elephants were widely used across the indian subcontinent and south asia as a method of execution. the english sailor robert knox, writing in 1681, described a method of execution by elephant which he had witnessed while being held captive in sri lanka. knox says the elephants he witnessed had their tusks fitted with "sharp iron with a socket with three edges". after impaling the victim's body with its tusks, the elephant would "then tear it in pieces, and throw it limb from limb".