iron balls (hasa
al-hadid). These balls are ejected from a chamber (khizana)
placed in front of a kindling fire of gunpowder. This happens by a
strange property which attributes all actions to the power of the
Creator.”
[50]
This precise
information about the use of cannon came from a great historian.
However, western historians of firearms in the nineteenth and the
first part of the twentieth centuries questioned the report of Ibn
Kaldun. Historians in those days were bound by certain fixed
historical dates for gunpowder and cannon that could not be changed
even if they go to the extreme of discrediting a historian of the
calibre of Ibn Khaldun. We have seen above that portable cannon were
used by the Mamluks in 1260 in the battle of `Ayn Jalut. Indeed, we
would advance the view that in the Maghrib and al-Andalus, where
petroleum was not available whereas potassium nitrate was known to
be abundant, cannon may have developed into a siege engine somewhat
earlier than in the Islamic East, and that the appearance of cannon
at Sijilmasa as described by Ibn Khaldun was a natural development
the veracity of which need not be doubted.
In the
fourteenth century, the historic accounts regarding the use of
cannon by the Moorish kings of Granada, in defensive as well as
offensive operations had caused considerable debate among western
historians in the nineteenth and the first decades of the twentieth
centuries. After reviewing the position of some military historians
in Europe, Ada Bruhn de Hoffmeyer in her carefully focused survey,
Arms and Amour in Spain, concludes that:
“The old
theories about the Arabs and the Moors and their importance in
regard to gunpowder and early artillery in the 14th century cannot
be rejected---on the contrary! Alchemy and chemical experiments
flourished among the Arabs in the Mediterranean world not least in
Moslem Andalusia, and Saracen scientists and technicians were
working at various courts of occidental Europe.”
“The general
opinion no doubt must be that gunpowder artillery was introduced
rather early to Spain through the Arabs via the Moors of Maroc and
from them to Moslem Andalusia. From the Hispano-Moors Christian
Spain learned about gunpowder artillery. The routes probably passed
via the Granadine kingdom, which at that time had very close
contacts with the sultan of Maroc in Fez, from which place
Granada got military help against the Christians. Italy is
represented with the Genoese navy supporting Granadines and
Moroccanes.”
[51]
The facts
depend upon the correct translation of certain words from Arabic
manuscripts. Hoffmeyer refers to the work of Kohler when she says:
“It is not
impossible that G. Kohler in his work: Die Entwicklung des
Kriegswesens und der Kriegsfiihrung, Breslau 1887, was right in
his suppositions that the Arabs rather early introduced not only
gunpowder but even fire-arms to Spain, from whence they passed to
Italy (coincidence with the documentation from Florence) and from
Spain and Italy to France and Germany. (The routes from Hispano-
Moorish Andalusia, passing through Murcia, the Levantine coasts of
Spain, Aragon to Italy is nothing strange in the 14th century, when
the Mediterranean was a «Mar Aragones».) “
[52]
The main
incidents we are concerned with in the following account had taken
place during the tenure of Sultan Abu al-Walid Isma`il ibn Nasr (713
AH/ 1314 AD-725 AH/1325 AD), the Nasrid king of Granada who waged a
number of successful campaigns between the years 1324 and 1325. In
724/1324 he besieged the fort city of Huescar using cannon in his
siege, of which Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib (1313-1374) who was a
youth at the time, and who became later a minister in Granada,
relates:
“He headed
towards the enemy territory and challenged the fort of Huescar that
stands as a bone in the throat of Baza, which he besieged and
attacked. He struck the arch of the invincible tower with a red-hot
iron ball bombarded by the great engine that operates by naft
(gunpowder). “
[53]
To
celebrate the occasion, the scientist and poet, Abu Zakariyya Yahya
ibn Hudhayl
[54] whom Ibn al-Khatib highly praised, being his
teacher, had composed a poem complementing the sultan for the
conquest of Huescar:
"They
thought that the thunder and the lightning had come down from the
skies; whereas the thunder and lightning are all around them being
created by man.
These are
things of wondrous shapes, sent high by Hermes[55]
and engineered to demolish mountains when they hit.
Yes, it is
this world that always shows you miracles, since
nature’s
innate powers are destined to appear “
Based on the
reports of these eyewitnesses McJoynt concludes that:
“Granada
must have been in the forefront of technical innovation in the world
at this time. The new weapon was a success, for Huescar hastened to
surrender”.[56]
Lomax
concludes also that “The capture of Huescar had seen the first use
of gunpowder and cannon in European warfare.”
[57]
After the
conquest of Huescar, Sultan Isma`il waged a number of campaigns in
which he captured a number of cities and forts including Baza and
Martos in which he used cannon also.
In 732 /1331
Sultan Muhammad IV laid siege to the city of Alicante, of
which the Spanish historian Zurita (1512-1580) maintains that “when
the Moorish king of Granada besieged Alicante he used a new machine
that caused great terror. It threw iron balls with fire.”
[58] Hoffmeyer finds the report of Muslim gunpowder
weapons at Alicante to be “difficult to deny”, given obvious
awareness of such weapons at the time.
In a
confrontation, known as the battle of Tarifa or the battle of Rio
Salado in 1340, the Arabs lost heavily to the Castillian
armies and their allies. The Spanish historian Conde relates that in
the battle of Tarifa the Arabs had employed machines of thunder that
launched iron balls propelled by nafta, causing extensive
damage to the towers and the fortifications of the city.[59]
However, the
main objective of the Spaniards was to occupy and hold on to
the strategic port city of Algeciras (al-Jazira), situated next to
the straight of Gibraltar. They had engaged the aid of their allies
in Europe in a crusade against the Arabs, to which France and
England were among respondents by sending army contingents. The
siege of the city lasted twenty months, from 1342 to 1344, during
which time the Arabs defended the city courageously, using cannon
profusely and engaging the enemy in daring encounters.
The Spanish
historian Juan de Mariana (1536-1623) described the use of gunpowder
and cannons during the capture of Algeciras.
[60] He states:
“The
besieged did great harm among the Christians with iron bullets they
shot. This is the first time we find any mention of gunpowder and
ball in our histories.”
De Mariana
also relates that the English Earl of Derby and Earl of Salisbury
had both participated in this siege. Richard Watson[61]
thinks that the two earls had conceivably transferred the knowledge
about cannon and gunpowder and their use as effective firearms to
England, and that the English adopted this new weapon and used it in
the battle of Crecy in 1346. Furthermore, Prescott in his book
Ferdinand and Isabella
[62] emphasizes that the Spaniards had adopted their
knowledge of gunpowder from the Arabs of Granada who were familiar
with its utilization for a considerable time before their encounter
with the Spanish in this siege. Ada Bruhn Hoffmeyer finds it “fully
trustworthy” that King Alfonso XI of Castile and the Muslims used
“gunpowder as propulsor for projectiles” at Algeciras in 1342.[63]
The use of
gunpowder and cannon spread quickly in Spain. The Spanish kings at
the initial stages enlisted the help of Moorish experts. Hoffmeyer
says:
“The first
artillery-masters on the Peninsula probably were Moors in
Christian service. The king of Navarra had a Moor in his service in
1367 as «maestro de las guarniciones de artilleria. The Morisques of
Tudela at that time had fame for their capacity in reparaciones
de artilleria.”
[64]
Fireworks, a brief note
The use of
gunpowder in fireworks in festivities by the public in the Arab
cities took place at the same time as it was used for military
purposes. This is evident from the titles of treatises giving the
composition of gunpowder. The majority of recipes given in the
thirteenth century by al-Rammah and in the Karshuni manuscript are
for fireworks. Similarly the gunpowder treatises of the fourteenth
century deal mostly with fireworks. There are a very large number of
recipes for fireworks. The names of the different kinds fireworks
are varied to a large extent and this will be the subject of a
separate study.
Reports
about the use of fireworks in Arab cities can be found in
non-military treatises. Al-Dimashqi (d. 1327) who was contemporary
with al-Rammah describes in his cosmography (written second half of
13th century) the joint use of fireworks by the Muslims and
Christians of Hama in central Syria on the eve of the birthday of
Jesus.[65]
In a book on
various trades and crafts, that was not noticed until recently,
dating from the same period of al-Rammah and al-Dimashqi, we find a
description of a gunpowder cracker and a gunpowder fireworks device.
This book was compiled by King al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn `Umar ibn Rasul
(d. 694/1294) of Yemen. The title of the book is al-Mukhtara` fi
funun min al-suna` (Inventions from the Various Industrial
Arts). The description of the gunpowder cracker runs thus:
“Description
of a furqa`a (cracker): fold a sheet of paper four or five
folds on a mould. The mould is a rod that is turned to the thickness
of a finger. Fold it very tightly, five or six plies. Take it off
the mould. Seal its head very tightly, and fill it with barud
and the charcoal of willow tree mixed together, and close its end
very securely. If you want to give it fire pierce the head with a
small piercing iron and insert a fuse that has been twisted very
well. Glue the fuse to the hole, give it fire and move away. It will
crack and move with explosive noise.”
[66]
The use of
fireworks by the Mamluk sultans in public celebrations in the
fourteenth century and later is reported in the history books of
that period.[67]
Fireworks were called in these reports harraqat al- naft or
harraqat al-barud.
When the
French traveller Bertrandon de la Brocquiere arrived in Beirut in
1432 the inhabitants were celebrating the `Id. He was
surprised to see the fireworks for the first time. He says:
“The Moors
held a celebration, which is, I understand, an old custom. It
started at nightfall. There was a great crowd of people singing and
shouting. The men of the castle shot off the cannon and those of the
city shot some kind of fire very high and very far. It was bigger
than the biggest lantern I have ever seen. They say that they use it
sometimes on the sea, against enemies to burn the sails of a ship.
It would easily burn a house or a town with straw roofs, it seems to
me. In a cavalry engagement it would terrify the horses. It is easy
and cheap for someone who knows what they are doing. “
[68]
We infer
from his story that fireworks were un-known in France at that time
(in 1432). Brocquiere says then that he was able, against a bribe,
to learn the secret of these fires and he took the information with
him to France.[69]
The first recorded fireworks in England were at the wedding of Henry
VII in 1486. They became very popular during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I.
The people
of Granada and other cities in al-Andalus used fireworks in their
celebrations,[70]
as was the custom in the cities of Syria and Egypt.
Arabic
Manuscripts and References:
- Beshir
Agha MS No. 441, Istanbul, Risala fi jarr al-athqal wa ghayriha
min al-`aja’ib, unknown author.
-
al-Dimashqi, Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Ansari, Nukhbat
al-dahr, edited by Mehren, Leipzig, 1923.
- Enan,
Muhammad Abdulla, al-athar al-andalusiyya al-baqiya, Cairo,
1961.
-
Al-Hiyal fi-al-hurub wa fath al mada’in wa hifz al
durub, ms. Ahmet III, Serai No. 3469, Istanbul, author
uncertain. Several other manuscripts of this treatise exist in
Istanbul, Leiden, and Ribat. Sulayman al- Rahili, Saudi
Arabia, published this MS in 1418/1997. He attributed it by error to
Ibn Mankali..
- Ibn Abi
Usaybi`a, `Uyun al-Anba’ fi tabaqat al atibba’, ed. Nizar
Rida, Beirut, 1965
- Ibn
Aranbugha al-Zaradkash, al-aniq fi al-manajiq, ed. Ihsan
Hindi, Aleppo, 1985.
- Ibn Iyas,
Muhammad ibn Ahmad, al-mukhtar min bada’i` al-zuhur,vol. I,
Cairo,1960.
- Ibn
Khaldun, Kitab al-`ibar ..., vol. VII, Beirut, 1971.
- Ibn
al-Khatib, Lisan al-Din, al-ihata fi akhbar ghirnata, vol, I,
Cairo, 1319/1901.
- Ibn
Mankali, Muhammad, al-adilla al-rasmiyya li al-ta`abi al-harbiyya,
Istabul, Aya Sophia MS 2875. It was edited by Mahmud Shith Kattab,
and published by the Iraqi Academy, Baghdad, 1988.
- Ibn Yahya,
Salih, Tarikh Bayrut, ed. Kamal Salibi, Beirut, 1969.
- Istanbul
MS. Revan Koshku 1933.
- `iyarat
al-naft part of a collection of manuscripts (majmu`a)
under the title of al-aniq, Ahmet III 3469, Istanbul, pages
94-132.
-
Al-Maqqari, Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Nafh al-tib min ghusn al-andalus
al-ratib, Bulaq, 1279/1862
-
Al-Maqrizi, Al-Mawa`iz wa al-‘i`tibar, vol. I,
Cairo, n.d.
- Paris
Arabe 2826, Kitab al-makhzun li arbab al-funun
- Paris
Arabe 2824, Kitsab al-makhzun jami` al-funun
-
al-Qalqashandi, Ahmad ibn `Ali, Subh al-a`sha, vol. II,
Cairo, 1963.
- Al-Rammah,
Najm al-Din Hasan, Al-Furusiyya wa al-manasib al-harbiyya,
edited with analytical introductory chapters by Ahmad Y. al-Hassan,
Aleppo, 1998
- Rasul,
al-Malik al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn `Umar ibn `Ali ibn , al-mukhtara`
fi funun min al-suna`, ed. Muhammad Isa Salhiyyeh, Kuwait,
1989.
- St.
Petersburgh MS. Al-Makhzun jami` al-funun, uncertain author.
- al-`Umari
ibn Fadl Allah, al-Ta`rif bi al-mustalah al-sharif, Cairo,
1312/1894.
Non-Arabic References
Atiya, Aziz
S., Crusade, Commerce and Culture, Indiana University Press,
1962.
Berthelot, M. and R. Duval, La Chimie au Moyen Age, vol.
II, Paris, 1893.
Conde J A,
History of
the Dominion of the Arabs in Spain,
translated by Mrs Jonathon Foster.3
volumes, London:, 1855
Brocquiere, Bertrandon de la, [Le] voyage d'Outremer,
publ. et annote par Ch. Schefer, Paris : E. Leroux, 1892.Reproduced
at Gallica web pages of Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2001.
This book was translated
into English by Galen R. Kline, New York, 1988.
Dozy, R., Supplement aux dictionnares Arabes, vol.
II, reprinted by Libraire du
Liban, 1968.
Hall, Bert
S., Weapons, Warfare in Renaissance Europe, John Hopkins
University Press, 1997.
Al-Hassan,
Ahmad Y., Potassium Nitrate in Arabic and Latin Sources, paper
presented to the XXI International Congress for the History of
Science, Mexico City, 2001. (Proceedings are under publication).
See this paper on the present Web site.
Joinville,
The Life of Saint Louis, in Joinville and Villehardouin,
Chronicle of the Crusades, Penguin, 1963.
Lalanne, L., Recherches sur Ie feu gregeois et sur
l’introduction de la poudre a canon en Europe, Paris, 1845.
Lomax, Derek
W., The Reconquest of Spain, London, 1978.
Mariana,.Juan de, Historia general de Espana, 2 vols.,
Madrid, 1608, ii, 27; English tr. by Capt. John Stephens, The
General History of Spain, 2 pts., London, 1699.
Mercier, Maurice, Le Feu Greg/ois. Les Feu a Guerre depuis
l'Antiquiti. La Poudre a Canon, Paris, 1952
Partington,
J. R., A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, reprint by John
Hopkins University Press,
Prescott,
William H., History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella,
ed. John Foster Kirk, 3 volumes, Philadelphia, 1880.
Prescott,
William H., The Art of War in Spain- The Conquest of Granada,
edited by Albert D. McJoynt, London, 1995.
Reinaud , Joseph Toussaint and Ildephonse Fave, "Du feu gregeois,
des feux de guerre, et des origines de la poudre a canon chez les
Arabes, les Persans et les Chinois," in J. Asiatique, 1849,
xiv, 257-327.
Runciman, Steven,
A History of the Crusades, Vol. III, Penguin, 1978.
Watson, R.,
Chemical Essays, vol. I, London,1787, 1999.
Endnotes
[1]
Renau and Fave 1848
[2] See the
paper on Potassium Nitrates in this Web site.
[3] Al-Rammah
[5]
Partington, p. 201.
[6]
Mercier, p.9
[7]
Shawar
became minister in 559/1164. His treachery was serious, for he
asked for the intervention of Amalric I to drive the
forces of Shirkuh (his opponent) out of Egypt. The Franks
besieged Fustat (Cairo), and Shawar became alarmed and was
trying to negotiate the withdrawal of the Frankish troops. Being
unable to defend Fustat, had set the city on fire.
[8]
al-Maqrizi, p. 339
[9] Mercier,
pp. 98-99, annex No. 1 p.131.131,
[10]
Al-Hiyal fi al-hurub ... See references.
[11]
Al-Hiyal fi al-hurub, p. 175 (published text of al-Rahili).
[12] Lallane,
pp.52-54
[13]
Joinville p. 216, see also Mercier, pp 77-78
[16] Al-Rammah,
pp.70-77, and 131-137.
[17] Hall,
Bert, p. 67
[18] St
Petersbugh MS., al-makhzun,pp 148, 149, 150.
[19]
Berthelot, and Duval,.p XII,. The Karshuni MS was
published in Syriac script, with a translation into French by
Duval. The Karshuni Arabic text was converted into Arabic script
in Aleppo by the Rev. Father Barsum on the request of the author
of this paper. The Arabic text in Arabic script is still in MS
form.
[20]
Berthelot, and Duval, p. 198.
[21] Beshir
Agha MS., folio 23a
[22] `Iyarat
al-naft
[24] These
are: St Petersburgh MS, al-makhzun jami` al-funun; Paris
Arabe 2826, Kitab al-makhzun li arbab al-funun; Paris
Arabe 2824, Kitab al-makhzun jami` al-funun; and Istanbul
Revan Koshku 1933..
[25] See
under fireworks.
[26]
St. Petersburgh MS., p.160.
[27]
The word midfa` means the pusher or the device that
pushes or propels. Here the whole gun is called midfa`
and the plug that is placed inside at the top of the gunpowder
is called also midfa since it pushes the ball or arrow
when the explosion takes place.
[28] MS
Istanbul Revan Koshku 1933. folio 71a.
[29]
Al-Aniq, p. 196-197
[30] Barud
here means gunpowder.
[31] St.
Petersburgh MS., pp. 160-161
[32] Ibn
Mankali, p.19
[33]
Bertrandon de la Broquière, p. 56.
[34]
The
mahmal is a richly decorated palanquin, perched on a camel,
which was sent by sovereigns with their caravans of pilgrims to
Mecca.
[35]
Bertrandon de la Broquière, p.56
[36]
`Umari. P. 208
[37]
Ibn Yahya, p.105
[38] Ibn
Iyas, p. 167.
[39] Ruled
764-78/1362-77
[40] al-Qalqashandi,
p. 144-145
[41] Ibn
Aranbugha, p. 196
[42]
This paper
was delivered at Granada in June 2002 at the ICOTECH Symposium
on the history of technology.
[45] Watson,
p. 322.
[46]
Fought, Stephen Oliver and
John F.Guilmartin, Jr. Encyclopedia Britannica, article on “rocket
and missile system”
[47]
Partington, p.228,
footnote 6 citing C.F. Temler.
[48] E.I
(Encyclopaedia of Islam) under Ishbiliya.
[49] Enan, p.
390-392 (see also the official history of Niebla on the
internet:
http://www.castillodeniebla.com/ingles/niebla_f.htm)
[50] Ibn
Khaldun. P.188
[51]
Hoffmeyer, pp.216-217
[52]
Hoffmeyer, p.218
[53] Lisan
al-Din ibn al-Khatib, vol.I, p.231.
[54] Maqqari,
vol. III, p.260
[55]
The attribution of gunpowder to Hermes means that this invention
is a chemical product.
[56]
Prescott, The Art of War, p.92, footnote 188.
[57] Lomax,
p. 166.
[58]
Partington, p. 191 (Partington gave the Latin text of
Zurita)
[59]
Conde, vol. III, p. 254
[60] Mariana,
part one, p.2 64
[61] Watson,
p.331
[62]
Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. I, p.148 note 34;
pp.401-402, text and note 46.
[63]
Hoffmeyer, p. 217
[64]
Hoffmeyer, p.220
[65] Dimashqi,
p. 281
[66] Rasul,
pp. 206-207
[67] Ibn Iyas.
Vol. I, p.179
[68] op. cit.
p. 23
[69] Galen R.
Kline the translator of the voyage says that Bertrandon
de la Brocquière went to the Holy Land as a spy for the purpose
of spying out the possibilities of a new crusade to be led by
the Duke of Burgundy. He describes de la Brocquière as a highly
competent spy and a very observant tourist. He was keen to
understand everything that came in his way. Atiya gave similar
information about the mission of de la Brocquière, pp. 112-113.
[70] Conde,
vol. 3, p. 253
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