1 Megasthenes’ des-
2 cription of ancient
3 India.
4 Tis accounts corro-
5 borated by Arrian.
6 Slavery unknown
7 among theancient
8 Shan das,
9 Predictions” by
10 Thavdusaces and
11 philosophers,
12 Mtraricy yp inishment.
13 Ay St.
14 Ma,
15 i
16 1
17 tat teant
18 set uncient
19 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary
20 36 HISTORY OF TUE PANJAR.
21 parrots, pigeons, peacocks and other birds valued for the swectness of
22 their voices or the beauty of their plumage. The king, gorgeously robed, sat
23 on his elephant, or in his state carriage, amid swect odours and clouds of
24 perfume, surrounded by crowds of women, spearmen being ranged outside
25 the circle, Courtiers and ministers, attended by banda of musicians,
26 followed. The way was marked off with ropes, and it was death to pass
27 within this limit. ;
28 Megasthenes, who was sent on an embassy by Seleukos Nikator to
29 Sandrakottos (Chandragupta), the king of the Prasii, whose capital was
30 Palibothra (Patna), has given a vivid account of Indian. He is believed
31 to have visited the country between 302 and 288 nc. According to
32 Clinton, he visited India a little before 302 nc. From the minute
33 accounts he has given, iu his Travels, of the rivers of Kabul and the
34 Panjab, it is clear that he passed through those conntries and lived in them.
35 He describes the people as skilled in the arts. The soil produced every
36 species of fruit and vegetable known to cultivation, while in the ground
37 were found numerous veins of all sorts of metals—gold, silver, copper,
38 iron, tin, &c., of which ornaments, utensils, and implements of war were
39 made. Both Megasthenes and Arrian, who wrote an account of the cx-
40 pedition of Alexander in Ionic, speak of two Indian harvests, one in the
41 winter season, when, as in other countries, the sowing of wheat, barley
42 and pulse took place, and the other in summer, when cotton, millet, se-
43 samum, and rice were sown, “India,” writes Megasthenes, “has never been
44 visited by famine, and scarcity in the supply of edible grains has never
45 been felt.” Those engaged in agriculture were not disturbed by wars.
46 They carried on their work of husbandry unmolested, and cultivated lands
47 were not ravaged or trampled under foot by victorious armies. Agricul-
48 ture was held sacred, and husbandmen, being regarded as public bene-
49 factors, were protected from all injury. They were, in consequence, not
50 provided with weapons of war, and were exempt from all military duties
51 or other State business,
52 Slavery was unknown to the Hindus, and their law ordained that no
53 one among them should be wholly subject to the will of another. The sages
54 conducted the sacrifices and celebrated the obsequies of the dead. ‘They
55 regulated the calendar and appointed propitious dates for sacrifices and
56 public festivals. In the beginning of each year the king convened a
57 great, assembly of these sages, at which they predicted the fortunes of
58 the State, the events, good or bad, of the year, stating whether it would
59 bring copious rains or be dry, and whether it would be healthy or unhealthy.
60 Both the king and the people took measures according to these predictions.
61 If a philosopher erred in his predictions, no punishment awaited him
62 for the first two failures, but anyone who erred three times was bound
63 to preserve absolute silence for the rest of his life. No power on earth
64 a ae a peariear cena to silence to utter a single word
65 ccording to the Greeks, the manners of the { vere si
66 they lived frugally, aoe Ted
67 rT. . : garments worked in gold and jewels.
68 ae be mantie were held in esteem. The people were honest in trade
69 a se _ wow to law. Theft was of very rare occurrence, and houses
70 ine money ae d; prey left unguarded. They trusted each other in lend-
71 Ss y, 1d not require seals or witnesses t i
72 : ses to attes :
73 hor was security w t such transactions,
74 anted. Money was not
75 * ; ut out or :
76 failed to recover money or a y 1 usury, If anyone
77 . deposit, h , .
78 b ‘ : posit, he never had recourse to a law suit.
79 uf simply blamed himself for trusting a knave and hore the loss with
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