The article debunks the claim that horses are native to India and were domesticated there in prehistoric times, clarifying that the extinct species Equus namadicus disappeared around 11,700 years ago and is only known from fossils, not cave art. Bhimbetka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Bhopal, is renowned for its ancient rock shelters and petroglyphs, some possibly dating back 700,000 years, making it crucial to understanding human evolution and cultural history in South Asia. However, the horse depictions in Bhimbetka’s paintings are much more recent, likely no older than 2,500 years, coinciding with the arrival of horses in India with the Vedic people around 1500-1000 BC.

The article emphasizes that horses were domesticated on the Eurasian steppe around 2200 BC and appeared in India only during the Megalithic period, with the earliest clear evidence from the early Swat culture around 1600 BC. Horse riding emerged globally only after 700 BC, and horse breeding in India began much later, around 1200 AD. Bhimbetka’s significance lies in its layered history of human occupation and art, from prehistoric engravings and Mesolithic paintings to historic scenes with horses and elephants, reflecting evolving human societies rather than early horse domestication in the region.