________________
THE MEMOIRS OF A CAT
dry cold air associated with such region. The inhabitants of the Central Asiatic plateau were pastoral people, because the country was very suitable for breeding cattle. When a tide of immigration from Central Asia swept over the Hindukusin and reached the plains of Northern India, not many cattle could accompany it. The road was too difficult and coid for bovine animals. The nomads from Central Asia were used to place the highest value on cattle. The treasure was scarce in the new country. Naturally, there was a general anxicty to preserve the few there were. On the other hand, the Aryans were meat-cating people. So, there was the danger of the few available cattle being eaten up soon. The original Hindu scriptures (not thc comparatively modern, mostly postBuddhist, rationalised texts) are full of cvidence to the effect that beef was an usual article of food. The intellectual heritage of India was the creation of beef-eating and soma- (a kind of alcoholic beverage) drinking Rishis. But in the new country, the nomadic immigrants became gradually civilised. They abandoned the nomadic life, and took to the cultivation of the soil. Although the conquered natives were forced to perform all productive labour, yet, cattle were found to be valuable for the purpose. An ox could be more useful socially as a means of production, that is, as a beast of burden, than as an article for consumption. Utility was transformed into divinity. Backward peoples
23
