A History of Agriculture in India v2.c78.s3: Kinds of Elephant
A History of Agriculture in India v2.c78.s3
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Kinds of Elephant
v2.c78.s3.1
'There are four kinds of elephants. 1. *Bhaddar*. It is well proportioned, has an erect head, a broad chest, large ears, a long tail, and is bold, and can bear fatigue. They take out of his forehead an excrescence resembling a large pearl, which they call in Hindi *Gaj manik*. Many properties are ascribed to it. 2. *Mand*. It is black, has yellow eyes, a uniformly sized belly, a long penis, and is wild and ungovernable. 3. *Mirg*. It has a whitish skin with black spots; the colour of its eyes is a mixture of red, yellow, black, and white. 4. *Mir*. It has a small head, and obeys readily. It gets frightened when it thunders.
v2.c78.s3.2
'From a mixture of these four kinds are formed others of different names and properties. The colour of the skin of elephants is threefold; white, black, grey. Again, according to the threefold division of the dispositions assigned by the Hindus to the mind, namely, *sat* (benevolence), *raj* (love of sensual enjoyment), and *tam* (irascibility), elephants are divided into three classes. First, such in which *sat* predominates. They are well proportioned, good-looking, eat moderately, are very submissive, do not care for intercourse with the female, and live to a very old age. Secondly, such in whose disposition *raj* prevails. They are savage-looking, and proud, bold, ungovernable, and voracious. Lastly, such as are full of *tam*. They are self-willed, destructive, and given to sleep and voraciousness.
v2.c78.s3.3
'The Hindi language has several words for an elephant, as *hasti*, *gaj*, *pil*, *kathi*, etc. Under the hands of an experienced keeper it will much improve, so that its value in a short time may rise from one hundred to ten thousand rupees.
v2.c78.s3.4
'The time of gestation of the female is generally eighteen lunar months. For these months the fluida germinalia intermix in the womb of the female; when agitated the mass looks like quicksilver. Towards the fifth month the fluida settle and get gelatinous. In the seventh month, they get more solid, and draw to perfection towards the ninth month. In the eleventh, the outline of a body is visible; and in the twelfth, the veins, bones, hoofs, and hairs make their appearance. In the thirteenth month the genitalia become distinguishable.
v2.c78.s3.5
'Female elephants have often for twelve days a red discharge, after which gestation commences. During that period they look startled, sprinkle themselves with water and earth, keep ears and tail upwards, and go rarely away from the male. They will rub themselves against the male, bend their heads below his tusks, smell at his urine and dung, and cannot bear to see another female near him. Sometimes, however, a female shows aversion to intercourse with the male; and must be forced to copulate, when other female elephants, at hearing her noise, will come to her rescue.
v2.c78.s3.6
'In former times, people did not breed elephants, and thought it unlucky; but by the command of His Majesty, they now breed a very superior class of elephants, which has removed the old prejudice in the minds of men. A female elephant has generally one young one, but sometimes two. For five years the young ones content themselves with the milk of the mother; after that period they commence to eat herbs. In this state they are called *bāl*. When ten years old they are named *put*; when twenty years old *bikka*; when thirty years old, *kalba*. In fact; the animal changes appearance every year, and then gets a new name. When sixty years old, the elephant is full grown. The skull then looks like two halves of a ball, whilst the ears look like winnowing fans. White eyes mixed with yellow, black and red, are looked upon as a sign of excellence. The forehead must be flat without swellings or wrinkles. The trunk is the nose of the animal, and is so long as to touch the ground. With it, it takes up the food and puts it into the mouth; similarly, it sucks up water with it, and then throws it into the stomach. It has eighteen teeth; sixteen of them are inside the mouth, eight above and eight below, and two are the tusks outside. The latter are one and more yards long (91 cm or more), round, shining, very strong, white, or sometimes reddish and straight, the end slightly bent upwards. Some elephants have four tusks. With a view to usefulness as also to ornament, they cut off the top of the tusks, which grow again. With some elephants they have to cut the tusks annually; with others after two or three years; but they do not like to cut them when an elephant is ten and eighty years old. An elephant is perfect when it is eight *dast* high, nine *dast* long, and ten *dast* round the belly, and along the back, Again, nine limbs ought to touch the ground, namely, the fore feet, the hind feet, the trunk, the tusks, the penis, the tail. White spots on the forehead are considered lucky, whilst a thick neck is looked upon as a sign of beauty. Long hairs on and about the ears point to good origin.
v2.c78.s3.7
'Some elephants rut in winter, some in summer, some in the rains. They are then very fierce, they pull down houses, throw down stone walls, and will lift up with their trunks a horse and its rider. But elephants differ very much in the amount of fierceness and boldness.
v2.c78.s3.8
'When they are hot, a blackish discharge exudes from the soft parts between the ears and the temples, which has a most offensive smell; it is sometimes whitish, mixed with red. They say that elephants have twelve holes in those soft parts, which likewise discharge the offensive fluid. The discharge is abundant in lively animals, but tickles drop by drop in slow ones. As soon as the discharge stops, the elephant gets fierce and looks grand; in this state he gets the name of *Tafti* or *Sarhari*. When the above discharge exudes from a place a little higher than the soft parts between the ears and the temples, the elephant is called *Singhadhal*; and when the fluid trickles from all three places, *Tal-jor*. When in heat, elephants get attached to particular living creatures, as men or horses; but some elephants to any animal.
v2.c78.s3.9
'If the female during gestation gets stronger, the foetus is sure to be a male; but if she gets weak it is the sign of a female. During the sixteenth month the formation becomes still more perfect, and the life of the foetus becomes quite distinct. In the seventeenth month there is every chance of a premature birth on account of the efforts made by the foetus to move, till, in the eighteenth month, the young one is born.
v2.c78.s3.10
'Elephant drivers have a drug which causes an artificial heat; but it often endangers the life of the beast. The noise of battle makes some superior elephants just as fierce as at the rutting-season; even a sudden start may have such an effect. Thus His Majesty's elephant *Gajmukta*: he gets brisk as soon as he hears the sound of the Imperial drum, and gets the above-mentioned discharge. This peculiar heat generally makes its first appearance when elephants have reached the age of thirty; sometimes, however, earlier, at an age of twenty-five. Sometimes the heat lasts for years, and some of the Imperial elephants have continued for five years in an uninterrupted alacrity. But it is mostly male elephants that get in heat. They then commence to throw up earth, and run after a female, or roll about in mud, and daub themselves all over with dirt. When in heat they are very irritable, and yawn a great deal, though they sleep but little. At last they even discontinue eating, and dislike the foot-chain: they try to get loose, and behave noisily.
v2.c78.s3.11
'The elephant, like man, lives to an age of one hundred and twenty years.'
Cites (1)
- Hindī — Hindi