LESLIE
HAMILTON
SHIRLAW
33
trainers, grooms, cooks, grass suppliers, guards, night watchmen, ' those who
put the fetters round the feet' of the elephants, and, for the horses' hair-
dressers.
Special rules were laid down regarding animal husbandry. For instance,
the Atri Sanhita ordains that ' plough oxen may be employed for the whole
day when they are eight strong per plough. If the number of oxen yoked to
one plough is six, they should not be engaged for more than three-quarters of
the day etc....' Draught horses, it was stated, ' should traverse six, nine or
twelve yoganas a day according to their quality' (1 yogana=6/11 miles). Cows
were milked once or twice a day according to the season. Sheep and goats
were shorn every six months. A horse was not to be made to carry a burden
' just after taking food and drink ', or it would ' soon get a cough, breathless¬
ness and other diseases.' If any one violated these rules, he was visited with
the cruel penalty of having his thumb cut off.
After work, according to the Sukraniti, a horse ' should be given a slight
stroll', then it' should be given gur and salt.... before the saddle and fittings
are taken off. Then, when the sweat has disappeared, and it has stood calm
and quiet, a horse should be relieved of its reins and fittings after its limbs
have been rubbed and carefully tended with baths.... (and it) has been fed
upon sugar and powdered grains mixed with water.... (it) should be made to
stroll in the dust.' Horses were allowed by the Government 1½ siki of oil or
ghee a day for rubbing over the nose. They were regularly washed, bedaubed
with sandal and even garlanded twice a day. Elephants had the whole of
their body massaged, for which they were allowed ¾ prastha of oil.
It has been claimed that a passage in the Rigveda ('His feet are of iron')
refers to the shoeing of horses ; though S'álihotra does not appear to have
known of this practice. By Mohammedan times, however, it was the custom
and Abul Fazl states that a horse was shoed twice a year. Cows have been
branded throughout historic times in India. The Rigveda mentions cows
' with pierced ears'. This mark was called a ' laksman ' and was made
with a copper knife.
(vii) Diseases of Antiquity—
In most cases, it is extremely difficult to recognize the diseases described,
as, for instance, when, in the ' Saloter ', a horse is said to ' have blood issuing
from his mouth, nose and anus, and to stale blood
his body becoming hot
as fire . . . . so as to burn your hand... .and totally abstaining from eating.'
In other cases, there is such a paucity of information as to be quite insufficient
for a diagnosis, as, when the author of the ' Fankht Vaalaj Aspan' merely
states, ' Every few minutes the horse passes urine and the ground where the
urine falls produces a very vile smell and the horse becomes feeble. This is a
very delicate sort of disease.' Again, symptoms were constantly being
mistaken for the disease itself; but in a few cases, the description is of suffi-
cient clarity to allow the hazarding of a fairly accurate guess as to the iden-
tity of the disease.
The following extract from the ' Saloter ' would appear to describe ' Mad
Staggers ' :—
' The horse will be absolutely mad and beat his forefeet perpetually upon
the ground ; his eyes will be red and remain open ; he will be terrified at every