212 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



period there would seem to have been no extended empire, 

 though Sir William Jones and Colonel Tod have collected 

 lists of kings belonging to some detached and local dynasties. 

 About the Christian era, however, Vicramaditya and Saliva- 

 hana disputed the supremacy, and rank among the most 

 potent of Indian warriors and sovereigns. The relations 

 concerning them bear a somewhat more sober character. 

 They rank as mortal, not as celestial, heroes ; yet as Vicra- 

 maditya is said to have had power over spirits, and to have 

 made captive the king of the devils, his contemporaries, it 

 would seem, were by no means inclined to abandon their 

 love of the marvellous. Malwa being mentioned as his 

 favourite region, it may be concluded to have been his native 

 one, and that he employed its rude inhabitants in extending 

 his dominion over the more fertile provinces. Major Wil- 

 ford has traced nine individuals to whom the name has been 

 applied, of whom one appears contemporary with Solomon ; 

 and probably this may have been an appellative, like that 

 of Caesar, applied in succession to monarchs of the same 

 dynasty. 



After this period, the history of the Hindoos again relapses 

 into obscurity, giving occasion to Mr. Mill's remark, that 

 while the annals of every other nation become more distinct 

 as they approach a modern date, those of India, on the con- 

 trary, become darker and more imperfect. This is probably 

 to be accounted for by the fact that the country had again 

 ceased to be united in any extensive empire, being split into 

 those small kingdoms which were successfully assailed by 

 the Ghiznevide conqueror, before they could be induced to 

 form a general league to oppose him. 



After this very imperfect sketch of the history of the 

 Hindoo people, a more interesting and accessible object 

 remains in the delineation of their mind and character. 

 Under this view, their religious belief and mythology must 

 first command our attention. It forms, as it were, the 

 basis of their whole social existence. Their ceremonies 

 employ every day, and almost every hour; its ministers 

 rank above every other class, even above kings ; there is no 

 history, scarcely any poetry, but what relates to the actions 

 of the gods and deified heroes. Unhappily, this devotion, 

 unenlightened by divine instruction, and misled by the 

 faysterious perversities of the human heart, instead of being 



