Kamboja cavalry

The Kambojas had been famous throughout all periods of history for their excellent breed of horses as well as as famous horsemen or cavalry . They repeatedly appear in the characteristic Iranian roles of splendid horsemen and breeders of notable horses . The epic, the Puranic and numerous other ancient literature profusely attest the Kambojas among the finest horsemen .

The profession of breeding, domesticating, training and utilizing the horses in warfare had originated in the vast Steppes of Central Asia. The Iranian Kambojas located in Transoxiana had introduced this art as a skillful and specialized profession in north-west, probably in the early Vedic age itself. The entire Sanskrit/Pali literature sings tonnes of paeans and glories of the world class Kamboja horses.

Nadistuti of the Rigveda makes first reference to Sindhu river as svashva (famous for its fine horses) and vaajinivati (rich in race-horses) but without identifying any particular country. The post Vedic Sanskrit literature, however, has numerous references to horses from North-west regions of the Kamboja, Sindhu, Sauvira, Gandhara, Bahlika (Bactria) etc. The Puranas, the Epics, ancient Sanskrit plays, the Buddhist Jatakas, the Jaina Canon, and numerous other ancient sources, all agree that the horses of the Kambojas were a foremost breed.

According to principles of linguistics, a plant, animal or a product native to a certain geographical location gets named after that location. Thus the ancient lexicons attest that the horses born or raised in Kamboja were also known as Kamboja, Kambojika or Kamboji .

From the post-Vedic era onwards, the horses of the Kambojas had undoubtedly dominated the scene of history of Indian sub-continent .

Ancient Sanskrit and Pali literature is overflowing with excellent references and compliments to the famed Kamboja steeds.

Buddhist literature

Buddhist texts like Manorathapurni, Kunala Jataka and Samangalavilasini etc speak of Kamboja land as the land of horses:

Kambojo assa.nam ayata.nam.... .

Aruppa-Niddesa of Visuddhimagga by Buddhaghosa also describes the Kamboja land as the base of horses.

In the Mahavastu, the superb horses of Kamboja (Kambojaka Asvanara) are referred to and glorified .

Champeya Jataka, Kunala Jataka , Vinaya Pitaka etc also make highly laudatory references to the Kamboja horses.

Besides Kamboja horses, the Champeya Jataka also makes mention of well-trained mules from Kamboja.

Kunala Jataka also furnishes detailed procedures followed by the Kambojas to catch the wild horses for training them as war horses .

Jaina texts

Jaina Canon Uttaradhyana-Sutra informs us that a trained Kamboja horse exceeded all other horses in speed and no noise could ever frighten it .

Sanskrit texts

The epics, Puranas and numerous other ancient Sanskrit texts all agree that the horses of the Kamboja, Bahlika and Sindhu regions were the finest breed.

Valmiki Ramayana

The Valmiki Ramayana refers to the horses from the Kamboja, Bahlika, Vanayu lands and addresses them as of best quality. It puts the horses from the Kamboja at the head of list of best breed and styles them as equal to Ucchaisrava, the steed of god Indra, the Lord of Heavens.

Rama Chandra, the Prince of Ayodhya, was the proud possessor of the magnificent, powerful and sleek stallions of Kamboja breed .

King of Kekaya is said to have made a gift of ten thousand Kamboja horses

Mahabharata

Sauptikaparva of Mahabharata ranks the horses from Kamboja as of the finest breed. "Most famous horses are said to come either from Sindhu or Kamboja; of the latter (i.e the Kamboja), the Indian pseudo-epic Mahabharata speaks among the finest horsemen" .

Bhishamaparva of Mahabharata refers to the quality war horses from various lands and puts the steeds from the Kamboja at the head of the list specifically styling them as the leaders (Mukhyanam) among the best breed of horses.

Besides numerous references to excellent breed of Kamboja horses, Mahabharata also numerously refers to the horses of the Parama-Kambojas and notes them also as of excellent (shreshtha) quality.

In the great battle fought on the field of Kurukshetra, the fast and powerful horses of Kamboja were of the greatest service .

The best steeds are stated to come from Kamboja, Aratta, Mahi, Sindhu and Vanayu countries, but those from the Kamboja headed the list .

Mahabharata styles the horses from Kamboja as very beautiful to look at (darshaniya), decked with feathers of suka bird, and of the colour of the parrots. They are stated to run at sleek speeds with their tails, eyes and ears all remaining motionless .

Apart of above, there are further references attesting the excellent breed of Kamboja horses in Mahbharata .

Kautiliya Arthashastra

Kautiliya Arthashastra divides the horses from various countries into three classes (i) best, (ii) good and (iii) ordinary breed. Kautiliya includes the horses from Kambhoja (i.e Kamboja) in the best class, and further, ranks them as the superiormost of all by placing them at the head of the list of the best class .

e.g: "The (horse) breed of Kambhoja, Sindhu, Aratta, and Vanayu countries are the best; those of Bahlíka (Bactria), Papeya, Sauvira, and Taitala, are of middle quality; and the rest are ordinary (avarah)"

Karnabhara of Bhaasa

In his play named Karnabhaara, ancient Sanskrit poet Bhāsa (3rd c AD) makes god Indra speak very high of the Kamboja horses. God Indra compares the celebrated horses from respected Kamboja as matching that of god Surya. They are said to bring fortunes, are worthy of all compliments, are a proud possession of all kings, are full of all virtues, and are capable of running with the speed of wind and displaying best behavior in the war .

Raghuvamsha of Kalidasa

Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa also makes references to the Kamboja horses and also styles them as of best quality (sadashva) .

Asvashastra of Nakula

Laksanaprakasa quotes numerously on horses from several important old authorities some of which are probably lost to us. Among them are the Asvayurveda and Asvasastra..... the former attributed to Jayadeva and the latter to Nakula.

Asvashastra of Nakula divides the horses of this earth into four classes: (i) uttama (best), (ii) madhyama (good), (iii) kanyama (average) and (iv) neechatineecha (inferior).

In the uttama or best category, Nakula lists the horses from Tajik (Kamboja), Khorasan and Tushara countries. Further in this list of the best class, the horses from Tajik are put at the head of the list.

Manasollasa of Someshvara

According to Manasollasa of the Chalukyan king Someshvara III of the early twelfth century, there are sixty five types of horses out of which thirty nine varieties are well known while twenty six types are rather unknown. In the thirty nine well-known types described by him, the Kamboja horses occupy the celebrate position .

Vishnu Vardhana, the real founder of Hoysala greatness, who later on became ruler of Mysore had the Kamboja horses and he had made the earth tremble under the tramp of his powerful Kamboja horses .

Shakti Sangham Tantra evidence

Shatt.panchashad.desha.vibhaga of Shakti Sangama Tantra also testifies that the Kamboja was not only famous for its fine horses but also for its excellent horsemen .

Other Sanskrit literature

Vishnu Purana refers to excellent breed of thousands of full-blooded horses from the Kamboja in the stables of king Naraka of Pragjyotish .

Upamiti Bhava Prapancha Katha singles out horses from Kamboja, Bahlika (Balkh) and Turuksha (Tushara) as the best class .

The Abhidhamma Ratanamala mentions examples of excellent horses from Kamboja, Persia, Vanayu, Bahlika, Sindhu and the lands bordering on Sindhu .

Samaraiccakaha written Hribhadra Suri, one of the non- canonical Jain author known for his authoritative works in Sanskrit and who is believed to have lived in fifth/sixth (or eighth ?) c. AD, refers to the cavalry horses from Vahlika, Kamboja, Turuska and Vajjira..

Ancient inscriptions

Nalanda Grants of king Deva Pala of Bengal also refers to Kamboja horses as well as the Kamboja mares. It is notable that the Pala kings of Bengal had obtained their horses as well as cavalry from the Kamboja of north-west (Dr R. C. Majumdar). The Khasas, Hunas, Yavanas ets are also mentioned as being routinely recruited in the armed forces of the Pala kings.

Verse twelve of the third Asama-patra (1185 AD) of king Valabhadeva proudly refers to him as the possessor/rider of the Kamboja horses and elephants .

Miscellaneous

Besides several references cited above, other ancient texts like Brahmanda Purana , Vamsa-Bhaskara, Madhyapithika, Kalidasa's Mandakranta, Kalhana's Rajatrangini , Harasha-crita of Bana Bhatta , Karnatakadambari of Nagavarman and other numerous ancient texts make very laudatory references to the Kamboja horses.

All these references sufficiently prove that the steeds from Kamboja were considered very powerful, magnificent and fastest runners. No doubt, both the Kamboja horses as well as the expert Kamboja cavalry were very much sought after by other nations in ancient times.

It is therefore absolutely no exaggeration if the great epic Mahabharata styles the Kambojas as the horselords and the masters of horsemanship i.e expert cavalrymen (Ashva-yudha-kushalah) . Vishnudharmotra Purana too, attests that the Kambojas and Gandharas were proficient in horse warfare i.e. Ashva-Yuddha-kushalah .

Noted scholars like Dr K. P. Jayswal observe: Since the Kambojas were famous for their horses (ashva) and as cavalry-men (Ashva-yudhah kushalah), hence the Ashvakas i.e. horsemen was the term popularly applied to them .

See Main Article: Ashvakas

Kamboja elephants

The term Kamboja, according to ancient lexicons, also means elephant .

This shows that, besides horses, the ancient Kambojas also raised elephants

Arrian attests that besides 20000 cavalry and 30000 infantry, the Assakenians had employed 30 war elephants against Alexander in the battle of Massaga .

Chieftain Afrikes, the real brother of chieftain Assakenos (=Ashvaka chief) is also said to have possessed a fleet of 15 war elephants which he used against Alexander. The name Afrikes is stated to allude to Afridis (Apryte) .

It is pointed out here that 'Assakenian' was a popular term used for a section of the Kambojas who were specialised in horse-culture and cavalry services. This again affirms that the elephants were domesticated and employed in the war by ancient Kambojas.

Mahabharata refers to wonderful army of war elephants fielded by Sudakshina at Kurukshetra .

e.g: "Sudakshina, O king, who had a wonderful army of thousands of elephants (i.e numerous elephants) hath been slain in battle by Arjuna".

In the fierce fight that took place between the prince Prapaksha Kamboja (younger brother of Sudakshina) and Arjuna after Sudakshin Kamboj was martyred, Arjuna is said to have slaughtered numerous steeds and elephants of his antagonist's division .

There are references to Kamboja kings presenting thousands of elephants, besides blankets, cows, camels and horses etc as gifts to king Yudhishtra at the time of Rajasuya Yajna .

And finally as stated earlier, Asama-patra of king Valabhadeva also proudly refers to the elephants from Kamboja in his stable .

Thus, it is seen that besides horses and well trained ponies, the ancient Kambojas were also noted for their war elephants.

References

See also

• Kambojas
• Ashvaka Kambojas

References

• Mahabharata
• Valmiki Ramayana
• Kautiliya's Arthashastra
• Puranas
• Harsha-Chrita by Bana Bhata
• Buddhist Jatakas
• Uttradhyana Sutra
• Raghuvamsha by Kalidasa
• Some Kshatriya Tribes of Ancient India, 1924, Dr B. C. Law.
• The Harsa-Charita of Bana Bhatta (Trans: E. B. Cowell and F. W. Thomas. London, Royal Asiatic Society) 1897
• Ancient Kamboja, People & the Country, Dr J. L. Kamboj
  
• Political History of Ancient India, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr P. N. Banerjee
  
• History of Panjab, Dr L. M. Joshi, Dr Fauja Singh
  
• These Kamboj People, 1979, K. S. Dardi
  
• Persica, September, 1980
• Studies in Indian Cultural History, Vol I, Hoshiarpur, P.K. Gode
• Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, 1912
• The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, Kirpal Singh