Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/626

* INDIA. 548 INDIA. For a study of the entire relifiioiis devolop- nieiit of the Hindus, consult llnjikiiis, /{ilii/idns of India (Boston. 18;»5) ; Hartli. liilitjioim of In- diu (.'id ed., London, 18!»0) ; -Monii'rW illianis, Hiiiduixm, in the series of Sun-Clirislinn Hrli- giotis Si/Klciiis (London. IWOO) ; lliii-d_v. Iiiilisvlii; liiligion.i'jcKchichle (l-eipzig. LSilH); Willcins, Modern Hinduism (id ed., LoniU)n. 1.SS7I. Akiii.koi.oouwl Re.mai.n.s. 'I'he antifjiiitics and the nreh;eoh)^iea! renmins in India are larych" of an areliiteetiiral character. (See IxrtiAX Art.) From the prehistoric ape there are no monu- ments surviving beyond possibly some cairns and eronileehs; and tlic same is true of the Vc- dic period of Aryan Inilia. because the structures were mostly of wood or of destructible material. Indian arch:c<)lo';y bcj>ins practically with the age of Buddhism and .Jainism. Connected with the.se faiths there are characteristic shrines, temples, and monuments in various parts of India, datinjj from n.i'. '2')0 onward, jlost fa- mous from the standpoint of arehivnlofjical re- search is the jrreat cave at Karli. and also the caves at .janta. Ellora. and Lena, constructed with their assembly halls or churches {chniti/as) and their monastic cells ivihiinis). Of like in- terest are the hujie mounds or tunuili {.shlpax, topcx), like that at Sanchi. near Bhilsa. erected to contain in a shrine {dutjobu) some relic of Buddha. The rails about these structures are well known because of their artistic value and because of the lij;ht they throw on scenes con- nected with Buddhist life. (See Gaitama Bud- nii.^; .Tataka.) Of |>artioulnr antiqiarian in- terest, likewise, are the various c(dvimns or shafts istaiiibhas, liiln). set up in various parts of India by King Asoka (q.v.). The inscriptions cm these, like his rock-cut edicts, are of special importance. L'nder a slightly ilifl'erent category, but of similar antiquarian interest, are the famous Oandhara sculptures, representing incidents in Buddha's life. The inllucnce of Gr.Tco-Bactrian art is plainly eviilent in these. Of a much later date, but (|uilc Hindu in character, are the cave temples of Klcphanla (q.v.). near Bombay, with their sculptured figiircs of Bralima, Vishnu, and esjie- cially Siva. These may not. however, antedate the ninth century of our era. The remaining groups of anti<]uarian remains, cliiefly architec- tural, are groujied under the head of Dravi<llan architecture, flic Bengali and Chalukyan style of temple structure, and the artistic building of the era of ^^ohanlmedan rule. For details regard- ing these consult Fergusson. IliMorii of Indian and I)astcrn Architrclurc (London. ISTti), and Le Bon, Lrn moniimentf) de Vlnde (Paris, 1893). In 1S07 arrangements were made in con- nection with the International Congress of Ori- entalists to establish an Association for .rchfro- logical Research and Exploration in India, and special ardi.cological work under the supervision of the French riovernnient has since been carried on in Cambodia, besides the researches con- ducted bv various scholars individually in India itself. Language. With its hundreds of millions of inhabitants, there is as great a diversity of lan- guages in India as there is variety in the peoples themselves. By far the larger majority, over 210.00n.nnn. spe.nk languages or dialects belong- ing to the IndoOermanic group of tongues, and related, though perhaps not by direct descent, to the ancient Vedic dialect. This Indo-Aryan division is therefore lirsl in importance, and three periods or stages may be recognized in its historical devcdopmenl. The earliest of these i» M)mclimes called (he Old Indic speech, and in- cludes the Vedic dialect, I'ali, in the broad sense now given to this term, and the liti'rary or classic Sanskrit. The second pcriml embraci's the Midillc Indian Prakrits. (See I'ltAKiirr. ) The third, termed New liulian, includes Ww modern Indian. vernaculars, which are in the nniin dc seench'd from popular Prakrit dialects, and aic spoken largely in the norlli, east, and central l)rovinces of India, l'nder this desiginition arc comprised Puiijalii, Kas'miri, and Sindhi. tht' .sl)eeeh of ovit '20.000.000 people, on llic nurlh and wesi ; next, the llin<li. spoken by 80.000,000. and called I'rdu or Hindustani when admixed with Persian and Araliic; again (iujarali and Marathi, the chief languages of the Bom- bay Presidency, and claiming nearly 30.000,- 000 speakers; furthermore. Bengali, the ver- nacular of more than 40,000.000 individuals in the east, together with Uriya and Bcliari, likewise in Eastern India: also Nepali, the language of Nepal, and Assami, still farther to the east. Separate articles regarding the characteristics of these various Indo-Aryan vernaculars will l>e found under the individual names. Among the non-Aryan langtniges the most important family is the Dravidian (q.v.), the tongue of some 50.000.000 people, inhabiting the ])eninsular por- tion of India. The Kolarian or JMunda branch numbers about .'i.OOO.OOO sjieakers, while the Ti- bcto-Burman family has more than twice as many. The Khasi group (Assam) and the llonAnnani and .Slian families aggregate together over half a million speakers. In addition to this the division of Iranian languages (q.v.) is represented on the borders of Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and in the speech of the (iypsies : the linguistic statistics of India include, moreover, the languages, like English, (Jcrnian. French, etc., which are used by lCuro])cans resident in India, and similarly such other languages as may be used by various Asiatics living at the time in' Hindustan. (Sec Indian Peopi.k.s.) In addition to the bibliograph- ical references given under the various separate articles, consult: Cust, Modern LnnpitnuFS of the Kfifit Indies (London, 1 878) ; Constable, Ilnnd- Athia of India (Westminster, 18i)3); Beanies, Comparative (Irammar of the Modern Ari/an Lantinafies of India (London, 1872-70): Hoernle, Com /yarn I ire (Irammar of the (laiidian Ian- fluaf/es (London, 1880) ; Baines. "The Language Census of India." in the Transactions of the yinth International Congress of Orientalists 1 London. 1803) ; Grierson, Linguistic Survey of India (London, 1898). III.STORY. The early liistory of India is wrapped in legend. Only by references in native or in foreign writings and by inscriptions can the storj' of the ancient period be reconstructed. The Indian mind is essentially an imhistorie one. We have, indeed, many sovereigns mentioned, and even whole djniastics given in the Pun'inas (q.v.), in the epics, and in other Sanskrit writings: but of history, in the real sense of the word, there is practically none. The accounts which are given are so interwoven with myth and fancy that they have almost no value to the historian. From other sources, however, much of India's past may be outlined. Indian history falls rough-