[2][1][5] The copper and bronze needed to manufacture the cannon was obtained by melting household utensils collected from the Hindu and Sikh citizens of Lahore after imposing jizyah.

[5] Shah Nazir completed the both massive cannons within three months at his karkhana in Mughalpura, where now Moghalpura Railway Workshops are located.

[2] The gun has the date of manufacture, name of the monarch and the technician along with verses in Persian moulded with floral patterns all over the barrel.

The front inscription reads: "By order of the Emperor Durri Dowran Shah Wali Khan, the Wazir made this gun, named Zamzama, the capturer of strongholds.

"[1] Verses at the end of the inscription contain a chronogram, with the last line giving a date of 1755–56:[2] "From reason I enquire of the year of its manufacture; Struck with terror it replied, 'Wert thou willing to surrender thine life, I would unfold unto thee the secret.'

Contrary to their expectations, Charat Singh successfully carried the gun to his fort at Gujranwala.

After two years, the gun was wrested by Charat Singh Shukerchakia from whom it was once again snatched by the Chatthas in 1772, and carried away to Rasulnagar.

When in 1864, Maulawi Nur Ahmad Chishti compiled the Tahqiqat-i-Chishti, he found it standing in the Baradari of the garden of Wazir Khan, behind the Lahore Museum.

[1][5] Repaired in 1977, the cannon now rests on Mall Road with Pharmacy Department, University of the Punjab on one side, and National College of Arts (NCA) and Lahore Museum on the other.

"Zamzama's status as a "mighty fire dispensing dragon" caused a great deal of amusement at the Durrani court, giving rise to many crude puns.