Indian War Elephants: Tanks on the Ancient and Medieval Battlefield

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 16 лип 2020
  • Indian war elephants have long captured the popular imagination, in movies and video games alike. But few have tackled what it was "really like" to employ war elephants on the field of battle.
    In India, the use of armored war elephants continued through the medieval era, and even into the early modern era. Was this a foolish strategic decision, or was there still a use for war elephants in a time where the battlefield was dominated by horse archers?
    Enjoy!
    Non-Exhaustive List of Sources:
    "The Elephant in Ancient War" by Richard Glover
    "Elephants in Ancient Indian Armies" by B. P. Sinha
    "KANDULA: Elucidations on the Sinhala War Elephant" by Merlin Peris
    "Indian Elephant Corps Under the Ghaznavids" by S. Jabir Raza
    #warelephants #indianhistory #elephants
    --
    Music:
    Jalandhar Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
    creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 896

  • @OddCompass
    @OddCompass  3 роки тому +175

    Hey everyone, hope you enjoy this latest video! It should be relevant not only to those interested in Indian history, but anyone who is interested in SE Asian history (where war elephants were employed into the early modern era as well).
    If you'd like some supplemental history tidbits, I encourage you to follow me on instagram: instagram.com/oddcompasshistory/

    • @jairiske
      @jairiske 3 роки тому +3

      We always hear about the European armor of knights or the samurai armor from Japan, but what did the armor of trained soldiers from India wear?

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +7

      It depends a lot on region, era, and class! In the medieval era, low-level peasant soldiers would likely wear folded, thick woven cloth (for light protection against arrows and blades, along with a large shield), while nobility and elite soldiers would wear chainmail.

    • @alishaik2087
      @alishaik2087 3 роки тому

      Hello bro make video on sher sha sur

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +1

      Hey Ali, I'll keep it in mind -- a bit swamped with topics at the moment!

    • @babitasharma4816
      @babitasharma4816 3 роки тому +1

      Love you like a teacher i never had🤣🤣 just waiting for the next video

  • @BronzeAgeMan1350
    @BronzeAgeMan1350 3 роки тому +1138

    Fiction: Fire Dragons 🐉
    History: War Elephants 🐘

    • @SS-hw1ou
      @SS-hw1ou 3 роки тому +16

      Very subtle

    • @beaconhousepechsfilm-makin8187
      @beaconhousepechsfilm-makin8187 3 роки тому +44

      No wonder Cersi wanted Elephants from the golden compant

    • @scintillam_dei
      @scintillam_dei 3 роки тому +3

      Leviathan is real but not letting itself be discovered. See new creatures discovered every year or even every month in deep sea dives.

    • @buddinglearner7085
      @buddinglearner7085 3 роки тому +17

      You just roasted china

    • @user-cp1ce5mu2v
      @user-cp1ce5mu2v 3 роки тому +2

      Fiction: Bloodlust
      History: Druglust

  • @Mid_b
    @Mid_b 3 роки тому +1311

    I feel like Indian history is pretty underrated after this video

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +155

      Haha yeah, it really deserves to be talked about more!

    • @Mid_b
      @Mid_b 3 роки тому +123

      @@OddCompass I am ethnically Swedish so I am usually into European history. This channel though has made me interested in Asian/Indian history. Your videos are so high quality, I am suprised you aren't famous yet.

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +78

      Welcome to the channel! And thank you for the kind words. I think many people do not realize how much interesting Indian history there is, so the topics aren’t as “viral” - but the channel is slowly growing, so I’m hopeful there’s an audience for this content!

    • @lingnarzihary2492
      @lingnarzihary2492 3 роки тому +56

      @@OddCompass yes sir there is an audience. Could you do more about North East India. EVEN INDIANS ARE CURIOUS ABOUT THAT part of the country. Views and followers guaranteed.

    • @oldworldblu3s305
      @oldworldblu3s305 3 роки тому +30

      That’s what I’ve been saying for so long India would make the perfect assassin‘s creed

  • @trueblueclue
    @trueblueclue 3 роки тому +521

    Before this video: "Elephants are so cute"
    After the video: "That drunk and high elephant with poisoned sword tusks is going to bite your head off and toss you with its trunk."

    • @vagabondsoul1286
      @vagabondsoul1286 3 роки тому +28

      They usually hold you down with one front leg and tear you in half with the trunk.

    • @kakalimukherjee3297
      @kakalimukherjee3297 3 роки тому +10

      Indian kings often used elephants to execute people. The prisoner would and the elephant would be locked in an enclosure and the elephant would trample them to death

    • @abhishekbaba8084
      @abhishekbaba8084 3 роки тому

      🤣

  • @EzioIlMentore
    @EzioIlMentore 3 роки тому +387

    Meanwhile, Indians in Age of Empires 2 have the worst elephant unit.

    • @surgeonsergio6839
      @surgeonsergio6839 3 роки тому +37

      lol, so true, hopefully aoe4 will have better and viable elephants.

    • @scintillam_dei
      @scintillam_dei 3 роки тому +25

      I use Persians to represent Indians in The Conquerors expansion which is all I have, and I enjoy using India in my realistic map of Eurasia or my realistic map of the Spanish lake or the realistic map of the world. Check them out in my videos on each map. In Rise of Nations the Indians were cool, and I think I learned the word "mahout" from that game.

    • @---ko1dg
      @---ko1dg 3 роки тому +6

      AOE 2 didn’t have India but AOE3 did. And those elephants could turn the tides of a battle if used right.

    • @shubhamjadhav8530
      @shubhamjadhav8530 3 роки тому +6

      @@---ko1dg Have you even played aoe 2?....it does have India

    • @shreyasmahangade3774
      @shreyasmahangade3774 3 роки тому

      elephant archer.....

  • @boogeymann6686
    @boogeymann6686 3 роки тому +344

    I love Indian and South East Asian history and I'm so happy that I managed to come across a channel like yours.

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +8

      Thank you so much! Stay tuned, lots more to come :)

    • @Iam-cx2vt
      @Iam-cx2vt 3 роки тому +3

      Read about North-Western India (Rajasthan) history ✌️

    • @Dr.Kraig_Ren
      @Dr.Kraig_Ren 2 місяці тому

      ​​@@Iam-cx2vtno😂
      Jk

  • @rangan101
    @rangan101 3 роки тому +108

    In the epic Mahabharata, there is description of famous king Bhagadatta, fighting on the side of the Kauravas, arriving in the battlefield on his legendary battle elephant Supratika. The behemoth caused sheer delirium and panic among the Pandava army and caused destruction of exorbitant proportion. Bhima,the strongest of the Pandavas,son of the Air God Pavana, was himself a demigod having power equivalent to 10000 elephants and yet was manhandled by the beast. Finally the elephant was somehow managed to be killed, but this video reminded me of that incident and how we're carrying on with the traditions of battle elephants ever since.

  • @ameygawade2752
    @ameygawade2752 3 роки тому +299

    Elephants were also used to pull heavy artilery.

    • @31oannamphong66
      @31oannamphong66 3 роки тому +8

      yes in vietnam war, you can find some footage

    • @astitvakumar8618
      @astitvakumar8618 3 роки тому +3

      They were artillery,ndians had put about500 metal rockets with a range of 2km on them.

    • @nunyabiznes33
      @nunyabiznes33 3 роки тому +2

      Don't they also have archers and cannons on them?

    • @astitvakumar8618
      @astitvakumar8618 3 роки тому +4

      Yes,you are correct but whats more interesting,a war elephant with 5 archers on its back or a war elephant with about 500 rockets on its back

  • @RehanGarg62
    @RehanGarg62 3 роки тому +336

    all dislikes r from those who were throttle by Indian elephants in their past life

    • @RehanGarg62
      @RehanGarg62 3 роки тому +26

      @@Dark_Shade91 Alexander too

    • @yeetusfeetus713
      @yeetusfeetus713 3 роки тому +8

      This comment is as old as my dead great great grandfather

    • @RehanGarg62
      @RehanGarg62 3 роки тому +9

      ​@@yeetusfeetus713lol XD

    • @edofluit6568
      @edofluit6568 3 роки тому +1

      @@Dark_Shade91 edgy, and doesnt even work really...

    • @BlackSakura33
      @BlackSakura33 Рік тому

      😂😂

  • @redmonkey477
    @redmonkey477 3 роки тому +321

    Earlier today I had the question, "Were war elephants real?" as I've never really learned about them. I've looked it up and found your video, and I just need to say great work! I'm looking at the comments section and you seem to reply to nearly every comment which is commendable, I hope to see you grow because you deserve way more attention!

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +28

      That’s very kind of you - thanks! I hope you enjoy the rest of the channel :)

    • @Dingusdoofus
      @Dingusdoofus 3 роки тому +6

      Hannibal used war elephants to invade the Roman Republic during the second Punic War.

    • @creationsxl2979
      @creationsxl2979 3 роки тому +2

      @@OddCompass seriously bro I must say the same thing, great work I’m absolutely loving your channel x

    • @Gamerking64210
      @Gamerking64210 3 роки тому

      If you ever Read all The lord of the rings after finishing reading the Hobbit or just skip to the movies, you get to see some action of War elephants like Mûmakil (Oliphaunts)

  • @dv9239
    @dv9239 3 роки тому +112

    Rome: We have great warriors on our side
    India: Hold my drunk riders

    • @Duck_The_Coloniser
      @Duck_The_Coloniser 3 роки тому +7

      Wtf lol drunk riders 🤣🤣🤣

    • @dv9239
      @dv9239 3 роки тому

      @日本人 And? They legit lost everything now

    • @dv9239
      @dv9239 3 роки тому +2

      @日本人 bro they had the world but now just confined to a tiny island where sun doesn't even rise anymore

    • @arunstalii3666
      @arunstalii3666 3 роки тому +4

      @日本人 I think he meant that they've lost everything with regard to military. If am not wrong they're not even on the top 5 when their former colony(India) is in the fourth position in the military power ranking.

    • @arunstalii3666
      @arunstalii3666 3 роки тому +2

      @日本人 It doesn't mitigate the fact that India is 4th in items of military power and uk is way below that India lol. Regardless of what they do Uk can never become a top military power in current scenario coz they no longer have their Indian soldiers to fight hehe.

  • @takenbythewindNdrivenbythesea
    @takenbythewindNdrivenbythesea 3 роки тому +168

    Fantastic information...
    War Elephants, the Indians Main Battle Tank.
    Yes I agreed, there’s an advantages and also disadvantages.
    It’s quite scary when your elephants are totally out of control. But anyway, the creation of more modern artilleries, Gatling gun totally changed the warfare.

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +23

      Yeah -- a berserk elephant must have been a truly terrifying thing to behold! The increasing ubiquity of rifling (and high-caliber guns in general) definitely brought about an end to "traditional" modes of warfare in India. Thanks for watching!

    • @robertplanas6064
      @robertplanas6064 2 роки тому

      Old + New = Gatling Gun Elephant

    • @ChandranPrema123
      @ChandranPrema123 2 роки тому +1

      Yes Indians still use Elephant in Borders of Burma,China claiming Indian Territory and forestry Border.

    • @alexyoon-sungcucina7895
      @alexyoon-sungcucina7895 10 місяців тому

      Agreed. I remember seeing some British historian derisively speaking if them as crude terror weapons that would fail against "disciplined Western troops."
      I couldn't help but think if pachyderms had been native to the British Isles that doubtlessly they would have been employed and regarded by that same historian as "mobile weapons platforms combining mobility, armor and firepower. The forerunner of the tank."

  • @atriacharya2967
    @atriacharya2967 3 роки тому +31

    My paternal grandfather was a vet in the Indian Army. He treated and performed surgery on the war camels in the 1965 and 1971 wars against Pakistan. To this day, India is the only country that has used camels for warfare!

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +2

      Interesting!

    • @alphacompany4837
      @alphacompany4837 Рік тому +1

      Yes 1965 war I think

    • @user-vr8qd4hk6y
      @user-vr8qd4hk6y 5 місяців тому +2

      What are you on... Of course camels were used in warfare by many forces, from ancient times

    • @wagwan2
      @wagwan2 Місяць тому

      @@user-vr8qd4hk6y He said "To this day"

    • @user-vr8qd4hk6y
      @user-vr8qd4hk6y Місяць тому

      @@wagwan2 Exactly. BS. India is NOT the only country 'to this day' that used camels in warfare. No idea what are you confused about.

  • @takedashingen4674
    @takedashingen4674 2 роки тому +20

    Nothing is more terrifying than a trained, courageous War elephant

  • @gabrielgarcia7554
    @gabrielgarcia7554 3 роки тому +93

    Hey just want to say that I am so glad to find a really good educational UA-cam channel that almost exclusively focuses on South Asian history. I think this region of the world is unbelievably fascinating, and it’s great to be able to learn more through this platform. Please keep up the great work! You have earned another subscriber! 🙏

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +3

      Thank you Gabriel! That’s very kind. Looking forward to putting out some more content 👍

  • @Contractor48
    @Contractor48 3 роки тому +130

    Great content. I feel bad for the poor beasts. Fight through so much chaos. They are one of the most gentle creatures.

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +36

      I appreciate it! And yeah, it does make you wonder how much they had to suffer for the greed of mankind

    • @spaceexplorer5481
      @spaceexplorer5481 3 роки тому +10

      You are wrong
      We worship Elephants
      They are like us in battlefield

    • @spaceexplorer5481
      @spaceexplorer5481 3 роки тому +7

      I was stopped for 2 hrs in Kerela because elephants were crossing roads

    • @madhavsankarks3832
      @madhavsankarks3832 3 роки тому +6

      @@spaceexplorer5481 in kerala we have elephant fans assosiation we worship them and if anyone touch them ur gone

    • @cole8834
      @cole8834 2 роки тому +1

      I can't help but feel ten times worse for the human beings that had to be killed by them. People certainly come up with inventive and exhaustive ways to kill one another.

  • @alexanderphilip1809
    @alexanderphilip1809 3 роки тому +49

    Less than 50k subscribers for a channel with this level of quality and indepth analysis of historic content .
    Where are my Indians.

    • @v.k5417
      @v.k5417 3 роки тому +5

      I'm an indian.

    • @rgfromkl3594
      @rgfromkl3594 Рік тому

      I keep sharing these videos for better reach, indeed more people need to know about this channel

    • @rajas9803
      @rajas9803 Рік тому

      Indian only study engineering sadly

    • @Dr.Kraig_Ren
      @Dr.Kraig_Ren 2 місяці тому

      ​@@rajas9803don't forget biology 😂😅

  • @hrishikeshbandari8777
    @hrishikeshbandari8777 3 роки тому +42

    perhaps one of the best video on Indian elephants. While we've always seen the rather barbaric fights of African elephants amongst themselves on wildlife channels, a charging war elephant is a rare spectacle these days. Thankyou for this amazing presentation that brought this terrifying medieval tank back to life

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому

      Great comment, thanks for watching! I can’t imagine how terrifying it would have been to fight a charging war elephant 🐘

    • @pranavr9783
      @pranavr9783 3 роки тому +3

      Hanibil used African elephant against Roman Empire. He took such elephant on a path that was very difficult to journey through. Just stating when britan used war elephant against Nepal at anglo Gurkha war. Britan elephant were unwilling to journey on (they were eithered left or killed). African elephant are not adapted to such difficult glacier and mountain yet hanibil determination moved such creature. Similarly Asian elephant are suppose to be more stable in such environment, stating for fact that Nepal have elephant as well, infact 12 elephants were given to neighbouring mugal empire from Nepali kingdom. training and being obident from young age and are the key reason for how hanibil could move such creature in the Alpine region. Don't think African elephant can not be trained. They have bigger tusk, size, and probably more scarier than Asian elephant. How you train them is the main factor relating to there effectiveness. It is true that war elephant are generally used by Asia. However hanibil used his African elephant as well.

  • @abhinavneoharysvarma8551
    @abhinavneoharysvarma8551 3 роки тому +102

    Search angry elephant noise, enough to make a grown man shit his pants

    • @abhinavneoharysvarma8551
      @abhinavneoharysvarma8551 3 роки тому +40

      @Вхламинго I'm no history scholar but Alexander did fought Porus of India and was satisfied and returned home, later his general Necetar fought Chandragupta Maurya or Sandrokotos and was utterly defeated. Turks and Arabs had Gun powder and heavy canons with them and that was one of the major reasons how they managed to win with small numbers.

    • @shubhampreetsingh8630
      @shubhampreetsingh8630 3 роки тому +17

      @@abhinavneoharysvarma8551 That too because silk road passed through them, so turks and central asians were one of the first people to lay they hands on Gunpowder after it was invented in China.

    • @PulkitDhiman
      @PulkitDhiman 3 роки тому +10

      @@abhinavneoharysvarma8551 They had better cavalry, Arab horses were finest and very crucial to win a battle. North Indian kingdoms were always at war with each other and never united. Moreover, they were petty kings, who did not possess large army to counter invaders.
      On a philosophical Note: It is observed throughout history that only those places with scarce resources and very hard life(Arabia, Afghanistan, Mongolia) produced tougher and battle hardened men whose primary occupation was raiding and looting the neighboring Settlements.
      While Indians were content with fertile land, monsoons, 3 crops in a year, these invaders were fighting for every scrap of food and drop of water.

    • @abhinavneoharysvarma8551
      @abhinavneoharysvarma8551 3 роки тому +5

      @@PulkitDhiman Yeah, but I'm talking about how gained upper hand in their initial conquests. No matter how fine and skilled they were they couldn't win against an army twice of their size without the help of gun powder. Also google marwari horses, they're a unique breed of horse. Rajput and even warriors from Punjab region were literal beasts, google Maha Rana pratap. Yes, I do agree that not all Indians were like them and both Turk and Arab armies had more local Indians than soldiers from their native land

    • @abhinavneoharysvarma8551
      @abhinavneoharysvarma8551 3 роки тому +8

      @@PulkitDhiman Also traditional Indian conquests were very different, they would conquer a land and made king swear an oath collect revenue and leave. These foreign invaders would impose religion and in most cases dethrone and replace the king with their own or marry the king's daughter. They would also impose heavy taxes for religion and forcefully convert the local population while destroying temples or converting them. This helped tighten their hold on the regions

  • @monotonexylophone1623
    @monotonexylophone1623 3 роки тому +25

    Elephant with blade tusks: cyberpunk music starts
    Elephant with flail tusks: cyberpunk music entencifies

  • @sacheinc5014
    @sacheinc5014 3 роки тому +50

    I'm commenting here for UA-cam algorithm because this video deserves to be more popularity. And this channel deserves 1 million subscribers.

  • @878sarath
    @878sarath 3 роки тому +63

    Where are you getting your data from ? Man ! I have never seen anyone explaining chola history in such an elaborate way. Thanks for your work!!
    I'm sharing the channel to everyone I know!

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +16

      Thank you for sharing, I genuinely appreciate it! My sources are in the descriptions (and in pinned comments for some videos). For a detailed explanation of medieval Chola empire and culture, I recommend reading “From Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa.” Enjoy!

  • @a8uella
    @a8uella 3 роки тому +15

    Given how intelligent elephants are this is amazing. The skill it takes to train an intelligent life form to do such complex actions is incredibly impressive.

  • @gauravdhanraja1968
    @gauravdhanraja1968 3 роки тому +137

    Elephants + music + alcohol and drugs in war, what could be more crazier?

    • @jayantasen2406
      @jayantasen2406 3 роки тому +11

      Reminds me of some scenes from The newest Mad Max movie :P

    • @salmansingh66
      @salmansingh66 3 роки тому +3

      Take them over the alpines

    • @cruelplatypus67
      @cruelplatypus67 3 роки тому

      drugs in war?

    • @salmansingh66
      @salmansingh66 3 роки тому +2

      @@cruelplatypus67 five shots of vodka for mother russia

    • @sv4647
      @sv4647 3 роки тому +3

      @@salmansingh66 u mean Hannibal Barca's passage through the Alps in winter that led to ancient history's second world war or better known as The Second Punic war between Carthage and Rome🙂

  • @KunalSingh-kq9tk
    @KunalSingh-kq9tk 3 роки тому +6

    3 disastrous battles that sealed the fate of India involved Kings/Commanders mounted on Elephants -
    1008- Battle of Chaach when King Anandpal’s elephant scared by flying arrows ran amok, causing confusion and rout of own army
    1556- Second Battle of Panipat, King Hemu sitting atop his elephant was targeted by Mugal soldiers. Hit in his eye by an arrow he fell and was taken captive to be beheaded
    1761- 3rd Battle of Panipat. Invading Afghans shot the Maratha prince atop his elephant causing collapse of the Maratha reserve. His uncle’s frontal charge couldn’t get any backup.

  • @nirupamakumar3917
    @nirupamakumar3917 3 роки тому +42

    They kind of remind me of the AT AT walkers from Star Wars

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +4

      Haha, they are kinda similar!

    • @mazadancoseben4818
      @mazadancoseben4818 3 роки тому +1

      Lucas was greatly influenced by eastern traditions, after all

  • @pranavr9783
    @pranavr9783 3 роки тому +29

    When britan also used indian war elephants against Nepal during anglo Gurkha war. But these elephant were mostly hindersnce as they were not willing to travel in difficult Nepali Terain. Britan even had to make path for the elephant, so much so that they either had to kill or leave the elephants at nepal. They probably thoughts about how hanibil had taken African war Elephant to glaciers mountain and outsmarted Roman Empire with his powerfull war elephant. Nepal did have war elephant as well, it stated that Nepali kingdome gave 12 elephants anually to mugal empire. Elephant are just to costly from training from young age to looking after them, however they did give strategic advantage. There are advantages and disadvantages of all battlefield wepons.

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +3

      Thanks for the excellent info!

    • @rudraneupane4173
      @rudraneupane4173 3 роки тому

      Total bollocks

    • @chch1959
      @chch1959 3 роки тому +5

      Rashtrakutas conquered Himalayas of nepal to ceylon in sri Lanka
      The inscriptions says that
      The horse of govinda-3 drank from icy himalayan streams , and his war elephants tasted the sacred waters of the ganges
      And nepal king nanya deva of nepal is from Karnataka 🟨🟥

  • @duneydan7993
    @duneydan7993 2 роки тому +4

    Knowing how elephant teeth work, imagining an elephant biting a man's head off is a horrifying thought

  • @DJShire_ATL
    @DJShire_ATL 3 роки тому +16

    Ever since I first played age of empires 2 and my civ was stuck next to the Persians and seen a horde of elephants trampling over my shit was when I first thought of these things as medieval tanks.

  • @tejasviangadi6097
    @tejasviangadi6097 3 роки тому +40

    One more way the elephants could be beaten were pigs
    The elephants are scared of pigs, so when you were attacked by elephants you could send out pigs which would freak out the elephants.
    So armies raised their elephants with pigs in order to make them not afraid of pigs.
    Until someone had the bright idea of burning pigs, which the elephants didn't have experience of.

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +4

      Thanks for the additional info!

    • @horsenuggets1018
      @horsenuggets1018 3 роки тому +8

      Ah yes, the roast pork strat

    • @tylerdurden3722
      @tylerdurden3722 3 роки тому +13

      Ah the Flaming War Pig. That would be the Romans against Pyrrhus who brought 20 Indian war elephants with him to Italy. Pyrrhus was given those as a gift from Ptolemy to help him take back his kingdom. Who in turn got elephants that used to belong to Seleucus. Who received 500 war elephants as part of a peace agreement from Chandragupta.
      Seleucus used those elephants in his battle against Antigonus. He kept them in the rear in reserve. Apparently, Pyrrhus was 16 years old and fought in the Antigonid Cavalry wing that managed to defeat their counterparts and was about to swing around and hit Seleucus in the rear in the typical hammer and anvil tactic of the Macedonians. Normally this would be the end. But the 400 elephants Seleucus placed in the rear were in the way and frightened the cavalry away.
      I sometimes wonder if Pyrrhus' 20 elephants were present on that battlefield.
      Those elephants had one hell of a life.😅

    • @JV-km9xk
      @JV-km9xk 2 роки тому

      @@tylerdurden3722 How empty must the land be of people and buildings that you could fit thousands of soldiers and hundreds of elephants on the battlefield. How many days do they even prepare to station them? Crazy times back then.

  • @Rajj854
    @Rajj854 3 роки тому +68

    The history of war elephants in India is the triumph of tradition over experience.

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +7

      Very true!

    • @anujagarwal7992
      @anujagarwal7992 3 роки тому +8

      What makes you say that?if tradition was the major factor why did Mughals employ war elephants?which middle eastern tradition could they be using?

    • @Akon1998hell
      @Akon1998hell 3 роки тому +3

      @@anujagarwal7992 inspired from pre existing native tradition ofc

    • @anujagarwal7992
      @anujagarwal7992 3 роки тому +8

      @@Akon1998hell exactly
      It was a triumph of experience that is why elephants survived in history of warfare in india,even foreign kingdoms who came to India continued to use war elephants for its continued usage in various forms of warfare.

    • @Birb728
      @Birb728 2 роки тому +2

      Innovation would be better word instead of experience.

  • @SS55075
    @SS55075 3 роки тому +24

    I did not expect this video coming, this was super amazing! Though, I feel particularly sad for elephants, because unlike horses, goats, and camels, they were never domesticated, only tamed. So, they must have really suffered from all the battlefield trauma(as a wild animal), even if they were trained to fight:(

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +5

      That is very true - in researching this video, it struck me how much trauma these poor elephants were subjected to for the ambitions of their human masters

  • @jeyaramsathees6128
    @jeyaramsathees6128 3 роки тому +66

    Just as I was wondering why he doesn’t post more vids,, thanks

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +8

      Haha yeah, this one took me awhile, been quite busy with work and some other things!

  • @dhanu_4539
    @dhanu_4539 3 роки тому +17

    I appreciate you referring to some sri lankan history...as a sri lankan it makes me proud ...The story about the duel between two elephants was one that I heard from my grandfather when he was alive.

  • @saltycoins8835
    @saltycoins8835 3 роки тому +5

    This is such a great channel. I’m so glad I found it. Thank you and please continue. This will blow up HUGE one day

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому

      Glad you enjoy it, and thanks!

  • @phantomwarlock5002
    @phantomwarlock5002 3 роки тому

    This is the first channel I've seen dedicated to Indian history with quality videos, keep making these!

  • @instantkevlar4763
    @instantkevlar4763 3 роки тому +4

    Felt a deep chill imagining these battles with raging mammoths

  • @oceejekwam6829
    @oceejekwam6829 3 роки тому +11

    That's true for the entire South Asian sub-continent, even today.
    I'm glad they are no longer used the battlefield.

  • @harshavardhana3895
    @harshavardhana3895 2 роки тому +5

    An chinese traveller has written that Cholas had 60,000 war elephants.

  • @memeguyTM
    @memeguyTM 3 роки тому +8

    Came here from playing Age of empires 3 definitive edition. Ended up staying because Indian history is truly amazing. Oldest history in the world 🌎

  • @sathyasayesh9914
    @sathyasayesh9914 3 роки тому +13

    Commenting so that the algorithm would publicise this video more

  • @DevPatel04
    @DevPatel04 3 роки тому +1

    Thank you for making quality videos of Indian history !!!!

  • @jilukv2
    @jilukv2 3 роки тому +4

    Amazing videos man... It's a real treasure of Indian history long forgotten

  • @kannadakabba7306
    @kannadakabba7306 2 роки тому +17

    Thank you for mentioning kannada empires like chalukyas, rashtrakutas and Mysore..most of the indian historians ignore the glorious history of Deccan plateau and concentrate only on north india
    Please make more videos on other kannada empires as well.

  • @nitishmysore
    @nitishmysore 3 роки тому +12

    Love from Mysore. Here we still use elephants in festival called Dasara

  • @remained1
    @remained1 3 роки тому +9

    i am so glad that somebody has invested in Indian history with so much details. please tell us the source of your information also.

  • @MukulBhardwaj0
    @MukulBhardwaj0 3 роки тому +1

    Such a great and very detailed video about Indian war elephants. Thanks for the content. You are doing great! Its also nice to hear correct pronounciation of indian names from someone who is from outside India.

  • @abhimanit12
    @abhimanit12 3 роки тому +2

    Best produced channel on unknown Indian history.

  • @subhadramahanta452
    @subhadramahanta452 3 роки тому +1

    Thanks a lot fpr making the video, you explained it so beautifully!

  • @srikarnv9834
    @srikarnv9834 3 роки тому +1

    Thanku for recognising our indian talent.

  • @ogchirag
    @ogchirag 3 роки тому

    I like your content. The amount of love and effort you put in these videos is admirable.

  • @tathagatasinharoy3332
    @tathagatasinharoy3332 3 роки тому +1

    Amazed by your detailed knowledge of Indian history. You earned a subscriber today, keep up the good work.

  • @chiranjitsaha3140
    @chiranjitsaha3140 3 роки тому +39

    You described Indian war tactics better than Indians.

  • @Sandipan_Mondal_Indian
    @Sandipan_Mondal_Indian 3 роки тому

    Thank you for making videos on India.....,❤️❤️

  • @kasrajafari1060
    @kasrajafari1060 3 роки тому +74

    Iranian king "Nader Shah" attacked India several times and in one of his battles against Indians, he used camels to scare war elephants. He ordered to put iron pots on the camels' back and fill them with fire and hot oil. Camels suffering from the burning hot pots began to scream and shout and running toward the war elephants. This tactic caused Indian war elephants to fear and attack friendly units, thus an easy win for the Iranians.

    • @agentopaque3776
      @agentopaque3776 3 роки тому +28

      This was originally used by Tamerlane in his invasion of the Delhi Sultanate
      Yeah camels frightened elephants
      heck even the Achaemenids used camels to scare horses as the scent of a camel was new to them which caused them to flee and throw off their riders

    • @johnreese5230
      @johnreese5230 3 роки тому +30

      At that time, muhammad shah ruled the moghul empire of delhi. He was an incapable general, did not know how to utilize his weapons properly and could not keep his commanders and armies united. More than the elephants, it was the ineffective moghul king that made the persian shah's victory easier

    • @dr.renukrajmedegarpp7603
      @dr.renukrajmedegarpp7603 3 роки тому +11

      Chalukya quen Naayaki devi difeated Ghori with her elephant army.

    • @Edward4Plantagenet
      @Edward4Plantagenet 2 роки тому +8

      Looter Nadir Shah & his pets.

    • @adrianbelko7683
      @adrianbelko7683 Рік тому

      Indians ? No, Nader Shah fought the Timurid Turks of Delhi, popularly known as Mughal nowadays, they were themselves outsiders, they never really spoke the contemporary Hindustani language, but the extinct chagatai language of Turkic language family

  • @daedalus2726
    @daedalus2726 3 роки тому +11

    I just found this channel from Useful Charts, loving the production quality for such a small channel! Out if curiosity, which of the sources did you get the info on elephant weaponry (flails, rams, etc.) from? I'm interested in doing a bit if research into it myself since I haven't seen much on the topic before.

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +1

      Hey, thanks for checking out the channel, glad you’re enjoying it! I don’t recall which of my sources specifically talks about those weapons, but I’d probably start with the Sri Lanka and Ghaznavid ones. There are additional citations there that are more general and will give you a nice intro into armor and arms!

  • @musirhythm
    @musirhythm 2 роки тому +3

    Fun fact- damascus steel is from India

    • @raghuls1515
      @raghuls1515 6 місяців тому +1

      Especially from tamil country..

  • @harshagrawal1000
    @harshagrawal1000 3 роки тому +5

    This video actually explained alot of defeats suffered by Indian kings ....Against Ghuri army entire allied north Indian just because war elephant went berserk after taking arrow...entire allied army thought commander is running away..so ran too !

    • @Varun37251
      @Varun37251 Рік тому

      It’s a classic example. War elephants were great, but relying on anything too much will backfire

  • @rishi.girdhar
    @rishi.girdhar 4 місяці тому

    Loved the graphics and story-telling. Well done and keep it up.

  • @FakeDelTaco
    @FakeDelTaco Рік тому +2

    The problem was that they were overused. They should have been deployed as a small, but important part of larger formations, with defined roles, interlocking tactics and layers of redundancy.

  • @TritiumCupcakes
    @TritiumCupcakes 2 роки тому

    Omg how do you not have millions of subscribers! Keep it up!

  • @rockomax1491
    @rockomax1491 3 роки тому +3

    Great quality content. Love it!

  • @dimitri3996
    @dimitri3996 3 роки тому +1

    Great video again! I love it.

  • @puviyarasu_
    @puviyarasu_ 3 роки тому +13

    aright I've found a new channel to binge.

  • @bat2485
    @bat2485 3 роки тому +1

    That was very interesting looking for to more history videos.

  • @pushkar28
    @pushkar28 3 роки тому +19

    I really wish you would get more viewers, this is great content!
    Hope you can make a video on the Satvahana dynasty sometime

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +2

      Almost certainly will be covering the Satavahana Dynasty (hopefully sooner rather than later!). Glad you enjoyed the video 👍

  • @tarvalslain87tfk22
    @tarvalslain87tfk22 3 роки тому +77

    Funny how mythical chinese 3 kingdom have more recognition than real history.

    • @NghiaNguyen-rw1vi
      @NghiaNguyen-rw1vi 3 роки тому +16

      3 kingdoms are real but vastly exaggerated

    • @voidvector
      @voidvector 3 роки тому +2

      Cause it's one of those stories that's super easy to make into video games -- multiple factions, each with strength and weakness, relatively famous characters (even googleable for English speakers).
      It is really hard to do that for most other classics from East or West. Shakespeare? Grimm's fairy tales? Arabian nights? Good luck making video game with any of those.

    • @riseALK
      @riseALK 3 роки тому +1

      @@voidvector Hmm Arabian Nights video game, may be not action but some genre can be possible, then success depends on the popularity of the genre as well. I will like to see some attempts in this, cos of fun stories in that collection.

    • @edofluit6568
      @edofluit6568 3 роки тому

      @@voidvector maby when a chinese game company makes a videogame for the chinese market. i am european and i love history, yet i know practicly nothing about chines or indian history before 1800's. Im not sure how that market is progessing at the momen tho. Are you chinese? if so, do you know anything about gameculture in china?

    • @voidvector
      @voidvector 3 роки тому +1

      @@edofluit6568 the most famous 3 kingdom video game I know -- Dynasty Warriors -- is actually made by Japanese. I don't know Chinese video game scene. I don't live in China

  • @DMystif
    @DMystif 3 роки тому +7

    Thank you for your work ! I was wondering exactly that after reading about multiple indian battles where the whole war elephant thing went really wrong.

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому

      You’re welcome! 👍🏽

    • @samratdas7590
      @samratdas7590 2 роки тому

      It has 50% probability of wining and defeating battles

  • @dolly5316
    @dolly5316 3 роки тому

    Best video on indian elephant s

  • @riseALK
    @riseALK 3 роки тому +1

    Really fantastic video, got a lot of new info. Although, a bit surprised to not see any mention of Timur's anti-elephantry tactics used against the Delhi Sultanate.

  • @trishitmukherjee5552
    @trishitmukherjee5552 3 роки тому +2

    Excellent video as usual. Great explanation.!! :-)

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +1

      Thanks for your comment, Trishit -- cheers!

  • @IndoManiac90
    @IndoManiac90 Рік тому +2

    Its also worth pointing out that indian people were the first in the entire world to tame elephants, thats pretty damn impressive

  • @malikshabazz2065
    @malikshabazz2065 3 роки тому +4

    great video

  • @tbj1972
    @tbj1972 3 роки тому

    Great video thanks 👍

  • @vj_great551
    @vj_great551 3 роки тому +7

    Although elephants will be a force to reckon with, continued exposure of the enemies to them in battlefield can negate their effectiveness. Like how romans learnt to evade elephant charge.from Hannibal. Elephant unlike horses can't be trained effectively and after taking enough punishment will turn on its rider

    • @nunyabiznes33
      @nunyabiznes33 3 роки тому

      Maybe just make them mobile artillery?

  • @vikash.s8523
    @vikash.s8523 3 роки тому +14

    This is the kind of history i would have really loved to have in my high school history classes

  • @abbasdedanwala7734
    @abbasdedanwala7734 3 роки тому

    Liked and subscribed! Great channel

  • @shashankshekhar3753
    @shashankshekhar3753 3 роки тому +1

    Great Stuff!

  • @callistine8559
    @callistine8559 3 роки тому +4

    Another great incredible video and I expected no less! Fascinating how you talked about indigenous war tactics and the role of elephants!
    I saw that during the Vijayanagar Empire's conquest of South India, they left out a sliver of coast on the Western Coast of what is present-day Kerala, does this indicate the Kingdom of Cochin was never inculcated? If so how come this was the only territory they didn't manage to conquer, despite them having such a great army?
    Here in present-day Kochi, elephants are mostly seen in temple festivals and just last year, one of it crossed the road in front of my house as part of a temple procession nearby and its amazing thinking of how these mammoth beings were subjugated and employed as living tanks in ancient battles!

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +2

      What a wonderful comment - thank you! Regarding Cochin, its history with Vijayanagar is somewhat mixed, with some historical records pointing out that they were feudatories, and others pointing out that they were independent, but that the Cochin Kingdom always had a “cautious eye” towards Vijayanagar. It’s worth noting, also, that once Cochin came under the Portuguese sphere of influence in the early 1500s, Vijayanagar would have stepped away from any ambitions it had against it - as Vijayanagar depended heavily on the Portuguese horse trade.

    • @callistine8559
      @callistine8559 3 роки тому

      @@OddCompass oh that makes sense! I also read a bit about how the Kingdom of Cochin became the only South Asian protectorate of the Ming Empire. That was pretty fascinating to learn and explains about how there's a lot of Chinese influence here from our Chinese fishing net (Cheena-vala) to our language and words like Cheena Chatti, a type of pot to cook that's there in every household. I'm not sure if the Ming Empire was a contemporary of the Vijayanagara one but being the only protectorate of a foreign power, along with Portuguese ties could also balance powers. Its incredible how all of these history exists and how so little we know of em! Thanks for providing a platform to learn more about these!

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +1

      Oh that’s really interesting - I had no idea that it was also a Ming protectorate! I’ll definitely research more into that. The Ming were contemporaries of Vijayanagar so that makes a lot of sense. And I’m glad to provide a platform for this history, thanks for watching 🙏

    • @vigneshorthodoc
      @vigneshorthodoc 3 роки тому

      @@OddCompass it was after Zheng ye landed there with his treasure fleet... Cochin was in war with zamorin of Calicut He also mitigated a peace between them by making them a Ming protectorate!!

    • @ManjunathKamathKochi
      @ManjunathKamathKochi 3 роки тому

      @@OddCompass do read up a blog named Maddy's Ramblings which are rich with the history of Kerala

  • @anantharamashok9501
    @anantharamashok9501 3 роки тому +2

    Underrated channel❤️❤️❤️

  • @LairdErnst
    @LairdErnst 3 роки тому

    Informative. Well done.

  • @ompattnaik241
    @ompattnaik241 3 роки тому +67

    Two dislikes are from those who got trampled 😂

  • @cabwap
    @cabwap 3 роки тому

    awesome video. Thanks.

  • @babitasharma4816
    @babitasharma4816 3 роки тому

    Thanks for the new video sir!🎩🎩 Hats off to you

  • @rgatekeeping8240
    @rgatekeeping8240 3 роки тому +1

    Only 19k views !
    This deserves more.

  • @roccopecori8446
    @roccopecori8446 10 місяців тому +1

    Riding on war elephants must have been the closest thing in real life to riding a war mech

  • @sumedhdhoni8666
    @sumedhdhoni8666 3 роки тому

    Loved it ❤️❤️

  • @braunarsch
    @braunarsch 3 роки тому +2

    this is awesome! as an indian it's awesome to see history through the eyes of a non-indian :) cheers dude! subsrcibed!

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +5

      Thanks! I'm actually Indian-American, but I suppose that gives me a different perspective as well haha. I appreciate the kind words!

    • @braunarsch
      @braunarsch 3 роки тому +1

      @@OddCompass nice! It's good to see some fresh videos on some of the lesser mentioned kingdoms like the cholas and vijayanagara. Good stuff dude! Keep it comin, we need more south Indian representation in UA-cam videos 😁

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +1

      @MisterBraun Haha, will do! I'm excited for all the different topics that I still have to cover -- and agreed, South India deserves proper representation

  • @parshowjyotiphukan8445
    @parshowjyotiphukan8445 3 роки тому

    I hope your channel continues to grow.

  • @TheJAIHIND101
    @TheJAIHIND101 3 роки тому

    This channel is extremely underrated.

  • @eons8941
    @eons8941 3 роки тому +4

    At 1:09 The north African elephants (Loxodonta africana pharaohensis) were quite short and small compared to the Indian elephants (Elephas maximus) that's why ptolemeic Egypt tried to get the African Bush elephants(Loxodonta africana) from East Africa cause they saw the North African elephants were much smaller than the Indian elephant used by the Seleucid Empire

    • @tylerdurden3722
      @tylerdurden3722 3 роки тому

      Those were the same species of elephant Hannibal used. These elephants were better at handling rough terrain, existing mostly around the atlas mountains... and required less food and water.

    • @eons8941
      @eons8941 3 роки тому +1

      @@tylerdurden3722 yeah but in the video he said Indian elephant were smaller than North African elephant. In fact north African elephant were much smaller than Indian. Which is why to beat the Indian elephant ptolemeic Egypt tried to get the African Bush elephant from East Africa

    • @tylerdurden3722
      @tylerdurden3722 3 роки тому

      @@eons8941 The North African Elephant was busy going extinct and was difficult to find at that time.
      Ptolemy II tasked a guy called Philadephus with recruiting actual Savannah African Elephants from Eritrea.
      These elephants were tested in the Battle of Raphia.
      It turns out the bigger African Elephants don't like fighting. In the battle, their Asian counterparts drove them back.
      They were also panicky at the smell of Asian elephants...just like horses panic.
      Ptolemy still managed to win the battle dispite his elephants not doing so well.

    • @eons8941
      @eons8941 3 роки тому +1

      @@tylerdurden3722 Yes I know all that but you are missing the point I corrected the guy in the video when he said Indian elephants were smaller than North African..... Also even if the north African elephant were to be found they wouldn't win a fight with Indian elephants

  • @HikmaHistory
    @HikmaHistory 3 роки тому +6

    The first thing I think of is Timur's strategy against the elephants, genius!

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +5

      It’s so fascinating how some societies stagnate due to the calcification of existing norms (i.e., over reliance on war elephants), giving innovative thinkers an opportunity to take advantage.

    • @HikmaHistory
      @HikmaHistory 3 роки тому +4

      @@OddCompass "Calcification of existing norms" - that's a great way of putting it.

  • @mathieuleader8601
    @mathieuleader8601 3 роки тому +9

    reminds me of those elephants from LOTR

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +1

      Yeah, I can see the resemblance!

  • @knightplays9037
    @knightplays9037 3 роки тому +1

    Do not underestimate Indian history. Nice video keep going

  • @KunalSingh-kq9tk
    @KunalSingh-kq9tk 3 роки тому +2

    Worth studying war horse manoeuvres vis a vis battle elephant. Battle of Haldighati, where Rana Pratap’s horse charged his cousin Man Singh’s elephant.

  • @rohithram1762
    @rohithram1762 3 роки тому +2

    This is how we indians got our philosophy and culture!!!!!

  • @Kaustubhdasdehlvi
    @Kaustubhdasdehlvi 3 роки тому

    Fascinating

  • @sihuilin9239
    @sihuilin9239 3 роки тому +1

    Hiii just asking did you make all the animations yourself? that's simply amazing man

    • @OddCompass
      @OddCompass  3 роки тому +3

      I did! That’s actually why these videos are taking so long to complete haha (script + drawing + animation + voiceover)

  • @chipslejonet8840
    @chipslejonet8840 3 роки тому

    Really good work

  • @parasf2984
    @parasf2984 3 роки тому +2

    Nice one