Introduction

1To document the history of carriages in India is not an easy task.26 A few studies of value have been written on the subject for the ancient period,27 but a critical analysis pertaining to a longer period in order to provide a clear picture of the development of transport vehicles remains a desideratum.

Sources for the Ancient Period

Vehicles in Classical Literature

2There are references to vehicles in classical literature. In the Ṛgveda, a detailed description of the war chariot is found.28 The Sanskrit technical treatises29 mention (two-wheeled?) vehicles, indicating the size of most of their component parts, which are apparently ceremonial carts.30

3Classical texts often refer to various vehicles, but usually they don’t describe them and the classifications they suggest are conventional.

4In the Arthaśāstra, the types of vehicles are distinguished by their size (small, medium and big);31 Panini, on the occasion of grammatical examples, classifies them according to the goods they carry;32 Patanjali and others, according to the draught animal species used (horses, camels, donkeys, oxen, elephants, goats and rams).33

5However, we can mention the suggestive sketches found in certain Tamil texts which refer to slender spokes, fastened to big axles, or slim spokes which look like the rays of the moon with well-decorated hubs,34 or bars radiating from the hub, similar to the present fine wheels of the carts in the Tamil country.

6But, on the structure of country carts, the written sources provide little information.

Archaeology

7The most precise information we can collect, though fragmentary, is supplied by archaeology: a few objects found in protohistoric sites of the Indus valley; some carvings decorating Buddhist monuments dating from the Christian era or found in Medieval temples, to which should be added paintings from a more recent period.

8In these documents, war chariots, ceremonial or racing chariots, are well represented, particularly for the protohistoric period, but country carts are also depicted. They often appear in the development of certain themes in which they are the subject of composition, such as merchants and pilgrims in Buddhist monuments, the episode of the overturned cart (śakaṭa-bhaṅga) in the Krishna legend, shown in ancient carvings (4th–8th c.) and Rajput miniatures, procession scenes in Jain paintings and carvings (11th–16th c.) and daily life events in Mughal miniatures.

9Unfortunately we don’t have a systematic survey of representations of vehicles in monuments at our disposal, particularly in the Medieval temples of Central India.

10It is of greater concern that it is not easy to give an accurate interpretation of this scanty documentation. Some explanations are fanciful. Mackay35 thinks that the small copper toy cart found at Chanhu Daro resembles the ekkā of modern India. Vats36 considers that a toy cart found at Harappa is a prototype of a bahal. For Smith,37 Mathura vehicles are similar to the cīkkiram (shigram).

11It is unnecessary to play comparison games, because the outward appearance of two-wheeled vehicles is almost the same; but the learned authors have forgotten that the solid wheels represented in the documents quoted above are different from the radially spoked wheels of the modern vehicles they mention, and that the ekkā and cīkkiram are provided with a pair of shafts instead of the draught-poles of the ancient vehicles.

12Stylised details of sculptures can also be identified in different manners. Here is a significant example of this process: Sanchi chariots (fig. VIII, b & c).

13Most of the archaeologists, when looking at the Sanchi war chariot, see a strap tied to the tail of the horse. Mitra,38 however, thinks that this interpretation is wrong, that what is taken for the tail of the animal is in fact a shaft; he therefore considers that the Sanchi specimens ‘have three or rather a long pole in the middle and two short shafts on the sides’. Needham39 suggests that this could be a similar system to the Chinese harnessing. The same author40 finds that a cart represented in a basrelief of Mount Abu (Divalda temple) surprisingly resembles a Korean litter, though it is drawn by a horse.

14Evidently if there are several ways of interpreting a small sculptured detail, it is because of the inadequacy of our knowledge on carriages and the complexity of the subject.

1. Wheeled Vehicles in the Protohistoric Period

15Wheeled vehicles were in use in the 3rd millennium B. C. in the Indus Valley as shown by the considerable amount of model carts which were found in excavations of Harappan sites and also by the presence of chariots in early rock paintings.

16Excavations have not revealed remains or parts of actual wheeled vehicles since they were made of perishable materials, but a large number of miniature carriages made of clay, bronze or copper have been reported from a number of sites for the prehistoric or chalcolithic period41 and early historic times.

A. Miniature Wheeled Carts from Protohistoric Times

17The earliest toy carts made of terracotta have been reported from Mohanjo Daro, Harappa, Chanhu Daro, Lothal and Kalibangan (fig. V, a, b, c, g, h).42 They give an insight into the technique of their manufacture and use.

18They are found in several shapes and patterns. In the most common variety, the underframe of the cart is made of two longitudinal and three transversal bars; it has four vertically pierced holes on each side, probably meant to fix poles for panelled sides (fig. V, b, g); sometimes, the vertical poles on the sides are strung with horizontal bamboo screen or wickerwork (fig. V, c).

19As shown in Chanhu Daro, the wheels are made of three solid pieces of wood that are securely fastened together; the projecting hub is in the middle (fig. V, a).43 We don’t know whether the wheels rotated on a fixed axle or were fixed to an axle that revolved with them, as seen on the modern Sindhi cart.44 We are also unaware of how the pole was fixed to the frame of the vehicle.

20Two fragmentary miniature copper carts covered with a roof (unfortunately the pole, axle and wheels are missing) have been found at Harappa and Chanhu Daro45 (fig. V, e) and, in Maharashtra, at Daimabad,46 a well-preserved cart made of bronze and drawn by two oxen (see fig. V, d) was unearthed; to this should be added, at Inamgaon, a chariot is depicted on a shard (fig. V, f).

21On the three previously mentioned metal toy carts, there are two bearings over which the platform is fastened and the traction is relayed via the pole and platform. Obviously inside these bearings the axle is rotating and the wheels are set directly into it.

22It is significant that all the miniature carts dating from protohistoric times are provided with solid wheels.

B. Wheeled Vehicles Depicted in Rock Paintings47

23Most of the vehicle representations of the chalcolithic period in rock paintings appear in the highly stylistic pictures of this period: they are exceedingly schematic, so much so that it is difficult to identify the draught animals and to distinguish the construction details of the vehicles.

24The animals are never drawn in sufficient detail for us to determine their species; the hump seen in a few of them indicates that they are cattle, but, for almost all of them, the absence of horns would suggest that the chariot animals are horses (fig. VI, a).48

25Additionally, the rendering of technical features is frequently inaccurate: in a number of chariots there is no superstructure and draught animals are only connected with the charioteer by the reins! (fig. VI, b, c).

26While clay carts consist of a rectangular frame connected by the central pole-shaft to the yoke of the animals, the vehicles depicted in rock art usually consist of a roughly triangular frame with draught animals brought in pairs or in double pairs under a straight yoke connected to the wheeled parts of the chariot by a pole (fig. VI, a-e).

27Most of these vehicles are lightweight vehicles that are suitable for high speed: they are made of an axle with a spoked wheel on either side of a platform on which the charioteer can stand (fig. VI, d, e). They are clearly depicted as chariots and not as bullock carts.

28There is a single depiction of a cart with solid wheels (fig. VI, f) which resembles the miniature carts found in the Harappan region, particularly the Inamgaon bullock cart (fig. V, f).

29In historic rock paintings, on the other hand, surprisingly, chariots are not depicted and bullock carts are extremely rare.49

30These representations present us with a difficult problem since the paintings cannot be correlated with archaeologically known facts: most of the miniature wheeled carts of the chalcolithic age are shown with solid wheels, while most of the carriages represented in rock paintings of the same period are depicted with spoked wheels and, to crown it all, chariots with spoked wheels, abundantly depicted in the reliefs of the early historic period (as seen infra), are virtually absent in paintings of that time. The chronological position of the early Indian cart is therefore puzzling.

31If the periodisation is supported by a chronological framework based on the thematic analysis of the pictures, and if the cart has been depicted within the framework of a specific cultural context, we should find some connection between toy carts and vehicles depicted on rock. Are there any shortcomings in the dating of rock pictures? Or rather do the paintings have a mythological content unknown to us?

2. Wheeled Vehicles in the Early Historic Period

A. Miniature Wheeled Carts from the Early Historic Period

32Cart models in metal or terracotta of the early historic period (circa 300 B.C. to A.D. 300) have been reported from a number of sites, predominantly showing radially spoked wheels (fig. VII).

33At Sirkap (fig. VII, a), a terracotta cart made of a simple chassis mounted on its axle and a copper toy cart, which appears to be a light racing chariot with spoked wheels, were found.50

34In the Kolhapur Museum are two magnificent copper toy carts from Brahmapuri giving a faithful representation of covered carriages (fig. VII, b, c).51

35From Atranjikera52 comes a fine model toy cart in terracotta with two welldesigned spoked wheels (fig. VII, d).

36Finally, at Rairh, two well-preserved models of chariots in bronze and a couple of wheels of the same material (fig. VII, e, f, g) give a good impression of this type of vehicle: one is provided with sloping sides, the other is provided with curved mudguards; the wheels are fitted to an axle which passed through the rings provided beneath the body.53

37Similar types of miniature vehicles have been reported at various other sites, some with solid wheels.54

38It is a matter of speculation whether the presence of the spoked wheel in these representations is connected to the more common use of the horse as a draught animal. Probably the wheels of these light vehicles had spokes which rotated on a fixed axle with hubs held in place by lynchpins.

B. Carts with Radially Spoked Wheels Depicted in Stone Reliefs from the Early Historic Period

39Clay carts and rock painted carts are very poor documents compared to the clear, detailed, precise, faithful representations of wheeled vehicles found on the stone reliefs of the religious monuments of the early historic period.55 Evidently, these carvings show that the replacement of oxen by horses and the substitution of spokes for solid wheels revolutionised warfare, ceremonial marching and racing.

a) War and Processional Chariots

40War and processional chariots (called saṅgrāmika or pusyaratha in the Arthaśāstra)56 are abundantly represented in battle or ceremonial scenes between the 1st century B.C. and the 2nd century A.D. at Bharhut,57 Besnagar,58 Sanchi,59 Bhita,60 Amaravati,61 Mahasthan,62 as well as in the representations of Surya at Pataliputra,63 Bodhgaya,64 Bhaja,65 and in a carving of the 5th century at Ahichchatra.66

41This type of vehicle consisted of bodywork, open at the back, forming a screen in front, made of three rounded lobes, resting on a fixed axle at the extremities of which wheels rotated with between 12 and 32 spokes, secured by lynchpins. At the bottom of the chassis, a curved-shaped long central draught-pole was fixed, to which the yoke, a simple wooden bar, was secured by woven leather thongs.

42Horses were yoked on either side of the pole and controlled by the reins; the yoke rested on the withers of the horse through a kind of pack saddle which was fixed to a leather band that surrounded the chest of the animal, to which should be added a kind of girth and a tail strap (fig. VIII, b-f).

43In Gandharan art, however, representations of light horse-drawn vehicles made of a simple platform or a square box are seen.67

44There is still some misunderstanding regarding the traction of the chariot.

45Mitra68, as said supra, looking at the Sanchi chariot (fig. VIII, b, c), considers that, on each side of the chariot, there is a short shaft, whereas it is the tail of the animal tied to a leather strap.69

46The reconstruction of the Vedic chariot, described in detail in the ṚgVeda, is conjectural.70 Piggott, however, tried to interpret the meaning of the technical vocabulary of the text71 (fig. VIII, a). The reconstituted vehicle appears to have been built on the same principle as the light chariots shown in the carvings, but he assumes that there was a swingle tree in front of the vehicle to which traces were fastened on the outer sides curving upward,72 a fact which is not confirmed by the iconographic sources.

47This light vehicle is rarely represented after the 2nd c. A.D.; it means that this vehicle, which played a prominent part in warfare, had gradually declined and finally gone out of use in Harsha’s time.73

b) Farm Carts with Radially Spoked Wheels

48In the narrative scenes depicted on stone of this period, a number of farm carts are shown with two spoked wheels, open or covered, with or without traction-harness, most of them being travelling carriages, which are of exceptional interest.

49They are found at Bharhut,74 Takht-i-Bahi,75 Sanchi,76 Amaravati,77 Mathura,78 Sannathi,79 Belvadigi80 and Goli.81

50All the draught animals are yoked on either side of a pole; some are horses (fig. IX, b, d) but most of them are bullocks (fig. IX, a, c, e-h; fig. X, a, c-g).

51The body of some of these vehicles is a simple flat platform of wood (fig. IX, g, h) or a box-like shell (fig. X, d); most of them have panelled sides, either planks (fig. IX, a-d; fig. X, a, b, f, g) with slight staves or pieces of wood supporting a roof (fig. IX, a, c-e; fig. X, f) or a fabric, possibly leather, over a wooden frame (fig. X, a-c, f), or a side screen of woven leather strips (fig. IX, f).

52In the case of the Mathura carts (see fig. IX, a-d), we can’t explain the function of the longitudinal element fixed under the platform which evokes a system of suspension. Is it an arched body made of supple bamboo pieces? The draught-pole is often shown as a long, thick piece of wood (see fig. X, f, g), and as a strongly built triangle to which the yoke is tied (fig. IX, g, h; fig. X, d).

53Regarding traction-harness and yoke, certain representations, particularly of unyoked animals give us significant details. The animals are used in pairs. The harness is very simple: the neck of the animal is attached to the yoke (fig. IX, g, h; fig. X, c, d); the yoke consists of a round beam tapered and rounded at the ends; on either side from the centre the yoke is bored, and round tapered wooden sections are inserted, projecting downwards at right angles (fig. IX, g, h; fig. X, d, e); a strap is put around the necks of the animals and is attached to the two pegs at the yoke ends; and a rope attached through the nostril to the forehead is used for control (fig. IX, a, c, g).

54On the morphology of the radially spoked wheels, we can gather more details because they are sometimes clearly shown. The wheel is a circular disc with a felloe made of several parts, probably bound with an iron tyre;82 the hub is protuberant; the spokes are mortised into the hub and mortised or dowelled into the felloe; their number varies according to the site: from 14 to 16 at Bharhut, from 14 to 24 at Mathura, 24 at Sanchi and 28 at Amaravati.

55It is interesting to note that in Bihar at Bulandi Bagh (Pataliputra), a wheel dating from the Mauryas has been found and preserved in the Patna Museum.83 Its diameter is 1.20 m, its felloe, made of several sections is thin, its hub is bound with three small iron rings; there are 24 slender spokes as in the Sanchi cart. It looks like the Puri cart of today (see photos 49–50), though it has double the number of spokes.

56Thus, the wheels of the ancient vehicles had more spokes than those of the modern bullock carts.

3. Wheeled Vehicles in Peninsular India (7th c.–13th c.)

A. Farm Carts with Solid Wheels

57Solid wheels don’t appear on Buddhist monuments. However, they have an important place in the narrative scenes of peninsular India of a later period (fig. XI, a-h).84 In Karnataka, particularly at Pattadakal (8th c.)85 and in Hoysala sites such as Amritapura, Halebid and Somanathapura (12th–13th c.),86 war or ceremonial vehicles with two or four wheels drawn by horses (fig. XVIII, a, b, c, g, h, i) can be observed, and we marvel at seeing carriages which are supposed to be light vehicles with solid wheels!

58Depictions of bullock carts are not as common. We found one in a frieze of a temple in Badami (8th c.),87 two in panels at Khajuraho (10th–11th c.),88 one on a wall of Raychur fort, and one in the doab of the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, dated 1294;89 other representations are found in the Hoysala temples (13th c.) of Amritapura and Somanathapura90 on the Karnataka plateau; finally, in bas-reliefs from the Konarak temple (13th c.)91 and in Tirukkurunkudi temple in the south of the Tamil country.92

59We assume that the wheels of these vehicles are in wood, but it is likely that, at least for the Mysore plateau and surroundings, the wheels were in stone. If we compare the wheels of the vehicles represented in the temples of Karnataka with the stone wheels of the temple chariots and even farm carts of this region, we are struck by the similarity in the decoration of the wheels (fig. XVIII and photos 3–4, 75–80).93

B. Carts with Radially Spoked Wheels

60After the Gupta period, we find, in plastic art, representations of war or parade scenes in which vehicles with a body similar to the bullock carts, but drawn by horses, are also shown.

a) Bullock Carts

61Bullock carts are depicted in some sites dating from the 5th to the 7th century at Mandor,94 Devagarh,95 Ajanta,96 Badami97 and Pattadakal98 (fig. XII).

62The first two figures show a vehicle with low wheels and a long body made of planks or panelled sides (fig. XII, a, b); the third one is covered with a cloth or leather awning (fig. XII, c); the fifth consists of a simple platform (fig. XII, e) while the fourth is a plank construction (fig. XII, d) similar to the horse carriages presented infra.

b) Horse Carriages

63Carts drawn by horses are also represented for the same period at Ajanta,99 Badami,100 Pattadakal101 and Ellora,102 as well as at a later monument, Belur103 (fig. XIII).

64In these depictions the traction-harness and the draught-pole are rarely seen, except at Pattadakal, in the Papanatha temple, where two representations of a curved draught-pole are found (fig. XIII, d), and the body and the wheels are clearly represented. They are light two-wheeled open carts for passengers, with a rectangular body closed by side planks (fig. XIII, a-g); one of them has triangular slatted sides (fig. XIII, h), on another there are corner posts (fig. XIII, a).

65Regarding the wheels, their felloe is relatively thin; the spokes, bulging or slender, vary in number from 4 to 18; 8 on most of the vehicles (fig. XIII, c, d, e); apparently the Belur wheel (fig. XIII, h) is of the cross-bar type.

66Here, a novelty should be mentioned: on several vehicles there is a vertical wooden piece fixed outside the wheel, supporting the axle through the hub and fastened to the upper part of the body of the cart.

4. Wheeled Vehicles in North-West India (8th c.–16th c.)

67The vertical plank shown on some of the carts of the peninsula (fig. XIII, a, c, e) appears to be a guard to protect the wheel, but, in Jain paintings from Gujarat and Rajasthan dated 11th–15th century and in carvings of temples of the same zone dated 8th–13th century, we find representations of carts with a special arrangement of elements connecting the wheel units or axles to the chassis frame, i.e. a V-shaped double strut fastened to the body of the vehicle.

68In the Jain paintings, well known today since they have been the subject of several publications,104 the vehicles depicted are highly decorated: one of them is a racing car (fig. XIV, a), others are bullock carts covered with a canopy or fabric over a wooden frame (fig. XIV, c, d, e); others are long, ceremonial vehicles, with the body slightly curved (fig. XIV, b, f, g); at the extremity of one of the vehicle’s draught-poles, there is a single wheel (fig. XIV, b).

69In some bas-reliefs of the temples of Western India the same type of vehicle is represented but in a simpler manner (fig. XV). At Osian,105 it is an open horse light carriage (fig. XV, a, c), at Modhera106 and at Chittaurgarh,107 a bullock cart (fig. XV, b, d). Similar representations are found at Mandor,108 Kumbhariya109 and Mount Abu.110

70A vehicle of this type has been found in a bas-relief of the Kasivisvesvara temple at Lakkundi (Dharavar district), dated 12th century,111 but this representation appears to be exceptional south of the Vindhyas.

71Obviously, in this arrangement, in which the axle projecting through the hub is supported by struts that are strongly fastened to the body of the cart, there is the seed of a kind of suspension.

5. Wheeled Vehicles in North India (16th c.–19th c.): a Rudimentary Form of Suspension Units

72From the 16th century onwards, in Gujarat, Rajasthan and the Gangetic plain, vehicles are usually represented with more sophisticated wheel suspension units: to the V-shaped double strut (tulāvā) fastened to the body of the cart is added a curved piece (paiñjanī) which passes under the axle and is pulled tightly up against the axle by ties. This device is shown in carts with radially spoked wheels and also in carts with a new type of wheel, i.e. cross-bar wheels.

73The newly represented wheel, made of two or three pairs of two parallel bars which run completely through the hub from one segment of the felloe to the opposite one, appears in Jain wooden panels of North-West India, depicting magnificent bullock carts with a canopy112 (fig. XV, e, f) and in Rajput, Mughal and Himalayan miniatures, showing light carriages drawn by horses or bullocks, comprising a square or rectangular body with panelled sides, sometimes with a covering supported on poles (fig. XVI, a-f).113 A few representations of country carts by European draftsmen should be added to this, which accurately portray this device.

74The magnificent etchings of Solvyns114 depict the carts used at the end of the 18th century in Bihar and Bengal: saggaṛ, rahṛū, ghoṛ bahal, ekkā and ratha (fig. XVII, b-f); they all have wheels with paired cross-bars. Buchanan, in his survey of eastern India, took care to note the main features of the vehicles and their local names.115

75The representation of the Gujarat bahlī, a light vehicle with a canopy, published by Forbes,116 shows the same type of wheel supports.

76Thus, according to iconographic sources, from the 16th117 to the 19th century, in a vast area of North India, from Gujarat to Bengal, a rudimentary form of suspension was adopted by the cart-wrights: the arrangement of struts or planks strongly fastened to the body of the cart accounted for better distribution of the load on the wheels, and the device with two independent short axles had the particular advantage of reducing the negative effects of friction and permitting heavy loads to be carried.118

77This system is still in use today, and it can be observed in the northern plains, as said supra in our description of present-day country carts.

6. Shafts, Four-Wheeled Vehicles

78This survey of vehicles demonstrates that the Indian subcontinent does not seem to have appreciated the advantages of substituting two shafts with the pole and of using four-wheeled wagons.

A. Shafts

79Substituting two shafts with the pole meant that a vehicle could be drawn by one animal instead of two.

80In the traction-harness shown in all the representations of vehicles we have collected, the animals (oxen, horses) always work in pairs, yoked on either side of a single shaft, i.e. the pole. In this system, on the horse’s back the yoke pegged to the pole rested on a saddle which was held in place by a girth-strap to which the breast-harness was also attached. The change which took place in several parts of the world was that the yoke and pole were changed to two shafts. Shafts became common in China from about the beginning of the Christian era and in the western world in about the 3rd century A.D.119

81This type of vehicle, called ekkā (from ek [H.], one) in North India, seems ancient but its development cannot be traced. Perhaps it existed before the Christian era,120 but we do not have figures before the modern period. It is true that it is not always possible to recognise the characteristic features of vehicles and distinguish the number of draught animals in sculptures. Thus, at Mount Abu, one of the carts depicted in the Dilvada temple could be identified as an ekkā, but the image is so stylised that we cannot see whether there are one or two horses, and whether there is one pole or two shafts. This type of vehicle is not shown in Rajput or Mughal miniatures.

82We have found one representation in a fresco of Tarabh (Gujarat), dated 17th century,121 and in an etching by Solvyns showing the ekkā of Bengal (end of the 18th c.).122

83In this type of draught-harness, shafts are attached to a breast-band; the pull of the horse is taken at the withers (fig. XVII, d; fig. XXIV, c). Grierson,123 in the end of the 19th century, describes each part of this vehicle for Bihar and gives a good drawing of it. We know that this system is imperfect since the breast-band exerted a choking pressure on the windpipe when the animal pulled hard and that it limited the use of horses for heavy draught work. But in India it is of no consequence since the ekkā is a light travelling vehicle carrying little weight.

84This type of cart was obviously less common before the British period. At the end of the 19th century, Kipling says that it was used in Panjab, Hindustan and parts of Bengal, but it was unknown in the Deccan, Western India and Sindh.124 It is from the 19th century that various horse carriages used for short distance travel were built in different parts of India, as seen infra. With European influence, there was a change in the draught-harness, the girth-band was abandoned and padded shoulder and breast collar were adopted. Is it not significant that, in the Tamil country, in the jhaṭkā, a modern light vehicle, the new elements of the harness are known by English words kallar (collar) and taras (traces) (fig. XXVII)?

B. Four-Wheeled Vehicles

85According to archaeological and literary sources, four-wheeled vehicles were used from a very ancient period. Mackay125 found some terracotta models at Chanhu Daro. Their existence is attested by Strabo126 and in texts such as the Mahābhārata or the Rāmāyaṇa,127 but they are rarely represented during the historic period, except in the Hoysala monuments of the 12th–13th century.

86These vehicles are well represented in Hoysala mythological friezes, with front and rear solid wheels of the same size, and a rectangular body connected to a single pole (they don’t have pivoted front axles to facilitate turning) (fig. XVIII, a-i). They are robustly constructed, with long slatted or solid sides decorated with geometric motifs; some have a long body that widens at the top, others are embellished with various supports outside the wheels. With rigid fixed axles, they are not easily manipulated and are ill adapted to war conditions; they could never have been used except for ceremonial purposes, and in fact, in structure and ornamentation, they resemble the modern ritual chariots with stone wheels still seen today in some temples in Karnataka (photos 75–80).128

87In a few paintings and carvings dating from the 17th and 18th century, fourwheeled vehicles are represented, but not in a realistic manner; for example, in Nepal, in a bas-relief of the Krishna temple at Patan (17th c.) representing a battle, in a painting dated 1800 of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, with wheels decorated with floral motifs,129 and in Assam in paintings (end of the 18th c.), fancifully depicted.130 On the other hand, in Western India, this vehicle is represented rather faithfully in the 18th century in some paintings of Kishangarh showing episodes of the life of Krishna131 or in Jain paintings of Jamoda representing royal cars.132

88The best representation is given by Solvyns.133 The ratha (H.) used in the northern plains was a light four-wheeled wagon, with a domed and ornamental pavilion of cloth and tinsel over it, built on the same principles as the bahal with wheels with paired cross-bars and drawn by bullocks (fig. XVII, e). In the Baroda Museum, a ratha used in the court of Akbar Shah II and Bahadur Shah II at Delhi (circa 1830–1857) and offered to one of the Gaekwad maharajas of Baroda, can be seen. A Sikh family of Amritsar owns a ratha which belonged to Ranjit Singh.134

89It is said that this vehicle was used almost exclusively by the wealthy, bankers and dance groups.135 In princely residences there were extravagant carriages, but obviously these fantastic vehicles only had a decorative or symbolic role.136

90For sustaining heavy loads, stout vehicles with solid wheels, drawn by several pairs of oxen, buffaloes or coolies were used. This is the way Firuz Shah managed to carry an Asokan pillar weighing 50 tonnes to Delhi (fig. XIX),137 and this is also how huge pieces of ordnance were moved during military operations in the days of pl. VII, a); b, transport of the famous Bharatpur cannon in 1826 (after the Mughals (fig. XX, b).138 On a wall of the Raychur fort dated 1294, the transport of an enormous stone pillar on two carts with solid wheels hitched up by means of a strong beam drawn by four pairs of buffaloes is shown (fig. XX, a).139

91We wonder that the four-wheeled vehicle has been so underused in the Indian subcontinent; even today its role is negligible in the countryside compared to the two-wheeled cart.

92Apparently there is no relation between this type of vehicle and an ethnic group or a particular type of rural organisation, but its quasi-absence in the daily life of the people could be explained by the conditions set by the physical environment. Indian roads were for the greater part fair weather roads, natural beaten tracks, lacking genuine foundations and without fixed course, exposed to all the vicissitudes of nature. The use of a simple, easy to handle and drive vehicle, such as the twowheeled cart, was therefore a necessity.

Concluding Remarks

93This analysis of iconographic sources shows that Indian country carts have ‘ancestors’, as Gode stated.140

94a. In the Indus valley the carts of the Harappan civilisation were constructed in the same way as the contemporary carts in Sindh, except that today their solid wheels are hollowed out in a semicircular shape. Piggott,141 while describing them, notes that, near Mohanjo Daro, the type of carts in clay found at this site is exactly that which today creaks and groans in the villages, since excavations have revealed cart ruts belonging to an early phase of the city’s occupation, which have a width of some 3 feet 6 inches, which is the same as the modern carts in Sindh.

95The same observation has been made by N. Mehta142 during excavations at Nagara in Gujarat. He also had the idea of measuring the distance between two cart rut marks discovered by his assistants and found that it was the same length as the axle of modern carts.

96b. Farm carts with solid wheels depicted in the narrative scenes of peninsular India of a later period can be compared with the solid wheels made of wood or stone, found quite recently in some places in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh. The Mysore cart drawn by Buchanan at the beginning of the 19th century does not differ from the carved Hoysala carts (fig. XI, i, f).

97c. The vehicles with radially spoked wheels depicted in stone reliefs from the early historic period in Buddhist monuments seem familiar to us, since structurally they look like today’s farm carts. If we consider the size of their wheels (small, medium, high), we find that their distribution roughly tallies with that of the present time. Thus, the medium-size carts depicted at Sanchi and Bharhut are not different from the bullock carts of Central India, whereas the carts with high wheels found at Goli and Amaravati, evoke the vehicles seen in the coastal area of Andhra Pradesh.

98d. The vehicles with cross-bar wheels seen from the 16th century onwards, in Jain, Rajput, Mughal and Himalayan miniatures and in Solvyns’ etchings, are similar to today’s carts with wheels made of paired cross-bars used in the northern plains from Gujarat to Bengal (however, the late appearance of this type of wheel in iconography is puzzling).

99Be that as it may, this means that certain types of vehicles devised during ancient periods were so efficient as a means of transport that they did not undergo any fundamental changes and have indeed survived to the present day.