تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 12.4.4

12.4.4

gilded white silk; no one but the sultan rides with these. Half of these horses are stationed on the right and half on the left, where the sultan can see them. Then fifty elephants are brought, adorned with cloths of silk and gold, their tusks sheathed in iron in readiness for killing criminals. On the neck of each elephant is its driver, holding something like an iron battle-axe with which he disciplines it and directs it to what is wanted of it.