Gunpowder empires of the Muslim world Ottoman Empire on display at
Fort Nelson in Hampshire. Similar cannons were used by the
Ottoman Turks in the
siege of Constantinople in 1453. The first of the three empires to acquire gunpowder weapons was the
Ottoman Empire. By the 14th century, the Ottomans
had adopted gunpowder artillery. The adoption of the gunpowder weapons by the Ottomans was so rapid that they "preceded both their European and Middle Eastern adversaries in establishing centralized and permanent troops specialized in the manufacturing and handling of
firearms." But it was their use of artillery that shocked their adversaries and impelled the other two Islamic empires to accelerate their weapons programs. The Ottomans had artillery at least by the reign of
Bayezid I and used them in the sieges of Constantinople in 1399 and 1402. They finally proved their worth as siege engines in the successful
siege of Salonica in 1430. The Ottomans employed Middle Eastern as well as European
foundries to cast their cannons, and by the
siege of Constantinople in 1453, they had large enough cannons to batter the walls of the city, to the surprise of the defenders. The
Ottoman military's regularized use of firearms proceeded ahead of the pace of their European counterparts. The
janissaries had been an infantry bodyguard using bows and arrows. During the rule of Sultan
Mehmed II they were drilled with firearms and became "perhaps the first standing infantry force equipped with firearms in the world." The Janissaries are thus considered the first modern standing armies. The combination of artillery and janissary firepower proved decisive at
Varna in 1444 against a force of Crusaders,
Başkent in 1473 against the
Aq Qoyunlu, and
Mohács in 1526 against Hungary. But the battle which convinced the Safavids and the Mughals of the efficacy of gunpowder was
Chaldiran. The
matchlock arquebus began to be used by the janissary corps by the 1440s. The
musket later appeared in the Ottoman Empire by 1465.
Damascus steel was later used in the production of firearms such as the musket from the 16th century. At the
Battle of Mohács in 1526, the janissaries equipped with 2000
tüfenks (usually translated as musket) "formed nine consecutive rows and they fired their weapons row by row," in a "kneeling or standing position without the need for additional support or rest." The Chinese later adopted the Ottoman kneeling position for firing. In 1598, Chinese writer Zhao Shizhen described Turkish muskets as being superior to European muskets. The
Ming-era Chinese work the
Wubei Zhi or "Treatise on Armament Technology or Records of Armaments and Military Provisions" of 1621 later described Turkish muskets that used a
rack and pinion mechanism, which was not known to have been used in any European or Chinese firearms at the time. The
Dardanelles Gun () was designed and cast in bronze in 1464 by Munir Ali. The Dardanelles Gun was still present for duty more than 340 years later in 1807, when a
Royal Navy force appeared and commenced the
Dardanelles operation. Turkish forces loaded the ancient relics with
propellant and
projectiles and fired them at the British ships. The British squadron suffered 28 casualties from this bombardment. At Chaldiran, the Ottomans met the Safavids in battle for the first time. Sultan
Selim I moved east with his field artillery in 1514 to confront what he perceived as a
Twelver Shi'a threat instigated by Shah
Ismail I in favor of Selim's rivals. Ismail staked his reputation as a divinely-favored ruler on an open cavalry charge against a fixed Ottoman position. The Ottomans deployed their cannons between the carts that carried them, which also provided cover for the armed janissaries. The result of the charge was devastating losses to the Safavid cavalry. The defeat was so thorough that the Ottoman forces were able to move on and briefly occupy the Safavid capital,
Tabriz. Only the limited campaign radius of the Ottoman army prevented it from holding the city and ending the Safavid rule.
Safavid Empire Although the Chaldiran defeat brought an end to Ismail's territorial expansion program, the shah nonetheless took immediate steps to protect against the real threat from the Ottoman sultanate by arming his troops with gunpowder weapons. Within two years of Chaldiran, Ismail had a corps of
tofangchi (musketeers) numbering 8,000, and by 1521, possibly 20,000. After
Abbas the Great reformed the army (around 1598), the Safavid forces had an artillery corps of 500 cannons as well as 12,000 musketeers. The Safavids first put their gunpowder arms to good use against the Uzbeks, who had invaded eastern Persia during the civil war that followed Ismail's death. The young Shah
Tahmasp I headed an army to relieve
Herat and encountered the Uzbeks on 24 September 1528 at Jam, where the Safavids decisively beat the Uzbeks. The shah's army deployed cannons (swivel guns on wagons) in the center protected by wagons with cavalry on both flanks. Mughal emperor
Babur described the formation at Jam as "in the Anatolian fashion." The several thousand gun-bearing infantry also massed in the center as did the Janissaries of the Ottoman army. Although the Uzbek cavalry engaged and turned the Safavid army on both flanks, the Safavid center held (because it was not directly engaged by the Uzbeks). Rallying under Tahmasp's personal leadership, the infantry of the center engaged and scattered the Uzbek center and secured the field.
Mughal Empire By the time he was invited by the Lodi governor of Lahore
Daulat Khan to support his rebellion against Lodi
Sultan Ibrahim Khan, Babur was familiar with gunpowder firearms and field artillery and a method for deploying them. Babur had employed Ottoman expert
Ustad Ali Quli, who showed Babur the standard Ottoman formation—artillery and firearm-equipped infantry protected by wagons in the center, and mounted archers on both wings. Babur used this formation at the
First Battle of Panipat in 1526, where the Afghan and Rajput forces loyal to the Delhi sultanate, though superior in numbers but without the gunpowder weapons, were defeated. Similarly Babur also used these gunpowder weapons to win the decisive
Battle of Khanwa against the numerically superior
Rajput confederacy. The decisive victory of the Timurid forces is one reason opponents rarely met Mughal princes in pitched battle over the course of the empire's history. The reigns of
Akbar The Great,
Shah Jahan and
Aurangzeb have been described as a major height of
Indian history. By the time of Aurangzeb, the Mughal army was predominantly composed of Indian Muslims, with tribal elements like the
Sadaat-e-Bara forming the vanguard of the Mughal cavalry. The Mughal Empire became a powerful geopolitical entity with at times, 24.2% of the world population. The Mughals inherited elements of Persian culture and art, as did the Ottomans and Safavids.
Gunpowder empires of East Asia The three Islamic gunpowder empires are known for their quickly gained success in dominating the battle fields using their newly acquired firearms and techniques. East Asian powers and their military success are commonly overlooked in this subject due to the success of not only the Islamic empires, but also European empires. The success and innovation of gunpowder combat in East Asia, however, are worth mentioning in the same context as that of the Islamic gunpowder empires for their military advancements.
China The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, and there were various ways that more modern forms of small firearms came to China. During the golden age of East Asian piracy between the 1540s and 1560s, it was most likely that through their battles and other encounters with these pirates, the
Ming dynasty forces inevitably got hold of the weapons and copied them. It was also likely that the powerful mariner Wang Zhi, who controlled thousands of armed men, eventually surrendered to the Ming in 1558 and they replicated his weapons. This particular account on arquebus technology was the first to spark the interest of Ming officials for the Chinese to broaden their use of these weapons. The Manchu elite did not concern themselves directly with guns and their production, preferring instead to delegate the task to Han-Chinese craftsmen, who produced for the Qing a similar composite metal cannon known as the "Shenwei grand general." Cannons and muskets are also widely used in wars known as '
Ten Great Campaigns'. However, after the Qing gained hegemony over East Asia in the mid-18th century, the practice of casting composite metal cannons fell into disuse until the dynasty faced external threats once again in the Opium War of 1840, at which point smoothbore cannons were already starting to become obsolete as a result of rifled barrels.
Tonio Andrade cited that the Military Revolution Model that gave the Europeans so much military success included the use of superior drilling techniques. The drilling technique he was speaking of was the musketeer volley technique.
Korea Koreans used Chinese and Korean firearms as early as the late 14th century. They were also quite adept and innovative with their strategies on the battlefield. There were accounts of Koreans using a type of volley technique in 1447. There were many instances where the Korean military used their new techniques effectively. In 1619, the Koreans aided the Ming against the Manchus, a great military force. While the Koreans and Ming lost, a Korean unit did exhibit their techniques successfully in battle. Then, in 1627 and 1636, the Koreans faced the Manchus alone, again showing their competency in battle by using their musket tactics. Again, they lost in battle to the Manchus in both battles. Regardless, the use of gunpowder technology has left an undeniable mark in Vietnamese history, allowing the "
southward march" and significant expansion of Vietnamese territory.
Majapahit Empire During the Majapahit era, firearms were developed by Javanese blacksmiths. It is believed that firearm technology was first introduced during the Mongol invasion of Java.Consequently, the Majapahit naval fleet was equipped with
cetbang (bronze breech-loading cannons). ==Gunpowder in Europe==