written account. The only history we have of the non-Aryans is in the Vedas of their conquerors, the Aryans. They have no race name. The Vedic poets sang of them as "the flat-nosed, black-skinned raweaters," and again, "of fearful swiftness, unyielding in battle, in color like a dark blue cloud." Their idols were hideous creatures whom they feared; they had no good deities. They are classed among the Hindus, but some of their tribes are scattered along the hills and mountains of India and retain distinctive tribe names. The Hillmen of Madras, the Bhils of the Vindya Hills, the Santals, and the Gurkhas of the Himalayas, are non-Aryans. These people are brave and loyal when fairly treated. The Gurkha regiments in the English army and the Bhil treasury-guards have justified the confidence placed in them. - THE ARYANS. From the Aryan plateau in West Asia, branches of one great family set forth in different directions. Some travelled west and became what we know as the Greek and Roman nations, and from other branches that wandered on farther west we are descended through our Keltic and Teutonic forefathers. Still others went east and south. One entered the Punjab through the Himalayas and spread. over India, conquering the non-Aryans or driving. them to the mountains. Their earliest literature, the Rig-Veda, dated variously from 3000 to 1400 B.C., and their other Vedas, sing of their marching eastward and "subjecting the black-skinned to the Aryan man.” These hymns praise the gods of the Aryan, "the Shining Ones," and condemn the hideous monsters of the Dasyus, or enemies. At first, like all conquering people, the Aryans confined themselves to war, and there seems to have been the same patriarchal form of government as in the Teutonic tribes. Gradually the people became divided into classes, through their occupations, and these classes are what are known to us as the castes of India, which are hereditary and whose bounds are impassable. For a time there seems to have been a struggle for supremacy between the soldier and student classes, which was won by the latter. The four great castes are the Brahman, Rajput, Vaisya, and Sudra: Brahmans. The men of learning of India formed the highest caste. From this caste came the poets, philosophers, teachers, lawgivers, and priests of the people, but never the king. They were the advisers of the kings because they were the men of greatest wisdom, but it was not prudent that king and counsellors should all come from the same class, so the king was always one of the Rajputs. They stood between the people and the great god Brahma, and so were called Brahmans. It was a part of their duty to memorize the Vedas and teach them to the youth ful men of their caste. They perfected the Sanscrit language and used it in writing. The common people used a dialect, Prakrit. This made another barrier between learning and the people. Rajputs. The warrior caste is called the Rajput. It probably grew up out of the custom of rewarding. the strongest and bravest soldiers with presents of lands and slaves. This is the royal stock. The name means prince, son of a rajah or king. Vaisyas. The third caste in descending order, made up of the agriculturists, traders, and higher craftsmen, was called Vaisya, the old name for the whole people. These three classes were all of Aryan stock; twiceborn, they called themselves. Sudras. The conquered non-Aryans composed the fourth or Sudra class. The Sudras were the slaves of the other castes. THE SCYTHIANS. About the time the Romans were making incursions into England, 100 B. C. to 500 A. D., the Rajputs of India were trying to repel the Scythians, the first of the Tartar tribes to overrun India. These Tartars, or Huns, neither conquered nor were conquered; they were absorbed, and eventually accepted the religion. The Scythians were the last of the invading people that embraced the religions of India, Buddhism and Brahmanism. These three peoples, the Non-Aryans, the Aryans, and the Scythians, make up the people called Hindus. Buddhism; Brahmanism; Hinduism.—Out of the Brahman religion rose, in the fifth century B.C., Buddhism. For a time it was a formidable rival of Brahmanism, but by 900 A.D. it was almost lost in India in the parent stream, though it is still the religion of millions of the people of Asia. Buddhism.-Gautama was the son of a king of a province north of Benares. His father wished him to be a warrior like himself, but while young he renounced the world, was taught by two Brahman hermits, gave himself up to fasting and penance, and came out, after many temptations, purified, Buddha, — the Enlightened. - He began near Benares preaching, not to the sacred caste alone, as was the custom of the Brahmans, but to the common people. He converted disciples and sent them forth to spread the religion. His creed did not admit the efficacy of sacrifices or the value of the mediation of the Brahmans between God and man. He taught that "misery or happiness in this life is the unavoidable result of our conduct in a past life; and our actions here will determine our happiness or misery in the life to come." Instead of Brahman sacrifices he urged three great duties: control over self, kindness, to other men, and reverence for the life of all living things. Arnold's Light of Asia has made the world familiar with the beautiful part of this religion. The teachings of Buddha did much to unite the people and break down caste, for Buddha's disciples taught all classes. The Brahmans taught those of the Brahman caste only. But Buddhism in India was overpowered by Brahmanism, or Hinduism, before it had completed its work. Brahmanism. -Brahmanism took in Buddhism and other Indian beliefs, and became in time so modified that it now appears as the religious factor in Hinduism. The words Brahmanism and Hinduism seem to be used interchangeably. Hinduism. This is a fusion of the laws and customs of all the Hindus, and of the religions of the Aborigines, the Brahmans, and the Buddhists. Every Hindu is soaked in Hinduism. It directs his social, his business, and his religious life. It governs social and business relations by acknowledging castes, not the original four alone, but all the classes and trade guilds that have grown out of these four. To the Oriental mind the Hindu religion is alluring, mystical, enthralling. To the Western mind it is more likely to appear merely perplexing and elusive. In order that we may understand some of the problems set for the early English rulers in India, Hinduism must be touched upon. A French traveller, André Chevrillon, who visited the cities of India and was |