
BHANGlAN Dl TOP or the gun belonging to the Bhangi misl, known as Zamzama, is a massive, heavyweight gun, 80 pounder, 14 ft. 41/2 inches in length, with bore aperture 91/2 inches, cast in Lahore in copper and brass by Shah Nazir at the orders of Shah Wall Khan, the wazir of Ahmad Shah Durrani. In English literature, it has been immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as Kirn`s gun. It is perhaps the largest specimen of Indian cannon casting, and is celebrated in Sikh historical annals more as a marvel of ordnance than for its efficiency in the battlefield.
CHARHAT SINGH (d. 1770), grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was the eldest of the four sons of Sardar Naudh Singh. He took to arms while still very young and started taking part in the raids and expeditions led by his father. He also fought in the Sikhs` skirmishes with the Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Durrani. After the death of his father, he broke away from the Faizullapuria Misi and determined to acquire territory for himself. He left his ancestral village of Sukkarchakk and established his headquarters at Gujranwala, where he had gathered a considerable following within a short time.
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