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statements equally erroneous, absurd, and ridiculous. And as these rest on the same authority as their chronology, it is obvious that, as far as containing any authority of themselves, they are all to be regarded alike; that is, not as works of fact but of fancy and fiction; not as works of reason and revelation, but of romance and imagination.

*

It is evident that no reliance can be put in works containing such statements in chronology, geography, and astronomy. Doubtless some of the kings and sages, whose names are mentioned and whose exploits and wisdom are celebrated in these works, were real personages, but the accounts of them are so intermixed with fancies and fables that no confidence can be put in them. The ancient history of India must be compiled from a discretionary use of such facts and fragments as can be gathered up, and these must be arranged according to the most approved chronology used in the history of other nations.

ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS.

The people we now commonly call Hindus and whose religion is called Hinduism or Brahminism, were not the first

beyond them, and Venus is at the same distance beyond Mercury. Mars is at the same distance beyond Venus. Jupiter is at the same distance from Mars, and Saturn at the same distance beyond Jupiter. From Saturn to Ursa Major is 800,000 miles, and from Ursa Major to Druv (the polar star) is 800,000 miles. The residence of the chief gods is 8,000,000 miles beyond Druv, etc.

* The following is from their Shasters:-Mount Meru or Sumeru is of the shape of an inverted cone, and is 128,000 miles in circumference at the base, and 256,000 miles at the top. On this mountain are the different heavens of Vishnu, Sheva, Indra, etc. The clouds ascend about one third the height of the mountain. There are great mountains around the base, on which are trees 8,800 miles high, and producing fruit as large as an elephant. Around this mountain are several countries, the farthest of which is surrounded by a salt sea. Beyond are six other seas, namely, the sea of sugar-cane juice, the sea of spirituous liquors, the sea of clarified butter, the sea of curds, the sea of milk, and the sea of fresh water. Beyond all these seas is a country of gold as large as the rest of the earth; beyond this are chains of mountains, and then a land of darkness supposed to be hell. Strange as these notions appear, they have been believed in India for many hundred years past. I have often seen maps of the earth drawn by the Hindus according to these notions, with mount Sumeru in the centre of it, and then the different seas encircling it.

inhabitants of India. This is evident from the ancient history of the country (such facts and fragments as we have of it), and from the present state and character of the inhabitants. There are no means of ascertaining when the first inhabitants settled in the country. Probably it was soon after the dispersion of mankind from the great valley of the Euphrates. The climate, the fertility, and the rivers of India would naturally make it an inviting country for settlement. All records and all traditions refer to the west and the north-west, as the source whence the population flowed into the country. The first inhabitants of India were a rude people, who in the course of time became divided into different governments. The different languages still in use show the nations into which India was at some early period divided, while the rude tribes in different parts of the country, who have little or no knowledge of the Brahminical system are clearly the remains of the original population. The Bheels in central India, the Coolees in Gujerat, the Goands in Orissa, and the Shanars and other tribes or castes in the southern provinces of the peninsula, are scattered fragments of the aborigines, or earliest population of the country. They had not the distinctions of caste among them, and they had no sacred books. Their principal objects of worship were imaginary spiritual beings, who were believed to inhabit certain places, sometimes to appear in a visible form, and to interpose as they pleased in human affairs. They had priests of their own class, who pretended and were believed to have communication with these supposed spiritual beings and to be able, by incantations, prayers, offerings, and imprecations, to avert their displeasure and to secure their favor. Some of these beings were supposed to be benevolent, but they were generally believed to be malevolent. Hence fear and dread were the predominant feelings in their religion, and their worship was chiefly designed to secure themselves and their interests from injury. If they could be assured that these beings would let them entirely alone and in no way trouble or hurt them, they wished for nothing more. They would ask for no favors from them.

These beings were often supposed to be the spirits of persons who had died, and who from feelings of sympathy, or affection, or envy, or revenge haunted certain persons and places. Proba

bly most of these beings were supposed to be spirits of this class. Accidents, misfortunes, calamities, insanity, and epidemics were ascribed to their agency.

There are no means for ascertaining how long the aborigines of India continued in this state, but probably such was their character for some centuries. Indeed, such is still the state and character of several tribes in different parts of the country, while in some districts the religion of the people is evidently a mixture of their primitive superstitions and the system commonly called Brahminism or Hinduism.

ORIGIN OF THE HINDUS AND HINDUISM.

It is now generally agreed among orientalists that the people, who are now commonly called the Hindus, were an invading and conquering nation, who came from the north-west into India. Sir William Jones was of the opinion that they came from Iran. Adelung was of the same opinion. Klaproth believed they came from the Caucasian Mountains. Schlegel ascribes their origin to some place on the border of the Caspian Sea, and Kennedy is of the opinion that the Brahmins first formed a community on the plains of the Euphrates. They brought with them the Hindu religion and the distinctions of caste. Or more probably they then instituted these distinctions by dividing themselves into the three higher castes, namely, the Brahmins to be the hereditary priesthood, the Kshatryas to be the military caste, and the merchants, traders, etc., who accompanied them to constitute the Vaishyas, while they included the lower people who accompanied them and the inhabitants of the country, in the Shudra caste. The distinctions of caste with the rights and privileges which the three highest shared in common among them, the degraded state of the whole Shudra caste, and the determination to keep them in the degraded state described in the Institutes of Menu, clearly indicate what parties were the conquerors and intended to rule, and what parties were the conquered and were to be ruled.

It is the general opinion of orientalists that the Vedas were compiled and put into their present form in the 14th century before the Christian era, and that this compilation was com

posed of notions, rites, etc., in previous use among them. According to this opinion the invasion of India by the nation or tribes who introduced the present system of Hinduism, took place as early as the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. This invading and conquering nation had a much higher character of civilization than the inhabitants they found in India. They became settled on the banks of the Ganges and Jumna, and there they matured their civil and religious polity. According to the Institutes of Menu, supposed to be written 10 or 12 centuries before the Christian era, the three higher castes were to be invested with the sacred thread, and thence they are called the "twice born;" they were also to read the Vedas, and perform sacrifices. So these three castes must then have understood the Sanscrit language. Probably Sanscrit of the style of the Vedas was then the vernacular language of the conquerors. The first, or original inhabitants of the country, inferior in civilization, with no hereditary priesthood and no sacred books or clearly defined religious system, presented but a feeble barrier against a religious system thus introduced and supported. Still the progress of Hinduism in some parts of India was slow. The Deckan and the country south from it long continued to follow their original superstitions, and even now the knowledge and influence of Brahminism over the great body of the people in the southern parts of the peninsula is small when compared with what it is in the central and northern provinces.

The Hindu system of religion and government became first established in the central and northern parts of India, and for some centuries the chief seat of their power and influence was in those places. The actions and events described in their Purans chiefly took place there, and there most of these books were written. In the Purans and early poems two races of kings are described, called the Race of the Sun and the Race of the Moon, or the Solar and the Lunar race. The Solar race reigned in Ayodhya, the modern Oude; and the Lunar race in Pruyag, the modern Allahabad. These two capitals were near together, and the families were closely allied in their origin and by intermarriages. The names of the kings of these pretended dynasties are all that is known of most of them. Indeed, even these names are perhaps as really fictitious as the duration of

their reigns, which in some cases are said to have exceeded 10,000 years. Fifty-seven kings of the Solar race are said to have reigned in Ayodhya previous to Rama or Ramchundra, who appears to have been a real personage, and who probably lived in the 12th or 13th century before the Christian era. This king was the most celebrated sovereign in the ancient history of India, and he is reckoned one of the incarnations of Vishnu. But there is no credible history of his reign. All is mixed with fictions and fables. His life and reign have been a fruitful subject for the poets, but the most celebrated work is an epic poem by Valmeeki, called the Ramayana. In early life Rama, whose father Dushuruth was king of Ayodhya, became the son-in-law of the king of Mithili, another branch of the Solar race. Family troubles soon followed his marriage, and he was compelled to retire with Seeta his wife into the forests. While there, Rawun, the king of Singul-Dwip, or Ceylon, then on a visit or expedition to the north part of India, carried off Seeta. Rama collected a large army, made an expedition into Ceylon, and recovered his wife. From various notices in this poem, the country on the Ganges appears to have been at that time in a much higher state of civilization than the Deckan and the other countries through which Rama passed in his expedition to Ceylon.

The next work that throws any light upon the dark field of Indian history is the Mahabharat, written probably about a century after the Ramayana. This work is also an epic poem, celbrating the wars which took place among the princes of the Lunar race. In the wars as well as the causes and circumstances connected with them, Krishna, one of the reputed incarnations of Vishnu, was a distinguished if not the most prominent actor. The Lunar race had at this time become divided into many different branches in the principal cities in the central and northern parts of India, who appear to have been more frequently in a state of war than of peace with each other. After a long series of complicated intrigues and family and personal quarrels, the parties rallied all their strength for a general conflict. Fifty-six royal tribes were then assembled on the field of Kuru. The battle continued (so the poets say) for 18 days and with prodigious slaughter on both sides before the contest

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