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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name = Mysorean rocket
| image = Indian soldier of Tipu Sultan's army.jpg
| image_size = 200
| alt =
| caption = A Mysorean soldier, using his rocket as a flagstaff ([[Robert Home]], 1793/4).
| type = [[Rocket (weapon)|Rocket]]
| origin = [[India]]

| is_ranged =
| is_bladed =
| is_explosive =
| is_artillery =
| is_vehicle =
| is_missile = yes
| is_UK =

| service =
| used_by = [[Hyder Ali]] and [[Tipu Sultan]]
| wars = [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]]

| designer =
| design_date =
| manufacturer =
| unit_cost =
| production_date =
| number =
| variants =

| spec_label =
| mass =
| length = {{cvt|200|mm|in}}
| part_length = {{cvt|1000|mm|in}}
| width =
| height =
| diameter = {{cvt|38-76|mm|in}}
| crew = 1
| passengers =

| wingspan =
| propellant = [[Black powder]]
| ceiling =
| altitude =
| boost =
| depth =
| accuracy =
| launch_platform =
| transport =

| ref = <small></small>
}}
'''Mysorean rockets''' were an [[Hindustan|Indian]] [[military]] [[weapon]], the [[iron]]-cased [[rocket artillery|rockets]] were successfully deployed for military use. The [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysorean]] army, under [[Hyder Ali]] and his son [[Tipu Sultan]], used the rockets effectively against the [[British East India Company]] during the 1780s and 1790s. Their conflicts with the company exposed the British to this technology further, which was then used to advance European rocketry with the development of the [[Congreve rocket]] in 1805.<ref name="Riper2007">{{cite book|author=A. Bowdoin Van Riper|title=Rockets and Missiles: The Life Story of a Technology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k8CxJeFzCdQC&pg=PA14|date=29 October 2007|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8792-5|pages=14–}}</ref><ref name="Roddam"/>

== Technology and deployment ==
{{further|History of rockets|Fire arrow}}
There was a regular rocket corps in the Mysore Army, beginning with about 1,200 men in Hyder Ali's time. During the [[Second Anglo-Mysore War]], Colonel William Baillie's ammunition stores are thought to have been detonated by a stray rocket at the [[Battle of Pollilur]] in 1780, which contributed to British defeat in the battle.<ref name="Roddam">{{cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/37179995 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727034357/https://www.nal.res.in/pdf/pdfrocket.pdf |title=Rockets in Mysore and Britain, 1750–1850 A.D. |last=Narasimha |first=Roddam |date=27 July 2011 |archive-date=27 July 2011 |publisher=National Aeronautical Laboratory and Indian Institute of Science.}}</ref> At Pollilur rockets restricted East India Company vanguard movement, skimming along the surface, lacerating troops, and in one specific instance, shattered an Ensign’s leg. With rocket bombardment and harassment, East India Company forces were caught in a double envelopment movement by Mysore cavalry, encircled and routed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Battle of Pollilur: Revisiting the Footnotes of History |url=https://thewire.in/history/the-battle-of-pollilur-revisiting-the-footnotes-of-history |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=The Wire}}</ref>

[[Hyder Ali]] and his son [[Tipu Sultan]] deployed them against the larger [[British East India Company]] [[Presidency armies|forces]] during the [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]]. The British took an interest in the technology and developed it further during the 19th century. Due to the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant, higher thrust and longer range for the missile (up to 2 km range) could be achieved. Rockets also existed in Europe, but they were not iron-cased and their range was far less than their [[India]]n counterparts.<ref>Biography, Mysore History [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929195356/http://www.tigerandthistle.net/tipu312.htm Tipu]</ref> These hammered soft iron rockets were crude, but the bursting strength of the container of black powder was much higher than the earlier paper construction, and a greater internal pressure was possible. These rockets were used with considerable effect against the British East India Company in battles at [[Srirangapatam]] in [[Siege of Seringapatam (1792)|1792]] and [[Battle of Seringapatam|1799]].<ref name=r&ms>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1357360/rocket-and-missile-system/|title=Rocket and missile system|author1=Frederick C. Durant III |author2=Stephen Oliver Fought |author3=John F. Guilmartin, Jr. |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref>

By the order of Tipu Sultan, his general [[Mir (title)|Mir]] Zain-ul-'Abidin Shushtari compiled a military manual called ''[[Fathul Mujahidin]]''<ref>
{{cite journal |last=Husain |first=Mahmud |title=Fath-Ul-Mujahidin: A treatise on Sultan Tipu's Army Regulations |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/41e50b29ace5eabb944d990db6afeeba/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819375 |access-date=5 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005233933/https://www.proquest.com/openview/41e50b29ace5eabb944d990db6afeeba/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819375 |archive-date=5 October 2021 |url-status=live |journal=Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society |volume=1 |issue=1 |publication-place=Karachi |publication-date=1 January 1953 |via=ProQuest}}</ref> in which 200 rocket men were assigned to each Mysorean ''cushoon'' (brigade). Mysore had 16 to 24 cushoons of infantry. The rocket men were trained to launch their rockets at an angle calculated from the diameter of the cylinder and the distance to the target. In addition, wheeled rocket launchers were used in war that were capable of launching five to ten rockets almost simultaneously.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Rockets could be of various sizes but usually consisted of a tube of soft hammered iron about {{convert|8|in|cm}} long and 1.5 to 3 inches (3.8 to 7.6 cm) in diameter, closed at one end and strapped to a shaft of bamboo about {{convert|4|ft|0|abbr=on}} long. The iron tube acted as a combustion chamber and contained well-packed black powder propellant. A rocket carrying about one pound (~500 g) of powder could travel almost 1,000 yards (~900 m). In contrast, rockets in Europe could not take large chamber pressures, not being iron cased, and were consequently not capable of reaching such distances.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929195356/http://www.tigerandthistle.net/tipu312.htm Tipu, Biography, Mysore History]</ref>

The entire road alongside Jumma Masjid near City Market and Taramandalpet, [[Bangalore]] was the hub of Tipu's rocket project where he had set up a laboratory.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tiger of Mysore's strong ties with city|url=http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/03/stories/2011050363230300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509014032/http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/03/stories/2011050363230300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 May 2011|access-date=16 December 2011|date=3 May 2011|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|location=Bangalore, India}}</ref>

== Use in Mysorean conflicts ==
[[File:Rocket warfare.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A painting showing the British forces confronted with Mysorean rockets<ref>{{cite news|title=Missiles mainstay of Pak's N-arsenal|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-04-21/india/27784965_1_cruise-missile-missile-program-hatf-viii|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924125020/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-04-21/india/27784965_1_cruise-missile-missile-program-hatf-viii|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2012|access-date=2011-08-30|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=21 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mulki |first=Muhammad Adil |date=2014-05-04 |title=Personality: The fire-breathing tiger of Mysore |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1103498 |access-date=2020-12-14 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:NL-HaNA 1.11.01.01 1276 1R Brief van J.G. van Angelbeek, gouverneur van Ceylon, uit Cochin, aan de heer Decker, berichtend over de strijd tussen Tipoe en de vorst van Travancone. 1790 januari 14 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Use of rockets in an assault by Mysorean troops on Travancore Line fortification (29 December 1789)]]
[[File:Mysore rocket man, by Robert Home (watercolour).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Rocket being lit by a Mysorean soldier (Illustration by [[Robert Home]])]]
Two rocket units were fielded by [[Tipu Sultan]] in 1792 during the [[Third Anglo-Mysore War]], one of 120 men and the other of 131 men. Lt. Col. Knox was attacked by rockets near Srirangapatna on the night of 6 February 1792 while advancing towards the [[Kaveri River]] from the north. The Rocket Corps ultimately reached a strength of about 5,000 in [[Tipu Sultan]]'s army.<ref name="Roddam"/> Mysore rockets were also used for ceremonial purposes. The [[Jacobin Club of Mysore]] sent a delegation to Tipu Sultan, and 500 rockets were launched as part of the gun salute.

Rockets were again used on several occasions during the [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]]. One of these involved [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Colonel Arthur Wellesley]], later famous as the First [[Duke of Wellington (title)|Duke of Wellington]]. Wellesley was almost defeated by Tipu's Diwan [[Purnaiah]] at the [[Battle of Sultanpet Tope]].<ref>Forrest D (1970) ''Tiger of Mysore'', Chatto & Windus, London</ref>

Wellesley launched a fresh attack with a larger force the following day, and took the whole position without losing a single man.<ref>{{cite book |last=Holmes |first=Richard |title = Wellington: The Iron Duke |year=2003 |publisher= [[HarperCollins]] |isbn=0-00-713750-8 |pages=58 }}</ref> Rocketeers worked their way around to the rear of the British encampment on 22 April 1799, 12 days before the main battle, and fired a large number of rockets at the same moment to signal the beginning of an assault by 6,000 Indian infantry and a corps of Frenchmen, all directed by Mir Golam Hussain and Mohomed Hulleen Mir Mirans. The rockets had a range of about 1,000 yards. Some burst in the air like shells, while others (called ground rockets) would rise again on striking the ground and bound along in a serpentine motion until their force was spent. A young English officer named Bayly observed: "So pestered were we with the rocket boys that there was no moving without danger from the destructive missiles". He continued:
<blockquote>The rockets and musketry from 20,000 of the enemy were incessant. No hail could be thicker. Every illumination of blue lights was accompanied by a shower of rockets, some of which entered the head of the column, passing through to the rear, causing death, wounds, and dreadful lacerations from the long bamboos of twenty or thirty feet, which are invariably attached to them.</blockquote>

A British shot struck a magazine of rockets within Tipu Sultan's fort during the decisive British [[Battle of Seringapatam|attack on Srirangapattana]] on 2 May 1799, causing it to explode and send a towering cloud of black smoke with cascades of exploding white light rising up from the battlements. Baird led the final attack on the fort on the afternoon of 4 May and was again met by "furious musket and rocket fire", but this did not help much; the fort was taken in about an hour's time. Perhaps within another hour Tipu had been shot (the precise time of his death is not known), and the war was effectively over.<ref name="Roddam"/>

== British adoption of the technology ==
{{see also|Congreve rocket}}

After the fall of Srirangapattana, 600 launchers, 700 serviceable rockets, and 9,000 empty rockets were found. Some of the rockets had pierced cylinders, to allow them to act like incendiaries, while some had iron points or steel blades bound to the bamboo. By attaching these blades to rockets they became very unstable towards the end of their flight causing the blades to spin around like flying scythes, cutting down soldiers in their path.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

These experiences eventually led the [[Royal Arsenal|Royal Woolwich Arsenal]] to start a military rocket research and development program in 1801, based on the Mysorean technology. Several rocket cases were collected from Mysore and sent to Britain for analysis. Their first demonstration of [[solid-fuel rocket]]s came in 1805 and was followed by publication of ''A Concise Account of the Origin and Progress of the Rocket System'' in 1807 by [[William Congreve (inventor)|William Congreve]],<ref>{{Cite DNB |first=Henry Morse |last=Stephens |wstitle=Congreve, William (1772-1828)|display=Congreve, William (1772–1828) |volume=12 |page=9}}</ref> son of the arsenal's commandant. [[Congreve rocket]]s were systematically used by the British during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and the [[War of 1812]]. They were also used in the 1814 [[Battle of Baltimore]], and are mentioned in "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]", the national anthem of the United States: ''And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bandyheritagecenter.org/sites/www/Uploads/History%20Nook/The%20Congreve%20Rockets%20in%20the%20War%20of%201812.pdf|title=The Congreve Rockets in the War of 1812|author=Eugene Van Sickle|publisher=[[Dalton State College]]|access-date=2014-12-09}}</ref>

==Discovery==
In 2002, a cache of metallic shells was unearthed during restoration of an old well in [[Nagara, Karnataka|Nagara]], 60 kilometres from [[Shimoga|Shivamogga]]. About one hundred of these rusted cylindrical shells were stored in [[Government Museum (Shivappa Nayaka Palace), Shimoga|Shivappa Nayaka Palace Government Museum]] identified only as 'shells' and without being registered in museum catalog. In 2010, these shells were identified to have a possible link to Tipu's rockets. And only in 2013, these shells were recognized for their significance.<ref name = "TH_20191119">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/unearthing-a-historical-treasure/article30028648.ece|title=Unearthing a historical treasure|last=Datta|first=Sravasti|date=2019-11-20|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-11-20|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

In April 2017, 102 unused rockets of varying sizes were found in [[Shimoga district]].<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Rockets recovered from open well are from Tipu era: Experts |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/rockets-recovered-from-open-well-are-from-tipu-era-experts/article22475390.ece |access-date=28 July 2018 |work=The Hindu |date=19 January 2022}}</ref>

In July 2018, another 500 rockets (or 1,000, according to one source) were found in an abandoned well in the same area, confirming it as a major repository and fort under the [[Tipu Sultan]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Blast from the past: Another haul of 500 Tipu-era rockets has been found on a farm in Hosanagara, the same place as the last find a few years ago |url=https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/blast-from-the-past-another-haul-of-500-tipu-era-rockets-has-been-found-on-a-farm-in-hosanagara-the-same-place-as-the-last-find-a-few-years-ago/articleshow/65124509.cms |access-date=29 July 2018 |work=Bangalore Mirror |date=25 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Indian warrior king's rocket cache found in abandoned well |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/27/indian-warrior-king-tipu-sultan-rocket-cache-unearthed-in-abandoned-well |access-date=29 July 2018 |work=The Guardian [UK] |date=27 July 2022}}</ref>

{{As of|November 2022}}, more than 3,000 such rockets have been recovered during debris clearances undertaken in Nagara.<ref name = "TH_20191119"/><ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZBhjlPp-mg|title=Mysore Rockets: Recent progress on study of rockets of the Tipu era recovered from Nagara, Karnataka|date=6 November 2019|type=Video|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/081119/the-first-time-the-british-saw-a-rocket-was-in-mysore.html|title='The first time, the British saw a rocket was in Mysore'|date=2019-11-08|website=Deccan Chronicle|language=en|access-date=2019-11-20}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Early firearms}}
{{Commons category|Mysorean rockets}}

[[Category:Rocket artillery]]
[[Category:Early rocketry]]
[[Category:Indo-Persian weaponry]]
[[Category:Artillery of India]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Mysore]]
[[Category:Early firearms]]
[[Category:Indian inventions]]

[[te:తగ్రఖ్]]

Mysorean rockets - Revision history

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