The elephant punishment, also known as elephant torture, is a form of capital punishment and corporal punishment practiced historically in South and Southeast Asia. The punishment was used to execute criminals and as a form of public torture and humiliation. The criminals were crushed by elephants trained for the purpose.
When was the elephant punishment used?
The elephant punishment was used from the Middle Ages until the early 20th century. The practice was first recorded in the 13th century and continued during the Mughal Empire and British Raj periods in South Asia. It was eventually outlawed under pressure from the British during the 19th century, although there were still some isolated cases into the early 20th century.
Where was the elephant punishment used?
The elephant punishment was primarily used in South and Southeast Asia, including India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The practice was spread across the region by empires such as the Cholas and Srivijaya as well as later South Asian Muslim sultanates.
Some of the key places where the elephant punishment was practiced include:
- India – Used during the Mughal Empire and in some princely states until 1947.
- Sri Lanka – Used by the kingdom of Kandy until British colonial rule in 1815.
- Myanmar – Used by the Konbaung dynasty until the end of absolute monarchy in 1885.
- Malaysia – Used in Negeri Sembilan until late 19th century.
- Indonesia – Used in Sumatra and Java until end of Dutch East India Company rule.
Why was the elephant punishment used?
There were several reasons why the elephant punishment was used in South and Southeast Asia historically:
- Public execution – It served as a painful form of capital punishment and public warning against serious crimes.
- Torture – Elephants were used to torture prisoners or crush the enemies of rulers.
- Entertainment – Elephant executions were seen as public spectacle and entertainment by some rulers and crowds.
- Demonstration of power – It displayed the rulers’ power over life and death.
- Deterrence – The horrific nature was meant to deter others from committing crimes.
Overall, the public spectacle and painful nature of death by elephant made it an effective tool for maintaining control and deterring transgressions against the state or rulers.
How was the elephant punishment carried out?
The elephant punishment was carried out using trained elephants and specific techniques to maximize pain and public spectacle. Here is a step-by-step overview of how it was typically administered:
- The prisoner would be brought into a public square or space, often tied to stakes or pillars.
- The trained execution elephant would be brought into the space, often with its handler guiding it.
- The elephant would approach the prisoner and begin to inflict trauma by gouging, dismembering or crushing parts of the body.
- Usually the elephant would not immediately kill the prisoner, in order to prolong the torture.
- The elephant would crush the prisoner’s body repeatedly to kill them and mutilate the remains.
- Often the crushed remains would be left on display for the public afterwards.
Several techniques were used to train the elephants to undertake these actions on command. Food rewards, praise and intimate knowledge of elephant behavior helped handlers direct them during the executions.
What types of crimes resulted in the elephant punishment?
The elephant punishment was reserved for very severe crimes against the state or rulers. Some of the key crimes that often resulted in this form of execution included:
- Treason
- Rebellion
- Sedition
- Regicide (killing a king)
- Banditry
- Looting or sacking a city
- Smuggling
- Counterfeiting coins
- Violent robbery such as dacoity
- Kidnapping a member of the ruler’s family
Methods such as hanging, beheading or shooting were often considered insufficient punishment for such crimes, thus execution by elephant was employed.
Were members of the nobility executed by the elephant punishment?
The elephant punishment was almost exclusively used for commoners or lower class criminals. Nobles very rarely received this form of execution.
There were a few isolated cases of royals or nobles being executed by elephant. For example:
- In 1305, the Chola prince Sundara Chola was executed by elephant for plotting against his brother King Rajendra Chola II.
- In 1561, Portuguese colonial nobleman João da Cruz was executed by elephant in Cambodia for inciting a rebellion.
- In 1714, four noblemen were crushed by elephants in Jaipur, India for conspiring against Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II.
However, in most cases, royals were either exiled or given the “honorable” death of hanging or beheading instead of public elephant execution.
Were women executed by the elephant punishment?
There are very few historical records of women being executed by the elephant punishment. It appears to have been exclusively used for men.
Social views on gender likely influenced this. Crushing by elephant was seen as too vulgar and indecent a public spectacle for women. Executions of female criminals usually involved private methods like hanging or beheading.
One isolated example is Ching Shih, a notorious female pirate in 19th century China. After being captured, she was originally sentenced to the elephant punishment but avoided it by negotiating to work for the government.
How did the elephant punishment end?
The elephant punishment began to decline and be outlawed from the late 18th century onwards under pressure from European colonial powers.
The British particularly pushed South Asian rulers to end the practice, viewing it as uncivilized. However, some resistance remained:
- Ceylon (Sri Lanka) – Outlawed by 1815 after British rule began.
- India – Banned in most states by late 1800s but some rulers resisted. Used until 1947 in Baroda and Kochi.
- Malaysia – Ended by late 1800s after pressure from British administration.
- Myanmar – Used until the fall of the Konbaung dynasty to Britain in 1885.
Isolated cases occurred into the early 20th century but it was completely extinct as an official practice by around 1920.
Were any other animals besides elephants used for executions?
Elephants were the most common animals used for state executions in South and Southeast Asia. However, there were some other examples of animals being used as executioners:
- War elephants – Battle elephants trained to execute enemy troops.
- Horses – Trained “trampling” horses used in Persia and medieval Europe.
- Dogs – Attack dogs used to kill prisoners in Spain under the Spanish Inquisition.
- Crocodiles – Used to dispose of corpses and possibly execute criminals in Indonesia.
- Snakes – Forced ingestion of poisonous snakes used in ancient India and China.
However, elephants were preferred due to their intelligence, ability to be trained, immense strength and symbolic association with rulers and authority.
What effects did the elephant punishment have on the elephants?
The elephant punishment had several negative effects on the elephants forced to carry it out:
- Mental trauma – The elephants often displayed signs of PTSD from being conditioned to kill humans.
- Physical injury – Executions put the elephants at risk of injury from the victims trying to defend themselves.
- Shorter lifespan – Many execution elephants died young due to stress and overwork.
- Aggressive tendencies – They sometimes had to be isolated from other elephants to prevent attacks on trainers or handlers.
Many execution elephants were eventually euthanized once they developed mental distress, injuries or behavior problems from the work. Those that survived were generally retired from executions once they became resistant to commands from trainers.
Were execution elephants common outside of South/Southeast Asia?
The training of elephants for executions does not appear to have been practiced to any large extent outside of South and Southeast Asia historically.
There are a few isolated examples in other regions though:
- Ancient Rome – On rare occasions elephants were used in the Roman Colosseum to kill convicts sent to die.
- Medieval Europe – A handful of examples exist of elephants being used for public executions in medieval Europe.
- Ottoman Empire – In 1805 an Ottoman official in Egypt reportedly had killers executed by elephants as intimidation.
However, the extensive use of elephants over centuries for executions was unique to South and Southeast Asian culture and elephant handling traditions.
Conclusion
The elephant punishment was a brutal method of public execution unique to South and Southeast Asia, inflicted using trained elephants. This form of capital punishment served as a painful deterrent for serious crimes but declined in the 19th century under European colonial pressure. While the practice caused immense suffering for human victims, it also left psychological and physical scars on the elephants forced to carry out the killings.