1 THE ANCIENT HINDUS. 37
2 equanimity. Mutilation was punished with mutilation, in addition to the
3 cutting off of the culprit’s hand, but anyone who deprived an artisan
4 of an eye or a hand was put to death. Perjury was punished with the loss
5 of a hand or a foot, and for heinous crimes the offenders were flayed by
6 the king’s orders. Another punishment, considered infamous to the last
7 degree, was shaving the head.
8 The Greeks extol the Indians’ love of justice. Their magistrates and judges
9 were conscientious and administered equal justice. The king himself paid
10 great attention to thé dispensing of justice and sometimes spent the whole day
11 in hearing and deciding cases. While he was so engaged, four attendants
12 rubbed him with cylinders of wood, or ebony rollers, this being the
13 favourite mode of exercising the body.
14 The Indians, we are told, married many wives. A wife was purchased
15 for a yoke of oxen, and, notwithstanding the low price, she was faithful and
16 chaste. Women were also given as prizes to competitors who excelled in archery,
17 wrestling, boxing, running or any other manly exercise.
18 Megasthenes condemns, in the Indians, the want of fixed hours for
19 meals and the practice of partaking of food alone. This, however, only
20 shows their attention to business and their disregard for personal ease and
21 convenience. Their not eating in public was apparently due to the re-
22 strictions of caste, which had obtained a firm footing in the country before
23 the Greek invasion.
24 According to Strabo, the government of the country was carried on by
25 means of officers whose functions were distinct. These were the civil
26 and the military. The former included collectors of land-taxes, surveyors
27 of lands, superintendents of markets, who also supervised weights and
28 measures, overseers of cities and superintendents of ferries and of irrigation
29 canals. There were officers appointed to supervise artisans, such as black-
30 smiths, carpenters, miners and sawyers; officers to superintend trade,
31 commerce, manufactured articles and industrial arts; officers who received
32 reports of births and deaths, and officers who superintended roads. A
33 pillar was set up at every ten stadia to show distances. In the great epics
34 mention is made of urban roads, as being wide and spacious, and lined on
35 either side with the shops of traders and merchants and with private houses
36 of great beauty and elegance. The streets were watered, to lay the dust,
37 and were cleansed of rubbish. In the Ramdyana mention is made of a
38 grand trunk road from Oudh to the Panjab. All this is proof that the ancient
39 Hindus led a settled and civilized life.
40 Due attention was paid to the comfort of foreigners, and special officers
41 were appointed to accommodate them. They are, however, described as
42 careful in keeping a watch over the action of strangers.
43 The military department consisted of officers, foot soldiers and cha-
44 rioteers. The foot soldiers carried bows as tall as a man. The
45 arrow was discharged by placing one end of the bow on the ground,
46 holding it fast by the toes of the foot and drawing the string backwards.
47 An arrow shot by an Indian archer pierced, according to Arrian, the
48 strongest shield and the hardest breastplate. In his left hand the soldier
49 carried a buckier made of hide. All were armed with swords, though
50 some wielded javelins. Cavalrymen carried lances and bucklers of small
51 size on the left arm. There were chariots and war elephants. In
52 the former sat the charioteer and two fighting men beside him.
53 A war elephant carried a driver and three warriors armed with bows
54 and arrows. The chariots were profusely decorated. In the Rig Veda
55 mention is frequently made of “golden chariots.” This may be due
56 Their administra-
57 tion of justice.
58 Polygamy among
59 ancient Hindus.
60 Restrictions of
61 caste,
62 Government of the
63 country.
64 Civil department.
65 Attention to
66 strangers.
67 Military depart-
68 ment,
69 Infantry.
70 Cavalry.
71 The war chariots.
72 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com