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The Bibi Mariam Cannon ( bn, বিবি মরিয়ম কামান) is a large early modern
artillery piece
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, ...
on display on the grounds of the Osmani Udyan in Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
. The cannon dates from the 17th century.
History
The cannon was manufactured by local technicians on the orders ofMir Jumla II
Mir Jumla II (1591 – 30 March 1663) was a prominent subahdar of Bengal under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
Early life
Mir Jumla was born as Mir Mohammad Sayyid Ardistani in Iran in 1591 to a poor oil merchant of Isfahan named Mirza Hazaru ...
, the governor of Bengal under Emperor Aurangzeb
Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...
. It was one of two large cannons; the other was the "Kaley Khan Jam Jam". The two cannons were given male and female names. They were used during Mir Jumla's invasion of Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
and later placed in front of the Bara Katra to ward off Arakanese pirates. The Bibi Mariam survived, but its male named counterpart was lost. In 1832, the British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
administration moved the Bibi Mariam from Bara Katra to the Chowk Bazaar area of Old Dhaka
Old Dhaka ( bn, পুরান ঢাকা, Puran Dhaka) is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar ( bn, জাহাঙ্গীরনগ ...
. It was later moved to Gulistan during the East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wit ...
period and finally to the Osmani Udyan after Bangladesh was created.
See also
*List of the largest cannon by caliber
The list of cannon by caliber contains all types of cannon through the ages listed in decreasing caliber size. For the purpose of this list, the development of large-calibre artillery can be divided into three periods, based on the kind of projec ...
References
External links
{{Commons category-inline Large-calibre artillery Individual cannons Military history of Bangladesh History of Dhaka