Public Administration in Ancient India c18.38

c18.38

Various kinds of weapons were used in the ancient times for offensive and defensive purposes. In the Rig-Veda we read of bows, arrows, armours, and coats-of-mail.² Chānakya classifies weapons as immovable machines (sthita-yantra), movable machines (chala-yantra), bows, arrows, swords, weapons with pointed edges like ploughshares, and miscellaneous weapons.³ Each of these classes is again subdivided into many kinds. In the Mahābhārata we find mention of many kinds of weapons, of which those most often used were the mace, the battle-axe, the discus, the bow, the arrow, and the vajra (thunderbolt). The Agni Purāṇa¹ arranges weapons in five classes, namely, (i) those thrown by machines (yantra-mukta), (ii) those thrown by the hand (pāṇi-mukta), (iii) those thrown and drawn back (mukta-sandhṛita), (iv) those not thrown (amukta), and (v) weapons used in hand-to-hand fights (bāhu-yuddha). The Sukranīti mentions the following chief weapons : iśu (arrow), gadā (mace), paṭṭiśa, ekadhāra, kshura-prānta, khaḍga, chakra, supāśaka, and karaja.² From the Nītiprakāsikā,³ we get a full list of the instruments used in warfare.