Summary

Indian matchlock musket or Toradar.

One of a collection of weapons seized from mutineers during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859), and subsequently donated to the Melbourne Public Library in 1860 by Earl Charles Canning, Governor-General of India.

Physical Description

Cal. .625 in., smooth bore barrel 1054 mm long, ornamental grooves. Pan on right hand side, V notch rear sight. Fully stocked, secured to barrel by 5 bands, ramrod missing, iron trigger & 2 sling swivels. Straight stock with ornamental brass mounts, serpentine protrudes from piece of shaped bone attached to top of stock.

Significance

This is one of 287 weapons and associated items from the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859), donated to the Melbourne Public Library in 1860 by Earl Charles Canning, Governor-General of India. The weapons had been seized from the Indian mutineers by British troops during the course of the mutiny.

The donation was in response to a suggestion by Redmond Barry, Chairman of Trustees, that a letter be sent to Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria, requesting him to write to the Governor-General of India. The letter to Barkly, dated 9 May 1859, noted that 'such objects placed in the Museum attached to the Library would afford interesting illustration of oriental national customs and peculiarities.'

The weapons were also war booty, signifying the relief of Victorians that their fellow colonists in India were once more safe. Many Victorian colonists (including Barry) had relatives in the British army and administration in India, had anxiously followed the bulletins of the Indian Mutiny in the newspapers, and raised funds locally to aid the cause. Some of the weapons were displayed in the main stairwell of the Library, alongside Australian Aboriginal weapons. Here they became symbols of the defeat of local peoples as the British Empire expanded around the globe.

The collection was subsequently transferred to the National Gallery of Victoria, and thence in parts to the Industrial & Technological Museum during the early decades of the twentieth century. At each stage in its history, the collection has been gradually reduced in size through items being presented or disposed of.

More Information

  • Collection Names

    Canning Indian Mutiny Collection

  • Collecting Areas

    Arms

  • Acquisition Information

    Donation & Subsequent Transfer from National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Earl Charles John Canning, 27 Nov 1860

  • Place & Date Used

    India, 1800-1899

  • Collector

    Earl Charles John Canning, Calcutta, India, 1860
    Canning was Governor General of India, 1856-1862.

  • Classification

    Arms & armour, Firearms, Longarms

  • Category

    History & Technology

  • Discipline

    Technology

  • Type of item

    Object

  • Overall Dimensions

    155.5 cm (Length)

  • Exhibition Collection Management

    1555 mm (Length), 60 mm (Width), 110 mm (Height)

  • References

    [Book] David, Saul. 2002. The Indian Mutiny, 1857.
    [Book] Galbally, Ann & Inglis, Alison. 1992. The First Collections: The Public Library and the National Gallery of Victoria in the 1850s and 1860s.
    [Book] Penrose, Edgar H. 1949. Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of Firearms in the Museum of Applied Science of Victoria. 161. 14.

  • Keywords

    Rifles & Muskets: Indian