Missiles of Medieval Mysore

Where would you expect to find the first evidence for the use of missiles to destroy enemy forces? Most of us would say the U.S.A or Britain or some Western country. However, you would be surprised to know that the first missiles used in warfare were actually invented in India! So, let me tell you the amazing tale of how missiles were invented in 18th century India.

Tipu Sultan's missiles

    The earliest rockets were invented in medieval China. However, these rockets were more like fireworks than lethal weapons. They were mostly used to frighten enemy horses and were not capable of killing either man or animal. Later, some European powers and the Mughals started using them but their missiles too were used only to frighten enemy horses. It was only in the 1700s that missiles began to have their modern purpose, to kill and cause destruction. These modern missiles were invented by Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore and the father of Tipu Sultan. 

    These new weapons could go as far as 2.4 km, which was the farthest range in the world at the time. They were also tipped with swords or bamboo poles so that they could pierce their target. The need to use more and more of these rockets led to the formation of a regular rocket Corps in the Mysore army. In the Second Anglo-Mysore War these missiles earned a deadly reputation, which led the British soldiers to name them- 'flying plagues'. Tipu Sultan even set up a new department to improve the missiles! Unfortunately, during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799 these missiles could not protect him against the combined armies of the Marathas, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the British. The Tiger of Mysore was defeated and killed in the Siege of Seringapatam (present-day Srirangapatanam).

Tipu Sultan

    After his defeat, the British seized the remaining missiles and sent them back to England where they were studied and used against their own adversaries like the American Army in the Anglo-American War of 1812 and Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo in 1813.