A pair of Royal gold koftgari steel camel-mounted guns (zamburaks)
Ajmer, Rajasthan, dated Samvat 1952/ AD 1895
the steel barrels with flaring gadrooned muzzles, decorated in gold overlay at the centre with bands of inscriptions in nagari and palmettes, engraved geometric and foliate decoration, the stocks and butts of wood painted in polychrome and gold with floral decoration, mounted with steel plates, one in the form of a bird to each side, embossed numbers to butts, '923' and '924' respectively, mounted
each 115.5 cm. long(2)
Footnotes:
Provenance
Rao Saheb Bahadur Singh, Thakur of Masuda (reg. 1863-1903).

Inscriptions: 'Maharaj Shri Bahadur Singh Ji, Rajasthan Masuda Samvat 1952'.

The Zamburak, meaning wasp, was a form of camel-mounted light artillery used by the Islamic Gunpowder Empires as a means of overcoming the issue of manoeuvring heavy artillery over rugged terrain. They become deadly weapons in the 18th century and were used against the Safavid army at the Battle of Gulnabad and by Nader Shah at the battles of Damghan (1729), Yeghevard (1735) and Karnal (1739). In India they were employed at the Battle of Panipat (1761) and during the second Anglo-Sikh Wars (1848-49).

A photograph by Hugh Owen (1808-97) in the Royal Collection shows a similar gun mounted upon a saddle at the Great Exhibition in 1851 (RCIN 2800031).