HISTORY OF THE INDIAN SPACE PROGRAM
suneel
Rockets were invented in medieval China (~1044 AD) but it's
firstpractical use for serious purpose other then entertainment took
place in 1232 by the Chinese against the Mongols at the siege of
Kai-Feng-fue.
Thereafter from 1750 AD -1799 Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan (Sultan of
Mysore, in South India) perfected rocket's use for military purposes,
very effectively using it in war against British colonial armies. Tipu
Sultan had 27 brigades (called Kushoons) and each brigade had a company
of rocket men called Jourks. In the Second Anglo-Mysore war, at the
Battle of Pollilur (10 September 1780),Hyder and Tipu achieved a grand
victory, the contributory cause being that one of the British
ammunition tambrils was set on fire by Mysorean rockets.
At the Battle of Srirangapatam in 1792, Indian soldiers launched a huge
barrage of rockets against British troops, followed by an assault of
36,000 men. Although the Indian rockets were primitive by modern
standards, their sheer numbers, noise and brilliance were said to have
been quite effective at disorienting British soldiers.
During the night, the rockets were often seen as blue lights
bursting in the air. Since Indian forces were able to launch these
bursting rockets from in front of and behind British lines, they were a
tremendous tool for throwing the British off guard. The bursting
rockets were usually followed by a deadly shower of rockets aimed
directly at the soldiers. Some of these rockets passed from the front
of the British columns to the rear, inflicting injury and death as they
passed. Sharp bamboo was typically affixed to the rockets, which were
designed to bounce along the ground to produce maximum damage[2]. Two
of the rockets fired by Indian troops in 1792 war are on display at the
Royal Artillery Museum in London.
Later at the battle of Srirangapattana (4'th Anglo-Mysore war) April
1799, British forces lead by Col Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington)
ran away from battlefield when attacked by rockets and musket fire of
Tipu Sultan's army. Unlike contemporary rockets whose combustion
chamber was made of wood (bamboo), Tipu's rockets weighing between 2.2
to 5.5 kg used iron cylinder casing that allowed greater pressure,
thrust & range (1.5 to 2.5 Km) .
The British were greatly impressed by the Mysorean rockets using iron
tubes. At the end of war more then 700 rockets and sub systems of 900
rockets were captured and sent to England. William Congreve thoroughly
examined the Indian specimens to reverse engineer and making its copies
that were later used successfully in naval attack on Boulogne(1806),
siege of Copenhagen(1807)and also against fort Washington(New York)
during America independence war,that is recounted as, "rockets' red
glare" in U.S. National Anthem "The Star
Spangled Banner".
INDIAN TROOPS ROUT BRITISH. The English confrontation with Indian
rockets came in 1780 at the Battle of Guntur. The closely
massed,normally unflinching British troops broke and ran when the
Indian Army laid down a rocket barrage in their midst.
You can view by clicking this url
http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/rocketry/11.html
After the defeat of Tipu Sultan and other Indian kingdoms,major
parts of India either fell to British colonialist or accepted
British hegemony. Indian independence was largely compromised and the
country was systematically exploited and suppressed by the British
colonialism. Lack of political and economic independence stymied Indian
science and military technology for 150 years till 1947 when it finally
threw away the yoke of foreign occupation, to transition back as an
independent sovereign nation state.
Beat regards,
Suneel Gurram.
M.S-chem engg,
Aalborg University,
neils bohr vej,
Esbjerg-6700
Denmark
Mobile no:0045-51507039