In 1500, 1521 and 1522, the small nation of Portugal attacked the mighty Chinese empire thousands of miles away from Portugal. The Chinese repulsed those attacks. However, when the British attacked a couple of centuries later, the Chinese were less successful. In all these wars, gunpowder weapons were a key driver of success. Ironically, gunpowder technology was first invented in China, where its early development occurred over a period of about 400 years before it diffused to Europe.

Why were the Chinese, who invented gunpowder, not the dominant power in firearms between 1450 and 1800? When, how and why did the Europeans grow superior to the Chinese in gunpowder technology? What drove the Chinese, the Ottoman Empire and various European nations to innovate in gunpowder technology? This chapter seeks to address these issues.

Gunpowder is an important innovation that profoundly impacted the rise of nations. Specifically, nations that adopted the most up- to- date gunpowder innovations acquired an edge in military warfare and overcame competing nations. Those that lagged by even one technological generation suffered immensely if competing nations were ahead of them in the technology.

Gunpowder is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate (also known as saltpeter). While saltpeter is the oxidizer in this mixture, sulfur and charcoal act as fuels. In warfare, gunpowder served three primary purposes. First, gunpowder acted as an incendiary. It was often mixed with other inflammatory materials and the ignited mixture hurled to set distant objects on fire. Second, gunpowder was used as an explosive that either damaged structures, injured military personnel or terrified enemies. For this purpose, often stone, metal or porcelain pieces were incorporated into gunpowder weapons to aggravate the damage caused when the weapon exploded. Third, gunpowder was a strong propellant that sent pellets, stone or metal balls, or bombs toward enemy targets. The purpose of gunpowder determined the proportion of potassium nitrate.

Early innovations in gunpowder from the mid- ninth century to the beginning of the twelfth century focused on the creation of a more controllable and effective incendiary mixture than any other extant fire- producing materials like oils (see Figure 4.1).