Elephants in the Royal army

The analysis of epigraphic data reflects that elephats are mostly mentioned in the context of royal army. In the records from Nāgas of Mathura (c. 3^rd/4^th century CE onwards), Western Gaṅgas of Karnataka (c. 350-1000 CE), Eastern Cālukyas of Badami or Vatapi (c. 543-753 CE), varied records from Bengal i.e. undivided Bengal, Colas of Tanjavur (c. 848-1279 CE), Eastern Gaṅgas of Kaliṅga or Orissa (c. 1078-1434), Kākatiyas of Warrangal in Andhra. In varied records from south India dating from c. 1100-1474 CE, Kalacuris of Central India (c.10^th-12^th century CE), Śilāhāras of Kolhapur (c. 11^th century CE) and many other records mention the strengthening of the royalty due to large number of elephants in their possession.

The Hāthigumphā inscription of Kaliṅgarāja Khāravela (c. later half of 1^st century CE) it is interesting to note that the cave is still called Hathigumpha i.e. the elephant cave though we do not know what was the ancient name of this cave where the record was incised. It gives a clear reference to his strong army, consisting cavalry (haya), elephant (gaja), infantry (nara), and chariots (radha) (l.4)^[1] –“haya-gaja-nara-radha-bahulaṃ daṃḍaṃ paṭhāpayati”^[2]. This is so far the earliest known engraved reference to the presence of elephant troops in the army.

In the second year of his reign Khāravela after attacking on Rājagaha or Rājagṛha (m. Rajgir dist., Bihar) and defeating one Yavana (Greek) king Dimita, he made a fire-sacrifice and donated to the Brāhmaṇas the Kalpa (wish-fulfilling) trees with foliage, elephants, and chariots with their drivers, houses etc.^[3] by exempted from taxes–

“(l.8) ……………..yachati…… palava….

(l.9) kappa-rukhe haya-gaja-radha-yaṃte sava-ghar-āvāsa-parivasane agiṇathiyā savagahanaṃ ca kārayituṃ Baṃhaṇānaṃ jātiṃ parihāraṃ dadāti.”^[4]

This is an evidence of donation of elephants as offering to Brāhamaṇas. The influence of his elephant force has been narrated many times in this inscription. It says that in his twelfth regnal year, people of Magadha caused panic when Khāravela drives his elephants (hathī) into the palace of Sugaṃgīya and compelled its king Bahasatimita to bow at his feet (l. 11-12)^[5]. The inscription also says that he drove away elephants from Aṅga and Magadha and he built a wonderful and marvelous enclosure of stockade (“Abhutam=achariyaṃ ca hathī-nivāsaparisaraṃ”) for driving the elephants (l. 12-13)^[6].

He also brought elephants along with horses and jewels, rubis, pearls from the Pāṇḍya king–

“haya-hathī-ratanā-manikaṃ Paṃḍarājā c=edāni anekāni muta-maṇi-ratanāni āharāpayati idha sa ta” (l. 13)^[7].

“Hathī-nivāsaparisaraṃ” it referred probably to elephant preserves or some original form of kheda arrangements, invented by Khāravela. The repeated references to elephants in the record under discussion clearly reveal that Kaliṅga was famous for its elephants. The power and strength of the ruler due to the possession of elephants is again reflected in the description as Khāravela seiged the fort of Pāṭaliputra with the help of the elephant troops.

The Kirari wooden pillar inscription^[8] from Chhattisgarh datable to c. 2^nd century CE refers to the presence of an army in the forest kingdom therin. Among the 17 odd officials or posts mentioned in this record we find the presence of two officers related to elephants firstly the hathāroha i.e. hastyāroha of the Aśokan records and hāthivapa probabaly denoting hastipaka i.e. the officer in charge of elephants or keeper of elephants. Besides this from the numismatic evidence from this area one gets the constant presence of elephants on the obverse of the coin device from 1^st century BCE to 4^th century CE. Similarly even in the case of Sātavāhana coins one finds the prominent presence of elephant as the obverse device on their Imperial coinage.

Political positions were often strengthened by the possession of elephants or chief of elephant troops are often seen to be rewarded. A Chebrolu inscription of Jaya after Śaka-samvat 1135(CE 1213-1214)^[9] of Kṛiṣṇā district verses 13-27 refer to Jaya (v.20) or Jāyana (v.13) who was the chief of the elephant-troop of Kākatiya king Gaṇapati, he received from his sovereign the city of Ṣaṇmukha (v.20), Tāmrapurī (mentioned in v.19) and/or Tāmranagari (mentioned in v.27). Probabaly the last two names stood for the same place i.e. Tāmrapurī alias Tāmranagari and were Sanskrit equivalents of the Telugu word Cembrolu, the modern Chebrolu. Armed forces of chiefs often find mention in epigraphic records and these consisted of horses, elephants and infantry, here elephants are often mentioned as rutting elephants which is quite significant.

At the end of this chapter we have appended a list of inscriptions mentioning relevant raw data from epigraphic records bearing reference to elephants (See Appendix). Similar reference to victory over elephants using cavalry or a single horse or winning over rutted elephants and tusked elephants using or with the help of inferior tuskless elephants are also mentioned in records. For example the Gadag inscription of Hoysala king Vīra-Ballāla, Śaka samvat 1114 from Dharwar district mentions Ballāla’s victory over Jagaddeva, the lord of elephants with his own horse. The inscription gives in verses 35 and 36 a more detailed account of two of Ballāla’s campaigns. It mentions, “….by force, he, the strong one, defeated with cavalry only deprived of his sovereignty, the general Brāhmaṇa whose army was strengthened by an array of elephants, and who had conquered sixty tusked elephants with a single tusk less^[10]. Besides this induction of elephants in army and their use in warfare is also reflected in some records. These have also been enlisted in the table given below. Vindhya as a mountain is exclusively mentioned in records for the availability of elehants. Some generals and rulers also boast of making Vindhya devoid of elephants. Such claims further strengthen the view of this region being famous for its elephants. That to show the valour of the opponent kings, inscriptions compared them with lions who are the sole enemies of elephants. Elephants were considered as the symbol of the sovereign power great strength of the kings, so the above description in the record indicates the victory of a rival king over a sovereign power. Armies were often metioned as caturaṅg or pañcāṅga which included elephant troops as one of the aṅga. This is found from the very beginning of the Common Era^[11].

There are few inscriptions which mention elephant troops or squad but not much detail is available for example the Madhuban pillar inscription of Harṣa in the year 25, states the elephant squad of Harṣa in his royal camp at Kopitthikā^[12]. The Nidhanpur copper plates of Bhāskaravarman mention about the four kind of army in the royal camp at Karṇasuvarṇa, viz., possession of splendid ships, elephants, horses and foot-soldiers^[13]. Aihole inscription of Pulakeśin II stated that the king Jayasiṃha-ballava of the Cālukyan lineage, who had horses, foot soldiers and elephants and also crushed the vigor of the Kaṭacuris, i.e., Kalacuris” array of elephants (v.12). Verse 17 of the inscription mentions of two ablest ministers of Pulakeśin II, named Āppāyika and Govinda, who approached with their troops of elephants and furiously conquered the country of the north of Bhaimarathi and received the reward of the services rendered by them. After this when Pulakeśin II straight way He strove to conquer the Coḷas, the Kāveri, who has the darting carps for her tremulous eyes, had her current obstructed by the causeway formed by his elephants whose rutting juice was dripping down, and avoided the contact with the ocean.

Daulatpura plate of Bhojadeva I of Mahodaya of Kanauj dated Śaka Samvat100 (i.e. CE 706) tells about the Pañcāṅga senā including elephant squad of the Gurjjaras,i.e., boats, elephants, horses, chariots and foot soldiers which was fixed the glorious Mahodaya—

“Śrī mahodaya-samāvāsit-ānekanau-hastya-aśva-ratha-pattisampanna skandhāvārāt…..”^[14].

In case of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa family the Konnur inscription of Amoghavarṣa I, we come to know that king Dantidurga defeated array of elephants from Himalayas to the confines of (Rāma’s) mighty bridge (and) who a leader of his family crushed the circle of arrogant princes on the earth (v.5)^[15]. The Kaluchumbarru grant of Vijayaditya-Amma II mentions the marshalled arrays of elephants of Chola ruler Lovabikki and the valorous Yuddhamalla (v.7, l.32)^[16].

The glorious king Indrabhaṭṭārakavarman, mentioned in the Chikkulla plates of Vikramendravarman, is said to have gained extensive victories when his troops of elephants encountered in battle towards numerous four tusked elephants of his opponent^[17]. In the Chebrolu inscription of Jaya after Śaka-samvat 1135(CE 1213-1214) of Kṛiṣṇā district verses 13-27 refer to Jaya (v.20) or Jāyana (v.13) who was the chief of the elephant-troop of king Kākatiya Gaṇapati and received from his sovereign the city of Shaṇmukha (v.20), Tāmrapurī (v.19), or Tāmranagari (v.27), the last two names are Sanskrit equivalents of the Telugu word Cembrolu, the modern Chebrolu, when Gaṇapati conquered the Southern kings (v.19).

The implementation of this animal in the royal army is also reflected in Gadag inscription of Hoysala king Vīra-Ballala, Śaka samvat 1114 in Dharwar district telling about Ballala’s victory over Jagaddeva, the lord of elephants with his own horse. The inscription gives in verses 35 and 36 a more detail account of two of Ballāla’s campaigns -“And by force, he, the strong one, defeated with cavalry only deprived of his sovereignty, the general Brahmaṇa whose army was strengthened by an array of elephants, and who had conquered sixty tusked elephants with a single tusk less—(for “tūbara’ the Dictionaries give the meaning of bull without horns, beardless man, a eunuch, here it evidently denotes a tusk less elephant as oppose to “dantin’, the tusked elephant. A revised translation of the verse was given by Fleet^[18]. But some scholars differ from him only with regard to the words “nyakkāreṇa pituḥ’)—elephant, when, on account of an insult to his father, he was tearing the royal fortune from the family of the Kalachuris. And cutting off Jaitrasiṃha who was asset, the right arm of that Bhillama, he, the hero, acquired also the sovereignty over the country of Kuntala (southern Maratha country).

Descriptions given in some inscriptions help us to draw the picture of the battle fields and how elephants were engaged in warfare. For example, the Nagpur stone inscription of the rulers of Malva, (Vikrama) year 1161, i.e. CE 1104-5 tells us that when the prince marched forth victoriously the cloud of dust raised by the onset of his fleet horses appeared to the host of his enemies like the smoke of the all devouring fire rising all round from the fissures of the surface of the earth, broken by the weight of his formidable elephants (v.27)^[19]. Often and often the elephants of his army thickly covered with streams of rutting juice, demolished even the hills at the foot of the Vindhya Mountains, taking them for the elephants of the enemy because their tremulous broad torrents appeared like trunks their projecting picks like frontal globs, and the water flowing from their ridges like rutting juice (v.41)^[20].

Dirghasi inscription of Vanapati, Śakasamvat 997 describes a battle scene elaborately where elephants played an important role.

It says that:

“This Calamartigaṇḍa became in battle a conflagration to the great forest (which was) the army of the Coḍa king, teeming with beasts (which were) horses, (and) full of tall trees (which were) mast elephants. By him the fire to the forest of the army of the Coḍa, whose flames were arrows, darts, knives and swords,-the trees (which were) the commander of the elephants and horses of the Utkala, were entirely burnt in battle, their roots broken, their heads struck down, (and) their branches (which were) arms and thighs, cut off……” (v. 4-5)^[21].

Another inscription Kadaba plates of Prabhutavarṣa stated that when once in battle his fortune was fickle, his heart trembling on account of the destruction of his elephants and ships by the crushing of the rough waves,-even then his enemies, though united and their power became unshaken, forsook the kingdom, and, bewildered by delusion, fled themselves to the remote regions (v.7)^[22].

There are several elegantly sculptured hero stones bearing inscriptions some of which illustrate elephants engaged in warfare. One of them is kept at the entrance into the Mamlatdar’s office at Roṇ, Dharwar district belongs to the reign of (the Rāṣṭakūṭa king) Kannaradeva and states that his brother-in-law Mahāmṇḍalika Permāri Bhūtārya was governing Gaṅgavāḍi. It records the death of Paṃpayya of the Vāji lineage in an encounter with Bhūtayya-permāḍi when the latter had attacked Roṇ on 24^th April, CE 942. The lower panel depicts a battle scene where heroes mounted on two elephants and horse-back was engaged.^[23]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

EI, Vol.XX, p.87.

[2]:

Ibid., p. 79.

[3]:

Ibid., pp. 87-88.

[4]:

Ibid., p. 79.

[5]:

EI, Vol. XX, pp. 79-80; 88.

[6]:

Ibid., pp. 80, 88.

[7]:

Ibid., pp. 88, 80.

[8]:

Susmita Basu Majumdar & Shivakant Bajpai. Select Early Historic Inscriptions: Epigraphic Perspective on the Ancient Past of Chhattisgarh, Raipur: Shatakshi Prakashan, 2014, pp. 48-55.

[9]:

EI, Vol. V, p. 149.

[10]:

For “tūbara’ the Dictionaries give the meaning of bull without horns, beardless man, a eunuch, here it evidently denotes a tusk less elephant as oppose to “dantin’, the tusked elephant. But some scholars differ from him only with regard to the words “nyakkāreṇa pituḥ’ elephant, when, on account of an insult to his father, he was tearing the royal fortune from the family of the Kalachuris. And cutting off Jaitrasiṃha who was asset, the right arm of that Bhillama, he, the hero, acquired also the sovereignty over the country of Kuntala, A revised translation of the verse was given by Fleet in Dyn.Kan.Dist., p.464

[11]:

Hatigumpha inscription of Kharavela.

[12]:

EI, Vol. VII, p.158

[13]:

EI, Vol. XII, p.72.

[14]:

Ibid., Vol.V, pp.211-212.

[15]:

Ibid., Vol. VI, p.34.

[16]:

Ibid., Vol.VII, p.190.

[17]:

Ibid., Vol.IV, p.197.

[18]:

Dyn.Kan.Dist., p.464.

[19]:

EI., Vol. II, p. 191.

[20]:

Ibid.

[21]:

EI, Vol.IV, p.317.

[22]:

Ibid. p.247.

[23]:

Annigeri, A.M. “Inscriptions on Hero-stones in Karnataka”, Studies in Indian Epigraphy, Vol.3, p.103-104.