Firearms/Guns: Still used in Original Context or Not?
Guns have been in existence for a long time and have been used for different purposes (good and bad). But we do not know the main purpose for which it was created. I’m interested in finding out how and why it was created, also to find out if it is still being used in the same way it originally was created for today.
Definition of Fire Arms/ Guns
A gun (synonym: firearm) according to the Merriam Webster online Dictionary is “a piece of ordnance usually with high muzzle velocity and comparatively flat trajectory” (1). I was also defined as “…….the ideal weapon of the detached, the reticent, the almost autistic” by Oswald Mosley (1896 - 1980) a past British politician.(2)
History of Fire Arms/ Guns
Firearms/guns are devices that use Gun Powder to function or operate. Gun powder was originally invented by The Chinese by accident in around 850 A.D when they were trying to get the elixir of immortality. It was first used for military purposes by the Chinese in 919 A.D. Gun powder was used in a weapon called the fire lance by the Song Dynasty in 1126 when they invaded the Jurchens (a rival tribe to the songs). According to Wikipedia the Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in china between 960 – 1279 CE that was very powerful, skilled and creative. (3) The invention of the gun powder never went past the crudest form so it was abandoned and as a military weapon.
Gun powder got to the Middle East in the 1300’s from my research, how gun powder got to the Middle East wasn’t really specified but it was said that a Syrian Al- Hassan said that he saw Mamluks use gun powder powered weapons against the Mongols during the Battle of Ain Jalut:
Al-Hassan claims that the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 saw the Mamluks use against the Mongols in "the first cannon in history" gunpowder formulae which were almost identical with the ideal composition for explosive gunpowder. However, Khan states that it was invading Mongols who...