Were the Celtic Druids and the Hindu Brahmins Connected?
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 06/06/2021

Were the Celtic Druids and the Hindu Brahmins Connected? A History of the Druids in Britain and Gaul - Who were the Druids? Put simply, the Druids were a privileged class that played a religious, legal, ceremonial, and educational role in ancient Celtic civilization. They were also philosophers, and were said to have ancient knowledge about the natural world, and the gods. 

The earliest record of the Druids comes from the 3rd century BC, but they are thought to be much older than this. In relation to the word Druid, it may come from an old Celtic word meaning “knower of the oak tree.” To become a Druid, it was not uncommon to spend 20 years in training, with Julius Caesar writing in his time that the Druids were often educated in Britain.
The Druids enjoyed many advantages in Celtic society, including being “exempt from military service” and not paying takes like other citizens did (Caesar 1982: 140). Furthermore, the Druids tightly guarded the secrets of their order, preferring to speak and memorize their knowledge rather than write it. On occasion when they did have to write however, they apparently used the Greek alphabet.

Famously, there were known to practice animal and human sacrifice. The potential remains of a Druid sacrifice were uncovered in Cheshire, England, in 1984, called the Lindow Man. Additionally, the Druids organized and officiated many Celtic seasonal festivals, which were usually inspired by important dates in the lunar-solar calendar.

Were the Druids Connected to India? Certain scholars have argued that the Celtic Druids of the West and the Hindu Brahmins of the East were survivors of an ancient Indo-European priesthood. 

One scholar who argued that the Druids and the Brahmins were connected was Thomas Maurice, an oriental scholar and historian. In an 1801 volume of his book, Indian antiquities, he argues that a group of Brahmins once settled in the “high northern latitudes” of the Caucus region, then mingled with the Scythians of central Asia, before migrating west to eventually reach Gaul and the British Isles, mingling with the Celtic Druids. Amongst other similarities, Maurice writes that the “Druids, like the Brahmins, constituted the first order of nobility, were the hereditary counsellors of the King, and the sole educators of youth.”

Whether the Druids and the Brahmins were ever connected is difficult to say, but it is still an interesting thought. 

The Fall of the Druids - Ancient druidism declined in influence due to various factors, including due to the decline of the power of Celtic civilization as a whole. The Romans suppressed the Druids for instance, beginning with the reign of the Augustus in 27 BC, as Rome feared the level of power they had in Celtic society. 

In 60 AD, the Druids joined a rebellion against the Roman forces on the island of Mona (modern-day Anglesey) in Wales, however the rebellion was suppressed by the Romans. Ancient Druidism continued up until around the 8th century AD, when it was gradually replaced by Christianity. 

Druidism did have a later revival, yet how connected this practice was to the ancient ways is debated. Pliny the Elder, the Roman author and philosopher, said that the Druids valued mistletoe, as they believed that it could cure infertility and serve as an antidote to poisons. 

Unfortunately, due to the Druids dislike of writing, much of their traditions and knowledge has been lost, and most of what is left is from biased Roman sources. 

Sources:

Druid, The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/Druid 

Chakrabarti, Dilip. India and the Druids, Antiquity; Gloucester Vol. 50, Iss. 197,  (Mar 1, 1976): 66.

Owen Jarus, Who Were the Druids? https://www.livescience.com/45727-druids.html

Erin Blakemore. Why do we know so little about the Druids? National Geographic https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/why-know-little-druids

Malcolm Browne (Jan. 1988) 'Bog Man' Reveals Story of a Brutal Ritual, New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/26/science/bog-man-reveals-story-of-a-brutal-ritual.html 

Julius Caesar (1982) The Conquest of Gaul (London: Penguin Group).

Gaul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaul

#CelticHistory #AncientHistory #Druids