242 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
who had preached such vast reforms as the abolition 
of caste, at least so far as religion was concerned, of 
hereditary priesthood, and of bloody sacrifices, they 
were astounded at the vast amount of change pro- 
posed, and naturally ascribed it to superhuman in- 
tellect ; they were thus tempted to interweave in 
Sakia’s life the legends of Rama and Krishna, the 
more especially as when he quitted Brahminism he 
brought with him the greater part of its mythology, 
though he abolished all its practice. 
The Buddhists were a powerful sect in India, 
when Alexander the Great appeared on its north- 
western frontier ; but soon after that event, the Brah- 
mins discovered that the progress of the new sect 
threatened the ruin of their power. It is not easy 
to ascertain when persecution began ; but Professor 
Wilson is of opinion that the great effort for the sup- 
pression of Buddhism was made in the fifth and sixth 
centuries of our era. In northern India, the Bud- 
dhists seem to have made some stand, for the Brah- 
mins never possessed so much influence there as in 
other parts of the Peninsula, and hence in that quar- 
ter, the remains of Buddhist temples are by no means 
infrequent. 
Assailed by the Mahomedans on one side, and the 
Brahmins on the other, few, if any Buddhists, are 
now to be found in India. But probably the dis- 
appearance of this religion is not to be attributed to 
persecution only ; the orthodox themselves, and es- 
pecially the Vishnu vies, have made some approxima- 
tions to the creed of their ancient adversaries, by 
making Buddha an incarnation of Vishnu, by per- 
