The Express.
London, England, 1856-10-23 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Ras Maio; or, Hiredoo Annals of ad Province of
I'lo:erat. in Western India. By ALEXANDER
L BLOCH FULDES. Itichardson Brathero. 1836.

Mr. Forbes holds an appointment in the Eest ludis
Canpanl'a Civil Service, and has taken advantage of
tee faci:lties afforded to him by his position to acquire
conic valuable information with respect toe portion of
Indian antiquities and literature which hiss hitherto
been but very little studied. The result of his labours,
as indicated by the two handsome volumes which we
intend to notice, will be found to possess interest for
a far larger public than that which iv composed of
me: e litteratetirs and archse)logians. The reader of
Mr. Farber. work will have an opportunity, never
before afforded to the general public, of studying the
Hindoo character in the very legends and myths
which exemplify it, and have tended to form it. It is
strange that a process which is now adopted by every
historian who ettempts to account for the building-up
of national character in any particular state—the
examination namely of the early myths, legend.,
and belied. of the peoplo —should have been neg-
lected in the ease of India, where forme, customs,
and character seem to have been crystaliited for the
last thousand years. Yet this is the cane, and, ex-
cept in treatises which, from their bulk, expense, and
recondite character, are never consulted except by
the professed eudent, little notice has been taken of
a field of labour which yields the richest harvests of
materiel for ledian history. The Rajpoot of today
is in feeling, in manners and customs nearly the
same as he was a thousand years ago, two hundred
years before Mellowed of °buena, overran Goozerat,
and destroyed the sacred shrine of Someshwur at
Soar ath. The legends handed down from that time
to the present, or the songs sung by contemporary
bards, mutt possess therefore a value far greater
than those of a country where develop-
ment and progress have scarcely ever ceased.
The S•xon and Norman ballads of the tints
of William the Conqueror would throw but little
light on the character, and none at all on
the customs, ut the English of the present time ; but
the herdic traditions of Bheem DkV L, the contem-
porary of William, would enable us to construct
mentally the inner framework of the Rsjpoot
society of the present day, to understand its mani-
festations and to explain its customs.
Fully persuaded of the truth of this fact, Mr.
Forbes, during a residence of eight years in an
official capacity in Goozerat, employed the hours of
relaxation tram public duties in the study of the
herdic dialect, and in the collection of poems, chroni-
cles, and traditions illustrative of the medisoval
period of Indian history. He was aesisted in his
researches by natives both of the Jain and Brabmini-
cal religions. He met with considerable difficulty
in the collection of documents, from the ignorance,
jealousy, and avarice of the natives. His motives
were not comprehended. At one time he was
believed to be employed in searching for
concealed treasure; at other times his object was
suppoud to be that of detecting flaws in the titles to
lands, with the view of their assumption by govern•
meet; end it was hinted to him that the proper return
for a permission to extract from a birdie record would
be the presentation of a village to the family of the
recorder. Ultimately he found that a hint from the
traditionally honoured feudal lords of the country was
far more influential with the possessors than any
entreaties he could use or advantages which be could
offer. After this his encores was certain. He col.
lectcd a large number of legends and chronicles, which
be afterwards augmented by researches into the
records of the East India House. He has published
this coilecion under the name of "Ras Mala"—" A
Garland of Chronicles." He has enriched his text
with an abundance of notes and explanations, and
has added to the historical portion of the book a
number of chapters, in which the various features of
modern Hindoo society are admirably sketched.
Thule legends are worthy of notice on three
greurds : first, for the intrinsic beauty of many of
them; secondly, for the great light they throw on
hirotical events ; and, thirdly and chit fly, for the
assistance they afford the reader in comprehending
the character of the natives of India. Mr. Furbea's
col iectioo of legends embrace the whole period during
which government of any kind huexieted to Goeserat,
from the earl est records to the present time. Those of
the greatest interest relate to the period of time which,
in reference to Foroixan history, we call the middle
sects ; acd it is curious that at this time, when the
fendel system was flourishing in Europe, a system of
the same kind, differing from it in fact in scarcely any
other feature than in the fundamental one of religioo,
existed in Asia. In bravery, devotion, loyalty, even
iz a certain deference to women, the Asiatic chivalry
were little inferior to their European contemporaries.