Indian Antiquary Vol 08

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 15

JANUARY, 1879.]
EARLY CIVILIZATION OF THE DAKHAN.
officers was a court chaplain, who was a Brahman, whom the king could dismiss and reappoint at his pleasure, who performed the royal marriages, and who was entitled to give counsel to the king; and that Brahmans were employed as the king's state emissaries;-that the palaces contained large numbers of dancing girls holding an official position, and an extensive establishment of servants; and that they were guarded by wardera, ruffians, and watchdogs :--that the kings had large armies at their disposal using various kinds of weapons; and that the king of Kalinga in particular was mighty in elephants trained to war; and that the cities were protected by garrisons of soldiers ;-that the people cultivated fields and gardens, betel-vines, cocoanut topes, plantain gardens, vineyards, and spice groves; and they suffered from famines and droughts caused by the failure of the rains ;-that some of the people were occupied with merchandize and commerce; that salt and condiments, and such like things, were sold in the village shops; and that they used money in their transactions ;- that their cooked food was served in vessels, and eaten off' plantain leaves; and that they used condiments in their cookery, and drank wine both of the grape and of the cocoanut palm-that they cultivated the arts of house- building and house-decoration, the art of the jeweller, and of coining money, and of working in metais, and other similar arts ;-that they had learnt to train elephants for both domestic and martial uses ;—that they employed their leisure in attending religious preachings and theatrical performances in large numbers, in which their kings sometimes joined them; and that the ornamental grounds of the palace were available to them for their recreations ;-that they were accustomed to invite each other to repasts, and had street-processions at their weddings; and that on great occasions they decorated the public streets, strewing the ways with branches of trees, and suspending martial banners above them both for ornament and for protection from the sun ;--that they decorated their persons with garlands, pendent earrings, and jewels of gold; and their kings' ornaments contained a profusion of pearls and diamonds, and their festive dress included silken garments ;-that in their marriages a religions service was performed by the family
priest, which was followed by a domestic ceremony conducted by the assembled guests ;that, side by side with acts of gross rudeness towards unpopular persons, and of insulting practical jokes played even upon Bråhmans, the intellectual progress of those days was marked by penalties inflicted on persons who attempted to corrupt the morals of the people; by the courtesies of personal intercourse and the amenities of hospitality ; by more circumspect behaviour than usual in the presence of superiors; by self-sacrificing interpositions on the behalf of injured persons; by a sense of moral pollution from contact with objects which disgusted the religious feelings; by the composition, and the exhibition, and the appreciation of dramatical works; by public displays of religious oratory, and an extensive popular interest in listening to them ;-that the religion of those days included, or consisted in, the worship of the devas, with Indra at their head, to whom a control over human affairs was attributed; in ceremonial sacrifices offered to Agni; in a regard for omens; in a belief in the present favour of the gods shown towards such virtues as filial piety, and their present vengeance upon notorious sins; and in a belief in future divine retribution for sin, in punitive transmigrations of souls, and in a purgatorial hell ;-and, finally, that there were Brâhmans in the Dakhan in those early times ; some of whom, dwelling in the midst of the busy world, were employed in state affairs as well as in religions offices; while others devoted themselves to an ascetic life, some of whom dwelt in solitary hermitages in the forests which skirted the limits of civilized life, and some formed themBelves into extensive monastic communities, which were connected with similar religious bodies in North India, and from which they proceeded on preaching itinerations throughout the country, receiving alms from the people of such things as they needed.
Such is the picture of the civilization of the Dakha ņ in ancient times, as it has been painted by both Hindu and Buddhist old writers, and as it has been received through them by the Hindus and the Buddhists for many centuries past. It only remains here to mark the probable time to which this picture applies. Terminating in the reign of the king of Kalinga from whom the Great Dynasty' of Ceylon