Ancient Indian Military History

 

 

Neolithic Era, {-5000 to –2600}

      hunter gatherers

      small villages

 

Harappan Civilization {-2600 to -1700}

      Called Meluhha by the Sumerians

            Extensive trade and contact with Mesopotamia

      Fortifications of Mud Brick

            City walls and acropolis castle

      Rival city-states {-2600 to –2200}

      -22C, conquest of Indus valley by Harappa

            increased use of fortifications

            walled in city gates

            destruction levels in many cities

            some cities destroyed and abandoned

            new uniformity in material culture

      -2200 to –1800, Harappan Empire

            single state in Indus valley?

 

Collapse of Harappa {-1800 to -1700}

      Desiccation

      Shifting river beds

      Floods

      Many sites abandoned or impoverished

      War and invasion of Indo-Aryans

 

Vedic Period {-1700 to -700}

      IE invasions

            Bronze armed chariot warriors from Central Asia/Afghanistan

            Cf. Mycenaean Greeks

            Divided into many small warbands

                  40 different names are mentioned in the Rigveda

            Built wooden palisade forts

            Aryans often fought each other

            Many cattle raids

      Caste system = kshatriya warrior caste = military aristocracy

            King = raja = warlord (cf. Latin rex = regs)

      Nomad clan = grama (= clan?)

            Samgrama = tribes together = war

      Archaeology on chariot illustrations

      Rig-Veda

            Indra, the war god, “breaker of forts” (purandara)

                  Provides plunder for followers

            Defeats the enemy demons (dasas) = non-Aryans

                  Dasas king Shambara of the “hundred stone forts” (RV 4.30)

                        defeated by Indra

                  “ninety-nine walls he smashed” (RV 6.47)

            Battle of the Hariyupiya river

                  130 chariot warriors were killed

                  “Battle of the Ten Kings” (RV 7.18, 7.33)

            Gods provide victory in battle and plunder

 

Mahabharata wars {-700}

      Greatest epic in the world (106,000 verses = x10 Iliad and Odyssey combined)

      Written centuries after events

      Civil war between Kauravas and Pandavas

      Cities Hastinapur and Indraprastha (Dehli) have been excavated

      Massive chariot battles

            Detailed descriptions of fighting, but often exaggerated and fanciful

      Intervention of the Gods

 

 

Sixteen Kingdoms {-700 to -320}

      Three phases

            Rise of tribal principalities (janapada){-7C}

            Competition and conquest into 16 Kingdoms (mahajanapada) {-650 to -550}

            Rise of Magadha to predominance {-540 to -300}

      New Technologies

            Iron weapons (from –750)

            Cavalry (-7C)

            Elephants (from –500)

            Use of chariots was maintained

            Heavy armored war chariots {-450}

            Catapults {-450}

      Centered in Ganges valley

      Urbanization of the Aryan tribes

            City walls of earth ramparts with brick walls from –500

            Kausambi = 4 miles of walls, 30 feet high

      -520 to –510, Darius conquers part of Indus valley

            Indus river becomes border between India and Persia

      from –540, Rise of Magadha as major kingdom in Ganges

            Bimbisara {-540 to -490}

                  Laid foundations for rise of Magadha

            Ajatashatru {-490 to -??}

                  Founded Pataliputra (new capital)

            Shishunaga {??}

                  Conquered Avanti and Kausambi

            Mahapadma of the Nanda dynasty {-364 to }

                  rules central and eastern Ganges

                  strengthens army to standing and professional

                  Greek diplomats report

                        200,000 infantry, 20,000 cavlary, 2000 chariots, 3000 elephants

 

India at the time of Alexander

 

 

Invasion of Alexander {-327 to -324}

      Only reached the Indus valley

      Defeated two of the Sixteen kingdoms

            Takshashila (Taxila)

            King Poros of the Paurava kingdom

      Also fought various tribes

      No lasting impact on India, by –317, Greek garrisons were gone

      Greek kingdom survives in Bactria (Afghanistan)

 

 

Chandragupta Maurya {-320 to -293}

      -320, Usurps throne from Nanda dynasty

      -310s, consolidates power

      Chandragupta conquers all of Northern India, founding Mauryan empire

      -305, War with Seleucus, successor to Alexander

            Seleucus is defeated, cedes west Indus valley to Chandragupta

            Chandragupta gives him 500 war elephants

      Kautalya, “the Machiavelli of India” Arthashastra = manual of kingship

      Account of Megasthenes, Seleucid ambassador to Pataliputra

            Fortified with palisades

            Circuit of 21 miles with 570 towers and 64 gates

                  (54 yards between tower/gate)

 

 

Bibliography

 

Allchin, F. R., The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia, (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995)

DANE 153

Kautilya, The Arthashastra, tr. L. N. Rangaragan, (New York: Penguin, 1992)

Kulke, Hermann, and Dietmar Rothermund, A History of India, (Totowa NJ: Barnes and Noble, 1986)

Singh, Sarva Daman, Ancient Indian Warfare with Special Reference to the Vedic Period, (Leiden: Brill, 1965)

Sparreboom, M., Chariots in the Vedas, (Leiden: Brill, 1985)

 

Rigveda

Griffith, Ralph, T. H., tr. The Hymns of the Rgveda, 2nd ed., (Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1973)

O’Flaherty, Wendy, The Rig Veda, (Penguin, 1981) (selections)

 

Mahabharata

Ganguli, Kisari Mohan, tr., The Mahabharata, (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1970)

Van Buitenen, J., tr., The Mahabharata, (Chicago UP, 1073) (books 1-5)