Before a battle they had a war-dance in which the performers were armed and imitated a combat.

To be carried on the shoulders of one of the combatants was a great honour, perhaps because it symbolised being on horseback.

The object was to obtain success in battle by going through an imitation of a successful battle beforehand.

This was also the common custom of the Red Indians, whose war-dances are well known; they brandished their weapons and killed their foe in mimicry in order that they might soon do so in reality.

The Sela dance of the Gonds and Baigas, in which they perform the figure of the grand chain of the lancers, only that they strike their sticks together instead of clasping hands as they pass, was probably once an imitation of a combat.