The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.435

v1.c10.435

**Flags, trumpets and war-cries :** Immediately after arms and armour it would not be amiss to notice three objects, which, though perfectly harmless by themselves, exercise the most potent influence in warfare, *viz.* the flag, the trumpet and the war cry. As a rallying point for soldiers in action, or the assemblage of troops, the flag is of the highest importance, and a feeling of chivalrous devotion to it has at all times been cherished as a point of military honor. “The idea of such a signal”, says an able writer on the *Scope and Uses of Military Literature and History*, “is universal, and the external cause of its adoption obvious. However little accustomed men may be to act in concert, it is always possible to unite them in one mass by the conspicuous display of a striking object in a central position. If the uplifting of this ensign be accompanied by the shout of a strong-voiced man, or the commanding tone of a loud instrument, the appeal to two organs of sensation, both the ear and the eye, must be followed by an increased degree of alertness on the part of the troops so summoned” (p. 159). The Hindus, from a very early period in their history, availed themselves of all the three, *viz* the standard, the war-cry, and the trumpet, or what was the same, some instrument for creating shrill wide-spreding sounds. The *Ṛgveda* alludes to banners,²¹⁵ and in the *Mahābhārata*, the heroism of knocking down the enemy’s standard is everywhere highly extolled. The war-cry is, likewise, mentioned in the *Ṛgveda*,²¹⁶ and in the great epics. The words used were either religious sayings, or the name of the leader added to the word *jaya* or victory, such as *jaya Rāma*, “victory to Rāma”, or *jayastu Pāṇḍuputrāṇām*, “success to the sons of Pāṇḍu”, or some other word suited to the occasion, very much in the same way as in Europe, and whence, as Sir S. Megouk supposes, armorial mottos had their origin.