Currently many Santanis argue that India was invaded only by the British and Mughals. They believe that the Mughals came to India 1,000 years ago, before which for thousands of years India was an unbroken pristine civilisation without caste, class or cruelty. They also believe that this fact is hidden by history textbooks.

However, what history textbooks teach us is the following: India has been invaded several times, for over 3,000 years, by horse-breeding tribes from the steppes, grasslands north of the Himalayas, the last of whom were the Mughals, and the Mughals came only 500 years ago. These horse-breeding invaders came in three waves.

The first wave was that of the Aryans. Despite attempts by Sanatanis to argue that Aryans were originally from India, genetic data shows that vast numbers of Steppe pastoralists came into India around 1500 BC. This changed the genetic landscape of India with new male chromosomes mixing with local female chromosomes. This change coincided with the arrival of horse-drawn spoked-wheel chariots.

Aryans were the south-eastern or Indo-Iranian arm of Indo-European steppe pastoralists who had domesticated the horse around 2000 BC, and had invented the spoked wheel chariot that was light enough to be pulled by the two horses. This military innovation rapidly became popular around the world. By 1500 BC we find their presence in ancient Egypt, in ancient Mesopotamia, in ancient China, and in ancient India.

In ancient Egypt, we find images of pharaohs riding into battle to fight their enemies. In ancient Mesopotamia, we find images of Shenshahs hunting lions on chariots. During China’s Shang dynasty, kings were buried with horses and spoked wheel chariots. In India, at this time, we find the many songs describing the horse sacrifice and rituals like the Ashvamedha Yajna and epics like the Mahabharata where we find the spoked wheel chariot pulled by multiple horses with a charioteer (Krishna) and an archer (Arjuna).

The second wave of horse-breeding tribes involved cavalry, not chariots. These were Steppe warriors such as the Yavanas or Indo-Greeks of 300 BC, the Shakas or the Scythians and the Pallavas or the Parthians from 100 BC, the Kushans or Central Asian Chinese from 100 AD, and ultimately the Hunas in 500 AD. These were mounted archers, whose images are found in Sanchi and Bharhut stupas.

As per art, it is in India that we find the invention of the toe stirrup. The saddle came later with the Hunas which gave them greater stability while riding. These were the conquerors of India who controlled the trade routes between Afghanistan and India through the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush. It is during their rule that we find Buddhism spreading to Central Asia and then to China. It was during their rule that Brahmins began migrating to the south in search of new patrons.

The third horse-breeder invasion happened with the arrival of Islam, but more importantly a new technology — the use of iron stirrups to sit on horses and wooden saddles. The saddle and the stirrup made the horse a far more dangerous weapon and this started pouring into India about a thousand years ago, and it is this which led to the formation of the Delhi sultanate and later the Mughal empire. With these horses and bows in their hands, we have a bunch of knights riding around the countryside establishing sultanates.

Horses are not native to India. The hot, humid, rainy weather makes it tough to breed them. Breeding of horses in India, in drylands of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Deccan, and Ladakh began only after 1000 AD. Traditionally horses have been imported by land and sea from Central Asia and Iran.

We realise the importance of horses when we find across Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain lore. Arjuna and Krishna ride chariots. Kalki rides horseback. Buddha travels around his city on a chariot but leaves his palace on horseback. Horse is the symbol of Jain Tirthankar Sambhavnath. Vishnu also has a horse-headed form called Hayagriva to defeat a horse-headed demon who was stealing the Vedas (foreign tribes?).

Across the subaltern communities of India, we find horse-riding gods like Ramdev-ii, Gogapir, Teja-ji and Khandoba, Golu-dev and Dharma-thakur, and Aiyanar, which are all testimonies to these multiple horse invasions into India, and their links to Indiaʼs ruling elite, many of whom had links with foreign lands.