INDIA 



183 



THE WARRIOR OR KSHATRIYA CASTE. 



THE true Kshatriya, when engaged in fighting an enemy, should give up all desire to live. 

 Far be it from him to think of retreating or taking to flight! On the contrary, let him advance 

 bravely, resolved to conquer or to die! The happiest death for a Kshatriya, the one he 

 should wish for most, is to die sword in hand, fighting. It procures for him the inestimable 

 happiness of being admitted to Swarga (Paradise). Boundless ambition is the highest virtue 

 a Kshatriya can possess. However vast his possessions may be already, he should never say 

 that he has enough. All his thoughts should tend to enlarging and improving his territories 

 and to making war on neighbouring princes, with a view to appropriating their possessions by 

 main force. He should show faith and piety towards the gods, and should respect Brahmans 

 (a caste .we shall speak of later on), placing the utmost confidence in them and loading them 

 with gifts. Truth and justice are the foundation on Avhich all his actions should be based. 



In a work like the present it would be quite impossible to describe, however briefly, all 

 the principal races and tribes and castes of the peninsula with its teeming population. We 

 therefore have selected a few, especially those of which we procured the best photographs. 

 These we shall now deal with as far as space permits. The reader should first consult the 

 brief scheme of classification on page 177. 



THE KOLS. 



THE Kols, or Kolarians, formerly overspread the plains of Bengal, but are now to be found 

 only in the hill and jungle tracts between Upper and Lower Bengal, the Nagpur Plateau, 

 and generally from the Ganges to about 18 N. latitude. According to Colonel Dalton, they 

 show much variety, and there may have been a good deal of fusion with the Aryan conquerors. 



Photo by Mexsrs. Bourne & Shepherd] 



A GROUP OF KOLS. 



