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125-600: Vigraharāja IV (r. c. 1150–1164 CE), also known as Vigraharāja the Great and also Visala-deva (or Visaldev) was a king from the Chahamana (Chauhan) dynasty in north-western India, and is generally considered as one of the greatest rulers of the dynasty. He turned the Chahamana kingdom into an empire by subduing the neighbouring kingdoms of Chaulukya , Naddula , and Tomara kingdoms. He also repulsed Muslim invasions, from

250-612: A Sanskrit centre of learning that was later converted into the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque. Harakeli Nataka , a Sanskrit -language drama written by him, is inscribed on inscriptions discovered at the mosque site. Vigraharaja was born to the Chahamana king Arnoraja . Vigraharaja's elder brother and predecessor Jagaddeva killed their father. Their half-brother, Someshvara , was brought up in Gujarat by his Chaulukya maternal relatives. Vigraharaja probably ascended

375-471: A nadvala (a cane-stick or a marsh of reeds). The Naddula ruler subdued by him was probably Alhanadeva . Vigraharaja also defeated one Kuntapala, who can be identified with a Naddula Chahamana subordinate of Kumarapala. The Bijolia rock inscription states that Vigraharaja conquered Ashika (identified with Hansi ) and Delhi . The Chahamanas had been involved in conflicts with the Tomaras of Delhi since

500-567: A new branch of the dynasty. The Chahamanas commissioned a number of Hindu temples, several of which were destroyed by the Ghurid invaders after the defeat of Prithviraja III . Multiple Chahamana rulers contributed to the construction of the Harshanatha temple, which was probably commissioned by Govindaraja I . According to Prithviraja Vijaya : Vigraharaja IV was known for his patronage to arts and literature, and himself composed

625-536: A centre of learning in Ajmer, which was later destroyed by the Ghurid invaders and converted into the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque. Several literary works were engraved on stones at this centre: According to Prithviraja-Viajaya , Vigraharaja commissioned as many buildings as the hill forts he captured. Most of these appear to have been destroyed or converted to Muslim structures (such as Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra) after

750-746: A flag at the Rajavihara Jain temple in Ajmer. The ruler of Malwa here probably refers to a claimant to the Paramara kingdom, which had been captured by the Chaulukyas during this period. Assuming that the claimant to the Malwa throne had accepted Vigraharaja's suzerainty, it appears that Vigraharaja's influence extended up to the Vindhyas, at least in name. His kingdom included the present-day Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi. It probably also included

875-535: A force of elephants to guard his palace at Babylon , and created the post of elephantarch to lead his elephant units. The successful military use of elephants spread further. The successors to Alexander's empire, the Diadochi , used hundreds of Indian elephants in their wars, with the Seleucid Empire being particularly notable for their use of the animals, still being largely brought from India. Indeed,

1000-486: A lucrative trading commodity. Sri Lankan history records indicate elephants were used as mounts for kings leading their men in the battlefield, with individual mounts being recorded in history. The elephant Kandula was King Dutugamunu 's mount and Maha Pambata , 'Big Rock', the mount of King Ellalan during their historic encounter on the battlefield in 200 BC, for example. Elephants were used for warfare in China by

1125-652: A mythological elephant, or on the Uchchaihshravas , as his mounts. Elephants were widely utilized in warfare by the later Vedic period by the 6th century BC. The increased conscription of elephants in the military history of India coincides with the expansion of the Vedic Kingdoms into the Indo-Gangetic Plain suggesting its introduction during the intervening period. The practice of riding on elephants in peace and war, royalty or commoner,

1250-522: A part of Punjab (to the south-east of Sutlej river ) and a portion of the northern Gangetic plain (to the west of Yamuna). The play Lalita-Vigraharaja-Nataka , composed by Vigraharaja's court poet, claims that his army included 1 million men; 100,000 horses; and 1,000 elephants. Vigraharaja's father Arnoraja had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Kumarapala , the Chaulukya king of Gujarat. Vigraharaja launched several expeditions against

1375-563: A permanent corps of war elephants. These elephants were able to carry a tower with some ten people on their backs. They were used successfully during the Han invasion of Ma Chu in 948. In 970, the Song dynasty invaded Southern Han and their crossbowmen readily routed the Han elephants on 23 January 971, during the taking of Shao. That was the last time elephants were used in Chinese warfare, although

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1500-749: A permanent fixture in armies of historical kingdoms in Southeast Asia . During classical antiquity they were also used in ancient Persia and in the Mediterranean world within armies of Macedon , Hellenistic Greek states, the Roman Republic and later Empire , and Ancient Carthage in North Africa . In some regions they maintained a firm presence on the battlefield throughout the Medieval era . However, their use declined with

1625-629: A powerful imperial army. The Gupta Empire employed 'Mahapilupati', a position as an officer in charge of elephants. Emperors such as Kumaragupta struck coins depicted as elephant riders and lion slayers. Harsha established hegemony over most of North India. The Harshacharita composed by Bāṇabhaṭṭa describes the army under the rule of Harsha. Much like the Gupta Empire, his military consisted of infantry, cavalry, and elephants. Harsha received war elephants as tribute and presents from vassals. Some elephants were also obtained by forest rangers from

1750-418: A short distance in front of his main infantry line, in order to scare off Macedonian cavalry attacks and aid his own infantry in their struggle against the phalanx . The elephants caused many losses with their tusks fitted with iron spikes or by lifting the enemies with their trunks and trampling them. Arrian described the subsequent fight: "[W]herever the beasts could wheel around, they rushed forth against

1875-485: A small handful of southern dynasties. The state of Chu used elephants in 506 BC against Wu by tying torches to their tails and sending them into the ranks of the enemy soldiers, but the attempt failed. In December 554 AD, the Liang dynasty used armoured war elephants, carrying towers, against Western Wei . They were defeated by a volley of arrows. The Southern Han dynasty is the only state in Chinese history to have kept

2000-556: A very strong elephant force. The Chola emperor Rajendra Chola had an armored elephant force, which played a major role in his campaigns. Sri Lanka made extensive use of elephants and also exported elephants with Pliny the Elder stating that the Sri Lankan elephants, for example, were larger, fiercer and better for war than local elephants. This superiority, as well as the proximity of the supply to seaports, made Sri Lanka's elephants

2125-658: Is an exaggeration, it is not completely baseless. The inscription was originally found in Topra village, near the Shivalik Hills (Himalayan foothills). Also, the exiled ruler of Malwa (Vindhyan region) possibly acknowledged his suzerainty. Thus Vigraharaja's influence extended from the Himalayas to the Vindhyas, at least in name. Vigraharaja was succeeded by his son Amaragangeya , and then his nephew Prithviraja II . Subsequently, his younger brother Someshvara ascended

2250-467: Is assumed that Cassander constructed the first elephant transport sea vessels. Some of the elephants died of starvation in 316 BC in the besieged city of Pydna in Macedonia. Others of Polyperchon's elephants were used in various parts of Greece by Cassander. Although the use of war elephants in the western Mediterranean is most famously associated with the wars between Carthage and Roman Republic ,

2375-468: Is called a mahout . Mahouts were responsible for capturing and handling elephants. To accomplish this, they utilize metal chains and a specialized hook called an ankus , or 'elephant goad'. According to Chanakya as recorded in the Arthashastra , first the mahout would have to get the elephant used to being led. The elephant would have learned how to raise its legs to help a rider climb on. Then

2500-676: Is confirmed by the image of a turreted African elephant used on the coinage of Juba II . This also appears to be the case with Ptolemaic armies: Polybius reports that at the battle of Raphia in 217 BC the elephants of Ptolemy IV carried turrets; these elephants were significantly smaller than the Asian elephants fielded by the Seleucids and so presumably African forest elephants. There is also evidence that Carthaginian war elephants were furnished with turrets and howdahs in certain military contexts. Farther south, tribes would have had access to

2625-504: Is considered in its prime and at the height of its power between the ages of 25 and 40, yet elephants as old as 80 are used in tiger hunts because they are more disciplined and experienced. It is commonly thought that the reason all war elephants were male was because of males' greater aggression, but it was instead because a female elephant in battle will run from a male; therefore only males could be used in war, whereas female elephants were more commonly used for logistics . According to

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2750-567: Is now southern Vietnam used elephants against the invading army of China's Sui dynasty . The Sui army dug pits and lured the elephants into them and shot them with crossbows, causing the elephants to turn back and trample their own army. In 1075, the Song defeated elephants deployed on the borderlands of Đại Việt during the Lý–Song War . The Song forces used scythed polearms to cut the elephants' trunks, causing them to trample their own troops. During

2875-612: Is said to have been born from Brahma's sacrifice. The core territory of the Chahamanas was located in present-day Rajasthan . It was known as Sapadalaksha ( IAST : Sapādalakṣa) or Jangala-desha ( IAST : Jangaladeśa). The term Jangladesha ("rough and arid country") appears to be older, as it mentioned in the Mahabharata . The text does not mention the exact location of the region. The later Sanskrit texts, such as Bhava Prakasha and Shabdakalpadruma Kosha suggest that it

3000-628: Is the 6th century ruler Vasudeva . According to a mythical account in Prithviraja Vijaya , he received the Sambhar Salt Lake as a gift from a vidyadhara (a supernatural being). Little is known about his immediate successors. The 8th century Chahamana ruler Durlabharaja I and his successors are known to have served the Gurjara-Pratiharas as vassals. In 10th century, Vakpatiraja I made an attempt to overthrow

3125-407: Is then said to have had a religious revelation and rejected violence. The Gupta Empire demonstrated extensive use of elephants in war and greatly expanded under the reign of Samudragupta . Local squads which each consisted of one elephant, one chariot, three armed cavalrymen, and five foot soldiers protected Gupta villages from raids and revolts. In times of war, the squads joined together to form

3250-676: The African savanna elephant ( Loxodonta africana oxyotis ). Although much larger than either the African forest elephant or the Asian elephant, these proved difficult to tame for war purposes and were not used extensively. Asian elephants were traded westwards to the Mediterranean markets with Sri Lankan elephants being particularly preferred for war. Perhaps inspired by the victories of Pyrrhus of Epirus , Carthage developed its own use of war elephants and deployed them extensively during

3375-686: The Bijolia - Jahazpur - Mandalgarh area are dated to Vigraharaja's reign. Vigraharaja subdued the Chahamanas of Naddula , who had branched off from the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty, and were feudatories of the Chaulukya king Kumarapala. The Bijolia inscription boasts that he turned Javalipura (modern Jalore ) into "Jvalapura" (city of flames); reduced Pallika (modern Pali ) to a palli (a hamlet); and made Naddula (modern Nadol )

3500-408: The Chaulukyas of Gujarat and the Tomaras of Delhi. The dynasty's earliest extant inscription (973 CE) is from the reign of Vigraharaja II . During the reign of Viryarama (r. c.  1040 CE ), the Paramara king Bhoja invaded the Chahamana kingdom, and probably occupied their capital Shakambhari for a brief period. Chamundaraja restored the Chahamana power, possibly with the help of

3625-587: The Ekadashi day. The Bijolia rock inscription describes Vigraharaja as "a protector of the needy and the distressed". He is generally considered one of the greatest rulers of the Chauhan Dynasty. Historian Dashratha Sharma calls him "Vigraharaja the Great" and describes his reign as the "Golden age of Sapdalaksha" (the Chauhan Territory). Vigraharaja's son Amaragangeya succeeded him on

3750-602: The First Book of Maccabees , the Seleucids used the "blood of grapes and mulberries" to provoke their war elephants in preparation for battle. There is uncertainty as to when elephant warfare first started, but it is widely accepted that it began in ancient India . The early Vedic period did not extensively specify the use of elephants in war. However, in the Ramayana , Indra is depicted as riding either Airavata ,

3875-535: The Ghaznavid ruler Bahram Shah and defeated Khusrau Shah . Vigraharaja's kingdom included major parts of present-day Rajasthan , Haryana , and Delhi ; and possibly some parts of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh too. Vigraharaja commissioned several buildings in his capital Ajayameru (modern Ajmer ), most of which were destroyed or converted into Muslim structures after the Muslim conquest of Ajmer. These included

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4000-632: The Ghaznavid ruler Bahram Shah in the Slaughter of Turushkas near Ajmer. However, he suffered setbacks against the Gujarat Chaulukya kings Jayasimha Siddharaja and Kumarapala , and was killed by his own son Jagaddeva . Arnoraja's younger son Vigraharaja IV greatly expanded the Chahamana territories, and captured Delhi from the Tomaras . He also defeated Ghaznavid King Khusrau Shah in Vigraharaja IV's first war against

4125-467: The Ghaznavid rulers Bahram Shah and Khusrau Shah . The plot of Lalita Vigraharaja Nataka involves Vigraharaja's preparations against a Turushka ruler named Hammira ( Emir ). In the story, his minister Shridhara tells him not to risk a battle with a powerful adversary. Nevertheless, Vigraharaja is determined to fight the Turushka king. He sends a message to his lover Desaladevi, informing her that

4250-464: The Ghurids . The Chahamana kingdom reached its zenith under Vigraharaja IV in the mid-12th century. The dynasty's power effectively ended in 1192 CE, when the Ghurid invader Muhammad of Ghor defeated and executed Vigraharaja IV's nephew Prithviraj Chauhan . According to the 1170 CE Bijolia rock inscription of Someshvara , the early Chahamana king Samantaraja was born at Ahichchhatrapura in

4375-643: The Holy Land , the same animal later being used in the capture of Cremona in 1214, but the use of these individual animals was more symbolic than practical, especially when contrasting food and water consumption of elephants in foreign lands and the harsh conditions of the crusades. The Mongols faced war-elephants in Khorazm , Burma , Siam , Vietnam , Khmer and India throughout the 13th century. Despite their unsuccessful campaigns in Vietnam and India ,

4500-682: The Indus Valley civilization , around roughly 2000 BC. Archaeological evidence for the presence of wild elephants in the Yellow River valley in Shang China ( c.  1600–1100 BC ) may suggest that they also used elephants in warfare. The wild elephant populations of Mesopotamia and China declined quickly because of deforestation and human population growth: by 850 BC the Mesopotamian elephants were extinct, and by 500 BC

4625-582: The Jews who had revolted during the Maccabean Revolt . In the ensuing battle, near the mountainous straights adjacent to Beth Zachariah , Eleazar , brother of Judas Maccabeus , attacked the largest of the elephants, piercing its underside and causing it to collapse upon him, killing him under its weight. The North African elephant was a significant animal in Nubian culture . They were depicted on

4750-542: The Kingdom of Kush . The animal used was the North African elephant ( Loxodonta africana pharaohensis ) which would become extinct from overexploitation . These animals were smaller and harder to tame, and could not swim deep rivers compared with the Asian elephants used by the Seleucid Empire on the east of the Mediterranean region, particularly Syrian elephants , which stood 2.5–3.5 meters (8.2–11.5 ft) at

4875-520: The Kurukshetra War two men were to duel utilizing the same weapon and mount including elephants. In the Mahābhārata the akshauhini battle formation consists of a ratio of 1 chariot : 1 elephant : 3 cavalry : 5 infantry soldiers. Many characters in the Mahābhārata were described as skilled in the art of elephant warfare e.g. Duryodhana rides an elephant into battle to bolster

5000-614: The Mughal Empire . Babur introduced firearms and artillery into Indian warfare. He destroyed the army of Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat and the army of Rana Sanga in 1527 at the Battle of Khanua . The great Moghul Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605 AD) had 32,000 elephants in his stables. Jahangir , (reigned 1605–1627 A.D.) was a great connoisseur of elephants. He increased the number of elephants in service. Jahangir

5125-638: The Nanda Empire under the reign of Mahapadma Nanda . Pliny the Elder and Plutarch also estimated the Nanda Army strength in the east as 200,000 infantry , 80,000 cavalry , 8,000 chariots , and 6,000 war elephants. Alexander the Great would come in contact with the Nanda Empire on the banks of the Beas River and was forced to return due to his army's unwillingness to advance. Even if

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5250-571: The Pala Empire was noted for its huge elephant corps, with estimates ranging from 5,000 to 50,000. The Ghaznavids were the first amongst the Islamic dynasties to incorporate war elephants into their tactical theories. They also used a large number of elephants in their battles. The Ghaznavids acquired their elephants as tribute from the Hindu princes and as war plunder. The sources usually list

5375-663: The Persian Achaemenid Empire , where they were used in several campaigns. They in turn came to influence the campaigns of Alexander the Great , king of Macedonia in Hellenistic Greece . The first confrontation between Europeans and the Persian war elephants occurred at Alexander's Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC), where the Persians deployed fifteen elephants. These elephants were placed at

5500-656: The Seleucid–Mauryan war of 305–303 BC ended with the Seleucids ceding vast eastern territories in exchange for 500 war elephants – a small part of the Mauryan forces, which included up to 9000 elephants by some accounts. The Seleucids put their new elephants to good use at the Battle of Ipsus four years later, where they blocked the return of the victorious Antigonid cavalry, allowing the latter's phalanx to be isolated and defeated. The first use of war elephants in Europe

5625-574: The Turushkas , the Muslim Turkic invaders in Vigraharaja IV's first war against the Muslims . The Delhi-Shivalik pillar inscription boasts that he destroyed the mlechchhas (foreigners), and once again made Aryavarta ("the land of Aryans ") what its name signifies. The Prabandha-Kosha describes him as "the conqueror of Muslims". The Muslim invaders forced to retreat by him were probably

5750-481: The Wanli Emperor (r. 1572–1620) did keep a herd of elephants capable of carrying a tower and eight men, which he showed to his guests in 1598. These elephants were probably not native to China and were delivered to the Ming dynasty by Southeast Asian countries such as Siam . During the Revolt of the Three Feudatories , the rebels used elephants against the Qing dynasty , but the Qing Bannermen shot them with so many arrows that they "resembled porcupines" and repelled

5875-437: The gotra of sage Vatsa. Historian R. B. Singh theorizes that the Chahamanas probably started out as petty rulers of Ahichchhatrapura (identified with Nagaur ), and moved their capital to Shakambhari (Sambhar) as their kingdom grew. Later, they became the vassals of the Imperial Pratiharas . Several mythical accounts of the dynasty's origin also exist. The earliest of the dynasty's inscriptions and literary works state that

6000-514: The mahouts were armed with poisoned rods to kill the beasts but were slain by javelins and archers. Looking further east again, however, Alexander could see that the emperors and kings of the Nanda Empire and Gangaridai could deploy between 3,000 and 6,000 war elephants. Such a force was many times larger than the number of elephants employed by the Persians and Greeks, which probably discouraged Alexander's army and effectively halted their advance into India. On his return, Alexander established

6125-490: The "Hammira" on the play might have been Bahram Shah, who fled to India after the Ghurids defeated him at the Battle of Ghazni (1151) . Bahram Shah invaded the Tomara territory of Delhi after coming to India. Vasantapala might have been a Tomara ruler, possibly Anangapala. Indrapura may refer to Indraprastha, that is, Delhi. Vigraharaja probably decided to send an army in support of the Tomara king. But before an actual battle could take place, Bahram Shah returned to Ghazna as

6250-418: The 16th century recensions of Prithviraj Raso . Some colonial-era historians interpreted this myth to suggest a foreign origin of the dynasty, speculating that the foreign warriors were initiated into the Hindu society through a fire ritual. However, the earliest extant copy of Prithviraj Raso does not mention this legend at all. Instead, it states that the first ruler of the dynasty was Manikya Rai , who

6375-485: The Chaulukyas to avenge his father's defeat. According to the Bijolia rock inscription, he killed one Sajjana. The inscription describes Sajjana as "the most wicked person of the land", who was sent to the abode of Yama (the god of death) by Vigraharaja. Historian Dasharatha Sharma identified Sajjana with Kumarapala's governor ( daṇḍāhiśa ) of Chittor . According to the Jain author Somatilaka Suri, Vigraharaja's army captured Sajjana's elephant force . While Vigraharaja

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6500-523: The Chinese elephants were seriously reduced in numbers and limited to areas well south of the Yellow River. Capturing elephants from the wild remained a difficult task, but a necessary one given the difficulties of breeding in captivity and the long time required for an elephant to reach sufficient maturity to engage in battle. Sixty-year-old war elephants were always prized as being at the most suitable age for battle service and gifts of elephants of this age were seen as particularly generous. Today an elephant

6625-419: The Elephant "), approximately equating to 570 AD . At that time Abraha , the Christian ruler of Yemen , marched upon the Ka‘bah in Mecca , intending to demolish it. He had a large army, which included one or more elephants (as many as eight, in some accounts). However, the (single or lead) elephant, whose name was ' Mahmud ', is said to have stopped at the boundary around Mecca, and refused to enter – which

6750-409: The Epirot forces routed the Romans. The next year, the Epirots again deployed a similar force of elephants, attacking the Romans at the battle of Asculum . This time the Romans came prepared with flammable weapons and anti-elephant devices: these were ox-drawn wagons, equipped with long spikes to wound the elephants, pots of fire to scare them, and accompanying screening troops who would hurl javelins at

6875-455: The First and Second Punic Wars . The performance of the Carthaginian elephant corps was rather mixed, illustrating the need for proper tactics to take advantage of the elephant's strength and cover its weaknesses. At Adyss in 255 BC, the Carthaginian elephants were ineffective due to the terrain, while at the battle of Panormus in 251 BC the Romans' velites were able to terrify the Carthaginian elephants being used unsupported, which fled from

7000-431: The Ghurids had departed from that city. According to the Bijolia inscription, Vigraharaja also defeated the Bhadanakas . The Prithviraja Vijaya claims that he conquered several hill forts. Vigraharaja patronized a number of scholars, and was a poet himself. Jayanaka, in his Prithviraja-Vijaya , states that when Vigraharaja died, the name kavi-bandhava ("the friend of the poets") disappeared. The king commissioned

7125-424: The Gurjara-Pratihara suzerainty, and assumed the title Maharaja ("great king"). His younger son Lakshmana established the Naddula Chahamana branch . Vakpatiraja's elder son and successor Simharaja assumed the title Maharajadhiraja ("king of great kings"), which suggests that he was a sovereign ruler. Simharaja's successors consolidated the Chahamana power by engaging in wars with their neighbours, including

7250-534: The Jains to build their temples in his capital Ajayameru ( Ajmer ), and also donated a golden kalasha to a Parshvanatha temple. Someshvara granted the Revna village to a Parshvanatha temple. Following is a list of Chahamana rulers of Shakambhari and Ajmer, with approximate period of reign, as estimated by R. B. Singh: War elephant War elephants played a critical role in several key battles in antiquity , especially in ancient India . While seeing limited and periodic use in Ancient China , they became

7375-411: The Kushan as acquiring riches including elephants as part of their conquests. The emperor Kanishka assembled a great army from his subject nations, including elephants from India. He planned on attacking the Tarim Kingdoms , and sent a vanguard of Indian troops led by white elephants. However, when crossing the Pamir Mountains the elephants and horses in the vanguard were unwilling to advance. Kanishka

7500-406: The Mauryan Empire, the 30-member war office was made up of six boards. The sixth board looked after the elephants, and were headed by Gajadhyaksha . The gajadhyaksha was the superintendent of elephants and his qualifications. The use of elephants in the Maurya Empire as recorded by Chanakya in the Arthashastra . According to Chanakya; catching, training, and controlling war elephants was one of

7625-422: The Mong Mao campaign, the elephants were routed by an assortment of gunpowder projectiles. In the war against the Hồ dynasty , Ming troops covered their horses with lion masks to scare the elephants and shot them with firearms. The elephants all trembled with fear and were wounded by the guns and arrows, causing the Viet army to panic. From India, military thinking on the use of war elephants spread westwards to

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7750-512: The Mongols defeated the war elephants outside Samarkand by using catapults and mangonels , and during the Mongol invasions of Burma in 1277–1287 and 1300–1302 by showering arrows from their famous composite bows . Genghis and Kublai both retained captured elephants as part of their entourage. Another central Asian invader, Timur faced similar challenges a century later. In the Sack of Delhi , Timur's army faced more than one hundred Indian elephants in battle and almost lost because of

7875-431: The Muslim conquest. He established a number of towns named Visalapura ("the city of Visala") after his alternative name Visala. He is also said to have commissioned a lake named Visalasara (also known as Vislya or Bisalia) in Ajmer. According to Prithviraj Raso , the king saw a beautiful spot with springs and hills while returning from a hunt. He ordered his chief minister to construct a lake at this spot. He also founded

8000-441: The Muslims . His kingdom included parts of the present-day Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi. It probably also included a part of Punjab (to the south-east of Sutlej river ) and a portion of the northern Gangetic plain (to the west of Yamuna ). His 1164 CE Delhi-Shivalik pillar inscription claims that he conquered the region between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas , and thus restored the rule of Aryans in Aryavarta . While this

8125-418: The Naddula Chahamanas. The subsequent Chahamana kings faced several Ghaznavid raids. Ajayaraja II (r. c.  1110 –1135 CE) repulsed a Ghaznavid attack, and also defeated the Paramara king Naravarman . He moved the kingdom's capital from Shakambhari to Ajayameru ( Ajmer ), a city that he either established or greatly expanded. His successor Arnoraja raided the Tomara territory, and also defeated

8250-412: The Ptolemies and the military of Carthage did not carry howdahs or turrets in combat, perhaps owing to the physical weakness of the species. Some allusions to turrets in ancient literature are certainly anachronistic or poetic invention, but other references are less easily discounted. There is explicit contemporary testimony that the army of Juba I of Numidia included turreted elephants in 46 BC. This

8375-401: The Roman campaign against the Lusitanians and Celtiberians in Hispania. During the Second Celtiberian War , Quintus Fulvius Nobilior was helped by ten elephants sent by king Masinissa of Numidia . He deployed them against the Celtiberian forces of Numantia , but a falling stone hit one of the elephants, which panicked and frightened the rest, turning them against the Roman forces. After

8500-496: The Roman cavalry and Gallic allies. The Romans eventually developed effective anti-elephant tactics, leading to Hannibal's defeat at his final battle of Zama in 202 BC; his elephant charge, unlike the one at the battle of Tunis, was ineffective because the disciplined Roman maniples simply made way for them to pass. Rome brought back many elephants at the end of the Punic Wars , and used them in its campaigns for many years afterwards. The conquest of Greece saw many battles in which

8625-407: The Romans deployed war elephants, including the invasion of Macedonia in 199 BC, the battle of Cynoscephalae 197 BC, the battle of Thermopylae , and the battle of Magnesia in 190 BC, during which Antiochus III 's fifty-four elephants took on the Roman force of sixteen. In later years the Romans deployed twenty-two elephants at Pydna in 168 BC. The role of the elephant force at Cynoscephalae

8750-538: The Romans used a war elephant in their first invasion of Britain , one ancient writer recording that "Caesar had one large elephant, which was equipped with armor and carried archers and slingers in its tower. When this unknown creature entered the river, the Britons and their horses fled and the Roman army crossed over" – although he may have confused this incident with the use of a similar war elephant in Claudius ' final conquest of Britain . At least one elephantine skeleton with flint weapons that has been found in England

8875-432: The Romans, such as during Julian's invasion of Persia . Other examples include the Battle of Vartanantz in 451 AD, at which the Sassanid elephants terrified the Armenians , and the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah of 636 AD, in which a unit of thirty-three elephants was used against the invading Arab Muslims , in which battle the war elephants proved to be a "double-edged sword". The Sassanid elephant corps held primacy amongst

9000-646: The Sassanid cavalry forces and was recruited from India . The elephant corps was under a special chief, known as the Zend−hapet , literally meaning "Commander of the Indians", either because the animals came from that country, or because they were managed by natives of Hindustan . The Sassanid elephant corps was never on the same scale as others further east, however, and after the fall of the Sassanid Empire

9125-500: The Tomara king Anangapala, and was bequeathed Delhi by the Tomara king. Historian R. B. Singh speculates that it was actually Vigraharaja who married the daughter of the Tomara king. According to Singh, Desaladevi, who has been mentioned in the play Lalita-Vigraharaja-Nataka as Vigraharaja's lover, might have been the daughter of a Tomara king named Vasantapala. Several sources indicate that Vigraharaja achieved military successes against

9250-632: The Vigrahapura town (modern Bisalpur ) on the site of an older town called Vanapura. There, he constructed the Gokarnesvara temple, now popularly known as Bisal Deoji's temple . Like his predecessors, Vigraharaja was a devout Shaivite , as indicated by his Harakeli-Nataka . He also patronzed Jain scholars, and participated in their religious ceremonies. At the request of the Jain religious teacher Dharmaghosha-Suri, he banned animal slaughter on

9375-596: The centre of the Persian line and made such an impression on Alexander's army that he felt the need to sacrifice to Phobos , the God of Fear, the night before the battle – but according to some sources the elephants ultimately failed to deploy in the final battle owing to their long march the day before. Alexander won resoundingly at Gaugamela, but was deeply impressed by the enemy elephants and took these first fifteen into his own army, adding to their number during his capture of

9500-535: The demoralized Kaurava army. Scriptures like the Nikāya and Vinaya Pitaka assign elephants in their proper place in the organization of an army. The Samyutta Nikaya additionally mentions the Gautama Buddha being visited by a 'hatthāroho gāmaṇi'. He is the head of a village community bound together by their profession as mercenary soldiers forming an elephant corp. Ancient Indian kings certainly valued

9625-450: The dynasty's progenitor was a legendary hero named Chahamana. They variously state that this hero was born from Indra 's eye, in the lineage of the sage Vatsa, in the solar dynasty and/or during a ritual sacrifice performed by Brahma . A popular medieval account classifies the dynasty among the four Agnivanshi Rajput clans, whose ancestors are said to have come out of sacrificial fire pit . The earliest sources to mention this legend are

9750-611: The elephant charge. ... the soldiers of the first column were attacked by the elephants. The flags of Major-general of the Guards, Walda of the Yellow Banner, and of Lieutenant Ulehi of the Manchu-Mongol cavalry were captured. As the elephants closed in on the encircled soldiers of the second column, the arrows shot by all of my men [into the elephants’ hides] looked like the quills of a porcupine. The elephants fled towards

9875-534: The elephant in war, some stating that an army without elephants is as despicable as a forest without a lion , a kingdom without a king, or as valor unaided by weapons. The use of elephants further increased with the rise of the Mahajanapadas . King Bimbisara ( c.  543 BC ), who began the expansion of the Magadha kingdom, relied heavily on his war elephants. The Mahajanapadas would be conquered by

10000-512: The elephants seemed to have been thrown into panic by Caesar's archers and slingers. The Parthian Empire occasionally used war elephants in their battles against the Roman Empire , having done so in at least one war against the Romans but elephants were of substantial importance in the army of the subsequent Sassanid Empire . The Sasanian war elephants are recorded in engagements against

10125-465: The elephants to drive them away. A final charge of Epirot elephants won the day again, but this time Pyrrhus had suffered very heavy casualties – a Pyrrhic victory . The Seleucid king Antiochus V Eupator , whose father and he contended with Ptolemaic Egypt 's ruler Ptolemy VI for control of Syria, invaded Judea in 161 BCE with eighty elephants (some sources claim thirty-two ), some of which were clad in armored breastplates, in an attempt to subdue

10250-519: The elephants were taught to run and maneuver around obstacles, and move in formation. These elephants would be fit to learn how to systematically trample and charge enemies. The first elephant species to be tamed was the Asian elephant , for use in agriculture. Elephant taming – not full domestication , as they are still captured in the wild, rather than being bred in captivity – may have begun in any of three different places. The oldest evidence comes from

10375-658: The elephants' charge. Later, the Timurid leader used the captured animals against the Ottoman Empire . In Southeast Asia , the powerful Khmer Empire had come to regional dominance by the 9th century AD, drawing heavily on the use of war elephants. Uniquely, the Khmer military deployed double cross-bows on the top of their elephants. With the collapse of Khmer power in the 15th century, the successor region powers of Burma (now Myanmar) and Siam (now Thailand ) also adopted

10500-404: The elephants' rear to perform the same, in order to propel the elephants only in one direction, preventing them turning their backs because of frontal attack and charging against his own lines, but the author of De Bello Africano admits of the enormous effort and time required to accomplish this. By the time of Claudius however, such animals were being used by the Romans in single numbers only –

10625-557: The entire land between these two mountains is an exaggeration, it is not completely baseless. His Delhi-Shivalik pillar inscription was found at Topra village in Haryana, near the Shivalik Hills . This indicates that Vigraharaja captured territories to the north of Delhi, up to the Himalayan foothills. Raviprabha's Dharmaghosha-Suri-Stuti states that the ruler of Malwa and Arisiha (possibly Arisimha of Mewar ) assisted him in hoisting

10750-779: The entire region ruled by them came to be known as Sapadalaksha. This included the later Chahamana capitals Ajayameru ( Ajmer ) and Shakambhari ( Sambhar ). The term also came to be applied to the larger area captured by the Chahamanas. The early medieval Indian inscriptions and the writings of the contemporary Muslim historians suggest that the following cities were also included in Sapadalaksha: Hansi (now in Haryana ), Mandore (now in Marwar region), and Mandalgarh (now in Mewar region). The earliest historical Chahamana king

10875-490: The fear they caused amongst his troops. Historical accounts say that the Timurids ultimately won by employing an ingenious strategy: Timur tied flaming straw to the back of his camels before the charge. The smoke made the camels run forward, scaring the elephants, who crushed their own troops in their efforts to retreat. Another account of the campaign by Ahmed ibn Arabshah reports that Timur used oversized caltrops to halt

11000-615: The field. At the battle of Tunis however the charge of the Carthaginian elephants helped to disorder the legions , allowing the Carthaginian phalanx to stand fast and defeat the Romans. During the Second Punic War , Hannibal famously led an army of war elephants across the Alps , although many of them perished in the harsh conditions. The surviving elephants were successfully used in the battle of Trebia , where they panicked

11125-520: The hills [but] I was greatly alarmed and had a strange feeling. The rebels withdrew from the plain and split into groups [to hide] in the thick forest of the mountain. Chinese armies faced off against war elephants in Southeast Asia, such as during the Sui–Lâm Ấp war (605), Lý–Song War (1075–1077), Ming–Mong Mao War (1386–1388) , and Ming–Hồ War (1406–1407). In 605, the Champa kingdom of Lâm Ấp in what

11250-467: The introduction of war elephants there was primarily the result of an invasion by Hellenistic era Epirus across the Adriatic Sea . King Pyrrhus of Epirus brought twenty elephants to attack Roman Italy at the battle of Heraclea in 280 BC, leaving some fifty additional animals, on loan from Ptolemaic Pharaoh Ptolemy II , on the mainland. The Romans were unprepared for fighting elephants, and

11375-644: The jungles. Elephants were additionally taken from defeated armies. Bana additionally details the diet of the elephants, recording that they each consumed 600 pounds of fodder consisting of trees with mangos and sugarcanes. The Chola dynasty and the Western Chalukya Empire maintained a large number of war elephants in the 11th and 12th century. The war elephants of the Chola dynasty carried on their backs fighting towers which were filled with soldiers who would shoot arrows at long range. The army of

11500-591: The kingdom's capital to Ajayameru (modern Ajmer ). For this reason, the Chahamana rulers are also known as the "Chauhans of Ajmer". The Chahamanas fought several wars with their neighbours, including the Chaulukyas of Gujarat, the Tomaras of Delhi, the Paramaras of Malwa and the Chandelas of Bundelkhand. From 11th century onwards, they started facing Muslim invasions, first by the Ghaznavids , and then by

11625-459: The last significant use of war elephants in the Mediterranean was against the Romans at the battle of Thapsus , 46 BC, where Julius Caesar armed his fifth legion ( Alaudae ) with axes and commanded his legionaries to strike at the elephant's legs. The legion withstood the charge, and the elephant became its symbol. Thapsus was the last significant use of elephants in the West. The remainder of

11750-515: The most important skills taught by the military academies. He advised Chandragupta to set up forested sanctuaries for the wellness of the elephants. Chanakya explicitly conveyed the importance of these sanctuaries. The Maurya Empire would reach its zenith under the reign of Ashoka , who used elephants extensively during his conquest. During the Kalinga War , Kalinga had a standing army of 60,000 infantry, 1000 cavalry and 700 war elephants. Kalinga

11875-597: The most prominent ruling family of the Chauhan Rajput clan. The Chahamanas originally had their capital at Shakambhari (present-day Sambhar Lake Town ). Until the 10th century, they ruled as Pratihara vassals. When the Pratihara power declined after the Tripartite Struggle , the Chahamana ruler Simharaja assumed the title Maharajadhiraja . In the early 12th century, Ajayaraja II moved

12000-484: The next year, he was defeated at the second Battle of Tarain by Muhammad of Ghor, and subsequently killed. Muhammad of Ghor appointed Prithviraja's son Govindaraja IV as a vassal. Prithviraja's brother Hariraja dethroned him, and regained control of a part of his ancestral kingdom. Hariraja was defeated by the Ghurids in 1194 CE. Govindaraja was granted the fief of Ranthambore by the Ghurids. There, he established

12125-539: The number of beasts captured, and these frequently ran into hundreds, such as 350 from Qanauj and 185 from Mahaban in 409/1018-19, and 580 from the Raja Ganda in 410/1019-20. Utbi records that the Thanesar expedition of 405/1014-15 was provoked by Mahmad's desire to get some of the special breed of Sri lankan breed of elephants excellent in war In 1526, Babur , a descendant of Timur , invaded India and established

12250-568: The numbers and prowess of these elephants were exaggerated by historic accounts, elephants were established firmly as war machines in this period. Chandragupta Maurya (321–297 BC), formed the Maurya Empire , the largest empire to exist in South Asia. At the height of his power, Chandragupta is said to have wielded a military of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots and 9,000 war elephants besides followers and attendants. In

12375-465: The play Harikeli Nataka . The structure that was later converted into the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque was constructed during his reign. The Chahamana rulers also patronized Jainism . Vijayasimha Suri's Upadeśāmālavritti (1134 CE) and Chandra Suri's Munisuvrata-Charita (1136 CE) state that Prithviraja I donated golden kalashas (cupolas) for the Jain temples at Ranthambore. The Kharatara-Gachchha - Pattavali states that Ajayaraja II allowed

12500-476: The ranks of infantry and demolished the phalanx of the Macedonians, dense as it was." The Macedonians adopted the standard ancient tactic for fighting elephants, loosening their ranks to allow the elephants to pass through and assailing them with javelins as they tried to wheel around; they managed to pierce the unarmoured elephants' legs. The panicked and wounded elephants turned on the Indians themselves;

12625-707: The rest of Persia. By the time Alexander reached the borders of India five years later, he had a substantial number of elephants under his own command. When it came to defeating Porus , who ruled in what is now Punjab, Pakistan , Alexander found himself facing a considerable force of between 85 and 100 war elephants at the Battle of the Hydaspes . Preferring stealth and mobility to sheer force, Alexander manoeuvered and engaged with just his infantry and cavalry, ultimately defeating Porus' forces, including his elephant corps, albeit at some cost. Porus for his part placed his elephants individually, at long intervals from each other,

12750-535: The royal stables, including the capture of elephants, was called the Gajanayake Nilame , while the post of Kuruve Lekham controlled the Kuruwe or elephant men. The training of war elephants was the duty of the Kuruwe clan who came under their own Muhandiram, a Sri Lankan administrative post. In Islamic history there is a significant event known as the ‘Am al-Fil ( Arabic : عَـام الـفـيـل , " Year of

12875-519: The shoulder. It is likely that at least some Syrian elephants were traded abroad. The favorite, and perhaps last surviving, elephant of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps was an impressive animal named Surus ("the Syrian"), which may have been of Syrian stock, though the evidence remains ambiguous. Since the late 1940s, a strand of scholarship has argued that the African forest elephants used by Numidia,

13000-460: The spread of firearms and other gunpowder weaponry in early modern warfare . After this, war elephants became restricted to non-combat engineering and labour roles, as well as being used for minor ceremonial uses. They continued to be used in combat, however, in some parts of the world, such as in Burma , Thailand , and Vietnam , well into the 19th century. An elephant trainer, rider, or keeper

13125-483: The subsequent Celtiberian counterattack, the Romans were forced to withdraw. Later, Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus marched against Viriathus with another ten elephants sent by king Micipsa . However, the Lusitanian style of ambushes in narrow terrains ensured his elephants did not play an important factor in the conflict, and Servilianus was eventually defeated by Viriathus in the city of Erisana. Famously,

13250-533: The throne after killing Jaggaddeva to avenge their father's death. The 1164 CE Delhi-Shivalik pillar inscription states that Vigraharaja conquered the region between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas . The Himalayas and the Vindhyas form the traditional boundary of Aryavarta (the land of ancient Aryans ), and Vigraharaja claimed to have restored the rule of Aryans in this land. While his claim of having conquered

13375-524: The throne. Chahamanas of Shakambhari The Chahamanas of Shakambhari ( IAST : Cāhamāna), colloquially known as the Chauhans of Sambhar or Chauhans of Ajmer , were an Indian dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Rajasthan and neighbouring areas between the sixth and twelfth centuries in the Indian Subcontinent . The territory ruled by them was known as Sapadalaksha. They were

13500-574: The throne. The most celebrated ruler of the dynasty was Someshvara's son Prithviraja III, better known as Prithviraj Chauhan . He defeated several neighbouring kings, including the Chandela ruler Paramardi in 1182–83, although he could not annex the Chandela territory to his kingdom. In 1191, he defeated the Ghurid Empire king Muhammad of Ghor at the first Battle of Tarain . However,

13625-525: The time of his ancestor Chandanaraja . Vigraharaja put an end to this long conflict by decisively defeating the Tomaras, who had grown weak under attacks from the Chahamanas, the Gahadavalas and the Muslims. The Tomaras continued to rule for a few more decades, but as vassals of the Chahamanas. An old bahi (manuscript) states that Visaladeva i.e. Vigraharaja captured Delhi from Tamvars ( Tomaras ) in

13750-511: The upcoming battle would soon give him an opportunity to meet her. The play describes Desaladevi as the daughter of prince Vasantapala of Indrapura. The play is available only in fragments, so the details of the ensuing battle are not known. Historian Dasharatha Sharma identified Hammira with Khusrau Shah, and assumed that Vigraharaja repulsed his invasion. Historian R. B. Singh, on the other hand, theorizes that no actual battle took place between Vigraharaja and Hammira. According to Singh's theory,

13875-611: The use of war elephants died out in the region. The Kingdom of Aksum in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea made use of war elephants in 525 AD during the invasion of the Himyarite Kingdom in the Arabian peninsula. The war elephants used by the Aksumite army consisted of African savannah elephants , a significantly larger and more temperamental species of elephant. War elephants were again put to use by an Aksumite army in

14000-508: The walls of temples and on Meroitic lamps. Kushite kings also utilize war elephants, which are believed to have been kept and trained in the " Great Enclosure " at Musawwarat al-Sufa . The Kingdom of Kush provided these war elephants to the Egyptians, Ptolemies and Syrians. The Ptolemaic Egypt and the Punics began acquiring African elephants for the same purpose, as did Numidia and

14125-412: The year 1152 CE (1209 VS ). According to historian R. B. Singh, Hansi might have been under Muslim control by this time. On the other hand, Dasharatha Sharma theorizes that the Tomaras had recaptured Hansi from Ghaznavids by this time, and Vigraharaja captured it from the Tomaras. The legendary epic poem Prithviraj Raso states that the later Chahamana king Prithviraja III married the daughter of

14250-593: The year 570 in a military expedition against the Quraysh of Mecca. The Kushan Empire conquered most of Northern India. The empire adopted war elephants when levying troops as they expanded into the Indian subcontinent. The Weilüe describes how the population of Eastern India rode elephants into battle, but currently they provide military service and taxes to the Yuezhi (Kushans). The Hou Hanshu additionally describes

14375-402: Was a hot, arid region, where trees requiring little water grew. The region is identified with the area around Bikaner . The term Sapadalaksha (literally "one and a quarter lakhs " or 125,000) refers to the large number of villages in the area. It became prominent during the Chahamana reign. It appears that the term originally referred to the area around modern Nagaur near Bikaner. This area

14500-477: Was busy fighting at Chittor, Kumarapala tried to create a diversion by besieging Nagor , but lifted the siege after learning about Vigraharaja's victory at Chittor. A Chahamana prashasti ( eulogy ) boasts that Vigraharaja reduced Kumarapala to a karavalapala (probably the designation of a subordinate officer). This is obviously an exaggeration, but it does appear that Vigraharaja conquered some of Kumarapala's territories. The earliest Chahamana inscriptions from

14625-412: Was considered the most royal, while seldom riding the back of elephants. Although viewed as secondary to chariots by royalty, elephants were the preferred vehicle of warriors, especially the elite ones. While the chariots eventually fell into disuse, the other three arms continued to be valued. Many characters in the epic Mahābhārata were trained in the art. According to the rules of engagement set for

14750-514: Was first recorded in the 6th or 5th century BC. This practice is believed to be much older than proper recorded history. The ancient Indian epics Ramayana and Mahābhārata , dating from 5th–4th century BC, elaborately depict elephant warfare. They are recognized as an essential component of royal and military processions. In ancient India, initially, the army was fourfold ( chaturanga ), consisting of infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots . Kings and princes principally ride on chariots, which

14875-546: Was initially misidentified as these elephants, but later dating proved it to be a mammoth skeleton from the Stone Age . In the African campaign of the Roman civil war of 49–45 BC, the army of Metellus Scipio used elephants against Caesar's army at the battle of Thapsus . Scipio trained his elephants before the battle by aligning the elephants in front of slingers that would throw rocks at them, and another line of slingers at

15000-478: Was known as Savalak (vernacular form of Sapadalaksha) in as late as 20th century. The early Chahamana king Samantaraja was based in Ahichchhatrapura, which can be identified with modern Nagaur. The ancient name of Nagaur was Nagapura, which means "the city of the serpent". Ahichchhatrapura has a similar meaning: "the city whose chhatra or protector is serpent". As the Chahamana territory expanded,

15125-666: Was made in 318 BC by Polyperchon , one of Alexander's generals, when he besieged Megalopolis in the Peloponnesus during the wars of the Diadochi. He used 60 elephants brought from Asia with their mahouts. A veteran of Alexander's army, named Damis, helped the besieged Megalopolitians to defend themselves against the elephants and eventually Polyperchon was defeated. Those elephants were subsequently taken by Cassander and transported, partly by sea, to other battlefields in Greece. It

15250-540: Was notable for the quality of their war elephants which were prized by its neighbors for being stronger. Later the King Kharavela was to restore an independent Kalinga into a powerful kingdom using war elephants as stated in the Hathigumpha inscription or "Elephant Cave" Inscriptions. Following Indian accounts foreign rulers would also adopt the use of elephants. The Chola Empire of Tamil Nadu also had

15375-429: Was particularly decisive, as their quick charge shattered the unformed Macedonian left wing, allowing the Romans to encircle and destroy the victorious Macedonian right. A similar event also occurred at Pydna. The Romans' successful use of war elephants against the Macedonians might be considered ironic, given that it was Pyrrhus who first taught them the military potential of elephants. Elephants also featured throughout

15500-572: Was stated to have 113,000 elephants in captivity: 12,000 in active army service, 1,000 to supply fodder to these animals, and another 100,000 elephants to carry courtiers, officials, attendants and baggage. King Rajasinghe I laid siege to the Portuguese fort at Colombo , Sri Lanka , in 1558 with an army containing 2,200 elephants, used for logistics and siege work. The Sri Lankans had continued their proud traditions in capturing and training elephants from ancient times. The officer in charge of

15625-627: Was taken by both the Meccans and their Yemenite foes as a serious omen. According to Islamic tradition, it was in this year that Muhammad was born. In the Middle Ages , elephants were seldom used in Europe. Charlemagne took his one elephant, Abul-Abbas , when he went to fight the Danes in 804, and the Crusades gave Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II the opportunity to capture an elephant in

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