40 
ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 
the Greek word onjza for rice, wh.ieh corresponds to the 
Grauda-Dra vidian ariii, and not to the Sanskrit vrlM? 
The Aryan invaders showed little sympathy with the 
inhabitants they found on the confines and in the interior of 
India. The outward appearance of the Dasas or Dasyus — 
these were the names with which the new-comers honoured 
their opponents — was not such as to create a favourable 
impression, and thoy were in consequence taunted with their 
black colour and flat noses, which latter made their faces 
appear as if they had no noses. Indra is invoked to reduce 
into the darkness of subjection the colour of the Dasas and 
to protect the colour of his worshippers, for the latter were 
not always successful in the combats, and the Dasas at times 
turned the tables on their foes by becoming victorious 
aggressors. 
So far as civilisation is concerned, a great diiierence 
could hardly have existed between the two races when they 
first met. However rude may have been the bulk of the 
indigenous population, a considerable portion of it must 
have already attained a certain degree of cultivation. It was 
no doubt the wealth which they had acquired that stimulated 
the invaders to pursue their conquests, even when a brave 
8 See my lecture On the Ancient Commerce of India, p. 3" : " Of grains 
Rice formed an important commoditj'. The cultivation of rice extended 
in ancient times only as far west as to Bactria, Susiana, and the Euphrates 
valley. The Greeks most likely obtained their rice from India, as this 
country alone produced it in sufficient quantity to be able to export it. 
Moreover the Grecian name for rice oryza, for vrhioh there exists no Aryan 
or Sanskrit root, has been previously identified by scholars with the Tamil 
word ariii, which denotes rice deprived of the husk. This was exactly the 
state in which rice was exported. The Greeks besides connected rice gene- 
rally with India. Athcn;vos quotes orijza hephihe, cooked rice, as the 
food of tho Indians, and Aelianus mentions a wine made of rice as an Indian 
beverage. If now the Greek received tlieir rice from India, and the 
name they called this grain by is a Dravidian word, we obtain an addi- 
tional proof of the non-.\ryan element represented in the Indian trade." 
Arsi, rice, occurs also in Keikadi, tiud ariselu, ricecakes, in Telugu, 
