The Story of Asia’s Elephants

The relationship between elephants and people in Asia over thousands of years is a unique one. This story of the Asian elephant begins with a brief account of the ancient origins of the creature and its possible relationship with early humans, leading eventually to the taming of the animal between 4,500 and 5,000 years ago in the Harappan period. Subsequent chapters cover successive periods in Asian history, tracing the story of the elephant broadly under the major religious establishments – Vedic, Buddhist and Jain, post-1st century Hindu, and Islamic – of the Indian subcontinent and beyond, including the fate of the elephants that Alexander and his successors took with them to the Mediterranean region for use in battle. After a discussion of the fortunes of the elephant under colonial rulers in Asia, the author presents the post-independence history of the animal in 13 range countries.

This book is not an art history, but rather an ecological and cultural history of the Asian elephant. This is the first single volume to comprehensively cover the history of Asia’s elephants, profusely illustrated with images of the elephant in art through the ages, most of them taken by the author, and drawing upon a wide range of literary sources from ancient to contemporary times.

Contents: 1. The Asian Elephant in Prehistory and Proto-History; 2. Elephants in Vedic and Epic Literature; 3. Elephant Armies and the Rise of Empire; 4. The Elephant Goes West; 5. The Elephant in the Buddhist and Jain World; 6. The Elephant in Hindu Culture; 7. Elephants in the Islamic Period; 8. The Elephant in Colonial Asia; 9. The Elephant in Independent Asia; 10. Ecology and Conservation of Asia’s Elephants