The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c18.29

c18.29

The principal royal amusement was the chase, which was conducted with great ceremony, the game in an enclosed preserve being driven up to a platform occupied by the king, who shot the animals with arrows ; but, if the hunt took place in the open country, he used to ride an elephant. When hunting he was closely attended by armed female guards, who were obtained by purchase from foreign countries, and formed an indispensable element in the courts of the ancient Indian monarchs. The road for the sovereign's procession was marked off with ropes, which it was death to pass.³ The institution of the Royal Hunt was abolished by Chandragupta's grandson, Asoka, in 259 B. C.