WsSW3^ ***J»1i«H»»-l- / .olLf .'01. ^^^ PRINCETON, N. J. ^jjj Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund, BV 3265 .B43 1895 Beach, Harlan Page, 1854- 1933. The cross in the land of th trident THE CROSS IN THE LAND OF THE TRIDENT By HARLAN P. BEACH Educational Secretary of the Sttident Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions; formerly a Missionary in China, FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO Publishers of Evangelical Literature CX>PYRIGHT, 1895, by FI^EMING H. REVKI,!, CO. PREFACE. THIS little book is primarily intended for missionary study classes, yet it is hoped that it will be of value also to other readers. Only a few topics are discussed, but they are such as most vitally concern India, considered from a missionary point of view. Following each chapter will be found a number of suggested readings. The limited size of this book pre- vents anything save an outline statement of the sub- jects treated, and the readings will prove useful to those who wish fuller details. Their number has been multi- plied, not with the expectation that all will be read by any one person, but to meet the requirements of a class to each of whose members different readings may be as- signed, or whose library m^,y not contain a large collec- tion of books on India. In such a case, a few, at least, of the books will be found out of the large number named. To facilitate their use, the pages or chapters bearing on the topic are in most cases designated. Pe- riodical literature, both secular and missionary, is so abundant that no attempt has been made to suggest such articles with the sole exception of those in Tht Missionary Review of the V/orld, which for obvious reasons has been freely used. Books in foreign lan- guages have been consulted in preparing the chapters, but are not referred to in the list of readings, though here again another exception has been made in the case of 6 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. M. Levi's article in Za Grande Encyclopedie, one of exceptional value. The author acknowledges his indebtedness to the writers whose works are named in the reading lists. He also wishes to express his gratitude to Revs. J. W. Conklin and R. P. Wilder and to Bishop Thoburn who have contributed to the closing chapter. CONTENTS. Chapter. Page. I. Arya-Varta, "the Land of the Aryans'* • 9 II. India's Past ig III. The Common Life 31 IV. The Religious Life of the Masses . . 43 V. India's Real Man and Woman . . .57 VI. Christian Missions in India . • .69 VII. Present Phases OF Missionary Work . 83 VIII. India's Appeal to American Students . 96 Appendixes ------ 109 "What am I to understand by the Trident? The answer is, the Trident is a three-pronged fork which appears in every Siva temple in India. It doubtless in- dicates the later Hindu Triad. It has thus come to be regarded as a symbol of the Hindu religion." — J. Vaughan, T%e Trident, the Crescent, and the Cross. The Cross in the Land of the Trident. CHAPTER I. ARYA-VARTA, "THE LAND OF THE ARYANS." "Another world; a world in itself. That is what India pre- eminently is, and therein lies the charm." — IZwe. Ragozin, "Vedic India.'* Some Names and their Signification... "The Wonderland of the East" is officially known in the vernacular as Hind, while in English it is India. Hind was a name applied by the Persians to dwellers on the Sindhu, a Sanskrit word, meaning "river," especially the Indus. India is only a Greek variation of Hind. A favorite Sanskrit appellation, Bharata-varsha, "land of Bharata," is derived from a legendary monarch of the Lunar Dynasty named Bharata. Hindustan dates from the Muhamm.idan conquest and signifies the "land of the Hindus." It is, however, strictly applicable only to northern India, or a portion of it. India's Position and Area... It constitutes the central peninsula of Southern Asia, While not a continent, its great area, vast population and varied races, together with its lofty mountain and oceap boundaries, delimiting it from the rest of the world, give it continental features. The Indian Empire extend? 10 The Cross In the Land of the Trident. through 29 degrees of latitude and 36 degrees of longi- tude. If it were laid upon the map of America, its northernmost point would be in the latitude of Rich- mond, Va., while its southernmost cape would reach a little farther south than Panama. If the extreme east- ern boundary were placed on Baltimore, the western limit would be near Salt Lake City. Within its boun- daries could be placed, twice over, the United States east of the Mississippi, if Ohio and Indiana were left out; while the New England and Middle States would need to be nine and one-half times as large as they are to cover the entire country. Main Geographical Divisions... Roughly speaking and including Burma, there are four great divisions. I. T/ie Himalayan Region. This ''abode of the snow," as its name is translated, stretches over northern India like a huge scimitar, with its sharp edge turned to the south. The area of this region Bishop Thoburn bounds comparatively by a line drawn from British Co- lumbia to Lake Brie, thence to Atlanta, thence to south- ern Oregon, and northward to the starting point. Mountain spurs running southeast from Atlanta to the ocean, and southwest from Oregon to the Pacific com- plete the parallel. The immense region is covered with ranges, the southern one being the highest, rising as it does, from a few thousand feet above the sea to five and a half miles, nearly, in Mt. Everest, earth's highest meas- ured elevation. Though sparsely inhabited and sending down to the plain on the backs of yaks and sheep little wealth, its scenery is incomparably more grand than that of the Alps and the Andes. Nor is it sublime merely; in the lower ranges, especially on the southern slopes, thickets of tree-fern and bamboo, red and pink rhododendrons the size of trees, mosses, ferns and orchids of varied hue, together with the mosaic formed by red and yellow mil- let fields, constitute a scene of rare beauty. Arya-Tarta, "The Land of the Aryans." 11 India owes much of what it is to these mountains. They have been its buhvarks against northern invaders. They condense the moisture hurled against them by the monsoon, and send back to the plain fertiUzing showers. They are the reservoir whence much of the land receives its allowance of moisture during the dry season. It is not strange that the Hindu has placed in so beneficent a region his Olympus with its many gods. 2. T/ie River Plains. These extend across the country south of the region just described, and contain India's three greatest rivers with their tributaries, the Indus, Brahmaputra and Ganges. Having their rise in the Himalayas and draining a portion of country which has the greatest recorded rainfall of the globe, they consti- tute the life of the most populous section of India. To the ancients the Indus was so broad that they called it the "ocean;" the stream which broke through the moun- tains on the northeast could be no other than the "Son of God," Brahmaputra; while the river which brought yearly to their doors sufficient fertilizing mud to fill enough fifty-ton freight cars to stretch two and a half times around the world — this was "Mother Ganga," "go go," as Max Miiller defines it, ever ganging its onward gait in the service of humanity. This river is not only one of the most frequented w^ater ways of the world, but also one of the most holy. The three rivers first create the land, afterward fertilize it and then transport its produce. Often, too, they bring devastating floods. The scenery of the plains is charming. Streams, tilled fields, mango groves, mud villages shaded by no- ble trees, bamboo thickets, stately pipal trees, wide- spreading banyans and feathery palms make it a fairy land. This region was the theater of the great race movements of India's history, and the seat of its early civilization. 3. The Dec can, or ^' South'^ Region. This elevated section lies south of a line drawn west from Calcutta to the Gulf of Cambay. It is a triangle, bounded on the north by the Vindhya range, on the southeast by the 12 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. Eastern Ghats, and on the southwest by the Western Ghats. In earlier ages the Vindhya Mountains, not be- ing easily crossed, formed the Deccan's Himalayas and so kept it aloof from the more cultivated Aryan district, although the Southern Dravidians maintained a long struggle with their northern neighbors. The Western Ghats, rising abruptly from the sea, shut off much of the moisture from the interior, yet when water is obtainable the rich black soil yields abundant harvests. Here, too, lies most of the mineral wealth of the Empire and on this tableland Christianity has made its influence more widely felt than elsewhere in India. As to scenery, the plateau is "a vast mass of forests, ridges and peaks, broken by cultivated valleys and high- lying plains." The Ghats at places "rise in magnificent precipices and headlands out of the ocean, and truly look like eternal landing stairs — ghats — from the sea." 4. Burma. Though it constitutes part of India, this fourth region, as also the crown colony of Ceylon, will not here be described. While of great interest to the student of Missions, we are at present concerned only with the above mentioned three regions of India proper. Natural Resources of India... A brief mention of them must suffice. I. Forest Wealth. Excluding Burma and Bengal, India's forests cover a section as large, almost, as New England and New Jersey, while in most parts of the country trees are found in smaller numbers. The teak, ebony and larch have been famous from early times.Less valuable are the cedar, fir and juniper. Immense elms,, capable of seating six hundred persons in their shade, are found, while bamboos attain the great height of sixty feet. The most remarkable trees are the immense ban- yans and the sacred fig or pipal trees, though not so val- uable as others. The mango, orange and palm are, among fruit trees, the most highly prized by the vil- lagers. Arya-Yarta , "The Land of the Aryans:* . 13 Denudation of these forests had gone on most reck- lessly until the Government appointed a forestry com- mission who have control throughout the Empire over 100,000 square miles of forest with the most happy re- sults. 2. Agricultural Resources. While the Hindus are pre- eminently an agricultural people and the population is dense, only about one-third of the country is cultivated or grazed. Nearly a fourth of the land lies idle, though ranked as cultivable. This speaks volumes for the agri- cultural possibilities of the Empire. In many places two and even three crops a year can be raised, and that, too, without exhausting the soil. The recent development of the Department of Agriculture and the results coming from the education of Indian students in agricultural col- leges of Europe, together with increased irrigation, mean much for the farming of the future. The principal crops are given below in the order of acreage devoted to each, beginning with the lowest and ending with the highest. They are : — Tea, tobacco, in- digo, sugar cane, oil seeds, cotton, wheat, rice, other food grains. In spite of her agricultural wealth, India suffers great- ly from famines.This is especially so in the interior of the Deccan and in sections of Oudh. Its greatest famine, — that of 1876-8, — brought suffering from insufhcient food, disease or death to 16,000,000 people and cost the Gov- ernment for relief work $55,000,000. Due largely to failure of the monsoons and insufficient water supply, as also to inadequate transportation, the Government has taken steps to remedy the evil by building irrigating canals and extending roads and railways. It also sets apart in periods of plenty a yearly sum of from five to seven million dollars as a fund for famine rehef. 3. Animal Life. In a sense this is an important re- source to India. She could hardly exist without buf- faloes, oxen, donkeys, mules, sheep, goat5, and pigs, Bulls, cows and monkeys are held sacred. Elephants are mainly useful for purposes of hunting and state. (■ 14 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. Among wild animals, tigers, if not "man eaters," prove helpful to the farmers by destroying antelopes, deer and wild hogs. Lions, leopards, wolves, bears and the rhinoceros are harmful. Only two animal foes are of great importance; the tiger and, above all, poisonous rep- tiles. Nine years ago 24,841 persons were killed by wild beasts in British India alone, 22,134 of whom died from snake bites. The foreigner notes with surprise the presence of crows and storks in many of the villages and towns. Though the former are as troublesome as magpies, they are also useful as scavengers, for .which latter purpose the stork is even more desirable. Two insects are a source of revenue to the Empire : the lac insect which furnishes large quantities of shellac and also lac-dyes, and the silk worm. Together their pro- ducts constitute an important part of India's exports. 4. Mineral Wealth. In spite of the stories of India's Golconda, she is not rich in minerals. Diamonds are few, and gold occurs in too small quantities to repay the ex- ploiter. Far more important are the coal mines, — excel- ling in extent the measures of all lands except the United States, China and Australia, — the petroleum wells of Punjab and Assam, the salt cliffs of northeastern Punjab, the saltpeter of the upper Ganges, the copper of the Himalayas, and iron of purest quality which is found everywhere. Iron, however, is extensively imported owing to the distance from each other of the essentials for iron working, — the ore, flux and fuel, — and also to the fact that the excessive amount of ash in the Indian coal chokes the furnaces. Climatic Conditions... These necessarily vary owing to the wide range of latitude and elevation, and to the distance from the ocean. I. Temperature. In general it is like that of semi- tropical countries. Missionaries usually sufifer from the heat in inverse proportion to their distance from the Arya-Yarta , *'The Land of the Aryans,'* 15 equator, northern India being much more trying than the extreme South. Most of the Empire Hes between the July isothermal line of 80 degrees F. in the South and 90 degrees in the North ; while in January it lies be- tween the lines of 80 degrees in the South and 60 degrees in the North. 2. Rainfall. The rains due to the monsoon are in the northeast excessive, at one place averaging 30 ft. annually and one year reaching as high as 6y ft. In the Deccan and the upper basin of the Ganges and Indus, it is but 2\ feet. Taken as a whole, India is somewhat arid and depends largely on reservoirs and irrigating canals. The humidity experienced, however, in the rainy season and immediately thereafter is harder to endure than the greater dry heat of the dry season. 3. The Seasons and Their Effect on Health. Every- where throughout the country there are at least three well marked seasons: — the cool and pleasant season, extending from October or November to the middle of February; the hot season, usually healthy if undue ex- posure is avoided, beginning in February and ending with May; and the wet season, the months from June to October, which is the most unhealthful season of all.. In the dry season, the heat during three months is so great that all traces of vegetation except fruit and forest trees, disappear. Early in June the Monsoon bursts and rains or showers occur almost daily until Septem- ber, causing the parched ground to bloom luxuriantly. At the close of the rains comes a month of most un- healthful weather owing to the great moisture and the consequent decay of vegetation. The Effect of tke Land upon its Inhabitants... While foreigners are but few it will be well to note the different effects on natives and foreigners, and hence the two classes will be treated separately. I. The Native Races. Buckle's theory of history, as Prof. Flint has pointed out, "denies the influence of race without adequate consideration, and so exaggerates the 16 The Cross in tJie Land of the Trident. power of climate, soil, food and the aspects of nature, as at times to be fairly chargeable with physical fatal- ism." Still, no one would question the fact that, apart from other elements, the Hindus to-day have been largely influenced by the climate and soil which greeted the Aryan upon his arrival in India. The leisure afiforded by so rich a district as the river plains, and the favoring climate were a rich endowment to him. So, too, the aspects of nature would directly influence ''the accumulation and distribution of thought, the imagina- tion being stimulated and the understanding subdued when the phenomena of the natural world are sublime and terrible, the understanding being emboldened and the imagination curbed when they are small and feeble.'' A native author thus writes concerning his countrymen : — "All nature conspired to make them thoughtful and imaginative. What was more pleasant than on a hot afternoon to sit under the umbrageous banyan or pipal tree and reflect or discuss? Microcosm was the study of the Hindu as Macrocosm has been that of the mod- ern European. Moral science was the intellectual basis of Hindu civilization as natural science is that of the modern civilization of Europe." Whether the result of environment or not, it is true that compared with the Anglo-Saxon, the Hindu has been overcome by nature rather than made himself nature's conqueror. Hence we have a weaker race than the western Aryans have* come to be. A helpful though indirect influence upon the inhabi- tants has been exerted because Indian soil from early times has been deemed the 'Trize of the East." This led inevitably to a continuous influx of new race ele- ments, and in consequence the Hindu shares some of the advantages of the intermixture of varied bloods. If caste and other causes had not prevented a larger amal- gamation of races, he would, however, have been a stronger man than he is. 2. T/ie Indian Environment and Foreigners. It is use- less to deny that Indian climate, taken as a whole, is less favorable to an American than that -of this coun- Arya-VarU , "The Land of the Aryans." ' I7 try. Some cannot endure it at all, but most persons can live to a good old age, if they exercise proper care. Realizing that he is an exotic, the American will gov- ern himself accordingly. Care in protecting oneself from the sun, sufficiency of sleep, including a daily siesta if need be, and paying a due regard to food and recreation, will win many a missionary battle. It should be remembered that elevated regions are accessible from every mission station and can be fled to in case of special necessity or during the unhealthful months. Diseases such as smallpox and cholera must be con- sidered, yet few foreigners die of these, while they are relieved of the presence of scarlet fever, diptheria and spinal meningitis, so fatal in the home land. Exaggerated stories of scorpions, centipedes and the dreaded cobra often make the missionary candidate timid as he thinks of India. Bishop Thoburn testifies, however, that during a residence of thirty-three years in that country he has never known one European to be bitten by a venomous serpent or stung by a centi- pede. It is true that many natives die yearly from snake bites but it is usually due to their going about bare-legged and sleeping on earth floors or in the open air. To foreigners resident in the country such dan- gers are regarded much as we look upon lightning. Almost to a man India's missionaries who are absent on furlough, are anxious to return to their Indian home and work, which they love most dearly. And while it sometimes happens that children born to foreigners in India are feeble and shortlived, there is a sufficient num- ber of the children of such residents doing a valuable work there to prove the rule that proper care of the exotic will enable it to produce other plants as strong, almost, as if indigenous to the country. SUGGESTED READINGS. Encyclopaedias: See article "India" in the various encyclopae- dias, especially Hunter's in the Brittanica, Temple's in Cham- ber's (edition of 1891), and Encyclopaedia of Missions (1891). Also "Inde" by Levi in La Grande Encyclopedie (1894). 18 TJie Cross in the Land of the Trident. Chisholm: Longman's New Atlas, (] Church Missionary Atlas, Pt. II., India, (1887), pp. 81, 82. Constable: Hand-Atlas of India, (1893), Downey: The History of the Telugu Mission, (1893), Ch. I. Feudge: India, (1881), Ch. I. Gracey: India, (1884), Pp. 1-6. Hunter: Brief History of the Indian Peoples, (1892), Ch. I. The Indian Empire, (1886, same as Vol. VI. Imperial Gazet- teer of India), Chs. I., XVII.. XXL. XXIII., XXIV. Hurst: Indika. (1891), Chs. VII., VIII. Johnston: Atlas of India, (1894). Lethhridge: History of India, (1881), maps throughout. Ragozin: Vedic India, (1895), Ch. I. Reclus: The Earth and Its Inhabitants, (1884), Vol. III., Ch. IL Ridpath: Great Races of Mankind, (1893), Chs. XXXVL, XXXVIIL RobMns: Handbook of India, (1883), Ch. I. Rowe: Every-day Life in India, (1881), Chs. XXIV., XXIX., XXXIL Saunders: An Atlas of India, (1889). Storrow: India, Part I., (1883), Pp. 7-12. Strachey: India, (1894), Chs. IL, III. Temple: India in 1880, (1882), Ch. IL, XVII. Thoburn: India and Malaysia, (1893), Ch. I. Trotter: History of India, (1874), Pp- XLV-LXI. Urwick: Indian Pictures, (1881), Pp. 41-219. CHAPTER II. INDIA'S PAST. "It is a favorite maxim of mine, that history, while it should be scientific in its method, should pursue a practical object. That is, it should not only gratify the reader's curiosity about the past, but modify his views of the present, and his forecast of the future." — Prof. J. R. Seeley, "Expansion of England." Has India a History... The small space occupied by India in histories of the worid, would suggest that she has no history worth recording. This impression is strengthened by thoughtful writers, one of whom, E. A. Lawrence, D. D., has recently said, "Until of late India has never had a history, not only because the Hindus have never had the historic sense to write one page of it, but yet more because they have never had the national life to create one year of it." Even India's staunch friend. Max Muller, admits that "history, in the ordinary sense of the word, is almost unknown in Indian literature." In spite of such utterances, if written and technical annals are not regarded as essential to history, if the same weight is given to Aryan myths and epics as to those of Greece and Rome, if history is the "biography of a society," India has one, and a history well worthy of study, especially by the friends of religion. Sources of Indian History... While not so trustworthy and full as in the case of the ancient kingdoms of Israel, Egypt, Assyria and 20 The Cross in the Land of the Trident, China, the sources of her history are such as to render it worthy of credence. They He in the rich mines of com- parative philology; they are embodied in the traditions and literature of her people; they are found in ancient institutions still surviving. Monuments, inscriptions and coins of an early period, corroborate, in many instances, the testimony of song and legend; fairly trustworthy chronicles furnish a record of her past; while books of history and travel of other nations warrant the historian in attributing to these varied elements a high value. Characterization of Successive Periods of Indian History... Though the divisions adopted by native historians are helpful, notably those of R. C. Dutt, for present pur- poses another eight-fold division is here followed. Definite time limts cannot always be given, and only salient features of each period will be noted. I. Aboriginal Period. Records of this prehistoric era are lacking. Yet in the Narbada valley are found the agate knives and rough flint weapons of a race of men who were succeeded by a people using poHshed flint weapons and possessing finely wrought implements of stone, and who made use of metal. A still later race have left traces of themselves in the upright stone slabs and in the mounds beneath which their dead were buried, surrounded by pots of thin earthen ware, iron weapons and ornaments of copper and gold. Aryan descriptions of these aborigines picture them as *'blackskinned,'^"flat-nosed," ''disturbers of sacrifice," "lawless," ''raw-eaters," "without gods and without "" rites." Their smallness of stature, broad cheek-bones, low foreheads and large mouth gave them the appear- ance of Tartars. There were others, however, more civilized, wealthy, possessed of castles and forts and wont to adorn the bodies of their dead with gifts, with raiment, with ornaments, imagining "that thereby they shall attain the world to come." At least two inroads seem to have been made upon India's Past, 21 these aborigines : — one, from the northeast, by the Ko- larians, represented to-day by the Santals, Bhils, and other tribes; the second being Dravidian and coming from the northwest. The rude civiHzation of the latter race spread over India and is still traceable m the South. Their modern representatives are found in the hill tribes, Gonds, Konds and others. During this period the prime\^al forest was only broken here and there by cultivated land and rude habitations. 2. T/ie Vedic Period The life of this period is graph- ically portrayed in the Vedas and in the two great epics of India. At least as early as looo B. C, perhaps 400 or 1000 years earlier, the Aryans left their home in cen- tral Asia and entered India from the northwest. Set- tling along the Indus, they received the name Hindu, a variation of the word Indus. Later they occupied the Punjab, or "land of five rivers," tributaries of the Indus, and eventually spread over most of India, driving back the aborigines. Tall and handsome, of remarkable intellectual power for that age, speaking the Sanskrit, which rivals the Greek in point of elaborateness, full of poetic fire, these "nobles" built houses, tilled the soil, exalted the family life and gave woman a high place in their esteem. They ate beef, fermented liquors, used money and developed the village into the town, where all necessary trades and many of the arts flourished. The Aryans v/ere pre-eminently religious. Their earliest sacred book, the Rig-Veda, is one of the master- pieces of literature. The gods which it reveals were "bright gods"; the hymns in their honor were most sublime. Though henotheism or polytheism was char- acteristic of Vedic belief, it had not yet become cor- rupted. The beginnings of this decay came with the rise of Brahmanism. Caste, which had its origin soon after the Aryans en- tered India, took a definite, four-fold form during this period, but was far less evil than the present system. As Brahmanism developed, theology, logic, grammar, 22 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. philosophy, Hterature, astronomy, mathematics, medi- cine, music, law, and the drama were cultivated, so that India was the light of the East. This period was one of the most remarkable in Hindu history. 3. T/ie Buddhist Period, 343 B. C. — goo A, D Brahmanism and the attendant rationalism had resulted in the sixth century before Christ in corruption, thus paving the way for the great Indian reformer, Gautama Buddha. The simple and purified faith of this man, with its fruitage of self culture and universal love, spread from the modern province of Oudh, its birthplace, over all India. Under Asoka, King of Magadha, (Behar), Buddhism became the state religion. This Buddhist Con&tantine, whose sway extended over most of India, has left engraven on pillars forty royal sermons. Wells were to be dug and trees planted for wayfarers. Hospitals for men and animals, careful supervision of morals, the instruction of women and youths, were part of his program. Buddhism at that time was not only the most tolerant, but also the most intensely missionary religion in the world. Its votaries "were to mix equally with soldiers, Brahmans and beg- gars, with the dreaded and despised, both within the kingdom and in foreign countries, teaching better things." A state department, established for this pur- pose, sent out missionaries who were to "intermingle among all unbelievers even to the utmost limit of bar- barian lands." Asoka's own son and daughter were missionaries to Ceylon, where Buddhism speedily be- came, and still remains, the state religion. Through his Great Council, the Canon of Southern Buddhism was fixed upon; and later, in 80 B. C, the Canon was written out in Singhalese, from which tongue it was translated into its present form about 430 A. D. In less than seven centuries, Southern Buddhism had spread Into Burma, Siam, Sumatra and Java. Kanishka, the Scythian King of northwestern India, played a hardly less important part in the history of this religion. About forty years before the birth of Christ he held the last great Council of Buddhism to revise the Indians Past. 53 Canon. This revision by the progressive party, known as the Greater Vehicle, is in Sanskrit and is held by the Northern Buddhist of Tibet, China, Mongolia and Japan, in which regions it early gained a foothold. Under his patronage the faith entered upon a second pe- riod of missionary revival. Once more in 634 A. D. the Buddhist King Siladitya tried to revive the decaying faith by a council, but it proved to be a compromise in which statues of Buddha, the Sun-god and Siva were successively installed. Even his Monastery of Nalanda, recalling the Christian Uni- versities of the middle ages, and its ten thousand moni^ studying various sciences, failed to galvanize the system into life. Brahmanism gained the victory in 800 A. D. and a century later Buddhism was banished from the land of its birth. During these fourteen centuries it had been a mighty reformatory agency and had conferred great benefits upon India and northern and eastern Asia. Jainism, a form of religion allied to Buddhism, still exists and is effective, but otherwise Buddhism practically no longer survives in India proper, though it is the religion of Burma and Ceylon. 4. T/ie Greek, Graeco-Bactrian and Scythian Inva- sions^ J27 B. C. soo A. D. Interjected between the ear- lier and later Buddhism of the period just described, came the invasions of the Greeks and Bactrians, 327-161 B. C, and of the Scythians, 100 B. C.-500 A. D. Though previously known to the western world through the Hebrew Bible, Homer, Herodotus and other Greek authors, India's external history dates from the expedi- tion of Alexander in 327 B. C. His armies went no further than northwestern India and never thoroughly subjugated a single province; yet Alexander made alli- ances, founded cities, planted Greek garrisons and left in Bactria (northern Afghanistan) a large part of his armies. His successor in those parts, Seleukos Nicator, formed an alliance with Chandra Gupta who had firmly established himself along the Ganges. Seleukos finally sold to him the territory occupied by the Greeks and 24 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. stationed at his court the famous Megasthenes who there gathered material for his "Indika," the best description of India that reached Europe until 200 years ago. His picture of Indian society is very graphic. The absence of slavery, the chastity of their women, the valor of their men, the rarity of theft and lying, are noted. Peace prevailed, the Code of Manu was enforced, manufactures and agriculture flourished and the village system, re- minding Magasthenes of the Greek republic, was well developed. Later inroads from Bactria were unimportant and ex- tended over only a part of India. The Bactrians founded no kingdoms and the only traces left by these Greek add Bactrian invaders are the science of astron- omy, some coins and exquisite Greek sculptures. The Scythians^ who were shepherds and herdsmen and whose one talent was for war, exercised a larger influ- ence on the land. Coming from central Asia, they soon spread over northern India. The coins of various kings and dynasties suggest their power, while the influence of King Kanishka gave to northern Asia its peculiar form of Buddhism. A large proportion of the popula- tion of the northwestern provinces to-day is said to be of Scythian origin and they thus form wath the aborig- ines and Aryans the three races making up the Indian people. Two of the best systems of Indian chronology derive their era from native kings who fought success- fully against tbc Scythians. One is the Samvat, corre- sponding to 57 B. C; the other is the Saka, "Scythian," corresponding to 78 A. D. These struggles lasted for centuries before the Scythian was subdued. While the statement that Buddha was a Scythian is untrustworthy, it is certain that the coming of these people to India has exerted on his faith a deeper influence than any event since his death. 5. The Brah7nanic or Modern Hmdu Period, ^OO-i^oo A. D. This period has to do almost entirely with the development of religion. While Buddhism was not exiled until 900 A. D., the reign of Vikramaditya in the sixth century has been termed the Renaissance of Hin- India's Past. 25 duism. Buddhism had proven the first strong bond of union between the aboriginal, Aryan and Scythian ele- ments in Indian society. The Brahmans realized the value of such a bond and caused modern Hinduism to take its place as a unifying power. This they did by adopting from Buddhism its images, temples, festivals, pilgrimages, and above all substituting for the Buddhist Triad the worship of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Its triumph over a decaying Buddhism is due largely to the fact that "Hinduism is a social league and a religious alliance. As a social league, it rests upon caste, and has its roots deep down in the race elements of the Indian people. As a religious alliance, it represents the union of the Vedic faith of the Brahmans with Buddhism on the one hand, and with the earlier rites of the non- Aryan peoples on the other." The first really great apostle of modern Hinduism was Sankara A chary a, who, in the ninth century, wan- dered as a preacher over India, moulded Brahman phil- osophy into its final form and popularized it into a na- tional religion. Dying at thirty-two, he had so im- pressed Indian thought that every subsequent Hindu sect has started with a personal God. It was this period which produced one of India's great astronomers who explained the true cause of eclipses and very closely estimated the earth's circumference. Mod- ern Europeans became acquainted with algebra, not from the Greeks, but from the Hindus through the Arabs. So, too, our decimal system of notation and so-called Arabic numerals came to the West from India during these centuries. 6. The Muhammadan Period, 1001-1761 A. D, These years, filled wdth wars, invasions and fanaticism, extended from the coming of the early Muhammadan conquerors to the end of the Mughal Dynasty. (i) The Early Co7iqiierors, 647 (^?)-iS26 A. D. Be- ginning with Arab forays in 647 (?), Muhammadan power began to powerfully assert itself under the youth- ful Mahmud of Ghazni (modern Afghanistan the capital of which was Ghazni). This "Idol smasher," as he 26 The Cross in the Land of the Trident called himself, won northwestern India after a 25 years' struggle. Other warriors, including the famous Tamer- lane, fought in various parts of India. Their aim was to destroy temples and convert to Islam the inhabi- tants. They brought with them a knowledge of other lands, cultivated history and incidentally bore back to Europe some elements of Indian culture. They were surprised to find in India a race whose valor was greater than they had found in Africa and western Asia. (2) T/ie Mughal Efnpire, 1^26-1761 A. D. Tamer- lane had proclaimed himself Tartar Emperor in 1397, but the title lapsed until his descendant, Babar, became the first Great Mughal in 1526. His grandson, Akbar, was, perhaps, India's greatest sovereign and holds the high place in her history that his contemporary, Queen Elizabeth, does in English annals. His reign and those of three of his successors ''were splendid, and their architectural remains evince an artistic culture hardly surpassed in any age or country.'' Uprisings among the Sikhs and Marathas and the invasions from central Asia and Persia of Nadir Shah and others weakened the Empire until 1761 when the Mughals became mere puppets on the throne and so continued until in 1857 the last of the line was banished to Burma. The Mughals, because lax Muhammadans, had been tolerant in religion. They had imparted broad ideas, introduced organization and remodeled the revenue sys- tem, making it much as it is to-day. ''Six of the rulers were among the most gifted of any land who ever held a scepter." 7. The Mar at ha Period, i6so-i8i8 A. D. This low caste Hindu confederation, found in central India, ardently hated the Muhammadans and contributed largely to the overthrow of the Mughals. The Marathas were the principal power which the Europeans found when they appeared upon the scene. Their lack of civ- ilization stood in the way of progress, and various evils, such as thuggee, came into existence during this period. Only after three great wars were the British able to overcome them in 181 8. India's Past. 2? 8. Period of European Contact and Supremacy, i^oo-i8gs A. D. For convenience Britain's connection will be discussed by itself. (i) European Contact with India, I4g8-i'joo. India was first touched from the south when da Gama landed his Portuguese adventurers at CaHcut in 149S. While the Portuguese enjoyed for a century the monopoly of oriental trade, their governors, with the exception of Albuquerque, were superstitious and cruel beyond belief. They "looked on every pagan as an enemy of Portugal and of Jesus Christ." Some of the missiona- ries, however, notably Xavier, were marked exceptions to the rule. At present Portugal possesses only iioo square mile of Indian territory with a population of less than half a million. The Dtitch were the first to break through the Portu- guese monopoly. Their East India Company was founded in 1602 and the Dutch were soon masters of the eastern seas. Their first Indian factory was estab- lished in 1652. Determined to maintain a monopoly in spices, they treated rivals with the utmost cruelty, but finally surrendered their supremacy to Clive in I75^' At present they have no territory in India. The Danes possessed little power in Hindustan, but their settlements, established in 1616, are immortal in missionary annals. Tranquebar w^as Ziegenbalg's first field and the surrounding territory has been the most thoroughly evangelized district in India. Serampore was the asylum and afterward the light tower of Carey and his associates. Both settlements now belong to England. The French began to gain power in India in 1668 and for a century thereafter made heroic efforts to found an Indian Empire. One of their officers, Dupleix, was un- surpassed as an oriental diplomatist and was successful at times against their great rivals the English. Clive, how- ever, learning from him the secret of arraying native kingdoms against each other, succeeded by it in wrest- ing India from the power of France and gave it to 28 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. England. French power was crushed out in 1760-61, and to-day only 178 square miles of Indian territory belong to France with a population of little over quar- ter of a million. (2) British Co7iflict and Supremacy, 1600- i8g^ A. D. The first modern Englishman to reach India became the rector of a Jesuit College near Bombay in 1579. The East India Company, which was to win India for England, received its original charter from Elizabeth on the last day of the year 1600. It owes its origin to the fact that the Dutch raised the price of pepper against the English from 3s. to 6s. per pound. Its factories were soon found in various parts of India, and in 1689 the Company determined upon territorial conquest. From that time until 1833 it was a military and commer- cial power supported by English arms. Clive's victory at Plassey (1757), when the foundation of British supremacy was laid; his subjugation of the French, already alluded to, thus securing southern In- dia as northern India had been gained at Plassey; Warren Hasting's organization of the empire which Clive had founded; Lord Mornington's emphasis of England's paramount power in India; the overthrow of the Marathas; Lord Amherst's expedition against Burma; the philanthropic and financial reforms of Lord Bentinck; Dalhousie's administration, as significant almost as that of Lord Clive; the terrible Sepoy Mutiny of 1857; the subsequent transfer to the Crown of the East India Company's powers; the proclamation on the first day of 1877 of Victoria as Empress of India; the ap- palling sufferings of the famine years of 1876-78; the addition of Burma to the Empire: — these are some of the important features of the English rule in India. Notwithstanding the weaknesses and sins of British supremacy, India owes to Britain most of its present growth and prosperity. She has become unified as never before; invasions and internal strife have given place to peace; crime has been greatly diminished; some evil and cruel customs have been done away with; intercommunication has been made easy; sanitary meas- Indians Past. 29 ures have been adopted; agriculture, mining and the industries of civihzed lands have been developed; com- merce is contributing her millions to the nation; edu- cation and the growth of public opinion are advancing with rapid strides ; freedom of religious belief is pledged to all : in short, England has been Hindustan's material saviour. India'5 Place in the World's History... In Hegel's phrase, India is the Land of Desire to the world. All great nations have, at some time, sought her material or intellectual treasures. Americans should remember that Columbus was seeking her when he discovered this continent. India can teach us our own tongue in its primitive form better than any other na- tion. In her history we can trace the growth of thought. Her soft climate and gigantic banyans have given birth to meditation and philosophy. Imagina- tion has there embodied itself in sacred books and a lit- erature of much value to mankind. Europe was taught science by India in the early centuries. She has given Asia her most widely accepted religion, and herself rep- resents to the world the religious life, imperfect though it is. Through desire of her, important discoveries have been made, navies set in motion, nations enriched. Yet India, while thus benefitting the world, has been repeatedly vanquished and is in deep need. Her past shows her future possibilities and suggests that the present is the opportune time for stretching out hands of loving sympathy and practical helpfulness. Mr. Kidd urges, from the standpoint of philanthropic altru- ism, the administration of the affairs of India from the temperate zone. How much more ought the love of Christ to constrain the American Christian to give him- self to the spiritual welfare of the Hindu! ^0 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. SUGGESTED READINGS. Encyclopaedias: Same as in Chapter I. Church Missionary Atlas, Pt. II., India, (1887), Pp. 84-87. Dutt: Epochs of Indian History, Ancient India, (1893). Feudge: India, (1881), Chs. X.-XXV. Gracey: India, (1884), Pp. 20-41. Eittell: Mankind in Ancient Times, (1893), Vol. II., Ch. XV., Pp. 261-263. Hurst: Indika, (1891), Chs. IV., V., VI., LXXXVI. Keene: History of India, (1893), Vol. I., Ch. I. 3Iimer: India: What can It teach Us? (1883), Lect. I. Ragozin: Vedic India, (1895), Ch. II. Rees: Epochs of Indian History — The Muhammadans, (1894). Samuelson: India, Past and Present, (1890), Chs. I., II., III. morrow: India, Pt. I. (1883), Pp. 21-28. Trotter: History of India, (1874), Bks. I and II. especially good. Wheeler: History of India, (1867-1881), Vol. II. Ch. XIV. Indian History (Primer), (1890). CHAPTER III. THE COMMON LIFE. "This life of ours is a wild Acadian harp of many a joyous strain, But under them all there runs a loud perpetual wail, as of souls in pain." — H. W. Longfellow, "The Golden Legend." So many sided a thing- is the life of any land that it is useless to attempt its minute description. Some of the features common to the life of the majority of the Hindus will be given, but the caution that even these are not wholly uniform in all sections must be borne in mind. Special accounts of the wild customs of the ab- original tribes, and of the w^ealthy and cultured classes must be looked for elsewhere. Habitations and their Furnishings... The homes of the poor are usually about twelve feet square and of one story. They are constructed uport a raised floor of earth with walls of matting, wattles or moistened earth. The roof is of reeds, grass or palmyra leaves fastened to rafters of bamboo or jungle wood. Windows may be entirely lacking or else are very small and never glazed. The low, narrow door gives light to the household. The roof, often pyramidal, pro- jecting beyond the walls, constitutes a piazza or, to use the Hindu term, a varanda. Occasionally the exterior of the front wall of the house is decorated with alternate vertical stripes, about a foot wide, of red and white color. More commonly "the front of the house is cov- ered with cakes of cow manure, stuck there for drying in the sun so as to become fit for fuel." The monetary 33 The Cross in the Land of the Tridents outlay for such a house, not counting the labor bestowed upon it by the family, varies from two to eighteen dollars. "WiQ furnishings , are very simple and inexpensive. The floor is of hardened earth which needs no care beyond the regular purifying with a solution of cow dung and water. Three or four low fireplaces without pipe or chimney allow of cooking in a sedentary pos- ture. Near them, or in the angles of the wall, are pots of all sizes containing the household stores. Sus- pended by ropes from the rafters are vessels holding clarified butter, sugar and other articles likely to fall a prey to rats and ants. Cooking utensils are there also. A lamp, some matting, a pestle and stone mortar, a hand mill, a granite slab for grinding, possibly a rude bedstead, and some spinning wheels, complete the furnishings. The interior of these one, or perhaps two, roomed houses is abundantly supplied with confined air and smoke, and is redolent with the odor of cow dung and stale curry materials. Dre55. This varies largely. The poor man^s garments are **in two pieces called 'upper' and 'lower' cloths. The lower cloth is about three yards long, is tied about the waist and falls over the knees. The upper cloth is about the same length and is thrown loosely across the shoulders and drawn around the waist." Many do not commonly wear the upper cloth. Coats are in some cases worn instead of the 'upper cloth,' but the turban made of ten yards of cloth wound about the head is too valuable to give way to the European hat. Wonian^s dress requires no sewing, nor even a but- ton, hook or pin to keep it in place. It consists of some six to nine yards of cloth, one end of which is "wrapped around the waist, gathered into folds in front and se- cured bv tucking under. When required, this end may be readily loosed and thrown over the head as a cover- ing." A short sleeved, tightly fitting jacket reaching The Common Life. 33 half way to the waist is coming to be commonly worn underneath the upper cloth. The skin of the face, arms and feet is tinged with the yellow of saffron water, while the finger tips and nails are dyed red with henna leaves. The women also paint the outer edge of the eyelids with a solution of oil and lamp black. Both sexes are fond of jewelry, though the woman makes the most lavish use of it. Her toes, ankles, fin- gers, wrists, arms, neck, nose, ears and hair are loaded down with these *'joys" in proportion to her wealth and the importance of the occasion. The widow who is a "jewelless woman" is an exception to this general rule. Neither sex ever wear stockings and very rarely san- dals or slippers, though men may don them on state occasion. The dress of poor children is conspicuous by its ab- sence, it not iDcing needed, as the Hindu proverb says, ''Children and the legs of a stool do not feel cold." Until about eight years of age boys and girls are usually without anything save "a necklace, a charm and a string about the waist with a few bells attached." The materials are mainly cottons of various sorts. 'The black colors of Europe are seldom seen, but indigo blue is common. Otherwise white set off by gay mar- gins, * * * * jg \^^ pevailing color. As a whole the national dress is picturesque, and a holi- day crowd has the appearance of a flower garden." Food... Vegetables, fruit, rice and millet are the main food stuffs. Rice is eaten where plentiful and when it can be afforded. Meats are seldom eaten and salt fish is sparingly partaken of. The tastelessness of food is avoided by the free use of curry and other relishes. A light lunch is taken in the morning and the prin- cipal meals are at about noon and six o'clock. The noon meal is carried from the house to the field for the great majority who are at work there. Tables are not a necessity, the bare earthen floor supplying their place. Dried leaves, sewn into the form 34 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. of a rude bowl and used but once, serve as plates. Knives, forks and spoons are an abomination to the ordinary Hindu, the right hand being a far better substi- tute. Water, coflfee in many cases, and toddy and arrack among the lower castes are the common drinks. The cup containing them is not allowed to touch the lips, but the contents are poured down into the mouth. The women do not eat with the male members of the family, but wait until their lords are through. Tobacco is almost universally *'drunk" by the men of India. The curious waterpipe is employed, and the to- bacco is damp from the molasses with which it is mixed, so that burning charcoal needs to be put into the bowl with the tobacco. The Family... As marriage is considered a necessary religious cere- mony the rite is universal among those capable of it. , The ceremonies of the two marriages, one occurring in childhood and the other when the parties are old enough to live together, are elaborate and costly and are consid- ered the greatest of religious and social events. The Hindu wedding, like the Chinese funeral, often impov- erishes a family for years or even for generations. The ideal relation delween husband and wife as de- scribed in the Vedas no longer exists; instead, later Shasters thus state the wife's duty: ''A woman has no other god on earth but her husband. -'^ ^ ^ When in the presence of her husband a woman must not look on the one side and on the other. She must keep her eyes on her master to be ready to receive his commands. When he speaks, she must be quiet and listen to nothing besides. Let her words, her ac- tions and her deportment give open assurance that she regards her husband as her god. Then shall she be honored of all men, and be praised as a virtuous and discreet woman." The wives of the poor, who constitute the bulk of Hindu womanhood, are freed from the evils of the oft- described zanana life, and are also not subjected to the The Common Life. 35 heart burnings due to polygamy, since poverty prevents tlie husband from having more than one wife. Child marriage, bringing the burdens of a family upon mere children, is, however, common to rich and poor alike. Widowhood, with its thousand woes which rest like a pall over the lives of millions of the middle and higher classes, is not so great a burden to the poor, as widows in such families are allowed to re-marry. T/ie children of poor homes are not equally favored. Owing to the strict measures adopted by the Govern- ment, female infanticide is not very common; yet a girl is necessarily a burden during childhood, and as soon as useful she marries and leaves home. Boys are wel- come, and are their parents greatest delight. With them in the household parents need not fear about supr port in old age, and at death there is some one to light the funeral pyre and to minister to the many needs of their departed spirits. Rowe says of boys and girls, *'Hindu children are timid, and, as a rule, respectful to their elders, obedient to their parents, and well behaved in public. They are less active and boisterous than Euro- pean children. The boys do not engage so freely in outdoor sports, and among the girls such recreations are almost unknown." Children are made to bear as many of the family burdens as possible and are usually treated with affection or at least v^^ith consideration. What we know as the home life is lacking among the masses of India. The house is a shelter from the weather and a place for eating and sleeping. A species of reverence toward the husband, and fear of parents on the children's part take the place of Christian family af- fection and mutual helpfulness. Social intercourse be- tween husband, wife and children is well nigh imknown, outside of the homes of Christian converts. Death comes to such families as a step into another and perhaps a lower form of existence. It oc- casions little concern on the part of survivors and the body is burned, or else buried in a shallow grave where it often becomes the prey of dogs and jackals. Those who live near the Ganges burn their dead on its banks 36 The Cross in the Land of the Trident or allow their sick to die on the strand, either as the result of exposure or because death is hasteaed by stuff- ing the mouth with mud. In such cases the body may be left to the tender mercies of the river. Occupations... The employments of the people, according to the cen- sus of 1891 are as follows: — Agriculture, 59.79 per cent; earth work and general labor, 8,87 per cent; food, drink and stimulants, 5.07 per cent; textile fabrics and dress, 4.39 per cent; personal and domestic service, 3.91 per cent; learned and artistic professions, 1.97 per cent; ad- ministration, 1.95 per cent; independent means, 1.66 per cent; commerce, 1.63 per cent; wood, cane and matting, 1.50 per cent; transportation and storage, 1.38 per cent; metals and precious stones, 1.33 per cent; care of cattle, 1.27 per cent; light, fuel, etc., 1.23 per cent; leather, hides, etc., 1.14 per cent; miscellaneous, 2.91 per cent. Farming, the leading occupation, is done with decid- edly patriarchal implements. As deep culture is impos- sible with rude stick plows and as subsequent care is restricted largely to weeding and watering, slender re- sults come to the hard working cultivator. The use of manure for fuel prevents the farmer in districts re- mote from fertilizing rivers from keeping his land in the best condition. Like the Chinamen, however, he has learned the advantages arising from cultivating in alter- nate rows crops of different sorts, such as millet, tall pulse, trailing pulse and cucumbers. In some sparsely settled districts lands are wastefully cleared, exhausted in a few years, and then abandoned. Of the various handicrafts, it may be said that the vil- lage system militates against the congestion of indus- tries in great manufacturing centres. This naturally re- sults in the use of simple tools and machines, with lit- tle employment of power. In manufactures requiring taste, patience, and manual dexterity, the Hindus have, until the present century, stood in the foremost rank; but the decay of the establishments of native princes — The Common Life, 37 their chief customers — together with India's connection with Great Britain, whose existence depends so much upon its export trade, has driven many of her skilled artisans to the plough and crushed out a number of minor handicrafts. Woiiian''s work is more varied than one would sup- pose. Besides the care of the household which often in- cludes spinning, she helps about the farm, assists in business often and contributes her labor to road making and other public works. Wages are low among all classes. Bishop Thoburn places the average earnings for a man and his family at five cents a day. Other observers claim that Sir R. Temple is more correct in stating that laborers of the better class receive four annas (six pence) a day, while those of the poorer class get half that sum. It should be remembered, however, that food grains can be bought at two pounds for a penny, which supplies a fair susten- ance for a day, while clothing is scanty and cheap, fuel costs nothing and house rent is scarcely known. In spite of these considerations poverty is almost uni- versal and sometimes extreme. Millions "never sleep under any other covering than the open sky," and forty millions, according to Sir W. Hunter, go through life with too little food, many of them never knowing what it is to have their hunger satisfied. Amusements... The Hindu cannot afiford to amuse himself as freely as Americans do. Children often play games common here, such as "hide-and-seek," "puss-in-the-corner," "blind-man's-bufif," etc. In other games they act the part of dangerous banditti, or shrewd merchants. Adults seem to enjoy sitting on a door step or lying on a mat •more than chess, which as a reflection of "the game of war" is often played. Wrestling, acrobatic perform- ances, jugglery, nautches, songs and stories are much enjoyed. In general, they like whatever is iamasJia, — show, display or pomp — just as the Chinaman delights \nje naOf hot racket, or bustle. 38 The Cross in the Land of the Trident, rieans of Intercommunication... This item concerns but little the masses with whom we have to do, as they seldom travel except on their pil- grimages, and write few letters. According to the cur- rent issue of the "Statesman's Year Book," the public au- thorities maintain 153,507 miles of roads throughout the country, 33,388 miles of which are macadamized. Some 18,500 miles of railway connect the principal cities while 24,124 postoffices and boxes carry written intelli- gence to the people. There were also 41,030 miles of government telegraph lines over which 3,981,411 mes- sages were sent in 1893. If the Hindu wishes a letter written, the village clerk- does it for him. If disposed to travel otherwise than on foot, he may choose the palanquin with its many bearers, tonjon or chair on poles — though that is used for short distances — a bullock bandy or covered cart; or he may travel by boat the slowness of which, allow- ing him ample time to gaze dreamily into the water, has a special charm. If located near the railway, he fnay venture aboard the train with its pushing crowds and opportunity to starve. Elephants and camels are not for such as he, even if he were inclined to employ themi. Caste... This is the Hindu's environment and the greatest obstacle encountered by the Christian missionary. It is popularly considered as a religious institution dating from the Vedic period and buttressed by the Laws of Manu, attributed variously to the thirteenth century B. C. down to as late as the second century A. D. Modern writers like Muir, Miiller and Cornish, argue that instead of having this divine origin, caste is due to differ- ences in race, employment and location. The original system recognized but four castes, the priests, warriors, and agriculturists, who were the "twice born," and the "once born" Sudras who were menials, artisans, etc. At present the original castes do not exist in their purity, the Brahmans and Sudras remaining most !rhe Common Life. 39 distinct. Caste subdivisions are extremely numerous and complicated. Hunter states the number as at least tliree thousand, though according to the Madras census returns for 1881 there were 19,044 caste names. The members of the Sudra sub-castes are most numerous and constitute more than four-fifths of the population. CasU regulations are very rigid, and cover minute particulars of daily life. They are a constant source of annoyance to the foreigner, especially in the matter of division of labor, but their burdensomeness is not so much objected to by the natives themselves. Should these regulations be disobeyed, the offending individual is not allowed to enter the house or to eat with those of his caste, but is regarded as dead. Caste can be re- gained in most cases by prostrations, drinking a mix- ture of the five products of the cow, paying a fine and furnishing a feast. Christians, who necessarily break caste by partaking of the Lord's Supper with those of other castes, suffer much from their families and caste- members, but the Government has relieved them of some annoyances, such as being forbidden the use of the village well. They cannot, however, be restored to their standing in the caste. There are some advantages in the system. Mission- aries have noted its value in the matter of securing the economic advantages of division of labor, and the pro- tection coming from the larger caste family. It pro> motes to some extent cleanliness and is a moral re- straint in certain directions. It has also proven its value to the British Government from a political and police point of view. It has kept alive a learned class which might otherwise have been blotted out of existence. To the higher classes it has been a temperance element of great value in that it forbids the use of Uquor. Caste has made the Hindus content with their lot, and among those who contend most strenuously for it are the low- est of the people. The disadvantages far outweigh, however, these caste benefits. A native pandit, Shiva Nath Sastri, scores the following points against the system. It has produced 40 The Cross in the Land of the Trident, division and discord; it has made manual labor con- temptible; it has checked internal and external com- merce; by confining marriage within narrow circles, it has produced physical degeneracy; it has fostered an in- jurious conservatism; it has checked the development of individuality and independence of character; it has encouraged harmful customs such as early marriages, heavy wedding fees, etc. ; it has prevented tlie growth of national worth by confining to a limited number the ben- efits of culture; by imposing on the people the most abject spiritual slavery, it has prepared the country for foreign slavery. Other points will be named m the fol- lowing chapter, but its general opposition to the Chris- tian doctrine of universal brotherhood and compassion are too manifest to be enlarged upon. The Village and Its System... TAe village is the home of the masses, as widely iso- lated dwellings are almost unknown, and comparatively few live in the cities. The last census shows that about 90 per cent of the population dwell in villages of less than two thousand inhabitants. In appearance they do not greatly vary. Two main sections are noted; one in- habitated by the higher castes, the other by the outcastes and non-castes. The houses already described, with a few of adobe sur- mounted by tile roofs belonging to the well to do, are shaded to some extent by palms, banyans, margosas and other trees. In the absence of sanitary regulations, dust, filth, and stifling odors abound. The village tank for watering cattle, washing clothes, and irrigating fields, and the well and open market place are the com- mon places of resort. The village system has won the admiration of West- ern writers. It is a miniature republic presided over by 2ipotail or "head inhabitant," aided by a clerk and pan- chayety or "council of five," who decide cases of a moral nature. Other functionaries are the village priest, school master and watchman. "Besides these, almost every village has its astrologer, smith, carpenter, potter, !the Common Life. 41 barber and bard, all of whom are rewarded out of the produce of the village lands." Each village is thus self- sufficient and constitutes a microcosm which cares little for other villages and the central Government. The Government of India... The Empire is composed of British Provinces com- prising about 62 per cent of the area with yy per cent of the population, the remainder being the native or feud- atory states. Sir W. Hunter thus describes their gov- ernment: — ^^ The Native States. The Native princes govern their States with the help and under the advice of a British Resident, whom the Viceroy stations at their courts. Some of them reign almost as independent sovereigns; others have less power. They form a great body of feudatory rulers, possessed of revenues and armies of their own. The more important exercise the power of life and death over their subjects; but the authority of all is limited by treaties by which they acknowledge their 'subordinate dependence' to the British Govern- ment. The British Government, as Suzerain m India, does not allow its feudatories to make war upon each other, or to form alliances with foreign states. It inter- feres when any Chief misgoverns his people; rebukes, and if needful dethrones, the oppressor; protects the weak, and imposes peace upon all. ^^The Twelve British P7' ovine es. The British pos- sessions are distributed into twelve Provinces. Each has its own Governor or head; but all are controlled by the supreme Government of India, consisting of a Gov- ernor-General in Council. The Governor-General also bears the title of Viceroy. He holds his court and gov- ernment at Calcutta in the cold weather; and during summer at Simla, in the Himalayas, 7,000 feet above the level of the sea.' The Viceroy of India is appointed by the Queen of England ; so also are the Governors of Madras and Bombay. The heads of the other Prov- inces are chosen for their merit from the Anglo-Indian services, almost always from the Civil Service, and are 4^ The Cross in the Land of the Trident nominated by the Viceroy, subject in the case of the Lieutenant-Governorships to the approval of the Secre- tary of State. The Queen of England is Empress of India, and is spoken of both officially and commonly in India as 'the Queen-Empress.' " SUGGESTED READINGS. Encyclopaedias: Same as Chapter I. Brown: Races of Mankind, Vol. IV., Pp. 75-110. Coopooswamey: Everyday Life in South India, (1885). Cust: Pictures of Indian Life. (1881), Ch. VI. Feudge: India, (1881), Ch. VIII. Hindu Women, (1883), especially Chs. I., II. Hunter: The Indian Empire, (1886, same as Vol. VI. of Im- perial Gazetteer of India), Chs. XVIII., XIX., XX. Hurst: Indika, (1891), Chs. XII., XX., LX. Missionary Review of the World, Apr. 1888, Pp. 273-277. Apr. 1891, Pp. 266-268. Apr. 1894, Pp. 267-270. Apr. 1895, Pp. 276-279. Apr. 1895, Pp. 279, 280. MUller: Chips from a German Work-Shop, (1868-1875), Vol. II., Ch. XXVII. Murdoch: Papers on Indian Reform, (1889), Women of India and What Can Be Done for Them. Rctmabai: The High Caste Woman, (1888). Rectus: The Earth and Its Inhabitants, (1884), Vol. III., Ch. XVIIL Rohbins: Handbook of India, (1883), Chs. II., IV., V. Rowe: Every-day Life in India, (1881), Chs. II., IV., V., IX., X., XL, XVI. Samuelson: India Past and Present, (1890), Ch. IV. morrow: India. Pt. I., Pp. 44-48; Pt. II., Pp. 3-7. Temple: India in 1880, (1882), Chs. XV., XVI. Watson and Kaye: The People of India, (1868-1870), 8 Vol- umes. Photographs with descriptive text. Wilkins: Daily Life and Work in India, (1888), Ch. IV. World's Parliament of Religions, (1893), Pp. 7^7-779- CHAPTER IV. THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE MASSES. **'^etigion has dominated the life of the Indians more thor- ouglily than that of almost any other nation." —.Prof. M. TV. Duncker, History of Antiquity, Vol. IV. Religion constitutes so large a part of the common life of the Indian people that it has been reserved for a spe- cial chapter. As our interest centers in the masses rather than in the Brahmans and the better educated, Vedic and Philosophic Hinduism will not be described, but instead, those popular beliefs which constitute the faith and practice of ninety-nine per cent of the nearly 208,000,000 entered as Hindus in the census of 1891. India's Religious Statistics... Before proceeding to summarize the popular relig- ion, it should be noted that other faiths than Hinduism are largely represented in India. According to the last census, the adherents of these various religions in the entire empire numbered as follows : — Hindus, 207,731,727 Muhammadans, 57,321,164 Animistic, 9,280,467 Buddhists, 7,131,361 Christians, « 2,284,380 Sikhs, 1,907,833 Jains, 1,416,638 Parsis, 89,904 Other beliefs, 42,762 Jews, 17,194 44 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. Of the Buddhists, only 241,821 are found in India proper, nearly all of them being in Burma. It will be noted that the Empress of India rules over upwards of fifty-seven millions of Muhammadans, while in the whole Ottoman Empire, the Sultan rules over but a lit- tle more than thirty-nine millions, about two-thirds as many as are found in Victoria's Indian realm. Under the head of Christians are included both Catholics and Protestants. The main census subdivisions are these: — Roman Catholics, 1,315,263 Protestants, 767,433 Syrians, Armenians and Greeks, 201,684 The denomination having the largest Protestant en- rollment was the Church of England with 302,430 mem- bers. Popular Hinduism... J. Murdoch, LL. D., a prominent Indian writer, whose admirable treatise on the subject will be largely drawn from in this chapter, thus defines the phrase: ^^ Popular Hinduism may, in general terms, be defined as the religion of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, the Pu- ranas and the Tantras. About ninety-nine out of every hundred accept Hinduism in this form. It is almost univer- sal among the women, and is that which they teach their children." He also defines related phrases as follows: ^^Philosophic Hinduism may be described as the Hin- duism of the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, etc. In its pure form it is held by comparatively few; but some of its doctrines are included in Popular Hinduism, and many persons combine the two. Vcdic Hinduism: the adherents of the Arya Somaj in North India and the Punjab profess to base their creed on the Vedas. New Hinduism includes various attempts to purify Hindu- ism," such, e. g., as are being made by the Brahmo- Somaj. The Religious Life of the Masses, 45 I. T/ie basis of popular Hinduism. Its main ele- ments are derived from five sources — aboriginal tradi- tions and the literary works named above. Aboriginal traditions and practices are everywhere present and form the groundwork upon which a more elaborate structure has t^en founded. From this source the superstitious character of Hinduism largely comes. The two great epics of India, corresponding to the Iliad and Odyssey, are the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Ramayana, — "pertaining to Rama," — is ascribed to Valmiki, and may have been written 300 B. C. It describes the noble life of the hero Rama. The Maha- bharata — ''great (poem or feud) of the Bharatas" — is attributed to Vyasa, the "arranger" of the Vedas, and may have been put together at difference times after 200 B. C. A fourth of it is devoted to the struggle of the two great races of North India; the remainder is an en- cyclopedia of matters which all Hindus of culture ought to know. These epics have been called by eminent scholars "the Bible of the Hindus." They added to the Hindu belief the idea of incarnations and the three-fold manifestation of the Divine Being. The Furanas, "old" or legendary matters, are eighteen in number, excluding the lesser ones, and the earliest do not date back more than >a thousand years. Founded on the Epics to meet the needs of the women and low castes who could not study, they have become the "authority for nearly the whole of the Popular Hin- duism of the present day." They are divided into three groups of six Puranas each, which are devoted respect- ively to the praises of Vishnu, Siva and Brahma, though the Brahma section is largely descriptive of other gods. The Tantras, meaning "to stretch," consist of dia- logues, incantations and magic services, and are the sacred writings of those who worship the wife of Siva. They have furnished to Hinduism its most licentious and abominable features. 2. Lower objects of worship. Many of these are de- rived from aboriginal sources and are common to lower 46 TJie Cross in tlie Land of the Trident. races of other lands. They will be named in ascending order. Pla7its are worshiped partly because it is believed that gods, demons, men and animals may transmigrate into plants, which are thus possessed of consciousness, pleas- ure and pain ; and partly because of their relation to cer- tain gods. The margosa, wood-apple, the pipal tree, the sacred kusa grass and the toolsi plant are those most revered. The later is "especially the Hindu woman's divinity. * * * ♦ ^n ^^ religion of many of the women consists in walking around the tulasi (toolsi) plant, in saying prayers to it, or in placing offerings before it." Water worship, SO common in northern India, is as natural as the veneration in which the Egyptians held the health-giving Nile. While the Ganges is especially sacred, the Narbada is by some even more highly ex- alted. Ablutions in these rivers free from all sin, and death on their banks or in their waters is ardently de- sired. Two wells are also deemed worthy of special reverence, the ''Well of Knowledge" and the "Ear-ring Well" at Benares. Multitudes resort to them hoping by laving in their filthy waters to remove the sins of a life- time. A very common form of pujah, or worship, is offered to tools or implements of trade. They thus become a sort of fetich useful as a means of gaining a livelihood. Hence, plows, nets, -account-books, ^baskets of the women, and even the pickaxe formerly carried by the thugs with which to bury their victims, are all objects of worship. Animals are deemed sacred mainly because of the Hindu doctrine of transmigration. "Even a flea may enclose the soul of some person who was a sage or a saint." Fear prompts to the worship of some animals as that of the tiger and the cobra; others, as the mon- key, receive reverence because of their half human form and strange ways, and some, as the cow, are worshiped for their usefulness and the fancied virtues of their ex- The Religious Life of the Masses. 47 crements; while still others, as the cat, are reverenced because of their services to the gods. The worship of ancestors, so natural to the loving human heart, and hence prevalent in various lands, is so prominent in India that Prof. Bhattacharjya says of it: "Ancestor worship, in some form or other, is the beginning, the middle and the end of what is known as the Hindu religion." As the survivors believe that the dead may become demons or divinities, and that they must be nourished for three generations, they naturally pay much heed to such worship. So important a part of a son's duty is it to see that the departed parent is pro- vided with an intermediate body and enabled to perform the terrible journey to Yama, that the word for son is putra, "which is supposed to mean one who saves from hell — Put." The shraddha ceremonies performed for this purpose, are a considerable cause of the poverty of the people. Living men deemed divine are the entire Brahman caste. This worship of the Brahmans is explained by the familiar stanza: "All the world is subject to the gods; The gods are subject to the Holy Texts; The Holy Texts are subject to the Brahmans; Therefore the Brahman is my God." Most of the people accordingly place themselves under the instruction of a guru, or Brahman spiritual teacher, and besides liberally feeing him, they render him almost divine homage. In addition to these living divinities, there are five classes of me7i some of whom have been deified after death, — kings, warriors, Brahmans, saints and sages. Occasionally such deities become gods of the first order, as Rama and Krishna who were of human parentage. Usually, however, these gods are worshiped only for a time, so that Sir A. C. Lyall is justified in saying that "the Indian Pantheon, like the palace in the Persian par- able, is but a caravanserai." Village deities are more constant in their power than •is The Cross in the Land of the Trident. the gods just named They are legion, being found in every village and in many homes, and take the pTace of the higher gods among the lower orders of the people. Their presence is indicated by patches of red paint on rocks or under trees, or by rude images. Their power is such that the family or village is supposed to be delivered by them from all calamities due to demons. The most popular of thes tutelar deities are the "Mothers'' who have especially to do with diseases. The nearly quarter of a million who die annually of smallpox owe their death chiefly to the smallpox goddess, ''Mother of Death,'' who would be enraged if persons were to be vac- cinated. Demon woiship is especially common in Southern India as water worship is in the north. Sir M. Williams writes: "The great majority of the inhabitants of India are, from the cradle to the burying ground, victim.s of a form of mental disease which is best expressed by the term demonophobia. They are haunted and oppressed by a perpetual dread of demons. They are firmly con- vinced that evil spirits of all kinds, from malignant fiends to merely mischievous imps and elves, are on the watch to harm, harass and torment them; to cause plague, sickness, famine and disaster; to impede, injure and mar every good work." Most demons live in trees and they exhibit their presence in whirlwinds and night- mares as well as in the calamities named above. 3. Principal gods a?td goddesses. The number of Hindu deities is stated as 330,000,000. This is a hyper- bole, indicating that they are beyond number. Every Hindu usually worships many gods. The important ones only are here givCii. Brahfna or Brahni (neuter gender) is more commonly regarded as supreme than any other deity. No temple or rites of worship are, however, prescribed for this god. At first destitute of all qualities, he at length became pos- sessed of self-consciousness, and later truth, passion and darkness were developed. Other accounts ascribe to Brahm formlessness, eternity, omniscience, orhnipo- tence, truthfulness, righteousness, and purity. He is The Religious Life of the Masses. 49 the god revered by the Brahmo-Somajes. To the masses Brahm is Httle more than a name. Brahma, In process of time, Brahm brooded for a year over a golden t%% placed in the waters, and Brahma (masculine gender) was produced, the first person of the Hindu Trimurti or Triad. He is represented as a red man with four arms and four heads. He is said to have but one temple and his worship has ceased, though the Brahmans claim that in adoring the sun they are wor- shiping him. His worship was discontinued because of gross sin which he is said to have committed, though it* is popularly remarked, "Since the work of the Creator is complete, no benefit can be gained by making offerings to him," — a true commentary on the motives underlying heathen worship. Vishnu, the Preserver, the second of the Triad, is generally represented as a black man with four arms and is most worshiped in southern India. The more intelli- gent Hindus consider Vishnu as a spiritual being and the fossil ammonite as his representative. The common people regard his incarnations — variously stated as from ten to twenty-two in number — most highly and render the bulk of their worship to them. These avataras or in- carnations were intended to correct evil or to effect good in the world. The ten avatars commonly spoken of are those of the fish, tortoise, boar, man-lion, dwarf, Paru- sarama or Rama with the ax, Rama Chandra, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. The Rama and especially the Krishna incarnations are very popular, as the two epics make them their heroes. Krishna's avatar contains many features common to that of Jesus, but on the other hand he is unspeakably licentious. The Buddha incar- nation was said to be for the purpose of teaching false doctrine and so of giving the gods an opportunity to come to earth and regain their lost position. The Kalki avatar is yet to come and at that time Vishnu will usher in the universal reign of righteousness, peace and pros- perity. Siva, the Destroyer, completes the Triad, and is most worshiped in northern India, Benares being his 50 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. principal earthly abode. He is commonly spoken of as Mahadeva, **the great God," and is variously represented as an ascetic, as ornamented with a necklace of bones and skulls, as five headed, etc. The idea of Reproducer follows naturally that of the Destroyer according to the Hindu idea of transmigration. As the majority of the temples in India contain the symbols of Siva, the Linga and Yoni, the character of this licentious worship may be imagined. While theoretically ^/le principal goddesses are Saras- vati, Lakshmi and Uma, the wives respectively of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, Sarasvati is worshiped mainly by students as being the goddess of wisdom. Lakshmi is more popular, being the goddess of pros- perity. Wilkins quotes in this connection Carlyle's statement that the most popular deity in Britain is "The God of Getting-On." The wife of Siva is, however, the goddess of India. Of the various forms under which she is known, the most remarkable are Parvati, Durga and Kali. Calcutta derives its name from "Kali Ghat'' near Calcutta where there is a noted temple of Kali. This figure of the goddess is one of the most horrible in the pantheon. Of the goddesses, it should be added, the worship is especially important as they are regarded as the energy of the gods, since the male without the female is unproductive and hence the female is the real force in nature. One other god, Ganesa, should be mentioned, as he Is the foremost among the deities of the second rank and presides over wisdom. He is the son of Siva and ap- pears with an elephant's head and the stomach of a glut- ton. He is found in most places of business and is in- voked at the commencement of every important enter- prise. All books begin with, "Honor to Ganesa!" Am- bitious schoolboys, desiring his aid in their lessons, praise him by telling him how much he can eat. The images ox idols of the pantheon have been already alluded to. The most intelligent worshipers do not regard them as real deities but merely as aids to wor- ship, though this is not true of the masses. The many The Religious "^fe of the Masses. 51 hands, heads and eyes of these images typify the great power or wisdom of the deities. 4. Places of Worship. Many of the people have gods in their homes, though the majority of them have no reg- ular household worship. Rocks or trees in the village which are marked with red paint are divine and worship is offered there. Temples are very numerous and it is in them that worship is most formal and efficacious. While there are many spacious and magnificent temples in India, the average one is not more than ten feet square, about a fourth of which is devoted to the idol, there being enough room left in front for the priest to officiate. There are, of course, no seats for a congrega- tion. Temple building is an act of great merit; hence the large number of smaller temples, as merit is gained according to the number built rather than their qual- ity. This belief also accounts for the fact that new temples are built beside others which are allowed to fall into decay. 5. Modes of Worship. Households must call in a priest to officiate before the family shrine. At the tem- ples mediation of the priests is also necessary. The offerings presented are commonly fruit, sweetmeats, flowers, sacred leaves and grasses, and, on special occa- sions, offerings of flesh are presented to Kali. These are offered by the priest after ringing a bell and mutter- ing the sacred Sanskrit texts. Vishnu and Siva's wor- ship are often very formal, the symbol of the god being treated precisely as if it were a living king, being washed, fed, clothed, fanned, laid to rest and so forth. The people offer prayers for themselves, usually for tem- poral blessings, use rosaries to keep count, and make much of repeating the names of the gods. A child is often given a god's name that merit may be laid up each time the child's name is mentioned. Parrots are also taught to repeat divine appellations, the merit being given to the owner. The religious prostitution of women as a part of wor- ship is one of the dark blots on Hinduism, while in some of the sects unspeakable licentiousness is indulged in as 53 The Ci'oss in the Land of the Trident, opening "the door to the highest form of salvation — complete union with the Supreme Being." 6. Festivals. To relieve the monotony of a life of labor where a Sabbath is not known, the three or four festivals each month prove a much needed opportunity for relaxation. Most of them are held in connection with some event in the lives of the gods. Some of them, notably the Durga Puja, which is a sort of Hindu Christmas, have pleasing features; others, as the Hali, celebrate the shamelessness of deities in such a way that it has been remarked, ''obscenity becomes a measure of piety." All ordinary festivals are celebrated in the courtyard of some rich man or in a temporary structure erected for the purpose by the villagers. 7. ,Ftlgri??iages are a more important feature of Hin- duism, though some of the people deem one pilgrimage enough for a lifetime. The most holy men spend all their lives in going from shrine to shrine. India's great Mecca is the sacred Benares with its holy wells. Next in importance is the pilgrimage to Puri where is the tem- ple of the idol Jagannatha (Juggernaut), "Lord of the World." The deaths occurring at the drawing of this idol's car ought not to be 'considered as self-immolation. They can be otherwise accounted for in such crowds with a huge car which goes with a rush when started. Other evils due to unsanitary provision for such multi- tudes and the presence of harlots and thieves, are far worse. 8. Transmigration. This doctrine of Hinduism pur- sues the soul after death. It is based upon the belief in immortality and professes to explain the differing condi- tions of those born on the earth. One's lot is due to merit or demerit in previous stages of existence. Through 8,400,000 births one reaches at length the glad time when individual existence is absorbed into the life of the Divine. What wonder that a common saying is, "Existence is misery," or that a Hindu poet thus writes: "How many births are past, I cannot tell; How many yet to come, no man can say; But this alone I know, and know full well, That pain and grief embitter all the way." The Religious Life of the Masses, 53 Effects of Popular Hinduism upon the Life... The effects of such a reHgion upon the masses are in the main debasing, but are not spoken of in assem- blies hke the Parhament of Religions where the Vedic beliefs and modern eclecticism are so largely empha- sized. 1. Hi7iduis7n leads to manifold loss. It causes pov- erty by its system of caste, described in a previous chapter,travel and manufacture being discouraged by it. It has left the people satisfied with their ignorance and superstitious beliefs thus causing intellectual stagnation and semi-imbecility. Its hostility to social reform con- stitutes the greatest stumbling-block of native reformers. Hinduism-s doctrine of caste robs the believer of indi- vidual liberty and hinders the growth of nationality, the people of different sections being deemed as distinct as horses and asses. Its divine exaltation of the priestly caste degrades the other castes and prevents the possi- bility of their getting the best out of Hinduism. 2. The ordmary Hindu's life is one of fear. He is all the time in bondage because of his dread of demons', the evil eye, the harm coming from curses and Mantras which "holy men" threaten to use against them. As- trology causes him to fear the planets; omens coming from donkeys, lizards, etc., make animals a cause of dread. 3. Hinduism injuriously emphasizes the fo7'mal ele- ment in religion. The Pharisee was not such a slave to form as is the strict Hindu. If there is any mistake made in worship it must all be done over again. Re- ligious acts performed unintentionally produce the same results -as if they were intended. Austerities of every sort are the fruitage of the system. Owing to this em- phasis of forms, morality is divorced from religion. Priests do not inculcate the importance of performing moral duties; on the contrary, they may themselves be living a flagrantly immoral life. An Indian writer char- acterizes Hinduism as ''god without MoraUty." 4. As already sho,wn, Popular Hinduism is impure. 54 The Cross In tJie Land of the Trident. Impurity of thought, of speech and in act are frightfully prevalent, and are abundantly justified by their Sacred Books, — which are so obscene that only expurgated translations of many of them have been pub- lished, — and by the lives of their most popular divini- ties. The immorality of Greek and Roman deities, can- not approach that of the Hindu pantheon, while the gods of modern China are perfectly pure in compari- son. 5. Hinduism is highly dishonori7ig to God. Orig- inally the Aryan held a form of religion which was a commendable attempt to find out God, but to-day the Hindu dishonors him in the manner described in the first chapter of Romans. Monsters of depravity, unclean ani- mals, plants and rocks, are made to take the place of the Divine, while God is not in all their thoughts. Hindu Sayings Frequently Heard... The Christian worker in India is constantly hearing the following proverbs, used by Hindus to justify their conduct. These sayings, and others found in books on India should be pondered by the prospective mis- sionary, that he may be able to meet them. *'We must walk according to custom." ''Every one should follow his own religion." ''Different religions are roads leading to the same city." "Whatever is written on our own heads will come to pass," — i. e., Deity causes all things and the blame of wrong doing rests on him. "Where is faith, there is God." "God is pervasive"; consequently, any object may be worshiped. "All the gods are the same though worshiped under different names." "The gods can do as they please;" hence they cannot be criticised for the evils ascribed to them in the Sacred Books. In this brief statement of the character of Hinduism, The Religious Life of the Masses, 55 popular religion has alone been described. That there are profound truths taught in the Vedas, and that na- tive religionists who are eclectic teach far different doc- trines than those mentioned, we gratefully acknowledge. The various Somajes have done something for India's betterment. So, too, the latent good in Hinduism, con- tended for by a recent missionary writer in "The Con- temporary Review," ought to rejoice the hearts of Chris- tians. Yet the real condition of the masses is such as to awaken Christian compassion and stimulate to earnest eftort. SUGGESTED READINGS. Encyclopaedias: Same as Chapter I. with article "Hinduism," Encyclopaedia of Missions, "Brahmanism" in the Brittanica, and "India, Religions of" in Concise Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, (1893). Barth: Religions of India, (1882), Pp. 153-293- Bettany: The Great Indian Religions, (1892), Chs. III., IV. The World's Religions, (1891), Pp. 213-254. Brown: Races of Mankind, Vol. IV. Pp. 34-51- Church Missionary Atlas, Pt. II., India, (1887), Pp. 89-95. Cust: Pictures of Indian Life, (1881), Ch. III. Gracey: India, (1884), Pp. 41-99. Grant: Rehgions of the World, (1894), Chs. V., VI. Hunter: Brief History of the Indian Peoples, (1892), Ch. VIII. Hurst: Indika, (1891), Chs. XLVL, LIV., LV., LXL, LXH. Kennedy: Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, (1884), Ch. XXIX. Missionary Review of the World, Apr. 1889, Pp. 271-274. Apr. 1895, Pp. 260-267. Murdoch: Papers on Indian Reform, Popular Hinduism. (1889). Padmanji: Once Hindu, Now Christian, Chs. IX., XL Ridpath: Great Races of Mankind, (1893), Ch. XXXVIII. RohUns: Handbook of India, (1883), Ch. III. Rowe: Every-day Life in India, (1881), Chs. Ill, XVIII. Storrow: India, Pt. I., (1883), Pp. 30-44- Strachey: India, (1894), Ch. XVII. Thohurn: India and Malaysia, (1893), Chs. VI., IX., X. 66 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. Wilkins: Daily Life and Work in India, (1888), Chs. VI.-XI. Hindu Mythology, (1882), especially Pp. 77-256. Williams: Brahmanism and Hinduism, (1891), especially chap- ter HI. Hinduism, (1890), especially chapters Vn.-XII. Modern India, (1878), Pp. 202-219. Religious Thought and Life in India, (1883), especially chap- ter III. Wilson: Essays on the Religions of the Hindus, (1862), Vol. IL, Lects. I., II. World's Parliament of Religions, (1893), especially pages 316- 339, 456-460. CHAPTER V. INDIA'S REAL MAN AND WOMAN. "As there is much beast and some devil in man, so is there some angel and some God in man. The beast and the devil may be conquered, but in this life never destroyed/' —8. T. Coleridge, The Census... India is, next to China, the most populous of coun- tries, and her sons and daughters constitute about one- fifth of the human family. Her population in 1891 was, including Burma, 287,223,431, or more than four and a half times that of the United States. The males exceed the females by 6,231,161. If the birth and death rates of British India prevailed over the whole Empire, 9,708,- 137 persons would have been born and 8,504,673 would have died in 1891, — a tremendous responsibihty, con- sidering their character, for Britain and the Christian world. Density of Population... To the missionary this item is of importance, as it measures the number within geographical reach from any given centre of work. In Appendix A the density per square mile of the several divisions are given. A glance at the map in connection with these figures shows that the most populous districts are along the Ganges and the coast, and in the Deccan. The hill and mountain systems and the desert of northwest India 68 JTfee Cros^ in the Land of the Trident. are most sparsely settled. The average number of per- sons to the square mile in the whole Empire is 184, whereas in the United States it is 21.3. This density is the more remarkable as India's population is almost en- tirely rural, there being but seventy-five cities of over 50,000 inhabitants, while there are 566,046 villages of 500 or less. Principal Races... Four race groups only will be mentioned, as they in- clude all those numbering more than one and one-half millions. 1. T/ie Kolarians may have 'been the first to enter India. Coming from the north-east they apparently spread westward over the northern plains. At present "they dwell chiefly along the northwestern ranges of the central table land which covers the southern half of India," and number 2.96 millions. 2. The Tibeto-Biirnians seem to have come at va- rious times from Tibet into north-eastern India. They still remain in the mountainous sections of the north-east and number 7.29 milhons. These two race stocks are probably of Mongol origin. 3. The Dravidians probably entered India from the north-west, and driving the Kolarians before them to the mountainous region of northern Deccan, they event- ually burst through their territory and scattered over southern India. They now dwell in the southern part of the peninsula and are reported as numbering 52.96 millions. 4. The most numerous race is the ^ry^-/^^//r. As we have already seen, the Aryans entered the country from the north-west and gradually overspread the northern half 01 India. By a process of absorption and accretion from the northwest they have become the most numer- ous race in the Empire, some 195.46 millions in all. Chief Languages of India... According to the last census there were eleven Ian- Indians Real Man and Woman. 59 guages spoken by five million people or more. They are as follows : — Race stock. Language. Where spoken. Millions speaking it. Aryo-Indic Hindi, N. W. Provinces, Raj- putana, Punjab, &c. 85.67 Aryo-Indic Bengali, Lower Bengal 41-34 Dravidian Telugu, Lower basins of Kistna and Godavari 19.88 Aryo-Indic Marathi, Bombay and N. W. Deccan, 18.89 Aryo-Indic Punjabi, Punjab, 1772 Dravidian Tamil, Southern India as far north as Madras, 15.23 Aryo-Indic Gujarati, Region around Gulf of Cambay, IO.62 Dravidian Kanarese, Mysore and districts ' northward, 9-75 Aryo-Indic Uriya, Orissa, 9.01 Tibeto-Burman Burmese, Burma, . 5.93 Dravidian Malayalam, Travancore and rest of Malabar coast, 5.43 The English language stood twenty-eighth in order with a population of 238,499. Hindustani, or Urdu (i. e. camp language), is a dialect of Hindi, differing from it in its large admixture of Persian words, and in that it is usually printed in Persian or Arabic characters, while Hindi is commonly printed in Sanskrit letters. Hin- dustani with a southern variety of it, the Dakhani, has become the lingua franca of India and is "the official tongue under English rule, except so far as English itself is used." Of these tongues only Bengali, Hindi and Marathi of the Aryan vernaculars have received much cultivation and possess an important literature. Of the Dravidian group, Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese, Alalayalam all have a considerable literature. Though the Telugu, from its abundant vowel and liquid sounds, is called the Italian of the East, the Tamil is more important and is spoken also in northern Ceylon, and to some extent in the Straits Settlements and in Burma. The entire Bible has been translated into all these languages and an im- portant Christian literature has been prepared. The two great religious tongues of India, the Sanskrit in 60 The Cross in the Land of the Trident. which the Vedas and other rehgious books of Hindu- ism are written, and the Buddhist sacred tongue, the Pali, — 2i later form of Sanskrit — are no longer spoken. The Bible has, however, been translated into the former language while a Pali New Testament has been pub- lished. These are, of course, oi use only to scholars or to the priestly caste. Main Racial Characteristics... Levi in the article 'Tnde'^ in La Grande Encyclopedic gives the following pen picture of the leading races: *'The Aryan type is marked by a long head; the face is long symmetrical and narrow; the nose is straight and delicate; the forehead is well developed; features regular, and the facial angle high; in stature he is some- what tall ; the complexion is clear. 'The Dravidian type inclines somewhat toward the long head; the nose is large and broad; the facial angle is comparatively low; the lips are somewhat thick, face large and fleshy; the features are coarse and irregular; the height average but rather low; figure squat and the limbs strong; the complexion varies from brown to almost black. 'The Mongol /y/< 1 UJ ": - 0- £ I C o (A c •g "a ui araooui •saBiioQ ni SHOT! -onj^sui aapufi •siooqos •j'Ba^ ^s'Bi pappv •siuBDiunuinioo •saqojnqo o^^ooocMi-ieo eo- 00 CO a© 00 ■* ift Tfi o o OS < (M to — -^ 00 O (M 1 >ft (N 05_CQ (M < «DOu0(M00O0D00Q'^inQ«0 0«OTt«0000-^0'-il^OCO ■ in -^ T-i i^ ta CO oi iii oo< )«0 W 1-c M«0 < ' t- CQ O «0 (M 05 (M ' < 00 eo •sjaaoqBT: aAiiB^ p . ce c3 « O M •aiBraa^ •suoi^B'ts-ino •SUiB^S I'BdTOUUtI eoo5«oi>oDtt>t-»ONooe*oco 1 00 1» lO 00 1« eo >-i -^ ■* o eokftioo J ill . o >- r: o ••"— O 3 • a 53 o o Ts"-'-' ce ^ i> ^ , * •'Z < c c > 3 opal Church. S stant Church.. dist . opal Foreign :itr>^- "S"*-! c •a •1 1 5h :c > £3 O „ a 1 3 a 2y X ^ t o a> o ^ a: p S oi^lS ^is^ o o (-I e3"S'3 a!»J3 OCfl-5 I 'I 5 § ! H * « ir « >= o o 11 l|i|ilifi|liiiiiii|il 5 1 5 > ^ ii 5P s f : c 3^ ll 5< { g a 08 C.5.H W O w « « (U o2 •-1 0, - 1 GJ ^ ■» 55 (« ■ "1 o. a pi ^ © © (D "^ *o <» 11 O) d b o :=! o o d H ^ I U ^ (D d tH « ^ a o »„ O be CO d d JO d d a a o o (U ,d ^SS 9i c * 5 d s CD >< I i C a. I 1 Q Z Q- •BpBU^O i i S 1' i uj suoi^nqiJiuoo «» g; i 1 i •sj^lioa nt § 55? c. ^ suoT^nqu^uoo 8aiibk «© N lO" sg •uoiionnsui japuo. g § i s lO o •siooqos " s s eo 2 i « t- T»i fO 'ivqS. as'Bi pappv ' s CO gi 2- .-1 IM W ^ CO a» •siu^omnraraoo s s ^ s eS eo " eo" 00 •saqojnqo ' ^ ^ 83 S § •siajoqBi aAi^-BiS: >f ^ § ^ 1 a 1 O o " •ei-Binaj CJ a 8 lO § ■<)' o^-C IS" •8IBPI «c - to ^ ?! •suon'Bis-^no ■^ ec ^ § «o c5 •SUOIIBIS IBdtOUTld: «c o 00 g§ s t>> > o : Cj o 1 1 ^ 1 &: s ei • a ^ fl ce .2o S g o 1 2^ e O CO •3 a? 1 c3 ^ S id > CP 03 o P ■1 ^ a. 0.2 P 1 03 o c3 c3 J U M n ^ Cl* .^ i, * flPPBNDIX D/ Dean VahPs Missionary Statistics for 1893. The invaluable tables prepared by Rev. J. Vahl, Presi- dent of the Danish Missionary Society, and published at Copenhagen in 1894, give the missionary statistics collected by this indefatigable statistician for years 1891-92. His pamphlet is entitled " Missions to the Heathen," and hence does not include work done by any missionary societies among Greeks, Armenians, Roman Catholics, Jacobites, or any people bearing the Christian name. His tables do not include the wives of missionaries. The following is the Summary from Dean Vahl's tables : — Societies in England Scotland Ireland Netherlands Germany Switzerland Denmark France Norway Sweden Finland U. S. of America British North America West Indies Asia Africa Australia Totals in 1898 Totals in 1891 Increase 27 Income. $5,933,860 1,020,655 101,685 86,485 722,050 257,( 33,505 89.560 130,860 108,575 16,505 3,734,700 350,437 367,100 73,600 232,790 209,885 $13,469,332 13,057,845 $411,487 ^9 ^S" ,810 254 23 144 525 148 11 41 66 70 5 ,619 119 311 134 5,503 5,061 441 128 5 3 8 30 33 3 1,087 73 5 10 26 19 2,771 2,479 Native. ,204 37 91 23 110 4.285 604 20,112 2,256 128 436 3,387 ^1 1,185 45 3 8,343 385 1,003 392 547 6,506 45,683 5,901 sg 311,014 25,949 464 85,586 95,763 13,526 299 9,861 23,637 285 170 237,411 12,557 159,337 6,462 45,877 51,200 1,079,398 1,006,816 72,582 *From the American Board Almanac of Missions, 1895. Date Due 1^2 '41 ) ^^""^'i**. ■Mil ^