Hindu Administrative Institutions c11.s9.26

c11.s9.26

What were then the causes that led to the outbreak of wars in general in ancient India? Cattle lifting generally led to an expedition. This finds illustrated in the *Mahābhārata* where under instructions from Duryodhana, the king of Trigarthas enters the city of Virāṭa with the war music of *śankha*, *dundubhi*, and *bheri* and drives away the kine. Uttara and Bṛhannala (Arjuna in disguise) offer fight and recover the cattle.³ That this was also common in ancient South India is seen from *Porapporul Veṇbāmālai*, a classic of Tamil literature. The first chapter of the work treats of capturing of the cattle of the enemy by soldiers wearing garlands of *veṭchi*. This expedition is of two kinds, that undertaken under the orders of the ruling chieftain and that undertaken by themselves, i.e. unauthorized by the chief.⁴