| The domesticated Asian elephant in India S.S. Bist, Jacob V. Cheeran, S. Choudhury, P. Barua and M.K. Misra Introduction India harbours more than 50 percent of the wild elephant population and about 20 percent of the captive elephant population of Asia. The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) enjoys a special status in the country and the elephant symbolises the Indian ethos. It has been very closely associated with the religion, myths, history and cultural heritage of India for centuries. Protecting and ensuring the survival of the elephant means much more to an Indian than protecting just another endangered species. Although the tiger has been designated as the national animal of India, for most Indians the elephant is the de facto national animal. It has been rightly said that one cannot imagine India without the elephant (Anon., 1993). India has a fascinating history of domesticating wild elephants. Lahiri Choudhury (1988) has traced, on the basis of rock paintings, the history of domesticated elephants in India to about 6000 B.C. Seals of the Indus Valley civilization (2500-1500 B.C.) also suggest the presence of domesticated elephants in India at that time. Aryans, who are believed to have entered India about 1500 B.C., picked up the art of domesticating elephants in the process of assimilating the culture of the country they had adopted. Ancient literature, such as the Rig Veda (1500-1000 B.C.) and the Upanishads (900-500 B.C.), which is associated with the Aryans, contain many references to trained elephants. Vedic literature also confirms that by the sixth century B.C., the taming and catching of elephants had become quite a refined art. The earlier literature reveals that kings and senior administrators were duly instructed about the art of handling elephants and about various aspects of the physiology and health of the elephant. Knowledge about elephants was considered as a part of ‘Arthasastra', the science of statecraft. In the Kautilya's Arthasastra (300 B. C. to 300 A.D.) there is a reference to the duty of the overseer of elephants to take care of the training of elephants. It prescribes the setting up of elephant sanctuaries on the periphery of the kingdom that were to be patrolled by guards. Anyone killing an elephant within the sanctuary was to be put to death. It also prohibits the capturing of elephant calves, tuskless bulls or those with small tusks, diseased elephants and cows with suckling calves. During the reign of Emperor Ashoka (273-232 B. C.) the elephant became the symbol of Buddhism. The Ashokan edicts refer to the setting up of hospitals for the treatment of elephants and other animals. |
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