The Abus gun ( tr, Obüs meaning ''howitzer'') is an early form of artillery created by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

. They were small, but often too heavy to carry, and many were equipped with a type of tripod. They had a caliber between to and fired a projectile weighing 4.25 pounds. Abus guns, despite being a form of

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

, were primarily used as an anti-infantry

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

Development

Its origins are not known. Early artillery such as this gun opened the way for the developments in artillery made across the ages, and spawned more recent and familiar types of artillery. By the

Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislativ ...

Each regiment of foot artillery was made up of 10
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
s; four of the older, heavy and Sahi cannons, two of the older, lighter Abus guns and four of the new French-designed field guns... each of which came in a bewildering range of sizes. The ''Balyemez'' were massive, long-range guns...''Şahi'' was the Ottoman word for "field," and therefore Şahi artillery meant simply field artillery... The Abus guns were a form of howitzer and came in 10- and 7-centimeter diameter bores. The French-design guns were known as Sürat Topçusu (''speed artillery'') because of their greater mobility."

Mechanics

Abus guns were a short-barreled artillery machine that fired shots about the size of a human fist. They also had many varieties of artillery, from large siege bombard to the mobile Abus guns in question. Though light enough to carry, they needed to be equipped with a tripod of sorts. This movability was opposed to locating them in a guarded artillery emplacement, where versatility of the weapon would have been considerably restricted. The design remained unchanged until 1830 when the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

n military advisers appointed by the

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

made a few minor improvements, standardising the weapons in order to improve efficiency.

In popular culture

Abus guns are used by the Ottomans in ''

Age of Empires III ''Age of Empires III'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by Microsoft Corporation's Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The Mac version was ported over and developed and published by Destineer's MacSoft. The PC ve ...

'', serving as a form of light artillery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abus Gun Cannon Medieval artillery Artillery of the Ottoman Empire

Development

Mechanics

In popular culture

See also

References