Mysore Iron Rocket: 8-Inch Tube, 2 KM Range?!

Mysorean rockets were iron-cased black-powder rockets used by the armies of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, whose capital was Srirangapatna, a Jaladurga (river-island water fort) wrapped by the Kaveri in Karnataka. A tube of soft hammered iron, about 20 cm long and 3.8–7.6 cm wide, was lashed to a bamboo shaft of roughly 1 m. Unlike the paper, wood or bamboo casings common at the time, the iron wall could contain higher chamber pressure, which allowed tighter propellant packing, more thrust and a reported range of about 1–2 km. The bamboo shaft kept the rocket flying nose-first, and rocket men set the launch angle from the tube diameter and target distance. At the Battle of Pollilur in 1780, a stray rocket is thought to have ignited East India Company ammunition tumbrils, and a Pollilur mural survives on the western wall of Daria Daulat Bagh. After Srirangapatna fell in 1799 the British found 600 launchers and 9,000 empty rockets, and Woolwich began rocket research in 1801 that led to the Congreve rocket. This 3D explainer uses hoop stress, chamber pressure and drag stabilization to show why a simple iron tube changed rocket history. Empirical References: Roddam Narasimha (NAL), "Rockets in Mysore and Britain, 1750–1850"; UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List Ref. 5895, Monuments of Srirangapatna Island Town; Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Srirangapatna Fort & Daria Daulat Bagh; Macquarie University, Seringapatam 1799 archive. Mysorean rockets, Mysore rockets, Tipu Sultan rockets, Hyder Ali rockets, iron cased rockets, Srirangapatna fort, Battle of Pollilur, Anglo-Mysore wars, Congreve rockets, Daria Daulat Bagh, Indian engineering history, ancient Indian technology, rocket science history, Kaveri island fort, 3D history explained #MysoreRockets #Srirangapatna #IndianEngineering #RocketHistory #Shorts Technical Disclaimer: Educational 3D reconstruction: visuals are AI-generated illustrations based on surviving artefacts and published studies. Dimensions, ranges and event details are approximate and vary by source (the rocket trigger at Pollilur is "thought", not certain). Human figures are symbolic mannequins. Historical content is presented neutrally for education and is not instructional.