The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t3.1

v2.c15.s3.t3.1

Though rājanīti works like the Nītisāra lay it down as a principle that kings should maintain an army comprising four classes of troops, viz. chariots, elephants, horses, and foot, the first of these had gone out of use long before the age of the Kākatīyas. The Kākatīya army, like that of the other Indian States of the period, was made up of three arms, namely, elephants, cavalry, and infantry. According to contemporary sources, it consisted in the days of Pratāparudra of one hundred elephants, twenty thousand horses, and nine lakhs of archers.² No definite information is available about the way in which the Kākatīya monarchs gathered their forces. The elephants were perhaps partly captured from the forests of the Eastern Ghats and partly acquired by purchase from such countries as Kalinga, Burma, and Ceylon, where they flourished in a wild state. As horses were not largely bred anywhere in India except in Sindh, they were necessarily imported from abroad, especially from Iraq, Iran, and Arabia. And since military service was not subjected to any communal restrictions, it was possible for anyone who wished to adopt the profession of arms to enlist as a soldier irrespective of the caste or creed to which he might belong. The existence of the offices of the gajasāhini and the aśvasāhini indicates that the practice was in vogue of training both elephants and horses for the purposes of war. An officer of the name of paṭṭasāhini rāya- or mahārāya-paṭṭasāhini is sometimes mentioned in the inscriptions. Obviously he was an officer attached to the royal establishment, though it is not easy to find out exactly what his functions were. We have no evidence as to whether the practice of drilling the foot-soldiers and instructing them how to combine in mass movements on the battlefield was known at the time. But doubtless all persons desirous of following the military profession were able to get instruction in the gymnasia and to acquire skill in wielding the sword, the buckler, the lance, the bow, and other weapons of warfare.