The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1885-08-15
Writer for the CHIEr.
viCM OF THE HISTORY OF IN
DlA AND H,NDOOSTAN.

possession Of Afghanistan, the key to Brit
ish India, having largely engaged tho at
tention of Europe, and, in fact, of the en-
tire civilized world, it may interest thu
readers of the Cu1EF to give view of tn,
history of that remote region of the globe
which contains 100000 square miles of ter
ritory.
The earliest accounts of this great trac
of civilized country arc those of Herotlotus
who lived about century before Alexander
the groat; and it is remarkable that tn,
character given Of tho people by that carl,
writer corresponds perfectly with that o
the modern Hindoos. He had probabl.
taken his accounts from Scylax of Cnrian
dria, whom Darius Hystaspcs had sent K
explore the country. B,t till the age o
Alexander the Greeks had no particular
knowledge Of that extraordinary people
Alexander penetrated into the Panjah
whore, his troops refusing to proceed, h
embarked on the Hydaspas, which runs int.
| the Indus, and thence pursued his cours,
for above 1000 miles to the ocean. Tho mar
! rativo given by Arrian of this was takel
from the valuable accounts of Alexander
officers, and its particulars agree yet NOR,
remarkably than those of Horodotus will
the modern manners of tho Hindoos.
India was visited by Seleucus, to whom i
fell in the partition of Alexander's empire
and Antiochus the great 200 yoars after
wards made a short expedition thither. I
is probable too that some small intercourse
subsisted between tho Greek empire of Bac
triana and India, but till the fifteenth cen,
tvry no European power thought Of form
ing any establishment in that country
From the age of Alexander down to the
period of the Portuguese discoveries there
had constantly been some commercial In
tercouse between Europe and India, botf
by sea and across tho desert. The Mahom
etans, US early as A. D., 1000, had begun te
establish IN empire in India. Mahmoud
n Tartar, conquered great part of the
country and established his capital al
Ghazna, near the sources of tho Indus, OK
tirpating the Hindoo religion wherever hi
came, and establishing the Mahometan il
it's stead. Mohammed Gori, in 1884, pene
trated to Benares, and one of his success
ors fixed the seat of his empire Mt Delhi
which continued to be the capital of the
Mogul princes. Tho sovereignty founded
by Mahmoud was overthrown in 1922 by
Gengiscan, as was his empire in the
following century by Tamerlane, whose
posterity are at this day on the throne Of
tho Mogul empire. .'
The Mogul empire was, even in the be-
ginning of the eighteenth century, the
most powerful Uf aif Asiatic nionnrchies
The Emperor Aurengzebe, tho son of Schah.
dean, though a monster of cruelty and q
most despotic tyrant, enjoyed life pro-
longed to hundred years, crowned with
uninterrupted prosperity and success. He
extended his empire over the whole penin-
sula Of India in the Ganges. The dominion
of the Mogul is not absolute over all the
countries which compose his empire. Tam
erlane allowed tho petty princes, rajahs
or nabobs to retain their territories, ot
which their descendants are at this day in
possession. They pay tribute to tho great
Mogul rs an acknowledgment of his sover-
eighty, and observe the treaties agreed by
their ancestors, but they are in other re-
spocts Independent princes. Bengal be-
came part of tho Mogul's empire by con-
quest in the end of the sixteenth century,
and was commonly governed by son OF
tho great Mogul, who had undor him sew
eral inferior nabobs, the former princes of
the country. Such was its. condition when
the British East India Company, between
175l and 17GO, conquered aud obtained DOS
session of that kingdom, together with
Bahar and part of Orissa, largo, popu
lous and most fourishlng country, contain
ing above 20,0OO,OOO of inhabitants and
producing an immense revenue, and these
territories have since that period received a
considerable addition. The East India
Company has the benefit of the whole CON-
merce of the Mogul empire, with Arabia,
Persia and Thibet, Us we'll IA with the
Kingdoms of Azem, Aracan, Pequ, Siam,
Maiacca, China and many of the Oriental
Islands. The fixed establishments of the
British in tbs country of Indostan have af-
forded opportunity of obtaining much in
structlye knowledge relative to the ancient
state of that country, of which we shall give
q short sketch.
ASolEHi STATE OF 1ND1A-MANSERs, LAWS,
ARTS, SCIENCES AND RELIGION OF
THE HINDoOs.
The remains of the ancient knowledge
of the Hindoos have been preserved by q
hereditary priesthood in the Sanscrit Ian
guage, long since extinct and only known
to few of the Brahmins. The zeal of some
learned European has lately opened that
source of information whence we derive
the most interesting particulars of this ex-
traordinary people, perhaps the first cult
vators of the sciences and the instructors
of all the nations of antiquity. We shall
briefly notice their singular division into
castles, their civil policy, Law, progress in
the arts and scieuces and religion.
The whole body of the people was divi-
ded into four orders or castles. The highest
caste, that of the Brahmins, was devoted to
religion and the cultivation of the sciences;
to the second belonged the preservation of
the State-they we're its sovereigns and its
magistrates in peace and its soldiers in
war; the third were the husbandmen and
merchants, and the fourth the artisans, To-
borers and servants. These are INSOFAR
able distinctions and descend from genera
ton to generation. Moreover, the lndivld-
uals of each class follow invariably the pro-