Natural Abodes of Elephants: Forests and woods

Eight types of forests:

Arthaśāstra (Book 2, Chapter 2, v. 15-16)^[1] mentioned elephant-forests (nāgavana) of Kaliṅga and Aṅgaras in east, Cedi and Karūṣa, forests in Daśārṇa, Aparānta, Saurāṣṭra and Pañcanada. According to Kauṭilya Kaliṅga and Aṅgaras of east forest are famous for best elephants, elephants of Cedi, Karūṣa and Daśārṇa, Aparānta are medium in quality and elephants from Saurāṣṭra and Pañcanada are lowest in quality. But out of all these Kauṭilya declares that perfect training can increase the valour, speed and spirit of the elephants.

Gajaśātra (Chapter 4, v.1-18)^[2] and Mānasollāsa (Chapter 3-Gajavanavibhāgalakṣaṇam, v. 171-179) mention the forests which were famous for elephants.

They are eight in number, such as–

1. Prācya (Eastern) forest,
2. Cedikarūṣaka (or Vedikarūṣaṃ in Mānasollāsa),
3. Dāśārṇaka,
4. Āṅgāreyaka (or āṅgireyaka of Mānasollāsa),
5. Kāliṅgaka,
6. Aparantaka,
7. Saurāṣṭraka and
8. Pāñcanada.^[3]

Treatises cited these forests along with their locations.

Gajaśāstra gives detailed descriptions of these forests and signs of the elephants dwelling there.

1) Prācya forest:

The signs of the elephants in Prācya vana:

In the east, the forest of the elephants is the Himālaya, whose caves are filled with the songs of the Vidyādharī who sits on her beloved’s lap in the Mandāra gardens, where there are the woods or the bank of the Brahmaputra, where the Yamunā meets the Bhāgīrathī, where the Jāhnavā is reddened with the glow from the jewel on the crest of the serpent on Śambhu’s head (v. 3).

Brown elephants with bad nails, which are marked by their heads, throats, lips, stomachs, tusks, thighs, lens, cheeks thick dewlaps strong body, knees and limbs. They have wide shoulders and tails; roam about in the Mālava country by the saravyā (v. 4-5).

They may be seen roaming in the pastures and mountains of the Aṅga in Uttamā, Magadha, Puṇḍra, Kāṣmīra and Kosala, as well as Pāñcāla and Kaliṅga some of them drink (the water of) the Jāhnavī or Gomatī (v. 6-7).

In the east in Prācya, or on the seashore or around the Ganges near the Brahmaputra, elephants roam about by the sacred rivers and Gocaras and other mountains in the beautiful lands of Aṅga etc. (v. 8).

The Prācya forest elephants have grant necks, heads, thick trunks, wide backs, good tails, they are brown and trumpet pleasantly (v. 9). Prācya is in the midst of the Ganges, Prayāga, the Himālaya and Brahmaputra. Elephants born there have supple bodies, and are gentle and fiery (v. 10).^[4]

2) Cedikarūṣaka forest:

The signs of the elephants in the forests of Cedikarūṣaka:

Mekhalā (Narmadā), Tripurī and the land of Dāśārṇa and (the land called) Unmattagaṅga–in the middle of this is Cedikarūṣaka. Some of the elephants there are have ally with high sides, tusks the colour of honey, of quick mettle with good bodies, auspicious feet, tall and brown, and are sometimes ferocious and quick to kick (v. 11-12).^[5]

3) Dāśārṇa forest:

The signs of the elephants in the forests of Dāśārṇa:

Mekhalā is said to be in the middle of Dāśārṇa, Unmattagaṅga and Tripura and Rasapuṭa in Cardya. Dāśārṇa is in between Śrīparvata and Śrībala mountain, by the Vetravatī. The Dāśārṇa (elephant) has auspicious limbs, is speedy, well-disciplined with great limbs and yellowish (in colour) (v. 13).^[6]

4) Āṅgāreyaka forest:

The signs of the elephants in the forests of Āṅgāreyaka:

Between the mountain Pāriyātra and the country of Vidiśā, by the Revatī and the Brahmavatī is the Āṅgāreya (country); the elephant born there has auspicious eyes and is very powerful, with tender skin (v. 14).^[7]

5) Kāliṅga forest:

The signs of the elephants in the forests of Kāliṅga:

Kāliṅga is (the land) in the middle of the Sahya, the Vindhya, Utkala, the direction of Agastya (south) and the sea. The (elephant) there has fine hair, sweet glance, a unique body and is slow-moving.^[8]

6) Aparānta forest:

The signs of the elephants in the Aparānta forest:

The Aparānta is (the country) to the east of the last mountain by the Revā, the Kṛṣṇa mountain and the ocean. The (elephant) born there has a beautiful body, is very strong and has tender skin (v. 15).^[9]

7) Saurāṣṭra forest:

The signs of the elephants in the forests of Saurāṣṭra:

Saurāṣṭra is in the middle of the Revā, Avantī, the city named Arbuda and Dvārakā. The elephants born there has short nails and tusks, as short lived and stupid.^[10]

8) Pāñcanada forest:

The signs of the elephants of the Pāñcanada forest:

Pāñcanada is the forest on the north, in the middle of the Kāleya forest and the Sindhu (on the one hand) and Himālaya and Kurukṣetra (on the other). (The elephant) born here is very strong and ferocious (v. 16).This is an account of the forests of the elephants. The elephants that roam in the forests should be judged by their looks, their behaviour and their bodies (v. 17).^[11]

[12. Elephant forests in Early India. According to Bijoya Goswami’s description based on Gajaśāstra]

The Gajaśāstra (Chapter 4, v. 18) gives a ranking of the forests of elephants, such as the Prācya, Kāliṅgaka and the Aparānta are said to be the best. Cedikarūṣaka, Dāśārṇa and Āṅgāreya are medium. Saurāṣṭraka and Pāñcanada are said to be the worst forests.^[12] But the Mānasollāsa (Chapter 3, v. 178-179) contradicts the ranking of Gajaśāstra in some respect. According to it except Kāliṅga, Vedikārūṣaṃ, Dāśārṇa, replacing Prācya, and Aparānta, are said to be the best while except āṅgireya, the Prācyavana degreased from its first position and replacing Cedikarūṣaka, Dāśārṇa are considered as mediocre. Lastly Aparanta losing its best position considered as the inferior kind of forest along with Pāñcanada, Saurāṣṭra, those are kept their position in worst.^[13] After keen study of ranking of the elephant-forests it is quite visible Arthaśāstra, Gajaśāstra and Mānasollāsa all the three treatises considered Kaliṅga or Kaliṅgaka as the best, Daśārṇa as the mediocre and Saurāṣṭra and Pañcanada as the worst according to quality of their elephants. In this context it is worth mentioning that king Someśvara in the 12^th century CE seems to be specially inclined towards the elephants of the Kaliṅga forests (v.194).^[14]

Identification of forests:

These forests may be identified as follows:

1. Prācyavana–extended from Allahabad to Assam, the forest on the Himalayan foot hills.

2. Cedikarūṣaka (Cedi and Karūṣa)–i)Cedi and its surrounding region. This region is bounded by Kalisindh and Chaunse rivers in west and east directions, respectively (18 mile northwest of Chanderi and Lalitpur of Bundelkhand). ii) Karūṣa–southern region of Shahabad District of Bihar (the region between Shon and Karmanasha rivers).

3. Daśārṇavana–Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, Daśārṇa Mahāgiri. The forest between Vindhya and river Betravatī (Betwa).

4. āṅgāreyakavana–the region between Vidisha, Narmada and Pariyatra (Aravalli Mountain ranges in west of Bhopal) and Brahmavardhan.

5. Kāliṅgakavana–southern part of Orissa and northern part of Dravida region. Godavari river flows in south-west and a stream of river Indravati named Gaoliya flows in north-west of this area. It indicates simply the area between Godavari and Mahanadi rivers.

6. Aparantakavana–coastal region of Konkan and Malabar, south of Narmada.

7. Saurāṣṭrakavana–Avanti (Malwa), Nimar, and adjacent region of Madhya Pradesh. The region between Narmada, Dwarka and Mount Abu.

8. Pāñcanadavana–region between Kurukshetra, Sindhu, Himalaya and Kalikakanan.^[15]

According to Blochman, these descriptions specify the habitat of elephants almost all over the Indian subcontinent at least up to 12th century CE.^[16]

Signs of elephants dwelling in these forests

Gajaśāstra also describes the signs of elephants dwelling in these forests. It refers to eight woods (upavanas) and the marks of elephants dwelling there (Chapter 4, v.19-27).

They are:

1. Upavana in Kirāta country (east of the Himalaya),
2. Āgneya (south-east) upavanas,
3. southern upavanas,
4. Nairṛta (south-west) upavanas,
5. western upavanas,
6. Vāyu (northwest) upavanas,
7. northern upavanas and
8. Iśāna (north-eastern) upavanas.^[17]

Elephants are particularly judged according to the signs of the woods they are born in.^[18] Arthaśāstra and Aśokan inscriptions both mention elephant forests or Hastivana where elephants were kept in captivity post capture for training. Kauṭilya places the elephant forests much as much superior to the material forests. Elephants are principally responsible for destruction of the enemy’s force (Book 7, Chapter 11, verses 13-16).^[19] Under the measures taken by ministers for state’s foreign policy especially at the time of pact for an undertaking Kauṭilya mentions the usefulness of the elephant forests. According to the ancient teachers there were two types of elephants in forests prior to their usefulness i.e. ‘one with many but dull elephants and one with few but brave elephants is preferable; for, on the brave depends the fight; the few brave rout the many dull, and those routed become the destroyers of their own troops.’ But according to Kauṭilya many dull elephants are preferable for their use in the army as they carry out many tasks, become the refuge of their own troops in battle and unassailable and frightful to the enemies. Where as to the many dull elephants, bravery can be imparted by means of training, but numerousness cannot be generated at all in the few brave (Book 7, Chapter 12, verses 8-12).^[20] Elephant forests are the source of elephants for war (Book 7, Chapter 14, verse 25).^[21]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

R.P. Kangle. tr. The Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra, Part II, pp. 68-69.

[2]:

Shri Mantramurti K.S. Subrahmanyaśāstri. ed. &tr. (in Tamil), Gajaśāstra [Gaja-śāstram] of Pālakāpya muni with extracts from other works and Coloured Illustrations, pp. 32-36.

[3]:

Gajanan K. Shrigondekar. ed. Mānasollāsa, Vol.1, pp. 44-45. The Mānasollāsa arranges this forests likewise–Prācya, Āṅgireya, Kāliṅgaka, Dāśārṇaka, Aparanta, Saurāṣṭra, Pāñcanada, Vedikarūṣaṃ.

[4]:

Shri Mantramurti K.S. Subrahmanyaśāstri. ed. &tr. (in Tamil), Gajaśāstra [Gaja-śāstram] of Pālakāpya muni with extracts from other works and Coloured Illustrations, pp. 32-34.

[5]:

Ibid., p. 34.

[6]:

Ibid.

[7]:

Ibid., p. 35.

[8]:

Ibid.

[9]:

Ibid.

[10]:

Ibid., p. 35.

[11]:

Ibid., p. 36.

[12]:

Ibid.

[13]:

Gajanan K. Shrigondekar. ed. Mānasollāsa, Vol.1, p. 45.

[14]:

Ibid., p. 136.

[15]:

I am deeply indebted to Professor Bijoya Goswami, Former Professor of Sanskrit Department, Jadavpur University, who gave her unpublished work on Gajaśāstra with English translation and permit me to refer the matters and use the map from it. The work will be soon published.

[16]:

Nalini Sadhale & Y.L. Nene. ‘On Elephants in Manasollasa-1.Characteristics, Habitat, Methods of Capturing and Training’, Reproduction from Asian Agri-History, Vol.8, No.1, 2004, p. 23. According to the Ain-i-Akbari, the supplies of elephants from regions of Agra and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, central India and Bihar to the Mughals, especially in the reign of Akbar, in the late 16th century CE; however by the end of 19th century CE, Watts shows, the scarcity of elephants habitation in these regions. And Daniel displays the present days‘elephant habitats in India are in (i) Northwest: Dehradun, Bijnor, and the Nainital Tarai; (ii) South: Western Ghats in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu; (iii) Central: southern Bihar, southern Bengal, and Orissa; and (iv) Eastern: northern Bengal, Assam, and other states of North-East.

[17]:

Shri Mantramurti K.S. Subrahmanyaśāstri. ed. &tr. (in Tamil), Gajaśāstra [Gaja-śāstram] of Pālakāpya muni with extracts from other works and Coloured Illustrations, pp. 36-38.

[18]:

Ibid, p. 39.

[19]:

R.P. Kangle. tr. The Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra, Part II, p. 412.

[20]:

Ibid., pp. 415-416.

[21]:

Ibid., p. 426.