The First Invention in Chemical Explosives - Essay Example

Introduction Considered to be the first invention in chemical explosives in the world, Gunpowder was invented by Chinese Alchemy in 9th century during the Tang Dynasty ruling. Historians also argue that it was invented in the 11th century during Song Dynasty ruling. Gunpowder invention is popularly listed as one among the four great inventions in China. It was the only chemical explosive used in most of the warfare until the 19th century, when actually the most popular chemical explosives like Nitrocellulose, Nitroglycerine and TNT were invented. This paper describes the history of the gunpowder and how strategists changed it as a black powder. It gives brief information about the impact of gunpowder on history and also explains how it created gunpowder empires. This paper also focuses on the most famous Gunpowder Empires in the early modern period. The creation of gunpowder empires was considered to be a giant leap for Islamic countries towards stabilizing the politics and identifying themselves as territories. All these empires impacted politics and cultures of various parts of the world. Literature Review Invention of Fireworks, which is led by Gunpowder in the 9th century by Chinese Alchemists as an elixir of immortality has largely impacted the entire world (Sivin, Nathan, 1994). Initially gunpowder was used in fireworks and pill-making process in the 9th century. When the formulae of gunpowder came to the strategists, they made it as a substance, which was explosive in nature. According to the Chinese formulae in the 10th and 11th centuries, Gunpowder was made with 27 to 50 percent of nitrate. But as time passed, the nitrate levels in Gunpowder was increased to large extent so that it could become an explosive bomb such as grenade bomb. When you read the book “Huolongjing” written by Jiao Yu, you can clearly understand that the nitrate levels in the 14th century were increased to 90 percent (Needham, Joseph, 1986) Most of the Islamic countries were also impacted due to the Gunpowder. By the mid of the 12th century most of the Arab scientists also acquired the knowledge on gunpowder. During the wars against Transoxania in 1219 and 1240, Genghis Khan used a Chinese catapult unit to invade Caucasus. It is not a surprise to say that the invention or introduction of Gunpowder had changed the destiny of many wars in the world (Khan, Iqtidar Alam, 1994). With the introduction of Gunpowder to Medieval Army, the facets of medieval warfare have been changed. The use of Gunpowder had been continued in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries in various ways. In the 13th century the invention or technology reached European countries and Islamic Countries. Later on, in the 14th century, using gunpowder became a commonplace in most of the English and French countries. European countries used gunpowder to introduce most advanced weapons that helped them for self defense and to invade enemies. But the interesting part is that the Central Asian countries took the advantage of this latest technology and got benefited by creating their own gunpowder empires. In fact, the most famous gunpowder empires in the history of the world were from Central Asia only. During the 13th and 14th centuries the cannons of gunpowder were very big but when it came to the 15th century, the portable cannons of gunpowder made a major impact on the wars. This phase in the warfare was considered to be a major revolution in the world. The small cannons of gunpowder gave a new or rebirth to the modern army. Gunpowder was not only used in explosive bombs but also in fireworks that people used normally on celebrations. Most of the historians say that Chinese used gunpowder in only fireworks on religious occasions, but the manual written by Wu Ching Tsung Yao in 1044 (Burke, 1978) made it clear that Chinese used gunpowder to make explosive bombs and cannons. In fact, the rocket named “Flying Crow with Magic Fire” had influenced the way demolitions taken during the Ming Dynasty ruling. This rocket was considered to be one of the most powerful weapons used to destroy oppositions. With the advanced technology, Europe made advanced weapon that could easily destroy the opposition catapults. Gunpowder made a lot of changes to the wars happened at the time of Medieval Age. At the starting of the medieval age, troops used to fight on foot with a weapon in hand, but the scenario was completely changed at the time of medieval period because of the technology changes that were brought in by gunpowder. By the end of medieval age, the wars were changed due to the weapons made by using gunpowder. Majorly, there were two types of weapons used in the wars at the end of medieval age: Handheld Guns and Artillery Guns. But, since the 14th century, the Chinese minimized the usage of gunpowder in all aspects (Ross, 1982). The Hundred Years War was considered to be a warfare that used gunpowder extensively to destroy the oppositions. France became the winner of the war with superior artillery made by gunpowder. With the arrival of gunpowder, the old weapons like catapults and battering rams were completely ignored and in the place of catapults, the powerful guns played their role in destroying enemies. With the change of weapons and war structures, the change in social values, cultures and social structure was apparent after Medieval Age. With the invention of big cannons, the invasion of castles became much easier for military troops, unlike in olden days when troops used to wait till the opposition run out of food. This is what made people go and live in their fashionable homes. When the castles were not going to provide the required security, what was the logic behind living in those cold places and stay away from the society? So, by end of the14th century the big military buildings that were built by using humongous rocks became obsolete. This is considered to be the major change in people lives as they really wanted to stay close to the society to lead normal life safely. This credit had been attributed to gunpowder and cannons made by gunpowder. The usage of gunpowder was extended to decorate the stages while creating mysterious environment. Gunpowder was used in Song Dynasty to make the stages invisible while performances are going on. So, gunpowder not only impacted the warfare but also the way celebrations take place in most of the places. Historians and Scholars always use the term Gunpowder Empires when they speak about empires of Mughal, Safavid, Islamic and Ottoman. There are several reasons behind creating these gunpowder empires in the world. Gunpowder Empire was a large area or a territory which dominates other parts of world in terms of firearms and weapons that help military troops to destroy oppositions. The sad part is that the inventor, China did not take a domination role in weapons and firearms, which Islamic countries did and created gunpowder empires. In the early 1400, most of the military troops stopped to train the resources and instead started using weapons that were made by using gunpowder. Starting from the small cannons that would be used by the military for personal defense to big cannons that would be used to destroy cities and large areas; all the cannons were made with gunpowder. In some areas, the complete transformation of the army was taken place to take the advantage of these gunpowder weapons. This has made a huge difference in majority of the counties. The military troops that were successful in reorganizing armies became very strong and other military troops that were failed in doing so became very weak. This was the time when some of the Islamic countries left behind whereas several European Countries took a big leap in their military powers. Of course, it is a false belief that modernization in the 14th century was all about gunpowder revolution because by the end of the 16th century, it was Islamic countries that were strong in the military power, not European countries. The most powerful Islamic states were Ottoman Empire located at Istanbul, Mughal Empire located in India and Safavid Empire (Lawrence Davidso, 2006) located in Iran. All these empires had several common things, which are well known to the entire world. This is the reason why historians called them as Gunpowder Empires. Ottoman Empire was considered to be the longest lived empire when compared to other two empires. Ottoman Empire (Stephen Turnbull, 2003) began in early 1300 and existed till early 1900s whereas the Safavid Empire, a short lived empire, began in the mid 1500s and existed till 1722. The Mughal Empire located in India began in the mid 1500s and existed till 1850. Several things had been changed after these empires were collapsed. If we look at the Mughal (Empire R. Bentley 1879), there were some predominant changes came out after the collapse. After the 18th century, they were stable and involved in life with an identified territory. Yet, before the 18th century Nomads used to rule this territory with their brilliance and mastery of horses but after the 18th century there was a complete visible change as the importance of Nomads decreased rapidly. Conclusion Invention of gunpowder influenced the entire world in many ways. Though it was invented for pill-making and fireworks making, the applications of gunpowder were numerous. By replacing the traditional weapons, gunpowder has changed the way wars take place since 14th century. People started using gunpowder not only for fireworks making but also to create explosive weapons that could invade enemies completely. Stage shows and celebrations looked incomplete without any fireworks or fire spry in the 14th century. The catapults became incapable in front of cannons made by gunpowder and people started thinking of living within the society safely. The creation of gunpowder empires made a lot of changes in Central Asia. The politics were stabilized and changes in culture were apparent after these gunpowder empires were collapsed. The invention of gunpowder not only changed the warfare but also culture and politics in many places. Bibliography Anderson, William. Sketch of the mode of manufacturing gunpowder at the Ishapore mills.1862.Print Bentley,R. and Son. Invasions of India from Central Asia. London.1879.Print Khan, Iqtidar. Alam Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India. Oxford University Press.2004.Print Lawrence Davidson, Arthur Goldschmid. A Concise History of the Middle East. Westview Press, 2006.p. 153.Print Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology; the Gunpowder Epic. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. 1986.Print Sivin, Nathan, Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies. Harvard University Press.1968.Print Stephen Turnbull. The Ottoman Empire 1326-1699. Essential histories, vol. 62. 2003.Print Read More