D I A. 



105 



CHAP. VI. 



WtbcHin. 



Inhabitants Hindoos Their Person*, f(C. Religion 

 Castes Superstition* Pilgrimages Marriages 

 Birth t EiHsaiion Funeral* Manner* and Cut- 

 torn* Fuod Dreu Houtft Mode and Eipence of 

 Lrciif! Lan>* Government Language* Litera- 

 tureFine Arts Science* Moors ParteesChrii. 

 tiantJew* Population. 



THE Hindoos constitute the great mass of the popu- 

 lation of India. Their features and persons seem to 

 mark them out as a peculiar race. Their hair is long. 

 deep black, and by no means coarse. Their nose and 

 lips resemble those of the European. Their eye-brows 

 are full, especially in the men. The eye itself disco- 

 vers a tinge of yellow in the white of it. while the iris 

 is black; but it possesses little animation or intelli- 

 The form of their face is oval In the north- 

 of Hindostan the men are strong and 

 muscular. To the south of Lahore they are generally 

 delicate, and comparatively weak in the structure of 

 their frames : even these, however, can undergo great 

 fatigue. In the north their stature approaches that 

 which is most common in the middle and south of 

 Europe. In the south of Hindostan it diminishes sen- 

 sibly, and in some parts it is very low. The Banians 

 /erat are reckoned the hendemrtest people in Hin- 

 dostan ; and some of the lowest castes, especially those 

 whose business it is to remove all kinds of filth, and to 

 bury and bom the deed, are dismirt the most ugly. 

 The female Hindoos of the higher carte, are disun- 

 ite polish and softnees of their skins, end 

 long heir. Meek eyes, extended ears, end 

 I persona. Those of the inferior castes, 

 however, are generally of small stature, and by no 



" i I 



The most singular and striking 

 recter of 'lie Hindoos, is the 

 ligion and customs. In almos 

 the sane now as they wen in the 



of the history of India, of which we peseees the 

 faint knowledge. It i* supposed, however, by 

 author*, that the religion of Boodha, which Mill | 

 in the Birman empire. Ceylon, Ac. was in very 

 tiaae* the pseWesrt icMcioe ef Hindostan. At 

 it is the 



"f ** WSMWSBMgA |^V" . S f 



Vishnu, the preserver ; and Siva, the destroyer, are their 

 three greatest deities. Sine* the creation of the world, 

 however, Brahma intsreasi himself little with man. 

 4ene affairs. He is regeedtd aa the father of legislators ; 

 see from his ten sons all science and laws proceeded, 

 wbfe he himself was the author of the Vedas. Ofhis 

 sons, Mcnou is the most selsbretcd. From him the 

 Hindoos derive the institutes which bear his name. 



His wife, or female favourite, is Sree, the goddess of Statistic-* 

 fortune and plenty. Siva is worshipped not only as a '*~~Y~ I **' 

 destroyer, but also as a reproducer. His principal cha- 

 racters are Budra, Iswara, and Mahadeo. As the first, 

 he is cruel ; as the second, he is worshipped as the lord 

 of all ; and under the third name, he is known in the 

 mountainous parts of India. He is a great favourite 

 with the common people. He is generally represent- 

 ed with only one head; the number of his hands 

 varies from four to thirty-two. Round his neck there 

 are strung a number of human skulls. His hat is the 

 skin of the tygcr or elephant His wife, Parvaty, is 

 the goddess of time, and the punisher of evil doers. 

 PttHrt these great deities, there is a number of infe- 

 rior ones, the principal of whom are those who preside 

 over death and hell. The gods of tire, of medicine, of 

 the wind, and of the atmosphere. Ganesa, whom Sir 

 William Jones justly compares to Janus, is invoked the 

 first, by the Brahmins, in all sacrifices. His name, and 

 that of Seraswatee, appear at the beginning of all writ- 

 ings; and his statue is placed on roads, and at the 

 boundaries of villages, &c. There are two great sects 

 among the Hindoos ; the worshippers of Vishnu, and 

 those of Siva. Formerly the worship of the former 

 appears to have predominated on the Coromandel coast, 

 while, on the opposite coast, especially in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Bombay, that of Siva prevailed. The fol- 

 lowers of Vishnu distinguished themselves by paint- 

 ing their faces with a horizontal line ; the followers of 

 Siva draw a perpendicular line. The gopee chundun. 

 a white clay, taken from a holy tank near Positra in 

 Guzerat, and chalk from the vicinity of the celebrated 

 temple of Uwaraca in the same province, are used for 

 this purpose, as well as distinguishing the different 

 ceetse. There is, however, very little difference in point 

 of rebgigsi betsieeti these, or any other Hindoo sects. 



Vishnu is believed to have undergone nine avatars, 

 or incarnation*; the most celebrated is the eighth, 

 he appeared as Krishna, and, by his victories, 

 i to substitute the offering of ima. 

 M instead of human aectiflcee, and milk for blood. 

 The tenth incarnation of Vishnu has not yet taken 

 piece The religion of the Hindoos is contained in 

 their sacred books, called Vedas, the divine autho- 

 rity of which, however, is rejected by the Jains in the 

 south of India, e sect who differ in some important 

 tenets from those who follow the Brahminical religion. 

 All the Hindoo sects believe in the immortality of the 

 soul, transmigration, and a future state of rewards and 

 punishments ; but their faith in these important points 

 is intermixed and rt abase*! by the most absurd legen- 

 dary tales, and mystical allegories. 

 The mart ancient accounts which we possess re- Cam. 



nine Hindostan, rspreeint the inhabitants as di- 

 vided into four castes, which still subsist. 1st, The 

 Brahmins, who proceeded from the mouth of Brahma 

 at the seme time that be produced the Vedas ; hence 



Brahma is represented with four hands, and with a their province is to pray, read, and instruct. 2d, The 

 erown on his head. The image of the flamuuro, on the Chepteree, from the arms of Brahma, whose province 

 wings, of which he fa e^Sed *, flT.sSr.a-tr, 



pieced Deer his statue in the temple. 

 BUM is Sereswatee, is raaeideJ as 



Naming. V,,J,n.|. whose nrmmce 



fly. is constantly 

 Hi* wife, whose 

 the patroness of 

 province it is to preserve 



as centtantl si- 



ended by an eagle, or a large brown kite, and as hav. 

 sag few bends ends number of heads, eamblenetical of 

 hie nejssiirirmi end omnipotence. He is said to have 

 passed through tea different incarnations, in all of 

 which he destroyed the enemies of the human race. 



VOL. U. PAJtT II. 



it is, by strength and military prowess, to protect from 

 ill : The Vaissya, or Brice, from the belly or thighs, 

 whose province it is to supply the necessaries, com- 

 forts, and luxuries of life, by agriculture and com- 

 merce ; end, 4th, The Sodrai, from the feet, who are 

 doomed to labour. Besides these, there are the Pas- 

 cars or Chaudolas, who, having lost their caste, are 

 held in the utmost abhorrence, and treated with the 

 utmost indignity by all the other castes. 

 The Brahmins are subdivided into ten great clause*, Bmhmim. 

 o 



