Gunpowder - A Curse or A Compliment?

Originating from China, gunpowder is the earliest known chemical explosive (at one point in time). It is an exceptionally crucial segment in human evolution, as humans have turned to greed and destroyed each other. It was invented during the late Tang Dynasty. The earliest recorded chemical formula for gunpowder goes back to the Song Dynasty and because of that the invention of gunpowder has shaped human history in a way that can never be forgotten.

Introduction
Originating from China, gunpowder is the earliest known chemical explosive. It is made from a mixture of sulfur, carbon, and potassium nitrate. Nowadays it is more commonly known as black powder, as to differentiate between the smokeless powder used in modern days. It is an exceptionally crucial segment in human evolution, as humans turned to greed and destroyed each other.

History
There is limited information about its origin, yet historians believe that gunpowder came from China. It was invented during the late Tang Dynasty, which is the 9th century. Yet, the earliest recorded chemical formula for gunpowder dates back to the Song Dynasty in the 11th century. It is more commonly used for explosives, fire arrows, bombs, etc. All these weapons were operated until the arrival of the gun. Bombs had not developed at a fast pace and eventually progressed into modern day weapons like the grenade. The guns however, continued to express more and more generations of it, leading to the development of extensive artillery pieces during the 15th century, established by states such as the Duchy of Burgundy. Firearms came into play around the 17th century, dominating early modern warfare around Europe. Improvement of cannons firing harder blows for a greater collision against defences led to the invention of the star fort and the bastion in the Western world, where old fashioned city walls and castles were no longer suitable for defence. Use of gunpowder technology also spread throughout the Islamic empire, India, Korea, and Japan. The alleged gunpowder empires of the early modern period consisted of the Mughal empire, the Safavid empire and the Ottoman Empire.

Impact
The impact on the world due to gunpowder was mostly a curse, despite what some believe. It completely changed the face of warfare in Europe and played a crucial and destructive role during the age of exploration and colonial expansion. This led to many deaths and bloodshed with the discovery of the Americas, and later the colonization by the European powers, along with the European exploitation of African nations through the introduction of gunpowder weaponry, all to promote warfare and slave trade. This caused 12 million Africans- with the majority being males, to be taken to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries, which placed Africa in a political, social, and economical situation close to disaster. After that, around the late 19th century, the use of gunpowder died out, being replaced by the invention of smokeless powder.

Conclusion
Overall, the invention of gunpowder has shaped human history in a way that can never be forgotten, despite the use of smokeless powder these days. Although it represents a major portion of human intelligence, it also represents greed, power, hatred, bitterness, and war. Even if smokeless powder has taken many lives, we should never forget what exactly led to and started the foundation of warfare.

Reference:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder

https://www.britannica.com/technology/gunpowder

Author biography

Aishath Amna, 13, is part of the Leaders of Tomorrow programme by the Ugail Foundation. She has particularly enjoyed writing this piece, and hopes to do more such writing in the future. In her spare time, she likes to read, sketch, make funny comics and make (and eat) brownies.

Cite this article as:

Aishath Amna, Gun Powder - A Curse or A Compliment?,  theCircle Composition, Volume 2, (2022). https://theCircleComposition.org/gunpowder/