Following the Aryan Invasions, ancient Indian armies were composed of the four limbs: chariots; elephants; cavalry and infantry.
From the first millennium BCE, Indian states began to create regular standing armies, according to the records left behind. The Aryan Invasions (http://indian-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_aryan_invasions) had brought a new people into contact with the Indian states and their much greater reliance on horses and chariots had dramatic impact upon military affairs. The result was that a Four-Limbed Army (Chaturangbala) was established as the norm. The four limbs were the infantry, the cavalry, the elephants and the chariots. Archaeological records, combined with often copious texts from the past, have provided quite a good and accurate understanding of how these armies organised themselves and fought.
The army is supposed to have been organised according to standard formations (vyuhas) which are preserved in texts. It seems likely that these would have been used in drills and marching but perhaps less so in actual battle: since the strong and weak points of each of the vyuhas was well-known to generals and scholars, then it would not have been difficult for a wily general to adopt the correct tactic based on what the enemy was doing. So, flexibility was much more likely on the battlefield itself, not least because it is rather more difficult to control soldiers in the hurly-burly of battle than it is when training or drilling.
Indian armies contained many flags and banners and used horns and drums to help transmit orders. Chariots were given the position of honour, perhaps because of their association with the conquering Aryans, with the second place given to elephants. Each chariot would have a charioteer and an archer and was usually drawn by two horses. There are representations of larger vehicles drawn by four or even six horses but it is not clear that these were for use on the battlefield. Elephants were ridden by a mahout and perhaps two or three warriors riding astride or in a wooden castle, armed with weapons such as bows, spears and javelins. The infantry are said to have been armed with a mixture of bows, battle-axes and swords. The axes are likely to have been of the type known as the ‘dagger-axe’ rather than the large Viking affairs commonly seen in movies. Since each soldier was expected to provide his own equipment, each unit would have been something of a motley crew. However, a powerful noble or king might like to demonstrate his wealth by having a set of soldiers in a common and smart uniform.
The Chaturangbala system seems to have persisted for several centuries before the break-up of larger states meant that the smaller states that mostly superseded them did not have the resources to support a full four limbs and began to rely on the gramsabha mercenary system instead.
John Walsh, Shinawatra University, March 2007
