Elephants once roamed much of the land that’s now China, but over the centuries, they’ve shifted towards India. Even with its extremely dense population, India has succeeded in sustaining its elephants. Historian/anthropologist Thomas Trautmann wanted to figure out why that was, and he presents what he found about ancient civilizations’ relationships with elephants in his new book, Elephants and Kings: An Environmental History (University of Chicago Press, 2015). Trautmann joins us on today’s episode of the Modern Notion Daily podcast to recount some of that history.
People in ancient China felt a reverence for nature, including the elephant, but that didn’t necessarily translate into conservation, Trautmann writes. By contrast, in India, ancient kings dabbled in making use of the elephant, specifically for war. Capturing and training elephants isn’t easy (obviously). But if anyone could mobilize to do it, it would be kings, with their seemingly infinite resources: people, money, and time. These kings used elephants to terrify their enemies in battle, as well as to destroy villages and property.
The use of war elephants spread to countries around India, but never to China, really. Elephants were last utilized in the Vietnam War, principally to move supplies.
Later in the hour, Mark Hay is in the studio to give us his top five list of foods to stock up on for the apocalypse.
Music this hour:
- “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
- “Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel
