84 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. ix 



Hindus and Buddhists. Of their history there is little authentic, except 

 what is contained in the Vedas, out of which disjointed and inconsis- 

 tent material it is diflficult to reahze the actual conditions of 

 ancient India. One thing, however, is abundantly evident, the whole 

 Indian Continent was a chaos of conflicting elements, evolving large 

 ideas of the universe, but utterly lacking in political life and cohesion; 

 that is about all that can be said about Hindu rule. 



Next the Mohammedans took their turn at evolving a united India, 

 by trying to compel the Hindus to become Mohammedan but failed. 

 They commenced the definite conquest of India about the loth century 

 A.D., and gradually extended their sway over the whole of India, 

 allowing the Hindus to retain their religion on condition that they paid 

 tribute. Their history is chiefly a record of wars and plundering. Up 

 to 1500 the Mohammedans from Afghanistan and Persia overran the 

 country and then gave place to the Moguls. The Moguls were descen- 

 dants of a race called the Tartars; they were Mohammedans of a rather 

 unorthodox type and in India their armies consisted of both Hindus and 

 Mohammedans, so that in any uprisings or wars they could send out 

 the army that would be most desirous of fighting the enemy. The Moguls 

 appeared just about the same time as the Portuguese and for 200 years 

 they ruled the country with the rod of despotism. The great Mogul 

 kept all power in his own hands and appointed his viceroys or Nawabs 

 to govern the different parts of the empire, but on the death of Auranzeb 

 in 1707 the Mogul empire went into rapid decline and the great Mogul 

 could no longer control his subordinates ; they then set up semi-in- 

 dependent kingdoms in different parts of the country in which 

 there was always a war between the different sons of the rulers for the 

 succession and it usually ended by the one who gained the upper hand 

 murdering or imprisoning the others. As the Mogul empire declined 

 the Mahrattas gained the ascendancy. They originally inhabited the 

 country known as the Western Ghats and were simply freebooters.levying 

 blackmail wherever they could. In time, they collected it from al- 

 most all parts of India. If a state paid a certain sum yearly in black 

 mail, that state was not molested, but if it refused it paid dearly for its 

 refusal in pillage and plunder. Born horsemen, requiring no provisions 

 and no camp, they were swift in their movements and if defeated in one 

 place they appeared a few days afterwards miles distant to pillage and 

 plunder again. The country was thus in a state of utter confusion and 

 chaos from one end to the other and such scenes as the following were 

 not uncommon. One of the conquering armies (Persian by the way) 

 sacked Delhi, and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. the streets were filled with shouts 

 of the brutal soldiery, and the shrieks of their helpless victims. The at- 



