Achariot is a type of vehicle similar to acart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses[note 1] to provide rapidmotive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of theSintashta culture in modern-dayChelyabinsk Oblast,Russia, dated to c. 1950–1880 BC[1][2] and are depicted oncylinder seals fromCentral Anatolia inKültepe dated to c. 1900 BC.[2] The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots was thespokedwheel.
The chariot was a fast, light, open, two-wheeled conveyance drawn by two or moreequids (usually 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 It was initially used forancient warfare during theBronze andIron Ages, but after its military capabilities had been superseded bylight andheavy cavalries, chariots continued to be used fortravel and transport, inprocessions, forgames, and inraces.
The word "chariot" comes from theLatin termcarrus through Frenchchariot, a loanword fromGaulishkarros.[3]
Inancient Rome abiga described a chariot requiring two horses, atriga three, and aquadriga four.
Thewheel may have been invented at several places, with early evidence found inUkraine,Poland,Germany, andSlovenia.[4][5] Evidence of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid4th millennium BC near-simultaneously in theNorthern Caucasus (Maykop culture), and in Central Europe. These earliest vehicles may have beenox carts.[6] A necessary precursor to the invention of the chariot is thedomestication of animals, and specificallydomestication of horses – 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.[7] Evidence supports horses having been domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes, with studies suggesting theBotai culture in modern-dayKazakhstan were the first, about 3500 BC.[7] Others say horses were domesticated earlier than 3500 BC in Eastern Europe (modern Ukraine andWestern Kazakhstan), 6000 years ago.[8]
The spread of spoke-wheeled chariots has been closely associated with earlyIndo-Iranian migrations.[9] The earliest known chariots have been found inSintashta culture burial sites, and the culture is considered a strong candidate for the origin of the technology, which spread throughout theOld World and played an important role inancient warfare.[1] It is also strongly associated with the ancestors of modern domestic horses, the DOM2 population. (DOM2 horses originated from the Western Eurasia steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don, but not in Anatolia, during the late fourth and early third millennia BC. Their genes may show selection for easier domestication and stronger backs.)[10]
TheseAryan people migrated southward into South Asia, ushering in theVedic period around 1750 BC. Shortly after this, about 1700 BC, evidence of chariots appears inAsia-Minor.[11]
The earliest fully developed spoke-wheeled horse chariots are from thechariot burials of theAndronovo (Timber-Grave) sites of theSintashta-PetrovkaProto-Indo-Iranian culture in modern Russia and Kazakhstan from around 2000 BC.[1] This culture is at least partially derived from the earlierYamna culture. It built heavily fortified settlements, engaged inbronze metallurgy on an industrial scale, and practiced complex burial rituals reminiscent ofHindu rituals known from theRigveda and theAvesta. Over the next few centuries, theAndronovo culture spread across the steppes from theUrals to theTien Shan, likely corresponding to the time of earlyIndo-Iranian cultures.
Not everyone agrees that the Sintashta culture vehicle finds are true chariots.
In 1996,Mary Aiken Littauer and Joost Crouwel wrote:[12]
Let us consider what is actually known of the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero vehicles. At Sintashta, there remained only the imprints of the lower parts of the wheels in their slots in the floor of the burial chamber; Krivoe Ozero also preserved imprints of parts of the axle and naves. At Sintashta, the wheel tracks and their position relative to the walls of the tomb chamber limited the dimensions of the naves, hence the stability of the vehicle. Ancient naves were symmetrical, the part outside the spokes of equal length to that inside.The present reconstructions of the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero vehicles above the axle level raise many doubts and questions, but one cannot argue about something for which there is no evidence. It is from the wheel track measurements and the dimensions and positions of the wheels alone that we may legitimately draw conclusions and these are alone sufficient to establish that the Sintashta-Petrovka vehicles would not be manoeuverable enough for use either in warfare or in racing.
Peter Raulwing and Stefan Burmeister consider the Sintashta and Krivoe Ozero finds from the steppe to be carts rather than chariots:[13]
However, recent discoveries in the Eurasian steppe have provided fresh support to the claim that the chariot originated there, rather than in the Near East itself, and may be attributed to speakers of an Indo-Iranian (or Indo-Aryan) language. In particular, archaeological remains of horse gear and spoked wheeled vehicles have been found at the sites of Sintashta (Russia) and Krivoe Ozero (northern Kazakhstan), with calibrated radiocarbon dating to ca. 2000–1800. These finds, however, provide evidence of atwo-wheeled spoked cart that does not fit the definition of the ancient Near Eastern chariot. Before these discoveries can help answer the question of where the chariot originated, thorough studies of the spoked wheeled vehicles and horse gear of the steppes, as well as of interconnections and transfer of knowledge, are necessary (cf. Epimachov and Korjakova in Fansa and Burmeister 2004).
Chariots figure prominently in Indo-Iranian and early European mythology. Chariots are also an important part of bothHindu andPersian mythology, with most of the gods in theirpantheon portrayed as riding them. TheSanskrit word for a chariot isrátha- (m.), which is cognate withAvestanraθa- (also m.), and in origin a substantiation of the adjectiveProto-Indo-European*rot-h₂-ó- meaning "having wheels", with the characteristic accent shift found in Indo-Iranian substantivisations. This adjective is in turn derived from the collective noun*rot-eh₂- "wheels", continued in Latinrota, which belongs to the noun*rót-o- for "wheel" (from*ret- "to run") that is also found in Germanic, Celtic and Baltic (Old High Germanrad n.,Old Irishroth m.,Lithuanianrãtas m.).[14] Nomadic tribes of the Pontic steppes, likeScythians such asHamaxobii, would travel inwagons,carts, and chariots during their migrations.
The oldest testimony of chariot warfare in the ancient Near East is theOld HittiteAnitta text (18th century BC), which mentions 40 teams of horses (in the originalcuneiform spelling: 40ṢÍ-IM-TI ANŠE.KUR.RAḪI.A) at the siege ofSalatiwara. Since the text mentionsteams rather thanchariots, the existence of chariots in the 18th century BC is uncertain. The first certain attestation of chariots in the Hittite empire dates to the late 17th century BC (Hattusili I). A Hittite horse-training text is attributed toKikkuli the Mitanni (15th century BC).
TheHittites 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 neighboringAssyrians,Hurrians, andEgyptians. UnderSuppiluliuma I, the Hittites conqueredKadesh and, eventually, the whole ofSyria. TheBattle of Kadesh in 1274 BC is likely to have been the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving over 5,000 chariots.[15]
Models of single axled, solid wheeled ox-drawn vehicles, have been found at several mature Indus Valley cites, such asChanhudaro,Daimabad,Harappa, andNausharo.[16]
Spoked-wheeled, horse-drawn chariots, often carrying an armed passenger, are depicted in second millennium BCChalcolithic period rock paintings, examples are known from Chibbar Nulla, Chhatur Bhoj Nath Nulla, and Kathotia.[17][18][note 2] There are some depictions of chariots among thepetroglyphs in the sandstone of theVindhya range. Two depictions of chariots are found in Morhana Pahar,Mirzapur 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 a 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 BC, from some center in the area of theGanges–Yamuna plain into the territory of still Neolithic hunting tribes.[22] The very realistic chariots carved into theSanchistupas are dated to roughly the 1st century.
Bronze Age solid-disk wheel carts were found in 2018 atSinauli,[23] which were interpreted by some as horse-pulled "chariots," predating the arrival of the horse-centered Indo-Aryans.[24][23][web 1][web 2][web 3][note 3] They were ascribed by Sanjay Manjul, director of the excavations, to theOchre Coloured Pottery culture (OCP)/Copper Hoard Culture, which was contemporaneous with the Late Harappan culture,[web 4][web 1][note 4] and interpreted by him as horse-pulled chariots.[web 5][web 1] Majul further noted that "the rituals relating to the Sanauli burials showed close affinity with Vedic rituals,[web 1] and stated that "the dating of the Mahabharata isaround 1750 BC."[web 5] According toAsko Parpola these finds were ox-pulled carts, indicating that these burials are related to anearly Aryan migration ofProto-Indo-Iranian speaking people into the Indian subcontinent,[25] "forming then the ruling elite of a major Late Harappan settlement."[26]
Horse-drawn chariots, as well as their cult and associated rituals, were spread by the Indo-Iranians,[9] and horses and horse-drawn chariots were introduced in India by the Indo-Aryans.[27][28][29]
InRigveda,Indra is described as strong willed, armed with athunderbolt, riding a chariot:
May the strong Heaven make thee the Strong wax stronger: Strong, for thou art borne by thy two strong Bay Horses. So, fair of cheek, with mighty chariot, mighty, uphold us, strong-willed, thunder armed, in battle.— RigVeda, Book 5, Hymn XXXVI: Griffith[30]
AmongRigvedic deities, notably the VedicSun GodSurya rides on a one spoked chariot driven by his charioteerAruṇa.Ushas (the dawn) rides in a chariot, as well asAgni in his function as a messenger between gods and men.
TheJainBhagavi Sutra states that Indian troops used a chariot with a club or mace attached to it during thewar against theLicchavis during the reign ofAjatashatru ofMagadha.[31][32]
ThePersians succeededElam in the mid 1st millennium. They may have been the first to yoke four horses to their chariots. They also usedscythed chariots.Cyrus the Younger employed these chariots in large numbers at theBattle of Cunaxa.
Herodotus mentions that theAncient Libyan and theAncient Indian (Sattagydia,Gandhara andHindush)satrapies supplied cavalry and chariots toXerxes the Great's army. However, by this time,cavalry was far more effective and agile than the chariot, and the defeat ofDarius III at theBattle of Gaugamela (331 BC), 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).
Chariots were introduced in the Near East in the 17(18)th–16th centuries BC.[33] Some scholars argue that the horse chariot was most likely a product of the ancient Near East early in the 2nd millennium BC.[34] 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 BC.[35]
According toChristoph Baumer, the earliest discoveries of wheels in Mesopotamia come from the first half of the third millennium BC – 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.[36]
The earliest depiction of vehicles in the context of warfare is on theStandard of Ur in southern Mesopotamia,c. 2500 BCE. These are more properly calledwagons which were double-axled and pulled by oxen or ahybrid of adonkey and a femaleonager,[37] namedKunga in the city ofNagar which was famous for breeding them.[38] The hybrids were used by theEblaite,[38]early Sumerian,Akkadian andUr III armies.[39] 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.[according to whom?]
The Sumerians had a lighter, two-wheeled type ofcart, pulled by fourasses, and with solid wheels. The spoked wheel did not appear in Mesopotamia until the mid second millennium BC.[40]
Chariot use made its way intoEgypt around 1650 BC during theHyksos invasion of Egypt and establishment of theFourteenth Dynasty.[11] In 1659 BC the Indo-EuropeanHittites sackedBabylon, which demonstrated the superiority of chariots in antiquity.[11]
The chariot and horse were used extensively inEgypt by theHyksos invaders from the 16th century BC onwards, though discoveries announced in 2013 potentially place the earliest chariot use as early as Egypt'sOld Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC).[41] In the remains ofEgyptian andAssyrian 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 inc. 1500 BC. 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 ofTutankhamun. Chariots can be pulled by two or more horses.
Chariots are frequently mentioned in the HebrewTanakh and theGreek Old Testament, respectively, particularly by the prophets, as instruments of war or as symbols of power or glory. First mentioned in the story ofJoseph (Genesis 50:9), "Iron chariots" are mentioned also inJoshua (17:16, 18) andJudges (1:19,4:3, 13) as weapons of theCanaanites andIsraelites.1 Samuel 13:5 mentions chariots of thePhilistines, who are sometimes identified with theSea Peoples orearly Greeks.
Examples fromThe Jewish Study Bible[42] of theTanakh (Jewish Bible) include:
Examples from theKing James Version of theChristian Bible include:
Small domestic horses may have been present in the northern Negev before 3000 BC.[43]Jezreel (city) has been identified as the chariot base of KingAhab.[44] And a decorated bronze tablet thought to be the head of alynchpin of a Canaanite chariot was found at a site that may beSisera's fortressHarosheth Haggoyim.[45][46]
InUrartu (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 BC.
AsDavid W. Anthony writes in his bookThe 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 theBronocice pot (c. 3500 BC). It is a clay pot excavated in aFunnelbeaker settlement inSwietokrzyskie Voivodeship in Poland.[47] The oldest securely dated real wheel-axle combination in Eastern Europe is theLjubljana Marshes Wheel (c. 3150 BC).[48]
The laterGreeks of the first millennium BC 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[49]), and the rocky terrain of theGreek mainland was unsuited for wheeled vehicles. The chariot was heavily used by the Mycaenean Greeks, most probably adopted from the Hittites, around 1600 BC.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).On a gravestone from the royal Shaft-grave V in Mycenae dated LH II (about 1500 BC) there is one of the earliest depiction of the chariot in Achaean art. This sculpture shows a single man driving a two-wheeled small box chariot. Later the vehicles were used in games and processions, notably for races at theOlympic andPanathenaic Games and other public festivals in ancient Greece, inhippodromes and in contests calledagons. They were also used in ceremonial functions, as when aparanymph, 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 thePontic–Caspian steppe by theSigynnae.
Greek chariots were made to be drawn by twohorses 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 ortrace fastened to the front orprow of the chariot, as may be seen on two prizevases in theBritish Museum from thePanathenaic Games atAthens, 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 orbasket of the chariot rested directly on theaxle (calledbeam) connecting the two wheels. There was nosuspension, 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 thecollar 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.[50] 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 byErichthonius of Athens to conceal his feet, which were those of a dragon.[51]
The most notable appearance of the chariot in Greek mythology occurs whenPhaëton, the son ofHelios, 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 aphaeton as one who drives a chariot or coach, especially at a reckless or dangerous speed.Plato, in hisChariot 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.
TheGreek word for chariot, ἅρμα,hárma, is also used nowadays to denote atank, properly called άρμα μάχης,árma mákhēs, literally a "combat chariot".
TheTrundholm sun chariot is dated to c. 1500-1300 BC (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 ahorse-drawn vehicle on two spoked wheels in Northern Europe at such an early time is astonishing.
In addition to the Trundholm chariot, there are numerouspetroglyphs from the Nordic Bronze Age that depict chariots. One petroglyph, drawn on a stone slab in adouble burial from c. 1000 BC, depicts a biga with two four-spoked wheels.
The use of thecomposite bow in chariot warfare is not attested in northern Europe.
TheCelts were famous for their chariots and modern English words likecar,carriage andcarry are ultimately derived from the nativeBrythonic language (Modern Welsh:Cerbyd). The wordchariot itself is derived from theNorman Frenchcharriote and shares a Celtic root (Gaulish:karros). Some 20iron-agedchariot burials have been excavated in Britain, roughly dating from between 500 BC and 100 BC. Virtually all of them were found inEast Yorkshire – the exception was a find in 2001 inNewbridge, 10 km west ofEdinburgh.
The Celtic chariot, which may have been calledkarbantos inGaulish (compare Latincarpentum),[52][53] was abiga that measured approximately 2 m (6 ft6+3⁄4 in) in width and4 m (13 ft1+1⁄2 in) in length.
British chariots were open in front.Julius Caesar provides the only significant eyewitness report of British chariot warfare:
Their mode of fighting with their chariots is this: firstly, they drive about in all directions and throw their weapons and generally break the ranks of the enemy with the very dread of their horses and the noise of their wheels; and when they have worked themselves in between the troops of horse, leap from their chariots and engage on foot. The charioteers in the meantime withdraw some little distance from the battle, and so place themselves with the chariots that, if their masters are overpowered by the number of the enemy, they may have a ready retreat to their own troops. Thus they display in battle the speed of horse, [together with] the firmness of infantry; and by daily practice and exercise attain to such expertness that they are accustomed, even on a declining and steep place, to check their horses at full speed, and manage and turn them in an instant and run along the pole, and stand on the yoke, and thence betake themselves with the greatest celerity to their chariots again.[54]
Chariots play an important role inIrish mythology surrounding the heroCú Chulainn.
Chariots could also be used for ceremonial purposes. According toTacitus (Annals 14.35),Boudica, queen of theIceni and a number of other tribes in a formidable uprising against the occupying Roman forces, addressed her troops from a chariot in 61:
The last mention of chariot use in battle seems to be at theBattle of Mons Graupius, somewhere in modern Scotland, in 84 CE. FromTacitus (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 amedieval 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 theHussite Wars, c. 1420, byHussite forces rebelling inBohemia. 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 theHoly Roman Empire's larger forces of mountedknights.
The only intactEtruscan chariot dates to c. 530 BC and was uncovered as part of achariot burial atMonteleone di Spoleto. Currently in the collection of theMetropolitan Museum of Art,[55] it is decorated with bronze plates decorated with detailed low-relief scenes, commonly interpreted as depicting episodes from the life ofAchilles.[56]
In theRoman Empire, chariots were not used for warfare, but forchariot racing, especially incircuses, or for triumphal processions, when they could be pulled by as many as ten horses or even by dogs, tigers, or ostriches.[citation needed] There were four divisions, orfactiones, of charioteers, distinguished by the colour of their costumes: the red, blue, green and white teams. The main centre of chariot racing was theCircus Maximus,[57] situated in the valley between thePalatine andAventine Hills in Rome. The track could hold 12 chariots, and the two sides of the track were separated by a raised median termed thespina. Chariot races continued to enjoy great popularity inByzantine times, in theHippodrome of Constantinople, even after theOlympic Games had been disbanded, until their decline after theNika riots in the 6th century.[58] 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 aQuadriga, from the Latinquadriugi (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 atriga, fromtriugi (of a team of three). A two-horse chariot, or the two-horse team pulling it, was abiga, frombiugi.
A popular legend that has been around since at least 1937 traces the origin of the 4 ft8+1⁄2 instandard railroad gauge to Roman times,[59] suggesting that it was based on the distance between the ruts of rutted roads marked by chariot wheels dating from theRoman Empire. There is no evidence of the distance being used in the millennium and a half between the departure of the Romans from Britain and the adoption of the gauge on theStockton and Darlington Railway in 1825.
The earliest archaeological evidence of chariots in China, a chariot burial site discovered in 1933 at Hougang,Anyang inHenan province, dates to the rule of KingWu Ding of theLate Shang (c. 1250 BC).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.[60]
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 theZhou dynasty, which conquered the Shang ca. 1046 BC, made more use of the chariot than did the Shang and "invented a new kind of harness with four horses abreast".[61] The crew consisted of an archer, a driver, and sometimes a third warrior who was armed with a spear ordagger-axe. From the 8th to 5th centuries BC 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 theWarring-States period (476–221 BC). The main reasons were increased use of thecrossbow, use of long halberds up to 18 feet (5.49 m) long and pikes up to 22 feet (6.71 m) long, and the adoption of standard cavalry units, and the adaptation ofmounted archery from nomadic cavalry, which were more effective. Chariots would continue to serve as command posts for officers during theQin dynasty (221–206 BC) and theHan dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), while armored chariots were also used during the Han dynasty against theXiongnu Confederation in theHan–Xiongnu War (133 BC to 89 AD), specifically at theBattle of Mobei (119 BC).
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.[62][63]
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