We do not have any historical chronicle for reconstructing the nature of warfare during the vedic and epic ages. Basically, we have to depend on the epics, which depict awesome battles and gruesome deaths. They are a mixture of ballads, legends and myths along with some elements of historical memory. Brockington says that Valmiki’s Ramayana is not a religious epic. 

In fact, the Ramayana projects the view that religion is to a great extent a social duty, in keeping with the Kshatriya background. The Ramayana focuses on truth, valour and Kshatriya virtues. Only later did Tulsidas’ Ramayana portray Rama as a religious hero. The sixth kanda of the Ramayana, named Yuddhakanda, describes in detail the combat between Rama’s forces and the raksas (literally meaning ‘demons’, but in the context of the Ramayana ‘non-Aryans’, probably Dravidians). 

The two epics borrowed from each other. A large proportion of the stereotyped phrases found in the Yuddhakanda of Ramayana are also found in the Mahabharata. To an extent, the information supplied by the two epics could be supplemented by archaeological findings.

As regards the actual conduct of war during the vedic and epic eras, we have two different interpretations. U. P. Thapliyal is of the view that even in Rig Vedic times, the troops were arrayed in vyuhas (prescribed formations) before being led into war, and that the troops were adept at maneuvers such as attack, encirclement and assault.
Thapliyal asserts that the Rig Veda mentions the troops being organized in formations of tens, hundreds and thousands. 

Thapliyal continues that on the opening day of the Mahabharata War, Yudhistira, the eldest brother of the Pandavas, favoured suci-vyuha, which was formed according to the military thinker Brihaspati’s doctrine. The suci-vyuha was an array suited to a numerically inferior army fighting a numerically superior enemy. In a somewhat similar vein, Bimal Kanti Majumdar says that a standing army emerged in India around 600 bce. 

Pradeep P. Barua writes that despite their stage-managed appearance, battles in ancient India were extremely bloody affairs. By contrast, a recent view put forward mostly by Western scholars asserts that ancient Indian warfare was comprised of ‘Flower Wars’. The reality probably lies somewhere between these two extreme viewpoints.

Heroic duels abound in the epics. For instance, Parasurama challenges Rama in the following words: ‘If I see that you have strength enough to put an arrow to this bow, then I shall challenge you to single combat, which is praised by men of might.’ Again, Rama kills Ravana, the chief of the raksas and the ruler of Lanka, in single combat. At the same time, the Ramayana speaks of the chaturanga bala (four-limbed army comprising infantry, cavalry, chariots and elephants): ‘He also gave them beautifully adorned and godlike troops, including elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers.’ 

The Mahabharata frequently mentions dvairatha (chariot duels among the heroes). The Rig Vedic age forces were comprised of pattis (foot soldiers) and rathins (chariot warriors). The chaturanga bala probably emerged during the later vedic age or during the epic age. 

The advent of the Aryans in India saw the use of iron in warfare, beginning around 1000–800 bce. The Aryans’ success against the non-Aryans in the Gangetic basin was primarily due to the use of bows, horse-drawn chariots and iron weapons. The use of iron weapons, asserts Richard A. Gabriel, increased the frequency, scope and intensity of warfare. This is because the tin required to fashion bronze was costly and not easily available. 

By contrast, large quantities of iron weapons could be produced cheaply, iron deposits being easily accessible. The Assyrian army during the eighth century bce was comprised of about 200,000 men. It was the first army in the world to be entirely equipped with iron weapons.

Until 1200 bce, Mycenaean war making was undertaken by lightarmed skirmishers and missile men who clustered around chariots carrying men armed with javelins and bows. Between 1200 bce and 750 bce, when the bronze age Mycenaean civilization collapsed – the period of the so-called Dark Age in Greece – warfare consisted of raids against neighbouring lands and coasts conducted by warrior bands under the leadership of local and regional leaders. 

In Archaic Greece (750–480 bce), warfare consisted of private and semi-private raids for cattle and booty. Some fighting also involved contests among the polis (city-states) for control of the fertile borderland. In Archaic Greek warfare, individual bravery mattered a lot; its role declined somewhat during the battles fought in the Hoplite warfare of the Classical Age. Everett L. 

Wheeler writes that Greek warfare of the Dark Age and Geometric periods was characterized by combat among small group of aristocrats who relied mainly on missile weapons and swords. In the Iliad, we find the heroes fighting by throwing spears at their opponents. 

The Aryans engaged in warfare in order to acquire captives, land and pasture for their cattle. The accumulation of cattle was known as govisthi. Most of the Aryans desired more cows. The Panis were a wealthy non-Aryan tribe who frequently raided the Aryan settlements and carried away their cattle. Among the Aryans, the winner of the cows is known as the gojit, which is an epithet for hero. 

The Aryans also engaged in inter-tribal warfare. The Dasarajna (Battle of Ten Kings) was an engagement fought on the bank of the river Parusni (Ravi). Sudasa, the leader of the Bharata tribe, inflicted a defeat on a confederacy of ten kings. Many of the latter kings came from the north-west region of the subcontinent. Sudasa emerged victorious, and the Bharata tribe became predominant among the Aryans in India. 

As regards close-quarter weapons, the Ramayana says of Parasurama: ‘With his battle-axe slung over one shoulder’. Combat in the Battle of Ten Kings (500 bce?) involved encounters between chariots and foot soldiers equipped with axes, with both parties also trying to alter the course of the river by constructing earthen embankments and cutting channels. 

Combat in vedic and epic India was not merely a clash between indisciplined masses that milled around the heroes in rathas. Training of the warriors was carried out in the asramas under the direction of the rishis (warrior sages). The Shiva Dhanurveda (the science of archery) was composed around 600 bce. Both Rama (the Aryan hero of Ramayana) and Arjuna (the star warrior of the Pandavas in Mahabharata) wreaked havoc among their enemies with the aid of archery. The mace was the direct descendant of the club. The defenders of Catal Huyuk around 6000 bce used it. Gadas (maces) are mentioned in the Mahabharata.

The hymns of the Bhagavad Gita vividly describe the battlefield of Kurukshetra in all its glory and grandeur just before combat started. The hymns of Rig Veda describe the heroic warrior armed with bow and arrow going to the battlefield on his ratha (chariot). The bow was made from bamboo, cane or wood. It was composed of a stout staff bent into a curved shape and a bowstring made of a strip of cowhide. 

During the vedic period, the bowstring was drawn back to the ear, whereas in Homeric Greece the bowstring was drawn to the breast before discharging the arrow. Pachugopal Bhattacharya claims that the Ramayana informs us that Rama used narach (iron arrows) against Ravana, the raksa (non-Aryan, probably Dravidian) ruler of Lanka.

In China, during the Western Zhou period (1045–770 BCE), the warrior elites primarily used bows and arrows. The Assyrians were using composite bows around 2200 bce. The composite bow generated greater power from a shorter draw. Arrows shot from the composite bow were able to penetrate leather armour. The composite bow spread to Palestine around 1800 bce and then into Egypt around 1700 bce. 

The Egyptian bow had a central wooden core with thin strips of horn and leather laminated onto it. Gabriel asserts that the killing power of the composite bow was further enhanced by the Egyptian innovation of placing the archer in a chariot. 

In the eighteenth century bce, the Mesopotamian states introduced horse-drawn chariots. The Egyptian chariot was constructed of a light wooden frame covered by stretched fabric or hide. The platform that supported the driver and the warrior was made of stretched leather thongs covered with hide. Two horses, held by a central yoke pole, pulled the vehicle. In addition to bows, the warriors also carried axes, spears and quivers filled with arrows. 

The Egyptian chariot was mainly a mobile firing platform. By contrast, the Hittite chariot was heavier as it was usedas a shock weapon; it was designed to shatter enemy formations using the sheer weight of the vehicle. The warrior in Hittite chariot was armed with a six-foot-long stabbing spear. The crew also dismounted and functioned as infantry and engaged in close-quarter combat.

Around 500 bce, chariots entered China from Mesopotamia through Central Asia. However, Edward L. Shaugnessy asserts that chariots had already entered China from trans-Caucasia around 1200 bce. The horses were fastened to the yoke saddle by leather straps that ran across the neck of the horse and also to its mouth. The harness was joined at the mouth with a bit and cheek pieces, usually made of iron or bone or horn. 

By the second half of the ninth century bce, China witnessed mass chariot battles, which also occurred in the Middle and Near East. Chariots were also used in Homeric battles. 

The Rig Vedic ratha was a two-wheeled vehicle. The body of the ratha was light and consisted of a wooden framework fixed on an axle tree and fastened by cowhide thongs. The pole of the chariot was attached to the middle of the axle, and at the end of the pole was the yoke. The yoke was placed at the neck of the horses. The reins were fastened to the bit in the horse’s mouth. 

By the fourth century bce, the Aryans on the subcontinent used the bit, but not the curb bit as the suta (chariot driver) directed the horse using a spike outside (i.e., behind the jaw). The suta controlled the horses with the reins and spurred them on with a whip. Initially, solid wheels were used, but gradually wheels with spokes replaced them. The vedic war chariot carried a rathin (warrior) and a suta. Some of the epic war chariots were big, as each of them was pulled by four horses. A flagstaff was attached to the ratha where the standard of the hero warrior was tied. 

Unlike the Rig Veda, the Mahabharata describes the use of elephants in warfare. The Yajur Veda (composed between 900 and 800 bce) describes the taming of elephants. Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia The epic’s warriors would shoot arrows at their enemies from the backs of the elephants. The Mahabharata tells us that the inhabitants of Magadha were famous for fighting from the backs of elephants, while the Yavanas (unclean foreigners, i.e., Central Asian steppe nomads) and Kambojas (i.e., people from Afghanistan) were good cavalry soldiers. And the south Indians were good as swordsmen. 

The vedic and epic age forces were not all-weather forces. In the Ramayana, autumn and winter are considered the best seasons for campaigning. Peter Krentz says that battles conducted by the farmers in Archaic Greece occurred during summer only. The pay of the soldiers was comprised of booty collected from the defeated enemy. We are not sure about the nature of the armour used by the vedic and epic warriors. 

Ramashankar Tripathi claims that the vedic and epic warriors used coats of mail and metal helmets. By way of comparison, it might be mentioned that the Celts introduced iron chain mail armour around the third century bce. The Ramayana mentions that Rama’s father, Dasaratha, settled artisans in his kingdom for the purpose of manufacturing weapons. And the Mahabharata refers to artisans being supplied with raw materials for manufacturing weapons by the rulers. 

Communication on the battlefield was an important aspect of warfare. The dundubhi was used during the vedic period. The Atharva Veda says that it was made of wood and covered with either cowhide or deer skin. The conch came into existence during the later vedic age. The hymns of the Bhagavad Gita note that conch shells and drums were used for signaling purposes on the battlefield.

The battering rams used for overcoming fortifications came into existence around 2500 bce. Spear blades were attached to long beams which allowed stones to be pried loose from a wall until it was breached. The Hittites used the technique of building an earthen ramp at a low spot on the wall and then rolling large covered battering rams into place. 

The Assyrians constructed large wooden siege towers, taller than the defensive walls, and used archers in the siege towers to provide covering fire for the crews of the battering rams working below. The Assyrians also used scaling ladders to insert assaulting parties across the wall. 

The Indus Valley civilization’s system of warfare was defensive in nature and relied mostly on fortifications. Defensive walls were ­present at various Indus Valley civilization sites (Kot-Diji, Kalibangan, etc.). Sundried bricks as well as bricks hardened by fire were used for building the citadel walls. In general, the walls were raised by laying the bricks either in mud or in both mud and gypsum mortar. 

The Dravidians (the Dasas and Dasyus of the vedic and epic literature) constructed forts consisting of ramparts of hardened earth with palisades and ditches. Some of the forts constructed by non-Aryans inside India were also made of stone and unbaked bricks. The raksas, the enemies of the Aryans (says the Ramayana) were familiar with urban culture. 

Canto 58 of Kiskindhakanda of the Ramayana says: ‘On a well known island in the sea, situated at a distance of full one hundred yojanas [eight hundred miles] from this shore, lies the lovely city of Lanka, constructed by Viswakarma [the architect of the gods], abounding in wonderful gates of Jambunada [gold found on the banks of the Jammu River] and stately mansions of golden hue with terraces of gold and enclosed by a massive fortification wall bright as the sun.’ 

In contrast to the conduct of land battles, the siege warfare of the Aryans was quite brutal. It involved setting fire to the walls of the enemy forts. The Rig Veda mentions pur charisnu, which means a mobile engine used for assaulting strongholds. It was probably a battering ram. 

As regards pre-Mauryan warfare in India, Barua claims: ‘These stagnant battle tactics differed dramatically from the lessons being learned outside India and could only develop in sheltered isolation from external influences.’ In fact, the somewhat choreographed nature of Indian land warfare was also due to the complex philosophy of warfare developed in the religious and quasi-religious texts, an issue that is the subject of the next section.

(Book: Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia by Kaushik Roy); Chapter 1—Nature of Warfare in the Vedic and Epic Ages