War in Ancient India c7.s1.t4.25

c7.s1.t4.25

How much importance and value was attached to these animals in war can be gathered from the words of Alexander himself before he crossed the Hydaspes. In the course of the instructions he gave his followers, he said: ‘It is the elephant only which makes it impossible for the horses to land on the other bank. The rest of the army can cross over without difficulty.’⁵⁶ We are told how these huge beasts at first crushed the Macedonian phalanx though in close formation and created terror among the soldiers of Alexander until they became quite exhausted. Thus a detailed study of the battle of the Hydaspes shows the superiority of the elephant crops over the other divisions of the army.⁵⁷