Besides Gol Gumbaz and Ibrahim Roza, Malik-e-Maidan Tope is the next major attraction in Bijapur. According to my guide Veeranna, two such cannons, each weighing 50 tonnes, were made in present day Madhya Pradesh. During their journey from MP to Bijapur, while crossing a river, one of the cannons fell into a river and never recovered. The river could be any of the major rivers like Narmada, Godavari, or Krishna.
The body is supposed to be an alloy of five metals. The specialty of this cannon is that it never heats up even in the worst of summers which means the thermal expansion is negligible. The bore diameter and length are approximately 18 inches and 11 feet.
Art and engineering join hands to create this weapon. As you see here, an elephant is getting crushed in a lion's jaws. That's supposed to depict the cannon's destructive power.
The lion face actually looks fierce. The eyes and whiskers add fierceness to the face. Notice the nostril and the ears. Very detailed art. The cannon would flatten everything in front of it and leave an open field.
This cannon was installed on the western side of Bijapur to defend the city from Maratha onslaught.
In it's glory days the cannon was mounted on a swivel mechanism which allowed it to be turn 180 degrees. There were massive walls on the rear side which acted as locks to prevent the cannon being aimed at the city itself.
It seems the cannon generated extremely loud noise and heat. Once the aim was fixed, only one soldier would remain near the cannon to light the fuse. Once the fuse was lit, the soldier would submerge himself in water to get shield from the cannon's noise and heat. The water pit (white square next to the 3 boys) can be seen in the picture below, now it's kept covered.
Here Veeranna explains the signalling method used those days. A clap close to the square in the wall could be heard 150 meters away at Upuli Burj, a stone tower which gives a commanding view of the entire city.
I forgot the story behind this Moon, Sun and the two lions...
Cannons, even though they are created to wreck havoc, never fail to fascinate me. If you are interested to see bigger ones you have to visit Bidar fort, they are probably the largest in Karnataka. Basavakalyan fort also has a very interesting collection of cannons and in much better condition.
Check out the short article on largest cannons of Karnataka.
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The body is supposed to be an alloy of five metals. The specialty of this cannon is that it never heats up even in the worst of summers which means the thermal expansion is negligible. The bore diameter and length are approximately 18 inches and 11 feet.
Art and engineering join hands to create this weapon. As you see here, an elephant is getting crushed in a lion's jaws. That's supposed to depict the cannon's destructive power.
The lion face actually looks fierce. The eyes and whiskers add fierceness to the face. Notice the nostril and the ears. Very detailed art. The cannon would flatten everything in front of it and leave an open field.
This cannon was installed on the western side of Bijapur to defend the city from Maratha onslaught.
In it's glory days the cannon was mounted on a swivel mechanism which allowed it to be turn 180 degrees. There were massive walls on the rear side which acted as locks to prevent the cannon being aimed at the city itself.
It seems the cannon generated extremely loud noise and heat. Once the aim was fixed, only one soldier would remain near the cannon to light the fuse. Once the fuse was lit, the soldier would submerge himself in water to get shield from the cannon's noise and heat. The water pit (white square next to the 3 boys) can be seen in the picture below, now it's kept covered.
Here Veeranna explains the signalling method used those days. A clap close to the square in the wall could be heard 150 meters away at Upuli Burj, a stone tower which gives a commanding view of the entire city.
I forgot the story behind this Moon, Sun and the two lions...
Check out the short article on largest cannons of Karnataka.
.........
