LESLIE
HAMILTON
SHIRLAW
31
1 tula of pulp of fruits, 1 drona (4-4/5 chattacks) of barley, 1
adhaka of curd, 1 drona of milk, 1/2 adhaka of liquor, 1 prastha
of ghee, 10 palas of molasses and 1 pala of ginger.
The Ayeen Akbari describes elephants as ' fed with any kind of grain
wrapped up in grass '. ' Most of them have, moreover, 5 seers of sugar, 4
seers of ghee and 1/2 maund of rice with round and long pepper, and some have
1-1/2 maunds of milk mixed with their rice'. In the Hastiayurveda, their
diet is detailed as including grasses, barley, pulses, wheat, rice, treacle, ghee,
wine, milk and ' the natural food of the forest '. Kautilya gives a detailed
list which runs as follows :—1 drona of rice, 1/2 adhaka of oil, 3 prasthas
of ghee, 10 palas of salt, 50 palas of fruit pulp, 2 adhakas of curd, 10 palas of
sugar, 1 adhaka of liquor, 2 bharas of meadow grass, 2-1/4 bharas of sporting
grass and 1/6 bhara of hay and any amount of stalks of various sorts of pulse.
In the Sukraniti, it is said that first-class horse's food should consist of
sugar, salt, gur, powdered grains, peas, masa mungo (Phaseolus mungo). wines,
juices of the forest and of wild animals, milk, ghee and water. In the
Arthśasastra, the list is as follows :—2 dronas of any one of the following grains,
rice, barley, mustard seed, half dried and half cooked pulse, 1 prastha of oil,
5 palas of salt, 50 palas of fruit pulp, 1 adhaka of drink, 2 adhakas of curd,
5 palas of sugar, 1 prastha of liquor and 2 prastha of milk. The ' Saloter '
also mentions the ' feeding of horses with green vetches, green barley and green
moot', and with grass that is ' green, ripe and full grown and well washed,
so that neither filth nor worms be left remaining in it', but adds that
' men of judgement from Sialkot to the limits of the river Narbadda,
feed them with barley in preference to all other grain. In the Deccan to the
limits o Tellingh and Malliar, they account gram the best for them and in the
country of Sind, they prefer moot; but in the country of Gujerat (may the
Almighty God preserve it from all disasters) every kind of grain that they
give to a horse is wholesome and agrees with him.'
A dictum from the
Siddha Yoga Sangraha run, ' in the morning salt is, as a rule, beneficial to a
horse ', which echoes the following quotation from the Bower MS ' Beneficial
to horses is salt, water is recommended for elephants and fire for cows . . . .'
Pigs and dogs were given whey.
Straw and water were, however, the main dietry items of animals belonging
to the peasantry ; this was, of course supplemented by ordinary grazing in the
village waste, and further afield in the jungle.
(v) Stables.—
According to the Krśi-samgraha ' a cattle shed should be 55 cubits square
and it should never be erected in the month of Bhadra '. The Sukraniti
states that ' houses should be built towards the west for cows.' The shed
should also be ' strong and kept clear from dung ' to secure ' a healthy growth
for the animals.' The Agni Purana says that' to safeguard against the break
ing out of diseases, the cow house should occasionally be fumigated with
vapours of devadaru (Pinus deodora), vaccha (orris root), mamsi (pulp of fruits ?),
guggula (Balsamo-drendron mukul), asafoetida and mustard seeds mixed
together ; and a pinyaka tree (asafoetida) should be planted in the cow house
with a view to improving its general sanitary condition.' ' Goats should
never be kept in the same shed as cows ' (Krśi-samgraha). It appears,