Tanaji was 70 when he (& team) scaled a cliff & captured Kondana. The Maratha empire would start expanding from this point & would end up ruling most of the Indian subcontinent (Attock to Cuttack). (Attock is in modern day Afghanistan, Cuttack in Odisha).
In Ponniyin Selvan, Kalki refers to an octogenarian Chozha king who enters the thick of battle & reverses a losing battle, inspiring his soliders to win.
Per some conflicting accounts, an aged Pandya king manages to use the monsoon rains in favor & repels Malik Kafur (heading Alauddin Khilji's huge army) near Tirunelveli.
The last king of Vijayanagara, Rama Raya, an octogenarian, led the final battle against the Deccan (Dakshin) Shia Sultanate. A betrayal by his commander (he had chosen to ignore intelligence reports) led to the complete destruction of Vijayanagara, then the 2nd largest & most prosperous city in the world. Chennaiites would remember that when the Portuguese were running rampant, including destroying the famous Kapaleeshwarar temple on Marina beach & replacing it with the Santome, Rama Raya had defeated them & forced them into a treaty to treat the natives well. After Rama Raya's death, the Portuguese would dishonor the treaty. The ruins of the Kapaleeshwarar were moved to Mylapore & rebuilt.
Given the Veera Parampara of these aged warriors of this ancient land, maybe the Indian army should reconsider its early retirement policy.
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