Classical Indians in DBM/DBMM/DBA

[Dangun]

I was just wondering what the sources were that earned the Classical Indian army list the relatively high number of elephant elements?

The sources for Battle of Hydaspes are quite detailed, but I there may well be other more elephant-dense battles of which I am completely ignorant.

[Duncan Head]

Not specifically battle accounts, but:

- Indian army compositions given in Greek sources generally give higher proportions of elephants than at Hydaspes. For instance Porus had more chariots than elephants and fewer than one elephant per 100 foot; reports of other armies usually give more elephants than chariots, and I estimated in AMPW that they usually suggest one elephant per 30-50 foot - Diodoros on the "Gandaridai", for instance, "20,000 horse, 200,000 infantry, 2,000 chariots and 4,000 elephants".
- Indian organizations in Mahabharata and Arthashastra tend to give high elephant proportions, though it is never clear (to me at least) how realistic or complete they are; but one Mahabharata account gives an army made up of basic units of one chariot, one elephant, three cavalry and five infantry, so one elephant per five footmen! Arthashastra says one elephant should be accompanied by 15 footmen, but that's not an overall proportion for the army (because there are also foot in the chariot units, and provision for other troops who don't fit into these composite units).
- There is also the complication, when you start talking about DBM/MM lists, that Elephant (S) elements include some of the infantry, so you could argue for an army containing next to no foot elements at all.

[Dangun]

Thanks.

That is very helpful.
Because if you run the troop numbers of Diodorus' Gangaridai through the troop representation model of DBA 3.0you get 7 elements of infantry, 1 cavalry, 1 chariot... and 3 elephants!

Although, to pick on the source a little bit, reading over some of those examples, it seems that that these are descriptions of a country's assets rather than a description of the number of troops who actually showed up to any particular battle.
As you said, its not clear.

A bit like the dark corner on the map with a note scrawled in blood... "there be dragons."
(OK. Maybe not exactly like that either...)