| Various methods of capturing and training elephants were evolved over a period of time in different geographical regions of the country. The ‘Pit Method' was popular in southern India until recently. The Khedda (i.e. Stockade Method), with many variations, has been prevalent in different parts of the country and has also been recorded by Megasthanese, the Greek envoy to the court of the Emperor Chandra Gupta Maurya (third century B.C.). It was introduced to the Mysore Plateau in southern India by Sanderson in 1874. Mela Shikar (i.e. noosing from the back of a trained elephant) is popular in the northeastern part of the country. Sanskrit literature describes two more methods of capturing elephants: the use of female elephants as decoys and the use of nooses concealed on the ground. Indian experts have also gone to other Asian countries to teach the art of capturing and training elephants. Elephants were domesticated in the early days mostly for military purposes. The use of war elephants has been recorded in the military history of India, from the famous battle between Alexander the Great and King Porus, ruler of Punjab, on the banks of the Jhelum in 326 B.C. to the war of Shakkar khera in 1724 A.D. The British put elephants to use to mobilize their resources in northeastern India against the Japanese during the Second World War. In the modern era, however, elephants have been associated with state pomp, viewed as status symbols by princes and the landed gentry, used for the great Shikar (hunting) meets, for elephant-capturing, logging operations, tourism, temple processions, circus shows and, to a limited extent, for agricultural works. An extensive body of literature has been produced in India on the management of domesticated elephants. The sage Palakapya (fifth or sixth century B.C.) is reputed to be the author of Hasti ayurveda, a treatise on the medical treatment of elephants and Matanglila, which is a treatise on the physical and mental characteristics of elephants, their capture and care. Hastividyarnava, the famous Assamese treatise on the medical treatment of elephants was authored in the 18th Century by Sukumar Borkayat on instructions from the then Ahom queen. G.P. Sanderson's Thirteen years among the wild beasts of India (1879), John Henry Steel's A Manual of the Diseases of the Elephant and of his Management and Uses (1885), G.H. Evans' Elephants and Their Diseases (1910), A.J.W. Milroy's A short treatise on the management of elephants (1922), E. O. Shebbeare's Soondar Mooni (1958) and P.D. Stracey's Elephant Gold (1963) are some of the classics on domesticated elephants in recent times. |
| Services |
| Free eMagazine Animal News & Articles 24 Hour Open Pet Store Online Query Services Veterinary Search Centre |
|
|
| © Cheerans Lab (P) Limited About us | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact us | Site Map |
Search anything, anytime !