History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c13.2

v1.c13.2

The cavalry came next. India supplied the horses required, but Indian horses were ranked lower than horses imported from Persia, Arabia and Afghanistan. In the inner camp of Harsha, Bāṇa describes the royal horses as कांबोजज, वनायुज, सिंधुज, आरट्ट, भारद्वाज and पारसीक (H. C. p. 100). कांबोज is Afghanistan and पारसीक is Persia. सिंधुज meant probably Arabian horses, being brought to Sind by the sea. What वनायु, आरट्ट and भारद्वाज are it is difficult to state. Unfortunately we have not been able to identify these countries. (Bhāradvāja seems to be some Himalayan tract from Varāhamihira's list of peoples and Āratta probably means the Panjab). In the training and raising of horses the same pitch of excellence had been attained in India as in that of the elephants. The marks of a good horse, the nature of his diseases and the modes of treating them are detailed with fullness in the treatises of Sālihotra, some of whose principles are referred to even in Bāṇa's Harsha-Charita. Strangely enough, Bāṇa mentions the grooms to be always Chāṇḍālas.