Views in India, China, and on the shores of the Red Sea / drawn by Prout, Stanfield, Cattermole, Purser, Cox, Austen, &c., from original sketches by Commander Robert Elliott. With descriptions by Emma Roberts.
- Elliot, Robert, active 1822.
- Date:
- [1835]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Views in India, China, and on the shores of the Red Sea / drawn by Prout, Stanfield, Cattermole, Purser, Cox, Austen, &c., from original sketches by Commander Robert Elliott. With descriptions by Emma Roberts. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![conspicuous situation in England, where it would attract the admiration of the whole of Europe. Others are of opinion, that we should commit an act more worthy of a despot than a generous conqueror, in adorning our capital with the spoils of foreign countries] and are better pleased that the gun should remain surrounded by buildings coeval with itself, and associated with its history. There can be no doubt that the loss of this gun would inflict the deepest sorrow and mortification upon the native inhabitants of Bejapore, who, both Moslem and Hindoo, approach it with great reverence, paying almost divine honours to a power which inspires them with awe and veneration. It is styled Mulki Meidan, or Moolk e Meidan, sovereign of the plain ; and English officers visiting Bejapore, have seen with surprise the native advance towards it with joined hands, and devotion in their countenances. One of these gentlemen observes, that white flowers were strewed on the bore, the forepart of the muzzle was smeared with cinnabar and oil, and there were marks as well as odours of lately-burned perfumes, which plainly indicated that an offer- ing had been made to the spirit residing in this warlike shrine. The gun is enriched with inscriptions and devices, in the florid style which characterizes Oriental embellish- ments of this nature: the portions not thus ornamented, present a surface so smooth and polished as to be absolutely slippery; and the sonorous sound of the metal proves the large proportion of silver of which it is composed. It is a common practice among young European officers, to effect an entrance through the mouth of this enormous piece of ordnance, the interior being furnished with a seat for their accommodation : it will contain five persons without much crowding; but the occupants, while enjoying themselves in their shady retreat, are often ejected by a very summary process. Some mischievous wight on the outside, moves the rings, striking them against the gun. The sound pro- duced is tremendous, and the vibrations so distressing, that out come the whole party as if they were shot. On the visit of Sir John Malcolm, during the period of his viceroyship at Bombay, the Satara Rajah, who holds the surrounding territories under the British government, directed that this gun should be fired off as an appropriate salute. Though not charged with more than half the weight of powder which its chamber could contain, the concussion was awful; it shook many of the buildings to their foundations, and the terrified inhabitants, as the reverberations rolled along, expected to see the domes and towers, survivors of former shocks, come tumbling about their ears. It is said by the natives, that Moolk e Meidan had a sister of similar size, named Kurk o Budglee, thunder and lightning, and that it was carried to Poonah. No trace, however, remains of this less fortunate twin ; if it ever existed, which is doubtful, it must have been melted down long ago. A model of the sovereign of the plain has been brought to England, and forms a part of a very noble collection of curiosities in the possession of an officer of the Bombay army. TOMB OF MAHOMED SHAH. Tlie Burra Gumbooz, great dome, as it is called by the natives, which surmounts the massive tomb of the most popular monarch of the Adil Shah dynasty, forms the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29353270_0103.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
