#history
Horse in Rgveda.
The term “Ashva” in Rgveda had diverse meanings. In Early Rgveda, any swift creature or force are mentioned as Ashva!
The term was used to mean any swift animal, like deer, antelope, goat, sheep and even birds.
In Early Rgvedic Period, some of these swift animals were used to pull carts and chariots, apart from bulls as the draft animals.
Horses are mentioned in the Mid and Late Rgveda. Horse races and horse chariot races are mentioned in the Late Rgvedic Period as favorite hobbies of the Rgvedic kings apart from hunting and game of dice.
Horse chariots became prominent in Late Rgvedic Period, after 2200 BCE.
Kasi was a major center of horse trading. It was at Somasravayana between Kasi and Kampilya, Arjuna obtained excellent horses from Gandharva Angaraparna. Horse trading by various kings who ruled along the Ganga is hinted in the tragic story of Madhavi. In Mahabharata, the urge to get bigger and faster horses is expressed in numerous slokas.
Horses in the Gangetic plains were smaller. Bigger and faster horses were imported from the banks Sindhu in Vanayu (Gomal River Valley of West Pakistan), Kashmir, Ladakh, and southern Tibet near Manasarovar / Kailas.
Still, they were smaller than today’s special breed horses, as such breading occurred only after 1st century CE.
