342 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



the severe civil war tvherein a part of the Pandoos were 

 worsted. Colonel Todd, in his Rajahstan, points out the plains 

 of Caggar and Surawati, where the decisive conflicts took place, 

 when the fifty-six Yadhu tribes were at length broken, and 

 departed with Ardjoon and Bhima to unknown regions. We 

 find, in other mythical tales, the Asuras or Ashurs* eminently 

 religious and virtuous, according to the doctrines of the Yedas, 

 and therefore invincible, even by their gods, till the jealousy of 

 Vishnou suggests the expedient of preaching, in the form of 

 Budha, tenets still more humane; which, being adopted by the 

 Asuras, causes them to fall from the true religion ; thence 

 become liable to defeat, and accordingly they are vanquished; 

 that is, the Brahman interest caused a religious war against 

 the Budha doctrines, admitted to be more humane than the 

 Vedanta ; a fact well known to be historical, though here 

 clothed in a mythic garb. Although the Asuras cannot be 

 mistaken for Assyrians, they may, nevertheless, have been 

 original Hasaures, Asii or Arii, the Indo-Germans of history; 

 for these have figured in northern India for many ages, some- 

 times being taken for Indo-Scythians, at others for Hyatili ; 

 and it was probably this last swarm of invaders which de- 

 stroyed the city of Valhabi in Gujrat, about the year 524 of 

 our era. The ravages of conquest, ended in this latter case, 

 were of temporary influence. The Rajpoots and Catties 

 (Cutheei), who were themselves only predecessors of the Indo- 

 Scythae in the north-west of India, recovered their power on 

 the east side of the Indus, and still show the blood of High 

 Asia in their stature and color, even to the extent of gray eyes 

 and light-colored hair, observable in some families; though, in 

 general, they have high Arab or rather Hebrew features. Per- 



* Here the Asi are admitted to be wise and virtuous. They came from 

 the same region as the Bahlika priesthood ; were terrible in war, typified 

 by their monster heads, and were, perhaps, the Arai or Mahratta colonists. 

 The Asuras were sons of Diti, wife of Kasyapa ; w-hich again gives a 

 mountain origin to these Titans. 



