Elephant racing enough to accommodate nine participating elephants. Elephants are entered into the races from many villages. Two mahuts or jockeys ride on each elephant - one to steer it and another to goad it to race fast. A musical instrument made of horns of the elephants is blown first to assemble the elephants at the starting gate, then another sound is blown to signal the elephants to take the starting line and be set for the race, and with the third blow of the horn, the race is signaled. The elephants generally race at a speed of 25 mph with the
Elephant sword merchant Afanasii Nikitin recorded the use of these weapons in India in the 15th century. A Persian illustration titled "The Battle of Pashan Begins" from the "Shahnama" ("Book of Kings") of Shah Tahmasp, from Tabriz circa 1530s, shows an elephant in battle equipped with elephant swords (the battle depicted occurred centuries earlier). It is possible that as many as thousands of elephant swords were manufactured over the years, but only four pairs plus a single specimen are known to exist today. Elephant sword An elephant sword, also called a tusk sword, is an edged weapon designed to be attached to