a village, which was sometimes surrounded by a wall, and defended by a little citadel; sometimes enclosed by a fence for the protection of the cattle at night. The headman was looked up to as the father of the village, who regulated all its affairs, and administered justice in the manner of the ancient patriarchs, holding his simple court under a tree.

Village-lands were parcelled out in a peculiar manner, being first divided into different qualities, some parts being more fertile than others, and not adapted for the same kind of produce; therefore every farmer took a fai. share of the inferior with the good, and thus no one had greater advantages than another. The principal objects of cultivation were cotton, sugar, spices, corn, rice, and various other sorts of grain; the first of these productions supplying the material for the chief manufactures of the Indians, which were calicoes and muslins, famous in ancient as well as modern times for the beauty of their texture, and universally worn by both sexes.

The male costume of all ranks, consisted of two long pieces of white or chintz cotton, one wrapped round the waist, and hanging down below the knee; the other thrown across the shoulders, and occasionally over the head. The legs were bare, and very often the feet also, but most men had embroidered slippers, turned up at the points, which they put on when they went out. They wore long beards, which they dyed with henna or indigo, with the intention of making them red or black, according to fancy; but mistakes sometimes occurred in the operation, by which they were turned green or blue; and thus we read of the Indians dyeing their beards of various colors, although it is most likely some of the varieties were produced unintentionally. The dress of the women also was composed of two shapeless garments, differing, however, from those of the men, in being much larger, so that they reached the ground. Both sexes wore necklaces, ear-rings, and bracelets, the value of such ornaments depending, of course, upon the rank of the wearer. The old Hindu dress is still worn in many parts of India, especially by the Bramins.

The principal food of the people consisted of fruits, and different sorts of grain, and milk. It was customary for the rich to plant orchards, and construct ponds for the public benefit; but although the trees frequently produced two crops in the year, and the farmers reaped two harvests from their fields, the miseries of famine were sometimes experienced, in consequence of the failure of the periodical rains, which generally fall for about four months, causing the rivers to overflow the country, which by that means is rendered fertile.

The state of female society in India during the early ages, affords one of the best proofs of the civilization and liberal government of the ancient Hindus. Women were not condemned to live in seclusion as they are in other Asiatic countries, neither were they treated as inferiors; one great reason of which might be that the Hindus did not give money for their wives, like the Egyptians and Chinese; but, on the contrary, received portions with

them, which placed them on more equal terms with their husbands than in countries where they were in a manner purchased of their parents. They could hold property, and the fortune which a woman brought to her husband was always inherited by her daughters, and was secured to them by the laws of Menu, which expressly stated that the king should be the guardian of all widows and unmarried women, and that it was his duty to take care that their property be protected from any encroachment. This law is referred to as a proof that the revolting custom afterward practised by widows of burning themselves with the bodies of their deceased husbands, was unknown at the period when the code was composed; so that the odium of that barbarous rite does not rest with the early legislators, who, on the contrary, guarded the widowed female from oppression, and allowed her to contract a second marriage.

A suttee is mentioned as a rare occurrence, by the Greek writers who attended Alexander in his expedition to India; but from that time, such dreadful scenes were often witnessed, and it is to be feared that the sacrifice was not always voluntary.

The commerce of India flourished at a very remote period, when it was carried on overland, chiefly with the Egyptians, who, for security, formed themselves into those large bodies called caravans, made laws for themselves, and chose officers to govern them on their journey. Providence had furnished them with an animal capable of carrying burdens across the hot sandy deserts, a service for which the camel seems expressly designed, since it is gifted with extraordinary strength, and requires but little food; while it possesses the singular faculty of taking at once a quantity of water sufficient to last for several days; so that where the horse would faint from thirst, the camel feels no inconvenience.

As a commercial country, India has, from the earliest ages, been an object of attention, and, on account of its wealth, of military depredation; and in the time of Darius Hystaspes, who gained possession of a small part adjoining his own dominions, the conquered territory formed the richest portion of the Persian empire.

It was more than a century before the Greek invasion, that Budha, the great reformer of the Braminical religion, appeared in India, where he devoted his life to the instruction of the people, and the introduction of a new system, with a view of lessening the power of the priesthood; a task he endeavored to accomplish by denying the authority of the Vedas, and not admitting distinctions of caste. This celebrated sage, who was the son of some obscure Indian prince, and whose real name was Gotama, is worshipped by his votaries as Vishnu in his ninth earthly form. It is supposed that the religion he founded prevailed over the greater part of India, for many centuries, and that it did not entirely disappear from the Deccan, till about the tenth century of our era; since which time, the braminical system has been introduced, which differs very materially from that originally established.

Both Bramins and Budhists inculcated the doctrine of transmigration, and therefore interdicted the use of animal food, and the destruction of animal life, except for sacrifice.

The Budhist priests lived in communities, like the monks of Europe, and were forbidden to marry; whereas the Bramins had no monasteries, and were enjoined to take wives, whom they usually chose from their own caste, although they were not prohibited from forming alliances with the daughters of kshatriyas; for a Hindu, of any grade, might choose a wife from an inferior, but not from a superior caste.

The Budhists had temples excavated in the rocks, some of which are among the most interesting antiquities of India. The caves of Ellora, which are about two hundred miles to the east of Bombay, consist of a great number of large and lofty apartments, decorated with columns and statues; and there is also an extensive, excavated temple at Carlee, between Bombay and Puna, which resembles a gothic church, having a vaulted roof, and colonnades running like aisles along each side. The principal monuments of ancient Hindu opulence and superstition are found in the Deccan; for, although the northern part of India was earlier and more highly civilized, it was repeatedly ravaged, and many of the finest specimens of native art destroyed, by the Mohammedans, long before they found their way across the Vindya mountains.

CHAPTER II.

INVASION OF THE GREEKS.

In the fourth century before the Christian era, Alexander the Great, having overrun the whole extent of the Persian empire, led his conquering armies to the shores of the Indus, spreading misery and desolation throughout the whole of the extensive country watered by the branches of that river, and called the Punjab.

Hindostan contained, at that period, three large kingdoms, besides a great number of petty states. The chief kingdom was that of the Prasii, which occupied the greater part of that immense plain through which the mighty Ganges takes its course. The capital of this empire was Palebothra, described by the Greeks as a magnificent city, eight miles in length, surrounded by a wall, with sixty-four gates, and fortified with more than five hundred towers. The modern city of Patna now stands on or near its site. The other large kingdoms occupied nearly the whole of the Punjab, and were ruled by the rival princes, Porus and Taxiles, the former of whom, after being subdued by Alexander, became the friend of that monarch, and assisted him to extend his conquests. The Indians used war-chariots and elephants in battle. They wore armor, and their weapons were spears, long pikes, bows and arrows, the latter six feet in length.

Porus met the Greeks on the banks of the Hydaspes, the western boundary of his dominions, where he was defeated, and retired from the field severely wounded; but being pursued and brought before the conqueror, he conducted himself with so much dignity under his misfortunes, that Alexander seems to have been struck with admiration, and was desirous of displaying his own magnanimity to so great a prince, since he gave him back his kingdom, and requested his friendship, which the noble Indian did not withhold; and these illustrious allies conquered some of the smaller states, which were added to the dominions of Porus. Alexander made no permanent conquests in India, but he built a fort and constructed a harbor, at Pattala, on the banks of the Indus, supposed to be the modern Tatta, which became the seat of a considerable trade.

The advanced state of Hindu civilization at this period, although it had not reached so high a point as was imagined until some errors had been dispelled by modern researches, was manifested by the great public works met with by the invaders in various parts of Hindostan, the most useful of which were excellent roads, furnished with mile-stones, and houses of entertainment for travellers.