SHARMAINE LOSBAÑES BS CRIM III-CHARLIE

History of Gunpowder

“Gunpowder,” as it came to be known, is a mixture of saltpeter (potassium nitrate),

sulfur, and charcoal. Together, these materials will burn rapidly and explode as a propellant.

Chinese monks discovered the technology in the 9th century CE, during their quest
for a life-extending elixir. The key ingredient, saltpeter, had been in use by this same culture
since the late centuries BCE for medicinal purposes. It was found to be incendiary and
immediately applied to warfare.

The Mongols soon emerged as an ambitious and violent society, and their conquests
and invasions acted as a vehicle by which gunpowder would spread to the rest of the world.
It is documented that the technology had reached the Middle East by the 13th century CE,
at which point traders as well as crusaders would have come into contact with it.

The main problem with gunpowder at this time was that the ingredients had to be
measured properly in order for the mixture to ignite properly and explode. Thus, knowledge
of the required materials was not so much the technology as was the knowledge of the
formula.

Perfecting the formula can be noted as the first major landmark in technological
development. The most effective ratio (very approximate) was believed to be 1 part sulfur:
3 parts charcoal: 9 parts saltpeter, according to 13th century Arabian documents. Sir Roger
Bacon had been experimenting with something 29.5% sulfur, 29.5% charcoal, and 41%
saltpeter, however it was eventually found that the best ratio was 10:15:75 (the modern
formula). The next big improvement came when 14th century Europeans began adding
liquid to the mixture, forming a paste that would dry and could be ground into balls––this
came to be known as “corned powder.” This greatly increased the practicality of the
primitive bombs and guns, as corned powder was more durable, reliable, and safe (the dried
paste would insure that almost all of the ingredients would ignite at the same time and
explode as one).

As the European powers emerged into the Early Modern Period, saltpeter came into
high demand as the key tool for warfare, or the “commodity or empire,” as one author put
it. The British and Dutch were the key players in this act (as France and Spain could self-
sustain their saltpeter supply at this point). India was found to be rich in the demanded
resources, and thus various overseas trading companies were established to further the
European interest. Examples include the English East India Trading Company, the Dutch
East India Company, the French ‘’Compagnie des Indes orientales’’, and the Prussian Bengal
and Asiatic Companies. This competition must quickly be compared to the scramble for oil in
the 19th and 20th centuries, and was the first time that an element of a technology caused
the world to mobilize to such an extent.

Genghis Khan used a Chinese specialist catapult unit in battle that hurled gunpowder
bombs and that is how Arabs acquired knowledge of gunpowder by the end of the twelfth
century or the beginning of the thirteenth. Mongols also used huochongs, a type of Chinese
mortars. The first cannon in history was used by the Mamluks against the Mongols at the
Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. Rockets were also popular and the first torpedo appeared at
about the same time. The first portable firearm and a forerunner of the handgun was a
hand cannon which appeared in several Arabic manuscripts dated to the 14th century. At
the same time, and also probably with Mongols, gunpowder arrived to India and became
prevalent form of warfare.

Gunpowder came to Europe in one of the two ways: along the Silk Road or during the
Mongol invasion in the first half of 13th century. For the first time in Europe, gunpowder is
mentioned in 1267 and gun in 1326. The first guns used in Spanish empire, Ottoman
empire, Portugal and in Japan were arquebus - early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th
to 17th centuries. It had matchlock which ignited the gunpowder. During the Renaissance
two European schools of pyrotechnic thought emerged, one in Italy (which worked on
elaborate fireworks) and the other at Nürnberg, Germany (which worked on scientific
advancement).

Gunpowder was also used in mining and tunnel and canal construction. For the first time
gunpowder is used in mines in Hungary in 1627. German miners brought it to Britain in 1638
after which its use spreads. It was