1. The Wheel with Paired Cross-Bars: a Matter for Investigation

1The wheel with paired cross-bars, seen everywhere in the northern plains, is puzzling. It appears more ‘primitive’ than the radially spoked wheel, but it is not represented on any ancient monuments and paintings before the 16th century (fig. XV, e & f).

2We could assume that this type of wheel was considered ‘commonplace’ by the artists who preferred the radially spoked wheel for its symbolic value in scenes illustrating Buddhist or Brahmanic legendary stories. When we look at the wheels of the Sanchi chariots, we notice that they have a decorative character and that their morphology does not differ from the Wheel of Law, shown in Buddhist monuments.

3If we compare the four-spoked wheels of the Pattadakal carts with the cakra of the royal emblems of the Chalukyas of Badami and of the Gangas,190 we find the same resemblance.

4The wheels of the divine chariots depicted in Hindu temples also have a specific structure. In Konarak, each wheel of the temple car consists of 8 main and 8 secondary spokes, corresponding, according to Indian cosmology, to the various points covered by the sun.

5The number of spokes of the Jagannatha car at the Ratha-yātrā of Puri is also symbolic; 16 in number corresponding to the 16 kalā or divine principles; of the Balabhadra car, 14 in number, corresponding to the 14 worlds; finally of Subhadra, 12 in number, corresponding to the 12 months of the year.191

6Elsewhere, the same notion is found on solid wheels decorated with a stylised lotus with a certain number of petals.

7However, we do not find this type of wheel with paired cross-bars which run completely through the hub from one segment of the felloe anywhere else. It is an Indian creation.

8We can evoke the wheel made of two decentred paired cross-bars perpendicular to an axial bar, a model of which was found at Mercurago, Italy, dated 1200 B.C.; this type of wheel is also seen on Greek vases from the 4th century B. C. and still exists today in Sinkiang.

9We can also bring to mind the wheel made of four decentred cross-bars crossing each other perpendicularly on either side of the hub, as seen in Aveiro, Portugal, or the wheel of the Chinese cart, known as Hui-hsien (4th or 3rd century B.C.) which, as well as the spokes, has a pair of cross-bars on either side of the hub, as in certain carts in Cambodia.192 Regarding the Indian subcontinent, it is interesting to note that in the geometric signs of Mohanjo Daro scripts, a six-spoked wheel is represented.193

10The wheel with paired cross-bars is not a recent invention. It existed long before the 16th century. If we cannot follow its evolution it is because of the inadequacy of the sources.

11Here, as a working hypothesis, we have tried to show the development of the wheelwright’s art in the construction of this type of cross-bar wheel in North India (fig. XXI).

12The following stages can be considered.

A. Wheel with paired cross-bars (fig. XXI, a-d)

13a. To lighten the weight of the solid wheel, two openings are made on either side of the diametral beam (fig. XXI, a) (as is the case with the present Sindhi bullock cart);194

14b. The two outer beams, having being made lighter (thus flimsy), are strengthened by two parallel bars perpendicularly crossing the diametral beam on either side of the hole for the axle (fig. XXI, b);

15c. The diametral beam is brought down to a circular hub through which two parallel bars are added (fig. XXI, c) (as is the case with some present Gujarati bullock carts);

16d. Two more parallel bars are sufficient to make a wheel with three pairs of two parallel bars, which, in the course of time, become lighter with a thin felloe (fig. XXI, d).

B. Radially spoked wheels (fig. XXI, e, f)

17The radially spoked wheel, attested from the Vedic period, consists of 4 to 24 spokes (fig. XXI, e). The number of spokes today (see supra) is relatively fixed according to the types of vehicles: 14 for light carriages used for travelling, 12 for country carts or 10 when the wheel is smaller.

18Regarding the radially spoked wheels with thick felloes found in Rajasthan, it seems that they originate from the solid wheel, through the cross-bar wheel and the radially spoked wheel (fig. XXI, c, f).

2. Examples of Country Carts: Bihar, Panjab, Tamilnadu

A. Bihar Country Carts (after Grierson 1926, pp. 7–42)

19Grierson, in Bihar Peasant Life, has given a very detailed description of the country carts used in Bihar: the chakṛā, a large farm cart, the saggaṛ, a simpler vehicle for carrying country produce, the bahal, a light cart for passengers and the ekkā, a small horse carriage with shafts.

20The chakṛā is shown in figs. XXII & XXIII. A view of the complete full-sized bullock cart with long bamboo poles projecting from each side is given in fig. XXII, A; the wheel is also delineated in fig. XXII, B: the felloe is made of six segments, the spokes of varying thickness run completely through the hub, forming six double spokes; the body of the cart forms a long, strongly built, arched triangle, with a square frame at the back (fig. XXIII, A); each wheel has a separate axle; the outside supports of the axle are a V-shaped double strut called tulāvā and a curved branch of wood called paiñjanī, pulled tightly up against the axle (fig. XXIII, B); inside there are two supports, corresponding to the tulāvā (fig. XXIII, C); a set of taut strings which passes under the cart keeps the body curved (fig. XXIII, D).

21In fig. XXIV are the drawings of the other carts.

22The saggaṛ (fig. XXIV, a) is a lighter cart, made almost entirely of bamboo. It differs from the chakṛā on two points: there is only one axle which runs through a block of wood right across the underside of the cart from wheel to wheel, and the body is a flat triangle (not arched); sometimes the wheels are protected by a board outside.

23The bahal (fig. XXIV, b) is almost the same as the chakṛā, except that it is more lightly built. When it has four wheels it is called a rath.

24The ekkā (fig. XXIV, c) looks like the bahal, but it is a vehicle with two shafts. As in the saggaṛ, there is only one axle strengthened inside by a short metal tube; outside the wheels there is a pair of tulāvā, but no paiñjanī; the body of the cart consists of cross-pieces of bamboo supported by wooden posts; the driver’s seat is also made of pieces of bamboo which run underneath; the shafts consist of two curved bamboos joined by sticks, with a brass cap fitting on their ends; a canopy can be attached to the body.

B. Panjab Country Carts (after Baden Powell 1872, pp. 246–251)

25The wheeled vehicles of Panjab have been summarily described by Baden Powell who mentions three common forms of carriages: the gāḍḍā or chakḍā, or country cart, the bahlī, a carriage for the conveyance of people and the ekkā drawn by one horse. These vehicles do not differ much from the country carts of Bihar and the names of the various components of the vehicles are almost the same.

26The plan of the gāḍḍā is shown in fig. XXV, a: it consists of two stout wooden pieces that are kept in place by cross-bars forming a triangle, at the tip of which the yoke is transversally tied; outside the wheel there is a paiñjanī supporting the axle.

27The drawing of the bahli in fig. XXV, b represents the body of the cart and the outside supports of the axle: tulāvā and paiñjanī.

28The sketch of the ekkā in fig. XXV, c delineates the two shafts made of upper and lower bamboo poles with cross-sticks and the framework.

29Fig. XXIV, d depicts the canopy which can be fixed onto the frame. The wheel of the cart in fig. XXV, e is made of a heavy felloe with six pieces that are deeply mortised into one another and no tyre.

C. Tamilnadu Country Carts (after a survey made by the author)

30Fig. XXVI, A shows the common bullock cart (māṭṭu vaṇṭi) and its components: wheel, felloe, hub and body.

31The body consists of a flat platform made of two longitudinal pieces and four cross-planks with a pole; in the middle there is a block of wood through which the axle runs, strengthened by a metal tube. The wheel, 1.50 m in diameter, consists of the hub, the felloe comprising six pieces and 12 spokes.

32The handcart (fig. XXVI, B), or kai vaṇṭi, is built on the same principle, but with two shafts.

33Fig. XXVI shows the horse carriage or kutirai vaṇṭi, consisting of a platform made of nine longitudinal pieces and six cross-bars, hung upon two springs, with two shafts, panelled sides and roof; the wheel, 1.35 m in diameter, consists of the hub, the felloe made of seven pieces, and 14 spokes.

3. Litters and Palanquins

34To the analysis of the wheeled vehicles, we can add the vehicles carried by men: litters and palanquins.

An aristocratic means of transport

35Litter or palanquin transport was not open to everyone.195 It is said in classical texts that this type of vehicle was mainly used by sovereigns and nobles.196

36It was the same during the Muslim period, and it is likely that the influence of Islam, especially the custom of draping a curtain screening women from the sight of men (pardāh), has increased the popularity of this means of transport, which allowed high society women to travel without being noticed.197

37The use of the palanquin198 was strictly regulated. It was a privilege granted by the sovereigns to people of high distinction and the person who enjoyed the use of it was called pālkī niśīn.199 The Mughal emperor reserved the sole right to travel in a pālkī to the great mosque on Friday and the men in high places who dared to infringe this rule were severely reprimanded.200 Europeans adopted this custom in the territories controlled by them. In 1591, the viceroy of Goa, Albuquerque, made it known to the people of the settlement that it was forbidden, on pain of fine or imprisonment, to use a palanquin without permission. In Bombay and Madras the same restriction existed, and natives had to acquire authorisation from the English governor.201

Sources

38It is not easy to write the history of these vehicles because we lack precise descriptions and particularly representations before the Mughal period. We ignore the form of those which are mentioned in ancient texts.202 The litter, a framework, often covered and curtained, and stretched between two parallel bars, is depicted from the beginning of the Christian era; while the palanquin, a bed carried by means of a single pole only appears in iconography at a late period (12th century).

39The two types of carriage are found in the Rajput, Mughal and Himalayan paintings (15th–18th century), depicting processions or marriages, such as the svayaṃvara of Damayanti, as well as in drawings and etchings of European origin.

40The examination of these documents shows that the litter carried by means of two shafts was almost exclusively reserved for the travels of sovereigns and women of the harem, or in temple ceremonies for the transport of heavy statues, whereas the litter carried by means of a single pole, or the palanquin, with its box suspended from a straight or bent bamboo pole, was used for the long distance transport of travellers of distinction.

A. Litters Carried by Means of Two Shafts

41The most ancient representations of litters, or vehicles suspended between two shafts and carried by men, would date from the beginnings of the Christian era. At Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda vehicles are depicted that are made of a rectangular or circular platform, covered and curtained, suspended between shafts, perhaps corresponding to the caturaśrayāna mentioned by Kalidasa (fig. XXVIII, a).203

42This type of vehicle is also represented in Gandharan art,204 in some frescoes of Ajanta205 and it is commonly seen in miniatures of a more recent period.206

43In the days of the Mughals, the emperor was carried in a takht-i-ravān or ‘travelling throne’, described by Bernier,207 and the women of the harem in a similar vehicle called cauḍol or caṇḍol, ‘covered with magnificent silk nets of many colours, enriched with embroidery fringes, and beautiful tassels’ (fig. XXVIII, d).208

44There was another litter called nālkī, either open or covered, reserved for ‘princes of the first class’, ‘like a sedan in Europe with this difference only that the poles are carried by four or eight men and upon the shoulders’ (fig. XXVIII, b).209

45To these should be added the Himalayan jhappān (fig. XXVIII, e), a portable chair carried by two pairs of men, each pair bearing a short bar on their shoulders from which the shafts of the chair are slung.210

B. Litters Carried by Means of a Single Pole, Palanquins

46The palanquin, or vehicle carried by means of a single pole, straight or curved, resting on the shoulders of several men, appears for the first time in a fresco from Ellora (fig. XXIX, a) which, according to Yazdani, dates from the 12th century,211 then in some bas-reliefs from Konarak, Basaralu (12th century), Sringeri (14th century), Lodurva (15th century),212 finally in the miniatures of the Mughal period,213 and in the accounts of European travellers.214

47There were different kinds of palanquin depending on their form or the materials of their construction. Usually the pālkī consisted of a long cushioned seat hung from a bamboo which bent in an arch over the vehicle215 whose richness of decoration or degree of comfort varied according to the social status of its owner; hence the various names (sukh-pal, sukhāsan)216 that were given to the profusely ornate vehicles.

48One of the most sumptuous was the fringe palanquin (jhālardār pālkī), used only by men of high social position (fig. XXIX, b)217. But there were other vehicles of a more simple construction. The caupālā was an ordinary palanquin carried in ceremonies (fig. XXIX, c);218 the muḥāfah, a covered vehicle reserved for women; according to Buchanan,219 it was a kind of caupālā on which curtains were fixed (fig. XXIX, e); the structure of the miyānah or menā220 did not differ from the preceding vehicle with its Mughal pavilion roof (fig. XXIX, d); elsewhere, in certain regions no distinction was made between the two;221 the most ordinary vehicle, called ḍolī in the northern plains, (fig. XXIX, f),222 mañcāl, on the west coast223 and dāṇḍī224 in the Himalaya,225 consists of a cot or frame suspended by its four corners from a bamboo pole.

49These examples show that according to the regions or the people the same vehicle could be called by different names and conversely the same term could designate different vehicles.226

C. European Influences

50With the arrival of Europeans and their gradual settling in the country, these vehicles had to undergo changes in order to give more comfort to the new masters. The native litters and palanquins were adapted to the reclining/cross-legged sitting position of the country, but Europeans, who were used to sitting on a chair found it difficult to bear this position; new models were therefore constructed to satisfy their needs.

51Grose says that, in the middle of the 18th century, some Englishmen in Bengal invented palanquins with the form of a chair instead of a bed, where one could sit more comfortably, and, in Bombay or Surat, sedan chair-shaped vehicles.227

52At the end of the 18th century, Solvyns228 has drawn the long palanquin, used by Europeans of distinction (fig. XXX, d), the palanquin-chair, which resembles a sedan-chair, but with a single pole, favoured by high society women (fig. XXX, b) and the bocā, commonly used by the Portuguese229 (fig. XXX, c), which appears to be an elaborate form of the tāmjhām (tonjon) (fig. XXX, a), an open chair with poles extending at the back and front, used in hilly country.230

53In any case, it is remarkable that these vehicles, deeply influenced by European models, are suspended from a single bamboo pole, just like the native palanquins, and that the two shafts were not adopted in India. It is a feature of civilisation: the chair conformed to the customary practice of the new masters, but the support remained traditional, adapted to the usage and the mental structure of the bearers.

D. Litters in Bihar at the End of the Nineteenth Century

54At the end of the 19th century, Grierson231 made a survey of the litters in Bihar and found three kinds of litter with different names according to the localities. First the ḍolī, a simple bed suspended from a bamboo pole, with a base made of rough twine, used at marriages under the name nālkī or taṛtaṛvām (fig. XXXI, a), then, a more elaborate vehicle, called the meānā or mahaphā, with a domed roof, supported on eight pillars (fig. XXXI, b), and finally, a litter used by wealthy men called barahdarī, a native form of the European palanquin (fig. XXXI, c).

55The analysis of the vocabulary is significant: names such as takht-i-ravān or nālkī, which formerly indicated prestigious vehicles, today designate humble village litters, poorly decorated, used in local ceremonies, principally marriages. Thus, the palanquin, which played a considerable role in the daily life of the upper classes, is today a relic of the past.