Although India is well known for its contributions to art, culture, knowledge, spirituality, food, languages etc, it also has an equally rich military history.
Although ancient epics contain many stories of adventure and conquest, many of those stories cannot be verified as historical fact, mostly due to a lack of preserved written records. However, the earliest records date back to circa 360 BC and mention the existence of the Magadha Empire based in what is now Patna.
The Vedic Kshatriyas
Vedic age India classified people into four broad occupations - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras who were generally farmers, artisans, craftsmen etc. The Kshatriyas were further stratified into soldiers (sainiks) and princes. In those days all men of royal blood received compulsory training in military tactics and strategy, thereby ensuring that if a king went to war, his entire family went to the battlefield to be field commanders. While the typical soldier was trained to use the sword, shield, spear and mace, the royals leading them, often rode into battle on chariots. Riding on a chariot afforded the prince-commander an elevated view of the battlefield, but unlike a horse mounted commander, this allowed the commander to delegate the task of driving the horses to his chariot driver. The Warrior Prince also received training in the sword and shield, spear and mace, but his primary training was in archery. Common soldiers didn't receive archery training like that imparted to the legendary English longbowmen, because the tactics of the day called for the arrows to be fired at moving targets (enemy chariots) while on a moving platform. This level of skill required years of very expensive training. The ancient Kshatriyas also had a strict honor code akin to the famous Bushido code of the samurai. This code forbade a chariot mounted prince from striking down a common foot soldier or cavalryman, and could therefore only engage other chariot borne princes.
The Pretext for War during those days could range from trivial to You Killed My Father style blood feuds. Kings looking to expand their territory would often conduct ashwamedha rituals in which a horse was let loose to wander and any land it walked over would be claimed by that King. Only militarily strong kings could afford to engage in such provocative behavior, lest he anger an even stronger king.
Holding off the Greeks
In around 360 BC, Alexander reached what is now Afghanistan. After making short work of a weak King named Ambi, Alexander came up against Purushottam (Porus) King of Takshishila (modern day Peshawar) who was much stronger. Porus deployed his ace in the hole - the War Elephant. But Alexander countered it by panicking the elephants and having them run amok among their own lines. However, Porus didn't make it easy for Alexander to ultimately claim victory, which unbeknownst to him bought enough time for a scorned Brahmin named Chanakya and his young protege Chandragupta Maurya to finally usurp the throne of the powerful Magadh empire based in Patna. Chandragupta Maurya then directed his attention towards Alexander. But then Alexander succumbed to fever note , leaving an unremarkable Greek general to try to defend Alexander's territory. After recapturing Takshishila from the Greeks, Chandragupta Maurya directed his attention southwards and eastwards rather than attempt to head west. This was because south and east of his kingdom was fertile land as opposed to desert. Fertile land was a much bigger source of tax revenue than barren desert. However, Chandragupta couldn't complete the subjugation of all of India, leaving that task to his son Bindusara.
My God, What Have I Done?
Bindusara was able to bring most of India, ranging from Kashmir in the north to Gujarat in the west to Mysore in the south under his reign. However the kingdom of Kalinga in present day Orissa and Bengal was a stubborn hold out that had refused to be conquered. When Bindusara died and passed the reign to his son Ashoka, the task of conquering Kalinga fell to him too.
Samudragupta - Pioneer of Naval Warfare in India
The Cholas - Beginnings of an Overseas Empire
The Black Water Taboo
The Chola empire opened up new opportunities for trade and the exchange of knowledge and ideas with peoples of different countries. While many other empire builders around the world would have seized such an opportunity to increase their wealth and power, the peculiarities of Indian society immediately crushed any such aspirations.
That peculiarity was the Caste System. Specifically one which put Brahmin clergyman on top above even kings.
