The Institutes of Akbar 82.1
The Áín i Akbari (Blochmann, Jarrett) 82.1
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82.1.1
This wonderful animal is in bulk and strength like a mountain; and in courage and ferocity like a lion. It adds materially to the pomp of a king, and to the success of a conqueror; and is of the greatest use for the army. Experienced men of Hindustan put the value of a good elephant equal to five hundred horse; and they believe, that when guided by a few bold men armed with matchlocks, such an elephant alone is worth double that number. In vehemence on one side, and submissiveness to the reins on the other, the elephant is like an Arab, whilst in point of obedience and attentiveness to even the slightest signs, it resembles an intelligent human being. In restiveness when full-blooded, and in vindictiveness, it surpasses man. An elephant never hurts the female, though she be the cause of his captivity; he never will fight with young elephants, nor does he think it proper to punish them. From a sense of gratitude, he does his keepers no harm, nor will he throw dust over his body, when he is mounted, though he often does so at other times. Once an elephant, during the rutting season, was fighting with another. When he was in the height of excitement, a small elephant came in his way: he kindly lifted up the small one with his trunk, set him aside, and then renewed the combat. If a male elephant breaks loose during the rutting season, in order to have his own way, few people have the courage to approach him;
82.1.2
and some bold and experienced man will have to get on a female elephant, and try to get near him and tie a rope round his foot. Female elephants, when mourning the loss of a young one, will often abstain from food and drink; they sometimes even die from grief. The elephant can be taught various feats. He learns to remember such melodies as can only be remembered by people acquainted with music; he will move his limbs, to keep time, and exhibit his skill in various ways. He will shoot off an arrow from a bow, discharge a matchlock, and will learn to pick up things that have been dropped, and hand them over to the keeper. Sometimes they get grain to eat wrapped up in hay; this they hide in the side of their mouth, and give it back to the keeper, when they are alone with him. The teats of a female elephant, and the womb, resemble those of woman. The tongue is round like that of a parrot. The testicles are not visible. Elephants frequently with their trunks take water out of their stomachs, and sprinkle themselves with it. Such water has no offensive smell. They also take out of their stomach grass on the second day, without its having undergone any change.
82.1.3
The price of an elephant varies from a lak to one hundred rupees; elephants worth five thousand, and ten thousand rupees, are pretty common. There are four kinds of elephants. 1. Bhaddar. It is well proportioned, has an erect head, a broad chest, large ears, a long tail, and is bold, and can bear fatigue. They take out of his forehead an excrescence resembling a large pearl, which they call in Hindi Gaj manik. Many properties are ascribed to it. 2. Mand. It is black, has yellow eyes, a uniformly sized belly, a long penis, and is wild and ungovernable. 3. Mirg. It has a whitish skin, with black spots; the colour of its eyes is a mixture of red, yellow, black, and white. 4. Mir. It has a small head, and obeys readily. It gets frightened, when it thunders.
82.1.4
From a mixture of these four kinds are formed others of different names and properties. The colour of the skin of elephants is threefold: white, black, grey. Again, according to the threefold division of the dispositions assigned by the Hindus to the mind, namely, sat benevolence, raj love of sensual enjoyment, and tam irascibility, which shall be further explained below, elephants are divided into three classes. 1st, such in which sat predominates. They are well proportioned, good looking, eat moderately, are very submissive, do not care for intercourse with the female, and live to a very old age. Secondly, such in whose disposition raj prevails. They are savage looking, and proud, bold, ungovernable, and voracious. Lastly, such as are full of tam. They are self-willed, destructive, and given to sleep and voraciousness.
82.1.5
The time of gestation of the female is generally eighteen lunar months. For three months the fluida germinalia intermix in the womb of the female; when agitated, the mass looks like quicksilver. Towards the fifth month the fluida settle, and get gelatinous. In the seventh month, they get more solid, and draw to perfection towards the ninth month. In the eleventh, the outline of a body is visible; and in the twelfth, the veins, bones, hoofs, and hairs, make their appearance. In the thirteenth month, the genitalia become distinguishable, and in the fifteenth, the process of quickening commences. If the female, during gestation, gets stronger, the fœtus is sure to be a male; but if she gets weak, it is the sign of a female. During the sixteenth month, the formation becomes still more perfect, and the life of the fœtus becomes quite distinct. In the seventeenth month, there is every chance of a premature birth, on account of the efforts made by the fœtus to move, till, in the eighteenth month, the young one is born.
82.1.6
According to others, the sperm gets solid in the first month; the eyes, ears, the nose, mouth, and tongue, are formed in the second; in the third month, the limbs make their appearance; in the fourth month, the fœtus grows and gets strong; in the fifth, it commences to quicken; in the sixth, it gets sense, which appears more marked during the seventh month; in the eighth, there is some chance of a miscarriage; during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh months, the fœtus grows, and is born during the twelfth. It will be a male young one, if the greater part of the sperm came from the male; and it will be a female young one, if the reverse is the case. If the sperm of both the male and female is equal in quantity, the young one will be a hermaphrodite. The male fœtus lies towards the right side; the female towards the left; a hermaphrodite in the middle. Female elephants have often for twelve days a red discharge, after which gestation commences. During that period, they look startled, sprinkle themselves with water and earth, keep ears and tail upwards, and go rarely away from the male. They will rub themselves against the male, bend their heads below his tusks, smell at his urine and dung, and cannot bear to see another female near him. Sometimes, however, a female shews aversion to intercourse with the male, and must be forced to copulate, when other female elephants, at hearing her noise, will come to her rescue.
82.1.7
In former times, people did not breed elephants, and thought it unlucky; by the command of His Majesty, they now breed a very superior class of elephants, which has removed the old prejudice in the minds of men. A female elephant has generally one young one, but sometimes two. For five years the young ones content themselves with the milk of the mother; after that period they commence to eat herbs. In this state they are called dd. When ten years old, they are named pit; when twenty years old, bikta; when thirty years old, kalbah. In fact the animal changes appearance every year, and then gets a new name. When sixty years old, the elephant is fullgrown. The skull then looks like two halves of a ball, whilst the ears look like winnowing fans. White eyes mixed with yellow, black, and red, are looked upon as a sign of excellence. The forehead must be flat without swellings or wrinkles. The trunk is the nose of the animal, and is so long as to touch the ground. With it, it takes up the food and puts it into the mouth; similarly, it sucks up water with it, and then throws it into the stomach. It has eighteen teeth; sixteen of them are inside the mouth, eight above and eight below, and two are the tusks outside. The latter are one and more yards long, round, shining, very strong, white, or sometimes reddish, and straight, the end slightly bent upwards. Some elephants have four tusks. With a view to usefulness as also to ornament, they cut off the top of the tusks, which grow again.
82.1.8
With some elephants they have to cut the tusks annually; with others after two or three years; but they do not like to cut them when an elephant is ten and eighty years old. An elephant is perfect when it is eight dast high, nine dast long, and ten dast round the belly, and along the back. Again, nine limbs ought to touch the ground, namely, the fore feet, the hind feet, the trunk, the tusks, the penis, the tail. White spots on the forehead are considered lucky, whilst a thick neck is looked upon as a sign of beauty. Long hairs on and about the ears point to good origin.