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:''For the torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle ridden by two frogmen, see
Human torpedo''.
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A '''chariot''' is a two-wheeled, horse-drawn
vehicle. In
Latin '''biga''' is a two-horse chariot, and '''quadriga''' is a four-horse chariot. It was used for
battle during the
Bronze and
Iron Ages, and continued to be used for
travel,
processions and in
games after it had been superseded militarily. Early forms may also have had four wheels, although these are not usually referred to as chariots. The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots for use in battle was the
spoked wheel. In these times, most horses could not support the weight of a man in battle; the original wild horse was a large pony in size. Chariots were effective in war only on fairly flat, open terrain. As horses were gradually bred to be larger and stronger, chariots gave way to
cavalry. The earliest spoke-wheeled chariots date to ca.
2300 BC and their usage peaked around
1300 BC (see
Battle of Kadesh).
Chariot races continued to be popular in
Constantinople until the
6th century.
In modern warfare, the tactical role of the chariot is played by the
tank. In
World War I, just before the introduction of the first tanks, motorcycles with machine-guns mounted on a sidecar constituted a mechanized version of the chariot, and the
Russian tachanka briefly re-introduced horse-drawn chariots, armed with machine-guns.
==Early forms==
Image:Standard of Ur chariots.jpg
The earliest depiction of chariots is on the "battle standard" of
Ur in southern
Mesopotamia, ca.
2600 BC. The vehicles depicted are more properly called carts, still double-axled and pulled by tamed asses or
onagers. Such heavy chariots may have been part of the baggage train rather than vehicles of battle in themselves. The Sumerians had also a lighter, two-wheeled type of chariot, pulled by four onagers, but still with solid wooden wheels.
==Indo-Iranians==
The
Indo-Europeans, particularly the
Indo-Iranians, have been connected with the invention of the spoke-wheeled chariot. The
Mitanni would have spread the invention in the Middle East.
Some
kurgans contain warriors that have been buried together with their horses and their chariots. Chariots figure prominently in Indo-Iranian mythology. Chariots are also an important part of
Hindu as well as of
Persian mythology, with most of the gods in their
pantheon portrayed as riding them. The
Sanskrit word for a chariot is ''ratha''.
==China==
Chariots were already in use in the
Xia Dynasty, in the
17th century BC. The earliest chariot burial site, discovered in
1933, dates to the rule of King
Wu Ding of the
Yin Dynasty.
==Egypt==
The chariot, together with the horse itself, was introduced to Egypt during the reign of the
Hyskos dynasty in the
16th century BC. In the remains of
Egyptian and
Assyrian art there are numerous representations of chariots, from which it may be seen with what richness they were sometimes ornamented. The chariots of the Egyptians and Assyrians, with whom the bow was the principle arm of attack, were richly mounted with quivers full of arrows. The Egyptians invented the yoke saddle for their chariot horses in ca.
1500 BC.
The best preserved examples of egyptian chariots are the six specimens from the tomb of
Tutankhamun.
==Hittites==
The
Hittites were renowned charioteers. They developed a new chariot design which had lighter wheels with four spokes rather than eight, and which held three, instead of two warriors. Under
Suppiluliuma I, the Hittites conquered
Kadesh and finally all of
Syria.
The
Battle of Kadesh of
1299 BC was probably the largest battle ever fought with chariots, with some 5000 chariots involved.
==Chariots in the Bible==
Chariots are frequently mentioned in the
Old Testament, particularly by the prophets, as instruments of war or as symbols of power or glory. The first mention is in the story of
Joseph (
Genesis 50:9).
Examples (
KJV):
*
Song of Solomon 1:9 ''I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.''
*
Isaiah 2:7 ''Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.''
*
Jeremiah 4:13 ''Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.''
"Iron chariots" are mentioned in
Joshua (17:16,18) and
Judges (1:19,4:3,13) as weapons of the
Canaanites.
1 Samuel 13:5 mentiones (in exaggerated numbers) chariots of the
Philistines, who are sometimes identified with the
Sea Peoples or
early Greeks.
==Persian Empire==
Among the
Persians there was a class of chariot having the wheels mounted with sharp, sickle-shaped blades, which cut to pieces whatever came in their way (
scythed chariots). This was probably an invention of the Persians;
Cyrus the younger employed these chariots in large numbers.
Herodotus mentions that the
Indus satrapy supplied cavalry and chariots to
Xerxes' army. The defeat of
Darius III at the
Battle of Gaugamela marked the end of the era of chariot warfare.
==Ancient Greece==
The
Mycenaean Greeks made use of chariots in battle. Administrative records, mainly in
Knossos, list chariots (''wokha'') and their equipment. The
Linear B ideogram for a chariot (B240, 𐃌) is an abstract drawing, showing two four-spoked wheels. The chariots fell out of use with the end of the mycenaean civilization, and even in the
Iliad, the heroes use the chariots merely as a means of transport, and dismount before engaging the enemy. Chariots were retained only for races in the public games, or for processions, without undergoing any alteration apparently, their form continuing to correspond with the description of
Homer, though it was lighter in build, having to carry only the charioteer.
The
Greek chariot was made to be drawn by two
horses 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 or ''trace'' fastened to the front of the chariot, as may be seen on two prize
vases in the
British Museum from the
Panathenaic Games at
Athens, Greece,
in which the driver is seated with his feet resting on a board hanging down in front close to the legs of his 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 or ''basket'' of the chariot rested directly on the
axle connecting the two wheels. There was no
suspension, 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 central pole was probably attached to the middle of the axle, though it appears to spring from the front of the basket. At the end of the pole was the
yoke, which consisted of two small
saddles fitting the necks of the horses, and fastened by broad bands round the chest. Besides this the harness of each horse consisted of a
bridle and a pair of
reins. 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 the collar bands or yoke, and were long enough to be tied round the waist of the charioteer to allow him to defend himself.
The wheels and basket of the chariot were usually of wood, strengthened in places with bronze or iron. They had from four to eight spokes and tires of bronze or iron. Most other nations of this time had chariots of similar design to the Greeks, the chief differences being the mountings.
==Celts==
The Celts were famous chariot-makers, and the English word ''car'' is believed to be derived, via
Latin ''carrum'', from
Gaulish ''karros'' (English ''chariot'' itself is from
13th century French ''charriote'', an augmentative of the same word).
Some 20
Iron Age chariot burials have been excavated in
Britain, dating roughly from between
500 BC and
100 BC, virtually all of them in
East Yorkshire, with the exception of one find of
2001 from
Newbridge, 10km west of
Edinburgh.
Chariots play an important role in
Irish mythology surrounding the hero
Cu Chulainn.
==Roman Empire==
''See main article
Chariot racing.''
The
Romans probably borrowed chariot racing from the
Etruscans, who themselves borrowed it from the Greeks, but the Romans were also influenced directly by the Greeks especially after they conquered mainland Greece in
146 BC. In the Roman Empire, chariots were not used for warfare, but for processions and for
chariot racing. The main centre of chariot racing was the
Circus Maximus. Chariot races continued to enjoy great popularity in
Byzantine times, in the
Hippodrome of Constantinople, even after the
Olympic Games had been disbanded, until their decline after the
Nika riots in the
6th century.
==Russian Tachanka==
The chariot was briefly revived during the
Russian civil war of
1918–
1920, when the "
tachanka", a two- or four-wheeled cart with a machine-gun mounted on it, enjoyed a limited tactical success in the
Red Army. Since the gun had to be pointed away from the horses, it operated by firing in a direction opposite or lateral to the direction in which the tachanka was moving. One man drove the horses, while another, or a team of two, operated the gun.
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