HrsTMucAfc .A clear arrangement of the••"’Hindoofovereignties, and fli;j^ee,ourït
îoCfts‘ of the jrnoii auth,entiG , faûs tlyat.çan ]?e ;reoQvç4ed concerning -them.
. Whilç .ihpfe.jçhrpnoLQgjes (differ by. jOE^-pr. two t^çufand ys%r’8-j4pn-
AÇtplllg ,înp|ffn|||^£x?jçf Ep^dh^, we may ÿudge,of tiern exadtnefs' in
■ left. Important -,e|^ts,. „„^pr ,is: it necçfïàj-y. tç,dwell qn ,;he children of
.the fun and moon, who, rei^ne,d at Audh arid Vitora jitor the,pew dj-
nafty of Magadha, or Bafiar. The feye n ty^fix,pn^c<«s,. who ^re laid
Johayeragned^ne thçufand three Thundred antd pin^tjjaiçe year?-in
Avahhritj, ia toyp.of the Dacihin, or fûuth, which we commonly g^Jl
Deccan, are ..flighty, .mentioned by ^ a i n Jonjes,- ^whp,', wi^hLall
hi& learmng and talent®, appears to be bewildered p^the, mid ,of j^an-
fp^pxythgjpgi^i^dory. ,.
: Suffiçe i|; to obferye that the Hindoos mefeijiftem tQ; havq boæfted of
- one native ..hiftoriah, and the beft 'materiafe ares iddrived| &om-rBe f flan
memoirs j . from which Feriihta, himfelf'a Berfiànjiebmpiled tiis hiftories
' of Hindoftan towards the beginning of the fe^emteeritht®dS^y^||ftig
deed in thêiwholercomplex maze ctf Hindod literature there.-wk ftriiittg
deficiency of.gqod fenfe.* -The more- we are .acquainted with fadifn
pyjofophy, thelefe deaeration w.ei entertain ;• and are deck to'inifeg:tîiât
the admiration pf • the ancients was rather excited by the .fiogplarity
than by the wifdom of the Brahmans. mThciheat,; and other peculiaf
cireumttances, • of the climate have confefledly.a degrading in-flubned -'on
the mind, which inftead of bearing fohdifcuitsBere fbootsiinto fantiiêic1
flôwers. The. political inftitutions mull have been originally bad as V
the great mafs?rof the people was. opprdfed by one or two privileged
cafts, whence the difpirited natives, were^conquerfed-hy every invader.
And the abfurd philosophy of the Brahmans, for that philofophy' m.uft
be, abfurd which- delights in-mythological dreams,' the moft fanatical
pradices, and common fuiride ; Which may be faid to crufh all geniiis
or exertion by the oppreffiveChains ofcaft, unknown to nature and.pro-'
sealthat frj&m wmlilmm P®i. together into one mafs, of abfirdity and contradiftlon. A curious inftance of this appears I f i !
regard to .the celebrated temples of Ellora, and ||Singular fortrefs pf Deonhir, of Dowlatabad
formed on a h.gh, conic rock ; for the . Mahometans, yvhbm we Europeans regard as rather ex-
^ ? guantr“ ray that they were-,e / é& ^ ó o ‘years ago; 'the ^ram'ins affirm ■
that they have ttood not lefs than 7894years! Af. Ref vi 385;,'
vidence $
viden.ce ; which has never in peace or war produced one man dif-
tinguiftied. by fupereminent talent^-1 fd^hf^hiloffphy, ,muft • be con-
{i$pTgd;s& fa5iinfefi©rijt‘o^h^fe||p®^q0fe\,ev,eh;9f‘Fbme other Aflame
nations. lnf£tyqrt the h-iftorycof.HmtifStiaryhas,Sb'Sdsy;1 to be:.e&ptrafted
yyith that of Ghina, ,to.|pvioce- thgSuperiority ot pra&K^Sgodd-fenfe
over theoretic wifdom and' philofophy, which,are often mere" hotheda
,pf new. eccentricities and fipllias; - And thqugh^ma^kind/ha$e;!io, aljl -ages
wondered at the Angularities of the Indian fophifts, yet not pile general
precept of wifdom, not pne rule for the condud of life', -.not one dit
covery genqral|y^tt^uhtp mankind^^n-jbe^rac^dlj^jth^’G^l^braled'and
mitoable;9p<pi;ntny,|^Itere.palflve ,mh|ipns drag^vfhe^l? exiftenceju|id^r
the iron rod.of a few crafty calls, ,;amidft a climate and 4 foil alm-oft
paradifaical, and where.at feemed. impoffible for human -malignity to
have mtrpducedrgeneral degradation -and diftrefs.* ^
• As there is^thia^ no i^ttv.esjhiftory^sH^Jj®ve know little morepfic^
thqir. fradiupOb» - than lhat;fne empire qf-Hindoftan proper in tjif north
was aiftiu£t-from, tthat of Deccan- in the fouth, we .»muft be feohflented
with the epochs depyed,from^for&ign.records*,. f.
1. The invafio,n,by Alexander th(6 .Qreat, who' founchweiltera Indd^
divided among numerous .pot^xtates,rttlio^rfiu ho advanced, Ihtlq.'fu^ther
than Lahore. If even.thqvnnrthern half of .Hindoftan had been Abjedfcto
one foverelgn, as fabled, in the natiye tales, the, cir.cunjflance would
hjWe been, clear, and apparent, n
2. At a,.long interval appears the-conqtreft of, the nortl? wefteyn part
"byMahmoud of Ghizni, A. D,
3. The dyhafty of the Patan, or Affghan .empero’r^^gitjs with
Cuttub, A. D. 1205, and ends with Mahrgt^Hf||II,, 1 < <
* A writer in rbe'Afiatiq Rqfearches^vi^i.^yW^efi.W^fefvlqg. tKar^t^e \yorflli.p.,of Boodha
extended over all. .Ifindoftan, and-was not".rooted, outwa the Deccan till about the twelfth ccn- ,
tury by the Bramirts, who are the real heretics,' and far from intrbducinglany ilefb'rraatioh‘h'aVc
increafed alf the abfur3ities :an<l.puefij{ties a iho.ufan®'fold, proceeds tjatgive the following!juft ,
ch^tafter of thofe vifionary fophilts? “ No- ufeful .{qience'dhave the 'Bral|m^| diffufed among,
their followers; hiftorv they have totally- abolifhed';; ;morairty;tl|e^,haye depreffed'tpithe ulimoft j’ .
and the dignity and power of thb;altar'they';have?5rs<S^^hldi4% ^ ;^liJwB|ft'la^S8S ^ ; ii^ ’: ■ "
of the fubjeft .Even the; laws attabpteJi'tQ' Menu, which, under ahe -form m'.hfe among the
Burmas, are not ill lulled for the purpofc of an abfolnte mohalgHy,7U'hderfSiejfiapos of the
Brahmens have become the moft abominable and degrading fylleni of p.pp reflion, ever invented by -
the craft of defigning men.” ,
vol. n. ’ k' k , ’ 4. The.
IflSTORVCAl.
E p.oçhs.