91 
1897.] F. E. Par gi ter —Ancient Countries in Eastern India. 
the light of history they may admit of one probable interpretation. It 
is a trite saying that history repeats itself, and certainly one feature 
that appears in all ages of Indian history is the course of conquest. A 
handful of strangers have invaded a part of the country, conquered the 
old inhabitants and established themselves in it, their leader as king 
and themselves as the aristocratic class; and the contest has rarely 
been an internecine one, unless religion or patriotism has been involved 
in it. The earliest struggles, in which the Aryas fought their way into 
India, seem to have been rendered fiercer by the strong religious and social 
differences between them and the aboriginal races ; but after the time 
when the Aryas established themselves in Madhya*de 9 a, and universal re¬ 
spect was accorded to them because of their chivalry and prestige, it is 
hard to find traces of a fierce struggle between them and the aborigines 
except in the story of Rama and Ravana. The Aryas, being the domi¬ 
nant race, considered themselves, and were esteemed by the other 
nations, as the elite of India. Those nations gradually imitated them 
and adopted their customs. What happened then between the Aryas 
and aborigines may no doubt be compared to what is happening now 
between the English and the natives in South Africa. 
Rsis and ascetics exerted a strong influence towards extending the 
Aryan supremacy. They wandered through every country in ancient India, 
and established themselves in every spot, where the bracing air of the 
hills or the cool temperature of a well-watered shady wood attracted 
them and induced them to linger. In this way they became pioneers 
of the religion and civilization of the Aryas, and afford a strange paral¬ 
lel to the part which Christian missionaries have played in extending 
British influence over barbarous countries. Where the ascetics were 
received with favour and reverence, they soon brought the people of 
their new country more or less effectually within the pale of Aryan- 
ism, as in the case of the rsi Dlrgha-tamas ; but where they were harassed 
or cut off, their sufferings and complaints brought retribution on the 
offending nation, as in Rama’s slaughter of the so-called Raksasas in 
Jana-sthana on the Godavari, which is commemorated in simple and 
grateful terms in Drona-p., lix. 2226-7; and no doubt to somewhat 
similar incidents must be assigned the frequent yet vague mention of 
wars in which kings aided the gods against the demons. 
In the same direction tended ancient sentiments regarding marriage. 
In early times the rules restricting inter-marriage between different 
classes were very easy, if indeed it can be said there were any definite 
prohibitions of that kind.- The Maha-Bharata is full of instances of 
mixed unions, which were manifestly regarded at the time as involving 
no slur or stain, and the rsi Dirgba-tamas is said to have bestowed his 
