Elephants

**edyzmedieval** · 09-10-2005, 08:49

Thanks for all the info.

Guess we'll have to do without them.

**Marquis of Roland** · 09-12-2005, 08:29

Seleucid Empire got a couple hundred elephants as some sort of peace offering from some Indian country that won back Bactria, I think. Either Seleucus or Antiochus brought them to the middle east and bred them.

I don't think there were elephants in Syria before then? (cause I figured that would have rendered the Seleucids requesting elephants from the Indians rather pointless)

**Watchman** · 09-13-2005, 16:55

AFAIK horse archers kind of suck against elephants. All cavalry tends to, unless specifically trained not to fear the huge animals (and even then it's rather questionable if infantry wouldn't do better...). The Mongols found it most expedient to tie up their horses and dismount their archers when facing the big things, for example.

The Middle East used to have lions even during the Medieval period - after all, it was the only animal the Templars considered fitting to hunt - but far as I can tell it's not exactly "elephant country". Both savannas and suitable forests seem to have been missing for quite a while, after all. Presumably if you wanted to find war elephants in 8th to 10th century Islamic armies it might be theoretically possible to have them those of the Egyptian and North African lords, as they would have a reasonably easy time aquiring them from sub-Saharan Africa - but even then that'd be stretching it; by that period most folks seem to have wisened up enough to recognize the animals' general shortcomings as war mounts.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the sub-Saharan Africans ever bothered even trying to use the 'fants as weapons the way the Indians, SE Asians, Middle Easterners and Mediterranean folks did ?

**Patriarch of Constantinople** · 05-25-2006, 03:25

War elephants were used in Asia and India though Europe hadnt had alot of encounters after the Sassanid Persian Empire was destroyed. Charlemagne had a white elephant as a gift he led in his campaign against the Danes. One medieval Pope had one he used to capture Jerusalem (or a city near it). Other than that the War Elephant wasnt a formidable weapon. Then when gunpowder was invented an elephant could be knocked aside by a cannon shot.

**edyzmedieval** · 05-26-2006, 11:21

What about Cannon Elephants? Any historical evidence?

**Alexanderofmacedon** · 05-26-2006, 22:43

I think the Mughal empire used them in India. Maybe it wasn't the Mughals.

**Patriarch of Constantinople** · 05-27-2006, 00:05

Originally Posted by edyzmedieval

What about Cannon Elephants? Any historical evidence?

Nope.

**Aenlic** · 05-27-2006, 03:51

The Mughals took wholeheartedly to the use of war elephants in their conquest of India. They also invented things like special blades with cuffs designed to fit over the stumps of the tusks, which they trimmed down for the purpose. Then the elephants were trained to swing their heads at horse and rider or troops on the ground, slicing them to bits with the two foot long curved blades on the ends of their tusks. Very effective.

**econ21** · 05-31-2006, 01:47

Originally Posted by Watchman

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the sub-Saharan Africans ever bothered even trying to use the 'fants as weapons the way the Indians, SE Asians, Middle Easterners and Mediterranean folks did ?

I've not heard of the modern day African elephant being used by man even in a domestic capacity (outside of circuses etc) or even being ridden. Not sure why - presumably temperament - they seem smart enough; I went to a zoo and the keeper pointed out the African elephant was the only one in their collection that had learnt how to peel an orange.