Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/91

Rh placed between them resembling the lines of wall intervening between tower and tower." Both flanks were protected by cavalry with chariots in front. The cavalry numbered four thousand and the chariots three hundred. Each chariot was drawn by four horses, and carried six men, two of whom were archers, stationed one on each side of the vehicle, two were shield-bearers, and two were charioteers, who in the stress of battle were wont to drop the reins and ply the enemy with darts.

The infantry were all armed with a broad and heavy two-handed sword, and a long buckler of undressed ox-hide. In addition to these arms each man carried either javelins or a bow. The bow is described by Arrian as being "made of equal length with the man who bears it. This they rest upon the ground, and, pressing against it with their left foot, thus discharge the arrow, having drawn the string backwards; for the shaft they use is little short of being three yards long, and there is nothing which can resist an Indian archer's shot—neither shield nor breastplate, nor any stronger defence, if such there be."

But great as was the power of the Indian bow, it was too cumbrous to meet the attack of the mobile Macedonian cavalry. The slippery state of the surface prevented the archers from resting the end of their weapons firmly on the ground, and Alexander's horse were able to deliver their charge before the bowmen had completed their adjustments. The Indian horsemen, each of whom carried two javelins and a buckler, were