Egypt is commonly credited as the origin of the Iftar Cannon tradition. Accounts generally associate the custom with Cairo, where a cannon blast was used to signal sunset and tell fasting people that it was time for iftar.
The tradition’s exact beginning is disputed, but Egypt is the country most consistently linked with its early development. One popular story places the first use in the Mamluk period, when a cannon fired at sunset was interpreted as an intentional announcement of the meal. Other accounts connect the custom with 19th-century Egypt under Muhammad Ali or with the era of Khedive Ismail.
The cannon’s original purpose was practical. Its loud report could reach people across a densely populated city at a time when watches, public clocks, radio, and television were not widely available. Later, the sound became a recognizable cultural symbol of Ramadan rather than a necessary timekeeping device.
From Egypt, the practice spread to other parts of the Arab and Muslim world, including the Gulf and parts of the eastern Mediterranean. Different countries maintain their own local customs, but the Egyptian association remains the standard answer to this origin question.