So much wealth in the land of the poor!

isn"t gold a waste of money to be used for warfare?

in those days, gold was plenty. It was really the 'golden' days!

This looks like part of the series of excellent sepia photographs done by F. Bremner in 1897 called "Types of the Indian Army - Illustrating the Races enlistd in the Bengal, Punjab, Madras and Bombay Armies". Apart from illustrating the 'races' (Regimental composition like Rajputs, Sikhs, Garhwalis etc.) he produced stunning shots of artillery too.

Sayajirao Gaekwad was said the be the eigth richest man in the world. The gold cannon was cast by Khanderao Gaekwad who was the ruler of the Baroda Sansthan Before Sayajirao. Khanderao is also famous for the famous pearl carpet. Khanderao had collaborated with the British during the uprising of 1857. As a result, the British rewarded his widow Jamnabai (who gave birth to a female child at the time of Khanderao's death) by allowing her to adopt one Gopalrao Gaekwad from another branch of the family. Though of royal lineage, Gopalrao's family was engaged in farming. Gopalrao was christianed as Sayajirao and took to learning the the Royal way of life as fish takes to water. He was trained under British supervision. Notwithstanding the gold and silver beds and the penchant of the Gaekwads for jewels and ostentatious (and conspicuous) way of life (conducting lavish pigeon marriages), Sayajirao was a different person (perhaps because of his humble rural background!) and not as pliant as the British expected. During Sayaji's reign Baroda came to be known a progressive modern state. Among other things, Sayajirao provided important patronage to musicians. Maula Baksh Ghisse Khan was one such musicians (formerly a wrestler) who rendered yeoman's service in the education of Indian classical music. Abdul Karim Khan also sang at Sayajirao's court where a large retinue of artists were supported by elaborate remuneration rules and royal whims. Abdul Karim Khan left the court and moved to Kolhapur and was critical of the role of Sayajirao who he felt harmed music more than helped. Maula Baksh tried to notate classical music and is said to be the founder of notation of Indian music.

Above information is gleaned from a book called "Two Men and Music" author: Janaki Bakhle put up by RBSI several months ago. Apart from Maula Baksh another musician of Baroda, Faiz Khan also started another school. But Maula Baksh's school had more students and a better success rate. He used notation and also taught used his knowledge of Karnatic sangeet to teach Hindustani. The two Men in the book however are Vishnu Digambar Paluskar and Bhatkhande who followed Baksh and Faiz in setting up their own schools. Bakhle argues in her thesis that Baroda Sansthan had a great role to play in these developments and Indian Classical music as we see and hear today is the secular creation of that period and not handed down to us from texts and traditions alone. During the feudal period, music was just another performing art and there was no classicism about it. Hindustani music comprised of Khayal, Thumri, Tappa, Hori, Dhrupad and Dhamaj and the music schools of late 19th and early 20th century took students from different castes/vocations in a field which was till then restricted only to direct relations of the ustads of the gharanas.