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 THE CYCLOPEDIA OF INDIA

genuinely spontaneous. ‘ The pit-“sure of lottv moral and spiritual icrvuur in this ancient religion is incontrovertible: there is more taith and devotion. mom'genuine enthusiasm tor the heavenly pom-rs. than in any oi the recorded works oi the Greeks and the Romans. The 'shining oncs' are believed to protect men. not onlv imni disease and suite-ring. but also irom the temptations oi sin. lndra also is invoked as a god who may pardon sin. Besides moral truths. there are to heliound. in certain hymns. philosophical and metaphysical woeeptions worthy oi the most highly civrliaed conimumtiu. in a iaoious song oi the tenth book the poet makes a series oi proiound inquiries about the mysteries at creation. such as would have thine credit to the age oi the [Tinnishads Accordingly We must not regard the llpamshads as the starting potm oi Hindu philowphy any more than the Brahmana mark the beginnings oi theology: the source oi the philosophical. as oi the theological, and Indeed the scientiﬁc. currents oi succeedin periods can be traced right back to the Rig Veda itseli.

Cosme it. Tue Bananas": on Eric AGE. About 1400—800 B.C. l—Ht'slon' 0/ IA: Period.

We have seen :3: the! first or Vedic t gra uall wrested ﬁvxw the Punjab irotn itsyirirnitive inhabitants and occupicdt whole tract at country watered by the Indus and its tributaries. in the second or Brahmanic riod the conquerors crossed the Sutlej. settled in t Janina and Ganges valleys. and Within tour or live centuries had iounded poweriul ins as iareast as Behar. Such are the conditions tired in the Brahmams and in the oldest partso the national e ’ : hence the 'od is known as Brahmanic or pic. That the conquests oi the Hindus in the period did not extend beyond Behar nor sooth oi the Vindya Hills is made plain by the total absence oi reicrence to those parts in the literature oi the time. But to conquer. settle and organise into kingdoms the whole tian ‘ valley. the t 'n oi northern India. the ‘ Mi die Land‘ oi t books. was no incon- sidemhle achievement. The immediate came oi this extenaimtoilhch'antacebeyondthelxmndaﬁes attoinedin tthedicAgeseemstohavehnnasecond irtuption oi Aryans from beyond the Hindu Knish. Entering the Punjab through the passes of the north. the new-corners pushed theirscttled kinsmcn eastwards. , along the vallevs oi the Jam and ,3". mm the Ganges. Many oi the abori- ginal people who had come to live ee‘ably side by side with the earlier Aryan settlers. mommam 'ttheoewocomusand the partnership resulted no doubt insane slight fusion between the races. Ultimately also the newer Aryan immigrants coalesced with their forerunners, sorta: irom the lesion oi those three clearan there am a new indooAryaurace with a new and pcctdiar civili- sation. the Brahmanic. It was. however. only when the conqu ‘ Aryans had ed eastward beyond Oudh and bad that y seem to have incor- porated non-Aryans in their own coronnmities to

any great extent. and evon‘thcn the Aryan ph ical features. a with their language and re igioo remained t minant. As they passer] down the valleys oi the ban and its tributaries. they encountered hordes o aborigines in various stages oi barbarism or civilization. It was impossible to drive oil these inhabitants in the way that the majority oi the Punjab aborigines had been driven away. Since. min-over. the services of those dﬂlllsed people were useiul. quantities oi them were allowed to remain under the protection at their conquerors. They Were given menial tasks to rimn and as the atrial system oi the Hindus devc oped. the indigenous population was absorbed into it. ionning. as we shall shortly see. the great hull: ol the lowest or Sudra caste. This evolution oi new cléidrmiryan )eople “his V accornpani by a rowt I in po t- mmméu ail organization. he small tribal communities of the Veilic Aryans in the Pun'ab Were replaced by larger territorial states. some 'ng the form oi republics. but the majority being ruled by great kings who resided in re ulnr capitals. For the most part the po ular asscmhl es oi the Vedic Age had awa '. a Hindu monarchs nose who governed autocratiaillv. their government being beneficial or otherwise '11; as their charac- ter was good or had. strong or weak. The ﬁrst oi the new kingdoms to be or attired were those at the Kurtis an Panchnlas. The first people settled in the rich and iertile Doah between the Janina and the Ga .es, and the second group iounded a confederate king out in the west at what are now the United Provinces oi Agraand Oudh. Hastinapora was the capital oi the ﬁrst kingdom. Kanouj the chiei capital oi the second. 0i the origin oi both tribes. irorn what part oi the Punjab. it from any. they came, we taint be content to remain in ignorance, nor is it hit: to obtain a historical account at either king to. All that We know is that at some time. presumably towards the end oi the Brahntanic period. the two nations engch in an internecine war tor the possession oi a particular strip oi country. This war hurts the subject at the Iliad oi India. the Mahabharata. the ﬁrst great Hindu epic. The poem is at heterogeoous growth. contains ' much material of a later age. and was put together in its resent stage centuries after the earliest events which it describes. Not only were lengthy additions made to the m in Puranilt tints. but even the geography oi I count and the names oi the heroes have been changed. till the groundwork oi the poem is genuinely ancient. and a discerning scholar. ship is able to «incriminate between the ori ’nal layer and the strata which were super-int in historic times. Besides the testimo. ' ny whiff; “guise: tl': H “ existence oi t i ms 0 t m} ’ Karts and Panchalas. and their bloody struggle. it is valuable historically for the sidelights it throws upon the state of Hindu society at the time. it reveals a more polished state of society. a more hi y organized civilization than any which existed in the previous age. Monarchy was more powerful and state were larger. The