nas 
 
 .tons of t ' loos 
 
 By
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 

 
 SKETCHES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MYTHOLOGY 
 
 AND 
 
 CUSTOMS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HINDOOS 
 
 r 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRfNTED IN THE YEAR 
 
 MDCCLXXXr.
 
 SKETCHES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MYTHOLOGY 
 
 AND 
 
 CUSTOMS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HINDOOS, 
 
 MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 
 TO THE HONORABLE THE 
 
 COURT OF DIRECTORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EAST-INDIA COMPANY, 
 
 BY THEIR DUTIFUL SERVANT, 
 
 GEORGE FORSTER. 
 
 London, 
 July, 1785. 
 
 354590
 
 CT* H E following curfory dif- 
 
 fertation, which has been ex~ 
 traced from private letters, the 
 Author is induced to lay before the 
 Public, from a defire of throwing 
 fome light on a fubjeB, hitherto, 
 but partially known in Europe-, 
 and alfo y with the view of prompt- 
 ing others, whofe bent of difpofition 
 and conveniency of fituation may 
 lead them into fuch refearches, to 
 enlarge on fo curious a matter. 
 
 To hold out an afylum to the 
 memory of an antient, and a once 
 great people, who before the fall
 
 of their empire were amply en- 
 lightened by fclence, and who were 
 governed by a fyftem of laws and 
 policy, which had the moji falutary 
 effe&s In rendering them virtuous 
 and happy, will yield a fufficlent 
 compenfatlon to the man of philan- 
 thropy, for every difficulty that he 
 may encounter In the purfult of a 
 Jludy which will be found, It Is to 
 be feared, entangled In Jome dif~ 
 couraging perplexities.
 
 
 
 ExtraB of a Letter^ dated at 
 Banaris in September, 1782* 
 
 city of Banaris, hi point of 
 -- its wealth, cofily buildings, and 
 the number of its inhabitants, is 
 clafled in the firft rank of thofe now 
 remaining in Hiriduftanj in the pof^ 
 feffion of the Hindoos* 
 
 To defcribe, with any degree of 
 Jprecifion, the various temples dedi- 
 cated in this place to the almoft in- 
 B numerable
 
 numerable deities, and to explain the 
 origin of their foundation, with the 
 neceflary arrangement, would require 
 a knowledge, infinitely fuperior to 
 mine, in the myfterious rites of the 
 Hindoo mythology. 
 
 They are, at this day, enveloped 
 in fuch impenetrable obfcurity, that 
 even thofe Pundits who are the mod 
 Ikilfully verfed in the Sumfcrit,* are 
 not able to throw on them lights 
 fufficiently clear for the rendering 
 them comprehenfible to the generality 
 of the people. 
 
 But as fome relation, though im- 
 perfec~l, of a city fo famous in Hin- 
 du flan, and now fo well known iij 
 
 . * The language in which all their facred le* 
 gcnds are preferred. 
 
 Europe
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 Europe for having been one of the 
 grand fources of the religious worihip 
 of the Hindoos, and being the chief 
 repofitory of what fcience yet exifts 
 among them, may not be unacceptable 
 to you, together with fome curfory 
 invefligations of the mythology of 
 Brimha, the tafk fhall be attempted 
 with every attention to the fubje6t, 
 and with the ftri&eft adherence to 
 truth. 
 
 If errors fhoiild arife on the treat- 
 ing on a matter hitherto nightly dif- 
 cufTed, and from its complication ex- 
 ceedingly abftrufe, I have to intreat 
 your liberal indulgence ; and that 
 though miftaken in my conclufions, 
 you will give me fome commendation 
 were it only for the endeavour of 
 admmiftering to a rational pleafure. 
 
 2 At
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 At the diftance of eight miles from 
 the city of Banaris, as it is approach- 
 ed on the river from the eaftward, the 
 eye is attra6led by the view of two 
 lofty minarets, which were erected 
 by the order of Aurungzebe, on the 
 foundation of an ancient Hindoo tem- 
 ple, dedicated to the Mhah Deve, or 
 the God Eifhwer. 
 
 The raifing, on fuch facred ruins, 
 this towering Mahometan pile, which 
 from its elevated height feems to 
 look down with triumph and exalta- 
 tion on the fallen (late of a city fa 
 profoundly revered by the Hindoos, 
 would appear to have been prompted 
 to the mind of Aurungzebe by a bi- 
 gotted and intemperate defire of in- 
 iulting their religion, 
 
 If
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 If fuch was his \viih, it hath been 
 moft completely fulfilled. 
 
 For the Hindoos confider this mo- 
 nument as a difgraceful record of a 
 foreign yoke, and as proclaiming to 
 every ftranger, that their favorite city 
 has been debafed, and the worihip of 
 $:heir gods defiled. 
 
 From the top of the minarets there 
 is feen an entire and a very beau- 
 tiful profpect of Banaris, which oc- 
 cupies a fpace of about two miles and 
 a half along the northern bank of the 
 Ganges, and a mile inland from the 
 liver. 
 
 Many of the houfes are remark- 
 ably high, fome of them having fix; 
 and feven ftories, and built of a flone 
 refembling that fort found in the quar- 
 ries
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 ries of Portland, and which abounds 
 in this part of the country. 
 
 The ftreets, wherein thefe lofty 
 buildings are fituated, are fo narrow- 
 as not to admit of two carriages a- 
 breaft, 
 
 The confequence of this large city 
 being conflructed on fo confined a 
 plan, is, that the air, from being de- 
 prived of a free circulation, becomes 
 putrid and obnoxious, and in par- 
 ticular feafons caufes fevers of a ma- 
 lignant fpecies, and fevere bilious pb- 
 
 Jn addition to this pernicious ef- 
 feb, proceeding from a corrupted at- 
 mofphere, there is at moft times an 
 intolerable flench, which arifes from 
 the many tanks difperfed in the dif- 
 
 ferent
 
 C 7 ) 
 
 ferent quarters of the town, whofe 
 waters and borders are appropriated to 
 the common ufe of the inhabitants. 
 
 The filth alfo, which is indifcri^ 
 minately thrown into the ftreets, and 
 there left expofed, (for the Hindoos 
 poffefs but a fmall portion of a gene- 
 ral cleanlinefs) add to the compound 
 of ill fmells which fo much offend 
 the noftrils of every one entering this 
 city. 
 
 The irregular and very confined 
 mode which has been invariably ad- 
 hered to in the conftruction of Bana- 
 ris, has, in a great meafure, deflroyed 
 the pleafing effects which fymmetry 
 and arrangement would otherwife have 
 beftowed on a city, entitled from its 
 numerous and expenfive habitations, 
 
 ^ to
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 to demand a preference to any capital 
 which I have feen in India* 
 
 In the refearches which I have 
 been enabled to make intb the prin- 
 ciples of the Hindoo religion, I have 
 received great aid from a converfant 
 knowledge of the Mhahrattah lan- 
 guage, and an acquaintancej though 
 trivial, with the Sumfcrit* 
 
 The ufe of this laft tongue is no\v 
 chiefly confined to a particular feet 
 of BraminSj who officiate in the cha- 
 racter of priefts, and it hath ever been 
 adopted as the channel of conveying to 
 the Hindoos, the eflentials of their reli- 
 gion, with all the various forms of 
 their worfhip. 
 
 The Sumfcrit is a fonorous lan- 
 guage, its periods flow with great 
 
 boldnefs,
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 bolclnefs, and terminate in a cadence 
 peculiarly mufical, and it abounds in a 
 pith and concifenefs far fuperior to 
 any other, with which I am in any 
 wife acquainted. 
 
 An extracl: of a floke or flanza, 
 which has been quoted by Mr. Halhed, 
 is a ftriking teftimony of the nervous 
 compofition, and the laconic turn of 
 
 the Sumfcrit. 
 
 
 
 As it is a ftanza of only four lines, 
 I will infert it, and alfo attempt the 
 tranflation. 
 
 Petache renewan fhetroS 
 Father in debt enemy 
 
 Mat ah fhetroo reihelenee 
 Mother enemy -extravagaht or immoral 
 
 Bhariah rupewuttee llietroo 
 Wife beautiful enemy 
 
 Pootre llietroo n'punditah 
 
 Son ' enemy unlearned 
 
 C The
 
 ( '0 ) 
 
 The mother who hath loft her fame, 
 The fire profufe, and foe to fhamc, 
 
 Are to their race a peft. 
 A bride's foft joys oft' thorns implant, 
 And he, who roams in folly's haunt, 
 
 Destroys his father's reft. 
 
 The Hindoos believe in one God, 
 without beginning and without end ; 
 on whom they beftow, defcriptive of 
 his power, a variety of epithets. 
 
 But the moft common appellation, 
 and which conveys the fublimeft fenfe 
 of his greatnefs, is, Sree Mun Narrain, 
 the univerfal Prote&or, 
 
 The Hindoos, in their firft and 
 grand ^application to the Deity, ad- 
 drefs him as endowed with the three 
 
 attri-
 
 < II ) 
 
 attributes, of omnipotence, omnipre- 
 fence and omnifcience ; which, in 
 the Sumfcrit, are exprefied by the 
 terms, neer anjin, neer akar, and neer 
 goon. 
 
 Though this explanation may not, 
 in literary ftri&nefs, comprife in it 
 the precife meaning of the Englifh 
 text, it doth fo virtually, and in the 
 ampleft fenfe. 
 
 A circumftance which forcibly flruck 
 my attention, was the Hindoo belief 
 of a Trinity. 
 
 The .perfons are, Sree Mun Nar- 
 rain, the Mhah Letchimy (a beau- 
 tiful woman), and a Serpent, which 
 are emblematical of ftrength, love and 
 wifdom. 
 
 C 2 Thefc
 
 Thefe perfons, by the Hindoos, are 
 fuppofed to be wholly indivifible. 
 
 The one is three, and the three arc 
 one. 
 
 In the beginning they fay, that the 
 Deity created three men, to whom he 
 gave the names of Brimha, Vyftnou, 
 and Shevah.* 
 
 To the firft, was committed the 
 power of creating mankind, to the 
 fecond of cheriihing them, and to the 
 third that of reft raining and correcting 
 them, 
 
 Brimha, at one breath, formed the 
 human kind out of the four elements ; 
 amongft which he infufed, as I un- 
 derflood the intrepretation, a vacuum, 
 
 * Qften called Eifhwer, or the Mhah Deve. 
 
 Before
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 Before the creation of man, Sree 
 Mun Narrain framed the world out 
 of a chaos ; it was covered with the 
 waters, furrounded by an utter dark- 
 nefs, and inhabited by a demon, the 
 fuppofed author of evil, whom the 
 Godhead drove into an abyfs under the 
 
 earth. 
 
 - 
 
 The Hindoos, as Mr. Halhed, in his 
 Tranflation of the Code of Hindoo 
 Laws, has fully and clearly fet forth, 
 are arranged in four grand calls or 
 .tribes* ; that of the Bramin, the 
 Chittery, the Bhyfe and the Sooder. 
 
 * There is, in India, an aboriginal race of 
 people who are not clafled in any of the fefts, 
 and are employed in the meaneft and mofl me- 
 nial offices. They are not permitted to enter 
 any temple of the Hindoos, and in their diet 
 they have no reftrition. On fome parts of the 
 coaft of Choromandel they are called Pariahs^ 
 and, in Bengal, Hurrees. 
 
 Each
 
 Each of thefe cafts are fub- divided 
 into numerous fe6is, the particular 
 ufages of which are preferred with 
 great care and attentive diftin&ions. 
 
 There is an immenfe number of 
 fe&aries of the fame tribe, who do not 
 admit of the intercourfe of marriage 
 with each other, or of eating at the 
 fame board. 
 
 From the beft information which I 
 have been enabled to procure, it would 
 feem that the genuine Chittery, or Ra- 
 jah race, has for a great length of 
 time been extinct, and in its place 
 a fpurious tribe has been introduced. 
 
 The Hindoos, compofing thefe cafts 
 and clafles, are ultimately branched 
 but in two divifions; the one deno- 
 minated
 
 ( '5 > 
 
 minated the Vyftnou Bukht, and the 
 other the Shevah Bukht. 
 
 The followers of the firft are dif- 
 tinguifhed by marking the forehead 
 with a longitudinal, and thofe of the 
 fecond with a parallel line. 
 
 In the temple of Vyftnou, heiswor- 
 fhipped under the reprefentation of a 
 human figure, having a circle of heads 
 and four ( hands, emblems of an all- 
 feeing, and an all-provident Being. 
 
 The reprefentation of a fabulous 
 bird, on which he is fuppofed to ride, 
 and denotive of the velocity of his 
 motion, is frequently placed in front 
 of his image. 
 
 Shevah or Eifhwer, or as he is 
 ufually called by the Hindoos, the 
 
 Mhah
 
 Mhah Deve, or great God, is repre- 
 fented by a compound figure, def- 
 cribing the male and female parts of 
 generation, and defigned as fymbols of 
 
 procreation and fecundity. 
 
 . 
 
 Thefe faculties or qualities being 
 held amongfl the Hindoos as the 
 choked bleflings, and the deprivation 
 of them deemed a fevere reproach and 
 misfortune. 
 
 Facing this defignation of the Mhah 
 Deve, is generally feen, in a fuppliant 
 pofture, the image of a cow, which is 
 faid to have derived its peculiarly facred 
 qualities from having been chofen by 
 this god as his favorite conveyance. 
 
 The more enlightened Pundits tell 
 you, that this animal hath been pre- 
 ferved from (laughter from its great 
 
 utility
 
 utility to man ; it being his ableft af^ 
 
 fiftant in the labors of the field* and' 
 
 t 
 the chief fupport in his immediate 
 
 maintenance* 
 
 Not to fay that it argues a found 
 policy to ftamp this creature with fo 
 facred a mark ; for were its fleih eaten, 
 as Hinduftaii is productive of but few 
 horfes, the various branches of agri- 
 culture would fuffer an efTential in- 
 jury. 
 
 Another figure reprefents SheVah 
 with four hands (holding in them dif* 
 ferent emblems of his po\ver) and five 
 heads ; four of which are directed 
 to the cardinal points, and the fifth i 
 placed with the face Upwards* in 
 the act of contemplating the grand 
 Peity. 
 
 D After
 
 After the fervice which Brimhah 
 has performed on earth, it would rea- 
 fbnably be concluded, that his praife 
 for the obligations which mankind 
 have received at his hands, in fome de- 
 gree, would be conformable to his 
 works. 
 
 But the Hindoos have not dedicated 
 one temple to his honor, nor have 
 they fet apart or {an&ified one day in 
 remembrance of his deeds. 
 
 It would redound but little to my 
 credit, were I to infert in this place, 
 the reafon alledgcd in their religious 
 tracTs, for this feeming neglect of 
 Brimhah. 
 
 I It is a tale framed to amufe the cre- 
 dulous Hindoo, and procure a meal ta 
 
 an artful rricfl. 
 
 This
 
 ( '9 ) 
 
 This oftenfible want of attention 
 to the memory of Brimhah, may on a 
 more abftraeted ground be attributed 
 to the opinion, that the powers of 
 procreation having been once fet in 
 action, and operating by a law, gene- 
 ral and undeviating, \vhofe immediate^ 
 benefits exifts and are evidently dif- 
 played in its effects, there was no 
 neceflity of commemorating the firfl 
 individual caufe. 
 
 The Hindoos believe implicitly in 
 predeflination, and in the tranfmigra- 
 tion of the fouh 
 
 The firfl, as it frequently cramps 
 the genius and obftrufts its progref- 
 fjon, yet has a tendency in. confoling 
 them in every misfortune, and admi- 
 niilering to them a comfort in all the 
 untoward events of life. 
 
 P z They
 
 They fay it is the hand of God, 
 \vhich for fome infcrutinable purpofe 
 directs and impel? the actions of his 
 creature, 
 
 The do&rine of the metempfychofis 
 reflrains them from the life of animal 
 food* ; ai} aliment not neceflary, and 
 often attended with pernicious confe* 
 quences in a hot climate. 
 
 This belief has alfo a ftrong ten* 
 4ency to infufe into their minds an 
 abhorrence of all fanguinary a els, and 
 to inculcate the virtues of humanity 
 a general affe&ion, 
 
 * TJiis tenet is not at this day ftriftly adhered 
 {o, for the Hindoos of the fecond and fourth cafl 
 occafionally ufe flefh meats, and the Bramins of 
 Bengal invariably eat fifh. 
 
 The
 
 The Hindoos compute their grand 
 evolutions of time by Joques, of which 
 they have four, correfponding ki- 
 th eir nature with the golden, filver,- 
 brazen, and iron ages of the antients^. 
 
 The prefent, they fay, is the 
 Khullee, or the fourth Joque ; and 
 that at the expiration of every- age, 
 the Supreme Being has deftroyed this 
 globe of earth, which has been re- 
 created at the commencement of the 
 one fucceeding, and that a continued, 
 fucceffion of Joques will revolve ad in- 
 foiitum, 
 
 - The records of this ancient and ex- 
 traordinary people, unfortunately for 
 the learned of the prefent day, teem fo 
 profufely with fable, and abound 
 throughout in fuch extravagant rela- 
 tions
 
 tions of the actions of their demi-gods, 
 greatly fimilar in their feats to the Bac- 
 chus, Hercules, and Thefeus of the 
 Greeks, that no rational or fatis- 
 factory conclufion can be drawn for 
 any adjuftment of chronology. 
 
 A Pundit will introduce into his 
 legend a laack* of years with as much 
 facility, and perhaps conviction to 
 himfelf, as a modern commentator 
 would reduce to his ftandard half a 
 century. 
 
 "..* i$ .< . Ic~. -"i .'.-iv; 10 a v--^ iu iioLbaucA 
 The principles of the Hindoo reli- 
 gion, with its mod eflentiai tenets, 
 were compofed, it is aflerted, by Brim- 
 bah, and comprized in four books, 
 entitled the Baids or Yaids, a word 
 
 - 4^J i 1*.J - 
 
 * An hundred thowfand. 
 
 .'j'4,. ::. .'. r ... . 
 
 iigmfymg 
 
 '
 
 fignifying myftery in the Sumfcrit 
 
 language. 
 
 In that part of the peninfula of 
 India bordering on the Choromandel 
 fide, thefe facred writings are named 
 the Vaidums. 
 
 The Telingahs and the Malabars 
 commonly change the letter B into 
 a V, and invariably terminate all Sum- 
 fcrit words with an M. 
 
 The Shaftre, meaning fcience, is a 
 moft voluminous commentary on the 
 Baids ; and has been written by various 
 Pundits, for the purpofe of illuftrat- 
 ing their mythology. From the Shaf- 
 tre proceed thofe prepoflerous and 
 irreconcileably fuperftitious ceremonies 
 which have been dragged by their 
 
 doctors
 
 dolors into the Hindoo fyflem of 
 worfhip ; all of them tending to fhao 
 kle the vulgar mind, and produce in 
 it a flavifh reverence for the tribe of 
 Bramins. 
 
 The privilege of reading the Baids 
 and expounding its texts is only allow- 
 ed to them, and prohibited under fe- 
 vere penalties from the infpe&ion of 
 the other cafts. 
 
 By the fole inveflment of this fin- 
 gular authority, the priefl is left at 
 liberty to explain the original doc- 
 trine as may be the moft conducive in 
 confolidating the power and promoting 
 the interefts of his order. 
 
 - In the tranfmigration of the foul 
 into different bodies,, confifts the vari- 
 ous
 
 ( 25 ) 
 
 ous gradations of reward and puniih* 
 ment amongft the Hindoos. 
 
 Conformably to their good or evil 
 actions they are tranfpofed into the 
 bodies of fuch creatures, whether of 
 the human or brute fpecies, as by 
 their conduct, whilft in the occupation 
 of their former tenements, they may 
 have merited. 
 
 They do not admit of the infliction 
 of eternal puniiliment, and fhudder 
 at the idea of a belief fo difconfonant 
 to the opinion which they have form- 
 ed of the Supreme Being. 
 
 Evil difpofitions, they fay, are chaf- 
 tifed by a confinement in the bodies 
 of thofe animals whofe natures they 
 moft referable* and are conftrained to 
 occupy them until their vices are either 
 E eradicated,
 
 < 26 ) 
 
 eradicated, or fo purged as that they 
 ihall be judged worthy^ -of poffeffi-ng 
 fuperior forms. 
 
 The good actions of man, the Hin- 
 doo law-giver has written, will be re- 
 warded by their being made to per- 
 fonify fuch beings as enjoy the utmofl 
 human happinefs. 
 
 As that which the magiftrate expe- 
 riences on the juft and merciful exe- 
 cution of the truft which has been 
 committed to him ; or, that high fenfe 
 of pleafure which the man of huma- 
 nity partakes of, when he has alleviated 
 the diftrefTes of the unfortunate, or 
 otherwife promoted the welfare of 
 mankind. 
 
 The man who is acceptable in the 
 
 fight of his God, the Hindoo fays, 
 
 *Ly i'lji will
 
 will copioufly imbibe all thofe heart- 
 felt fatisfactions, which are produced 
 from the well performance of the dif- 
 ferent duties of life. 
 
 After having occupied a feries of 
 bodies to the approbation of the Deity 
 and his foul, from a purfuit of virtue, 
 fhall be purified from the taints of 
 evil, the Hindoo is then admitted to 
 participation of the radiant and never 
 ceafing glory of his firft caufe. 
 
 The foul's receiving this act ofblifs, 
 is defcribed, by comparing it to a ray 
 of light, attracted by the grand powers 
 of the fun, to which it fhoots with an 
 immenfe velocity, and is there abforbed 
 in the blaze of fplendor. 
 
 Yum Durm Rajah officiates in the 
 fame capacity amongft the Hindoos, 
 E 2 as
 
 as Minos did in the infernal regions of 
 the antients. 
 
 At the tribunal of Yum Durm, all 
 departed fouls are fuppofed to appear, 
 and their actions are proclaimed aloud 
 by this judge, who pafTes an immediate 
 fentence. 
 
 Should the difpofition of a man have 
 been fo flagitioufly wicked and de- 
 praved, as to be judged unworthy even 
 of an introduction into the body of 
 the vilefl animal, fuch corporeal tor- 
 ments are impofed on him as may be 
 thought adequate to the tranfgrefiion, 
 and the foul is afterwards placed in 
 forne fuitable ftation on earth. 
 
 According to the religious traditions 
 of the Hindoos, Sree Muii ^Narrain, 
 fmce the creation of the world, has at 
 
 nine
 
 '( 29 ) 
 
 nine different periods afTumed incarna- 
 ted forms for the purpofe of eradicating 
 fome particular evil, or othenvife chaf- 
 tifmg the fins of mankind. 
 
 The Hindoos worfhip a fecondary 
 fpecies of deity, which they wildly 
 reckon at the number of the thirty- 
 three krore*, and who in their diffe- 
 rent functions are defigned to repre- 
 fent the multiplied infinitude of power 
 of the Supreme Deity, 
 
 From the croud of images which 
 the Bramin has placed in the temples of 
 the Hindoos, they have been branded 
 with the appellation of idolaters, 
 or adorers of many gods. 
 
 Let this mode of offering up fup- 
 
 plications 
 
 * A krore is a hundred laacks.
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 plications or thankfgivings to the Su- 
 preme Being be difpaflionately examin- 
 ed, and it may be feen, that a per- 
 fonification of the attributes of the; 
 Deity, is not unfitly adapted to the 
 general comprehenfion. 
 
 For thofe, and they compofe a great 
 portion of the people, who, from a 
 want of the requifite education, are 
 not endowed with the ability of read- 
 ing the praife of God, can with faci- 
 lity conceive an idea of his greatnefs, 
 by contemplating a figure, fculptured 
 with many heads and with many 
 hands, adorned with every fymbol of 
 human power, and beheld by all 
 clafles of men with the utmoft reve- 
 rence and awe. 
 - /?/ ? /r...:~fo'..fo *?;.. ; 
 
 Were the origin of emblematical 
 figures deduced with a pofitive degree 
 
 of
 
 ( 3' ) 
 
 of certainty, there would remain little 
 doubt of difcovering, that they far 
 preceded the ufe of letters. 
 
 The Spanifh records mention, that 
 the intelligence of the firft arrival 
 of the Europeans on the coaft of 
 Mexico, was defcribed to Motezuma 
 by figures painted on cotton cloth, 
 
 In a rude fociety, it was evidently 
 a more eafy operation to convey an 
 idea thro* the medium of a fimple 
 figure cut in wood or moulded in clay, 
 than to invent an alphabet, and out 
 of it compofe an afTemblage of words 
 neceflary for the formation of a lan- 
 guage. 
 
 The immenfe group of Hindoo gods 
 enjoy immortality, which they are 
 gifted with from drinking a beverage, 
 
 called
 
 ( 3* ) 
 
 called Amrut, and which feems to 
 bear fome analogy to the nectar of 
 Homer's deities. 
 
 In their mythology, there is an ele- 
 gant defcription of nine goddefTes, re- 
 fembling in a great degree the mufes of 
 the antients, in the nature of their pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 There is alfo, mofl pi&urefquely 
 delineated, the God of Love, who has 
 a variety of epithets, all fignificant of 
 the unbounded fway, which he pof- 
 feffes over the hearts of men. 
 
 His common names are Kaum and 
 Mudden, and he is reprefented as a 
 pleafmg youth, armed with a bow and 
 five arrows, denoting the five fenfes, 
 each of which weapon is baited with 
 different qualities of the poifon, which 
 
 is
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 is infufed by the communication of 
 tke paflion of love. 
 
 A curious picture was found at 
 Tanjore, when the fort was captured, 
 of Kaum riding on an elephant, whofe 
 form was compofed of the figures of 
 feven young women, which were en- 
 twined together in fo ingenious and 
 whimfical a manner, that they ex- 
 hibited an exact fhape of that bulky 
 animal. 
 
 In the Bifs Eifhwer Pagoda at 
 Banaris, there is a defign well executed 
 in ftone of the God of the Sun, fitting 
 in a chariot and driving a horfe with 
 twelve heads, allufive of the twelve 
 figns of the Zodiac. 
 
 If the perufal of this rough and ab- 
 breviated fketch, fhould lead on any 
 F gentleman.
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 gentleman eftablifhed in this part of 
 the country, and pofleffing an inclina- 
 tion to this caft of inveftigation, to 
 profecute a farther and a more minute 
 inquiry into the principles of the Hin- 
 doo religion, I {hall deem the trivial 
 labour undergone in this refearch, as 
 moft amply compenfated. 
 
 Without putting etymological proofs 
 to the torture, or moulding to the 
 fhape of his fyftem the generally un- 
 fatisfactory and deceitful aids of chro- 
 nology, the careful obferver might be 
 enabled to trace fome points of the 
 religious worfhip of the Hindoo into 
 Egypt. 
 
 There he would difcover the facred 
 Bull, or the Cow of Shevah,. placed 
 high in the holy legends of the Cop- 
 tis ; he would fee the Snake, one of 
 
 the
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 the myfterious affociates of Sree Mun 
 Narrain, devoutly revered by that na- 
 tion, as an hieroglyphical emblem of 
 wifdom and longevity. 
 
 It would alfo appear, that the Oni- 
 on fo frequently mentioned by hiflori- 
 ans and travellers, as held in profound 
 veneration amongft the Egyptians, is 
 no lefs marked with reverence in Hin- 
 duftan; where, though the ufe of a 
 vegetable diet, is fo ftrongly incul- 
 cated, and with a few deviations, com- 
 monly adopted, the Onion is for- 
 bidden to fome of the feels of priefts ; 
 and, in the upper part of India, when 
 an oath, on which a matter of confe- 
 quence depends, is adminiftered, the 
 Bramin frequently introduces the Onion 
 to render the ceremony more awful. 
 
 F 2 On
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 On comparing the religious tenets, 
 and the forms of worlhip of the Hin- 
 doos, with thofe of the ancients, there 
 appears in the functions of fome of 
 the deities, a Jftrong uniformity of like- 
 nefs, which is not unreafonably placed 
 in the fame point of view, and were 
 it poffible to procure a defcription of 
 the occupations and the various powers 
 of the Hindoo fubaltern gods, it might 
 be found that the celeflial group of 
 the weftern pantheon, had been fe- 
 lecled from the divine afTembly of 
 Brimhah. 
 
 The Egyptians and the Greeks in 
 their commerce with India, thro' the 
 channel of the Red Sea, have left, I 
 am induced to believe, many tokens 
 behind them of their connection with 
 the, Hindoos. 
 
 In
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 In the collection of a gentleman 
 at Banaris, there are feveral valuable 
 antiques, which he purchafed of the 
 merchants of that city; one of which, 
 reprefenting a Grecian matron, is cut 
 in a ftyle bearing every mark of a maf- 
 terly hand. 
 
 There is another, on which Cleopa- 
 tra is exhibited in the act of being 
 bitten by the afp. 
 
 The fame gentleman had in his pof- 
 feiiion a Medufa's head, on an eme- 
 rald, found alfo at Banaris, which he 
 fent to England, and it has there been 
 acknowledged to be genuinely Greek. 
 
 There was procured at Guzerat, 
 fome years ago, a very high finifhed 
 cameo, whereon, Hercules flaying the 
 Nemean Lion, was executed in a mofh 
 beautiful and finking manner. 
 
 Thefe 
 
 354590
 
 Thefe circumftances are adverted to 
 with fome fhew of evincing, that 
 during the intercourfe which exifted 
 between the natives of Egypt and 
 of India, the former might have in- 
 troduced into their country, with the 
 rare and luxurious products of Hin- 
 duftan, certain tenets and ceremonies 
 of the Hindoo mythology. 
 
 In confidering of the tract by which 
 thefe antiques were brought into 
 India, I muft not omit mentioning, 
 that they might have found their way 
 into that country in the cabinets of 
 fome of the MufTulman conquerors ; 
 who, in the more early period of their 
 empire, were as warm and as enthu- 
 fiaftic admirers of Greek productions 
 and literature as ever the Romans 
 were ; and it is a fact, in need of no 
 
 illustration,
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 illuftration, that the revival of letters 
 and the arts, after Rome had been 
 fwallowed up in Gothic ruin, received 
 the moft potent aid from the Arabian 
 Kaliph, Haroun ul Rachid. 
 
 I am fincerely to lament that my 
 knowledge in aflronomy is fo very 
 confined, that I am almoft wholly in- 
 capacitated from defcribing the attain- 
 ment which the Bramins had arrived 
 at in that fcience, long, previoufly to 
 the asra in which it flouriihed in the 
 weflern world. 
 
 The Zodiac, with its twelve figns, 
 is well known to them ; and they have 
 beftowed on the feven days, com- 
 mencing the week with Sunday, the 
 names of the planets, 
 
 The
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 The folar year of the Hindoos con- 
 fabs of twelve months, making three 
 hundred and fixty days, and once in 
 three years they annex an additional 
 month, for the inclufion of thofe days 
 which are wanting to compleat the 
 exact fpace of time required by the 
 earth in making its triennial revolu- 
 tion round the fun. 
 
 The days of the month are cal- 
 culated from the period of the full 
 moon, and the number of them is 
 divided into two equal parts. 
 
 To the portion of days comprized 
 in the increafmg half of the moon, 
 they give the name of Sood, or filling ; 
 and the other, they term Bole, or 
 the Wain, 
 
 The
 
 ( 41 ) 
 
 The Jogue is divided into luftra of 
 twelve years, each of which is diftin- 
 guifhed by its peculiar denomination. 
 
 The obfervatory at Banaris is an un- 
 deniable proof of the knowledge which 
 the Hindoos have acquired in the mo- 
 tions of the celeftia! bodies. 
 
 Could accefs be gotten to fuch re- 
 cords of the Hindoos, as are unaccom- 
 panied with that redundancy of fable, 
 with which their priefts have fo co- 
 pioufly interwoven them, it would not 
 be prefumptuous to fuppofe, that we 
 fhould difcover they were, in the more 
 early age of the world, one of the 
 mod enlightened and powerful na- 
 tions then inhabiting the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 G Their
 
 ( 42 ) 
 
 Their empire, as related in many of 
 their hiftorical tracls, confuted of 
 fifty-fix feparate principalities, ulti- 
 mately governed by one ruler, whofe 
 kingdom extended from the fouthern 
 borders of Tartary to the iiland of 
 Ceylon, and from the confines of Af- 
 fam and Arracan to the river Indus. 
 
 This immenfe territory was inhabited 
 by a people divided into four diftmct 
 tribes, each exercifing different func- 
 tions and occupations, and all uniting 
 in their various branches to promote 
 a general good. 
 
 It abounded in fair and opulent 
 cities, which were decorated with 
 magnificent and lofty temples for the 
 worfhip of the gods, and with fump- 
 tuous manfions, gardens and fountains 
 
 for
 
 .( 43 ) 
 
 for the pleafure and accommodation of 
 the people. 
 
 Ufeful and elegant artifans, well 
 ildlled in their various trades, in the 
 raifmg ftupendous buildings; in the 
 fabricating gold, filver, and the moft 
 delicate cotton cloths, and in the 
 curious workmanfhip of precious (tones 
 and metals, all found ample encourage- 
 ment in the exercife of their feyera! 
 
 It were almoft fuperfluons to fay, 
 that if fome glaring indulgences in 
 favor of the facred tribe are excepted, 
 Hindufhm muft have been governed 
 by falutary and well digefted laws. 
 
 From the tranflation of the code 
 
 by Mr. Halhed, it is feen, that a well 
 
 chofen fyftem of equitable regulations 
 
 G 2 directed
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 dire&ed the Hindoos in the punifli-' 
 ment of crimes, and for the fecurity 
 of property. 
 
 The traveller was enabled to jour- 
 ney through this extenfive empire 
 with an eafe and fafety unknown in 
 other countries* 
 
 The public roads were {haded with 
 trees ; at every halting place a caravan- 
 fera, with a pond or a well pertaining to 
 it, was founded for the conveniency of 
 the pafTenger, and fhould he in any 
 part of the country have been pillagecl, 
 and could produce a teftimony of his 
 lofs, the diftricl: in which the damage, 
 had been fuftained was obliged to. 
 make reftitution. 
 
 When this empire, its polifted peo- 
 ple, and the progrefs which art and 
 
 fcience
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 fcience have made aiongft them, are 
 attentively confidered and reflected 
 on ; when, at the fame periods, a re- 
 trofpective view is thrown on the 
 ilates of the European world, then 
 immerfed in, or only immerging out of 
 ignorance and barbarity, we muft be- 
 hold Hindu ft an with a wonder and 
 refpecl:; and we may aflert, without 
 forfeiting a claim to truth and mode- 
 ration, that, however far the weftern 
 nations have, in improvements and re- 
 finement, outftripped the followers of 
 Brimhah, yet in the more early periods 
 of life, they, certainly did poflefs valu- 
 able materials of philofophy and ufe- 
 fnl knowledge. 
 
 The humane mind, will, naturally, 
 be impreiTed with a fenfe of forrow 
 and pity for a people who have fallen 
 
 from
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 from fo confpicuous a height of glory 
 .and fortune, and who, perhaps, have 
 contributed to polifh and exalt the 
 very men who now hold them in fub- 
 jeclion. 
 
 To form a fatisfactory judgment of 
 the genius of the Hindoos, or to de^ 
 fcribe, with a due accuracy, the degree 
 to which they raifed art and fcience, 
 it were requifite, if the necefTary ma- 
 terials could be procured, that we did 
 endeavour to exhibit a view of the 
 fituation in which thefe people were 
 placed before they were conquered by 
 the victorious followers of Mahomed, 
 
 A partial and a very degrading rela- 
 tion would be made of them, were the 
 defcription of their laws, government 
 and manners, taken from the appear- 
 ance
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 ance they make in the eye of 
 world at this day. 
 
 The empire of Hinduftan was oVor- 
 thrown by a fierce face of men, who 
 in their furious courfe of conqueft, 
 exerted the moft ftrenuous efforts, in 
 levelling every monument of worfhip 
 and tafte. 
 
 They manacred the priefts arid 
 plundered the temples, with a fpecies 
 of keennefs and ferocity, which theif 
 prophet, himfelf, might have gloried 
 in. 
 
 A people thus crufhed, groaning 
 tinder the load of oppreffion, and dif- 
 mayed at the fight of fuch cruelties, 
 mufl foon have loft the fpirit of fci- 
 ence and the exertion of genius. 
 
 Particu*
 
 ( 48 ) 
 
 Particularly, as their fine arts were 
 fo blended with the fyftem of religion, 
 that the perfecution of the one muft 
 have (hed the moft baneful influence 
 on the exiftence of the other. 
 
 To decide on, or affix the character 
 of the Hindoo, from the point of view 
 in which he is now beheld, would be in 
 fome degree tantamount to an attempt 
 of conveying to the mind an exact 
 idea of antient Greece, from the mate- 
 rials now prefented by that wretched 
 country. 
 
 The difquifition of the man of 
 philanthropy, and who has fhaken off 
 the fetters of prejudice, will be far 
 different ; he will enjoy an heart-felt 
 pleafure in contributing his aid to- 
 wards difpelling the mortifyng cloud, 
 
 which
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 which hath long inveloped the hiftory 
 of the Hindoo. 
 
 This candid inveftigator will carry 
 him back to that aera of grandeur 
 which his country enjoyed in her day 
 of profperity, and there hold him out 
 for the infpe6Hon and information of 
 mankind ; the generality of whom, 
 whether from motives of contempt or 
 habits of indolence, have acquired but 
 a trivial and a very incorrecl: know- 
 ledge of this antient people. 
 
 It will then be feen, that the genius 
 of the Hindoos was fo happily led on, 
 and their bent of difpofition fo aptly- 
 regulated and attempered by the rules 
 eflablifhed for the performance of 
 their feveral occupations and profef- 
 fions, that we are forcibly induced to 
 H enter-
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 entertain a mod refpeclable opinion of 
 the equity of their laws and the wif- 
 dom of their government. 
 
 A precifion, which eradicated the 
 idea of an error, prefcribed to them 
 their refpective duties in the ftate and 
 in fociety, and wholly precluded any 
 one feel: from infringing on the privi- 
 leges of another. 
 
 The Bramin, was invefled with un- 
 controlable power in all matters of re- 
 ligion ; he became the invariable me- 
 dium, through which the three infe- 
 rior claries addrefled their God ; he was 
 alfo the fole repoiitory and difpen- 
 fer of fcience, and to his care and abi- 
 lity was intrufted the education of 
 youth. 
 
 The
 
 The importance of thefe offices muft 
 have given to the Bramin great fway 
 in a community, where the attaining 
 at a knowledge of the mode of wor- 
 ihip from its inexpreflible variety of 
 ceremony, becomes a tafk of arduous 
 labor, and where at the fame time it 
 is deemed an obligation indifpenfably 
 incumbent on the Hindoo for his fu- 
 ture welfare, that he be well verfed 
 in the performance of the rites of his 
 religion. 
 
 Thefe employments were judged of 
 fufficient magnitude to occupy the 
 fludy and attention of the Bramin, 
 and he was ftriclly prohibited from 
 engaging in any temporal concern. 
 
 The authority of exercifmg every 
 
 .function of royalty feems to have 
 
 devolved, without a referve, on the 
 
 H 2 Chitteiy
 
 ( 5* ) 
 
 Chittery or Rajah, and his poflef- 
 fions were held hereditary in the line 
 of legitimate male primogeniture. 
 
 The younger branches of this race 
 had commands in the army beftowed 
 on them, and they were commonly 
 entrufted with the charge of the forts 
 and the ftrong holds of the country. 
 
 The occupation of a merchant, with 
 the tranfac~lion of every fpecies of 
 traffic, was delivered over to the 
 Bhyfe or Baniam, and it was declared 
 unlawful for the other tribes to en- 
 gage in any branch of commerce. 
 
 The hufbandman, the artifan, the 
 Common foldier and the labourer, 
 compofed the fooder, or the fourth caft 
 of the Hindoos, and each of thefe 
 
 refpective
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 refpeclive profefllons was flrongly 
 guarded again ft encroachments. 
 
 Thus diftin&ly arranged and on the 
 fevereft penalties, interdicted from any 
 extraneous mixture or the admiffion 
 of profelytes, the Hindoo government 
 acquired an uniformity and a vigor, 
 the natural refult of its happy prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 Were an analogy afcertained between 
 the mythology of the Hindoos and 
 the Egyptians, very perceptible traces 
 of which prefent themfelves, it may 
 then become a matter of doubt, which 
 people for the greateft fpace of time 
 have been the moft polifhed and en- 
 lightened. 
 
 From the adductions which I have 
 brought forward, for the explanation 
 
 of
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 of fome of the moft eflential tenets of 
 the mythology of the Hindoos, and for 
 the general demonftration of the an- 
 tiquity of that nation, it may appear 
 to you, that I maintain the doctrine 
 of Egypt's having received a portion 
 of her flock of fcience and religion 
 from India. 
 
 With a deference to popular opi- 
 nion, but without the prepofTefled de- 
 termination of fabricating a fyftem and 
 adapting to it partial arguments, 
 cautioully felected for its fupport, I 
 will confefs to you, that I am a fol- 
 lower of the belief, 
 
 One fact, amongfl fome others, has 
 afforded me a fatisfactory proof of 
 the high antiquity of the Hindoos, 
 as a civilized nation, and marks the 
 
 rtrongefl
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 ftrongeft difapprobation of any foreign 
 intercourfe. 
 
 They are forbidden to crofs the 
 river Attoc, the name of which, in 
 many dialects of their language, fig- 
 nifies prohibition, and fhould they 
 pafs this boundary, they are imme- 
 diately held unclean, and in the flricl: 
 fenfe of their religious law, forfeit their 
 rank in the tribes they may beclafled in. 
 
 It is not, therefore, reafonable to 
 fuppofe that any part of a people, un- 
 der this refraction, and who feem to 
 have been fo centred in themfelves, as 
 to pofitively reject the admiflion of 
 profelytes, would have emigrated into 
 a diftant country, and bring from 
 thence a fyftem of religious worihip. 
 
 Let
 
 ( 56 ) 
 
 Let me conclude this comparative 
 review with obferving, that When 
 we fee a people who were poflefled of 
 an ample flock of fcience and well 
 digefled rules, for the prote&ion and 
 improvement of fociety, and who pro- 
 fefled a religious creed, whofe tenets 
 confifl of the utmoft refinement and 
 variety of ceremony, and at the fame 
 time, obferve, amongft other Afiatic na- 
 tions, and the Egyptians of former 
 times, but partial diftributions of this 
 knowledge, law and religion, we are led 
 to entertain a fuppofition that the 
 proprietors of the lefTer have been fup- 
 plied from the fources of the greater 
 fund. 
 
 If the pofitions which I have ftated, 
 are thought to convey reafon, they will 
 afford greater pleafure to the man of 
 
 curious
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 curious ftudy than thofe unfubftantial 
 and confufed chronological proofs, 
 which are often framed as they may 
 moft commodioufly accord with fome 
 favorite . Hypothecs* 
 
 Amongft the Hindoos, marriage*^ 
 xvhen it can be performed with any 
 degree of conveniency, is deemed a re- 
 ligious duty of an indifpenfable na- 
 ture ; aiid it is believed, that propagating 
 fpecies in that ftate, entitles parents 
 to fingular marks of divine favor* 
 
 * This word, in the Sumfcrit language, iigni- 
 fies pleafure. The Hindoos in common ufage 
 have but one wife, and when this rule is deviated 
 from, it is confidered as an indecency. There is 
 a fet of mendicants, called Joquees or Byraghees, 
 who live in a ftate of celibacy, but it is not a nu- 
 merous one. 
 
 1 They
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 They {hew a difapprobation of celi- 
 bacy by many marks of opprobrium 
 and fcorn ; and, I have frequently ob- 
 ferved, that when a Hindoo has been 
 afked if he was a married man, he has 
 appeared difconcerted, and ailiamed at 
 the fac~l obliging him to anfwer in 
 the negative, and immediately attri- 
 buted the caufe of his fituation to fome 
 particular misfortune. 
 
 It is to this inftitution, which is fo 
 flrongly recommended, and from a 
 fligma being affixed on the non-obedi- 
 ence to it, I may fay, even enforced 
 that the generally great population of 
 Hinduftan, and its fpeedy recovery 
 after the calamities of war and famine, 
 mu ft be largely afcribed. 
 
 The
 
 ( 59 ) 
 
 The entire fyftem of the domeftic 
 ordinances and ceconomy of the Hin- 
 doos, is founded on a ftrong, yet a 
 fimple bafis, out of which arife effects 
 the molt happy in themfelves, and 
 powerfully operative in uniting the 
 leading bonds of fociety. 
 
 From the eftabliihed laws and ufage 
 of the country, the wife depends for 
 the enjoyment of every pleafure, as 
 well as for the mere ordinary accom- 
 modations of life, on the immediate 
 exiflence of her hufband. 
 
 It becomes her invariable intereft to 
 preferve his health, and her happinefs 
 is abfolutely centred on his living to 
 an old age. 
 
 On the demife of the hufband, his 
 
 wife, literally, devolves into a caput 
 
 I 2 mortuum,
 
 ( 60 ) 
 
 inortuum, {he cannot marry again, 
 {he is deprived of all confequence in 
 the family, and is diverted of every 
 mark of ornament and distinction. 
 
 There are certain religious ceremo- 
 nies not lawful for her to perform ; 
 and, in fome inftances, fhe is held un- 
 clean ; but, oh all occafions, after her 
 hu {band's death, the widow is daffed 
 in the houfe as a Have, or a menial 
 fervant. 
 
 Amongft the three firft cafts of 
 Hindoos, where the idea of honour 
 is more refined, and is oftentimes 
 carried to an extreme, rather than 
 fuffer this gradation, by which every 
 female attraction is extinguifhed, and 
 the women themfelves reduced to the 
 Jo, weft degree of mortification, on the 
 
 pretence
 
 ( 6' ) 
 
 pretence of matrimonial affection, they 
 frequently devote themfelves on the 
 funeral pile of their huibands. 
 
 In addition to the dread of fo degraded 
 a (late of humiliation, the widow, on 
 the other fide, is told by the Bramins, 
 that in confequence of performing this 
 ac~l of heroifm, ihe will partake of the 
 moft exquifite future joys, and that 
 her progeny will become the imme- 
 diate charge of the deity, 
 
 Though the iflue of fuch a refolution 
 muft forcibly affect the feelings of hu- 
 manity, yet as it would appear to ori- 
 ginate in a principle, tending to 
 ftrengthen a falutary domeflic policy, 
 it ought not to be haftily condemned 
 as a cuftom wholly cruel and unjuft. 
 
 Con-
 
 Conformably to the ftate of domef- 
 tic fubordination, in which Hindoo 
 women are placed, it has been judged 
 expedient to debar them from the ufe 
 of letters. 
 
 The Hindoos invariably hold the 
 language, that female acquired accom- 
 plilhments are not neceflary ; whether 
 for the purpofe of contributing to a 
 woman's own happinefs, or for pre- 
 ferving that decorum of character, and 
 fimplicity of manners, which alone 
 can render her ufeful or amiable in 
 the eftimation of her family. 
 
 They urge, that a knowledge of 
 literature would have an injurious ten- 
 dency in drawing a woman from her 
 houfehold cares, and would conduce 
 to give her a difreliih to thofe offices 
 
 in
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
 in which are centered the only fatis- 
 faction and amufement that fhe can 
 with propriety and an obfervance of 
 rectitude, partake of; and fuch is 
 the force of cuftom, that a Hindoo 
 woman would incur a fevere reproach 
 were it known, that fhe could read 
 or write. 
 
 The dancing girls, whofe occupa- 
 tions are avowedly devoted to the plea- 
 fures of the public, are on the con- 
 trary educated in moft branches of 
 learning, with the utmofl care, and 
 are minutely inftru&ed in the know- 
 ledge of every attraction and blandifh- 
 ment which can operate in communi- 
 cating the moft refined pleafures. 
 
 You
 
 ( 64 ) 
 
 You will be pleafed to obferve, that 
 thefe women are not obliged to flicker 
 themfelves in private haunts, or are 
 they, on account of their profeflional 
 conduct, marked with any opprobious 
 ftigma. 
 
 They compofe a particular clafs of 
 the fociety they may have been ori- 
 ginally attached to, and enjoy the 
 declared protection and fan&ion of 
 government, for which they are af~ 
 fefled according to their feveral capa- 
 cities. 
 
 No religious ceremonies or feftival 
 of any kind is thought to be performed 
 with the order requifite, unlefs ac- 
 panied with dancing girls, and it is 
 ufual for them on a fixed day in the 
 week to attend at the court of the 
 prince or governor of the diftricT:, 
 
 either
 
 ^ ( 65 ) 
 
 either to make their obeifance, or ex- 
 hibit fome entertainment. 
 
 And as a compenfation for fuch fer- 
 vices, they are endowed with certain 
 grants of government lands. 
 
 An Hindoo family, is implicitly 
 governed by the male fenior in it, to 
 whom there is ihewn every token of 
 reverence and refpecl:. 
 
 A fon will not fit in the prefence of 
 his father without an exprefs defire, 
 and in his deportment and converfa- 
 tion obferves to him the moft affec- 
 tionate behaviour. 
 
 In the courfe of my refidence in 
 India, and acquaintance with the Hin- 
 doos, I have known but few inftances 
 of female incontinence amongft their 
 K married
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 married women, and not one of direct 
 undutifulnefs to parents. 
 
 I cannot avoid obferving, alfo, in 
 this place, that I never heard of a 
 Hindoo free-thinker, and that their 
 mofl illuflrious characters, and men 
 of the world, fuch as^Scindia, Nanah 
 Purnawees* &c. believe the tenets of 
 their doctrine with as much fincerity, 
 and practife the mofl minute cere- 
 mony with as much fcrupulous at- 
 tention as the fimpleft peafant in their 
 country. 
 
 * Eminent Mhahrattah chiefs. 
 
 Extraft
 
 Extra& of a Letter written at 
 
 Kachmire, April, 1783. 
 
 . 
 
 HP* H E religion which prevails in 
 -** thefe parts*, is that of Brimhah, 
 and as I have already in a fmall fketch 
 endeavoured to throw fome light on 
 that ancient and curious fyftem of 
 worihip, I will now pafs it over, with 
 an offer of prefenting thofe remarks to 
 you fhould you ever be difpofed to read 
 
 them. 
 
 
 
 There does not exift a greater dif- 
 ference in the manners of the inha- 
 bitants of thefe mountains, and the 
 people of your quarter, than generally 
 does between high and low lenders of 
 the fame nation. 
 
 K 2 I took 
 
 * The mountains at the head of the Punjab.
 
 I took notice of two ufages, which 
 feem peculiar to thefe mountaineers, 
 that of not {having the beard, and 
 embracing ; this ceremony is performed 
 by inclining the head over the left 
 fhoulder of the party embraced, and is 
 never ufed more than one time at a 
 meeting. 
 
 The cuftora of permitting the beard 
 to grow, proceeds, perhaps, from a 
 certain ferocity and roughnefs imme- 
 diately incident to their fituation, and 
 predominant in the difpofition of all 
 mountaineers ; which, prompts them 
 in different modes to fhew their dif- 
 dain and contempt of the fofter and 
 more luxurious manners of their low 
 country neighbours. 
 
 The
 
 The embracing over the left fhoul- 
 ders only, take its rife, I would 
 conjecture, from the defire of having 
 the right hand at liberty in cafe of 
 danger. 
 
 The women have bright olive com-< 
 plexions, are pretty, and moft delicate- 
 ly ihaped. 
 
 There is a pleafmg freedom in their 
 manners, which without having any 
 tendency to immodefty, or feeming to 
 arife from habits of licentioufnefs, 
 ftrikes you, as the fimple refult of that 
 unlimited confidence which the Hindoo 
 hufbands in general repofe in their 
 wives. 
 
 , * . * ^; 
 
 J have known the women to flop in 
 the way, though a pot of water has 
 been on their heads, and conyerfe unre- 
 
 fervedljr
 
 ( 7 ') 
 
 fervedly with paffengers, directing 
 them with great good nature and civi- 
 lity in the right road, or communicat- 
 ing to them any other common infor- 
 mation. 
 
 Their drefs I think, is agreeable 
 and decent, confifting of a petticoat 
 with a border, commonly of a different 
 colour, and a clofe jacket, which 
 comes half way down the waift, and, 
 from the bottom of the fore part of 
 it, drops a loofe ftomacher, which 
 reaches to the girdle, 
 
 Their hair, which is held by them in 
 as high an eflimation as that beautiful 
 ornament can be regarded by our gayeft 
 weftern females, is plaited and inter- 
 woven with black filk or cotton 
 
 firings^
 
 7< 
 
 firings, which falling down the back, 
 almoil fweeps the ground, 
 
 Over this drefs, they throw in a 
 moll becoming and graceful fafhion, 
 a veil, which feldom touches, but ne- 
 ver wholly conceals the face. 
 
 The women of the principal people 
 are kept in Zinanahs, as amongft the 
 MufTulmen, and this pradlice exifting 
 in a country*, were little danger is to 
 be apprehended from the infpec~lion of 
 foreign vifitants, affords fome reafon 
 of believing, that the concealing cer- 
 tain ranks of women has been a cuf- 
 torn eflablifhed amongft the Hindoos, 
 previoufly to the date of any Maho- 
 metan government, in Hinduftan. 
 
 It 
 
 * Mountainous and difficult of
 
 It was once my opinion that the 
 Hindoos, adopting the ufage of their 
 Muffulman conquerors who deem fe- 
 males in the iffue of war a lawful 
 prize, had fecluded them from public 
 view. 
 
 But feeing thefe mountaineers praC- 
 tifing the fame mode, and knowing 
 alfo that the Mhahrattahs, who are 
 an independent people, and confe- 
 quently free from the apprehenfions, 
 which the conquered Hindoos may en- 
 tertain, ufe Zinanahs for their women 
 of rank ; I am induced to think, that 
 this cuftom did prevail in India before 
 the XTci of the Mahometan invafion. 
 
 At the fame time, were I to hazard 
 an opinion on fome of the manners of 
 
 the
 
 ( 73 ) 
 
 the Hindoos from their hiftory ; the 
 bed of which, I am to obferve, is ravel- 
 led in a maze of obfcurity and fable, I 
 would fay, that the Hindoos in former 
 times, did not confine any clafTes of 
 their women. 
 
 But as their manners from the great 
 influx of wealth and luxury amongft 
 them became lefs fimple, though they 
 are a people who have undergone fewer 
 changes than any other, that the 
 Princes of the country produced this 
 innovation for the purpofe of impref- 
 fing in the minds of their fubjecls, an 
 awe and refpec"l for their families. 
 
 In the different relations of the in- 
 carnations of Vyftnou, and in the hif- 
 toiy of their antient Princes, it is feen, 
 L that
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 that at thofe periods, the Hindoo 
 women had an unreftrained admiflion 
 into the aflemblies of men, and often- 
 times pofTefled great fway in them. 
 
 In the hiflory of Ram, who, you 
 know, my dear fir, made a great figure 
 on earth, I have met with a pafTage, 
 which may ferve to iliuftrate this pofi- 
 tion, and trace alfo to a high fource, a 
 mode of trial hitherto practifed in 
 Europe. 
 
 r\<, fH-*r v fe>f\f Y"i*.rK 3 
 
 1 will premife, with informing you, 
 
 that Sree Mun Narrain, the Grand 
 Deity of" the Hindoos, together with 
 his indivifible afTociates, the Mhah 
 Letchimy and the Snake, with the 
 view of correcting certain evils and 
 abufes which at that time had de- 
 ranged
 
 ( 75 ) 
 
 ranged the terreftrial fyftem, found it 
 expedient to perfonify human be- 
 ings. 
 
 j 
 
 Narrain, accordingly, took on him 
 the form of Ram, a renowned foldier, 
 Letchimy became his wife, under the 
 name of Seetah Devee, and the Snake 
 was transformed into the body of a 
 Letchimun, the brother and conftant 
 
 attendant of Ram. 
 
 
 
 Under this defignation, thefe per- 
 fonages mixed freely in all human fo- 
 cieties, nor is there the leaft mention 
 made in any part of the hiftory 
 of Seetah's having been reflricled from 
 an admiflion to them, 
 
 On the contrary, fh is reprefented 
 
 as bearing a part on every occafion, 
 
 L 2
 
 where it might have been proper for 
 her fex to appear. 
 
 A fervice of a dangerous nature re- 
 quired, that Ram fhould leave Seetah 
 behind him, and the party being then 
 in a defart, {he was configned to the 
 charge of Letchimun, uatil Ram might 
 return/ 
 
 Seetah and her companion remained 
 fome time in perfe6l fecurity and quiet, 
 when a famed magician, led on dqubt- 
 lefs by the devil, who is ever on the 
 watch to draw aftray the ladies, came 
 that way, faw Seetah, and became 
 deeply enamoured with her. 
 
 This fubtle man having difcovered, 
 perhaps, by his fpells and incantations, 
 that the eyes of women are the foon 
 eft enfnared, contrived that a bird 
 
 of
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 of a moft brilliantly beautiful plu- 
 mage, fhould fly full in the fight of 
 Seetah. 
 
 This horrid experiment had the de- 
 fired and the completed effect ; for the 
 deluded fair one inftantly conjured 
 JLetchimun, by every thing he could 
 hold dear, by the affection he had for 
 her, by the refpect he bore to Ram, 
 
 to procure for her the charming bird. 
 
 . 
 
 Letchimun was amazed and much 
 troubled at this entreaty : he endea- 
 vored to expostulate on the eminent 
 danger of quitting her in fo perilous 
 a fituation. 
 
 He pointed out to her, in the moft 
 lively language, the certainty of incur- 
 ring the fevereft difpleafure of Ram, 
 for a breach of his orders ; and, in 
 
 Ihort,
 
 fhort, he urged every argument which 
 a regard for his own character, or her 
 fafety, could fuggeft. 
 
 The dazzling hues of this bird had 
 taken fucri ample pofleflion of the 
 mind of Seetah, that there did not re- 
 main in it one unoccupied fpace for the 
 reception of Letchimun's advice. 
 
 t --' '* " - -'-- - -' - J v*v * *** i- 
 
 She muft poflefs this object of her 
 \vii~hes, or ihe ihould become the moft 
 miferable of women ; and, on the re- 
 peated denial of Letchimun to comply 
 with her defire, blinded by the.difap- 
 pointment of her fondefl hopes, and 
 hurried on by a bur ft of rage, (he ac- 
 cufed Letchimun of the defign of fe- 
 ducing her, and alledged that as the 
 only reafon of his diflike of leaving 
 her. 
 
 The
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 This accufation convincing Let- 
 chimun of the inefficacy of his argu- 
 ments, and the neceflity of an acqui- 
 efcence, he immediately went in queft 
 of the bird ; but, previoufly to his de- 
 parture, he drew a magic circle around 
 the fpot where Seetah remained ; and 
 told her, while Ihe continued within 
 that fpace, that no misfortune could 
 betide her. 
 
 e 
 Letchimun had no fooner gone, 
 
 than the plotting necromancer, afTum- 
 ing the appearance of an old and a 
 very infirm man, in a languid and a 
 feeble manner approached near the 
 place where Seetah flood, and through 
 excefs of weaknefs, he feemed obliged 
 to extend himfelf on the ground. 
 
 He befought her, in an arFec~ling and 
 a pitiable tone of voice, to adminifter 
 
 to
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 to him a little water to allay his thirft, 
 and to recruit an almoft exhaufted 
 ftrength. 
 
 The tender hearted, but ill-fated 
 Seetah felt the full force of the prayers 
 of a diftrefled old man, and with a bo- 
 fom overflowing with the effufions of 
 humanity and benevolence, unmind- 
 ful of her own happinefs, fhe ftepped 
 beyond the prefcribed bound, and fell 
 that inftant into the power of her be* 
 trayer. 
 
 Here the ftory lets forth, what 
 would but little contribute to my cre- 
 dit to relate, or your amufement to be 
 informed of ; it only now concerns 
 me to make mention, that after Ram 
 had recovered Seetah, he ordered, for the 
 removal of every fufpicion in his own 
 
 bread,
 
 ( 8. ) 
 
 bread, and for effe&ually {hutting the 
 mouth of Slander, that fhe fhould -un- 
 dergo the ordeal trial. 
 
 Seetah, eager to baniih the moil la- 
 tent doubt from the mind of her 
 Lord, and anxious to exhibit to the 
 world fo public a teftimony of her 
 purity, heard the mandate with plea- 
 fure ; and, without any ihew of dread, 
 walked over the burning iron ; but 
 the feet of Seetah, fays the hiftorian* 
 being fhod with innocence, the fcorch- 
 ing heat was to her as a bed of 
 flowers. 
 
 Pardon me, my friend, for thus in- 
 truding on you this eaftern tale, 
 which would be altogether a trifling one, 
 did it not tend to indicate, that the 
 M Hindoos
 
 C 8* ) 
 
 Hindoos had a knowledge of the or- 
 deal trial, at, doubtlefs, a very early 
 period, and that in thofe ages it would 
 feem their women of the firft rank ap- 
 peared in public. 
 
 The fame ufe may be made of this 
 ftory, as that which is contained in the 
 Arabian Nights entertainment, where 
 amidfl the olio of talifmans, genii 
 and devils, you are enabled to extract 
 juft reprefentations of the manners 
 and difpofitions of the people, 
 
 As I have thus far entered into a 
 fubjecl:, which has often excited my 
 curiofity, I will, with your permifTion, 
 proceed fomewhat farther, and recite 
 to you a circumftance which may aflinV 
 in corroborating my belief, that the 
 Hindoo women of rank, conformably 
 
 to
 
 to ancient ufages, and to fome now 
 exifting, were not wholly fecluded 
 from the fight of men. 
 
 When a young woman of the Rajah 
 or the Royal Race, was marriageable, 
 or fuppofed to pofTefs an under (landing 
 difcrimination of choice, fhe was con- 
 ducted into an apartment, where there 
 were many youths of her own fex af- 
 fembled, and defired to felecl; the per- 
 fcm the mofl pleafmg to her, 
 
 She performed the ceremony, of de- 
 claring her fentiments, by throwing a 
 wreath of flowers over the neck of the 
 favored young man, who, if the lady 
 Should have been agreeable to him, 
 was efteemed her future hufband. 
 
 Thia
 
 ( 84 5 
 
 'This rule, I have been informed, is 
 obferved at this day in Tanjore, where 
 I refided fome little time, arid received 
 the intelligence from a Mharattah 
 firamin, who had an employment at 
 the Rajah's court. 
 
 The aforegoing opinions, my friend, 
 I have freely given ybu, and I am t6 
 intreat,'that you will as freely difiet 
 and analyfe them ; taking fuch parts 
 as may appear to you founded on rea- 
 fon and natural principles, and rejecting 
 fuch as may feem vague or dictated by 
 fancy. * 
 
 F I N I
 
 175
 
 OCT061997, 
 
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