Blowing from guns
Topic: The Revolt of 1857 · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Rebels and the Raj"
Meaning
Blowing from guns was a form of execution. The condemned man was tied to the mouth of a cannon, and the cannon was fired. During the revolt of 1857, the British used it, along with hanging rebels in rows. These executions were held in public on purpose, as a "performance of terror", to warn others what happened to rebels. British newspapers printed pictures of them and presented them as justice.
Example
On 3 October 1857, the Illustrated London News printed a picture of rebels being blown from guns at Peshawar, with soldiers and onlookers watching.
Don't confuse with
- Martial law of 1857: these were the Acts that gave officers and ordinary Britons the power to punish rebels with death. Blowing from guns was one way that sentence was carried out.
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