INDIA. PART II. powers. worship, for he can work miracles and forgive sins. HISTORY OF His benedictions can bring down health, wealth, and long life; whilst his curses can burn up armies, remove mountains, change the courses of rivers, or hurl Maharajas from their thrones. By virtue of these His temporal supposed spiritual powers he exercises very large temporal powers. He can excommunicate an offender from his family, as well as from his sect or caste; and he alone can restore the degraded wretch, who otherwise is doomed to a life of utter solitude and despair. the family amongst the an yas. Amongst the ancient Kshatriyas to whom the Question of whe Mahá Bhárata refers, there may possibly have been hita, existerPurohitas, but there certainly were no Gurus. It is cient Kshatrinot wholly impossible that Drona, whilst instructing the Kauravas and Pándavas in the use of arms, may have acted as a family priest. But the ancient Question of Gurepresentatives of the modern Gurus were mythical Rishis, or sages, of whom Vyása is pre-eminently the type; and their presence is not only never ne- ing them. cessary to the story, but is invariably foisted on to the Kshatriya tradition by some supernatural details which sufficiently betray the nature and object of 2 The following texts in the Aitareya Brahmanam indicate not only that it was the duty of a Raja to engage a Purohita, but that the ancient Rajas were sometimes disinclined to engage a Purohita. "Now about the office of a Purohita. The gods do not eat the food offered by a Raja who has no Purohita. Thence the Raja, even when not intending to bring a sacrifice, should appoint a Brahman to the office of Purohita. "This Agni Vaisvanara, who is the Purohita, is possessed of five destructive powers. With them he surrounds the Raja for his defence, just as the sea surrounds the earth. The empire of such a ruler (Arya) will be safe. Neither will he die before the expiration of the full life term (100 years); but live up to his old age, and enjoy the full term apportioned for his life."-Haug's translation, Vol. II. pp. 528, 530. Dr Haug is of opinion that the institution of a Purohita, as a political functionary as well as a house-priest, may be traced back to the remotest times. See introduction to the Aitareya Brahmanam, p. 67. His opinion is valuable, but his proofs are inconclusive. rus amongst the ancient Kshatri yas,disproved by the mythic character of the traditions respect PART II. Garbling of the and Gurus. HISTORY OF the interpolation. Moreover it must always be borne INDIA. in mind that the later Brahmanical compilers of the Mahá Bhárata were undoubtedly Gurus, and that by the Purohitas the reciters or readers of the Mahá Bhárata are to this day either family priests, or Bráhmans engaged for the purpose. Consequently every opportunity has been afforded to the Bráhmans for carrying out their interested purpose of exalting their own caste in the eyes of the community at large. 3rd, Legend of the son of the Bhil Raja. Illustrative of the supremacy exercised by the Aryan tribes over their abo riginal neighbours. dern condition of the Bhils. But to proceed with the traditionary history of the great war of Bhárata. During the period that Drona was instructing the Kauravas and Pándavas in the use of arms, an incident occurred which throws an unexpected light upon the supremacy exercised by the Kshatriya settlers in the Raj of Bhárata over the aboriginal populations in their neighbourhood. Ancient and mo- Amongst all the Hill tribes which appear to represent the more ancient inhabitants of India, and which have preserved their rude habits and manners to the present day, there are none more remarkable than the Bheels or Bhíls. These people still occupy the hill tracts of Rajputana and central India, and in ancient times seem to have dwelt in much the same localities; having Rajas or Chieftains of their own, but acknowledging or dreading the supremacy of the Kshatriyas. In the Mahá Bhárata they appear to the south of the Jumná, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the Raj of Bhárata; whilst in the Rámáyana they make their appearance further to the east, near the junction of the Jumná and Ganges. To this day the Bhíls are cattle-lifters, highway robbers, hunters like Nimrod and Esau, capable of almost any outrage, yet imbued with a sense of truth and honour strangely at contrast with INDIA. PART II. their external character. At the same time, they HISTORY OF are yielding so perceptibly to the personal influence of British administrators, and the advancing tide of British civilization, that within a few generations they will be probably converted into peaceful and industrious men. The legend of the son of the Raja of the Bhíls The legend. may now be related as follows: of Rajas to Has son of the Bhil When the Kauravas and Pándavas were well practised Flocking of sons in the use of arms, so that men could see their strength and tinapur to learn archery from skill, the fame of Drona became noised abroad, and many Drona. sons of Rajas flocked to the city of Hastinapur to take lessons from so great a preceptor. And it came to pass Arrival of the that the son of the Raja of the Bhíls came to Hastinapur, Raja. and prostrated himself at the feet of Drona, and prayed that he might be taught to shoot with the bow. But Drona Drona refuses to refused to teach the Bhíl, saying:-"The Bhíls are a race of highwaymen and cattle-lifters, and it would be a sin to teach them the use of weapons." At these words, the Sorrow of the son of the Bhíl Raja returned to his own country, but he was very sorrowful, for he had greatly desired that Drona should teach him the use of the bow. teach the Bhil. Bhil. a clay image of learns archery by practising be fore the image. After this, the son of the Bhíl Raja made a clay image The Bhil sets up of Drona, and he set it up, and performed worship before Drona, and it; and he practised the use of the bow in the presence of the clay image. And after many days the young man acquired great skill in archery by virtue of the clay image, and the fame of his shooting was spread abroad on all sides, and great complaint was made to Drona, that by his means the Bhíl had become a mighty archer. So Drona went to the Bhíl country, accompanied by all the young men of the royal house of Hastinapur; and they beheld the shooting of Drona contemthe Bhíl, and saw that it was very good. And Drona de- the Bhil's archtermined to spoil the archery of the Bhíl, and he called to strained by his him and commanded him to cut off the forefinger of his right hand. And the Bhíl fell down and worshipped Drona, plates spoiling ery, but is re submission. PART II. HISTORY OF and prepared to do as he had been commanded; but the INDIA. heart of Drona was touched by the obedience of the Bhíl, and he ordered him to stay his hand and leave his forefinger whole. But Drona still feared lest the Bhíl should become too powerful an archer; and he bound him over by a solemn oath never more to shoot with his forefinger, but to draw his arrow through his middle fingers only; and this became the custom amongst the Bhíls, and they shoot the bow with their middle finger until this day. Review of the foregoing tradi tion. ship paid in modern to Cause of the alarm of the Kshatriyas. The foregoing significant tradition bears generReligious wor- ally the stamp of truth. The devotion which is favourite heroes, implanted in the breasts of Indian soldiery at the deeds of some daring hero, will frequently lead them to pay divine honours to his image; and it is notorious that the gallant John Nicholson was worshipped by his men as a demi-god, although with a soldier's simplicity he punished all who engaged in such unhallowed rites. The display of feeling on the part of the Kshatriyas at finding that the Bhíl was as good an archer as themselves, would be shared by any band of foreign settlers who were called upon to maintain an ascendancy over a native population Facter of the age, by their superior skill in warfare. The cruel intention of Drona to cut off the forefinger of the Bhíl may be accepted as an illustration of the barthe alleged cus- barous character of the age. The final statement, Bhils shoot the however, that the Bhíl obeyed the command of middle fingers Drona, and that the whole tribe adopted the custom of shooting with their middle fingers only, may be fairly questioned. It is scarcely in accordance with human nature that a tribe so numerous as the Bhils should have obeyed a law so detrimental to their efficiency in war, and one which no enemy could have enforced. Moreover, in the present day Barbarous cha Refutation of tom that the bow with the only. the Bhils have lost all memory of the tradition, and HISTORY OF shoot their arrows in the usual way.3 INDIA. PART II. hibition of arins a tournament. of public exhi (1.) The exhi amvara. The legend of the public exhibition of arms at 4th, Public exHastinapur, at which the Kuravas and Pándavas dis- at Hastinapur. played their skill before all the Chieftains and ladies of the royal house, is exceedingly curious and interesting; inasmuch as it was evidently an institution of the Kshatriyas, resembling in a remarkable degree Resemblance to the tournaments of the age of chivalry. Sometimes these public exercises took place, as on the present Three varieties occasion, to enable the younger Chieftains to display bition of arms, their prowess before all the people of the Raj. At bition proper. others however it was undertaken at a Swayamvara, (2) The Swayfor in certain cases the daughter of a Raja was not called upon to indicate the husband of her choice, but became the passive prize of that Kshatriya who distanced all his compeers in the performance of some difficult exploit. Under these latter circumstances the Swayamvara seems to have borne so strong a resemblance to the tournament, that it might almost be regarded as the origin of the institution. Subse- (3.) Professional quently, at a later period in the history of Hindú wrestling. civilization, the feats of arms were no longer performed by Chieftains of high rank, in the hope of winning a Princess as a bride; but the exhibition degenerated into a mere prize ring, where professional boxers and wrestlers fought each other, or fought with bears and tigers, for the pleasure of the For this information I am indebted to Colonel R. J. Meade, the agent to the Governor-General in Central India, and to Lieutenant T. Cadell, the Bhil agent. Lieutenant Cadell kindly attempted to verify the tradition by directing a number of Bhils, who were in his camp, to practise at a butt; but they all drew the bow with the fore and middle fingers, the arrow being held between the two, and declared that they did so after the manner of their ancestors. They knew no tradition of the custom mentioned, but the Karkoons, or writers, who were present, had heard or read of it. pugilism and |