Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/194

150 by walls, beautified by edifices, and laid out in streets. The king's palace was always the centre of the town, and was frequented by boisterous courtiers and a rude soldiery, as well as by holy saints and learned priests. The people flocked to the palace on every great occasion, loved, respected, and worshipped the king, and had no higher faith than loyalty to the king. Householders and citizens had their possessions and wealth in gold, silver, and jewels; in chariots, horses, mules, and slaves; and in the fields surrounding the town. They kept the sacred fire in every respectable household, honoured guests, lived according to the law of the land, offered sacrifices with the help of Brahmans, and honoured knowledge. Every Aryan boy was sent to school at an early age. Brahmans and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas were educated together, learned the same lessons and the same religion, and returned home, married, and settled down as householders. Priests and soldiers were a portion of the people, intermarried with the people, and ate and drank with the people. Various classes of manufacturers supplied the various wants of a civilized society, and followed their ancestral professions from generation to generation, but were not cut up into separate castes. Agriculturists lived with their herds and their ploughs in their own villages, and, according to the ancient custom of India, Hindu village communities managed and settled their own village concerns.

We have seen that the absolute seclusion of women was unknown in ancient India. Hindu women held