SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis embodies the first detailed study of ancient Indian warfare with special reference to the Vedic period. The evidence of archaeology, the Vedic literature, the Nikayas, the Vinaya, and the Epics, has been critically sifted to present a faithful picture of early Indian warfare prior to c.400 B.C. In an introduction we explain the nature of our enquiry, and discuss the sources of our information together with our terms of reference. The first four chapters deal with the four traditional limbs of the Indian army - infantry, chariots, cavalry and elephants. An attempt is made to bring out their growth and development with time. Ancient arms and armour are then discussed and described in the light of literary and archaeological evidence. Forts and fortifications form the theme of the sixth chapter, which traces the growth of human settlements from lowly beginnings to large urban centres fully cognizant of fortified defence. The seventh chapter deals with the development of order and organisation, the rise of monarchy and the warrior nobility, besides the growth of other offices and the division of functions. In the eighth chapter we have discussed the ethics of war and the evolution of moral maxims governing the conduct of warfare from the Rgvedic period down to that of the Epics. The conclusion sums up a few of the more important points made in the body of the thesis.