FReeper Canteen ~ Part IV of War in Ancient India ~ August 3, 2004

A Tribute to Hindusim ^ | August 3, 2004 | LaDivaLoca

[LaDivaLoca]

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ANCIENT WARFARE





Part IV: War in Ancient India

Bow and Arrow:

In the words of H. H. Wilson: "the Hindus cultivated archery most assiduously and were very Parthians in the use of the bow on horse-back." One feature of this weapon was that it could be handled by all the four classes of warriors. 

Frescos on the Angkor Wat depict scenes from the Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, showing Kshatriyas engaged in war. For more refer to chapter on Suvarnabhumi: Greater India

Other Weapons: 

The Bindipala and the nine following are minor weapons of this class. Probably this was a heavy club which had a broad and bent tail end, measuring one cubit in length. It was to be used with the left foot of the warrior placed in front. The various uses of this weapon were cutting, hitting, striking and breaking. It was like a kunta but with a big blade. It was used by the Asuras in their fight with Kartavirya Arjuna.

The Nalika is a hand gun or musket rightly piercing the mark. It was straight in form and hollow inside. It discharged darts if ignited. As has been already said, Sukracarya speaks of two kinds of nalika, one big and the other small. The small one, with a little hole at the end, measured sixty angulas  (ie. distance between the thumb and the little finger) dotted with several spots at the muzzle end. Through the touch hole or at its breach which contained wood, fire was conveyed to the charge. It was generally used by foot-soldiers. But the big gun had no wood at the breach and was so heavy that it had to be conveyed in carts. The balls were made of iron, lead or other material. Kamandaka uses the word nalika in the sense of firing gun as a signal for the unwary king. Again in the Naisadha, a work of the medieval period, Damayanti is compared to the two bows of the god of love and goddess of love, and her two nostrils to the two guns capable of throwing balls.

Thus there is clear evidence of the existence and use of firing guns in India in very early times. 

The Cakra, the next weapon in the category, is a circular disc with a small opening in the middle. It was of three kinds of eight, six and four spokes. It was used in five or six ways. It resembled the quoid of the Sikhs today. Lord Vishnu is popularly addressed as Sankha-cakra-gada-pani, that is having Sankha or conch, Cakra or disc, and Gada or mace in three of his four hands.The various uses of a disc were felling, whirling, rending, breaking, severing, and cutting. It is one of the instruments peculiar to Lord Vishnu. Kautalya speaks of it as a movable machine. The Cakra belongs to the category of a missile. According to the Vamanapurana, the Cakra has lustrous and sharp edges. 

The Tomara is another weapon of war frequently mentioned in all kinds of warfare. It was of two kinds, an iron club (sarvayasam) and a javelin. . According to the Agni Purana it was to be with the help of an arrow of straight feathers, and was powerful in dealing blows to the eyes and hands of an enemy. 

The Dantakanta, is another weapon of war, perhaps the shape of a tooth, made of metal, of strong handle and a straight blade. It had two movements. 

The Pasa, which is a noose killing the enemy at one stroke, of two or tree ropes used as a weapon attributed to the god Varuna. It was triangular in shape and embellished with balls of lead. It was associated with three kinds of movements. In the Agni Purana are described eleven ways of turning it to one's own advantage by dexterity of hand. 

The Masundi, was probably an eight sided cudgel. It was furnished with a broad and strong handle. It apparently comes from the root-meaning to cleave or break into pieces, and perhaps akin to the Musala. 

All these and more found used in one battle or another both in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. 

Next Tuesday: Part V of War in Ancient India

[beachn4fun]

Morning Hope. Can I copy this pledge? I like it!

[beachn4fun]

Good morning Mr. Tonk. Thank you for your kitty update. Now, if we can only get a look at them (hint). Did you find names for run-a-muk's babies?

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good morning, Beach. First off congradulations on getting post #50.

Secondly, we had a great time shopping yesterday. Shopped at Penny's and ate at the Picadilly.

Came back home really hot and tired. It was hot much of the day.

Our guests wil lbe going back later today.

How's it going with you?:-D

[beachn4fun]

Morning Ms. B.

[laurenmarlowe]

Good morning!

[beachn4fun]

Morning Seven.

[beachn4fun]

Oh, went shopping at Penney's, huh? Were they having a good sale? What kind of stuff?

As for me.......well........it will be an interesting week with the Nation's Capital on alert.

And, we had more rain over night! I'll be glad when Alex moves north and gets off of our coast-line. This humidity needs to grab onto Alex's back door. Yuck!

[tomkow6]

 

SALUTE!

 

[tomkow6]

Good morning, LaDiva ! Good morning, Canteen Crew! Good morning, EVERYBODY!

GOOD  

MORNING

TROOPS!

Me for PREZ! VOTE !!!

[tomkow6]

 

Today's FEEBLE

YOKE :

Several years ago, after having Japanese executives from the automotive industry tour a Ford Plant, they held a press conference in which one of the Japanese execs claimed that the American workers were slow and lazy.

Not long after, a friend sent me a picture of a bumper sticker on a truck at the Ford plant.

It read - "We may be slow and lazy, but we build a damn good bomb!"

[tomkow6]

 

Chicagoland Weather

August 03, 2004
Chicago, IL
Sunrise	5:46 AM (CDT)
Sunset	8:10 PM (CDT)
Hrs. of Daylight	14 Hrs., 24 Mins

 

Currently
70°

Partly Cloudy

	Hi: 84

	Lo: 66

5 Day Forecast

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

SUN

Thunderstorms

High:	72
Low:	58

Sunny

High:	73
Low:	52

Partly Cloudy

High:	70
Low:	50

Partly Cloudy

High:	75
Low:	58

Isolated Thunderstorms

High:	75
Low:	60

[tomkow6]

You're just lucky I had to answer the phone!

[Old Sarge]

Greetings, Canteeners, Troops,
and All the Ships at Sea!

Back in Prairie Dog Village for another exciting day, are we? Well, so is Sarge, trying to keep one eye on work, and another on the world - makes for some funny-looking walking into door jambs. But the coffee's up, so all's not lost. And as an added treat, Missus is trying her hand at homemade preserves - this first experiment is red raspberry jam: not bad at all!

Sarge's Fathers' Day present broke last night while trimming the patio; looks like more Tool Time...

Well, here's MY Personals...

TONKIN/DIVALOCA: Thanks to you both for keeping the lights on, and for another clever thread!

BEACH: Are you hanging on, with Alex bearing down upon you? Roll up your umbrella, and get inland!

KJ/USVET: Looks like we're in for another blow tomorrow - are we playing Power Outage Bingo again?

STAR/BENTFEATHER/TRUSSELL/KATHY/MOJO/HOPE/JEN/GRAMMA/AND THE REST OF THE GALZ: Sorry I haven't been around for the evening dance hall, but let's just see how things wash out, it WILL get better!

Sarge will be in the area all day, so Let's Have Fun!

SARGE

[laurenmarlowe]

Good Morning Sarge!

[HopeandGlory]

Good morning Beachy . . . . you sure can.

TTFN . . . I'm off to water the vines.

[Old Sarge]

ANd a big HELLO! to you, Lauren!

[laurenmarlowe]

Thanks! God bless our troops, past, present, and future. I hope everyone has a fine day.

[stand watie]

!!!!!!!

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Old Sarge. How's it going?

Well I got me a couple of new t-shirts and that's about it. Mainly some new clothes.

[Old Sarge]

At least T-shirts don't break down on you!