Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/138

100 influence in society and moved without restriction or restraint.

Civilization, however, does not necessarily put a stop to wars and dissensions; and the only reminiscences we possess of the political history of the Kurus and the Panchalas are those of a sanguinary war in which many neighbouring tribes took part, and which forms the subject of one of the two great epics of India. The incidents of the war described in the Mahabharata are undoubtedly legendary, but nevertheless the great epic is based on the recollections of an actual war of the great Bharatas and faithfully describes the manners and customs of the ancient Hindus in the Brahmanic and Epic Period, as the Iliad describes the manners of the ancient Greeks.

The capital of the Kurus at the time of which we are speaking was the city of Hastinapura, the supposed ruins of which have been discovered on the upper course of the Ganges, about sixty-five miles to the northeast of Delhi. Santanu, the aged King of Hastinapura, died, leaving two sons, Bhishma, who had taken a vow of celibacy, and a younger prince, who became king. This young prince died in his turn, leaving two sons, Dhritarashtra, who was blind, and Pandu, who ascended the throne.

Pandu died, leaving five sons who are the heroes of the epic. Dhritarashtra virtually remained king during the minority of the five Pandavas and of his own children, while Dhritarashtra's uncle, Bhishma, remained the chief councillor and friend of the state.