Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v1.c15.s2.3

v1.c15.s2.3

A definite advance on the ancient conception was made by Śukrācārya in the following statement: "The king should have his infantry four times the cavalry, bulls one-fifth of his horse, camels one-eighth, elephants one-fourth of the camels, chariots half of the elephants, and cannon twice the chariots".² Śukra seems to have intrdouced three new elements—bulls, camels and cannon. These raise the figure to seven, and, according to Śukra, we have, therefore, infantry, cavalry, elephants, chariots, camels, cannon and bulls. But in reality, Śukra merely gave legal sanction to two of the parts already mentioned as auxiliaries by Kauṭilya—bulls and camels—and introduced one new feature—artillery—which was unknown to the age of the *Arthaśāstra*. Kauṭilya makes provision for the bulls and camels, but only as a means to an end. "The king who has a small number of horses may combine bulls with horses; likewise when he is deficient in elephants, he may fill up the centre of his army with mules, camels and carts."³