The Lonely Giants Of Afghanistan: A Tale Of Elephants And War

While elephants are not indigenous to Afghanistan, they have had a significant presence and impact on the country. The first elephants seem to have arrived in 305 BC when an Indian ruler sent 500 war elephants to the Hellenistic empire, which then stretched across western Asia, in exchange for control of most of what is today modern Afghanistan.

Elephants became a symbol of power and were used as war machines at later Afghan courts. The last elephant on Afghan soil, Hathi, was killed in 1993 during factional fighting.

Elephants are not indigenous to Afghanistan but have had a significant presence and impact on the country

The last elephant on Afghan soil, Hathi, was killed in 1993 in factional fighting. Hathi lived in Kabul Zoo, where she had been gifted by the President of India in 1973.

Elephants were used as beasts of burden in Afghanistan, and were also used in public executions, where victims were trampled to death. They were also used for hunting, and in duck-shooting excursions.

The presence of elephants in Afghanistan can be seen as a symbol of the country's frontier status in relation to India. They also serve as a potent symbol of the contradictions within modern Afghan nationalism, which has largely elided historic connections to India.

The United States has also been responsible for the introduction of elephants to Afghanistan, in the form of wildly overpriced, shoddily constructed, and completely unnecessary military infrastructure.

The first elephants in Afghanistan arrived in 305 BC when an Indian ruler sent 500 war elephants to the Hellenistic empire

The exchange of elephants for land was not the only notable aspect of the treaty. The Indian ruler also sent servants, goods, grain, and mahouts (elephant handlers) to the Hellenistic empire. The treaty also allowed for diplomatic relations to be formed between the Maurya dynasty and the ancient Greek empire.

The 500 war elephants sent to the Hellenistic empire would become war machines and symbols of power at later Afghan courts.

Elephants became war machines and symbols of power at later Afghan courts

Elephants were first introduced to Afghanistan in 305 BC when an Indian ruler sent 500 war elephants to the Hellenistic empire, which then stretched across western Asia, in exchange for control of most of what is today modern Afghanistan.

The Islamic dynasties that ruled from what is now modern Afghanistan, the Ghaznavids and Ghorids, accumulated well over one thousand elephants during their campaigns in North India, many of which were kept in the pil khana (elephant stables) in Kabul and Ghazna. In the context of his fourteen invasions of Hindustan, Mahmud Ghaznavi made treaties with Indian rulers that involved hundreds of elephants being gifted on single occasions and as annual tribute.

The Delhi Sultanate (c. 1206-1398) political system incorporated multiple groups commonly understood to be Afghan, perhaps most prominent among whom were the Khilji (c. 1290-1320) dynastic rulers. Simon Digby famously argued that the Delhi Sultanate was organised around control (and denial of enemy control) of elephant and horse supply lines to the east and west of Delhi, respectively. Elephant supplies for the Delhi Sultans dwindled to 120 by 1398, after being able to muster about 1,000 elephants for battle sixty years earlier.

The Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) had 32,000 elephants in his stables. Jahangir, (reigned 1605-1627) was a great connoisseur of elephants. He increased the number of elephants in service to 12,000 in active army service, 1,000 to supply fodder to these animals, and another 100,000 elephants to carry courtiers, officials, attendants and baggage.

The last elephant on Afghan soil, Hathi, was killed in 1993 in factional fighting.

The last elephant in Afghanistan, Hathi, was killed in 1993 in factional fighting

Hathi was a female elephant, born in the wild in 1968 and gifted to the people of Afghanistan by the Indian president V.V. Giri in 1972. She arrived at the Kabul Zoo in 1973, aged five.

Hathi was killed in 1993, during the civil war in Afghanistan. A rocket-propelled grenade struck her enclosure, and she charged around in unimaginable distress for ten days before succumbing to her wounds. She was 23 or 25 years old.

The presence of elephants in Afghanistan can be used to examine the frontier status of Afghanistan in relation to India over history

Afghanistan has been known for its diverse wildlife, with many of the larger mammals in the country being categorised as globally threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. However, elephants are not indigenous to Afghanistan. The first elephants seem to have arrived in 305 BC when an Indian ruler sent 500 war elephants to the Hellenistic empire, which then stretched across western Asia, in exchange for control of most of what is now modern Afghanistan. Elephants would later become war machines and symbols of power at later Afghan courts.

The Treaty of the Indus in 305 BC sent 500 Mauryan war elephants to the Seleucid empire in exchange for control of Gandhara, Parapamisadae, eastern Gedrosia, Arachosia, Aria and much of what is now modern Afghanistan. This established the geographic territory of Afghanistan as an interstitial borderland zone of imperial competition between Indian and Iranian civilisational spheres of influence.

The Islamic dynasties that ruled from what is now modern Afghanistan, the Ghaznavids and Ghorids, accumulated well over one thousand elephants during their campaigns in North India, many of which were kept in the pil khana or elephant stables in Kabul and Ghazna. In the context of his fourteen invasions of Hindustan, Mahmud Ghaznavi made treaties with Indian rulers that involved hundreds of elephants being gifted on single occasions and repeatedly as annual tribute.

The Delhi Sultanate political system incorporated multiple groups commonly understood to be Afghans. Elephants were used for royal transport or diplomatic communication, and were also used to carry large volumes of industrially produced artillery.

The last elephant on Afghan soil, Hathi, was killed in 1993 in factional fighting. Hathi was a female elephant from India, gifted to the Kabul Zoo by the Indian President V.V. Giri in 1973.

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