Indian war elephants: description, history and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

In the East for a long time war elephants were one of the military branches. Moreover, such troops were very traditional and went into oblivion only with the advent of the new time.

The story of war elephants

For the first time, war elephants were tamed for military use in India. And this happened a very long time ago, presumably in the first millennium BC. The Phoenicians, with the help of the Hindus, tamed the animals that live in northern Africa. It should be noted that the elephants of the ancient armies belonged to the now extinct North African species. They were much smaller than the famous Indian animals. In general, it is difficult to imagine that a triple tower was placed on the back of an elephant. Elephants were used in those days for both working and combat purposes. The largest individuals were selected for military operations.

Who were the elephants up against?

In ancient India, elephants were released against the cavalry, because horses are very afraid of large animals. Elephants were lined up in one line with an interval of thirty meters from each other. Behind them came the infantry. The whole system outwardly resembled a wall with turrets. I must say that the animals were not protected by any devices. But they were richly decorated with all sorts of metaljewelry and red blankets.

However, war elephants were very dangerous opponents. Under the right circumstances, they could inflict significant damage on the enemy. But if the enemy himself turned out to be cunning and smart, then he could confuse the animals, and then confusion and chaos began. In such a situation, the elephants could trample each other. Therefore, the art of driving and managing this animal was highly appreciated. Indian princes were certainly taught the basics.

War Elephants of India

The elephant was a whole combat unit of himself and three other people. One of the members of such a crew was a driver (in fact, a driver), the second was a shooter, and the third was an archer or dart thrower. The driver was on the neck of the animal. But the arrows on the back were hiding in the shelter of light shields. The driver had to ensure that enemies did not approach the animal from the flanks. The shooter fought a throwing battle.

However, the main weapon was still an elephant. He himself terrified enemies. In addition, animals were able to trample people, killing with powerful tusks and soul with their trunks.

Animal weapons

The main striking factor in the elephant attack was the fear that animals caught up with people with their appearance. Their great strength played a significant role. Sometimes Indian war elephants were armed with swords. However, letting them hold bladed weapons with their trunks was a very bad idea. Since the trunk is not a hand, the animals could not cope with swords. But the elephants used other weaponsskillfully enough. They put iron sharp tips on short tusks, thereby lengthening them. These were the weapons the animals used with great dexterity.

To the Hellenes, along with elephants and their leaders, there were also methods of tactical construction of animals in battle, as well as a fashion for their magnificent decoration. To all this ammunition, the Macedonians and Hellenes added a turret, covered with shields, for a crew armed with bows and spears. After the Hellenistic states disappeared under the blows of the Parthians and Romans, Europeans almost never met on the battlefields with war elephants.

The use of war elephants in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, war elephants were used almost throughout Asia - from China to Iran, from India to Arabia. However, the tactics of their use gradually changed. In the era of the early Middle Ages, Indian and Persian war elephants went to the enemy in whole formations, then later, in the second millennium AD, the animals rather played the role of mobile fortresses.

There are no bloody scenes of massive elephant attacks in the surviving descriptions of the battles of those times with the participation of elephants. As a rule, the elephants were built in a defensive line and released only the most critical moment for a short attack. Increasingly, war elephants performed transport functions, carrying large throwing apparatus or shooters. Similar scenes are depicted in great detail on the reliefs of the twelfth century. Elephants also had a very honorable function.

The use of elephants as transport for nobleswarlords

All warlords (Burmese, Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese), as a rule, sat on animals. But the Mongol Khan, having conquered Korea in the thirteenth century, sat in a turret, which was located on two elephants at once.

Of course, the elephant was very convenient for the commander, because from a height he could survey the field far enough, and he himself could be seen far away. In case of failure in battle, a strong animal could well carry its passenger out of the dump of people and horses.

During this period, the equipment of elephants did not change at all, rather, it was an ornament, rather than combat protection. And only in the sixteenth - eighteenth centuries, Indian craftsmen began to make shells for animals, consisting of steel plates connected by rings.

In Southeast Asia, a special platform was invented for the crew, and therefore the soldiers could not only sit on the back of an animal, but also stand. Muslim warriors from Iran and Central Asia also built similar platforms, supplementing them with turrets with shields and even a canopy.

Disadvantages of War Elephants

I must say, as a fighting animal, the elephant had one very serious flaw. They were difficult to manage. Unlike horses, they did not want to blindly follow their superiors. The elephant is a fairly intelligent animal. He will not jump into the abyss, as, for example, a horse after its leader. This smart animal will think twice before doing anything.

The elephant obeyed the mahout not fromfear, but rather out of friendship. These animals have no concept of totalitarianism. In addition, each elephant was guided not only by the mahout, but also by its own leader. Therefore, the animals fought quite consciously, they distinguished where they were and where they were strangers. But at the same time, these smart animals did not want to take unnecessary risks.

They could effortlessly pass through the ranks of the infantry, but did not do so unless absolutely necessary. It was very difficult to set the elephants on the infantry, if people did not part in front of them, then the animals simply stopped, trying to somehow clear their way. It turns out that fighting animals, rather, had a frightening effect, rather than causing real damage. Elephants have never been trained to use fire or armed men.

It is believed that Indian war elephants, whose history is quite interesting and unusual, attacked only out of a desire to do something very pleasant for the mahout, but they never had a fighting passion. And yet, this desire did not mean taking unnecessary risks, endangering yourself or your rider. Elephants considered the best protection to be able to take their mahouts away from danger as quickly as possible.

There is evidence that before the fight, animals were given wine or beer, pepper or sugar for courage. Although, on the other hand, it was hardly possible to influence an already poorly controlled animal in this way. Most likely, the military merits of elephants are greatly exaggerated, but the very fact of using animals for unusual purposes is interesting. Similar ingenuitya person cannot but admire.

How did you deal with war elephants?

As long as war elephants have been used as a military force, so much time has been the search for methods to counter them. In the Middle Ages, all the same Hindus who lived in the Marwar region bred a special breed of horses. Such an animal was used against war elephants. There was such a combat trick when fake trunks were put on a war horse. The elephants mistook them for little elephants and did not want to attack. Meanwhile, trained horses with their front hooves stood on the forehead of a large animal, and the rider killed the driver with a spear.

The Assyrians were not afraid of fighting animals at all, they developed their own technique for neutralizing them. A special breed of fighting dogs was bred, which entered the battlefield in armor. One such animal could neutralize a rider on a horse, and three dogs could neutralize an elephant.

The Greeks in general very quickly learned to neutralize powerful animals by cutting their trunks and tendons on their legs. Thus, they completely disabled them. The fact is that one wounded leg of the animal makes it lie completely on its stomach. And in this state, anyone can finish him off. To avoid such injuries in Thailand, special warriors guarded the legs of the animal. The role of such a fighter was taken by those who were not noble enough to fight on a horse, but smart enough to protect an animal.

Hannibal's War Elephants

More than two thousand years ago, the famous commander (Carthaginian) Hannibalcrossed the Alps with his army and invaded Italy. An interesting fact is that elephants were part of his forces. True, researchers are still arguing as to whether there were animals in real life or is it just a beautiful legend. One of the questions is where these animals could have come from among the Carthaginians. Presumably, these could be now extinct elephants from North Africa.

In the records of historians, information has been preserved about how Hannibal's troops transported elephants across the river. To do this, they built special rafts, rigidly securing them on both sides of the coast. Earth was poured on them to imitate a path, and animals were driven there. However, some animals still got scared and fell into the water, but escaped thanks to their long trunks.

In general, the transition was difficult for the animals, because it was difficult for them to walk, and in the mountains there was no necessary food. According to some reports, only one animal survived. However, this is unconfirmed data.

The end of the fighting career of elephants

War elephants had a very hard time at the time of the advent of firearms. Since then, they have become large live targets. Gradually, they began to be used more as a traction force.

Finally stopped using them for military purposes since World War II. Air raids turned animals into piles of bloodied meat. Perhaps the last in 1942 used elephants in Burma incomposition of the British troops. Since then, the animals have retired.

Instead of afterword

These heroic animals are featured in the famous Throne Rush game. The war elephant is immortalized as an army unit. Such an idea came to the creators of the game, as it turns out, for a reason, since the animals have a really serious military past behind them.