Lives of Alcyone

On the whole it affected the mass of the population much less
than might have been expected. Trade and agriculture went on to a
certain extent all the time, and only the professional soldiers fought
as a rule,though of course no man’ s life was ever really safe. It
was a very curious state of affairs, the people being in certain ways
so highly civilised , and yet life being absolutely uncertain. There
was no really settled law or order, but endless years of combat—
constant sieges, constant expeditions. The Aryans were not yet
settled—in fact, it may be said that the final immigration was still
pressing on. by about 9700 B.C. the last Aryan inhabitant had
withdrawn from the Central Asian kingdom round the Gobi Sea; but
India was already settled and thickly populated, and these later
bands were by no means welcome. For two thousand years they
were held back in Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and most of them
only gradually, individually, peaceably, made their way down to the
plains. Sometimes, however, raids were made by organised bands,
and occasionally also there was an incursion of Mongols of various
kinds, who massacred everybody. Certainly, at this period, this was
an uncomfortably turbulent part of the country. A large kingdom,
such as I have described, had just recently broken up, and
determined struggles for the overlordship were still going on.
The belief of the time was in some ways not quite the same as
that in modern Hinduism. There was a trinity, but it was of Agni,
Indra and Surya, and the higher idea of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma
had not yet been reached or known. Sacrifices on a large scale were
painfully common, and the Ashwamedha or horse sacrifice was
highly esteemed. It was even said that a hundred such sacrifices
would make a man higher than Indra.
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