The Jaivana Cannon (

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

: जयवाण) is a large 18th-century

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

preserved at

Jaigarh Fort Jaigarh Fort is situated on the promontory called the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of the Aravalli range; it overlooks the Amer Fort and the Maota Lake, near Amer in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The fort was built by Sawai Jai Singh in 1726 to ...

, in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. At the time of its manufacture in 1720, it was the world's largest cannon on wheels of the Early Modern Era. Rajasthan-Jaipur-Jaigarh-Fort-Jaivana-cannon-Apr-2004-00

Rajasthan-Jaipur-Jaigarh-Fort-Jaivana-cannon-Apr-2004-00

History

The Jaivana was manufactured during the reign of Maharaja Sawai

Jai Singh II Jai Singh II (3 November 1681 – 21 September 1743) popularly known as Sawai Jai Singh was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city of Jaipur and made it his capital. He was born at Amber, th ...

(1699–1743) at a foundry in Jaigarh. The cannon was never used in any battle, as the Rajput rulers of Amer had friendly relations with the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. The cannon was fired only once, with a charge of of gunpowder, and when fired was claimed to have covered a distance of about . It is said that the projectile fired from it made a small lake in Chaksu. Jaivan Canon on wheels

The cannon is now located at the

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

, at .

Technical data

The length of the barrel of the cannon is and it weighs 50 tons. The circumference near the tip of the barrel is and that of the rear is . The diameter of the bore of the barrel is and the thickness of the barrel at the tip is . The thickness gradually increases as one moves towards the rear of the barrel. The two thick rings on the barrel were used for lifting it with the help of a crane which, though incomplete, is still lying in Jaigarh. A elevating screw was used for raising and lowering the barrel. The barrel has floral design. An elephant rests on the tip of the barrel and a pair of peacocks are carved in the centre. A pair of ducks also decorates the rear of the barrel. Jaivana rests on a high two-wheeled carriage. The wheels are in diameter. The carriage is equipped with two removable additional wheels for transport. The removable wheels are in diameter. It is mounted on wheels and has the mechanism of two back wheels mounted on roller pin bearings, to turn it 360° and fire in any direction. A tin shed was built to protect the cannon against weather. About of gunpowder fired a shot ball weighing . The uses and range of the cannon and cannonballs vary over different sources. The Jaivana Cannon was only fired once by the

, as a test-fire in 1720 and the then

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Muhammad Shah Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...

is known to have attended the event before ousting the

Sayyid Brothers The term Sayyid brothers refers to Abdullah Khan and Syed Husain Ali Khan, who were powerful in the Mughal Empire during the early 18th century. They were Indian Muslims who claimed to belong to the family of Sayyids or the descendants of t ...

from power. The most exaggerated myth claims that the weapon had a range of , other sources say it is 35, 22 and , although the exact range could perhaps never be determined without adequate scientific computation. Most sources, including local tourist guides agree that it was fired in the direction of

Chaksu Chaksu is a municipality in Jaipur district in the state of Rajasthan, India. The town is situated at a distance of 40 km from Jaipur on National Highway 52. The town is also one of the 13 tehsil headquarters of Jaipur District. Chaksu i ...

. The impact is said by many locals and tourist guides to be powerful enough to have caused a depression where a pond can be seen today. Legend has it that after it fired, pregnant women living nearby suffered miscarriages.

References

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History

Technical data

See also

References

Further reading