![Chariot spread](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Chariot_spread.png)
A chariot is a type of
cart
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the
Sintashta culture
The Sintashta culture (russian: Синташтинская культура, Sintashtinskaya kul'tura), around 2050–1900 BCE, is the first phase of the Sintashta–Petrovka culture. or Sintashta–Arkaim culture,. and is a late Middle Bronze Ag ...
in modern-day
Chelyabinsk Oblast
Chelyabinsk Oblast (russian: Челя́бинская о́бласть, ''Chelyabinskaya oblast'') is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia in the Ural Mountains region, on the border of Europe and Asia. Its administrative center is the city ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, dated to c. 2000 BCE.
The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots was the
spoke
A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel (the hub where the axle connects), connecting the hub with the round traction surface.
The term originally referred to portions of a log that had been riven (split l ...
d
wheel
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...
.
The chariot was a fast, light, open, two-
wheel
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...
ed conveyance drawn by two or more horses that were hitched side by side, and was little more than a floor with a waist-high guard at the front and sides. It was initially used for
ancient warfare
Ancient warfare is war that was conducted from the beginning of recorded history to the end of the ancient period. The difference between prehistoric and ancient warfare is more organization oriented than technology oriented. The development of ...
during the
Bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
and
Iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
Ages, but after its military capabilities had been superseded by
light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...
and
heavy
Heavy may refer to:
Measures
* Heavy (aeronautics), a term used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft capable of 300,000 lbs or more takeoff weight
* Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight
* Heavy, ...
cavalries, chariots continued to be used for
travel
Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...
and transport, in
processions
A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner.
History
Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
, for
game
A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...
s, and in
races.
Etymology
The word "chariot" comes from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
term ''carrus'', a loanword from
Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...
. In
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
and some other
ancient Mediterranean civilizations, a ''
biga
Biga may refer to:
Places
* Biga, Çanakkale, a town and district of Çanakkale Province in Turkey
* Sanjak of Biga, an Ottoman province
* Biga Çayı, a river in Çanakkale Province
* Biga Peninsula, a peninsula in Turkey, in the northwest part ...
'' required two horses, a ''
triga
TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) is a class of nuclear research reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics. The design team for TRIGA, which included Edward Teller, was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson.
Design
...
'' three, and a ''
quadriga
A () is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in Classical Antiquity and the Roman Empire until the Late Middle Ages. The word derives from the Latin contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke.
The four- ...
'' four.
Origins at the Eurasian steppe
![Eastern Han Bronze Cavalry & Chariots - from Gansu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Eastern_Han_Bronze_Cavalry_%26_Chariots_-_from_Gansu.jpg)
The invention of the
wheel
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...
used in
transportation
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...
most likely took place in the
Eurasian Steppe
The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistri ...
s of modern-day Russia and Ukraine. Evidence of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid
4th millennium BC
The 4th millennium BC spanned the years 4000 BC to 3001 BC. Some of the major changes in human culture during this time included the beginning of the Bronze Age and the invention of writing, which played a major role in starting recorded history. ...
near-simultaneously in the Northern
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
(
Maykop culture
The Maykop culture (, , scientific transliteration: ''Majkop,''), c. 3700 BC– 3000 BC, was a major Bronze Age archaeological culture in the western Caucasus region.
It extends along the area from the Taman Peninsula at the Kerch Strait to ne ...
), and in Central Europe. These earliest vehicles may have been
ox carts. A necessary precursor to the invention of the chariot is the
domestication of animals
The domestication of animals is the mutual relationship between non-human animals and the humans who have influence on their care and reproduction.
Charles Darwin recognized a small number of traits that made domesticated species different from t ...
, specifically
horses
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
– a major step in the development of civilization. Despite the large impact horse domestication has had in transport and communication, tracing its origins has been challenging. Evidence supports horses having been domesticated in the
Eurasian Steppe
The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistri ...
s, with studies suggesting the
Botai culture
The Botai culture is an archaeological culture (c. 3700–3100 BC) of prehistoric northern Central Asia. It was named after the settlement of Botai in today's northern Kazakhstan. The Botai culture has two other large sites: Krasnyi ...
in modern-day
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
were the first, about 3500 BCE. Others say horses were domesticated earlier than 3500 in Eastern Europe (modern
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and
Western Kazkhstan), 6000 years ago
The spread of spoke-wheeled chariots has been closely associated with early
Indo-Iranian migrations. The earliest known chariots have been found in
Sintashta culture
The Sintashta culture (russian: Синташтинская культура, Sintashtinskaya kul'tura), around 2050–1900 BCE, is the first phase of the Sintashta–Petrovka culture. or Sintashta–Arkaim culture,. and is a late Middle Bronze Ag ...
burial sites, and the culture is considered a strong candidate for the origin of the technology, which spread throughout the
Old World
The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
and played an important role in
ancient warfare
Ancient warfare is war that was conducted from the beginning of recorded history to the end of the ancient period. The difference between prehistoric and ancient warfare is more organization oriented than technology oriented. The development of ...
.
These self-designated
Aryan
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
people migrated southward into South Asia, ushering in the
Vedic period
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca. 1300–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, betw ...
around 1750 BCE. Shortly after this, about 1700 BCE, evidence of chariots appears in
Asia-Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The reg ...
.
The earliest fully developed spoke-wheeled horse chariots are from the
chariot burials of the
Andronovo (Timber-Grave) sites of the
Sintashta-Petrovka
The Sintashta culture (russian: Синташтинская культура, Sintashtinskaya kul'tura), around 2050–1900 BCE, is the first phase of the Sintashta–Petrovka culture. or Sintashta–Arkaim culture,. and is a late Middle Bronze Ag ...
Proto-Indo-Iranian
Proto-Indo-Iranian, also Proto-Indo-Iranic is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian/Indo-Iranic branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd millennium B ...
culture in modern Russia and
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
from around 2000 BCE.
This culture is at least partially derived from the earlier
Yamna culture
The Yamnaya culture or the Yamna culture (russian: Ямная культура, ua, Ямна культура lit. 'culture of pits'), also known as the Pit Grave culture or Ochre Grave culture, was a late Copper Age to early Bronze Age archa ...
. It built heavily fortified settlements, engaged in
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
metallurgy on an industrial scale, and practiced complex burial rituals reminiscent of
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
rituals known from the ''
Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...
'' and the ''
Avesta
The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.
The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...
''. Over the next few centuries, the
Andronovo culture
The Andronovo culture (russian: Андроновская культура, translit=Andronovskaya kul'tura) is a collection of similar local Late Bronze Age cultures that flourished 2000–1450 BC,Grigoriev, Stanislav, (2021)"Andronovo ...
spread across the steppes from the
Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...
to the
Tien Shan
The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...
, likely corresponding to the time of early
Indo-Iranian cultures.
Not everyone agrees that the Sintashta culture vehicle finds are true chariots.
In 1996 Joost Crouwel and
Mary Aiken Littauer Mary Aiken Littauer (February 11, 1912 – December 7, 2005) was a leading authority on ancient domesticated horses and related materials (Brownrigg 2006). Using her knowledge of contemporary horsemanship, she wrote works on ridden horses and char ...
wrote
Peter Raulwing and Stefan Burmeister consider the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero finds from the steppe to be carts rather than chariots.
Spread by Indo-Europeans
![Andronovo culture](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Andronovo_culture.png)
Chariots figure prominently in Indo-Iranian mythology. Chariots are also an important part of both
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and
Persian mythology
Persian mythology or Iranian mythology (Persian:اساطیرشناسی ایرانی) is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples, and a genre of Ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the origi ...
, with most of the gods in their
pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
portrayed as riding them. The
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
word for a chariot is ''rátha-'' (
m.), which is cognate with
Avestan
Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...
''raθa-'' (also m.), and in origin a substantiation of the adjective
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
' meaning "having wheels", with the characteristic accent shift found in Indo-Iranian substantivisations. This adjective is in turn derived from the collective noun ' "wheels", continued in Latin ''rota'', which belongs to the noun ' for "wheel" (from ' "to run") that is also found in Germanic, Celtic and Baltic (
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
''rad'' n.,
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
''roth'' m.,
Lithuanian ''rãtas'' m.). Nomadic tribes of the Pontic steppes, like
Scythians
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved f ...
such as
Hamaxobii The Hamaxobii ( grc, Ἁμαξόβιοι), Anglicized Hamaxobians or Amaxobians, were a nomadic tribe who lived in chariots with leather tents mounted on them. They were Scythians. They were said to be descendants of the Medes.
They lived near the ...
, would travel in
wagon
A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.
Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...
s,
cart
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
s, and chariots during their migrations.
Hittites
![Hittite Chariot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Hittite_Chariot.jpg)
The oldest testimony of chariot warfare in the ancient Near East is the
Old Hittite
Hittite (natively / "the language of Neša", or ''nešumnili'' / "the language of the people of Neša"), also known as Nesite (''Nešite'' / Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a people ...
Anitta text
Anitta, son of Pitḫana, reigned ca. 1740–1725 BC (middle chronology), and was a king of Kuššara, a city that has yet to be identified. He is the earliest known ruler to compose a text in the Hittite language.
His high official, or ''rabi s ...
(18th century BCE), which mentions 40 teams of horses (in the original
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
spelling: 40 ''ṢÍ-IM-TI'' ANŠE.KUR.RA
ḪI.A) at the siege of
Salatiwara
Salatiwara was a city of Bronze Age Anatolia. It was besieged by Anitta Anitta may refer to:
* Anitta (king), Hittite king
*Anitta (singer)
Larissa de Macedo Machado (born March 30, 1993), known professionally as Anitta, is a Brazilian sing ...
. Since the text mentions ''teams'' rather than ''chariots'', the existence of chariots in the 18th century BCE is uncertain. The first certain attestation of chariots in the Hittite empire dates to the late 17th century BCE (
Hattusili I Ḫattušili (''Ḫattušiliš'' in the inflected nominative case) was the regnal name of three Hittite kings:
* Ḫattušili I (Labarna II)
* Ḫattušili II
* Ḫattušili III
It was also the name of two Neo-Hittite kings:
* Ḫattušili I (Laba ...
). A Hittite horse-training text is attributed to
Kikkuli the Mitanni Kikkuli was the Hurrian "master horse trainer 'assussanni''of the land of Mitanni" (LÚ''A-AŠ-ŠU-UŠ-ŠA-AN-NI ŠA'' KUR URU''MI-IT-TA-AN-NI'') and author of a chariot horse training text written primarily in the Hittite language (as well as an ...
(15th century BCE).
The
Hittites
The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...
were renowned charioteers. They developed a new chariot design that had lighter wheels, with four spokes rather than eight, and that held three rather than two warriors. It could hold three warriors because the wheel was placed in the middle of the chariot and not at the back as in Egyptian chariots. Typically one Hittite warrior steered the chariot while the second man was usually the main archer; the third warrior would either wield a spear or sword when charging at enemies or hold up a large shield to protect himself and the others from enemy arrows.
Hittite prosperity largely depended on their control of trade routes and natural resources, specifically metals. As the Hittites gained dominion over Mesopotamia, tensions flared among the neighboring
Assyrians,
Hurrian
The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...
s, and
Egyptians
Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...
. Under
Suppiluliuma I, the Hittites conquered
Kadesh
Qadesh, Qedesh, Qetesh, Kadesh, Kedesh, Kadeš and Qades come from the common Semitic root "Q-D-Š", which means "sacred."
Kadesh and variations may refer to:
Ancient/biblical places
* Kadesh (Syria) or Qadesh, an ancient city of the Levant, on ...
and, eventually, the whole of
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. The
Battle of Kadesh
The Battle of Kadesh or Battle of Qadesh took place between the forces of the New Kingdom of Egypt under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, just upstream of Lake Homs near the mod ...
in 1274 BCE is likely to have been the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving over 5,000 chariots.
Bronze Age India
![Hitopadesha](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Hitopadesha.jpg)
Models of single axeled, solid wheeled, ox drawn vehicles, have been found at several mature Indus Valley cites, such as
Chanhudaro
Chanhu-daro is an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley civilization. The site is located south of Mohenjo-daro, in Sindh, Pakistan. The settlement was inhabited between 4000 and 1700 BCE, and is considered to have been a centr ...
,
Daimabad
Daimabad is a deserted village and archaeological site on the left bank of the Pravara River, a tributary of the Godavari River in Shrirampur taluka in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra state in India. This site was discovered by B. P. Bopardi ...
,
Harappa
Harappa (; Urdu/ pnb, ) is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation, now more often called the Indus Valley Civilisation, is named after the site, which takes its name from a mode ...
, and
Nausharo Nausharo is located in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is well known as an archaeological site for the Harappan period. The excavations were carried out between 1985 and 1996 by a French team of archaeologists, under the direction of Jean-François Jarr ...
, and are depicted in second millennium BCE
Chalcolithic
The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...
rock art, of the region.
Spoked wheeled, horse drawn, chariots, often barring an armed passenger, are depicted, in second millennium BCE, Chalcolithic period rock paintings.. Examples are know from Chibbar Nulla, Chhatur Bhoj Nath Nulla, and Kathotia.
There are some depictions of chariots among the
petroglyphs
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
in the sandstone of the
Vindhya
The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India.
Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...
range. Two depictions of chariots are found in Morhana Pahar,
Mirzapur
Mirzapur () is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India, 827 km from Delhi and 733 km from Kolkata, almost 91 km from Prayagraj (formally known as Allahabad) and 61 km from Varanasi. It is known for its carpets and brassware industries, and the folk ...
district. One depicts a biga and the head of the driver. The second depicts a quadriga, with six-spoked wheels, and a driver standing up in a large chariot box. This chariot is being attacked. One figure, who is armed with a shield and a mace, stands in the chariot's path; another figure, who is armed with bow and arrow, threatens the right flank. It has been suggested (speculated) that the drawings record a story, most probably dating to the early centuries BCE, from some center in the area of the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
–
Yamuna
The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...
plain into the territory of still Neolithic hunting tribes. The very realistic chariots carved into the
Sanchi
Sanchi is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometres from Raisen, Raisen town, dist ...
stupa
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
In Buddhism, circumamb ...
s are dated to roughly the 1st century.
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
solid-disk wheel carts were found in 2018 at
Sinauli
Sinauli is an archaeological site in western Uttar Pradesh, India, at the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. The site gained attention for its Bronze Age solid-disk wheel carts, found in 2018, which were interpreted by some as horse-pulled "chariots".
The e ...
, which were interpreted by some as horse-pulled "chariots," predating the arrival of the horse-centered Indo-Aryans. They were ascribed by Sanjay Manjul, director of the excavations, to the
Ochre Coloured Pottery culture
The Ochre Coloured Pottery culture (OCP) is a Bronze Age culture of the Indo-Gangetic Plain "generally dated 2000–1500 BCE," extending from eastern Punjab to northeastern Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh.
Artefacts of this culture show s ...
(OCP)/
Copper Hoard Culture, which was contemporaneous with the Late Harappan culture, and interpreted by him as horse-pulled chariots. Majul further noted that "the rituals relating to the Sanauli burials showed close affinity with Vedic rituals, and stated that "the dating of the Mahabharata is
around 1750 BCE." According to
Asko Parpola
Asko Parpola (born 12 July 1941, in Forssa) is a Finnish Indologist, current professor emeritus of South Asian studies at the University of Helsinki. He specializes in Sindhology, specifically the study of the Indus script.
Biography
Parpola is ...
these finds were ox-pulled carts, indicating that these burials are related to an
early Aryan migration of
Proto-Indo-Iranian
Proto-Indo-Iranian, also Proto-Indo-Iranic is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian/Indo-Iranic branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd millennium B ...
speaking people into the Indian subcontinent, "forming then the ruling elite of a major Late Harappan settlement."
Horse-drawn chariots, as well as their cult and associated rituals, were spread by the Indo-Iranians, and horses and horse-drawn chariots were introduced in India by the Indo-Aryans.
In Religion
In ''Rigveda'',
Indra
Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...
is described as strong willed, armed with a thunderbolt, riding a chariot:Among
Rigvedic deities
Rigvedic deities are deities mentioned in the sacred texts of Rigveda, the principal text of the historical Vedic religion of the Vedic period (1500–500 BCE).
There are 1,028 hymns (sūkta) in the Rigveda. Most of these hymns are dedicated to s ...
, notably the Vedic
Sun God
A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The ...
Surya
Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...
rides on a one spoked chariot driven by his charioteer
Aruṇa
Aruna ( sa, अरुण ) is the charioteer of Surya (Sun god) in Hinduism. He is the elder brother of Garuda. Aruna and Garuda are the sons of Vedic sage Kashyapa and his wife Vinata, daughter of Prajapati Daksha. His children were Sampati an ...
.
Ushas
Ushas (Vedic Sanskrit: / ') is a Vedas, Vedic goddess of dawn in Hinduism. She repeatedly appears in the Rigvedic hymns, states David Kinsley, where she is "consistently identified with dawn, revealing herself with the daily coming of light to t ...
(the dawn) rides in a chariot, as well as
Agni
Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu ...
in his function as a messenger between gods and men.
The
Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
Bhagavi Sutra states that Indian troops used a chariot with a club or mace attached to it during the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
against the
Licchavis during the reign of Ajatashatru of Magadha.
Persia
![Oxus chariot model](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Oxus_chariot_model.jpg)
The Achaemenid Empire, Persians succeeded Elam in the mid 1st millennium. They may have been the first to yoke four horses to their chariots. They also used scythed chariots. Cyrus the Younger employed these chariots in large numbers at the Battle of Cunaxa.
Herodotus mentions that the Ancient Libyan and the Ancient Indian (Sattagydia, Gandhara and Hindush) satrapies supplied cavalry and chariots to Xerxes the Great's army. However, by this time, cavalry was far more effective and agile than the chariot, and the defeat of Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela (331 BCE), where the army of Alexander simply opened their lines and let the chariots pass and attacked them from behind, marked the end of the era of chariot warfare (barring the Seleucid and Pontic powers, India, China, and the Celtic peoples).
Introduction in the Near East
Chariots were introduced in the Near East in the 17(18)th–16th centuries BCE. Some scholars argue that the horse chariot was most likely a product of the ancient Near East early in the 2nd millennium BCE. Archaeologist Joost Crouwel writes that "Chariots were not sudden inventions, but developed out of earlier vehicles that were mounted on disk or cross-bar wheels. This development can best be traced in the Near East, where spoke-wheeled and horse-drawn chariots are first attested in the earlier part of the second millennium BC..." and were illustrated on a Syrian cylinder seal dated to either the 18th or 17th century BCE.
Maykop culture
Starokorsunskaya kurgan in the Kuban region of Russia contains a wagon grave (or
chariot burial) of the Maikop Culture (which also had horses). The two solid wooden wheels from this kurgan have been dated to the second half of the fourth millennium. Soon thereafter the number of such burials in this Northern Caucasus region multiplied.
[Christoph Baumer]
''The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors''.
I.B. Tauris, 2012 p. 90[Chris Fowler, Jan Harding, Daniela Hofmann, eds]
''The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe.''
OUP Oxford, 2015 p. 113 Linguistic evidence also suggests that the inventors were Indo-European people from Eurasia.
Early wheeled vehicles in the Near East
![Standard of Ur - War](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Standard_of_Ur_-_War.jpg)
According to Christoph Baumer, the earliest discoveries of wheels in Mesopotamia come from the first half of the third millennium BCE – more than half a millennium later than the first finds from the Kuban region. At the same time, in Mesopotamia, some intriguing early pictograms of a sled that rests on wooden rollers or wheels have been found. They date from about the same time as the early wheel discoveries in Europe and may indicate knowledge of the wheel.
The earliest depiction of vehicles in the context of warfare is on the Standard of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, . These are more properly called
wagon
A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.
Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...
s which were double-axled and pulled by oxen or a equid hybrid, hybrid of a donkey and a female onager, named Kunga (equid), Kunga in the city of Tell Brak#Kingdom of Nagar, Nagar which was famous for breeding them.
The hybrids were used by the Ebla#First kingdom, Eblaite,
Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), early Sumerian, Akkadian Empire, Akkadian and Ur III armies. Although sometimes carrying a spearman with the charioteer (driver), such heavy wagons, borne on solid wooden wheels and covered with skins, may have been part of the baggage train (e.g., during royal funeral processions) rather than vehicles of battle in themselves.
The Sumerians had a lighter, two-wheeled type of
cart
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
, pulled by four Donkey, asses, and with solid wheels. The spoked wheel did not appear in Mesopotamia until the mid second millennium BCE.
Ancient Canaan and Israel
Chariots are frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Tanakh and the Greek Old Testament, respectively, particularly by the prophets, as instruments of war or as symbols of power or glory. First mentioned in the story of Joseph (Hebrew Bible), Joseph (Book of Genesis, Genesis 50:9), "Iron chariots" are mentioned also in Book of Joshua, Joshua (17:16, 18) and Book of Judges, Judges (1:19,4:3, 13) as weapons of the Canaanites and Israelites. Books of Samuel, 1 Samuel 13:5 mentions chariots of the Philistines, who are sometimes identified with the Sea Peoples or Mycenaean Greece, early Greeks.
Examples from Jewish English Bible translations#New JPS .281985.29, The Jewish Study Bible
The Jewish Study Bible
' (2014, Oxford University Press, ) of the Tanakh (''Jewish Bible'') include:
*Book of Isaiah, Isaiah 2:7 ''Their land is full of silver and gold, there is no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, there is no limit to their chariots.''
*Book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 4:13 ''Lo, he''
[I.e., the invader of v. 7.] ''ascends like clouds, his chariots are like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, we are ruined!''
*Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 26:10 ''From the cloud raised by his horses dust shall cover you; from the clatter of horsemen and wheels and chariots, your walls shall shake−when he enters your gates as men enter a breached city.''
*Psalms 20:8 ''They [call] on chariots, they [call] on horses, but we call on the name of the YHWH, L
ORD our Elohim, God.''
*Song of Songs 1:9 ''I have likened you, my darling, to a mare in Pharaoh's chariots ''
Examples from the King James Version of the Christian Bible include:
* ''And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.''
* ''And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.''
*Book of Acts, Acts 8:37–38 ''Then Philip the Evangelist, Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.''
Small domestic horses may have been present in the northern Negev before 3000 BC. Jezreel (city) has been identified as the chariot base of King Ahab.
[David Ussishkin, "JezreelWhere Jezebel Was Thrown to the Dogs", ''Biblical Archaeology Review'', July / August 2010.] And the decorated lynchpin of Sisera's chariot was identified at a site identified as his fortress Harosheth Haggoyim.
["Archaeological mystery solved"](_blank)
, University of Haifa press release, July 1, 2010.
Egypt
![Ramsés II en Qadesh, relieve de Abu Simbel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Rams%C3%A9s_II_en_Qadesh%2C_relieve_de_Abu_Simbel.jpg)
Chariot use made its way into History of Egypt, Egypt around 1650 BCE during the Hyksos invasion of Egypt and establishment of the fourteenth dynasty.
In 1659 BCE the Indo-European
Hittites
The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...
sacked Babylon, which demonstrated the superiority of chariots in antiquity.
The chariot and horse were used extensively in Egypt by the Hyksos invaders from the 16th century BC onwards, though discoveries announced in 2013 potentially place the earliest chariot use as early as Egypt's Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom (–2181 BCE). In the remains of Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian and Assyrian art, there are numerous representations of chariots, which display rich ornamentation. The chariots of the Egyptians and Assyrians, with whom the bow was the principal arm of attack, were richly mounted with quivers full of arrows. The Egyptians invented the yoke saddle for their chariot horses in . As a general rule, the Egyptians used chariots as mobile archery platforms; chariots always had two men, with the driver steering the chariot with his reins while the main archer aimed his bow and arrow at any targets within range. The best preserved examples of Egyptian chariots are the four specimens from the tomb of Tutankhamun. Chariots can be pulled by two or more horses.
Introduction in Bronze-Age Europe
Racing chariot. Fresco from Lucanian tomb.jpg, Fresco depicting an Italic peoples, Italic chariot from the Lucanian tomb, 4th century BCE.
The Abduction of Persephone by Pluto, Amphipolis.jpg, A mosaic of the Kasta Tomb in Amphipolis depicting the abduction of Persephone by Pluto (mythology), Pluto, 4th century BCE.
2547 - Milano - Museo archeologico - Piatto apulo - Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto - 1 feb 2014.jpg, The Nike (mythology), goddess Nike riding on a two-horse chariot, from an Apulian patera (tray), Magna Graecia, 4th century BCE.
Parade charriots Louvre CA2503.jpg, Procession of chariots on a Geometric art, Late Geometric amphora from Athens (–700 BCE).
As David W. Anthony writes in his book ''The Horse, the Wheel, and Language'', in Eastern Europe, the earliest well-dated depiction of a wheeled vehicle (a wagon with two axles and four wheels) is on the Bronocice pot (). It is a clay pot excavated in a Funnelbeaker culture, Funnelbeaker settlement in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship in Poland. The oldest securely dated real wheel-axle combination in Eastern Europe is the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel ().
Greece
![Fresco of two female charioteers from Tiryns 1200 BC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Fresco_of_two_female_charioteers_from_Tiryns_1200_BC.jpg)
The later Ancient Greece, Greeks of the first millennium BCE had a (still not very effective) cavalry arm (indeed, it has been argued that these early horseback riding soldiers may have given rise to the development of the later, heavily armed foot-soldiers known as hoplites), and the rocky terrain of the Geography of Greece, Greek mainland was unsuited for wheeled vehicles. Consequently, in historical Greece the chariot was never used to any extent in war. Nevertheless, the chariot retained a high status and memories of its era were handed down in epic poetry. Linear B tablets from Mycenaean palaces record large inventories of chariots, sometimes with specific details as to how many chariots were assembled or not (i.e. stored in modular form). Later the vehicles were used in games and processions, notably for races at the Ancient Olympic Games, Olympic and Panathenaic Games and other public festivals in ancient Greece, in ''hippodromes'' and in contests called ''agons''. They were also used in ceremonial functions, as when a ''paranymph'', or friend of a bridegroom, went with him in a chariot to fetch the bride home.
Herodotus (''Histories'', 5. 9) Reports that chariots were widely used in the Black Sea, Pontic–Caspian Sea, Caspian steppe by the Sigynnae.
Greek chariots were made to be drawn by two horses attached to a central pole. If two additional horses were added, they were attached on each side of the main pair by a single bar or ''trace'' fastened to the front or ''prow'' of the chariot, as may be seen on two prize vases in the British Museum from the Panathenaic Games at Athens, Greece, in which the driver is seated with feet resting on a board hanging down in front close to the legs of the horses. The biga itself consists of a seat resting on the axle, with a rail at each side to protect the driver from the wheels. Greek chariots appear to have lacked any other attachment for the horses, which would have made turning difficult.
The body or ''basket'' of the chariot rested directly on the axle (called ''beam'') connecting the two wheels. There was no suspension (vehicle), suspension, making this an uncomfortable form of transport. At the front and sides of the basket was a semicircular guard about 3 ft (1 m) high, to give some protection from enemy attack. At the back the basket was open, making it easy to mount and dismount. There was no seat, and generally only enough room for the driver and one passenger.
The reins were mostly the same as those in use in the 19th century, and were made of leather and ornamented with studs of ivory or metal. The reins were passed through rings attached to the horse collar, collar bands or yoke, and were long enough to be tied round the waist of the charioteer to allow for defense.
The wheels and basket of the chariot were usually of wood, strengthened in places with bronze or iron. The wheels had from four to eight spokes and tires of bronze or iron. Due to the widely spaced spokes, the rim of the chariot wheel was held in tension over comparatively large spans. Whilst this provided a small measure of shock absorption, it also necessitated the removal of the wheels when the chariot was not in use, to prevent warping from continued weight bearing. Most other nations of this time had chariots of similar design to the Greeks, the chief differences being the mountings.
According to Greek mythology, the chariot was invented by Erichthonius of Athens to conceal his feet, which were those of a dragon.
The most notable appearance of the chariot in Greek mythology occurs when Phaethon, Phaëton, the son of Helios, in an attempt to drive the chariot of the sun, managed to set the earth on fire. This story led to the archaic meaning of a ''phaeton'' as one who drives a chariot or coach, especially at a reckless or dangerous speed. Plato, in his ''Chariot Allegory'', depicted a chariot drawn by two horses, one well behaved and the other troublesome, representing opposite impulses of human nature; the task of the charioteer, representing reason, was to stop the horses from going different ways and to guide them towards enlightenment.
The Greek language, Greek word for chariot, ἅρμα, ''hárma'', is also used nowadays to denote a tank, properly called άρμα μάχης, ''árma mákhēs'', literally a "combat chariot".
Central and Northern Europe
![Kiviksgraven slab 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Kiviksgraven_slab_2.jpg)
The Trundholm sun chariot is dated to c. 1400 BCE (see: Nordic Bronze Age). The horse drawing the solar disk runs on four wheels, and the Sun itself on two. All wheels have four spokes. The "chariot" comprises the solar disk, the axle, and the wheels, and it is unclear whether the sun is depicted as the chariot or as the passenger. Nevertheless, the presence of a model of a horse-drawn vehicle on two spoked wheels in Northern Europe at such an early time is astonishing.
In addition to the Trundholm chariot, there are numerous petroglyphs from the Nordic Bronze Age that depict chariots. One petroglyph, drawn on a stone slab in a the King's Grave, double burial from c. 1000 BCE, depicts a biga with two four-spoked wheels.
The use of the composite bow in chariot warfare is not attested in northern Europe.
Western Europe and British Isles
The Celts were famous for their chariots and modern English words like ''car'', ''carriage'' and ''carry'' are ultimately derived from the native Common Brittonic, Brythonic language (Welsh language, Modern Welsh: ''Cerbyd''). The word ''chariot'' itself is derived from the French language, Norman French ''charriote'' and shares a Celtic root (
Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...
: ''karros''). Some 20 Iron Age, iron-aged
chariot burials have been excavated in Britain, roughly dating from between 500 BCE and 100 BCE. Virtually all of them were found in East Yorkshire – the exception was a find in 2001 in Newbridge, Edinburgh, Newbridge, 10 km west of Edinburgh.
The Celtic chariot, which may have been called wikt:Appendix:Proto-Celtic/karbantos, ''karbantos'' in Gaulish language, Gaulish (compare Latin ''carpentum''), was a ''biga (chariot), biga'' that measured approximately in width and in length.
British chariots were open in front. Julius Caesar provides the only significant eyewitness report of British chariot warfare:
Chariots play an important role in Irish mythology surrounding the hero Cú Chulainn.
Boudiccastatue.jpg, Sculpture by Thomas Thornycroft of Boudica and her daughters in her chariot, addressing her troops before the battle.
Cratère de Vix 0010.jpg, Procession of chariots and warriors on the Vix krater, Vix ''krater'' (), a vessel of Archaic Greece, Archaic Greek workmanship found in a Gallic empire, Gallic burial.
Husitsky bojovy vuz replika.jpg, Modern reconstruction of a Hussite war wagon.
Chariots could also be used for ceremonial purposes. According to Tacitus (''Annals (Tacitus), Annals'' 14.35), Boudica, queen of the Iceni and a number of other tribes in a formidable uprising against the occupying Roman forces, addressed her troops from a chariot in 61:
: "Boudicca curru filias prae se vehens, ut quamque nationem accesserat, solitum quidem Britannis feminarum ductu bellare testabatur"
: ''Boudicca, with her daughters before her in a chariot, went up to tribe after tribe, protesting that it was indeed usual for Britons to fight under the leadership of women.''
The last mention of chariot use in battle seems to be at the Battle of Mons Graupius, somewhere in modern Scotland, in 84 CE. From Tacitus (''Agricola (Tacitus), Agricola'' 1.35–36) "The plain between resounded with the noise and with the rapid movements of chariots and cavalry." The chariots did not win even their initial engagement with the Roman auxiliaries: "Meantime the enemy's cavalry had fled, and the charioteers had mingled in the engagement of the infantry."
Later through the centuries, the chariot was replaced by the "war wagon". The "war wagon" was a Middle Ages, medieval development used to attack rebel or enemy forces on battle fields. The wagon was given slits for archers to shoot enemy targets, supported by infantry using pikes and flails and later for the invention of gunfire by hand-gunners; side walls were used for protection against archers, crossbowmen, the early use of gunpowder and cannon fire.
It was especially useful during the Hussite Wars, c. 1420, by Hussite forces rebelling in Bohemia. Groups of them could form defensive works, but they also were used as hardpoints for Hussite formations or as firepower in pincer movements. This early use of gunpowder and innovative tactics helped a largely peasant infantry stave off attacks by the Holy Roman Empire's larger forces of mounted knights.
Etruria
![Etruscan chariot wheel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Etruscan_chariot_wheel.jpg)
The only intact Monteleone chariot, Etruscan chariot dates to c. 530 BCE and was uncovered as part of a
chariot burial at Monteleone di Spoleto. Currently in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it is decorated with bronze plates decorated with detailed low-relief scenes, commonly interpreted as depicting episodes from the life of Achilles.
Urartu
In Urartu (860–590 BC), the chariot was used by both the nobility and the military. In Erebuni (Yerevan), King Argishti of Urartu is depicted riding on a chariot which is pulled by two horses. The chariot has two wheels and each wheel has about eight spokes. This type of chariot was used around 800 BCE.
Rome
![Winner of a Roman chariot race](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Winner_of_a_Roman_chariot_race.jpg)
In the Roman Empire, chariots were not used for warfare, but for chariot racing, especially in circus (building), circuses, or for triumphal processions, when they could be pulled by as many as ten horses or even by dogs, tigers, or ostriches. There were four divisions, or ''factiones'', of charioteers, distinguished by the colour of their costumes: the red, blue, green and white teams. The main centre of chariot racing was the Circus Maximus, situated in the valley between the Palatine Hill, Palatine and Aventine Hill, Aventine Hills in Rome. The track could hold 12 chariots, and the two sides of the track were separated by a raised median termed the ''spina''. Chariot races continued to enjoy great popularity in Byzantine Empire, Byzantine times, in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, even after the Olympic Games had been disbanded, until their decline after the Nika riots in the 6th century. The starting gates were known as the Carceres.
An ancient Roman car or chariot pulled by four horses abreast together with the horses pulling it was called a ''Quadriga'', from the Latin ''quadriugi'' (of a team of four). The term sometimes meant instead the four horses without the chariot or the chariot alone. A three-horse chariot, or the three-horse team pulling it, was a ''triga'', from ''triugi'' (of a team of three). A two-horse chariot, or the two-horse team pulling it, was a ''biga'', from ''biugi''.
A popular legend that has been around since at least 1937 traces the origin of the 4 ft in Standard gauge, standard railroad gauge to Roman times, suggesting that it was based on the distance between the ruts of rutted roads marked by chariot wheels dating from the Roman Empire. This is encouraged by the fact that the otherwise peculiar distance is almost exactly 5 Roman feet but there is no evidence to span the millennium and a half between the departure of the Romans from Britain and the adoption of the gauge on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825.
Introduction in Ancient China
File:Zheng State Chariot Burial - 3.jpg, Chariot burial of Zheng (state), Zheng
Charioteer figure, bronze, Eastern Zhou Dynasty.JPG, Bronze Chinese charioteer from the Warring States period (403–221 BCE).
Powerful landlord in chariot. Eastern Han 25-220 CE. Anping, Hebei.jpg, Powerful landlord in chariot (Eastern Han, 25–220 CE, Anping County, Hebei).
The earliest archaeological evidence of chariots in China, a chariot burial site discovered in 1933 at Hougang, Anyang in Henan province, dates to the rule of King Wu Ding of the late Shang Dynasty (). Oracle bone inscriptions suggest that the western enemies of the Shang used limited numbers of chariots in battle, but the Shang themselves used them only as mobile command-vehicles and in royal hunts.
During the Shang Dynasty, members of the royal family were buried with a complete household and servants, including a chariot, horses, and a charioteer. A Shang chariot was often drawn by two horses, but four-horse variants are occasionally found in burials.
Jacques Gernet claims that the Zhou dynasty, which conquered the Shang ca. 1046 BCE, made more use of the chariot than did the Shang and "invented a new kind of harness with four horses abreast". The crew consisted of an archer, a driver, and sometimes a third warrior who was armed with a spear or dagger-axe. From the 8th to 5th centuries BCE the Chinese use of chariots reached its peak. Although chariots appeared in greater numbers, infantry often defeated charioteers in battle.
Massed-chariot warfare became all but obsolete after the Warring States period, Warring-States Period (476–221 BCE). The main reasons were increased use of the crossbow, use of long halberds up to long and pikes up to long, and the adoption of standard cavalry units, and the adaptation of mounted archery from nomadic cavalry, which were more effective. Chariots would continue to serve as command posts for officers during the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE) and the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), while armored chariots were also used during the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu Confederation in the Han–Xiongnu War (133 BC to 89 CE), specifically at the Battle of Mobei (119 BCE).
Before the Han Dynasty, the power of Chinese states and dynasties was often measured by the number of chariots they were known to have. A country of a thousand chariots ranked as a medium country, and a country of ten thousand chariots ranked as a huge and powerful country.
[[Zhan Guo Ce·Zhao Ce] 'Nowadays, Kingdom of Qin is a country of ten thousands chariots, Kingdom of Liang (Kingdom of Wei, 'Da Liang' is the capital of Wei) is also a country of ten thousands chariots.']
See also
* Cavalry
* Chariot burial
* Chariot clock
* Chariot tactics
* Chuckwagon
* Chuckwagon racing
* Merkava
* Ratha
* South-pointing chariot
* Sulky
* Tachanka
* Tanks
* Technical (vehicle)
* Temple car
* Wagon
* Zamburak
Notes
References
Sources
;Printed sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
;Web-sources
Further reading
* Chamberlin, J. Edward. ''Horse: How the horse has shaped civilizations''. N.Y.: United Tribes Media Inc., 2006 ().
* Cotterell, Arthur. ''Chariot: From chariot to tank, the astounding rise and fall of the world's first war machine''. Woodstock & New York: The Overlook Press, 2005 ().
* Crouwel, Joost H. ''Chariots and other means of land transport in Bronze Age Greece'' (Allard Pierson Series, 3). Amsterdam: Allard Pierson Museum, 1981 ().
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External links
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Sumerian war chariots reconstructed. Photographic restoration of three of the chariots on the Standard of Ur.*[https://archive.org/details/horsewheelandlanguage "The Horse, the Wheel and Language, How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes shaped the Modern World", David W Anthony, 2007]
Ancient Egyptian chariots: history, design, use.Ancient Egypt: an introduction to its history and culture.
Chariot Usage in Greek Dark Age Warfare, by Carolyn Nicole Conter: Title page for Electronic Theses and Dissertations ETD etd-11152003-164515.Florida State University ETD Collection.
Hellenica – Michael Lahanas.
Varieties of Carts and Chariots in prehistoric cave shelter paintings found in Central India. Kamat's Potpourri – The History, Mystery, and Diversity of India.
Ludi circenses (longer version).SocietasViaRomana.net.
{{Authority control
Animal-powered vehicles
Archaeological artefact types
Bronze Age
Chariots,
Indo-European warfare
Indo-European archaeological artifacts
Iron Age