Jezail
Encyclopedia
The jezail was a simple, cost-efficient and often hand-made muzzle-loading long arm commonly used in British India, Central Asia
and parts of the Middle East
in the past.
Jezails tended to have very long barrels. These sorts of long weapons were never common in Europe, and only were otherwise seen in American rifles like the Kentucky Rifle. The American rifles were used for hunting, and tended to be of a smaller caliber (.35 to .45 or so being typical). Jezails were usually designed for military use, and therefore tended to be of larger calibers than the American rifles, with .50 to .75 caliber and larger being common. Larger calibers were possible because the long length of the typical jezail meant that it was heavier than typical muskets of the time. Jezails typically weighed around 12 to 14 pounds, compared to 9 to 10 pounds for a typical musket. The heavy weight of the jezail allowed it to absorb more force from the round, imparting less recoil to the weapon's user.
Many jezails were smooth bore weapons, but some had their barrels rifled. The rifling, combined with the barrel's long length, made these weapons very accurate for their time. The long barrel made reloading easier from horseback, as the butt stock would rest upon the ground while the muzzle would be at eye level.
The firing mechanism was typically either a matchlock
or a flintlock
. Since flintlock mechanisms were complex and difficult to manufacture, many jezails used the lock mechanism from stolen or broken Brown Bess
muskets.
The stocks were hand made and were very ornately decorated. Jezail stocks also featured a very distinctive curve which is not seen in the stocks of other muskets. The exact function of this curve is debated. Some say that it is purely decorative in nature. Others say that the curve of the stock allowed it to be tucked under the arm and cradled tightly against the body, as opposed to being held to the shoulder like a typical musket or rifle. The argument against this method of firing is that the flash pan would be dangerously close to the face and the weapon would be harder to aim. It is more likely that the rifle was only tucked under the arm of the rider whilst riding horse or camel. It has also been stated that the weapon was fired by grasping the stock near the trigger, like a pistol, while the curved portion is tucked under the firers forearm. This allowed the rifle to be fired with one hand while mounted.
Jezails were often fired from a forked rest, or a horn or metal bi-pod.
s during ambushes. This tactic repeatedly devastated the British during their doomed retreat
from Kabul
to Jalalabad
. Despite the advantages over the Brown Bess, British forces were typically able to defeat jezail armed Afghans when they fought on relatively flat terrain.
In the First Anglo-Afghan War
the British established a cantonment
outside of Kabul with dirt walls approximately waist high. Surrounding the cantonment were several abandoned forts which, although out of range of British muskets, were close enough for jezail fire. When ghazi and other Afghan forces besieged Kabul and the cantonment, they occupied the forts and used them to snipe British forces from a safe range.
A description from the British Library
dating to the First Anglo-Afghan War:
—in the Battle of Maiwand
during his military service in Afghanistan. In A Study in Scarlet
Watson mentions being wounded in the shoulder. However, in The Sign of the Four Watson gives the location of the wound as in his leg. In The Noble Bachelor Watson refers to the Jezail bullet being "in one of my limbs." These discrepancies have caused debate by Sherlock Holmes fans about which of these locations is the "correct" location of the wound.
The jezail is mentioned repeatedly in some of Wilbur Smith's books, most notably "Monsoon".
The jezail was also mentioned in the George MacDonald Fraser
adventure Flashman
, whose protagonist describes the awful slaughter of British Army troops retreating from Kabul
to Jalalabad
by Afghan jezailchis.
It is used as a metaphor of a cheap weapon in Rudyard Kipling
's poetry describing British casualties in colonial wars:
. Derivatives of the jezail, barely recognizable, and usually termed 'country-made weapons', are in use in rural India - especially in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and parts of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
in the past.
Features
Jezails were generally hand made weapons, and consequently they varied quite a bit in their construction. Jezails were seen as very personal weapons, and unlike the typical military weapons of the time which were very plain and utilitarian, jezails tended to be very well crafted and were usually very beautifully and artistically decorated.Jezails tended to have very long barrels. These sorts of long weapons were never common in Europe, and only were otherwise seen in American rifles like the Kentucky Rifle. The American rifles were used for hunting, and tended to be of a smaller caliber (.35 to .45 or so being typical). Jezails were usually designed for military use, and therefore tended to be of larger calibers than the American rifles, with .50 to .75 caliber and larger being common. Larger calibers were possible because the long length of the typical jezail meant that it was heavier than typical muskets of the time. Jezails typically weighed around 12 to 14 pounds, compared to 9 to 10 pounds for a typical musket. The heavy weight of the jezail allowed it to absorb more force from the round, imparting less recoil to the weapon's user.
Many jezails were smooth bore weapons, but some had their barrels rifled. The rifling, combined with the barrel's long length, made these weapons very accurate for their time. The long barrel made reloading easier from horseback, as the butt stock would rest upon the ground while the muzzle would be at eye level.
The firing mechanism was typically either a matchlock
Matchlock
The matchlock was the first mechanism, or "lock" invented to facilitate the firing of a hand-held firearm. This design removed the need to lower by hand a lit match into the weapon's flash pan and made it possible to have both hands free to keep a firm grip on the weapon at the moment of firing,...
or a flintlock
Flintlock
Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. The term may also apply to the mechanism itself. Introduced at the beginning of the 17th century, the flintlock rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the doglock, matchlock and wheellock...
. Since flintlock mechanisms were complex and difficult to manufacture, many jezails used the lock mechanism from stolen or broken Brown Bess
Brown Bess
Brown Bess is a nickname of uncertain origin for the British Army's Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives. This musket was used in the era of the expansion of the British Empire and acquired symbolic importance at least as significant as its physical importance. It was in use for over a hundred...
muskets.
The stocks were hand made and were very ornately decorated. Jezail stocks also featured a very distinctive curve which is not seen in the stocks of other muskets. The exact function of this curve is debated. Some say that it is purely decorative in nature. Others say that the curve of the stock allowed it to be tucked under the arm and cradled tightly against the body, as opposed to being held to the shoulder like a typical musket or rifle. The argument against this method of firing is that the flash pan would be dangerously close to the face and the weapon would be harder to aim. It is more likely that the rifle was only tucked under the arm of the rider whilst riding horse or camel. It has also been stated that the weapon was fired by grasping the stock near the trigger, like a pistol, while the curved portion is tucked under the firers forearm. This allowed the rifle to be fired with one hand while mounted.
Jezails were often fired from a forked rest, or a horn or metal bi-pod.
The jezail in the Anglo-Afghan Wars
During this period the jezail was the primary ranged weapon of Afghan warriors and was used with great effect against British troops. British Brown Bess smoothbore muskets were effective at only 150 yards and accurate at 50 yards. Because of their advantage in range, Afghan rebels typically used the jezail from the tops of cliffs along valleys and defileDefile (geography)
Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front...
s during ambushes. This tactic repeatedly devastated the British during their doomed retreat
Massacre of Elphinstone's Army
The Massacre of Elphinstone's Army was the destruction by Afghan forces, led by Akbar Khan, the son of Dost Mohammad Khan, of a combined British and Indian force of the British East India Company, led by Major General William Elphinstone, in January 1842....
from Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
to Jalalabad
Jalalabad
Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
. Despite the advantages over the Brown Bess, British forces were typically able to defeat jezail armed Afghans when they fought on relatively flat terrain.
In the First Anglo-Afghan War
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst...
the British established a cantonment
Cantonment
A cantonment is a temporary or semi-permanent military or police quarters. The word cantonment is derived from the French word canton meaning corner or district, as is the name of the Cantons of Switzerland. In South Asia, the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations...
outside of Kabul with dirt walls approximately waist high. Surrounding the cantonment were several abandoned forts which, although out of range of British muskets, were close enough for jezail fire. When ghazi and other Afghan forces besieged Kabul and the cantonment, they occupied the forts and used them to snipe British forces from a safe range.
A description from the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
dating to the First Anglo-Afghan War:
The jezail in British literature
The jezail is most famous, at least in Western literature, as the weapon which wounded Dr. Watson—the fictional biographer of the fictional detective Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
—in the Battle of Maiwand
Battle of Maiwand
The Battle of Maiwand in 1880 was one of the principal battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under the leadership of Malalai Anaa, the legendary woman of Afghanistan, the Afghan followers of Ayub Khan defeated the British Army in one of the rare nineteenth-century victories of an Asian force...
during his military service in Afghanistan. In A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing his new character of Sherlock Holmes, who later became one of the most famous literary detective characters. He wrote the story in 1886, and it was published the next year...
Watson mentions being wounded in the shoulder. However, in The Sign of the Four Watson gives the location of the wound as in his leg. In The Noble Bachelor Watson refers to the Jezail bullet being "in one of my limbs." These discrepancies have caused debate by Sherlock Holmes fans about which of these locations is the "correct" location of the wound.
The jezail is mentioned repeatedly in some of Wilbur Smith's books, most notably "Monsoon".
The jezail was also mentioned in the George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser, OBE was an English-born author of Scottish descent, who wrote both historical novels and non-fiction books, as well as several screenplays.-Early life and military career:...
adventure Flashman
Flashman (novel)
Flashman is a 1969 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the first of the Flashman novels.-Plot introduction:Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's Schooldays...
, whose protagonist describes the awful slaughter of British Army troops retreating from Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
to Jalalabad
Jalalabad
Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
by Afghan jezailchis.
It is used as a metaphor of a cheap weapon in Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's poetry describing British casualties in colonial wars:
- A scrimmage in a Border Station
- A canter down some dark defile
- Two thousand pounds of education
- Drops to a ten-rupee jezail.
Contemporary use
The jezail no longer sees widespread use in warfare of any nature. Limited numbers were, however, used by Afghan Militia during the Soviet War in AfghanistanSoviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. Derivatives of the jezail, barely recognizable, and usually termed 'country-made weapons', are in use in rural India - especially in the state of Uttar Pradesh.