Rockets were first built in India in the 18th century. Hyder Ali and his son & successor Tipu Sultan, during 1780s & 1790s, used first iron-cased rockets (commonly known as Mysorean Rockets) that were deployed for military / warfare purpose against the british east india company.
This was the first time, british got educated of this technology of India’s. It was then, they used This Technology to advance European rocketry and developed the Congreve rocket in 1804.