The chariot was the elite arm of ancient Indian armies in the Vedic (1500 BCE – 1000 BCE) and Epic periods (described by the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, 1000-600 BCE) because of the advantages it conferred and the selection of plain ground as battlefields. Chariots were highly mobile and gave an advantage over infantry and cavalry. In the course of time, beginning around the 6th century BCE, they lost their pole position to the elephants, to the extent that the chariot corps did not constitute part of the ancient Indian army anymore. However, in the early centuries of Indian warfare, they were deemed irreplaceable.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1269/chariots-in-ancient-indian-warfare/.
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