Editing Cannon (section)

== Early history ==
{{main|History of cannons}}
{{Further|topic=the historical use of gunpowder in general|History of gunpowder|Timeline of the Gunpowder Age}}

===East Asia===
{{main|Gunpowder artillery in the Song dynasty}}
{{Further|topic=development of gunpowder warfare in China|Science and technology of the Song dynasty}}
[[File:Yuan Bronze Cannon.jpg|thumb|Bronze cannon with inscription dated the 3rd year of the Zhiyuan era (1332) of the [[Yuan dynasty]] (1271–1368); it was discovered at the [[Yunju Temple]] of [[Fangshan District]], [[Beijing]] in 1935.]]
The cannon may have appeared as early as the 12th century in China,{{sfn|Lu|1988}} and was probably a parallel development or evolution of the [[fire-lance]], a short ranged anti-personnel weapon combining a gunpowder-filled tube and a polearm.{{sfn |Needham|1986|pp=263–275}}  Projectiles such as iron scraps or porcelain shards, mixed together with the gunpowder ("co-viative"), were placed in fire lance barrels at some point,{{sfn|Crosby|2002|p=99}} and eventually, the paper and bamboo materials of fire lance barrels were replaced by metal.{{sfn|Chase|2003|pp=31–32}}

The earliest known depiction of a cannon is a sculpture from the [[Dazu Rock Carvings]] in Sichuan dated to 1128,{{sfn|Lu|1988}} however, the earliest archaeological samples and textual accounts do not appear until the 13th century. The primary extant specimens of cannon from the 13th century are the [[Wuwei Bronze Cannon]] dated to 1227, the [[Heilongjiang hand cannon]] dated to 1288, and the [[Xanadu Gun]] dated to 1298. However, only the Xanadu gun contains an inscription bearing a date of production, so it is considered the earliest confirmed extant cannon. The Xanadu Gun is {{convert|34.7|cm|abbr=on}} in length and weighs {{convert|6.2|kg|abbr=on}}. The other cannons are dated using contextual evidence.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|pp=52–53}} The Heilongjiang [[hand cannon]] is also often considered by some to be the oldest firearm since it was unearthed near the area where the ''[[History of Yuan]]'' reports a battle took place involving hand cannons. According to the ''History of Yuan'', in 1288, a Jurchen commander by the name of Li Ting led troops armed with hand cannons into battle against the rebel prince Nayan.{{sfn|Needham|1986|pp=293–94}}

[[File:Ming Dynasty field artillery cannon.jpg|thumb|A bronze "thousand ball thunder cannon" from the ''[[Huolongjing]]''.]]
Chen Bingying argues there were no guns before 1259, while Dang Shoushan believes the Wuwei gun and other [[Western Xia]] era samples point to the appearance of guns by 1220, and Stephen Haw goes even further by stating that guns were developed as early as 1200.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=329}} Sinologist [[Joseph Needham]] and renaissance siege expert Thomas Arnold provide a more conservative estimate of around 1280 for the appearance of the "true" cannon.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=10}}{{sfn|Arnold|2001|p=18}} Whether or not any of these are correct, it seems likely that the gun was born sometime during the 13th century.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=54}}

References to cannons proliferated throughout China in the following centuries. Cannon featured in literary pieces. In 1341 Xian Zhang wrote a poem called ''The Iron Cannon Affair'' describing a cannonball fired from an eruptor which could "pierce the heart or belly when striking a man or horse, and even transfix several persons at once."<ref>{{cite book|last=Norris|first=John|year=2003|title=Early Gunpowder Artillery: 1300–1600|publisher=Marlborough: The Crowood Press|isbn=978-1-86126-615-6|page=11}}</ref> By the 1350s the cannon was used extensively in Chinese warfare. In 1358 the Ming army failed to take a city due to its garrisons' usage of cannon, however, they themselves would use cannon, in the thousands, later on during the siege of [[Suzhou, Jiangsu|Suzhou]] in 1366.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=66}}<ref name="Korean Broadcasting System">{{cite web |author=Korean Broadcasting System-News department |date=30 April 2005 |title=Science in Korea |url=http://seer.snu.ac.kr/trip/anc-4.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012013159/http://seer.snu.ac.kr/trip/anc-4.html |archive-date=12 October 2020 |access-date=27 July 2006 |work=Countdown Begins for Launch of South Korea's Space Rocket |publisher=Korean Broadcasting System}}</ref>{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=173}}

The [[Mongol invasion of Java]] in 1293 brought gunpowder technology to the [[Nusantara (archipelago)|Nusantara]] archipelago in the form of cannon (Chinese: [[hu dun pao|''Pao'']]).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Lombard|first=Denys|title=Le carrefour javanais. Essai d'histoire globale (The Javanese Crossroads: Towards a Global History) Vol. 2|publisher=Éditions de l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales|year=1990|location=Paris|page=178}}</ref> During the [[Ming dynasty]] cannons were used in riverine warfare at the [[Battle of Lake Poyang]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Battle: a visual journey through 5,000 years of combat|author=R. G. Grant|edition=illustrated|year=2005|publisher=DK Pub.|isbn=978-0-7566-1360-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/battlevisualjour0000gran_e3z7/page/99 99]|url=https://archive.org/details/battlevisualjour0000gran_e3z7/page/99}}</ref> One shipwreck in Shandong had a cannon dated to 1377 and an anchor dated to 1372.{{sfn|Chase|2003|loc="Little is known about their armament, but Chinese ships did carry bronze cannon at this time, as evidenced by the wreck of a small two-masted patrol vessel discovered in Shandong together with its anchor (inscribed 1372) and cannon (inscribed 1377)."}} From the 13th to 15th centuries cannon-armed Chinese ships also travelled throughout Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Chase|2003|loc="Considering that Chinese ships armed with gunpowder weapons, including cannons, visited the region regularly from the 1200s to the 1400s."}} Cannon appeared in [[Đại Việt]] by 1390 at the latest.{{sfn|Tran|2006|p=75}}

The first of the western cannon to be introduced were [[Breech-loading weapon|breech-loaders]] in the early 16th century, which the Chinese began producing themselves by 1523 and improved on by including composite metal construction in their making.{{sfn|Xiaodong|2008|pp=41–61}}

Japan did not acquire cannon until 1510 when a monk brought one back from China, and did not produce any in appreciable numbers.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=430}} During the 1593 [[Siege of Pyongyang (1593)|siege of Pyongyang]], 40,000 Ming troops deployed a variety of cannons against Japanese troops. Despite their defensive advantage and the use of arquebus by Japanese soldiers, the Japanese were at a severe disadvantage due to their lack of cannon. Throughout the [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)]], the Ming–Joseon coalition used artillery widely in land and naval battles, including on the [[turtle ship]]s of [[Yi Sun-sin]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryofwa00arch|url-access=registration|title=World History of Warfare|publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|access-date=26 May 2008|last=Archer|first=Christon I.|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8032-4423-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryofwa00arch/page/211 211]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.groseducationalmedia.ca/vsc/korea1.html |title=Admiral Yi Sun-shin and Turtle Ships |author=Derrick Grose |access-date=22 September 2011 |work=Virtual stamp Collection |publisher=Grose Educational Media |year=2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121114619/http://www.groseducationalmedia.ca/vsc/korea1.html |archive-date=21 January 2012}}</ref>

According to [[Ivan Petlin]], the first Russian envoy to Beijing, in September 1619, the city was armed with large cannon with cannonballs weighing more than {{convert|30|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Dmytryshyn|1985|p=90}}

===Western Europe===
{{main|Gunpowder artillery in the Middle Ages}}
[[Image:EarlyCannonDeNobilitatibusSapientiiEtPrudentiisRegumManuscriptWalterdeMilemete1326.jpg|thumb|Earliest picture of a European cannon, "De Nobilitatibus Sapientii Et Prudentiis Regum", [[Walter de Milemete]], 1326]]
[[Image:HandBombardWesternEurope1380.jpg|thumb|Western European handgun, 1380]]
[[File:Siege orleans.jpg|thumb|The first Western image of a battle with cannon: the [[siege of Orléans]] in 1429]]
[[File:Šibenik - topovi.jpg|thumb|Cannon from the 15th century at [[Šibenik]] city walls]]

Outside of China, the earliest texts to mention gunpowder are [[Roger Bacon]]'s {{lang|la|[[Opus Majus]]}} (1267) and {{lang|la|Opus Tertium}} in what has been interpreted as references to [[firecracker]]s. In the early 20th century, a British artillery officer proposed that [[Roger Bacon#Other attributed works|another work tentatively attributed to Bacon]], {{lang|la|Epistola de Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae, et de Nullitate Magiae}}, dated to 1247, contained an encrypted formula for gunpowder hidden in the text. These claims have been disputed by science historians.<ref name="NeedhamLu1987">{{cite book|author1=Joseph Needham|author2=Gwei-Djen Lu|author3=Ling Wang|title=Science and civilisation in China |volume=5 |pages=48–50|year=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-30358-3}}</ref> In any case, the formula itself is not useful for firearms or even firecrackers, burning slowly and producing mostly smoke.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Joseph Needham|author2=Gwei-Djen Lu|author3=Ling Wang|title=Science and civilisation in China |volume=5 |at=Part 7, p. 358|year=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-30358-3}}</ref><ref>Bert S. Hall, "Introduction, 1999" p. xxiv to the reprinting of {{cite book|author=James Riddick Partington|title=A history of Greek fire and gunpowder|year=1960|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-5954-0|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofgreekfi00part}}</ref>

There is a record of a gun in Europe dating to 1322 that was discovered in the nineteenth century, but the artifact has since been lost.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=334}} The earliest known European depiction of a gun appeared in 1326 in a manuscript by [[Walter de Milemete]], although not necessarily drawn by him, known as {{lang|la|De Nobilitatibus, sapientii et prudentiis regum}} (''Concerning the Majesty, Wisdom, and Prudence of Kings''), which displays a gun with a large arrow emerging from it and its user lowering a long stick to ignite the gun through the touch hole.{{sfn|Kelly|2004|p=29}}{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=76}} In the same year, another similar illustration showed a darker gun being set off by a group of knights, in another work of de Milemete's, {{lang|la|De secretis secretorum Aristotelis}}.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|pp=76, 335}} On 11 February of that same year, the [[Signoria]] of [[Florence]] appointed two officers to obtain {{lang|it|canones de mettallo}} and ammunition for the town's defense.{{sfn|Crosby|2002|p=120}} In the following year a document from the Turin area recorded a certain amount was paid "for the making of a certain instrument or device made by Friar Marcello for the projection of pellets of lead".{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=76}} A reference from 1331 describes an attack mounted by two Germanic knights on [[Cividale del Friuli]], using man-portable gunpowder weapons of some sort.{{sfn|Kelly|2004|p=29}}{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=76}} The 1320s seem to have been the takeoff point for guns in Europe according to most modern military historians. Scholars suggest that the lack of gunpowder weapons in a well-traveled Venetian's catalogue for a new crusade in 1321 implies that guns were unknown in Europe up until this point, further solidifying the 1320 mark, however more evidence in this area may be forthcoming in the future.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=76}}

The oldest extant cannon in Europe is a small bronze example unearthed in Loshult, [[Scania]] in southern Sweden.<ref>Roger Pauly (2004). ''Firearms: the Life Story of a Technology''. Greenwood Press. {{ISBN|0-313-32796-3}} p. 21</ref> It dates from the early-mid 14th century,<ref>Kevin Dockery (2007). ''Stalkers and Shooters: A History of Snipers''. Berkley {{ISBN|0-425-21542-3}}</ref> and is currently in the [[Swedish History Museum]] in Stockholm.

Early cannons in Europe often shot arrows and were known by an assortment of names such as {{lang|fr|[[pot-de-fer]]}}, {{lang|fr|tonnoire}}, ''ribaldis'', and {{lang|gmh<!--guessing: Middle High German-->|büszenpyle}}. The ''ribaldis'', which shot large arrows and simplistic [[grapeshot]], were first mentioned in the [[Wardrobe (government)|English Privy Wardrobe]] accounts during preparations for the [[Battle of Crécy]], between 1345 and 1346.<ref name="Nicolle">{{cite book|last=Nicolle|first=David|year=2000|title=Crécy 1346: Triumph of the Longbow|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|isbn=978-1-85532-966-9|page=21}}</ref> The Florentine [[Giovanni Villani]] recounts their destructiveness, indicating that by the end of the battle, "the whole plain was covered by men struck down by arrows and cannon balls".<ref name="Nicolle" /> Similar cannon were also used at the [[siege of Calais (1346–47)]], although it was not until the 1380s that the ''ribaudekin'' clearly became mounted on wheels.<ref name="Nicolle"/>

The [[Battle of Crecy]] which pitted the English against the French in 1346 featured the early use of cannon which helped the [[longbow]]men repulse a large force of Genoese crossbowmen deployed by the French. The English originally intended to use the cannon against cavalry sent to attack their archers, thinking that the loud noises produced by their cannon would panic the advancing horses along with killing the knights atop them.<ref name=":0">{{Harvnb|Andrade|2016}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2020}}

Early cannons could also be used for more than simply killing men and scaring horses. English cannon were used defensively in 1346 during the [[siege of Breteuil]] to launch fire onto an advancing [[siege tower]]. In this way, cannons could be used to burn down siege equipment before it reached the fortifications. The use of cannons to shoot fire could also be used offensively as another battle involved the setting of a [[castle]] ablaze with similar methods. The particular incendiary used in these projectiles was most likely a gunpowder mixture. This is one area where early Chinese and European cannons share a similarity as both were possibly used to shoot fire.<ref name=":0" />

Another aspect of early European cannons is that they were rather small, dwarfed by the bombards, which would come later. In fact, it is possible that the cannons used at Crécy were capable of being moved rather quickly as there is an anonymous chronicle that notes the guns being used to attack the French camp, indicating that they would have been mobile enough to press the attack. These smaller cannons would eventually give way to larger, wall-breaching guns by the end of the 1300s.<ref name=":0" />

===Islamic world===
[[Image:Great Turkish Bombard at Fort Nelson.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Dardanelles Gun]], a 1464 Ottoman [[Bombard (weapon)|bombard]]]]
[[File:Malik E Maidan.jpg|thumb|Malik E Maidan, a 16th-century cannon, was effectively used by the [[Deccan sultanates]], and was the largest cannon operated during the [[Battle of Talikota]].]]

There is no clear consensus on when the cannon first appeared in the [[Islamic world]], with dates ranging from 1260 to the mid-14th century. The cannon may have appeared in the Islamic world in the late 13th century, with [[Ibn Khaldun]] in the 14th century stating that cannons were used in the [[Maghreb]] region of North Africa in 1274, and other Arabic military treatises in the 14th century referring to the use of cannon by [[Mamluk]] forces in 1260 and 1303, and by Muslim forces at the 1324 siege of [[Huesca]] in Spain. However, some scholars do not accept these early dates. While the date of its first appearance is not entirely clear, the general consensus among most historians is that there is no doubt the Mamluk forces were using cannon by 1342.<ref name="Hammer2017">{{cite book |last1=Hammer |first1=Paul E. J. |title=Warfare in Early Modern Europe 1450–1660 |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1351873765 |page=505 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ugkkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT505 |access-date=9 September 2019 |archive-date=25 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225064933/https://books.google.com/books?id=ugkkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT505 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other accounts may have also mentioned the use of cannon in the early 14th century. An Arabic text dating to 1320–1350 describes a type of gunpowder weapon called a {{lang|ar-Latn|midfa}} which uses gunpowder to shoot projectiles out of a tube at the end of a stock.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=43}} Some scholars consider this a hand cannon while others dispute this claim.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=43–44}}{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=582}} The [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrid]] army besieging [[Elche]] in 1331 made use of "iron pellets shot with fire".<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=77y2AgAAQBAJ&dq=hasan+al-rammah+fire+lance&pg=PA55 | isbn=9781135459321 | title=Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia | date=27 January 2014 | publisher=Routledge }}</ref>

According to historian [[Ahmad Y. al-Hassan]], during the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] in 1260, the [[Mamluk]]s used cannon against the [[Mongols]]. He claims that this was "the first cannon in history" and used a gunpowder formula almost identical to the ideal composition for explosive gunpowder. He also argues that this was not known in China or Europe until much later.<ref name="Gunpowder Composition">{{cite web|last=al-Hassan |first=Ahmad Y. |author-link=Ahmad Y. al-Hassan |url=http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%202.htm |title=Gunpowder Composition for Rockets and Cannon in Arabic Military Treatises in Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries |access-date=8 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226105129/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%202.htm |archive-date=26 February 2008}}</ref><ref name=Hassan>{{cite web|last=al-Hassan |first=Ahmad Y. |author-link=Ahmad Y. al-Hassan |url=http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2072.htm |title=Technology Transfer in the Chemical Industries |access-date=17 February 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427025528/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2072.htm |archive-date=27 April 2007}}</ref> Al-Hassan further claims that the earliest textual evidence of cannon is from the Middle East, based on earlier originals which report hand-held cannons being used by the Mamluks at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260.<ref name="Gunpowder Composition"/> Such an early date is not accepted by some historians,<ref name="Hammer2017"/> including David Ayalon, Iqtidar Alam Khan, [[Joseph Needham]] and [[Tonio Andrade]]. Khan argues that it was the [[Mongols]] who introduced gunpowder to the Islamic world,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Khan |first=Iqtidar Alam |title=Coming of Gunpowder to the Islamic World and North India: Spotlight on the Role of the Mongols |journal=Journal of Asian History |volume=30 |year=1996 |pages=41–45}}.</ref> and believes cannon only reached [[Mamluk Egypt]] in the 1370s.<ref name="khan 6">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Khan|2004|p=3}}.</ref> Needham argued that the term {{lang|ar-Latn|midfa}}, dated to textual sources from 1342 to 1352, did not refer to true hand-guns or bombards, and that contemporary accounts of a metal-barrel cannon in the Islamic world did not occur until 1365.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=44}} Similarly, Andrade dates the textual appearance of cannons in middle eastern sources to the 1360s.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=75}} Gabor Ágoston and David Ayalon note that the Mamluks had certainly used siege cannons by 1342<ref name="Hammer2017"/> or the 1360s, respectively, but earlier uses of cannons in the [[Islamic World]] are vague with a possible appearance in the [[Emirate of Granada]] by the 1320s and 1330s, though evidence is inconclusive.{{sfn|Ágoston|2005|p=15}}{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=75}}

[[Ibn Khaldun]] reported the use of cannon as [[siege machine]]s by the [[Marinid]] sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf at the siege of [[Sijilmasa]] in 1274.<ref name="Gunpowder Composition"/><ref name="Hammer">{{Cite book|editor-last=Hammer|editor-first=Paul E. J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9ggAQAAIAAJ|title=Warfare in Early Modern Europe 1450-1660|date=2007|page=297|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-0-7546-2529-2}}</ref> The passage by Ibn Khaldun on the Marinid siege of Sijilmassa in 1274 occurs as follows: "[The Sultan] installed siege engines ... and gunpowder engines ..., which project small balls of iron. These balls are ejected from a chamber ... placed in front of a kindling fire of gunpowder; this happens by a strange property which attributes all actions to the power of the Creator."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=334}} The source is not contemporary and was written a century later, around 1382. Its interpretation has been rejected as anachronistic by some historians, who urge caution regarding claims of Islamic firearms use in the 1204–1324 period as late medieval Arabic texts used the same word for gunpowder, naft, as they did for an earlier incendiary, naphtha.{{sfn|Purton|2010|pp=108–09}}{{sfn|Ágoston|2005|p=15}} Ágoston and Peter Purton note that in the 1204–1324 period, late medieval Arabic texts used the same word for gunpowder, {{lang|ar-Latn|naft}}, that they used for an earlier incendiary, [[naphtha]].{{sfn|Ágoston|2005|pp=15–16|ps=: "References to early use of firearms in Islamdom (1204, 1248, 1274, 1258–60, 1303 and 1324) must be taken with caution since terminology used for gunpowder and firearms in late medieval Arabic sources is confused. Furthermore, most of these testimonies are given by later chroniclers of the fifteenth century whose use of terminology may have reflected their own time rather than that of the events they were writing about."}} Needham believes Ibn Khaldun was speaking of fire lances rather than hand cannon.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=47}}

The Ottoman Empire made good use of cannon as siege artillery. Sixty-eight super-sized bombards were used by [[Mehmed the Conqueror]] to [[Fall of Constantinople|capture Constantinople]] in 1453. Jim Bradbury argues that Urban, a Hungarian cannon engineer, introduced this cannon from Central Europe to the Ottoman realm;{{sfn|Bradbury|1992|p=293}} according to Paul Hammer, however, it could have been introduced from other Islamic countries which had earlier used cannons.<ref name="Hammer"/> These cannon could fire heavy stone balls a mile, and the sound of their blast could reportedly be heard from a distance of {{convert|10|mi|km|0}}.{{sfn|Bradbury|1992|p=293}} [[Shkodër]]an historian [[Marin Barleti]] discusses Turkish bombards at length in his book ''[[The Siege of Shkodra (book)|De obsidione Scodrensi]]'' (1504), describing the 1478–79 [[siege of Shkodra]] in which eleven bombards and two mortars were employed. The Ottomans also used cannon to control passage of ships through the Bosphorus strait.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal|last=Ágoston|first=Gábor|date=2014|title=Firearms and Military Adaptation: The Ottomans and the European Military Revolution, 1450–1800|journal=Journal of World History|volume=25|issue=1|pages=85–124|doi=10.1353/jwh.2014.0005|s2cid=143042353|issn=1527-8050}}</ref> Ottoman cannons also proved effective at stopping crusaders at Varna in 1444 and Kosovo in 1448 despite the presence of European cannon in the former case.<ref name=":03" />

The similar Dardanelles Guns (for the location) were created by Munir Ali in 1464 and were still in use during the [[Anglo-Turkish War (1807–1809)]].<ref name="Schmidtchen 1977b, 226–228">Schmidtchen, Volker (1977b), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", ''Technikgeschichte'' '''44''' (3): 213–237 (226–228)</ref> These were cast in bronze into two parts: the chase (the barrel) and the breech, which combined weighed 18.4&nbsp;[[tonne]]s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4aXo_125REC&q=dardanelles+gun&pg=PA461|title=War in Human Civilization|year=2006|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=New York City|last=Gat|first=Azar|isbn=978-0-19-926213-7|page=461|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020080030/https://books.google.com/books?id=y4aXo_125REC&q=dardanelles+gun&pg=PA461|url-status=live}}</ref> The two parts were screwed together using levers to facilitate moving it.

Fathullah Shirazi, a [[Persian people|Persian]] inhabitant of India who worked for [[Akbar]] in the [[Mughal Empire]], developed a [[volley gun]] in the 16th century.<ref>{{cite journal|first=A. K.|last=Bag|year=2005|title=Fathullah Shirazi: Cannon, Multi-barrel Gun and Yarghu|journal=Indian Journal of History of Science|pages=431–436}}</ref>

While there is evidence of cannons in Iran as early as 1405 they were not widespread.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Khan|first=Iqtidar Alam|date=1999|title=Nature of Gunpowder Artillery in India during the Sixteenth Century: A Reappraisal of the Impact of European Gunnery|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=9|issue=1|pages=27–34|jstor=25183626|doi=10.1017/S1356186300015911|s2cid=162909942 }}</ref> This changed following the increased use of firearms by Shah Ismail I, and the Iranian army used 500 cannons by the 1620s, probably captured from the Ottomans or acquired by allies in Europe.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Nourbakhsh|first=Mohammad Reza (Farhad)|date=2008|title=Iran's Early Encounter with Three Medieval European Inventions (875–1153 AH/1470–1740 CE)|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=41|issue=4|pages=549–558|jstor=25597489|doi=10.1080/00210860802246242|s2cid=144208564}}</ref> By 1443, Iranians were also making some of their own cannon, as Mir Khawand wrote of a 1200&nbsp;kg metal piece being made by an Iranian {{lang|fa|rikhtegar}} which was most likely a cannon.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Khan|first=Iqtidar Alam|date=1995|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=56|pages=435–446|jstor=44158646|title=Firearms in Central Asia and Iran During the Fifteenth Century and the Origins and Nature of Firearms Brought by Babur}}</ref> Due to the difficulties of transporting cannon in mountainous terrain, their use was less common compared to their use in Europe.<ref name=":02" />

===Eastern Europe===
Documentary evidence of cannons in Russia does not appear until 1382 and they were used only in sieges, often by the defenders.<ref name="Nossov">{{cite book|last=Nossov|first=Konstantin|year=2007|title=Medieval Russian Fortresses AD 862–1480|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|isbn=978-1-84603-093-2|page=52}}</ref> It was not until 1475 when Ivan III established the first Russian cannon foundry in Moscow that they began to produce cannons natively.<ref>{{cite book|author=Geoffrey Alan Hosking|title=Russia and the Russians: A History|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|year=2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/russiarussianshi00hosk/page/91 91]|isbn=978-0674004733|url=https://archive.org/details/russiarussianshi00hosk|url-access=registration|quote=first cannon foundry was set up in Moscow.|author-link=Geoffrey Alan Hosking}}</ref> The earliest surviving cannon from Russia dates to 1485.{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=78}}

Later on, large cannons were known as bombards, ranging from three to five feet in length and were used by [[Dubrovnik]] and [[Kotor]] in defence during the later 14th century. The first bombards were made of iron, but bronze became more prevalent as it was recognized as more stable and capable of propelling stones weighing as much as {{convert|45|kg}}. Around the same period, the [[Byzantine Empire]] began to accumulate its own cannon to face the [[Ottoman Empire]], starting with medium-sized cannon {{convert|3|ft|m}} long and of 10&nbsp;in calibre.<ref name="Turnbull">{{cite book|last=Turnbull|first=Stephan|title=The Walls of Constantinople AD 413–1453|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|year=2004|isbn=978-1-84176-759-8|pages=39–41}}</ref> The earliest reliable recorded use of artillery in the region was against the Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1396, forcing the Ottomans to withdraw.<ref name="Turnbull"/> The Ottomans acquired their own cannon and laid siege to the Byzantine capital again in 1422. By 1453, the Ottomans used 68 Hungarian-made cannon for the 55-day bombardment of the [[walls of Constantinople]], "hurling the pieces everywhere and killing those who happened to be nearby".<ref name="Turnbull"/> The largest of their cannons was the Great Turkish Bombard, which required an operating crew of 200 men<ref name="Trivia Library">{{cite book|title=The People's Almanac|publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]|year=1975|last=Wallechinsky|first=David|author2=Irving Wallace|isbn=978-0-385-04186-7|url=https://archive.org/details/peoplesalmanac00wall}}</ref> and 70 oxen, and 10,000 men to transport it.<ref name="Turnbull"/> Gunpowder made the formerly devastating [[Greek fire]] obsolete, and with the final fall of Constantinople—which was protected by what were once the strongest walls in Europe—on 29 May 1453, "it was the [[Late Middle Ages|end of an era]] in more ways than one".<ref>Turnbull, p. 43.</ref>

===Southeast Asia===
[[File:Lantakas.jpg|thumb|Collection of Philippine ''lantaka'' in a European museum]]

Cannons were introduced to the [[Javanese people|Javanese]] [[Majapahit]] Empire when [[Kublai Khan]]'s Mongol-Chinese army under the leadership of Ike Mese [[Mongol invasion of Java|sought to invade Java]] in 1293. ''[[History of Yuan]]'' mentioned that the Mongol used a weapon called [[Hu dun pao|''p'ao'']] against Daha forces.<ref name="Schlegel">Schlegel, Gustaaf (1902). "On the Invention and Use of Fire-Arms and Gunpowder in China, Prior to the Arrival of Europeans". ''T'oung Pao''. 3: 1–11.</ref>{{Rp|1–2}}<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":32">{{Cite book|last=Partington|first=J. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNZBSqd2cToC&q=java&pg=PA224|title=A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder|date=1999|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-5954-0|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|244–245}}<ref name=":112">Reid, Anthony (1993). ''Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450–1680''. Volume Two: Expansion and Crisis. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.</ref>{{Rp|220}} This weapon is interpreted differently by researchers, it may be a [[trebuchet]] that throws [[Gunpowder weapons in the Song dynasty#Explosives|thunderclap bombs]], firearms, cannons, or rockets. It is possible that the gunpowder weapons carried by the Mongol–Chinese troops amounted to more than one type.<ref name=":10">Averoes, Muhammad (2020). ''Antara Cerita dan Sejarah: Meriam Cetbang Majapahit''. ''Jurnal Sejarah'', 3(2), 89–100.</ref>{{Rp|97}}

[[Thomas Stamford Raffles]] wrote in ''[[The History of Java]]'' that in 1247 [[Saka era|saka]] (1325 AD), cannons were widely used in Java especially by the Majapahit. It is recorded that the small kingdoms in Java that sought the protection of Majapahit had to hand over their cannons to the Majapahit.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Raffles|first=Thomas Stamford|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofjava02raff/page/n115/mode/2up?q=|title=The History of Java|publisher=John Murray, Albemarle Street|year=1830|location=London}}</ref>{{Rp|106}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yusof|first=Hasanuddin|date=September 2019|title=Kedah Cannons Kept in Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, Nakhon Si Thammarat|journal=Jurnal Arkeologi Malaysia|volume=32|pages=59–75}}</ref>{{Rp|61}} Majapahit under ''Mahapatih'' (prime minister) [[Gajah Mada]] (in office 1331–1364) utilized gunpowder technology obtained from [[Yuan dynasty]] for use in naval fleet.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pramono|first=Djoko|title=Budaya Bahari|publisher=Gramedia Pustaka Utama|year=2005|isbn=9789792213768}}</ref>{{Rp|57}}

[[File:Bedil kuno atau meriam kuno Jawa cetbang, nomor 2, dengan dudukan.png|thumb|A cannon found from the Brantas river. Made of bronze, with a triangular embossed touch hole. The wooden parts were recently made for display.]]
Mongol-Chinese gunpowder technology of Yuan dynasty resulted in eastern-style cetbang which is similar to Chinese cannon. Swivel guns however, only developed in the archipelago because of the close maritime relations of the Nusantara archipelago with the territory of West India after 1460 AD, which brought new types of gunpowder weapons to the archipelago, likely through Arab intermediaries. This weapon seems to be cannon and gun of Ottoman tradition, for example the [[prangi]], which is a [[breech-loading swivel gun]]. A new type of cetbang, called the western-style cetbang, was derived from the Turkish prangi. Just like prangi, this cetbang is a breech-loading swivel gun made of bronze or iron, firing single rounds or scattershots (a large number of small bullets).<ref name=":10" />{{Rp|94–95}}

Cannons derived from western-style cetbang can be found in Nusantara, among others were [[lantaka]] and lela. Most lantakas were made of bronze and the earliest ones were [[Breechloader|breech-loaded]]. There is a trend toward muzzle-loading weapons during colonial times.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Kearifan Tempatan: Pandainya Melayu Dalam Karya Sastera|last=Hamid|first=Rahimah A.|publisher=Penerbit USM|year=2015|isbn=978-9838619332}}</ref> When the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] came to the archipelago, they referred to the breech-loading swivel gun as ''berço'', while the [[Spaniards]] call it {{lang|es|verso}}.<ref name="Reid">{{Cite book |last=Wade |first=Geoff |title=Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |year=2012 |isbn=978-981-4311-96-0 |location=Singapore}}</ref>{{Rp|151}} A [[Hand cannon|pole gun]] ({{lang|id|[[bedil tombak]]}}) was recorded as being used by Java in 1413.<ref>Mayers (1876). "Chinese explorations of the Indian Ocean during the fifteenth century". ''The China Review''. '''IV''': p. 178.</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Manguin |first=Pierre-Yves |date=1976 |title=L'Artillerie legere nousantarienne: A propos de six canons conserves dans des collections portugaises |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02509117/file/arasi_0004-3958_1976_num_32_1_1103.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Arts Asiatiques |volume=32 |pages=233–268 |doi=10.3406/arasi.1976.1103 |s2cid=191565174 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017043603/https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02509117/file/arasi_0004-3958_1976_num_32_1_1103.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2020 |access-date=21 September 2020}}</ref>{{Rp|245}}

Duarte Barbosa c. 1514 said that the inhabitants of Java were great masters in casting artillery and very good artillerymen. They made many one-pounder cannon ({{lang|id|cetbang}} or {{lang|id|rentaka}}), long muskets, {{lang|it|spingarde}} (arquebus), {{lang|it|schioppi}} (hand cannon), [[Greek fire]], guns (cannon), and other fireworks. Every place was considered excellent in casting artillery, and in the knowledge of using it.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stanley|first=Henry Edward John|year=1866|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptionofcoa00barbrich/page/n7/mode/2up|title=A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century by Duarte Barbosa|location=|publisher=The Hakluyt Society|isbn=|pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|198}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Partington|first=J. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNZBSqd2cToC&q=java&pg=PA224|title=A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder|date=1999|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-5954-0|language=en|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=16 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416222917/https://books.google.com/books?id=fNZBSqd2cToC&q=java&pg=PA224|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Rp|224}} In 1513, the [[Djong (ship)#European age of discovery|Javanese fleet]] led by Pati Unus sailed to attack [[Portuguese Malacca]] "with much artillery made in Java, for the Javanese are skilled in founding and casting, and in all works in iron, over and above what they have in India".<ref name=":022">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNsk7tLkMU4C |title=Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |year=2012 |isbn=978-981-4311-96-0 |editor-last=Wade |editor-first=Geoff |location=Singapore |editor-last2=Tana |editor-first2=Li}}</ref>{{Rp|162}}<ref name=":222">{{Cite book |last=Crawfurd |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/adescriptivedic00crawgoog/page/n8/mode/2up?q= |title=A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries |publisher=Bradbury and Evans |year=1856}}</ref>{{Rp|23}} By early 16th century, the Javanese already locally-producing large guns, some of them still survived until the present day and dubbed as "sacred cannon" or "holy cannon". These cannons varied between 180- and 260-pounders, weighing anywhere between 3 and 8 tons, length of them between {{cvt|3|and|6|m}}.<ref>''Modern Asian Studies''. Vol. 22, No. 3, Special Issue: Asian Studies in Honour of Professor Charles Boxer (1988), pp. 607–628.</ref>

Cannons were used by the [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] in 1352 during its invasion of the [[Khmer Empire]].{{sfn|Purton|2010|p=201}} Within a decade large quantities of gunpowder could be found in the [[Khmer Empire]].{{sfn|Purton|2010|p=201}} By the end of the 14th century firearms were also used by the [[Trần dynasty]].{{sfn|Tran|2006|p=75}}

Saltpeter harvesting was recorded by Dutch and German travelers as being common in even the smallest villages and was collected from the decomposition process of large dung hills specifically piled for the purpose. The Dutch punishment for possession of non-permitted gunpowder appears to have been amputation.<ref name=":13">{{cite book |last1=Raffles |first1=Thomas Stamford |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofjavavol0000raff/page/180/mode/2up?q=powder |title=A History of Java Volume 1 |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-19-580347-1 |edition=[Repr.]. |location=Cambridge |orig-date=1817}}</ref>{{Rp|180–181}} Ownership and manufacture of gunpowder was later prohibited by the colonial Dutch occupiers.<ref name="Dipanegara, P. B. R 1981">Dipanegara, P. B. R. Carey, ''Babad Dipanagara: an account of the outbreak of the Java war, 1825–30: the Surakarta court version of the Babad Dipanagara with translations into English and Indonesian'' volume 9: Council of the M.B.R.A.S. by Art Printing Works: 1981.</ref> According to colonel McKenzie quoted in Sir [[Thomas Stamford Raffles]]' ''[[The History of Java (1817 book)|The History of Java]]'' (1817), the purest sulfur was supplied from [[Ijen|a crater from a mountain]] near the straits of [[Bali]].<ref name=":13" />{{Rp|180–181}}

===Africa===
In Africa, the [[Adal Sultanate]] and the [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinian Empire]] both deployed cannons during the [[Ethiopian-Adal War|Adal-Abyssinian War]]. Imported from [[Arabia]], and the wider Islamic world, the Adalites led by [[Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi]] were the first African power to introduce cannon warfare to the African continent.<ref>Tools of War: History of Weapons in Early Modern Times by Syed Ramsey – Somalia chapter, Early Modern Warfare.</ref> Later on as the [[Portuguese Empire]] entered the war it would supply and train the Abyssinians with cannons, while the [[Ottoman Empire]] sent soldiers and cannon to back Adal. The conflict proved, through their use on both sides, the value of [[firearms]] such as the [[matchlock]] [[musket]], cannon, and the [[arquebus]] over traditional weapons.<ref>Cambridge illustrated atlas, ''Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492–1792'', by Jeremy Black p. 9</ref>

=== Offensive and defensive use ===
While previous smaller guns could burn down structures with fire, larger and more powerful cannons forced engineers to develop stronger castle walls from enemy attacks.<ref name=":0" /> Cannons were used for other purposes, as fortifications began using cannons as defensive instruments. In India, the fort of Raicher had gun ports built into its walls to accommodate the use of defensive cannons.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Eaton|first1=Richard M.|last2=Wagoner|first2=Philip B.|date=2014|title=Warfare on the Deccan Plateau, 1450–1600: A Military Revolution in Early Modern India?|journal=Journal of World History|volume=25|issue=1|pages=5–50|doi=10.1353/jwh.2014.0004|s2cid=162260578|issn=1527-8050}}</ref> In ''[[The Art of War (Machiavelli)|The Art of War]]'', Niccolò Machiavelli opined that field artillery forced an army to take up a defensive posture and opposed a more ideal offensive stance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cassidy|first=Ben|date=2003|title=Machiavelli and the Ideology of the Offensive: Gunpowder Weapons in The Art of War|journal=The Journal of Military History|volume=67|issue=2|pages=381–404|doi=10.1353/jmh.2003.0106|s2cid=159716602|issn=1543-7795}}</ref> Machiavelli's concerns can be seen in the criticisms of Portuguese mortars being used in India during the sixteenth century as lack of mobility was one of the key problems with the design.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Khan|first=Iqtidar Alam|date=2005|title=Gunpowder and Empire: Indian Case|journal=Social Scientist|volume=33|issue=3/4|pages=54–65|jstor=3518112}}</ref> In Russia the early cannons were again placed in forts as a defensive tool.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Paul|first=Michael C.|date=2004|title=The Military Revolution in Russia, 1550–1682|journal=The Journal of Military History|volume=68|issue=1|pages=9–45|doi=10.1353/jmh.2003.0401|s2cid=159954818|issn=1543-7795}}</ref> Cannons were also difficult to move around in mountainous regions; offensives conducted with such weapons would often be unsuccessful in areas such as Iran.<ref name=":02" />