ANCIENT INDIAN CAVALRY

Cavalry played a relatively large role in the armies of the Indian subcontinent. It can be assumed that it appeared in this area perhaps in the 8th-7th centuries BC. (maybe a bit earlier), and already in the 6th century BC it was a very important element of each Indian army. In the 6th-5th centuries BC, the armies of the subcontinent began to be divided into four types of "armed forces" ( chaturanga ): infantry, cavalry, fighting elephants and chariots. Cavalry was perceived as a formation intended to carry out many tasks: on the one hand, probably to conduct reconnaissance and reconnaissance, on the other hand, as a formation intended to harass the enemy at the beginning of the battle, but also to carry out classic cavalry charges. It should be remembered, however, that it was perceived in the subcontinent as a lighter formation and with a lower impact force than war elephants. It is also worth adding that it was not used in coordinated attacks with war elephants. It was certainly used, for example, by Porros in the course of his battles with the troops of Alexander the Great and during the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC. It is assumed that at that time (the second half of the 3rd century BC) it was a less heavily armed formation and perhaps a bit less trained than the Macedonian hetairs.