Jay,
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay
To feed 9,000 elephants is no mean task  |
The elephants, as well as some of the better quality cavalry, were kept on semi-free range. The imperial household and the top nobles kept a few score of those animals in regular stables for regular usage. The real bulk of the force was kept in semi-free state in national parks. There they worked as lumber-haulers, construction crews, and trained in combined arms. In the forests they could forage for daily food as they did their work, but were prevented from migrating by providing steady supply of salt and water (which are the main reasons elephants migrate) + of course other rations that made them stronger and healthier. The horses similarly had dedicated grasslands.