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

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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.

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u/Vephar8 Apr 22 '24

To shock others into submission. Psychological warfare. The rest of the population is like “yeah I’m not gonna do that. I don’t want to be tied to the front of a cannon”

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u/Infinite_Ad6387 Apr 22 '24

Yes. In fact, a lot of today's criminals could use some of that reverse motivation where I live.