Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/20

12 that the ancestors of these nations were first living together in the Caucasus, but afterwards separated, the Hindoos migrating into India, where they settled with their families after conquering the aboriginal tribes. This theory is European in its conception, and is not accepted by the Indians in general, who call themselves autochthonous. The Indian Savants adduce internal and external evidence to show that, far from being outsiders, it was possible for the early Hindoos to have sent colonies beyond the frontiers. It is no part of our present purpose to attempt to compose this controversy. It is enough to note at starting that throughout these pages the term 'Aryan' is used to designate the 'Hindoos,' to whom alone it is applied both in common parlance and in their sacred books.

The Hindoos call their country ',' or the abode of the Aryans. Manu, the ancient law-giver, applies the name to the tract of land between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the eastern to the western sea ; and teaches that the Brahmans born within that tract are suitable teachers of the several usages of men. Latterly the whole country from the Himalayas