Hindu History
Hindu History

@HindutvaItihas

14 Tweets 38 reads Mar 09, 2021
1.
A #thread on Military organisation of Maurya Empire
Maurya Empire was the largest empire ever established on Indian subcontinent. It was the most powerful empire of its time, founded by Chandragupta Maurya & his mentor Chanakya.
#MilitaryHistory #Hindutva
2.
It was very large empire, so was its military.
Mauryan army was not just large in size, but its military strategies were pretty brilliant in its time, which helped Chandragupta Maurya conquer such vast expanse of territories.
3.
Chandragupta Maurya’s army:-
6,00,000 Infantry
30,000 Cavalry
~8,000 War Chariots
9,000 War Elephants
The total number of soldiers of Chandragupta Maurya’s army counts somewhere near 6,90,000!
4.
Chandragupta Maurya’s army was formed on basis on Mahābhārata as mentioned in Arthaśāstra of Chāṇakya.
The description of an ideal Hindu army is mentioned in Arthaśāstra, army must have ā€œChaturaṃgabalā€, meaning 'Four-fold Force'
(Pic 1 - Megasthenes' a/c of Maurya army)
5.
Chaturaṃgabal included - infantry, cavalry, war chariots & war elephants. Every wing of army had its specific task duty in battle field, & their role was assigned as per battle strategy.
6.
Most of the times, each wing of military was assigned task as per terrain of the battleground.
In rocky terrain, most of the time, elephant force was used in higher number to overpower enemy battle formations.
#MilitaryStrategy
7.
Elephant force had very unique & important role in the Mauryan Army.
Role of elephant force was to destroy and break into front-line of enemy armies, so that infantry and cavalry can follow up to destroy enemy military formations.
8.
Recruitment process in Mauryan army was pretty unique. Chāṇakya allowed all 4 varnas (Brahmin, Kį¹£atriya, Vaiśya & Śudra) to join military service.
9.
Individuals from all over Mauryan territories were allowed to join military without any discrimination on racial basis. Soldiers from Kį¹£atriya warrior clans, as well as, those from tribal areas were allowed to serve in Mauryan military.
10.
Chandragupta Maurya usually encouraged his soldiers in battle fields with inspiring speeches as per instruction of Chāṇakya.
Brahmin priests usually encouraged the army by equating the fruits of Vedic sacrifices to those of the brave army.
11.
As a testimony to the Maurya military dominance, Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus I Nicator.
Seleucus married his daughter to Chandragupta Maurya, after which Mauryan & Seleucid empires established diplomatic relations.
12.
Driven by Chāṇakya's efficient military doctrine, Chandragupta Maurya & the later Maurya emperors conquered most of the present-day Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan, and parts of Iran.
#HindutvaHistory #MauryaEmpire #AkhandBharat
13.
Spl thanks to @the_warhead for help in the making of this thread.

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