Myth ?

[HeroSK]

Hi all..

I have questions about Sasanids military. I read that Sasanid war elephants had long two-edge sword tied to their tusks and animals trained to swing them when they meet enemy. The swords were razor sharp that can divide a man into two..

Second claim is that heavy cavalry were tied with chains in order to not to broke.

Do those stories have any evidence to prove or they just myths ? :hmmm:

Thanks in advance

[misplacedgeneral]

I've certainly never come across either one in my readings, at least not in Ammianus. I am about to begin Procopius, maybe it is there?

The first seems overly dangerous to both the animal and friendly forces, the second impractical.

[beatoangelico]

I don't know about elephants, but about "chained" soldiers I've read this

One oft-repeated and misleading phrase used by al-Tabari refers to "chained" Persian troops. The term silsilah is very likely a poetic device meant to imply soldiers organized into units. The same term is used to refer to both Persian and Byzantine cavalry, neither of which would have been physically tied together in groups! Conrad (1994) believes silsilah was first used to describe the enemy at Yarmuk, and only later became a topos applied with considerable poetic license, and no sense of accuracy, to battle descriptions.

from http://www.derafsh-kaviyani.com/english/sassanian.html

[HeroSK]

Thanks for site,beatoangelico.

I cant remember where did I get this info, but as far as I remeber it was an Islamic source. Elephants with swords and Chained-Cavalry seems incredible but of course there some points that are illogical.

For example, chained cavalry would be pretty unpractical since if one of horse falls of for any reason the chain will pull the others so entire unit quicly become immobile. I think there is a confusion about the word "silsilah". AFAIK, it has many meanings and while translation it can be corrupt.

For elephants though, I dont have any source..:hmmm:

[Dark_horse_spirit]

anything is possible. Especially if man and beast were best of friends. I would think that the master would want to give the elephant the best fighting chance as possible. The elephant being one of natures smartest creations would have known that it's job was to kill...thus the elephant would know exactly what a sword or sharp object was for, Hunting dogs know there job, hunting eagles also know there jobs...so why would not an elephant know it's job as well...my thoughts.

DHS

[HeroSK]

anything is possible. Especially if man and beast were best of friends. I would think that the master would want to give the elephant the best fighting chance as possible. The elephant being one of natures smartest creations would have known that it's job was to kill...thus the elephant would know exactly what a sword or sharp object was for, Hunting dogs know there job, hunting eagles also know there jobs...so why would not an elephant know it's job as well...my thoughts.

DHS

I agree, especially elephants are capable of somekind of learning and can be trained to do some tasks. For example, Indian Elephants have been using for lifting and placing large wooden block on trucks where the jungle does not allow for machines. Also, I read that elephants can throw objects with their tusks.

However, the question is that really happened in history ? :hmmm:

[Gäiten]

Hi all..

I have questions about Sasanids military. I read that Sasanid war elephants had long two-edge sword tied to their tusks and animals trained to swing them when they meet enemy. The swords were razor sharp that can divide a man into two..

Possible, but mostly the Sassanians used their war elephants as mobile high-level platforms for precision archery and as "vehicle" for commanding generals for better directing and controlling the battle.

Second claim is that heavy cavalry were tied with chains in order to not to broke.
Do those stories have any evidence to prove or they just myths ? :hmmm:

That is a myth.
Maybe originated from the fact that the Sassanian cavalry (especially their elite Savaran kníghts) managed to keep their ranks orderly and closed while attacking.