Emily Chan
At a fort in southern India, more than 1,000 unexploded rockets from the 18th century were found in an abandoned well in 2018.
It is believed that the rockets belonged to Tipu Sultan, the Muslim warrior king who ruled over the Indian kingdom of Mysore, which was located in what is now the state of Karnataka’s Shivamogga district. The rockets were discovered when the well at Nagara Fort was undergoing renovations.
“Excavation of the open well led to the unearthing of over 1,000 corroded rockets that were stored during Tipu’s times for use in wars,” said R. Shejeshwara Nayaka, the leader of the excavation and the assistant director of the Karnataka Department of Archaeology, Museums, and Heritage (DAMH).
The excavation site was about 240 miles northwest of Bangalore, the state’s capital. It took three days for the team of archaeologists and excavators to fully expose the rockets.
They followed their noses, digging where the mud smelled like gunpowder. Their instincts led them to the discovery of a pile of rockets and shells.
The rockets were corroded and measured between 12 and 14 inches in length. They were filled with charcoal, potassium nitrate, and magnesium powder.
“The rockets, which are of several sizes, are metallic cylinders filled with some powder, possibly saltpeter or some form of explosive propellant,” said Nayaka.
There were circular end caps on one side of the rockets and an opening on the other that could be lit like a fuse. In addition, the team found equipment that might have been used for assembling them.
These types of rockets were known as Mysorean rockets, and they were named after the kingdom that Tipu Sultan ruled over. They were developed toward the end of the 18th century and were the first iron-cased rockets to be used in military combat with success.
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