In his text, Thomas Trautman describes the Aryan conquest of North India. In North India, with the decline of chariot tactics and the rise of cavalry tactics, elephant soldiers similar to cavalry appeared. The elephants came into being from the horse-riding peoples who were proficient in horsemanship, and the huge war elephants became a symbol of Indian kingship.
The article states that the Indo-Europeans chose horse-drawn carriages over war elephants when they conquered India. The Rig Veda chronicles the culture of the Aryans, especially the culture of warfare based on the warrior class. The warrior class was called "Kshatriyas", and they drove chariots drawn by two horses. Chariot samurai had a higher status compared to other forms of warfare, while other samurai rode or on foot, with retinues at the chariot samurai's side.
This cultural concept is present throughout the Rigveda. Although the document consists mainly of poems praising the gods, it describes the gods driving chariots. The hymn of praise asks the king to offer chariots, chariots, horses, and other objects as sacrifices to the priests and to the poets in recognition of their creations. This culture of warfare is closely related to the Indus civilization and also reflects the Aryan way of conquest and cultural heritage.
Some scholars believe that the Aryans may be the same ethnic group as the peoples of the Indus civilization in the Rigveda. However, there is a major problem with this view, even if the material remains of the Indus civilization show that they used real wheeled chariots drawn by oxen, this does not confirm that they actually used spoked chariots, or even whether they rode horses, since neither the spoked wheels nor the horses were native to India.
As a result, most scholars believe that the Aryans entered India from the northwest around 1400 BC when they parted ways with their linguistic relatives, the Iranians, who were also charioteers. This is considered an unprecedented prehistoric conquest in the history of the Indo-Europeans.
In recent decades, archaeologists have discovered a peoples in the South Russian steppe, southeast of the Urals, who have already begun to use chariots. The remains of this ethnic group appear to be consistent with the ancestral culture of the Indo-Iranian language group, the Sintashti culture, which linguists have inferred by linguists in terms of location, timing, and excavations. This language family is also believed to be the source of Sanskrit and Iranian languages.
In distant Turkish Boghazkeui, a document was found in the archives of the Hittites written in cuneiform. The document details the complex expertise required to harness the chariot and its horses. The Hittites' empire relied on chariot technology while ruling over neighboring Mitanni. The upper echelons of the Mitanni used Hittite, but initially they used an Indo-Aryan language that was close to Sanskrit.
The Mitanni have preserved many words from the original language, especially the names of some gods and terminology related to chariot battles and races, which are similar to the Sanskrit words of the Rigveda. Mitanni's warriors did not actually come from India, they originally lived in the steppes of southern Russia, and some of them moved to the Mediterranean, while others moved into India. This information is based on a manual written by a Mitanni horse trainer named Kikuli, probably written in Hittite and cuneiform script in 1300 BC. The manual details how to train chariots and horses, and this training process lasts for 7 months. Although the manual is written in the Hittite language, it retains some Indo-Aryan jargon related to the management of chariots and horses. In simple terms, this evidence shows that the Aryans entered northern India from a steppe region with horses and chariots. But there are no elephants in this grassland, and there are many elephants and forests in India, and horses can only be imported. As the Aryans expanded southeast of the Indian subcontinent, maintaining a warrior culture based on horses was a big challenge for them, and it was not a small cost. In the Vedic era, chariots were very important. There is also an interesting description in the Rig Veda that refers to elephants as "beasts with one hand" in Sanskrit as "m ga hastin", and this "one hand" is actually the trunk of an elephant – reminiscent of the elephant's trunk in the Egyptian Amhab inscription, which is also referred to as "a hand".
For the Aryans of the Vedic era, the elephant was a novelty and since there was no equivalent word in their language, a descriptive word "hastin" was coined. Nowadays, in Hindi, we can still hear the remnants of the word, "hāthi". Whereas, "m ga" refers to "wild animals", in contrast to "pa u", which means "domesticated animals". Of course, based on the seals, copper plates, and later classical Sanskrit texts of the Indus civilization, we can infer that the elephant was essentially a forest creature and not a domestic animal belonging to the village. This is not to deny the existence of domestication, because we know that elephants have indeed been domesticated. But is there any evidence that elephants were still undomesticated wild animals in early Vedic times? It is recorded that the Rig Veda of the early Vedic era does not mention the use of elephants by people or deities, or even the use of elephants. This is confirmed by the texts describing the war, when the army consisted mainly of chariots, infantry and, possibly, cavalry, but without the presence of elephants. War elephants only appeared in the late Vedic era, and Indian war history texts agree with this view. Scholars generally agree that the Aryans of the Vedic era did not use war elephants, although Salva Daman Singh is the only scholar who holds a different view, and his views can be found in his writings on warfare during the Vedic period.
He is convinced that there is evidence that elephants were domesticated during the Indus civilization, long before the Vedic era. Some passages from the Rigveda are provided by Salva Damman Singh, from which clues can be deduced as to the capture and training of elephants without war. However, Singh also acknowledges that chariots are still vital and is cautious about war elephants: "During the Rigveda, we thought that the use of elephants [in warfare] was not impossible, but it was not common. ”
Even if it is "not impossible", it is difficult to find evidence to support this claim. Because if war elephants were known in that era, it is unlikely that the authors of the Vedic texts did not mention war elephants when depicting war scenes. The evidence for the appearance of war elephants in the late Vedic era rather than in the early Vedic era is twofold.
First of all, all the gods in the Rig Veda chose chariots as a means of transportation. It was only later that the Hindu gods began to have their own specific animal mounts. A typical example is the "Emperor of Heaven" Indra, who was shown in the earliest texts to ride a chariot, but in later texts he rode the white elephant airāvata.
Secondly, elephants never became royal gifts in the Rigveda, and in the late Vedic texts, elephants occupy an important place in royal gifts, in fact, they become one of the most important gifts. Overall, in the royal sacrifices of the Vedic era, elephants played only marginal and relatively late roles.
Regarding the first point, it is worth noting that the hymns of the Rigveda are intended to invite the deities to come down as guests of honor for the sacrificial event.
To put it simply, a sacrifice is like a grand banquet where the gods are the guests, the sacrifices are the food, and the worshippers are the hosts. When the gods accepted the sacrifice, they were obliged to repay their masters, and because they possessed great power, they were able to give back generously.
The psalmist's task was to ensure that the gods would come to the feast when they were invited. Here is a hymn dedicated to Indra that shows this situation briefly and clearly:
Indra, Thou art the people and the leader of the tribes, and the people are calling upon thee: let us praise thee, let us praise thee with love, and lead thy mighty chestnut horse to us!
Mount your chariot, O Indra, where thy mighty horse is led by those who pray, and thy chariot is drawn by swift horses; We have prepared a fine wine for you, and we invite you to come to the feast.
Climb aboard your chariot and you'll be greeted with wine and delicacies. Lead your strong reddish-brown horse, the male of men, please come here.
It was a sacrifice to God; It was a sacrifice for sacrifice; O Indra, there are prayer seekers, good wine, and cushions covered with grass. Shakti, please sit down and enjoy; Let go of your two reddish-brown horses.
O Indra, come here and let us praise you to the fullest, and please come to the prayer singer Māna. We sing praises and hope that with your help, we will soon find abundant food.
In this way, the poet awakens Indra, asks him to load the chariot, and then drives the miraculous chariot to the sacrificial place. Suma sake was prepared there as a drink, and an animal as a sacrifice. Indra was invited to unload the yoke and sit on a seat covered with soft grass blades to enjoy the feast.
This kind of poetry inviting the gods forms the core of praise literature. In the Rig Veda, we see that the gods all drove chariots, did not ride elephants, nor rode other animals, but as the Hindu gods increased in power, they all had corresponding mounts.
The chariots of the gods are even capable of flying, and apparently, as the power of the gods increases, so does the power of the chariots. In the Vedic hymns, the gods are invited to board these chariots and ride two horses to the place of sacrifice to receive an elaborate hospitality.
February**Dynamic Incentive Program Over time, the Hindu gods all had their own mounts, which became an important distinction between Hinduism and its predecessor, Vedic religion. In particular, Indra, as the "Emperor of the Heavens" and the military commander of the gods, has always been the image of driving a chariot in the Rigveda, as depicted in the aforementioned poem.
However, in later Vedic texts, Indra appears at the same time as the mount the white elephant Irabatta. The exact reason for this change is unknown, but according to Gonda, as a whole, the chariot civilization of ancient Western Asia and southern Europe saw a gradual rise in the status of horseback, so there must have been a connection between the two.
Horseback riding was common in the Vedic era of ancient India and was not introduced later. The warriors of the Vedic era placed more emphasis on driving chariots and less on horseback riding. However, the appearance of war elephants may have changed this situation and elevated the status of riding animals.
In addition, with regard to royal gifts and sacrifices, although Vedic poetry often praises the gods, there are also verses that praise the generosity of the king and the reward given to the poets, called "poetry of almsgiving". These poems describe the gifts that were given, usually oxen, slaves, horses, and chariots drawn by horses, although elephants are not mentioned in the earliest Rig Vedas.
However, in later Vedic texts, elephants soon became gifts from kings to poets and priests, as well as remuneration for sacrificial activities and other persons who served the king. For example, in the Book of the Forest, Idareille, it is recorded that when a priest officiated at the coronation of King Angha, he received 2 million head of cattle, 8A generous gift of 80,000 horses, 10,000** and 10,000 elephants.
The Anga is a country located in the eastern part of India with a large number of wild elephants. Later, we will talk about the king here, who is related to the Elephant Sutra.
The Book of Idareyer Forests mentions that King Bharata Dau Anti gave a host of gifts, including a hundred and seven thousand "black beasts with tusks," which actually refers to elephants, but more than all the previous kings combined.
In the beginning, the "poetry of almsgiving" was always exaggerated; Someone sent a hundred cows, others a thousand.
However, if we put aside the exaggerated numbers and focus on what was sent, we will find that the elephant is not mentioned in the early "poems of almsgiving".
It was not until the late Vedic era that elephants became one of the most valuable gifts. Sanskrit inscriptions in Cambodia indicate that elephants have always had the highest status among gifts.
With the advent of war elephants, the culture of war shifted from a chariot-based culture, and elephants became the highest level of reward.
This happened in the late Vedic era, around 1000 BC to 500 BC. It was not until the end of the Vedic era that this new culture of warfare became widespread in North India.
In Vedic religion, it is important to note that chariots played a vital role in royal sacrifices. In these ceremonies, elephants are seen as sacrifices or gifts to priests, and are marginalized and not the main focus of the rituals.
In the rituals known as vājapeya (that powerful drink), chariot races are performed; The participation of chariots is also represented in some form in the enthronement rājasūya, a vamedha, and g**ām ayana (a collective ritual that celebrates the sun's change of direction each year).
The entrenchment of elephants in Indian kingship was a later development; Chariots and horses have been around since the beginning. We cannot know for sure about the inventors of techniques such as catching and training elephants, just as we do not know anything about the first domesticators of certain other animals.
However, as we have seen, subsequent Sanskrit texts on elephantology attribute the domestication of elephants to the king of Yangga, Romapāda, who is highly prized in mythology and legend.
The appearance of war elephants is not accidental, it came to prominence long after the domestication of other large animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, and especially horses. This was brought about by a group that had already domesticated the aforementioned animals and was very skilled in managing horses.
The idea of using animal power in warfare appeared as early as a thousand years ago in the form of horse-drawn chariots and was subsequently applied to elephants; The previous practice of capturing and displaying elephants clearly demonstrated the importance of elephants in the royal system.
Therefore, I would like to reiterate the idea that the domestication of elephants was most likely a royal initiative. Not only does the royal power have an advanced mode of warfare that allows the elephants to take full advantage of them, but it also has vast resources to capture, train, protect and use elephants from the forest. In India, royal power also holds the forests where elephants can inhabit.
With regard to war elephants in North India, a review of the Treatise on Political Affairs reveals three basic modes of government that actively used war elephants: the royal system (rāja), the republican system (sa gha, in some places called ga a), and the "forest nation" (a **i).
There is a connection between war elephants and royal power and kings. While some republics are said to possess a considerable number of war elephants, I think it is important to recognize that the war elephant system spread from kingdoms to republics. The forest people certainly captured wild elephants, and there were elephant riders and elephant riders, but they were not self-governing, but served the king. Next, we will take a quick look at the living conditions of forest peoples.
Thus, it is certain that sometime before 500 BC – and perhaps even before 1000 BC – the use of war elephants became the norm. North India became a zone where kingship, elephant forests, and forest peoples intersected, thus forming the war elephant system.
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