HORSES IN INDIA : A CIVILISATIONAL MEMORY OLDER THAN EMPIRE

                                                                            

( A Miniature Painting from the Mahabharata showing Arjuna and Sri Krishna on the chariot. A Kashmir Miniature of the 19th Century )

Horses in India: A Civilisational Memory Older Than Empire

From time to time, one encounters the sweeping claim that horses were unknown to Indian rulers until they were introduced by the Mughals from Central Asia. Such assertions, often presented with academic confidence, collapse under even moderate scrutiny. They betray not only a shallow reading of Indian sources but also a troubling disconnect from archaeology, classical literature, military history, and comparative civilisational studies.

The horse is not a late intruder into Indian civilisation. It is deeply embedded in India’s religious imagination, political vocabulary, military organisation, ritual life, and artistic symbolism from the earliest layers of recorded memory. To suggest that Indian kings first encountered the horse in the Mughal period is not merely inaccurate — it erases millennia of textual, cultural, and historical evidence.

The Horse in Sacred Memory

Civilisations remember what matters to them. In India, the horse occupies a place of rare symbolic dignity.

In ancient mythology, the celestial horse Uchchaihshravas emerged during the Samudra Manthan — the cosmic churning of the ocean. This magnificent white, seven-headed horse later became associated with Indra, king of the gods. The story is not an incidental fable; it reflects an already established cultural familiarity with the horse as a royal and divine creature.

The Sanskrit word ashva (horse) appears abundantly in Vedic literature. It is classified among gramya pashu — domestic animals — in texts such as the Vayu Purana, indicating that it was understood as part of human society, not as some unknown exotic novelty.

Surya, the Sun God, rides across the heavens in a chariot drawn by seven horses named after the seven Vedic metres: Gayatri, Brihati, Ushnik, Jagati, Trishtubh, Anushtubh, and Pankti. The symbolism is layered: the horse represents rhythm, motion, vitality, and cosmic order. The daily journey of the sun itself is imagined through equine imagery.

In the Vedas, the horse frequently symbolises energy, speed, virility, and the cyclical passage of time. The Ashvamedha-yajna, the royal horse sacrifice, was among the most elaborate political-ritual ceremonies of ancient India. It was not the ritual of a civilisation unfamiliar with horses; rather, it was the supreme assertion of imperial sovereignty. The wandering sacrificial horse symbolised territorial authority. Kings who performed the Ashvamedha were declaring political supremacy across regions.

Lord Vishnu assumed the Hayagriva avatar — with a horse’s head — to restore the Vedas from demonic forces. The Ashvini Kumaras, twin divine physicians, derive their name from ashva and are symbolised by a horse’s head. Ashvini Nakshatra, the first among the twenty-seven lunar mansions in Vedic astrology, carries equine symbolism. Ashvatthama of the Mahabharata was so named because he cried like a horse at birth. Panchamukha Hanuman is depicted, in certain traditions, with a horse face among his five forms.

One may dismiss mythology as allegory, but allegory presupposes familiarity. No civilisation weaves elaborate cosmology around an animal it does not know.

Textual and Ritual Evidence

Moving beyond mythology, the horse is central to Vedic ritual and political vocabulary. The Rigveda contains numerous references to horses, chariots, and cavalry dynamics. The very term rajan (king) in the Vedic world is closely associated with chariot warfare. The horse-drawn chariot was a principal instrument of early Indo-Indian polity.

The Ashvamedha, mentioned extensively in the Yajurveda and Brahmana texts, was performed by kings seeking imperial recognition. This was not mere symbolism; it required trained cavalry, stable management, and logistical sophistication.

The Mahabharata offers detailed depictions of chariot warfare, cavalry movements, and equestrian skill. Nakula, one of the Pandavas, was renowned for his mastery of Ashva-shastra, the science of horse training and care. The Shalihotra Samhita, an ancient Sanskrit text attributed to the sage Shalihotra (dated by some scholars to the early centuries BCE), is among the earliest veterinary treatises in the world and deals extensively with horse medicine. Such a text cannot exist in a culture ignorant of horses.

The Arthashastra of Kautilya (4th century BCE) discusses state administration of cavalry units, horse inspectors, breeding, training, and trade regulation. It refers to designated officers for cavalry management, indicating an institutionalised equine economy.

Archaeological and Foreign Testimony

While debates persist over the presence of horses in the earliest phases of the Indus-Saraswati civilisation, evidence of horses in the subcontinent from the later Vedic period onward is undisputed. Excavations at sites such as Surkotada in Gujarat have yielded equine remains that some archaeologists identify as domesticated horse bones. Though interpretations differ, what is beyond doubt is the widespread presence of horses in India well before medieval times.

The Greek ambassador Megasthenes, who visited the court of Chandragupta Maurya in the 4th century BCE, described the Mauryan military establishment, including its cavalry divisions and officials overseeing horse management. His account notes that the Mauryan army was organised into infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants. This alone predates the Mughal period by nearly eighteen centuries.

Ashokan pillars from the 3rd century BCE feature animal capitals, including horses, indicating symbolic prominence. Gupta emperor Samudragupta performed the Ashvamedha and issued gold coins depicting the sacrificial horse tied to a yupa (sacrificial post). These coins remain numismatic evidence of equine ritual centrality.

Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) maintained powerful cavalry forces that were instrumental in defeating the Saka rulers. The Gupta military system relied heavily on mobile horse units to expand and defend the empire.

Military Backbone of Indian Kingdoms

Throughout ancient and medieval India, cavalry formed the backbone of royal power.

The Bharata–Puru clans of the Rigvedic era were skilled in horse-drawn warfare. King Dasharatha of Ayodhya, whose name literally implies mastery over ten chariots, commanded elite horse-driven units. Sri Rama’s campaigns include references to horse-drawn chariots and organised military divisions.

Bimbisara and Ajatashatru of Magadha employed cavalry alongside infantry and elephants. The Mauryan Empire institutionalised cavalry administration. The Guptas strengthened it further.

In later centuries, Rajput rulers built reputations around elite horse contingents. Maharana Pratap’s legendary horse, Chetak, became an enduring symbol of loyalty and valour. Prithviraj Chauhan’s military strategies relied significantly on swift cavalry manoeuvres.

In southern India, Raja Raja Chola I and later Chola emperors maintained state cavalry units in addition to their naval strength. The Vijayanagara Empire, especially under Krishnadevaraya, possessed heavy cavalry forces, often supplemented by imports but firmly integrated into indigenous military structures.

Yes, horses were imported at various times — Arabian, Central Asian, and Persian breeds were prized for endurance and size. But trade in superior breeds does not imply civilisational ignorance. Rome imported horses; so did China. No serious historian argues that those civilisations lacked horses before the import trade intensified.

The Mughal Factor: Expansion, Not Introduction

What the Mughals did bring was an enhanced cavalry organisation influenced by Central Asian steppe traditions. They expanded mounted warfare techniques, such as massed cavalry charges and the use of the composite bow on horseback. But expansion is not introduction.

By the time Babur entered India in 1526, equestrian warfare in India was already ancient. The Delhi Sultanate, preceding the Mughals, depended heavily on cavalry. Rajput armies were seasoned horsemen. Southern kingdoms deployed cavalry in inter-dynastic conflicts. The idea that horses arrived only with the Mughals is chronologically untenable.

Trade, Ecology, and Adaptation

Indeed, the Indian climate is not uniformly ideal for breeding large war horses compared to Central Asia’s steppes. Consequently, Indian polities often imported horses from Arabia, Persia, and Central Asia to supplement local breeds. Coastal trade networks, especially through Gujarat, Sindh, and the Coromandel coast, facilitated vibrant horse markets.

But this fact underscores commercial sophistication, not ignorance. Kingdoms that import the finest Arabian horses do so because they already possess cavalry traditions and seek excellence.

Civilisational Continuity

The Indian relationship with the horse is civilisational, not episodic. It spans:

• Vedic hymns
• Royal rituals like the Ashvamedha
• Political treatises like the Arthashastra
• Veterinary science in the Shalihotra Samhita
• Mauryan and Gupta inscriptions
• Rajput chronicles
• Chola and Vijayanagara military systems
• Iconography, astrology, and devotional symbolism

No serious survey of Indian sources, religious, literary, political, or archaeological, supports the theory of Mughal-era introduction.

Conclusion

The horse gallops through the Indian imagination from the earliest hymns of the Rigveda to the battlefields of Rajputana. It pulls the chariot of Surya, embodies sovereign authority in the Ashvamedha, appears on imperial coins, fills the stables of Mauryas and Guptas, and charges alongside warriors across centuries.

To claim that Indian kings knew nothing of horses before the Mughals is to ignore sacred texts, political treatises, classical epics, foreign travellers’ accounts, numismatic evidence, military records, and artistic depictions. History demands rigour. Civilisations deserve fairness.

(Avtar Mota )

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