Miles and Trails: Malik-E-Maidan, Vijayapura (Bijapura)

"A day will come when a cannon will be exhibited in museums, and the people will be astonished that such a thing could have been"-Victor Hugo

A little less than 500 meters from Upli Burj lies the Sher-A-Burj. A beautiful lawn surrounded the tower. It was pleasurable to relax here under the shades and take in some fresh air. Few families were having picnic while children run through the pathway, giggling as they played their little games.

Malik-E-Maidan (Master of the Field) also known as Sher-A-Burj was erected in fond memory of Battle of Talikote (1565) by Ali Adil Shah I as he was instrumental in making a successful alliance between Deccan Sultanates and eventual fall of mighty Vijayanagara empire.

Victor Hugo proved to be right. This is the third cannon we are seeing being displayed. We moved through an arch that took us to a flight of stairs and top of the citadel. A large crowd was circled around the object of interest.

The cannon was present on one corner of the bastion barricaded spirally with iron gates. It was planted on the wooden planks. It is said to be the largest medieval cannon in the world measuring 4 meters long, 1.5 meters wide, and weighing 55 tons. The gun was originally casted in Ahmadnagar in the 15th century. After defeating Ahmadnagar Shahis it was carried as a war trophy back to Bijapura. Transportation of gun from Ahmadnagar to Bijapura was a monumental task because of its heaviness. Ten elephants, 400 bulls, and several men were used to drag this. It is believed they were supposed to bring two cannons, however, one fell into the river while crossing it. We were curious to know how they crossed the river? Was it during summer when the river is mostly dried up? So the elephants and bullocks could walk through them? Maybe there was no means to lift the fallen cannon and put it back on the cart? Traveling a distance of 340 kilometers with heavy object would have taken many months.

The cannon was casted from blending five metals like iron, copper, tin, bronze and brass. That is why it is heavy, durable, and rust-proof. It does not get hot under blazing sun, though we could not put that to test as it was barricaded by fence. Diameter of the bore is approximately 15 inches. There was a tinge of green on the surface.

If we have to believe the guide the explosion was so loud that the cannoneer had to jump into a nearby pond after setting the fire to avoid going deaf. He even showed us the alleged pit, that was covered in thorny bushes now. Another anecdote is that in 1854 magistrate of Bijapura tried to auction this cannon for 150 INR, but auction was called off due to unknown reasons.

Near the faucet of cannon there is an engraved elephant in between the jaws of lion illustrating the elephant is being killed by the lion. This is supposed to be the highlight of cannon. The inscription in Arabic/Persian narrates two facts as narrated by the guide; one the gun was casted in 1549 in Ahmadnagar from bell metal by a Turkish named Muhammad Bin Husain Rumi and another was Aurangzeb thwarted Bijapura in 1885-1686. Even British had the intention of carrying the gun to back home, but dropped the plan due to its heaviness.