How the Chariots Became Outdated - Ancient History

Collect 2 Epics for FREE in Raid ✅ pl.go-ga.me/hn... ⚡️Lightsworn + Juliana (after reaching level 15)⚡️Available only via the link and for new players See you on the battlefield!
Kings and Generals animated historical documentary series on the Ancient Civilizations and evolution of the armies continues. Journey through the epochs of ancient warfare as we unveil the rise, diverse variations, and eventual decline of chariots. Explore their pivotal role in shaping civilizations from the Sumerians to the Hittites, Egyptians, Chinese, and beyond. Witness their transformation from cumbersome war carts to symbols of power in epic battles like Kadesh, Qaqar, and Muye.
Discover how chariots symbolized might and terror on Bronze Age battlefields, their evolution influenced by diverse cultures, and their strategic importance in battles across the globe. Uncover the crucial factors that led to their eventual demise, including the emergence of cavalry, advancements in weaponry, and the shift towards professional armies.
Join us in exploring the legacy of this iconic weapon, its significance in ancient military history, and the testament it stands as to the innovation and ingenuity of ancient civilizations.
Thebes - 3d Tour: • History of Thebes - An...
Mycenae - 3D Tour: • Mycenae - What do we k...
Hattusa - 3D Tour of the Hittite Capital: • Hattusa - 3D Tour of t...
How Rome Conquered Greece: • How Rome Conquered Gre...
Did the Trojan War Really Happen: • Did the Trojan War Rea...
Demosthenes: • Demosthenes: Greatest ...
Ancient Greek Politics and Diplomacy: • Ancient Greek State Po...
Pyrrhic Wars: • Pyrrhus and Pyrrhic Wa...
Ancient Macedonia before Alexander the Great and Philip II: • Ancient Macedonia befo...
Diplomatic Genius of Philip of Macedon: • Diplomatic Genius of P...
Etruscans: • Etruscans: Italian Civ...
Ancient Greek State in Bactria: • Ancient Greek State in...
The Greco-Chinese War Over the Heavenly Horses: • The Greco-Chinese War ...
Ancient Greek Kingdom in India: • Ancient Greek Kingdom ...
How the Ancient Olympics Were Conducted: • How the Ancient Olympi...
How did the Oracle of Delphi Work?: • How did the Oracle of ...
How the Greeks Colonized the Mediterranean: • How the Greeks Coloniz...
How Greece was Christianized: • How Greece was Christi...
Support us on Patreon: / kingsandgenerals or Paypal: paypal.me/kings... or by joining the youtube membership: / @kingsandgenerals We are grateful to our patrons and sponsors, who made this video possible: docs.google.co...
The video was made by Sebastiao Reis, while the script was developed by Taran Sekhon. The video was narrated by Officially Devin ( / @offydgg & / @gameworldnarratives )
✔ Merch store ► teespring.com/...
✔ Patreon ► / kingsandgenerals
✔ Podcast ► www.kingsandgen...
✔ PayPal ► paypal.me/kings...
✔ Twitter ► / kingsgenerals
✔ Facebook ► / kingsgenerals
✔ Instagram ► / kings_generals
Production Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsou...
#Documentary #Chariots #BronzeAge

[@KingsandGenerals]

Collect 2 Epics for FREE in Raid ✅ pl.go-ga.me/hn7hvmcu ⚡Lightsworn + Juliana (after reaching level 15)⚡Available only via the link and for new players See you on the battlefield!

[@aboubakrouladabdellah6611]

Day 3 of asking for a tutorial on how you make your vidios 🙃

[@KingsandGenerals]

@@aboubakrouladabdellah6611 unlikely to happen

[@aboubakrouladabdellah6611]

@@KingsandGenerals oh sad

[@AliHaider-ut1qk]

Please make videos on Indo-Pak wars and clashes and British wars if conquest and colonization of India. Thanks in anticipation!!!

[@manojitbasak_0377]

​@@KingsandGeneralsPlease make a video on ISIS

[@oslonorway547]

The chariot didn't become outdated, it slowly metamorphosed for centuries and returned as Toyota Hiluxes. 😎

[@yotaiji012]

😂😂😂 wow. Hahhahahahah

[@lordMartiya]

Fair.

[@shaider1982]

It morphed first into the Tachanka before the Hilux

[@oslonorway547]

@@shaider1982 Tachanka was nowhere near the regions where the chariots were first used, okay! It was a Soviet thing. The militarized Hilux came from the same regions where the chariots originated.

[@simonbolivar6960]

nicely pointed out. i wonder what the equivalent to drones would be for ancient civilizations. Falconry maybe?

[@tyranitararmaldo]

Shame India wasn't covered more. Chariot warfare there was very interesting. Due to (like Britain) isolation, chariots persisted throughout the sub-continent for far longer. Western India (due to more common interactions with nomadic steppe peoples) started to adopt horse breeds strong enough to act as cavalry as a replacement like most other places...but further east, in Bengal, these horse breeds took a lot longer to arrive, meaning the Ratha lasted for far longer. Even out-lasting the British chariots, being recorded even into the Early Middle Ages before finally succumbing.

[@sibimanjale]

Which countries used them and till when it is used ?

[@124085]

Is this an AoE2 reference?

[@tyranitararmaldo]

@@124085 I mean. It did alert me to looking them up.

[@sergiofelipesoncorobledo1488]

Perhaps it help that the Indian cavalry (save for the mountain states and the Gupta noble cavalry) of the Antiquity had in general poor training and equestrian skills

[@davidduchesne8421]

Thanks bro

[@JonathanRivera-dj6mm]

You should do a video about the use of Elephants beyond India and Southeast Asia (the Diadochi Kingdoms, Ancient Rome, Carthage, Epirus, and Persia).

[@celsus7979]

And a special mention of Hannibal's elephant. As i understand, it came from India. If that's true, imagine the journey that elephant made, from India to east Africa. By ship to Spain, crossing the Alps on it's way to Italy. I would love to learn if that's really what happened.

[@celsus7979]

*west Africa

[@shindavid6484]

0@@celsus7979 I think Hannibal's Elephant was a Syrian Elephant.

[@celsus7979]

Yes, but of the Indian kind. I seems to remember it got to Syria as a gift by Persians. But as far as i know there was no elephant breeding outside of India, so the Persians must have gotten them by trade too.

[@matthewryan7775]

Only if they end with the story of Isaac the Jew escorting Abul-Abbas the elephant from Persia to Charlemagnes court!

[@LoneWanderer727]

It's really interesting how, despite the Chariot falling out of use in most forms of warfare - there are still many prominent uses for it in social spheres, events, etc that continued for a while after they fell out. The most obvious would be the races in the circus/hippodrome. Those were very prominent even in the early days of the Byzantine Empire, and continued well into its later years. And we still have a sense of "regality" that comes with them today, I think. If you imagine a Roman triumph, you would probably envision a general riding into Rome on a chariot. You probably think of a Roman Emperor, riding around gloriously on a chariot. Probably well past the period they have fallen out of use.

[@christopherg2347]

It's impracticality made it suiteable as a social status symbol. The centuries of recorded history did help as well. It is like how you would not try to use a F1 Car, Horse Charriot or Pope Mobile in traffic or warfare.

[@LoneWanderer727]

@@christopherg2347 I think there's more of an element of looking back to "classics" that the Romans loved so much. We kind of do that today, but not as much. There's a few wooden sailing shops that go around from time to time. Obviously those serve no modern purpose in, well...anything...other than looking cool and giving people a sense of history. Or when people who invest heavily in medieval armor/weapon kits for tourneys. All just for show nowadays, but they had a purpose in their time.

[@TheMrZ]

​@@LoneWanderer727not to mention British monarchs still being driven from Buckingham Palace to Westminster in a horse drawn cart for state occasions, when a motor car has been far more practical for nearly a century. Pomp and ceremony always uses the technologies of the past as status symbols.

[@miguelsuarez-solis5027]

Kind of like horseback riding today

[@Gorboduc]

IIRC there was a law passed in Athens prohibiting rich women from being driven to the Eleusinian Mysteries in fancy blinged-out chariots. Apparently it was like going to the Met Gala or something, and got out of hand lol.

[@mortache]

I was expecting more discussion of chariots in Indian Subcontinent where the Rathas were supposedly used for quite a long time after the bronze age

[@tyranitararmaldo]

Same. It's quite an interesting bit of military isolation that created such a unique army.

[@afz902k]

Well into the middle ages. Indeed surprising it's not mentioned

[@mortache]

its not that clear cut. In the middle ages it was just for parades, not warfare. @@afz902k

[@afz902k]

@@mortache explains why it's so bad in age of empires

[@mortache]

@@afz902k yeah its sad that a lot of the "exotic" cultures get "exotic" weapons that were just fancy and "ceremonial" irl. Franks get knights and crossbows, and Bengalis get bronze age weapons lol instead of bamboo archers called Paiks focused on countering elephants and cavalry

[@vitorpereira9515]

During ancient times in China, war chariots held significant prominence in warfare. Prior to the Han dynasty, the strength of Chinese states and dynasties was frequently assessed based on the quantity of chariots they possessed. A nation with a thousand chariots was considered a medium-sized country, while a nation with ten thousand chariots was seen as immense and formidable.

[@celsus7979]

Imagine 10000 chariots riding towards you. The sound, the sight, clouds of dust. It must have been terrifying!

[@vitorpereira9515]

@@celsus7979 During the 8th to 5th centuries BCE, China witnessed the peak of chariot usage in warfare. However, despite their increased numbers, charioteers often faced defeat at the hands of infantry. This was primarily due to the adoption of effective tactics by infantry, such as the use of crossbows, long halberds, and pikes. The incorporation of standardized cavalry units and mounted archery techniques further contributed to the infantry's advantage.

[@angusyang5917]

""I am a state of ten thousand chariots and Zhongshan is one of a thousand chariots, how dare she assume a title the equal of mine?" -King Wei of Qi, in response to the ruler of Zhongshan also calling himself a king

[@vitorpereira9515]

@@angusyang5917 I heard about king Wei. In short the King Wei of Qi was a wise and judicious ruler who demonstrated his discernment in various situations. He refused to believe reports of his general's betrayal and was proven right when Qi achieved a great victory. King Wei implemented a reward system for criticism, which resulted in the efficient resolution of issues and a decline in petitions. His effective governance attracted the attention of neighboring states, who came to Qi's court to witness his accomplishments.

[@vitorpereira9515]

@@HistoricalWeapons I have a question. Are the chariots seen in the tv series Legend of Chu and Han accurate?

[@philtkaswahl2124]

I remember when I was a child I thought that chariots were more "advanced" simply because they had wheels. It blew my little mind that people riding the horses generally themselves came after chariots in the history of warfare.

[@orktv4673]

Exactly this, haha

[@321AlterSchwede]

Probably chariots wehre just to expensive to craft. With the money u need to build 1 chariot you could arm 50 horsemen.

[@khankrum1]

Up until that point horses where small and unable to support a rider, save for a light scout.

[@nasseq]

thought it was a bug in Civ xD

[@KravRage]

You put the horse before the cart.

[@alex_spartan1805]

I just finished up a wonderful documentary on ancient Egypt from History Hit TV (KZbin) that explained that Egypt and Mesopotamia lacked the breed of horses that allowed them to be ridden. They were too small and light for horseback riding but perfect for chariots. Later, the Middle East would have the horses imported from invaders such as the Greeks and Mamluks.

[@carolgebert7833]

True! Ancient horses were tiny. And they possibly had a gait uncomfortable for riding, like a donkey. Only breeding made them otherwise.

[@mennorach]

I appreciate how you brought up many different cultures and places that used similar technologies. I had no real knowledge of the Chinese chariots so it was interesting to hear about them.

[@williamyoung9401]

Same here. But one has to assume that the early chariots in Xia probably were made from basic materials that fell apart over time. They probably rotted away until later on when they were made from more sturdy materials and metals. Imagine you were asked to make a chariot with no experience, lol. Therefore, there is no archeological evidence for these first, basic chariots made from basic wood and rope, as humans were starting to get their footing in the world. (4:54)

[@psyconaut3232]

The chariot was one of the main weaponry in the Indian epic Mahabharata, they were massive, powered by 4 horses and all.

[@unbeatablesormon8413]

I support it. I am from Calcutta, India. Chariots/Rathas were used in Indian Subcontinent till The Islamic Aggression.

[@mohammadyeasinkhan6885]

@@unbeatablesormon8413 No offense but quick modification: Islamic Expansion, last time I checked the Hindus discriminated the muslims more than what happened vice versa. So please, its more of a "The Hindus were more Aggressive" than the "The Muslims were incredibly oppressive"

[@SpeedDemon_Editzzz]

@@mohammadyeasinkhan6885 Barbaric muslim invasions👌

[@tvrulz46]

nice try muhamed but how can the invaders of a land that didn’t belong to them be the victims?? The religion of peace chullah worshippers always ignore the bad stuff their own side do… or will you name one thing? ​@@mohammadyeasinkhan6885

[@ravindra7791]

​@@mohammadyeasinkhan6885 Don't make up stuff. "Last time I checked" lol

[@Wolfeson28]

Really, most of those weaknesses mentioned for chariots (more effective ranged weapons, better and more prevalent armor, and better-drilled infantry) apply to regular horse cavalry too. It's just that chariots have far more potential points of failure for those issues to exploit. A cavalryman is always vulnerable since hitting either the soldier *or* the horse (a much bigger target that's also harder to armor) effectively disables it as a combat unit. But with a chariot, there's (usually) *two* horses and *two* soldiers - any one of which being killed or wounded disables the chariot - *plus* the potential for failure of the chariot itself (through enemy action or just hitting a rock).

[@Sacto1654]

Well, this whole story kind of repeated itself when horse-mounted cavalry start to rely on knights wearing heavy armor, which unfortunately slowed down the speed and even maneuverability of horse cavalry. Small wonder why horse mounted cavalry had no chance against massed, long range firepower of the longbow at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

[@arturkaptyug342]

Man this video is getting me really excited to play some more Rome 2

[@warmth9140]

Two point: There was an important horse breed tranfer done after the explorer Zhang Qian reached deep into central asia, though maybe 114 BC was outside the chariot history relevance. Did the breeding of camels affect the abandonement of chariots? They were widespread across the middle east, india, central and northern asia. Maybe that could be another video.

[@gerennichols6075]

Possibly in addition breeding the horse for size, the advent of cavalry had to await breeding the horse to be not only tractabl while in a chariot harness with a driver's full attention but much closer to the modern orse which riders can claim to direct with their knees, or sound or train to routines.

[@starbreeze7249]

Somehow I never thought about how it being more difficult/rare to make bronze arrows compared to iron was a big reason for this. When you have another unit set up to protect your archers, probably your best ones anyway, it shows just how valuable they really became post-bronze age

[@derdingsreturnsnochmal5177]

That part of the video, I don't find too convincing. It's true that iron is a lot more abundant than copper and tin, but an arrow doesn't necessarily need a metal tip. If one doesn't want to waste bronze on them, flint or bone-tips would still have been an option. Slingers don' t require metal projectiles either. It also sounds to me like KaG are overestimating the power of bows by quite a bit. Tod uploaded a new video 9 days ago, where Joe shot for distance. Just see for yourself: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6ebiIeulKyfbsk

[@nathanindarsingh5252]

​@@derdingsreturnsnochmal5177i think the point was that iron arrows were more plentiful as well as vastly cheaper to produce. Bronze had better uses in armor and shields etc because of its expensive nature which was tied to the international tin trade in most cases. Iron? You could fire and forget, and it's very easy to make iron arrowheads from bar iron. I've seen a modern smith turn out an iron arrowhead in under five minutes using very basic equipment and an outdoor forge. Maybe it's just as easy with bronze, but it's definitely not as cheap. Flint would be a good option though, but in an age where everything was transitioning to metal maybe skilled flintknappers were at a premium? That's an interesting pov.

[@adityamohan1773]

But how does that explain decline of chariots in India and China where iron working was already in place? In fact the chariots had many iron components in them. This meant that iron tipped arrows coexisted with chariots.

[@vidarrodinsson2237]

@@nathanindarsingh5252 but Scythians used copper and bronze arrows en masse during the Iron Age. You'd rarely find an Iron arrowhead on a Scythian site. That's simply not true that in Iron Age people were using iron arrowheads en masse. People repeat that bronze is much rarer and costly than iron, but for some reason in Antiquity the archaic Hoplites or Macedonian phalanx used copper armour. So, first of all, bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, and while tin is rare, copper isn't that much rare. And copper doesn't require the process of cleaning the ore from all the slag. During the ancient times (and till High Middle Ages in Europe), people didn't really had a control on how clean the ore is from the slag. And to make an iron, for example, sword, you have to forge it, while to make a bronze sword, you have to mould the metal into the premade form, which is far easier and requires less physical ability and work from the blacksmith. So, in the Iron Age, the amount of work it took to make an iron sword could outcost the relative accessibility of the raw material compared to the copper one or a bronze one (with a very little amount of tin).

[@vidarrodinsson2237]

@@nathanindarsingh5252 and about flintknapping: in Europe this beautiful and very complex art (but a simple technology, off course; despite how simple the technology is, it is hard to make a good flint tool (I tried), and making something like the eccentric flints of the Mayans or even more practical but beautiful things like elaborately symmetrical hand axe is an art that requires a lot of mastery) lasted into Iron Age, but since the Copper age there was mainly a degradation of this art, untill it was largely forgotten. I guess, although I don't know, that in the Middle East this decline was earlier.

[@celsus7979]

The 600 meters range of the composite bow seems generous. Archeryheaven gives a max range of 400 meters for composite bows. Is there a master composite bow archer here who can shed some light on this?

[@friendlygarfield]

not a master but a google search say same as you state crossbow results leaves me in doubt of what video states as fact but main thing I understand from video = missile increase ( many more arrows/bolts ) caused the end to chariots if they was shot at 400meters or 600 is just opinion ( take with pinch of salt ) he makes great videos and cannot be 100% on everything

[@celsus7979]

The effective range would be much lower anyway. An interesting comparison is the English longbow. Tod's Workshop made several videos with the help of an expert bowman. They got to about 250m. It's hard to believe a composite bow could more than double the longbow

[@friendlygarfield]

@@celsus7979 quick google search finds The enormous elastic properties of the composite bow gave it a vicious whip to drive an arrow with immense force, delivering a tremendous punch up to 400 yards. Its absolute range was roughly double this, being two to three times greater than the range of the self bow. ( 400 yards = 365.76 meters )

[@rachdarastrix5251]

@@friendlygarfield Google is also there to decide if you have permission to state a fact.

[@mennorach]

There is a small difference when one is shooting while standing still on the ground and shooting while standing on a platform that is moving fast in the same direction that you are shooting. I can't think of anything else that might give such crazy distances.

[@sonyakinsey4376]

Speaking as horse girl... wagon technology wasn't effient to use until the successive development of a few technologies, such as the horse collar and harness technology and wagon designs that used chains and then springs for suspension, and pivotal axles. That's why people rode gaited horses or mules in Europe, while oxen pulled carts, even up through the 15th century. Sitting in a wagon isn't comfortable without good suspension. A lot of the really important developments came in the 17th and 18th century. That's when we see horse breeds being created specifically for faster travel with coaches and carriages.

[@dirtbird7415]

Good point , I would only add that you can push the use of oxen well into the 19th century. Many folks are un aware that the American westward migration was primarily done with the ox. By comparison the horse is too fragile.

[@karlgrimm3027]

The British kept using chariots long after everyone else had stopped, much to the Roman’s surprise.

[@josephphoenix1376]

Boudicca... Queen of the Iceni!

[@christopherg2347]

More like "how quaint" 18:00

[@eljanrimsa5843]

They still drive on the left so they can wield their spear with the right.

[@dagome_prime]

IMPORTANT AMENDMENTS, 2:15 : On the Sumerian 'Standard of Ur', made c. 2500 B.C. we can see 4-wheeled wagons pulled NOT BY HORSES, but probably other type of the Equidae (ONAGERS?). The four wheeled wagons were alredy in use in Central Europe in the middle of the 4th millenium B.C (Bronocice - Poland, Funnelbeaker culture). They are MUCH older (YEP, 1000 YEARS) than Sumerian depictions. Much more sophisticated, first spoked-wheeled chariots were built by Indo-European Sintashta culture c. 2000-1800 B.C. (Krivoe Ozero - Kazakhstan). The wheel found near Lublyana in Slovenia (c. 2100 B.C.), probably was a part of two-wheeled cart. So we do not know, if the war-wagons/chariots were invented by Sumerians. Most likely - not.

[@robertflanagan2335]

Thank you! I made a similar comment. The Sumerian war wagons are not the ancestor of the war chariot.

[@dagome_prime]

@@robertflanagan2335 👍 Many thanx! They usually underestimate the East and the Steppe 😉. The research is much more complicated 😉. BTW: 5:16 Almost all of those mentioned chariot-riding deities were of Indo-European origin.

[@lefter6708]

this

[@lefter6708]

but one correction - as far as i know sintashta made spoke wheels, but neverheless wheels were an indo-iranian invention from the steppes

[@dagome_prime]

​@@lefter6708 I'm not sure, if I understood correctly. So, let me put it this way: 1) Sintashta (and Andronovo) are Proto-Indo-Iranian. Proto-Indo-Iranians come from Eastern Indo-Europeans of Corded Ware culture. Of course there was a long, complicated process of intermingling with other ethnic groups all the way to modern Iran and India. 2) The wheel has been in use at least since c. 3400 BCE among the Pre-(not-yet)-Idno-European Funnelbeaker culture. Check the #Bronocice pot - the oldest depiction of wheeled wagon in the world ('Bronocice' - the village in modern day Poland). But: 'Funnelbeaker people'😉dwelled near by the Proto-Indo-Europeans (Yamnaya and others), so we do not know who invented the wheel: Indo-Europeans or 'Funnelbeakers' (or someone else?). Anyway, the 'Funnelbeakers' were the first to show off 😎😉.

[@notoriousbigmoai1125]

Historian: Why did chariots become outdated? Russian: Don't you dare insult our TACHANKA!!!

[@Ben1159a]

They keep losing tanks like they are they might be forced to use chariots!!

[@GeorgeKovacs-no3yq]

Excerpt that Tanchakas were developed by Makhno of the Ukraine.

[@tuluppampam]

​@@GeorgeKovacs-no3yqit is not certain who developed it, and both Polish and Ukrainians used them. Also russians, but they very clearly did not come up with the idea.

[@jmhinnen]

Another reason for cavalry supplanting chariots: stirrups. Being able to plant your feet on horseback made you more stable when swinging a weapon. Before stirrups, cavalry were either archers or mounted infantry that would ride to a battle and then dismount.

[@KonradvonHotzendorf]

Europe only got the stirrup in 8th centry Alexander charged in on horseback

[@georg3489]

Konrad is right, stirrups being adopted into European warfare only happened in the 7th or so century. Cavalry would rarely ever dismount for combat, but they also wouldn't charge in the same way later European knights did. It was more like a speedy gallop to make the enemy run away and if they didn't, the riders would simply slow down and start slashing or thrusting. Safe to say there were definitely mounted melees on horseback before the stirrup. The instance you're likely referring to is the anecdote from Livius (I believe) where he tells us about cavalrymen dismounting during the melee on the right flank at Cannae . We don't exactly know what happened there, but this is a rather isolated example of dismounted cavalry combat in a myriad accounts of mounted clashes even a millenia before the stirrup was introduced.

[@KonradvonHotzendorf]

@@georg3489 Getting hit by a lance charge would seriously mess up your infantry formation Those Knights where loons The classic Knight would dream of melee combat Stirrups allowed the lance charge and them swinging a 🇩🇪WW1 shovel afterwards They hit them hart🐎

[@georg3489]

@@KonradvonHotzendorf Well yes, which is why ancient cavalry basically never frontally charged infantry. They were always placed on the flanks against the enemy cavalry, and would charge the flank and rear of the infantry formations given that they'd win. When stirrups were introduced it allowed for Lancers, that is to say a charge with a couched lance. Since information in dark age warfare is pretty spotty, we don't really have a good idea of how this style of warfare developed, but it's safe to say that ancient cavalry fought for much longer periods per battle than later knights, at least for the most part. This is partly because the armies were much smaller, but also because early to high medieval western European tactics placed great emphasis on shock, aka short and decisive combat. The ancient cavalrymen would instead engage in hours of chaotic man to man combats on horseback, with spears, swords and javelins. So yeah it was a great development when it came about, but the point we were making is that the chariot was long forgotten as a weapon of war by the time stirrups were even invented.

[@dgray3771]

Chariot racing remained prevalent. And the entire idea of heroes or god's riding a chariot is kinda like seeing a formula 1 driver doing his victory lap on the modern racing course.

[@Eric_Malbos]

Very informative, clear and well illustrated video. Compliments. I also very much like your articulation and British Standard accent, it sounds very elegant like an officer of the Empire in Star Wars (it reminds the briefing in the Tie Fighter video game) and it is easier to understand for non native English speakers such as myself. Hats off ^_^

[@theawesomeman9821]

According a friend of mine who's ridding horses both on horseback and carriage, riding on horseback is so much more mobile and easy to drive.

[@robbabcock_]

What a fascinating deep dive! I'd never really thought about why chariots declined but it makes a lot of sense, especially as regards the evolution/selective breeding of horses.🐎⚔🔥

[@victorsanchez5336]

The breeding of horses that can pull heavy chariots lead to the development of stronger horses that are capable of carrying armored soldiers for heavy cavalry

[@alexram184]

Thats not how evolution works.

[@ianover6838]

@@alexram184 No but it is how selective breeding works

[@eljanrimsa5843]

One could think so, but the actual evidence points to a different chain of events. The horse was probably domesticated 3500-3000 BC, and the first evidence of regular riding in the form of typical bone deformations in human skeletons is also from around 3000 BC. But in warfare, the horse was mainly used to draw chariots for a long time. This slowly started to change when first the Cimmerians in the 8th century BCE, then the Scythians from the 7th century BCE onwards successfully attacked the Assyrians on horseback. The Assyrians took note, and developed their own counter-cavalry and learned to sit forward on the horse like the Scythians did, and we still do. The Scythians were also among the first to breed what we would call medium-weight horses, so the bigger size of the horse actually did play a role as well. In the following centuries the ancient Persians built on the Assyrian horse knowledge and developed a heavy cavalry, breeding horses big enough for the purpose. Likewise the Sarmatians followed the Scythians in the steppes and developed their heavy cavalry around the same time.

[@roihanfadhil2879]

Hey kings & generals, speaking about assyrian chariots, you remembering me for your forgot mesopotamian series about the reign of hammurabi 🙏🙏. Will you guys plan for continuing it? I have waiting it for long time 😉👌.

[@KingsandGenerals]

At some point

[@brandonmejia7050]

Very fascinating that we can look back in history and discuss how different aspects of war would have such a major impact on human civilization. Chariots would be the ideal unit in open warfare until the switch to cavalry. Forts could sustain a siege more effectively until the introduction of cannons and black powder. Even the famous Greek phalanx would see its fall.

[@xvrcr800]

This script writer needs a raise

[@AryaOghuz]

Very important correction: The first chariots used specifically for war (the spoked wheel chariot) were not (as far as current historical research indicates, but I am not going to say with absolute certainty that the Sumerians didn’t also develop something independently of the steppe) developed by the Sumerians, but rather the Sintashta culture (or maybe the slightly later Andronovo culture) of the Central Steppe. This form of chariot quickly spread out to other cultures and found great success and use among the peoples of Mesopotamia. Like I said, perhaps both groups developed chariots independently, but the amount of horses present on the steppe compared to other regions greatly diminishes the chance of independent Mesopotamian development. For reference, look up the populations of horses in the world in the early Bronze Age and copper age. The only significant number of horses was found in the Western steppes of Ukraine and southern Russia. The idea that the chariot was developed in Mesopotamia is stated on sites like Wikipedia and Britannia but more detailed articles and papers about this topic usually ascribe the invention to the peoples of the Sintashta or maybe the later Andronovo culture. Also not discussing chariots in India is leaving a vital portion of the history of this form of warfare out, chariots were used in India in a more significant capacity for longer than they were in Mesopotamia and China.

[@josephphoenix1376]

Thutmose 3rd at Meggido was the 1st historically recorded battle with Chariots!

[@aaftiyoDkcdicurak]

Didn't he lose but recorded it as a victory.

[@MountainSilver]

Thank you for addressing this topic

[@silverspade8394]

this video gave me an idea as you mention advances by Assyrians. How about covering The Battle of QarQar. The age of the battle and sheer number of combatants seems fascinating. A 12 nation super army Coming together and still failing to defeat the Assyrians and how such an enormous alliance came to being kinda seems interersting

[@SchoolforHackers]

Never heard of this before! It sounds like a Tolkien-level story.

[@silverspade8394]

@@SchoolforHackers yea i read about it after going down the bronze age collapse rabbit hole. Wild how 12 Armies coordinated all that time ago. I think its also the first time in history the word arab(one army of the alliance) is mentioned.

[@SchoolforHackers]

@@silverspade8394 Oh boy. You have just given me several lumps of gold. Thanks! And yes: I’m falling down the same hole, researching the Indus Valley Civ (Harappans) and early Ashokan Empire. KZbin history channels are great, but not all are as well-researched as this one.

[@almalayuwiyyah2512]

@@SchoolforHackers assyrian is real mordor. they are legit evil empire. they use terror to control the population. they were hated so much that the fall cause of alliance ganging on them

[@ilari90]

Crossbows of that time 450 meters? High armour penetration? And bows half kilometer? Quite fantasy stats, too fantasy, I bet. Think about the power it would need. Also crossbow isn't no more armour penetrating than bows are. Also the kind of crossbows chinese had couldn't have been same type like windlass bows in medieval times and those needed high loading times with windlass crossbows and most of the power goes to the iron bow part and doesn't that effectively translate into the bolt as modern crossbows do so those ranges can't be possible, in my mind. Tod's Workshop should comment this.

[@tahagi7006]

Briton longbowman has range ground 160- 200 yard in zero wind condition. If shot from hill with strong wind maybe it can reach around 300 -350 yard.

[@aaftiyoDkcdicurak]

And also what is the accuracy of these weapons at those ranges.

[@CapitanCarter]

@@aaftiyoDkcdicurakindividual accuracy doesn’t matter with massed missile troops (which is why late 19th century rifles were sighted out to 2km).

[@digitalnomad9985]

By the late Roman Empire times a lucky crossbow bolt (of the mechanical advantage windup type crossbow) could impale an entire file of lightly armored infantry, and was overpenetration for any armor which could be worn. This is not true for the arbalest type (charged with no mechanical advantage). If the slower rate of fire of the crank type did not have a compensating advantage in power, it would never have been made.

[@ilari90]

@@CapitanCarter still if a longbowman can get about 10-30 meters over the base range from a tower (todd's workshop) it doesn't mean that these miracle crossbows could shoot anything like 450 yards, it's just pure fiction, even on massed situations as the basic crossbows never could have been faster and more powerful for everyday-crossbowman use than the windlass and the tech it got inside it after hundreds of years, it just didn't happen in the bronze age and afterwards for a while. At least I'm a sceptical about how the crossbows are said to be "armour piercing", a basic red flag for me, which means for me that person doesn't understand what makes todd's "Lockdown Longbow" and his friends shooting be applicable on target range. Crossbows being stated as armour piercing is more of a fantasy thing, they didn't pierce them more than bows did usually, and usually people used lighter crossbows compared to the power of english longbows.

[@luqcrusher]

Chariots fell out of favour as we literally bred more jacked horses into being able to be ridden on. Amazing

[@eljanrimsa5843]

More importantly we learned how to ride in a way that we can fight at the same time

[@pakshirajan8585]

Please make a video on Indo-Scythians (Saka) ❤❤❤

[@johnguill6129]

Ancient depictions of those Sumerian war carts had them pulled by donkeys or oxen. Horse drawn carts came later.

[@dagome_prime]

Probably by donkey-onager hybrid called 'Kunga'. Horses and two wheeled chariots are steppe, Indo-European 'devices'.

[@yj9032]

Kings and generals is my comfort KZbin channel

[@asumegealisonsume9095]

Sumerian chariots were pulled by onagers, not horses. Horses had not yet arrived in Mesopotamia during the Sumerian period

[@Teemaino]

I havent watched the video yet, but I bet it because of those daaamn Sea People

[@theromanorder]

please do a video on these (this is a copy and paste list for a few channels) A video on the Chinese tactics and formations like you mentioned units and tactics/evaluation of loadouts of troops (from different jobs (and other branches) like the 82 snd 101 airborne units or infantry tank units, (or when tanks were assigned a infantry unit like i think earlier war Russia then all tanks were formed into there own units wich meant the infantry no longer knew the true strength of there own tanks but alowed tank units to fight more efficiently) the tank doctrine of countries evaluation of tank veiw ports evaluation of tanks/armored vehicles of different countries evaluation of aircraft types of different countries, different between navil and army/air force fighters logistics units of the axes and allied powers in ww2 ww1 estern front tactics Russian Civil war tactics and strategies navil ship cross sections (all the rooms and how it all works) evaluation of types of ships or evaluation of navil warfare air craft carrier strike group formations exsamples (from different countries) ancient persan ships, ancient veneti ships (gauls that fought ceaser) ships used by genoa and the vernesain republic the vernesain republic government all sailing ships, (i know theres many on yt but some contradict each other and i think theres more left out) cast vs welded vs rivited tank armor 2b9 vasilyok morter tactics used so far in the Ukraine war, better for squads to be 2 teams of 5 or 3 teams of 3, and probably the easiest, better to keep troops well feed or starved like an animal how dose age effect comsnders eg napoleon got older so took less risks, ancient urban warfare ww2 tactics in Asia, tactics in the Chinese age of warlords, (and Chinese civil war) tactics in the ruso jap war cold war navil tactics, Korean war tactics, strange tactics or unque battles from the American war of independence and America civil war how were 17th centry sailing ships build types of bombs lunched by drones comands given on sailing ships (like ease the sheets and get ready to chine, or slack n beases, basically things you hear movie capitns say) why did the nazis never return (or a video on best occupations) why did the Japanese empire fall, dont just say "America" like things like how there army and navy argued alot alot more on the Polynesians and māori, but please learn pronounceations if you do this

[@gentlemans7579]

Horses got bigger, got it.

[@bold810]

They all had their cataleptic converters roto-hammered off, so when eachs registration came due year after year, no of them could pass the Smog test,so they sold them to a fleet dealer in Goa.

[@omarbradley6807]

when do you plan to release the remaining Pacific War episodes from 1943?

[@MattttG3]

*If you enjoy this channel, you will love ‘Fall Of Civilizations’ and its episode on the Assyrians. It’s probable whoever made this script watched that episode and came up with this idea to include them and that passage halfway through from Tiglaf PalAzza*

[@abhyudayasinhchauhan6499]

Very informative❤

[@-RONNIE]

Thanks for the video

[@thomasrinschler6783]

2:30 Sumerian war-carts were pulled by donkeys or oxen, as horses would not be domesticated until centuries later.

[@thepowerofGod111]

This video will be great

[@jamesforreal]

Interesting video. The chariot disappeared and yet it sort of returned, in the form of mechanical vehicles.

[@freeway4108]

MBT and IFV

[@jeffmcclay7587]

Holy crap I can’t wait to listen to this on repeat!!

[@maddogbasil]

*Yo K&G* 👋👋 *Can We see a video on the Ancient Cushites of the horn of africa* *Macrobians, Punt, Trading city states and much more*

[@maou8253]

It's a very underrated technology in the history of warfare, but chariots truly were a dominant force in the whole known world for centuries. They looked supremely elegant, too.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

“Chariots … SO bronze age :P” - First iron age king, probably

[@sidp5381]

Well done as usual but I have to ask. When are you guys planning to do another behind the team interview hopefully this time with Devon himself it’ll be nice to see what he really looks like.

[@KingsandGenerals]

December is busy, but we are doing our best to coordinate

[@SlashHarkenUltra]

I always get weird looks when I ride my chariot to the grocery store; now I know why.

[@pharaohmedjaylawofmedjay2680]

Can you do video on Archer Who was Best Archers in History Ancient Egyptian an Nubians Medjays OR The Samurai Who Was Better Archers

[@volbound1700]

Great series, you usually don't hear a lot about the distant ancient world so this was interesting. I like how you followed China as well in their explanation and use.

[@Sacto1654]

aka. The longbow and the crossbow with the long-range firepower operated foot soldiers that could move quickly put a quick end to the war chariot. And this process repeated itself when heavily armored horse-mounted knights were no match for the long range and flexible firepower of the long bow at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

[@professorsogol5824]

5:30 "one-spoked chariot". How would a one-spoked wheel work? Such a spoke would need to handle forces in compression, tension and shear.

[@brianabare7515]

This is the video I wanted! Thanks for including the East as well!

[@jessealexander9074]

Best history channel

[@LucasHenrique-it2io]

please, more videos about ancient military tecnology and ancient warfare

[@GordonFreeman-sl6pi]

Fun fact, the word for "Tank" in French is "Char", short for chariots (same word in French and English). So to the French, the Leclerc is a Main Battle Charriot.

[@peterkratoska4524]

The wagons or carts at the beginning of the video are not chariots. Chariots have spoked wheels and are meant as light fast transport for javelin throwers and archers with a separate driver. The earliest chariots (long before the Hittites) were the Sintashta people in central asia.

[@alexanderfox-robinson4910]

If one is to be pedantic then where else but the comment section. Chariots didn't dominate the forests of Brittania. They werent very effective in tight spaces, but i know what you meant. Great video!

[@sergiofelipesoncorobledo1488]

It is interesting to note that, while the most advanced chariots in concept, such as those manned by an armored archer and drawn by protected horses, or the heavy four-horse, four-occupant chariots designed for shock, disappeared by the 5th century B.C. more or less (except in India and China); while the most basic concept of a chariot (the biga manned by a charioteer and a javelin driver) persisted in Europe for several more centuries.

[@ladyofthemasque]

The chariot saw its decline not only after a sturdy and strong enough group of horses had been bred for riding, but also after the stirrup came into existence, allowing a rider to control their horse better, to stay in the saddle easier...and to literally rise up to use their own leg-power to deliver stronger blows to their enemies, highly useful when the horse was at a standstill as well as when the horse was moving around. Chariots were much more easily damaged when at a standstill, because any part of the chariot, harness, or horses were fair game, a very large series of targets that could be struck. But you had to get a debilitating blow on the horse, and its harness was considerably smaller as a target than the harness used to hitch horses and their chariot together. Additionally, if you're close enough to strike a melee blow to a horse-and-rider, you're mostly within range of the rider, but with a chariot, you could be some distance from the driver and warrior and be disabling the horses up at their heads while they're still trying to reach you from several feet past their hind ends. Prior to the development of the stirrup (a foot-accessible loop of wood or metal dangling from a leather strap firmly attached to the saddle), the most riders had was a sort of toe-loop on the girth strap, forcing the rider's legs to bend in unnatural positions, in order to maintain a literal foot-hold around the horse's torso.

[@hiimryan2388]

I would like to mention the earliest forms of stirrups were made to ride the horse and not for charging

[@Jesse_Dawg]

The burning animation between different scenes kinda hurts my eyes. I think it is because it is flashing dark and light multiple times. I love your videos. Please make the scene change animations have less flashes. Thank you and have a good one Flashing animation example is at 6:45

[@Ranchor489]

I'd say that chariots of today or even the last century is where the horse became some sort of light vehicle with a driver and with the archer a gunner of sorts. It's a fascinating comparison.

[@goldenwarh]

the super popular new age unit, The spearman, has charge-defense against large, so leaders switch to the faster Cavalry to outflank enemy

[@dbell1016]

Thanks!

[@matthewtown9410]

A kinda famous use of them was early Mithradatic wars. At that point no one expected them and infantry where in front to block sight of them until last minute. Just like elephants, they hit hard and do a lot of damage but only in the right circumstance after tech and tactics advanced.

[@manuelgarciabarbero1872]

Another great video of yours

[@anthonyklanke1397]

Super interesting vid :) I learned tons today ❤

[@leopantig6360]

It couldn't catch up with the times.

[@kristian2497]

I know this is a small thing, but can't help being a smartass here regarding your intro. Isn't Megido the oldest recorded battle in history? Seem to recall even you call Kadesh the 2nd oldest in that video's title 😉 haha

[@KingsandGenerals]

It is a meme within the team at this point. But, yeah, Megiddo is currently a better candidate

[@kristian2497]

@@KingsandGenerals hehe understandable. Great video regardless though!

[@Dan-uf2vh]

Maybe there is another reason: it is said earlier horses were smaller. It would be practical for pairs of them to pull at chariots instead of being ridden. As the horse was bred for bigger and bigger size, eventually the mounted horse became the more practical alternative.

[@crybabylebongo]

chariots dont make sense to me

[@hiimryan2388]

@@crybabylebongoy

[@linnharamis1496]

Thanks for the interesting and informative video.👍

[@Tiri_the_takehe]

Please list your sources in your video description!

[@klakier19901]

Missile technology underwent certain improvements... I don't have SC, so I can mention, that the developments stopped about 30 years ago...

[@Amadeus8484]

I often wonder if the rise of the Iron Age making better farm tools would also help with the breeding of horses.

[@Arrowgrab]

A great video! However, I do have to pick at a point: near the end, it mentions scythed chariots, which had "spinning blades" attached to the wheels. I'm admittedly no historian or archeologist, but my understanding is that the rotating blades are, in fact, a Hollywood fabrication, and were quite stationary in real life. Are there any specific and reliable sources which desribe the blades as spinning? Here's my reasoning based on what I could find about the matter. Modern automobiles have an engine which generates power. This power is transmitted to the axle, making it turn. The turning of the axle, in turn, makes the wheels turn, and the friction between the turning wheels and the road makes the car move forward. A chariot, however, works very differently. The forward motion comes from being pulled by the horses. No internal source of force is making the wheel turn - in fact, the purpose of the wheel is simply to reduce friction by turning rather than sliding in the manner of a sled. Since there is no internal force that needs to be transferred to the wheels through the axle, the axle doesn't NEED to spin, and my understanding is that doesn't. (In fact, if it did, turning would be extremely difficult without a differential gear.) The axle is stationary, and the wheels moves independently of it and each other (the axle goes through a whole in the center of the wheel, but there's nothing "locking" the two together). As I understand, the scythes were attached to the end of the axle which juts out through the hole in the wheel, not to the wheel itself. And since the axle doesn't turn, neither does the scythe. But, again, if someone has reliable sources saying otherwise, I'd love to see them. Also, another practical note: if the scythes were turning, that would mean that they would be hitting the enemy with the flat of the blade roughtly half the time. What would be the point of that?

[@LuigianoMariano]

"The chariot was the Tank of the Bronze Age" 1. Chariots were a very expensive investment. Particularly so when you didn't have assembly lines and interchangeable parts. 2. You're OVERSTATING the FLIMSY durability of a chariot by comparing it to a Tank of all things. If anything, it was actually a Motorcycle with a Sidecar which also has NO armor to speak of.

[@LoneWanderer727]

I think you're overthinking it. Especially when you consider early tanks, they also required a lot of investment and there wasn't a streamlined industrial complex to mass produced tanks. And some had little armor to speak of, maybe being able to protect from small arms fire. But certainly not heavier weapons or later anti-tank ammunitions. They were just as vulnerable to counters in the forms of AT, mines, traps/terrain (especially for earlier tanks). And all tankd struggle mightily by themselves without infantry support or other tanks. Just as an example for the investment side of things - look at the Tiger project. MASSIVELY expensive, unable to be easily produced due to complex components & resource issues. Constantly breaking down in the field due to those components experiencing issues or terrain interfering with the tank. Several renditions of chariots did serve as shock units. Some served as skirmishers. Other serve more auxiliary roles, and some had specialty purposes that were more niche. Which is sort of like tanks - not all of them are the same in the role they serve on the battlefield. They aren't all just heavy infantry support tanks that rush in and blow things up. Some are are light skirmisher or recon focused. Others might be designed to counter a specific type of unit (ie tank destroyers, SPGs, etc,). So while it obviously isn't a complete 100% accurate comparison, it also is an unfair to look at the roles they served in the battlefield in their time periods. Similar to how cavalry have served armored roles throughout history.

[@aaftiyoDkcdicurak]

The horses were the expensive part. Sometimes when they say chariot they are referring to the horse, rider and chariot itself as one thing which adds confusion.

[@reneedailey1696]

This feels a bit hyperbolic. Tanks are big and great for intimidation, as well as causing damage- Hence chariots being their forebears. It's like bows being the guns of the ancient world.

[@ira_qi]

Please make a video about the Iraqi revolution in 1920

[@georgeprchal3924]

Sometime between Gaugamela and Watling Street.

[@volbound1700]

Small detail but at 7:12, you have Asshur were Babylon was. Asshur was in Northern Iraq while Babylon was in Southern Iraq.

[@ramtin5152]

17:12 Didn't fail Cyrus the great during his battles though 17:19 Which battle is this ? 17:42 That's not the Achaemenid flag, that's Seleucids'

[@ralambosontiavina7372]

Great work !

[@manfredconnor3194]

I think it is a more important question to ask: "How did chariots even become a 'thing'?" I must admit that I am largely uneducated about them. However, they seem terribly impractical as military weapons. You'd have to have very flat ground or steppes with no stones or depressions in order to employ them. An enemy with any time for preparation could easily thwart them by building a small, knee-high, piled stone wall or by digging a small, relatively shallow trench. They might also simply find favorable terrain, such as rough broken ground or some hills or cliffs with a protected height advantage. You cant take chariots over rivers, through trees or use them to fight effectively up hills or in mountains. They do not levitate and the damned things do not have shock absorbers, which must have made for one hell of a bumpy ride! They were not often pulled by the kind of horses portrayed in this video, but more often than naught by much smaller horses akin to ponies or icelandic horses. Mules and asses (donkeys) were also used. This brings to mind the ludicrous ( at least to the modern mind) concept of war-asses! 😅 Chariots would have been prone to breakdowns and mechanical failures. Chariots were indeed impractical for all the reasons listed in this video. It seems they could have only been used in prepared set-piece battles on prepared and pre-agreed upon battlefields. So imho a better video would have been about how the damned things even came to be used as weapons of war in the first place. Clearly they were used and must have been considered effective. It is interesting how widespread they were from the Chinese in the East to the Celts in England with their perhaps most well-known use having been in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern regions. (I am largely uneducated about their use in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, but I am sure that they loomed large there at one time as well.) If they were so crappy, which they were, then why were they used at all? I guess the answer lies in the fact, that no matter how crappy they were from our modern perspective, they held great advantges over the standard foot infantry of the time.

[@SydrenJerek]

This video really helped me realize how little I understand Roman warfare. That the Roman soldiers in Britain were faced with chariots and found them profoundly outdated. The chariots I associate with Rome we’re for pomp and ceremony, parades to raise soldiers off the ground level and to show off captured treasure and slaves. Then sports betting for chariot races. I’d watch a video on common misconceptions of Roman military technology.

[@psssshhh7730]

When chariots sprung up, it was because the horses of that age were too small to carry a man's weight. Their current size is after alot of selective breeding - originally they were smaller than wild asses. They provided a really shitty cavalry unit that needed two animals, men and a cart to do the job of a single mounted archer (their direct upgrade) and also were crippled by ditches/barricades, hard terrain, wheels breaking over a stray pebble...it was pretty sad.

[@Ray-fk4vh]

Bronze isnt weaker than iron, especially at the dawn of the iron age, it was just a lot cheaper to arm your armies with iron weapons and armor cause iron was abundant and you just needed the iron deposit, meanwhile tin & copper deposits are required for bronze. Its odd you guys dont mention that here cause im pretty sure you guys did mention something about iron being economically much more viable in your sea peoples video.

[@idnyftw]

now we have technicals pretty much reviving the concept those middle-eastern ancestors must be nodding in approval

[@triadwarfare]

7:33 interesting history lesson here. If horses were strong enough back then, we could have skipped the chariot and had ridden them on horseback. It was due to early understanding of breeding were we able to make horses suitable for horseback riding and cavalry.

[@oddish2253]

The Merkava is still deployed today.

[@Makaneek5060]

You're telling me that wild horses aren't gigantic Clydesdales? Scandalous.

[@hereticalgames3695]

Idk my dad’s standing deck zero turn seems like a premier mowing option.

[@quarkfnts]

Can you please make your videos in spanish as well. I know my dad would love watching these types of videos if only he could understand the language. I believe the channel would get huge as well.