Bachawali-cannon-at-Hazarduari-Palace By Ansuman Bhattacharya

''Bacchawali Tope'' (literal translation: The cannon which induces child birth) is a cannon which lies in the '' Nizamat Fort Campus'' on the garden space between the Nizamat Imambara and the Hazarduari Palace and to the east of the old Madina Mosque in the city of

Murshidabad Murshidabad (), is a town in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. This town is the headquarters of Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly river, Bhagirathi Riv ...

in the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. The cannon consists two pieces of different diameters. The cannon was made between the 12th and 14th century, probably by the Mohammeddan rulers of

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

. It is stated that one Janardan Karmakar of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

made the cannon. It originally lied on the sand banks of ''Ichaganj''. However, it is unknown that how it came in ''Ichaganj''. It was used to protect the city of

from north-western attacks. After the 1846 fire of the '' Nizamat Imambara'' the ''Imambara'' was rebuilt, then after the completion of the new ''Imambara'' the cannon was shifted to its present site by Sadeq Ali Khan, the architect of the sacred Nizamat Imambara under the suggestion of Sir Henry Torrens, the then agent of the Governor General at

Etymology

It is heard that this cannon was fired only once and when it was done it produced a huge explosive sound, within a radius of about 10 miles. This sound made most of the pregnant women of the city to give birth to their child. This cannon is believed to get its name from there, so the cannon has been named, ''Bacchawali Tope''. ''Bacchawali'' means the one who produces child birth while ''Tope'' means cannon. Thus, the total sums up to ''Bacchawali Tope'', which means the cannon which produces child birth.

Features

The muzzle of the cannon is 1 foot and 7 inches. There are eleven rings fixed to the wrought iron barrel. Petals are drawn on this iron cannon which decorate the muzzle and one of the rings resemble a string of beads. Near the muzzle, on the upper half of the barrel surface, are 14 lines (7 on each side). These lines are of brass. There are 8 smaller rings attached at various points on the cannon. The cannon weighs around 7657 kg. and it is said that for a single shelling it requires about 18 kg of gunpowder.

Map

References

External links

* * Tourist attractions in Murshidabad Individual cannons Artillery of India Military history of India Bengal Subah {{Artillery-stub