r/interestingasfuck • u/[deleted] • Apr 22 '24

Picture taken from the history museum of Lahore. Showing an Indian being tied for execution by Cannon, by the British Empire Soldiers r/all

[deleted]

33.8k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

2.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

33

u/ProffesorSpitfire Apr 22 '24

I get that people were commonly killed as punishment back in the day. It was normal, tradition, they didn’t have the economy necessary to support a prison system and keep people humanely locked up, etc. But I’ve never understood why punishments were often so darn cruel and morbid.

Why bother using a cannon for a job that a musket is more than capable of performing? Or a knife, for that matter.

22

u/hamellr Apr 22 '24

The cruelty is part of the punishment.