We don’t celebrate one ( some thing we should do on 20 Apr & some thing on which I have been pondering upon, details in subsequent paras)
Now some details.
The British East India Company raised the first regular company of Artillery in 1748, with a small percentage of Subcontinent Gunners called Gun Lashkars, Tindals and Serangs.
Bombay Artillery was raised on September 28, 1827, and was later on renamed 5 (Bombay) Mountain Battery.
Thus Sep 28 is celebrated as the 'Gunners Day' in India.
In the aftermath of 1857, a majority of the Artillery units were disbanded with only the mountain batteries (Like J&K mountain Bty) being retained for development in the rugged North West Frontier during Afghan Wars.
The Indians obviously skip/ gloss over the ‘real Artillery History in India’, because that’s Muslim History
Let me clarify
Muslim Mughal Emperor Babur introduced Artillery in India, in the Battle of Panipat on *20 Apr in Since this morning I was inundated by messages of Greetings & Best Wishes for the ‘196th Gunners Day’
As the Col in Chief of the Pakistan Regiment of the Artillery, I fell as my duty to correct the record.
On 28 Sep, Indian Arty celebrates their ‘Gunner Day’. People have picked up this from the social media & have started to send congratulations/ greetings/best wishes.
This Shows how shallow the social media has made us & how easily we get influenced.
Amongst the 100’s of messages that I received, were messages from senior serving & retired Gunner officers.
Those sharing this message did not even notice that they were sharing Indian Artillery Insignia.
In the aftermath of 1857, a majority of the Artillery units were disbanded with only the mountain batteries (Like J&K mountain Bty) being retained for development in the rugged North West Frontier during Afghan Wars.
The Indians obviously skip/ gloss over the ‘real Artillery History in India’, because that’s Muslim History
Let me clarify
Muslim Mughal Emperor Babur introduced Artillery in India, in the Battle of Panipat on 20 Apr in 1526, where he decisively used gunpowder firearms and field artillery and defeated the much larger army of Ibrahim Lodhi.
Subsequently Artillery remained a hall mark of Muslims in South Asia/Sub continent
For example, The Zamzama Gun (Urdu: زمزمہ, meaning "thunder" or "roar", sometimes written "Zam-Zammah" or "Zam-Zammeh") also known as Bhangianwali Toap بھنگیاں والی توب " is a large bore cannon.
It was cast in about 1757 in Lahore (present-day Pakistan) during the Durrani Empire.
It is currently on display in front of the Lahore Museum in Lahore, Pakistan.
Replicas of Zamzam are placed in almost all Pak Arty formations/Regiments. A replica is also placed in CJCSC office.
The journal issued by School of Arty Nowshera is also called Zamzama.
Furthermore Muslims also introduced Rocket Artillery in Bharat (India) in the shape of Mysorean rockets, which were iron-cased rockets , which were successfully deployed for military use.
The Mysorean army, under Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan (Tiger), used the rockets effectively against the British East India Company during the 1780s and 1790s.
So we in Pakistan are the real custodians of the ‘Gunners Day’ in South Asia.
I will now formally take up that from next year, we start Celebrating Pak Gunners Day on 20 Apr ( next year being the 497th Gunners Day).
We in Pakistan should also proudly start preparing for the 500 th Gunner Day on 20 Apr 2026.
Col in Chief of the Pakistan Regiment of the Artillery
Pakistan Zindabad
