Elephant duels were a historical martial practice where opposing army leaders engaged each other on the battlefield in

single combat Single combat is a duel between two single warriors which takes place in the context of a battle between two armies. Instances of single combat are known from Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The champions were often combatants who repre ...

on the back of

war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elepha ...

s. They are documented in historical records from

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, mainly in present-day

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

from the 11th Centuries and

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

from the 13th to 16th centuries. Some authors describe elephant duels as a semi-ritualized engagement, held between high-ranking leaders of equal status to determine the outcome of a conflict in lieu of full-on fighting between large armies of comparable strength which would otherwise lead to massive casualties. Others apply the term to any engagement between mounted elites in the battlefield. The practice in Southeast Asia is believed (as first proposed by Prince

Damrong Rajanubhab Prince Tisavarakumarn, the Prince Damrong Rajanubhab ( Thai: ; Full transcription is "Somdet Phrachao Borommawongthoe Phra-ongchao Ditsawarakuman Kromphraya Damrongrachanuphap" (สมเด็จพระเจ้าบรมวงศ์เธ� ...

in '' Our Wars with the Burmese'') to have been influenced by the Sri Lankan Buddhist chronicle ''

Mahāvaṃsa The ''Mahāvaṃsa'' (, Sinhala: මහාවංශය, Pali: ''මහාවංස (Mahāvaṃsa)'' – written in the 5th century CE) is the meticulously kept historical chronicle of Sri Lanka written in the style of an epic poem written in t ...

'', which describes a duel between Duṭṭhagāmaṇī and the Tamil king Eḷāra in the 2nd century BC. Probably by this association, duels were seen as a heroic deed that demonstrated a ruler's prowess and prestige. The earliest mentions of elephant duels in Thailand are found in inscriptions and chronicles of Sukhothai and

Lanna The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...

from the late 13th century. The last duel in history—and probably the most famous, featuring prominently in Thai historiography—was that between King

Naresuan King Naresuan the Great (( th, สมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช, , ) or Sanphet II ( th, สรรเพชญ์ที่ ๒), ( my , နရဲစွမ် (သို့) ဗြနရာဇ်); 1555/1556 – ...

of Ayutthaya and the Burmese ''

uparaja Uparaja or Ouparath, also Ouparaja ( my, ဥပရာဇာ ; km, ឧបរាជ, ; th, อุปราช, ; lo, ອຸປຮາດ, ''Oupahat''), was a royal title reserved for the viceroy in the Buddhist dynasties in Burma, Cambodia, ...

Mingyi Swa , image = , caption = , reign = 15 October 1581 – , coronation = , succession = Heir Apparent of Burma , predecessor = Nanda , successor = Minye Kyaws ...

at the

battle of Nong Sarai A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 1593. However, the legendary duel itself is likely apocryphal. Analyzing various primary sources,

Barend Jan Terwiel Barend Jan (Baas) Terwiel (born 24 November 1941) is a Dutch-Australian anthropologist, historian and Thai studies scholar. He has written books on ethnology of Tai peoples and Ahom, the history and culture of Thailand as well as historical trav ...

in 2013 concluded that the confrontation did not involve a formal duel in the strict sense. In any case, the spread of firearms introduced by the Portuguese rendered elephant-mounted combat largely obsolete after the 16th century, and elephant duels subsequently disappeared from the pages of history.

References

{{reflist Warfare of the Middle Ages Dueling War elephants Military history of Southeast Asia Military history of Thailand Military history of Myanmar