Jaipur and Udaipur Palace Paintings
I visited Jaipur and Udaipur Palaces in Rajasthan, India in the early 80's. I can distinctly remember Rajput miniatures contemporary to the 17, 18 Centuries in the palace galleries, depicting elephants holding edged weapons in their trunks.
It is also accepted that at battle of Haldighati on June 18, 1576, the Rajput Chief Rana Pratap's beloved horse 'Chetak' had it's leg slashed by a sword attached to a rampaging Mogul elephant. This is common knowledge here.
I have absolutely no doubt at all, that War elephants in India carried edged weapons in their trunks, may not be all of them but certainly many of them.
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