Mughal War Elephant

[[File:Scan0004.jpg|thumb|400px|Armament: Tusk swords, Trunk Sword, Chains, Mace, Scythe, Gajnal swivel cannon.

Armor: 300 lbs of plate and mail

Used by:

Years active: 1526-1858 AD

Battle Status: None planned yet]] Elephants have been used in combat in India since around 1000 BC, yet during the time of the Mughals (1526-1858 AD), the War elephant reached both the time of its decline and their peak of battle evolution. Mughal War elephants were often (but not always) covered in upwards of 300 lbs of impenetrable armor (which on the head rose on both sides as "ears", protecting the Mahout) over a Caparison (large square carpet secured with a girth), sporting tusk swords (large blades mounted on elephant tusks) that where sometimes poisoned, Trunk weapons (Chains, maces, Scythes, Trunk Swords (upwards of 12 feet in length) and sometimes mounted with one or two Gajnal swivel cannons (6 feet long, made of Iron). Those without Gajnals held warriors armed with Indian Matchlock Toradar Muskets, Sarissa-like spears/lances, or Composite bows and arrows, yet the armored, Cannon-wielding war elephant was the Abrams Tank of its time. Ironically, the weapon these war elephants bore on their backs where also their undoing: large field cannons proved more than a match for elephants, which made large, relatively slow moving targets. Yet War elephants where not done away with overnight, proving themselves so effective in battle inspite of Cannons that they suvived the Mughal Empire: The Burmese military, the last army to use combat-oriented War elephants, still effectively used cannon-wielding and other battle elephants until the 19th century!