Hastividyarnava

and his queen consort Ambika, it deals with the management and care of elephants in the royal stables.

[1] The Hastividyārnava is a work that arose in a matrix of disciplined study, prolonged observation and a precedent tradition.

[2] The treatise itself was written for a ruling monarch, and almost entirely from the view of sustaining monarchy – which elephants are suitable for the kingdom, how they should be trained for use by the nobility and for the purpose of war.

The manuscript is currently housed in the Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies (DHAS) in Guwahati, Assam.

The Hastividyarnava should not be confused with the Hati-Puthi of Auniati Sattra (Majuli), which is a much later work (possibly of the early 19th century).