A History of Agriculture in India v2.c78.s5: Servants of the Elephant Stables
A History of Agriculture in India v2.c78.s5
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Servants of the Elephant Stables
v2.c78.s5.1
Mast elephants. 'There are five and a half servants for each, viz. a Mahawat, who sits on the neck of the animal and directs its movements. He must be acquainted with its good and bad properties, and thus contribute to its usefulness. He gets 200 dams per month; but if the elephant be khutahar, i.e. wicked and addicted to pulling down the driver, he gets 220 d. Secondly, a Bhoi, who sits behind, upon the rump of the elephant, and assists in battle and in quickening the speed of the animal; but he often performs the duties of the Mahawat. His monthly pay is 110 d. Thirdly, the Meths, of whom there are three and one-half, or only three in case of small elephants. A Meth fetches fodder, and assists in caparisoning the elephant. Meths of all classes get on the march four dams daily, and at other times three and a half.
v2.c78.s5.2
'In order to prevent laziness and to ensure attentiveness, His Majesty, has fixed a list of fines. On the death of a male or a female khasa elephant the Bhois are fined three months' wages. If any part of the harness is lost, the Bhois and Meths are fined two-thirds of the value of the article; but in the case of a saddlecloth, the full price. When a female elephant dies from starvation, or through want of care, the Bhois have to pay the cost price of the animal.
v2.c78.s5.3
'Two experienced men are monthly dispatched to inquire into the fatness or leanness of the khasa elephants. If elephants are found by them out of flesh to the extent of a quarter, according to the scale fixed by the Pagoshi Regulation the grandees in charge are fined, and the Bhois are likewise liable to lose a month's wages. In the case of halqa elephants, Ahadis are told off to examine them, and submit a report to His Majesty. If an elephant dies, the Mahawat and the Bhoi are fined three months' wages. If part of an elephant's tusk is broken, and the injury reaches as far as the kali—this is a place at the root of the tusks, which on being injured is apt to fester, when the tusks get hollow and become useless—a fine amounting to one-eighth of the elephant is exacted, the Darogha paying two-thirds, and the Fawjdar one-third. Should the injury not reach as far as the kali, the fine is only one-half of the former. But, at present, a fine of one per cent has become usual; in the case of khasa elephants, however, such punishment is inflicted as His Majesty may please to direct.¹
v2.c78.s5.4
¹ Abu-l-Fazl, Ain-i-Akbari, pp. 123-132, 295-296