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#31 [Permalink] Posted on 1st December 2010 19:19
Pension
Did you know that it was Umarرضي الله عنه who invented the Pension.

There was a jew who complained about paying Jizyah all their life and when they get old and cant work, the Ameer doesnt give anything back to support them. There fore, Umarرضي الله عنه introduced the pension.
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#32 [Permalink] Posted on 1st December 2010 19:21
Ambulance
Did you know, that it was Umar رضي الله عنه who invented the system of the Ambulance. He would send a horse and cart to bring in the sick to Masjid-e-Nabawi to be treated.
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#33 [Permalink] Posted on 1st December 2010 19:22
Could others also add to this. Keep it short and simple.
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#34 [Permalink] Posted on 24th December 2010 18:49
I Was told that it was Umar رضي الله عنه who also invented the Child Benifit system. (Not the democrats)
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#35 [Permalink] Posted on 6th January 2011 14:32
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#36 [Permalink] Posted on 8th January 2011 23:07
Chemical industries

Early forms of distillation were known to the Babylonians, Greeks and Egyptians since ancient times, but it was Muslim chemists who first invented pure distillation processes which could fully purify chemical substances. They also developed several different variations of distillation (such as dry distillation, destructive distillation and steam distillation) and introduced new distillation aparatus (such as the alembic, still, and retort), and invented a variety of new chemical processes and over 2,000 substances
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#37 [Permalink] Posted on 8th January 2011 23:08
Will Durant wrote in The Story of Civilization IV: The Age of Faith:

"Chemistry as a science was almost created by the Muslim; for in this field, where the Greeks (so far as we know) were confined to industrial experience and vague hypothesis, the Saracens introduced precise observation, controlled experiment, and careful records. They invented and named the alembic (al-anbiq), chemically analyzed innumerable substances, composed lapidaries, distinguished alkalis and acids, investigated their affinities, studied and manufactured hundreds of drugs. Alchemy, which the Moslems inherited from Egypt, contributed to chemistry by a thousand incidental discoveries, and by its method, which was the most scientific of all medieval operations."
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#38 [Permalink] Posted on 8th January 2011 23:20
Chemical processes

The following chemical processes were invented by Muslim chemists:

Cocotion (or digestion), ceration, lavage, and mixture.

Dry distillation
Purification and oxidisation: Invented by Jābir ibn Hayyān.
Steam distillation: Invented by Avicenna in the early 11th century for the purpose of producing essential oils.

Chemical substances

Ethanol: Isolated by Arabic chemists.
Lead carbonatic:Isolated by Jābir ibn Hayyān.

Medicinal substances:
Muslim chemists discovered 2,000 medicinal substances.

Acids

Carboxylic acids: Jābir ibn Hayyān isolated Acetic acid from vinegar. He is also credited with the discovery and isolation of Citric acid, the sour component of lemons and other unripe fruits.

Mineral acids: The mineral acids-nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and hydrochloric acid-were first isolated by Jābir ibn Hayyān. He originally referred to sulfuric acid as the oil of vitriol.
Organic acids: Jābir ibn Hayyān isolated Tartaric acid from wine-making residues.

Elements

Arsenic: Isolated by Jābir ibn Hayyān in the 8th century.
Antimony: Isolated by Jābir ibn Hayyān.
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#39 [Permalink] Posted on 8th January 2011 23:27
Glass industry

'Silica glass: The production of silica glass was pioneered by Abbas Ibn Firnas in the 9th century
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#40 [Permalink] Posted on 8th January 2011 23:30
Oil industry

Essential oil: Invented by Abū Alī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) in the 11th century.
Kerosene: Invented by Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi in the 9th century.
Oil field, petroleum industry, naphtha, and tar: An early petroleum industry was established in the 8th century, when the streets of Baghdad were paved with tar, derived from petroleum through destructive distillation. In the 9th century, oil fields were first exploited in the area around modern Baku, Azerbaijan, to produce naphtha. These fields were described by al-Masudi in the 10th century, and by Marco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of its oil wells as hundreds of shiploads.

Petrol:
Muslim chemists were the first to produce petrol from crude oil.
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#41 [Permalink] Posted on 9th January 2011 00:09

Engineering



Mark E. Rosheim summarizes the advances in robotics made by Arab engineers as follows:



"Unlike the Greek designs, these Arab examples reveal an interest, not only in dramatic illusion, but in manipulating the environment for human comfort. Thus, the greatest contribution the Arabs made, besides preserving, disseminating and building on the work of the Greeks, was the concept of practical application. This was the key element that was missing in Greek robotic science."



"The Arabs, on the other hand, displayed an interest in creating human-like machines for practical purposes but lacked, like other preindustrial societies, any real impetus to pursue their robotic science."



Wind-powered fountain:

In the 9th century, the Banū Mūsā brothers designed the earliest known wind-powered fountains. Their Book of Ingenious Devices described the construction of several wind-powered fountains, one of which incorporated a worm-and-pinion gear.



Mercury-powered automata:

One of the clocks invented by Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi in 11th-century Spain incporated a "complicated and ingenious system which, at the top of each hour, puts into motion a series of mechanical automata, including mechanical snakes, women and men which function through a system based on water, mercury and pulleys." This was the earliest known use of mercury in hydraulic linkages to power automata.



Programmable analog computer:



Programmable humanoid robot band:

Al-Jazari (1136–1206) created the first recorded designs of a programmable humanoid robot in 1206, as opposed to the non-programmable automata in ancient times. Al-Jazari's robot was originally a boat with four automatic musicians that floated on a lake to entertain guests at royal drinking parties. His mechanism had a programmable drum machine with pegs (cams) that bump into little levers that operate the percussion. The drummer could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns if the pegs were moved around. According to Charles B. Fowler, the automata were a "robot band" which performed "more than fifty facial and body actions during each musical selection."



Peacock fountain with automated humanoid servants:

Al-Jazari's "peacock fountain" was a sophisticated hand washing device featuring humanoid automata as servants which offer soap and towels. Mark E. Rosheim describes it as follows: "Pulling a plug on the peacock's tail releases water out of the beak; as the dirty water from the basin fills the hollow base a float rises and actuates a linkage which makes a servant figure appear from behind a door under the peacock and offer soap. When more water is used, a second float at a higher level trips and causes the appearance of a second servant figure — with a towel!"



Pumps

Crankshaft-driven and hydropowered saqiya chain pumps:

The first known use of a crankshaft in a chain pump was in one of Al-Jazari's saqiya machines described in 1206. Al-Jazari also constructed a water-raising saqiya chain pump which was run by hydropower rather than manual labour, though the Chinese were also using hydropower for other chain pumps prior to him. Saqiya machines like the ones he described have been supplying water in Damascus since the 13th century up until modern times, and were in use throughout the medieval Islamic world.



Crankshaft-driven screw and screwpump:

In ancient times, the screw and screwpump were driven by a treadwheel, but from the 12th and 13th centuries, Muslim engineers operated them using the crankshaft.



Double-action piston suction pump with reciprocating motion:

In 1206, al-Jazari demonstrates the first suction pipes and suction piston pump, the first use of double-action, and one of the earliest valve operations, when he invented a twin-cylinder double-action reciprocating suction piston pump, which seems to have had a direct significance in the development of modern engineering. This pump is driven by a water wheel, which drives, through a system of gears, an oscillating slot-rod to which the rods of two pistons are attached. The pistons work in horizontally opposed cylinders, each provided with valve-operated suction and delivery pipes. The delivery pipes are joined above the centre of the machine to form a single outlet into the irrigation system. This pump is remarkable for being the earliest known use of a true suction pipe in a pump.



Six-cylinder 'Monobloc' pump:

In 1559, Taqi al-Din invented a six-cylinder 'Monobloc' pump. It was a hydropowered water-raising machine incorporating valves, suction and delivery pipes, piston rods with lead weights, trip levers with pin joints, and cams on the axle of a water-driven scoop wheel.



Weight-driven pump:

Most ancient and medieval pumps were either driven by manual labour or hydraulics. The first weight-driven pump was described as part of a perpetual motion water-raising machine in a medieval Arabic manuscript written some time after Al-Jazari. It featured a mercury-powered clockwork escapement mechanism and had two out gear-wheels driven by lead weights which mesh with a large central gear-wheel.



Wind-powered pump:

Windmills were used to pump water since at least the 9th century in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.



Other mechanical devices

Al-Jazari's candle clock employed a bayonet fitting for the first time in 1206.



Artificial thunder, lightning and weather simulation:

Abbas Ibn Firnas invented an artificial weather simulation room, in which spectators saw stars and clouds, and were astonished by artificial thunder and lightning, which were produced by mechanisms hidden in his basement laboratory.



Bayonet fitting:

Al-Jazari's candle clock in 1206 employed, for the first time, a bayonet fitting, a fastener mechanism still used in modern times.



Boiler with tap:

The Banu Musa brothers' Book of Ingenious Devices describes a boiler with a tap to access hot water. The water is heated through cold water being poured into a pipe which leads to a tank at the bottom of the boiler, where the water is heated with fire. A person can then access hot water from the boiler through a tap.



Bolted lock and mechanical controls:

According to Donald Routledge Hill, Al-Jazari first described several early mechanical controls, including "a large metal door...and a lock with four bolts."



Complex segmental and epicyclic gearing:

Segmental gears ("a piece for receiving or communicating reciprocating motion from or to a cogwheel, consisting of a sector of a circular gear, or ring, having cogs on the periphery, or face.") and epicyclic gears were both first invented by the 11th century Arab engineer Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi from Islamic Spain. He employed both these types of gears in the gear trains of his mechanical clocks and automata. Simple gears have been known before him, but this was the first known case of complex gears used to transmit high torque. His mechanisms were the most sophisticated geared devices until the mechanical clocks of the mid-14th century. Segmental gears were also later employed by Al-Jazari in 1206.



Professor Lynn Townsend White, Jr. wrote: "Segmental gears first clearly appear in Al-Jazari, in the West they emerge in Giovanni de Dondi's astronomical clock finished in 1364, and only with the great Sienese engineer Francesco di Giorgio (1501) did they enter the general vocabulary of European machine design." Al-Muradi's work was known to scholars working under Alfonso X of Castile.



Conical valve:

This was a mechanism developed by the Banu Musa and of particular importance for future developments. It was used in a variety of different applications, including its use as "in-line" components in flow systems, the first known use of conical valves as automatic controllers.



Control engineering:

The work of the Banu Musa brothers, which included innovations involving subtle combinations of pneumatics and aerostatics, closely parallels the modern fields of control engineering and pneumatic instrumentation.



Crank-slider mechanism:

A crank-driven water pump by Al-Jazari employed the first known crank-slider mechanism.



Design and construction methods:

According to Donald Routledge Hill, "We see for the first time in Al-Jazari's work several concepts important for both design and construction: the lamination of timber to minimize warping, the static balancing of wheels, the use of paper models to establish designs, the calibration of orifices, the grinding of the seats and plugs of valves together with emery powder to obtain a watertight fit, and the casting of metals in closed mold boxes with sand."



Elevated battering ram:

In 1000, the Book of Secrets by the Arab engineer Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi in Islamic Spain described the use of an elevator-like lifting device, in order to raise a large battering ram to destroy a fortress.



Pedal-operated loom:

The foot pedal was originally invented for the purpose of operating a loom, for use in weaving. The first such devices appeared in Syria, Iran and Islamic parts of East Africa, where "the operator sat with his feet in a pit below a fairly low-slung loom." By 1177, it was further developed in Islamic Spain, where having the mechanism was "raised higher above the ground on a more substantial frame." This type of loom spread to the Christian parts of Spain and soon became popular all over medieval Europe.



Fountain pen:

The earliest historical record of a reservoir pen dates back to the 10th century. In 953, Al-Muizz Lideenillah, the caliph of Egypt, demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib, though the method of operation is unknown and no examples survive. As recorded by Qadi al-Nu'man al-Tamimi (d. 974) in his Kitdb al-Majalis wa 'l-musayardt, al-Mu’izz instructed and commissioned the construction of a fountain reservoir pen.



Gas mask:

The Banu Musa brothers in the 9th century invented an early gas mask, for protecting workers in polluted wells. They also described bellows that remove foul air from wells. They explained that these instruments allow a worker to "descend into any well he wishes for a while and he will not fear it, nor will it harm him, if God wills may he be exalted."



Gate operator:

The first automatic doors were created by Hero of Alexandria and Chinese engineers under Emperor Yang of Sui prior to Islam. This was followed by the first hydraulics-powered automatic gate operators, invented by Al-Jazari in 1206. Al-Jazari also created automatic doors as part of one of his elaborate water clocks.



Grab:

The mechanical grab, specifically a clamshell grab, is an original invention by the Banu Musa brothers that does not appear in any earlier Greek works. The grab they described was used to extract objects from underwater, and recover objects from the beds of streams.



Intermittent working:

The concept of minimizing intermittent working is first implied in one of al-Jazari's saqiya chain pumps, which was for the purpose of maximising the efficiency of the saqiya chain pump.



Spinning wheel:

The earliest clear illustrations of the spinning wheel come from Baghdad (drawn in 1237), and then from China (c. 1270) and Europe (c. 1280). There is evidence that spinning wheels had already come into use in the Islamic world long before that, as can be seen in an Islamic description of the spinning wheel dating from before 1030, while the earliest Chinese description dates from around 1090.[verification needed]



Trip hammer in papermaking:

Muslim engineers introduced the use of trip hammers in the production of paper, replacing the traditional Chinese mortar and pestle method of papermaking. In turn, the trip hammer method was later employed by the Chinese in papermaking.



Two-step level discontinuous variable structure controls:

Two-step level controls for fluids, an early form of discontinuous variable structure controls, was developed by the Banu Musa brothers.



In the 9th century, the Banū Mūsā brothers invented a number of automata (automatic machines) and mechanical devices, and they described a hundred such devices in their Book of Ingenious Devices. Some of the devices that make their earliest known appearance in the Book of Ingenious Devices include:



Differential pressure

Double-concentric siphon

Fail-safe system

Float chamber

Float valve

Hurricane lamp

Self-feeding lamp and self-trimming lamp: Invented by the eldest brother Ahmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir.

Trick drinking vessels

Plug valve.



Self-operating valve


In 1206, Al-Jazari also described over fifty mechanical devices in six different categories in The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, most of which he invented himself, along with construction drawings. Along with his other mechanical inventions described above, some of the other mechanical devices he first described include: phlebotomy measures, linkage, water level, and devices able to elevate water from shallow wells or flowing rivers.
 

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#42 [Permalink] Posted on 9th January 2011 11:37
Drugs and medications

Muslim physicians pioneered a number of drugs and medications for use in medicine, including:

Alcohol as an antiseptic:
The application of pure alcohol to wounds as an antiseptic agent, and the use of alcohol as a solvent and antiseptic, was introduced by Muslim physicians and surgeons in the 10th century.

Clinical pharmacology, clinical trial, randomized controlled trial, and efficacy test:
The origins of clinical pharmacology date back to Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine in 1025. His emphasis on tested medicines laid the foundations for an experimental approach to pharmacology. The Canon laid out the rules and principles for testing the effectiveness of new drugs and medications, which still form the basis of clinical pharmacology and modern clinical trials, randomized controlled trials and efficacy tests.

Cough medicine and syrup:
The use of syrups for treating coughs originates from medieval Arabic physicians.

Drugs, foods, herbs, plants and chemical substances:
In antiquity, Dioscorides listed about 500 plants in the 1st century. Muslim botanists, chemists and pharmacists discovered many more during the Middle Ages. For example, Al-Dinawari described more than 637 plant drugs in the 9th century, and Ibn al-Baitar described at least 1,400 different plants, foods and drugs, 300 of which were his own original discoveries, in the 13th century. In total, at least 2,000 medicinal substances were discovered by Muslim botanists, chemists and pharmacists.

Medicinal-grade alcohol:
Produced through distillation. These distillation devices for use in chemistry and medicine were manufactured on a large scale in the 10th century.

Parasitology:
Parasites were first discovered by Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), when he discovered the cause of scabies. He recommended specific substances to destroy microbes, and the application of sulfur topically specifically to kill the scabies mite.

Phytotherapy, Taxus baccata, and calcium channel blocker:
Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine introduced the medicinal use of Taxus baccata L. He named this herbal drug "Zarnab" and used it as a cardiac remedy. This was the first known use of a calcium channel blocker drug, which were not used in the Western world until the 1960s.
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#43 [Permalink] Posted on 9th January 2011 11:41
Surgical Intruments

A wide variety of surgical instruments and techniques were invented in the Muslim world, as well as the refinement of earlier instruments and techniques. In particular, over 200 surgical instruments were listed by Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) in the Al-Tasrif (1000), many of which were never used before by any previous surgeons. Hamidan, for example, listed at least twenty six innovative surgical instruments that Abulcasis introduced.

Adhesive bandage and plaster:
Introduced by Abulcasis.

Bone saw:
Invented by Abulcasis.
Cancer surgery: Another method for treating cancer first described by Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine was a surgical treatment. He stated that the excision should be radical and that all diseased tissue should be removed, which included the use of amputation or the removal of veins running in the direction of the tumor. He also recommended the use of cauterization for the area being treated if necessary.

Cataract extraction, hypodermic needle, injection syringe, and suction:
In circa 1000, the Muslim ophthalmologist Ammar ibn Ali of Mosul was the first to successfully extract cataracts. He invented a hollow metallic syringe hypodermic needle, which he applied through the sclerotic and successfully extracted the cataracts through suction.

Catgut suture:
The use of catgut for internal stitching was introduced by Abulcasis. It is still used today in modern surgery. The catgut appears to be the only natural substance capable of dissolving and is acceptable by the body. Salim Al-Hassani considers it to be one of the most important Muslim medical contributions.

Cotton dressing and bandage:
The earliest known use of cotton (derived from the Arabic word qutn) as a dressing for controlling hemorrhage, was described by Abulcasis.

Fetus extraction:
Abulcasis, in his Al-Tasrif (1000), first described the surgical procedure of extractiing a dead fetus using forceps.

General anaesthesia, general anaesthetic, oral anesthesia, inhalational anaesthetic, and narcotic-soaked sponge:
Surgeries under inhalant anesthesia with the use of narcotic-soaked sponges which were placed over the face, were introduced by the Muslim anesthesiologists, Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis) and Ibn Zuhr, in Islamic Spain. Sigrid Hunke wrote: "The science of medicine has gained a great and extremely important discovery and that is the use of general anaesthetics for surgical operations, and how unique, efficient, and merciful for those who tried it the Muslim anaesthetic was. It was quite different from the drinks the Indians, Romans and Greeks were forcing their patients to have for relief of pain. There had been some allegations to credit this discovery to an Italian or to an Alexandrian, but the truth is and history proves that, the art of using the anaesthetic sponge is a pure Muslim technique, which was not known before. The sponge used to be dipped and left in a mixture prepared from cannabis, opium, hyoscyamus and a plant called Zoan."

Ligature:
Introduced by Abulcasis in the Al-Tasrif, for the blood control of arteries in lieu of cauterization.

Surgical suture:
Abulcasis in his Al-Tasrif.
Tracheotomy, correct description of: While tracheostomy may have possibly been portrayed on ancient Egyptian tablets, the first clear and correct description of the tracheotomy operation for suffocating patients was described by Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) in the 12th century
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#44 [Permalink] Posted on 9th January 2011 12:02

Military



Military products Marching band and military band:

The marching band and military band both have their origins in the Ottoman military band, performed by the Janissary since the 16th century.



Horseman's axe:

An early type of war hammer that was of Islamic origin. The Tirant lo Blanch in the 15th century maintained that it was "the deadliest weapon when fighting in full armour, when it was hung from a cavalryman's saddle-bow."



Defense

Adarga:
A hard leather shield used originally by the Moors of Islamic Spain. The adarga was a traditional defense employed by the Moorish light horseman who used it along with the lance. Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries the adarga was also used by Spanish Christian soldiers including their own light cavalry (la jineta) some of whom adopted Moorish fighting patterns. The adarga was in widespread use until the 16th century and the progress of firearms.



Camail:

It was used as part of the mighfar, an Islamic helmet. It was in use from the 8th to the 14th century.



Fireproof clothing:

In 1260, Egyptian Mamluk soldiers at the Battle of Ain Jalut wore fireproof clothing to protect themselves from gunpowder fires as well as chemicals in gunpowder warfare. Their clothing consisted of a silk tunic (still worn by Formula One drivers underneath their Nomex fire suits), aketon (from the Arabic al-qutn "the cotton"), and mainly a woolen overtunic that protects against fires and chemical weapons, similar to the clothing worn by modern soldiers for protection against biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. Due to the effectiveness of their fireproof clothing, the Egyptian soldiers were able to attach gunpowder cartridges and incendiary devices to their clothing.



Short-hemmed and short-sleeved hauberk: The short-hemmed, short-sleeved hauberk is thought to be of Islamic origin. It was usually worn with a mail

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#45 [Permalink] Posted on 9th January 2011 12:08
Gun Powder

Abus gun:
The Abus gun was an early form of howitzer created by the Ottoman Empire. Abus guns were a significant part of the Ottoman Empire's artillery, and could perhaps even be referred to as the signature piece of artillery during the height of their power, in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Iron-cased and metal-cylinder rocket artillery:
The first iron-cased and metal-cylinder rocket artillery were developed by Tipu Sultan, a Muslim ruler of the South Indian Kingdom of Mysore, and his father Hyder Ali, in the 1780s. He successfully used these metal-cylinder rockets against the larger forces of the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. The Mysore rockets of this period were much more advanced than what the British had seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missile (up to 2 km range). After Tipu's eventual defeat in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the capture of the Mysore iron rockets, they were influential in British rocket development, inspiring the Congreve rocket, which was soon put into use in the Napoleonic Wars. According to Stephen Oliver Fought and John F. Guilmartin, Jr. in Encyclopædia Britannica (2008): "Hyder Ali, prince of Mysore, developed war rockets with an important change: the use of metal cylinders to contain the combustion powder. Although the hammered soft iron he used was crude, the bursting strength of the container of black powder was much higher than the earlier paper construction. Thus a greater internal pressure was possible, with a resultant greater thrust of the propulsive jet. The rocket body was lashed with leather thongs to a long bamboo stick. Range was perhaps up to three-quarters of a mile (more than a kilometre). Although individually these rockets were not accurate, dispersion error became less important when large numbers were fired rapidly in mass attacks. They were particularly effective against cavalry and were hurled into the air, after lighting, or skimmed along the hard dry ground. Hyder Ali's son, Tippu Sultan, continued to develop and expand the use of rocket weapons, reportedly increasing the number of rocket troops from 1,200 to a corps of 5,000. In battles at Seringapatam in 1792 and 1799 these rockets were used with considerable effect against the British." Tippu Sultan wrote a military manual on his rocket artillery, the Fathul Mujahidin.

Purified potassium nitrate:
Muslim chemists were the first to purify potassium nitrate (saltpetre; natrun or barud in Arabic) to the weapons-grade purity for use in gunpowder, as potassium nitrate needs to be purified to be used effectively. This purification process was first described by Ibn Bakhtawayh in his al-Muqaddimat in 1029. The first complete purification process for potassium nitrate is described in 1270 by the Arab chemist and engineer Hasan al-Rammah of Syria in his book al-Furusiyya wa al-Manasib al-Harbiyya ('The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices', a.k.a. the Treatise on Horsemanship and Stratagems of War). He first described the use of potassium carbonate (in the form of wood ashes) to remove calcium and magnesium salts from the potassium nitrate. Hasan al-Rammah also describes the purifying of saltpetre using the chemical processes of solution and crystallization, and this was the first clear method for the purification of saltpetre. Bert S. Hall, however, disputes the efficacy of al-Rammah's formula for the purification of potassium nitrate.
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