Elephants pushing cannons drawn by bullocks

Elephants pushing cannons drawn by bullocks, Kota, mid-18th century
[Elephants pushing cannons drawn by bullocks, Kota, mid-18th century]

This powerful fragmentary drawing of artillery on the move may have been a study for wall-paintings showing an army on the march. The large carriage-mounted cannons are drawn by bullock teams and pushed from behind by the royal elephants. Master gunners, mainly European mercenaries, sit on each cannon giving directions. Elephants were widely used for extreme lifting and pushing, and heaving the artillery along was all in their day’s work. Source: Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford