Horses and elephants were both a very essential part of the war cavalry in old India wars. While the use of horses with archers and swordsmen is quite popular, elephants were used in siege operations and bringing down doors and breaking into fortresses. If you visit old forts across India, guides will enlighten you about special chambers used to throw boiling oil on unsuspecting elephants that are trying to break in. Since the size of the elephants slows them down, it was more difficult for these creatures to retreat and save themselves in time.