Yantras or Mechanical Contrivances in Ancient India c2.91

c2.91

Elliot also collected the following data pertaining to certain mechanical objects used in warfare in India: the *Majmalu-t-Tawarikh* says that the Brahmans advised²¹ their King to employ on the battle field an elephant of clay which, as soon as the enemies were sufficiently near, would explode and blow them up; more than the mere explosion, the device for timing it is to be noted here. Firdusi refers to a similar explosive Iron Horse which Alexander was advised to employ, and blacksmiths and artisans constructed 1,000 of these for Alexander. In a Chinese account of India, reference is made to the use in Indian warfare of flying ladders, wooden oxen and rolling horses. One of Muhammad Qasim's successors used a "battering ram with horns of great power and demolished with it the walls of the city."