Direct open frontal attack preferred over ambush and deceit by Kshatriyas
Direct open frontal attack preferred over ambush and deceit by Kshatriyas
In a rewrite of the epic Ramayana, Rama was so righteous that even though he knew that Ravana’s weak spot was his navel, he continued to shoot arrows at Ravana’s head, in keeping with Kshatriya dharma. Enraged, Hanuman asked his father, the wind god, to send a fierce wind to push Rama’s arrows and strike Ravana’s navel. This display of nobility seems appropriate to a man called Maryada Purushottam, the supreme holder of rules. So it seems strange that the same Rama would hide behind a tree and shoot an arrow to kill Bali who was busy fighting with his brother Sugriva. This is a question that haunts many Indians even today. And all the explanations feel like apologies.
This value placed on a direct open frontal attack rather than ambush and deceit is central to the Kshatriya pride inherited by the Rajputs. Few in the Rajput world were to take the recommendations of Chanakya’s stealth, strategy, ambush and cunning. In Rajput barbaric poetry, the one who resorts to deceit is always a villain, an attacker, a weak and lazy king, never a hero. The hero always values a fair fight. In Rajput poetry, he openly challenges fellow Rajputs as he claims his bride and thus proves his worth as groom and son-in-law. He never attacks at night and always waits for the enemy to finish his meal. More importance is given to the hero who chooses death over humiliation.
Rajput ballads praise heroes who remain fair, righteous and brave in the face of deceit and trickery, even if they are defeated and killed in battle, even if they lose kingdoms. Nobility and bravery are given more importance than victory. Heroines are glamorized to kill themselves to discourage men from being cowards. The heroes continue to fight even after their heads are beheaded, a form also found in later Sikh and Muslim Ghazi warrior literature.
Rule breaker Krishna
It is most ironic that the Rajput lands have a temple of Krishna, identified in Dwarka as Ran-chor-Rai, the leader who renounced the battlefield. When Jarasandha attacked the city, Krishna fled from Mathura, almost a word of derision. Krishna took refuge in the west, beyond the desert, on an island from where, with the help of the Pandavas, he deceitfully planned Jarasandha’s death.
Illustration of a Parthian shot of a mounted archer.
Krishna is Leela Purushottam, who skillfully plays the game and is known to break the rules of war. In the Mahabharata, he sees Arjuna striking unarmed enemies; He tells Bhima to strike Duryodhana below the navel, and he spreads propaganda to make Drona lose his will to fight. Krishna’s charm and sophistication overshadowed his rule-breaking spree. Some argue that Krishna’s behavior corresponds to his being a member of the ‘Chandra’ lineage and therefore lacks the religious luster of Rama and the ‘Saur’ lineage of the Rajputs. In any case, the common Indian is so influenced by Rajput ideals that he disagrees with the popular sentiment that ‘all is fair in war’, even if the war is for religion.
Indian epics and ballads come closest to a strategy when the Vedic gods, known as devas, find a loophole in their fight against the asuras. Vamana, the dwarf, tricks the demon king Bali into giving three steps of land, and then turns into a giant.
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Mohini distracts the Asuras while the Devas consume the nectar of immortality. Thus deceitfully, the asuras keep on asking Brahma for a boon that enables him to cheat death, but the gods always find a loophole. Namuchi asks that he should not be hit by any solid or liquid. Indra killed Namuchi using the foam, which is neither solid nor liquid. We could argue that it’s about outwitting the opponent, not stabbing him in the back, as Rama literally does in killing Bali.
This brings us to the Parthian shot, an archery move that played a key role in the Islamo-Turkish conquest of India. Although attributed to the Parthians who lived in Central Asia, it was a move among the equestrian archers of the Eurasian steppes, even among the Huns, Sasanians, Scythians, Central Asian Turks and Mongols. The rider runs towards the enemy and then suddenly backs away, creating the illusion of retreat. Then while walking away, twist his body, raise your bow and shoot an arrow at the pursuing enemy that will knock his guard down. Archers did this repeatedly, including the Romans in antiquity, and confused enemies, including Byzantine armies, during the medieval Crusades. The Indians, more comfortable with the aggressive frontal attacks of war elephants, never found a way to counter the agile moves of the Parthian cavalry archers.
all in the game
The Parthian shot played a key role in Prithviraj Chauhan’s defeat at the Second Battle of Tarain. Perhaps, to compensate for this loss of the Parthian shot, the Prithviraj Raso was composed by the king’s court poet, Chand Bardai, describing how the Rajput leader, though blind, was finally able to identify the target. Using just sound, Muhammad Ghori shot (word- sheep), a skill valuable in Indian archery lore since ancient times.
This painting from India at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art depicts a battle scene.
The Parthian shot probably also inspired the horse’s two-way move in chess, forward and then sideways. According to legend, the 64 square chess board was invented in India, and traveled to Persia and Europe, where the form and moves of the game were further elaborated. As the game progressed, the minister (mantri) became the queen, the elephant (gaja) became the bishop, the chariot (rath) became the siege tower or palace, and the horse (horse) became the knight.
Was the Horse-Knight trick invented outside India?
Indians have known horses from the time when the Aryans brought the animal to India, around the same time that horse-drawn chariots reached Greece, Egypt, Anatolia, Mesopotamia and China. There are mentions of kings like Ashwasena and Asvapati in Indian epics. Horses have come to India along with Greeks, Scythians, Parthians, Huns, Kushans and later Turks and Afghans. Across India, terracotta and stuffed horses are given as prasad to folk heroes such as Dharma-Thakur of Bengal, Momaji and Ramdevji of Rajasthan, Ayyanar of Tamil Nadu.
For example, some of the earliest depictions of saddles in the stupas of Sanchi come from India. So India was clearly aware of everything related to horses. But the Indian warriors seem to have had no knowledge of the Parthian shot, which became popular in the armies of Persia and Central Asia. Perhaps it was even actively abandoned. And this may be linked to the idea of ’retreat’ inherent in this move of the cavalry, which seemed against the spirit of Kshatriya and Rajput religion.
While Hindu temples and lore are full of images of chariots and horsemen drawn by horses, we do not find any image or mention of a Parthian shot anywhere. A rare exception is the Srisailam temple of the Vijayanagara period (16th century) with images of Parthian shots. By this time, the South Indian kings were sufficiently exposed to the Turkish war.
Perhaps the Vijayanagara kings employed Turkish cavalry or trained non-Rajput warrior clans to adopt this practice. It is not clear. But soon gunpowder will arrive and completely replace archery on the battlefield.
The author is the author of 50 books on mythology, art and culture.