WAR VEHICLES

Hello ladies and gents this is the viking telling you that today we are talking about

War elephant

A war elephant is an elephant that is trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, breaking their ranks and instilling terror. Elephantry are military units with elephant-mounted troops.

War elephants played a critical role in several key battles in antiquity, but their use declined with the spread of firearms in the early modern period. Military elephants were then restricted to non-combat engineering and labour roles, and some ceremonial uses. However, they continued to be used in combat in some parts of the world such as Thailand and Vietnam into the 19th century.

Taming

An elephant trainer, rider, or keeper is called a mahout. Mahouts were responsible for capturing and handling elephants. To accomplish this, they utilize metal chains and a specialized hook called an aṅkuśa or 'elephant goad'. According to Chanakya as recorded in the Arthashastra, first the mahout would have to get the elephant used to being led. The elephant would have learn how to raise its legs to help a rider climb on. Then the elephants were taught to run and maneuver around obstacles, and move in formation. These elephants would be fit to learn how to systematically trample and charge enemies.

The first elephant species to be tamed was the Asian elephant, for use in agriculture. Elephant taming – not full domestication, as they are still captured in the wild, rather than being bred in captivity – may have begun in any of three different places. The oldest evidence comes from the Indus Valley Civilization, around roughly 4500 BC. 

Archaeological evidence for the presence of wild elephants in the Yellow River valley in Shang China (1600–1100 BC) may suggest that they also used elephants in warfare. The wild elephant populations of Mesopotamia and China declined quickly because of deforestation and human population growth: by c. 850 BC the Mesopotamian elephants were extinct, and by c. 500 BC the Chinese elephants were seriously reduced in numbers and limited to areas well south of the Yellow River.

Capturing elephants from the wild remained a difficult task, but a necessary one given the difficulties of breeding in captivity and the long time required for an elephant to reach sufficient maturity to engage in battle. Sixty-year-old war elephants were always prized as being at the most suitable age for battle service and gifts of elephants of this age were seen as particularly generous. Today an elephant is considered in its prime and at the height of its power between the ages of 25 to 40. Yet elephants as old as 80 are used in tiger hunts because they are more disciplined and experienced.

It is commonly thought that all war elephants were male because of males' greater aggression, but it is rather because a female elephant in battle will run from a male; therefore only males could be used in war, whereas female elephants were more commonly used for logistics.

A odd one admitedly but i hope you liked this post and as always have a chilled day from the Viking