ABSTRACT
The classical Indic epics, the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, though composed much after the Vedas, 1 portray the ancient tradition of chariotry as in the Vedic age. S.D. Singh is perhaps right in assuming that, ‘the epic war chariot is essentially the same vehicle as that of the Vedic period’ . 2 The following extracts clearly portray the picture of a war chariot in the epics:
The battle car was called saùgmmika. It bore a standard, was decked with small bells and was equipped with arrows and spears. It was worked with gold and carried a sharp edged piatoḍa. 3
