Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/250

 226 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [August, 187&. The prophet Ezekiel (b. c. 587) alludes to the same custom of burial when foretelling the fall of Meshech and Tubal and all her multitude. He says (chap, xxxii. 27)—“ They are all gone down to hell”—or Hades, which here probably means the grave—“ with their weapons of war; and they have laid their swords under their heads.” These were the inhabitants of the neighbourhood of the Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea, and were probably the Skythians of Herodotus. Tacitus, who lived in the first century A.D., from whom we havo the first satisfactory account of the Germans, observes that their funerals were distinguished by no empty pomp. M The bodies of illustrious men were consumed with a particular kind of wood, but the funeral pile was neither strewed with costly garments nor enriched with fragrant spices. The arms of the deceased were committed to the flames, and sometimes even his horse. A mound of earth was then raised to his memory, as a better sepulchre than those elaborate structures which, while they indicate the weakness of human vanity, are at best but a burden to the dead.” It is reasonably conjectured that this mode of sepulture gradually disappeared in Europe before the progress of Christianity, which in¬ troduced the practice of burying the dead unburnt and unaccompanied by any such super¬ stition as that of depositing certain articles with the deceased. In that case the ancient mode of sepulture must have disappeared in Europe about the ninth or tenth century a.d. It is reasonable to suppose also that the in¬ habitants of Central and Northern Asia were induced to give up the same practice through the influence of Muhammadanism, which, equally with Christianity, imposes the simple method of burying the dead. On this supposition the ancient mode of sepulture must have disappeared among the Mongols, Tatars, and others about the twelfth or thirteenth century. It is evident from the most ancient records, viz. the Pentateuch, that the Semitic races have from the earliest periods observed the custom of burying their dead unburnt and unmaimed. And as the Jews and the Arabs, two cognate branches of the same family, were the pioneers of both Christianity and Muhammadanism, they imposed their own simple method of burying the dead on the nations who embraced those religions. We may safely conclude, therefore, that before the mighty influence of Christianity and Muham- mftdftniRTn, the Skythian mode of sepulture disappeared in Europe altogether, and in Asia to a great extent. Now, in applying the same mode of reason¬ ing to the tumuli found in India, we must inquire whether any external influence has been brought to bear on the aboriginal inhabitants, similar in its power to the influence of Chris¬ tianity and Muhammadanism on other nations, before which we may reasonably conclude that the ancient religion and practices of the people disappeared. It is well known that the Aryans came to India at a very early period, probably about B.C. 1600; and that on their arrival they were opposed by the aboriginal inhabitants, whom they denominated Mlechhas, Rakshasas, Dasyus. and Nishadas, a people who were wholly dif¬ ferent from themselves in colour, language, and customs. It is evident from the Vedas, Manu, and the Puranas, that the Aryans have, as a general rule, always burnt their dead. The ashes are sometimes gathered and thrown into a running stream, or, in the case of distinguished persons, they are occasionally placed in an urn and buried, but without any tumuli or stone circles. The conclusion, then, is inevitable, that the practice of burying the dead in tumuli must have been observed by the pre-Aryan inhabit¬ ants, who in the north disputed every inch of land with their conquerors. These aborigines were so completely subdued that they adopted even the language of the dominant race. There is nothing now to distinguish them from their Aryan masters, except the low social position assigned to them, and a few un-Sanskrit 'words in the Prakrits, or languages derived from Sanskrit whioh are now prevalent in the north of India. Those few words, however* show that they are the remnants of the great Sky¬ thian or Turanian group of languages, and hence that the aboriginal inhabitants who spoke them were different altogether from the Aryans. It is easy, then, to see how completely the ancient customs of the primitive inhabitants would cease before the mighty influence of Brahmanism, and to such influence I attribute the cessation of the custom of burying iu tumuli in the north.