[kronckew]

just a small note on the nepal connection mentioned. i can see these being used as mountain pack howitzers, carried disassembled on pack animals into the mountanous regions like nepal where larger field guns would have been almost impossible to transport.

that said, the royal navy had on many occasions dismounted quite large ship's cannon and hauled them into seemingly impossible locations ashore into earthworks for defending headlands, river mouths, etc. - but not into 'the hindu kush'.

p.s. - the hammered plate may have been used to cover up military markings from a previous life, grinding them off would weaken the side walls.

p.p.s. - another note: the brits favoured carronades because they used them to great effect battling the french and their allies, they, like the brits would start with a long range cannonade, then quickly close within yards of the opposing ship and pound them into submission. the british carronades were faster to reload and threw an enormous ball or charge of grapeshot compared to the long guns, and this close pounding usually meant a british victory.

the USN simply danced around the brits and pounded the crud out of them well before closing to finish them off. the USS constitution (still in commission) was called old ironsides because british cannonballs were seen to bounce off her thick oak sides, i suspect those bounces were from the lower velocity carronades.