The History of Hindostan
Part I. The History of the Hindoos, Before the First Invasion of Hindostan by the Mahomedans.
Section I. Of the Fabulous Accounts of the Hindoos Concerning Their Origin. -- A Specimen of Their Ancient History.
THERE is no history among the Hindoos, of better authority than the Mahabarit [Mahabarit signifies, the great war. Our author has in this section given a specimen of the legends contained in that book.], which Shech Abul Fazil translated into Persian, in the reign of Akbar. It consists of about one hundred and twenty thousand periods [Ashlogues or Stanzas.] in the original Shanscrita, in a kind of long blank verse. We shall from this author select the particulars which relate to the history of the Hindoos.
The Hindoos divide the age of the world into four grand periods or jugs: the Sat Jug, the Treta Jug, the Duapur Jug, and the Cal Jug. They believe that when the Cal Jug is finished, the Sat Jug will commence again, and that thus time will revolve in eternal succession. The Sat Jug is said to have been a period of fourteen millions and four hundred thousand years, and it is represented as the age of felicity, in which there was nothing but truth, religion, happiness, peace, plenty, and independence; and that the life of man extended to one hundred thousand years.
The Treta Jug is said to contain one million and eighty thousand years, in which, it is said, that in the composition of mankind, there were three fourths truth, and one fourth falsehood, and that the age of man extended to ten thousand years. The Duapur Jug is said to contain seventy two thousand years, in which two parts of the composition of man were truth, and two parts falsehood, his age extending to one thousand years. The Cal Jug contains thirty six thousand years, in which period three fourths of the composition of man consisted of falshood, and only one fourth of truth, his age being one hundred years.
It is the opinion of the Hindoos, that God first created five elements; Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Akash, or a Celestial Element of which the heavens are made. He afterwards created a kind of being endued with perfect wisdom, whom he called Brimha, and commanded him to make the world. When Brimha had created mankind out of nothing, he divided them into four tribes; the Brahmin, the Kittri, the Bise, and the Sudur. The first tribe were to be priests, to direct man in the ways of God; the second rulers and possessors of the earth; the third labourers; and the fourth tradesmen and servants; which division is strictly maintained to this day.
Brimha, say they, wrote a book which he called the Beda, by the order of God, in which he affirms, that all things were originally God, and that all things shall be resolved into him again; that happiness consists in virtue, and that vice will be punished with misery. To regulate the ceremonies of religion, and to instruct men how to govern the world, he has in the Beda given a canon of laws, founded upon the principles of justice. But as the Bedas are covered with a veil of darkness by the Brahmins, we cannot say much more for certain concerning them. The Hindoos affirm, that Brimha lives for ever, or, as some say, one hundred years, in which each day is computed at four hundred revolutions of the Jugs. We shall here give a specimen of the early history of the Hindoos.
It is recorded in the Mahabarit, that about the middle of the third period, there was a Raja of the tribe of Kittiri, in the city of Histinapoor, whose name was Birt. He ruled the kingdom of Hindostan, and his issue after him in lineal descent for eight generations, in peace and tranquillity. The ninth in succession, whose name was Kour, we are told, founded the city of that name, which is now called Tannassar, and is about 70 crores from Delhi. He was the father of the tribe who are still called Kours.
In the thirteenth generation from Kour, Chitterbourge reigned, and was esteemed a great prince. He had two sons, one named Ditarashter, and the other Pind. But when Ditarashter grew up, he became blind, and therefore his father left the kingdom to his younger son, who had five children; Judishter, Brimsein, and Arjun, by one wife, and Nucul and Sedive, by another woman. But his elder brother Ditarashter had sons one hundred and one, by a variety of women, among whom one was named Jirjodin, being the eldest of his children by the first wife, and another was called Jutush, being his first born by a second spouse. In short, when Pind died, the inheritance descended by right to the heirs of his elder brother Ditarashter, so that Jirjodin became king.
But the children of Pind regarded Jirjodin as an enemy, and waited an opportunity to divest him of his authority. Ditarashter, fearing disturbances, advised his son to build a palace without the city for the sons of Pind, in which for some time they consented to reside. In the mean time Jirjodin had privately ordered the workmen who built this palace to fill up several vaults with combustibles, and hired an old woman to set fire to them, at a proper opportunity. But the plot being discovered accidentally by the sons of Pind, they themselves set fire to the mine, and burnt the old woman and her five sons in the flames, while they privately withdrew into the wilderness, where they remained for some time, the king imagining they had been destroyed in the fire.
The sons of Pind ventured at length into a certain city called Cumpula, where they wedded Diropti, the Raja's daughter, with whom they lived by turns, for the space of seventeen days. In a short time, however, it was noised abroad, that the sons of Pind were not dead, as was supposed, which reaching the ears of the king, he ordered enquiry to be made, and found that truth was in the report. Anxious to have them again in his power, he wrote to them affectionate letters, inviting them to Histinapoor, to share with him the inheritance of their forefathers. They were at length prevailed upon by his fair promises, returned to court, and were treated in every respect becoming their dignity. A part of the kingdom was allotted for their maintenance, for upon their arrival they became so much beloved by the people and nobility, that the king was afraid to lay violent hands upon them. Their popularity daily increasing, and their party being strengthened by many of the principal nobility, they at length openly insisted upon a division of the empire in their favour, which the king being in no condition to refuse, complied with without hesitation.
Some time after these transactions Judishter gave the feast of the period [Jug-Rajasou, somewhat similar to the secular games among the Romans.], the manner of which is said to be this: They lighted a prodigious fire, and threw into it every kind of spice, perfume, fruit, and grain. At this feast it was necessary that all the Rajas of the earth should be present. Judishter, in order to invite the Rajas, sent his four brothers to the four quarters of the world, that by the favour of God his design in a short time might be accomplished. His brothers, according to his desire, from Arab, from Agim, from Turkistan, from Habysh, and other countries, brought those princes to be present at this grand festival. Jirjodin, on observing the greatness of Judishter, burnt with envy at his fortune, and contrived this scheme to deprive his rival of his kingdoms and wealth.
It was the custom in those days to play at dice, and Jirjodin, having made a false set, challenged Judishter to play, which being accepted by him, he in a short time, in the presence of the princes, lost all his wealth and kingdoms. Jirjodin told him then, that he would give him one more chance to recover the whole, but that if he again should lose, he must retire, with all his brothers, for the space of twelve years into banishment, and if during that interval he was to be seen in his former dominions, he was to remain in banishment twelve years more. Judishter, hoping that fortune would not always be unkind, consented to these terms, but having lost as before, he was constrained by the princes, who were umpires, to relinquish his kingdoms to Jirjodin, and retire into banishment with his brethren from Inderput, his capital city, now known by the name of Delhi.
Twelve years they lay concealed in the wilderness, in such a manner that the tread of their feet was not heard; and when the time of their exile expired, they dispatched Kishen, the son of Basdeo, to demand the restoration of their kingdoms. Jirjodin, notwithstanding of his promise, made a jest of the embassy, and turned the ambassador with scorn from his presence. The sons of Pind finding that they could do nothing without force, began to collect their friends, of whom they had many; and in a short time they appeared in the field of Kirket, near the city of Tanassar, at the head of a mighty army, in the beginning of the Cal Jug. Jirjodin advancing with his army, after having drawn up his troops in array, encouraged the ranks of the valiant. The soldiers on both sides, according to the custom of battle, began to work, for death; the contest was renw'd, with dubious advantages, for the space of eighteen days, till at length, Jirjodin, with most of his friends, as the reward of his perfidy, drank the cup of fate in the field of war.
The Hindoos say, that in this war, Jirjodin commanded eleven cohin, and the sons of Pind seven: a cohin, according to their fabulous accounts, consisted of twenty-one thousand eight hundred and seventy elephants of war, an equal number of chariots, six thousand six hundred and ten horsemen, and one hundred and nine thousand three hundred and fifty foot. Of all this incredible number, they say that only twelve men survived on both sides, four on the part of Jirjodin, and eight on the part of Judishter; among the latter was the ambassador Kishen Basdeo, who is esteem'd a great prophet among the Hindoos. They say, that the astrologers gave advice to Raja Kuns, who ruled in the city of Muttra, that Kishen should one day take away his life; upon which he sought every opportunity to put Kishen to death: but Kishen, knowing the designs of his foe, retired to a place called Nind, where he lived with a shepherd eleven years. He ventured at length into the world, and collecting a body of men together, who were dissatisfied with the government of Kuns, he made war upon him and put him to death, setting up Ogursein, the father of Kuns, in the kingdom; and he himself lived afterwards thirty-two years, at the head of the administration at Muttra. Raja Jeradsing, from the country of Barounia, came at length with a great army, towards Muttra, to turn Kishen from his place. At the same time came from the east, Raja Callioon, and attacked him on the other side. Kishen, not able to oppose these two Rajas, fled towards Duarka, which is on the coast of the Salt Sea, and was there besieg'd for the space of eighteen years, where some say he died; but the superstitious aver that he is still alive, and therefore they pay him divine honors.
They relate that after the Mahabarit, which signifies the great war, Judishter having overcome Jirjodin, ruled the whole empire of Hindostan for thirty-six years, when being disgusted with the vanity and pomp of the world, he retired into a mountain, dividing his wealth and empire among his friends, and lived the life of religion and poverty the remainder of his days. The reign of Jirjodin and Judishter is said to be one hundred and twenty-five years. Such are the tales of the Hindoos concerning an age too dark and distant to be distinctly known.