MEMOIRS OF INDIA.

BOOK II.

THE history of India suggests two natural divisions: one from the most early ages till the discovery of a passage from Europe round the Cape of Good Hope, and the other from that important period down to the days in which we live. Yet much difficulty would arise in writing on India according to this suggestion; for the Mogul empire having continued to influence the whole system in Hindostan till very lately, it would be necessary to make repeated breaks, in the narration of European transactions, which are to us the most interesting. Indeed, it has been justly observed by Goldsmith, that all history increases in value the nearer it is to our own time. It is proposed, therefore, in the first place, to travel briefly over the ancient and modern history of India down to the present period; then take a view of the rise and progress of European affairs in the east, and rest in a more particular manner upon the public

occurrences since the administration of the noble Marquis Wellesley. In the ancient part we shall take Dr. Robertson and other authorities for our guides; and in the modern, or European history of India, we shall follow the plan of Abbé Raynal; not, however, taking him for the best authority, but invoking the spirit of truth to enable our judgment to collect a fair statement from the various authors who preceded him, and others who have carried the subject forward till the period when we became, as it were, identified with recorded facts.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORY OF INDIA FROM THE MOST EARLY AGES, UNTIL THE PRESENT TIME.

THOSE Countries which make a jest of the age given to the world by the Holy Bible, have been always found the most deficient in historical materials. One of these is Hindostan. But the fairest examination of the documents, alleged to have been in the possession of the learned Brahmans, has only tended to confirm scriptural record. The greatest oriental scholars have added their weight to the internal evidence which that sacred volume car

* Vide Addenda, XXX.

ries along with it. Sir William Jones wrote in the last page of his own Bible:-"I have regularly and attentively read these Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion, that this volume, independently of its Divine origin, contains more sublimity and beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence than can be collected from all other books, in whatever age or language they may have been composed."

It is, therefore, from this unerring source that we learn many things concerning the early history of India, which are to be found no where else. It was the spices of the east that the Ishmaelites were carrying down to Egypt, to whom Joseph was sold by his brethren; and even at this early period, upwards of three thousand years ago, the camel was used for the same purpose as it is at present to cross the deserts of Arabia, and to carry the productions of Hindostan to the west. The science of this country was also at a very remote time in the highest repute, for the wisdom of Solomon is compared to it; and he is said to have excelled all the children of the east and of Egypt in understanding.

There is reason to believe that this communication between the east and the west was long carried on by land before it was attempted by water; but at length great rivers and arms of the ocean were made subservient to purposes of com

K

*

merce. The Persian Gulf and the Red Sea soon became mediums through which the merchandise of India was transported; and the gulf still bears its ancient name, but the Erythrean sea has received the appellation of red, not from any disposition in the water or shore to that colour, but from an Arabian king named Erythras, or the red. Down this sea the Egyptians and Phoenicians soon began to carry on trade with Hindostan; and from the aversion of the Egyptians, as well as the Persians, to a sea-faring life, the enriching commerce of the east at length centred in Tyre and Sidon, admirably situated on the shores of the Mediterranean for communication with all parts of the then civilised world.

In the early history of all nations, there are few materials for authentic records. Men, in the first formation of societies, are too busily employed about the present to think much of the future; and it is not until the days of Herodotus, who flourished about one thousand years later than Moses, that we have annals of time upon which we may depend.

According to this most ancient heathen author, we find that the Persians, under Darius Hystaspes, established themselves in India; and that Scylax, a Greek in command of a squadron fitted out for the purpose, sailed down the Indus from its navig

* Vide Dr. Robertson's India.

able source, and completed a voyage of discovery thence to the Arabian Gulf in two years and six months.

It is very probable that some of the Persians settled on the coast about Surat at this time; for there is a tradition to that effect, which would induce us to believe that these settlers became Hindoos. * According to the best information † we possess, there are ten nations of Hindoos now inhabiting India; and the ancient opinion that the Brahmans never received proselytes seems to be erroneous, on the authorities I have quoted. It is true, that an individual would not be received into any of the four castes, but the Hindoo religion being considered by the Brahmans as the only true one, all men are allowed to belong to the fifth class, and in transmigration may be born into any of the superior orders. The Brahmans never hesitate, upon being paid, to make offerings to idols for Europeans, or any other class of men. They will offer up prayers and invocations, and perform certain ceremonies for us as well as for Hindoos; and Major Wilford says, if any body of men, rich enough to endow pagodas, and pay Brahmans, were willing to embrace Hindooism, there is no doubt but they would find priests, and be in time considered orthodox followers of Brahma. Thus

* Vide Major Wilford's Essay, Asiatic Researches, vol. xi. + Vide Sir H. Colebrooke's Essays in the Asiatic Researches.