
Zamburak - Petiver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamburak
======
DenisM
A similar weapon used later:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recoilless_rifle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recoilless_rifle)
For example: [https://www.militaryimages.net/media/jeep-with-57mm-
recoille...](https://www.militaryimages.net/media/jeep-with-57mm-recoilless-
rifle.103050/)

[...] lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher [...] elimination
of much of the heavy and bulky recoil-counteracting equipment of a
conventional cannon as well as a thinner-walled barrel, and thus the launch of
a relatively large projectile from a platform that would not be capable of
handling the weight or recoil of a conventional gun of the same size. [...]

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andrewflnr
I guess you mean similar in terms of tactical role? Certainly not in tech,
besides being both being relatively large guns.

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DenisM
Yes.

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abeppu
The top image in that article has a drawing or maybe engraving with the
weapons on the left, and on the right is ... a wand with a hand at one end and
a fish in the center? Why? What is this and how did it relate to the gun?

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thechao
It's a standard:
[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29778/29778-h/29778-h.htm#Cam...](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29778/29778-h/29778-h.htm#Camel)

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walrus01
More specifically a standard with a hand on top is a twelver Shiite symbol.
You'll see the same hand on top of Shiite mosques. This is from the time of
the Safavid empire.

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walrus01
It doesn't mean literally only wasp, "zambur" also means bee in Farsi.

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avodonosov
Russian version of this article says the name translates from Pashto as
"little bee" (althugh the sentence is built such that I'm not sure if they
mean the name of the weapon itself or of the warriors - zemburekchi)

> Считалось, что артиллеристы на верблюдах, которые именовались "зембурекчи",
> способны были досаждать неприятелю подобно пчёлам (отсюда и название (в
> переводе с пуштунского - "маленькая пчёлка").

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wruza
-chi is an eastern suffix similar to -er (teach/teacher), if that helps.

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mda
I think -ci (-çi -cı etc.) suffix is specifically Turkish.

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wruza
You're right, I meant it is pretty common in turkish-ish group (tatar, mongol,
etc), not all East.

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mda
Probably only Turkic languages, not Mongolian either.

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wruza
For me that probability fails. Look I'm quarter tatar myself and they
definitely use -chi (-че, -чы) in that exact sense. Same thing for surrounding
regions, and I can even detect similar construct in mongolian songs and simple
speeches when I hear these (it is reduced to -ch there). E.g. эм - drug, эмч -
doctor, жолоо - to drive, жолооч - driver.

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pavel_lishin
I can't imagine the difficulty in training these animals to ignore the sounds.

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bargle0
Maybe they eventually they go deaf[0].

[0]
[https://www.newsarchive.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2002/06...](https://www.newsarchive.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2002/06/hunting-
and-hearing-msu-studies-gun-noise-effect-dogs)

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nyanpasu64
> The research group also includes Dr. David Jennings, a neurologist, and Dr.
> Amy Janda, a small animal intern, as well as two veterinary students. Janda
> said the sound at 60 decibels is comparable to half the noise of a jet
> engine.

60 decibels is the geometric mean of a barely perceptible noise and a jet
engine.

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29athrowaway
Must be certainly very unhealthy for the camel. Can't imagine the blast sound,
and the recoil not having an effect on the animal.

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sswaner
Some good examples of these on display in the fortress museums in Bikaner and
Jaipur, both in India. I can't imagine them being all that accurate, but the
range must have been better than smaller caliber alternatives, resulting in a
psychological effect.

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folli
Further below in the article they mention that Gatling guns were mounted on
camels, too. This is even more interesting, given the recoil and trying to
keep an aim.

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figomore
It remains me Metal Slug games.

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m3kw9
Which lead me to read all the famous battles from the Persian army’s Nader

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avodonosov
Check also other articles on that site - a lot of interesting stuff.

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eru
Wikipedia is fairly well known, I guess?

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avodonosov
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm)

