History of ancient iran,india,afaganistan.

[aarya]

any help on History of ancient iran,india,afaganistan the units,warfare battle tactic.

[Watchman]

You wouldn't want to be a little more specific of the timeframe ?

[Incongruous]

The Aryans supposedly used Chariots and large amount of Cavalry. The Indians also used massive bows taller than a man that were stood on the ground. Elephants were also used at some point.

[Kalle]

Ghurkas?

Kalle

[matteus the inbred]

ok, no timeframe, but you did say ancient...so i'll give you some info up to about 500BC.
the earliest Indian cultures (called Melukhkhan and pre-Vedic) lasted from around 2700BC until about 1900BC, also called the Harappan civilisation) were in contact with the near east and Mesopotamia, and had a reputation as interpreters, merchants and sailors, and even sent troops to interfere with the various wars going on at the time. elephants and horses were domesticated at this time, but probably not much use was made of them in battle. evidence of spears, short swords, daggers, axes and maces have all been found in burials, a well as copper and bronze arrowheads and slingstones. rectangular shields were possibly used by the lower classes.
Vedic Indian (the period from the arrival of Aryan conquerors in 1500BC until the Persian intrusions in about 512BC) is so-called as it is based on the Vedas and Mahabharata literatures.
Indian states at this time fought mainly with chariots for the nobles; these had unarmoured horses and probably only contained the driver and an armoured noble warrior using a bow and soemtimes a heavy club. later chariots sometimes had four horses, more armour, and even incorporated a parasol or shade for the general! some extra crew may have been present to run alongside as 'wheel guards'. Indian epics at this time were obsessed with noble 'heroic' behaviour...cavalry was light, mostly using javelins, and foot troops tended to be rubbish archers with little or no armour and no inclination to get killed. some kings used bodyguard swordsmen dressed in red.
elephants do not appear until around 900BC, used to protect the centre of the army and manned by a small crew 3-4, with more men to protect them on foot. lots of migrants and scummy peasant types make up the rest.
difficult to come up with Iranian and Afghan stuff...geographically, i know where they are NOW, but what they were called then...? might need help here. i think they were called Medes, and included the states of Zikirtu, Andia and Parsua...

[AlokaParyetra]

ok, no timeframe, but you did say ancient...so i'll give you some info up to about 500BC.
the earliest Indian cultures (called Melukhkhan and pre-Vedic) lasted from around 2700BC until about 1900BC, also called the Harappan civilisation) were in contact with the near east and Mesopotamia, and had a reputation as interpreters, merchants and sailors, and even sent troops to interfere with the various wars going on at the time. elephants and horses were domesticated at this time, but probably not much use was made of them in battle. evidence of spears, short swords, daggers, axes and maces have all been found in burials, a well as copper and bronze arrowheads and slingstones. rectangular shields were possibly used by the lower classes.
Vedic Indian (the period from the arrival of Aryan conquerors in 1500BC until the Persian intrusions in about 512BC) is so-called as it is based on the Vedas and Mahabharata literatures.
Indian states at this time fought mainly with chariots for the nobles; these had unarmoured horses and probably only contained the driver and an armoured noble warrior using a bow and soemtimes a heavy club. later chariots sometimes had four horses, more armour, and even incorporated a parasol or shade for the general! some extra crew may have been present to run alongside as 'wheel guards'. Indian epics at this time were obsessed with noble 'heroic' behaviour...cavalry was light, mostly using javelins, and foot troops tended to be rubbish archers with little or no armour and no inclination to get killed. some kings used bodyguard swordsmen dressed in red.
elephants do not appear until around 900BC, used to protect the centre of the army and manned by a small crew 3-4, with more men to protect them on foot. lots of migrants and scummy peasant types make up the rest.
difficult to come up with Iranian and Afghan stuff...geographically, i know where they are NOW, but what they were called then...? might need help here. i think they were called Medes, and included the states of Zikirtu, Andia and Parsua...

where did you learn of warefare in ancient India? i am interested in this topic, but can't find reliable sources. plz help me here. any books you recommend?

[matteus the inbred]

unfortunately this is a very obscure source...the army lists for the tabletop wargames series De Bellis Multitudinis, by the Wargames Research Group, and as such is not widely available. They do not state most of their sources, but the primary sources quoted (Vedas and Mahabharata) are available in translation, and i would always have a look at the Osprey series of titles (there's an Osprey thread in the Monastery). I would also have a look on Amazon and the website mentioned by English Assassin on another Monastery thread (possibly called 'excellent website') which specialises in military history.

EDIT: the thread is called 'good book site' and is on the same page as this thread about 2/3 of the way down.