History

Zamzama cannon cast by an Armenian gunsmith, Armenians in India

Kim is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the Great Game, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia.

The gun in front of the Lahore Museum described in the first chapter is an existing piece called Zamzama, sometimes referred to as Kim’s gun.

According to Seth in his book, Armenians in India, 115-8, 128, the famous Zamzam gun featured in Kipling’s Kim was cast by an Armenian gun-maker Shah Nazar Khan in 1757 during the Durrani-era for Ahmad Shah Abdali.

Quote from the book, “He sat in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam-Zammeh, on her old platform, opposite the old Ajaibgher, the Wonder House, as the natives called the Lahore Museum.”

By Mano Chil

Related links: Замзама – Армянское чудо-орудие в пакистанском городе Лахор

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

A Tower Crowned by a Lion-Rider: Reading a Bronze Age Cult Vessel Through the Lens of the Armenian Highlands

A small, weathered piece of fired clay — barely 31 centimeters tall — sits today…

3 days ago

A Hand Reaching Through Three Millennia: The Bronze Pendant from Yeghvard

Pendant (Amulet) in the Shape of a Human Hand | 7th–6th centuries BC | Yeghvard…

1 week ago

Duduk (Tsiranapogh): The Ancient Voice of Armenia from the Bronze Age to UNESCO Heritage

Introduction The duduk (Armenian: դուդուկ)—traditionally known as tsiranapogh (ծիրանափող, “apricot-wood pipe”)—is one of the most…

2 weeks ago

The Earliest Known Mention of Yerevan in Armenian Epigraphy: The 874 Inscription of Sevanavank

Perched on the rocky peninsula of Lake Sevan, the medieval monastery of Sevanavank preserves one…

3 weeks ago

The Land of Kajants: Language, Kings, and Gods

Reconsidering the Language and Sacred Heritage of Urartu in Armenian Historical Thought For more than…

1 month ago

Hayasa-Azzi: A Powerful Armenian Kingdom of the Armenian Highlands

Among the earliest known states of the Armenian Highlands, few are as historically important as…

1 month ago