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Alexander's Army who entered in South India

2012-06-22T17:57:00.002+05:30

Greeks had a cultural connection with Coorg. Have you read about Nearcus a commander of Alexander's army who entered in south India probably in coorg.

One of the oldest surviving foreign descriptions of India comes from the Greco-Roman biographer of Alexander the Great, Flavius Arrianus. He depended upon other Greek sources, such as Niarchus, which are now lost. His short book The Indica, dealt with the Voyage of Alexander's fleet from India to the Near East. Below is his general description of India.

Ancient India as described by Arrian

[Excerpted from Arrian, "The Indica" in Anabasis of Alexander, together with the Indica, E. J. Chinnock, tr. (London: Bohn, 1893), ch. 1-16]

1. The district west of the river Indus as far as the river Cophen is inhabited by the Astacenians and the Assacenians, Indian tribes. But they are not so tall in stature or so courageous as those who dwell east of the Indus; nor are they so swarthy as the majority of the Indians. These were in ancient times subject to the Assyrians, afterwards to the Medes and finally they submitted to the Persians, and paid tribute to Cyrus the son of Cambyses as ruler of their land. The Nysaeans are not an Indian race, but descended from the men who came into India with Dionysus--perhaps from those Greeks who were rendered unfit for service in the wars which Dionysus waged with the Indians. Perhaps also he settled with the Greeks those of the natives who were willing to join his colony. Dionysus named the city itself Nysa, and the land Nysaea, in honour of his nurse Nysa. The mountain near the city, at whose base Nysa was built, is called Meros (thigh) after the misfortune he experienced as soon as he was born. This is the story framed by the poets in regard to Dionysus, and let the writers of legends Grecian and foreign expound it. Among the Assacenians is Massaca, a large city, where also is the stronghold of the land of Assacia; and there is also another large city, Peucelaitis, not far from the Indus. These tribes have been settled west of the Indus as far as the Cophen.

2. Let me call the country east of the Indus India, and the people Indians. Towards the north of India lies Mount Taurus; but in this land it is no longer called Taurus. This range commences from the sea near Pamphylia, Lycia, and Cilicia and extends as far as the Eastern Sea, dividing the whole of Asia. It is called by various names in different districts; in one part it is called Parapamisus, in another Emodus, in a third Imaus, and probably it has several other names. The Macedonians who accompanied Alexander's expedition called it Caucasus. But this is quite a different Caucasus from that in Scythia. They called it by this name that the report might become current that Alexander had marched even beyond the Caucasus. The river Indus bounds India on the west as far as the Great Sea, into which it discharges its water by two mouths, not near each other like the five mouths of the Ister, but like those of the Nile, by which the Egyptian Delta is formed. Thus also the river Indus forms the Delta of India, which is not smaller than that of Egypt. This delta is called in the Indian tongue Pattala. On the south India is bounded by the Great Sea itself, and the same sea bounds it on the east. The part of the country towards the south near Pattala and the outlets of the Indus was seen by Alexander and the Macedonians and by many Greeks; but into the part towards the east Alexander did not penetrate further than the river Hyphasis. A few authors have described the country as far as the river Ganges, and where are the outlets of that river and near it Palimbothra, the largest city of the Indians.

3. I consider Eratosthenes the Cyrenaean the most trustworthy authority, because he is careful to trace the circumference of the country. This writer says that the side of India has a length of I,529 miles to one going from Mount Taurus, in which are the sources of the Indus, along that river itself as far as the Great Sea and the outlets of the Indus. And opposite this he makes another side from the same mountain to the Eastern Sea scarcely equal to this side; but he makes a peninsula stretch far into the sea to the extent of about 353 miles. Therefore according to him the side of India towards the east would extend I,882 miles. This he considers the breadth of India. The length from west to east as far as the city of Palimbothra he says was measured in schoeni [one schoenus equalled about 5 miles],' and he made a plan of it; for it was the royal road. He says that this extends to 1,176 miles. The districts beyond this have not been so accurately measured. But as many as have recorded rumours say that with the peninsula projecting into the sea it amounts to about I,200 miles. So that the length of India upward is about 2,353 miles. Ctesias the Cnidian says that India is equal to the rest of Asia, but he talks nonsense; and so does Onesicritus, saying that it is the third part of all the earth. Nearchus says that it is a journey of four months through the plain alone of India. To Megasthenes the distance from the east to the west is the breadth of India, which others make its length. He says that where it is shortest it extends 1882 miles, and that from north to south, which is its length according to him, it extends 2,624 miles, where it is narrowest.

In the whole of the rest of Asia there are not so many rivers as in India. The largest are the Ganges and the Indus, from the latter of which the country takes its name. Both of these are larger than the Egyptian Nile and the Scythian Ister, even if their waters came together into one. To me indeed it seems that even the Acesines is larger than the Ister or the Nile, where it falls into the Indus, after having taken up into its stream the Hydaspes, the Hydraotes, and the Hyphasis, so that at this place its breadth is three and one-half miles. Perhaps also many other larger rivers flow in India.

4. I cannot be sure of the accuracy of any statements about the country beyond the river Hyphasis, because Alexander did not advance further than that river. Of the two largest rivers themselves, the Ganges and the Indus, Megasthenes has stated that the former excels much in size; and so say all other writers who mention it. He says that it rises great from its sources, and that it receives into itself the Cainas, the Erannoboas, and the Cossoanus, all navigable rivers; then the Sonus Sittocatis, and Solomatis, which are also navigable; and besides these the Condochates, Sambus, Magon, Agoranis, and Omalis. A great river the Comminases, and the Cacouthis and Andomatis, which flows from the land of the Madyandinians, an Indian nation, fall into it. In addition to these the Amystis joins the Ganges, near the city of Catadoupe, as do the Oxymagis in the land of the people called Pazalaeans, and the Errenysis in that of the Mathaeans, an Indian nation. Megasthenes says that none of these is inferior to the Maeander, where that river is navigable. He says that the breadth of the Ganges in its narrowest part is about twelve miles; that in many places it forms lakes, so that the land opposite is not visible where it is flat and nowhere stands up in hills. The same is the case with the Indus. The Hydraotes, having received the Hyphasis in the land of the Astrybaeans, the Saranges from that of the Cecians, and the Neudrus from that of the Attacenians, falls into the Acesines in the land of the Cambistholians. The Hydaspes also falls into the Acesines in the land of the Oxydracians, taking with itself the Sinarus in the land of the Arispians. The Acesines joins the Indus in the land of the Mallians. The Toutapus also, a large river, falls into the Acesines. That river, with its water swollen by these, and giving its name to the united stream, itself falls into the Indus and surrenders its name to it. The Cophen falls into the Indus in the land called Peucelaitis, taking with itself the Malantus Soastus, and Garroeas. Below these the Parenus and Saparnus, not far apart, fall into the Indus. The Soanus also falls into it, coming void of any other river from the mountainous land of the Abissarians. Megasthenes says that most of these are navigable. Therefore we ought not to disbelieve that the Ister and the water of the Nile are not comparable with the Indus and the Ganges. We know, indeed, that no river falls into the Nile, but that canals have been cut from it through the land of Egypt. The Ister rises small from its sources, and though it receives many rivers, they are not equal in number to the Indian rivers which flow into the Indus and the Ganges. Very few of the tributaries of the Ister are navigable. Two of these, the Enus and Saus, I know, having seen them myself. The Enus mingles with the Ister on the confines of the country of the Noricans and Rhaetians, and the Saus in the territory of the Paeonians. The place where the Ister and Saus have their confluence is called Taurounus. Some one may know another navigable river which falls into the Ister, but he does not know many I am sure.

5. Whoever wishes to consider the cause of the number and size of the Indian rivers let him consider; it is sufficient for me to have recorded these statements as reports. For Megasthenes has recorded the names of many other rivers, which fall into the eastern and southern external sea, apart from the Ganges and Indus. He says that there are in all fifty-eight Indian rivers, all navigable. But even Megasthenes does not seem to me to have traversed much of the land of the Indians, though he visited more than those who went with Alexander the son of Philip. For he says that he was intimate with Sandracottus, a very great king of the Indians, and with Porus, still greater than he. This Megasthenes, indeed, says that neither do the Indians wage war with any other men, nor any other men with them; and that Sesostris the Egyptian, having subdued most part of Asia, and having marched with his army as far as Europe, returned back home without attacking India; that Idanthyrsus the Scythian started from Scythia, and subduing many nations in Asia, advanced even into the land of the Egyptians in his victorious career; that Semiramis the Assyrian undertook an expedition into the land the Indians, but that she died before she could complete her plans; and that Alexander alone led an invading army against the Indians. The tale is current that even before Alexander Dionysus led an expedition into India, and subdued the Indians. There is also a vague story about Herades to the same effect. Of the expedition of Dionysus, indeed, the city of Nysa is no mean monument, as also are the mountain Meros, the ivy which grows on this mountain, the Indians themselves also marching into battle to the sound of drums and cymbals, wearing speckled garments like the bacchanals of Dionysus. But of Heracles there are not many memorials. For the statement that Alexander forcibly subdued the rock of Aornus, because Heracles was not able to capture it, seems to me a piece of Macedonian boasting; just as they called the Parapamisus Caucasus, though it has no connection with it. And having observed a certain cave in the land of the Parapamisadians, they said that it was the famous cave of Prometheus, the son of the Titan, in which he was hung for the theft of the fire. And besides, in the land of the Sibians, an Indian race, because they saw the inhabitants clothed in skins, they said that the Sibians were those who had been left behind from the expedition of Heracles. The Sibians also carry cudgels, and the figure of a club was branded upon their oxen; this too they explained to be a commemoration of the club of Heracles. If anyone gives credit to these tales, this must have been another Heracles, neither the Theban, nor the Tyrian, nor the Egyptian; but some great king of a land situated in the interior not far from India

6. Let this be a digression on my part from the narrative, in order to show that what certain authors have recorded about the Indians on the other side of the Hyphasis does not appear credible; but those who took part in Alexander's expedition as far as the Hyphasis are not altogether unworthy of belief. For Megasthenes also says this about an Indian river, whose name is Silas, that it flows from a spring with the same name as itself through the land of the Silians, who derive their name from the river and the spring; that it supplies water of such a kind that there is nothing which it resists, that nothing either swims or floats upon it, but everything sinks to the bottom; and that water is weaker and more murky than any other. India is visited by rain in the summer, especially the mountains, Parapamisus, Emodus, and the Imaic range, and from these the rivers flow swollen and muddy. In the summer also the plains of India are visited by rain, so that a great part of them are covered with pools; and Alexander's army had to avoid the river Acesines in the middle of the summer, because the water overflowed into the plains. Wherefore from this it is possible to conjecture the cause of the similar condition of the Nile, because it is probable that the mountains of Aethiopia are visited by rain in the summer, and the Nile being filled from them overflows its banks into the Egyptian country. Therefore the Nile at this season flows in a muddy state, as it would not flow from the melting of snow, or if its water were driven back by the annual winds blowing in the season of summer. Besides, the mountains of Aethiopia would not be snow-beaten on account of the heat. It is not beyond the bounds of probability that Aethiopia is visited by rain as India is-for in other respects India is not unlike Aethiopia, and the Indian rivers produce crocodiles like the Aethiopian and Egyptian Nile. Some of them also produce fish and water-monsters besides, like those of the Nile, except the hippopotamus. Onesicritus says they produce even hippopotami. The looks of the people of India and Aethiopia are not entirely dissimilar. The Indians who live towards the south are more like the Aethiopians, they are black in their faces, and their hair is black; but they are not so flatnosed or so curly-headed as the Aethiopians. The more northern Indians would especially resemble the Egyptians in their bodies.

7. Megasthenes says that there are in all 118 Indian nations. I myself agree with him that there are many Indian nations; but I am not able to conjecture how he learned the exact number and recorded it, for he only visited a mere fraction of India, nor do many of the races have any intercourse with each other. He says that in ancient times the Indians were nomads, like that section of the Scythians who are not agriculturists, but wandering about on waggons, live at one time in one part of Scythia and at another time in another part, neither inhabiting cities nor consecrating temples to the gods. So the Indians had no cities or temples built for the gods. They clothed themselves in the skins of the wild beasts which they killed, and ate the inner bark of certain trees, which are called tala in the Indian language, and, as upon the tops of palm-trees, there grow upon them things like clews of wool. They also fed upon the flesh of the wild beasts which they caught, eating it raw, until Dionysus came into their country. But when Dionysus came and conquered them, he founded cities and made laws for them, and gave the Indians wine as he had given it to the Greeks. He also gave them seeds and taught them how to sow them in the earth; so that either Triptolemus did not come to this part when he was sent by Demeter to sow corn through the whole earth, or this Dionysus came to India before Triptolemus and gave to the inhabitants the seeds of cultivated crops. Dionysus first taught them to yoke oxen to the plough, and made most of them become husbandmen instead of being nomads, and armed them with martial weapons. He also taught them to worship the gods, and especially himself with the beating of drums and the clashing of cymbals. He taught the Indians the Satyr-dance which among the Greeks is called the cordax, and to let their hair grow long in honour of the god. He also showed them how to wear the turban, and taught them how to anoint themselves with unguents. Wherefore even to the time of Alexander the Indians still advanced into battle with the sound of cymbals and drums.

8. When Dionysus had arranged these affairs and was about to leave India, he appointed as king of the land Spatembas, one of his companions, the man most versed in the mysteries of Bacchus. When this man died his son Boudyas succeeded to his kingdom. The father reigned fifty-two years, and the son twenty years. Cradeuas, the son of Boudyas, succeeded to the throne. From this time for the most part the kingdom passed in regular succession from father to son. If at any time direct heirs were wanting, then the Indians appointed kings according to merit. The Heracles, who according to the current report came to India is said, among the Indians themselves, to have sprung from the earth. This Heracles is especially worshipped by the Sourasenians, an Indian nation, in whose land are two great cities, Methora and Cleisobora, and through it flows the navigable river Jobares. Megasthenes says, as the Indians themselves assert, that this Heracles wore a similar dress to that of the Theban Heracles. Very many male children, but only one daughter were born to him in India, for he married many women. The daughter's name was Pandaea, and the land where she was born, and over which Heracles placed her as ruler, was named Pandaea after her. From her father she received 500 elephants, 4,000 cavalry, and 130,000 infantry. Certain of the Indians tell the following story about Heracles, that when he had passed over every land and sea and had rid them of every evil beast, he found in the sea a woman's ornament, such as up to the present day those who bring wares from India to us still buy with zeal and carry away. In former times the Greeks and now the Romans who are fortunate and wealthy with still greater zeal buy what is called in the Indian tongue the marine pearl. The ornament seemed so fine to Heracles that he collected pearls like this from all the sea and brought them to India to be an adornment for his daughter. Megasthenes says that the mussel of it is caught in nets, and that many of them live in the sea at the same place, like bees, and that the pearl-mussels have a king or queen as bees have. Whoever has the good fortune to capture the king, easily throws the net around the rest of the swarm of pearlmussels, but if the king escapes the fishermen, the others are no longer to be caught by them. The men allow the flesh of those which are caught to rot, but they use the shell for ornament; for among the Indians the pearl is worth thrice its weight in refined gold. This metal is also dug up in India.

9. In this country, where the daughter of Heracles reigned, the women at seven years of age become marriageable, and the men live forty years at most. In regard to this the following story is told among the Indians. This girl was born to Heracles in his old age, when he perceived that his end was near. He could not find a man worthy to receive his daughter in marriage, and therefore he married her himself when she was seven years old, so that the family born from him and her might supply kings to the Indians. Heracles therefore made her marriageable at that age; and from that time all this race over which Pandaea ruled have this same gift from Heracles. To me it seems that if Heracles was able to accomplish such marvellous things, he would also have been able to make himself longer lived, so that he might marry his daughter at a mature age. But if these statements about the maturity of the girls of this country are correct, to me at any rate they seem to have some analogy with what is said about the age of the men, that the oldest of them do not live beyond forty years. For no doubt the flower of perfect manhood blooms sooner in proportion in those upon whom old age advances quicker, and death with old age; so that among them men of thirty years of age would be, I suppose, fresh, active old men, striplings of twenty years old would be past their early manhood, and the prime of early manhood would be about fifteen years of age. Reasoning from analogy the women would thus become marriageable at seven years of age. For this same Megasthenes has recorded that in this country the fruits ripen quicker than those elsewhere, and sooner waste away.

From Dionysus to Sandracottus the Indians reckoned 153 kings, and 6,042 years. During all these years they only twice asserted their freedom; the first time they enjoyed it for 300 years, and the second for 120. They say that Dionysus was earlier than Heracles by fifteen generations, and that no other ever invaded India for war, not even Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, though he marched against the Scythians, and in other matters was the most meddlesome of the kings of Asia. However they admit that Alexander came and overcame in battle all the nations whom he visited, and that he would have conquered them all if his army had been willing. But none of the Indians ever marched out of their own country for war, being actuated by a respect for justice.

10. This also is said, that the Indians do not construct monuments for the dead, for they think that the virtues of men are sufficient to perpetuate their memory after their death, as well as the songs which they sing in their honour. It would not be possible to record with accuracy the number of their cities on account of their multiplicity. Those which are situated near the rivers or the sea are built of wood; for if they were built of brick they could not long endure on account of the rain and because the rivers overflowing their banks fill the plains with water. But those which have been founded in commanding places, lofty and raised above the adjacent country, are built of brick and mortar. The largest city in India, named Palimbothra, is in the land of the Prasians, where is the confluence of the river Erannoboas and the Ganges, which is the greatest of rivers. The Erannoboas would be third of the Indian rivers, being also larger than those elsewhere. But it yields itself up to the Ganges when it has discharged its water into it. Megasthenes says that on one side where it is longest this city extends ten miles in length, and that its breadth is one and threequarters miles; that the city has been surrounded with a ditch in breadth 600 feet, and in depth 45 feet; and that its wall has 570 towers and 64 gates. This is a great thing in India, that all the inhabitants are free, not a single Indian being a slave. In this the Lacedaemonians and the Indians are alike. However the Helots are slaves to the Lacedaemonians and perform servile offices; but among the Indians no other Indian at any rate is a slave.

11. All the Indians have been divided into seven castes. Among them are the wise men, fewer in number than the others, but most esteemed in reputation and dignity. For no necessity is incumbent upon them to do any bodily labour; nor do they contribute anything to the commonwealth from the effects of their labour; nor in a word have they any compulsory duty except to offer sacrifices to the gods on behalf of the commonwealth of India. Whoever sacrifices in his private capacity has one of these wise men as a director of the sacrifice, since otherwise he does not offer acceptable sacrifice to the gods. These also are the only Indians skilled in divination; and it is not lawful for anyone to practise the art except for a man who is a wise man. They practise divination in regard to the seasons of the year, and if any calamity befalls the commonwealth. It is not their business to practise their art in regard to the private affairs of individuals, either because the art of divination does not extend to smaller matters, or because it is not worthy of them to labour about such things. Whoever has made three errors in his practise of divination receives no other punishment except that for the future he is compelled to be silent; and there is no one who can compel that man to speak, upon whom the judgment of silence has been passed. These wise men pass their lives naked; in the winter in the sun under the open sky, but in the summer, when the sun holds sway, they live in the meadows and in the marshes under great trees, the shadow of which Nearchus says extends 500 feet all round, and I0,000 men could be shaded under one tree. So large are these trees. They feed on the fruits of the seasons and the inner bark of trees, which is both pleasant and nutritious; not less so than dates.

After these the second caste are the agriculturalists, who are the most numerous class of Indians. These have no martial weapons, nor do they care for deeds of war, but till the soil. They pay dues to the kings or to those cities which are independent. If any war happens to break out among the Indians with each other it is not lawful for them to touch the tillers of the soil, or to lay waste the country itself by destroying the crops. But while others are waging war against each other and slaying each other as they find the chance, they are ploughing in peace and quietness near them, or are gathering in the vintage, or are pruning their vines, or are reaping their crops.

The third caste of Indians are the shepherds and the cowherds, who dwell neither in cities nor in villages; but are nomads and live up and down the mountains. They pay a tax from their flocks and herds. These men also catch birds and hunt wild beasts throughout the land.

12. The fourth caste is that of the artisans and retail tradesmen. These men perform public duties at their own cost, and pay a tax upon their work, except those who make weapons of war. These receive pay from the commonwealth. In this caste are the shipwrights and sailors who sail up and down the rivers.

The fifth caste of the Indians consists of the warriors, who in number come next to the husbandmen and enjoy very great freedom and good cheer. These men practise nothing but warlike exercises. Others make the weapons for them, others provide them with horses; and others serve them in the camp, who groom the horses for them, keep their weapons bright, manage the elephants, keep the chariots in order, and drive the horses. They themselves fight, as long as it is necessary to wage war; but when there is peace, they live with good cheer; and they receive such high pay from the state that they can easily support others from it.

The sixth caste of Indians consists of men who are called overseers. These supervise what is done throughout the country and in the cities, and make reports to the king, where the Indians are ruled by a king, or to the magistrates where the people have a democratic government. It is unlawful for these men to make false reports; but no Indian has incurred the charge of falsehood.

The seventh caste consists of those who assist the king in deliberating on public affairs, or assist the officials in the cities which enjoy a democratic government. This class is small in number, but in wisdom and justice excels all the others. From them are chosen their rulers, governors of provinces, deputies, treasurers, generals, admirals, controllers of expenditure, and superintendents of agriculture.

It is not lawful for anyone to marry a woman from another caste; for example, for husbandmen to marry from the class of artisans or the reverse. It is not lawful for the same man to exercise two trades, or to exchange from one caste into another; for instance, he may not cease to be a shepherd and become a husbandman, or cease to be an artisan and become a shepherd. Only a man from any caste is allowed by them to become a wise man, because the duties of the wise men are not easy, but the most severely laborious of all.

13. The Indians hunt other wild animals like the Greeks; but the way they hunt elephants is quite different from any other kind of hunting, because these animals are like no other beasts. They choose a place that is level and exposed to the sun's heat, large enough for a great army to encamp in. They then dig a trench all round it. They make the breadth of this trench about thirty feet, and the depth about twenty-four feet. The earth which they cast up from the ditch they heap up on each bank of the trench and use it in place of a wall. In the mound upon the outer bank of the trench they dig hiding-places for themselves, leaving holes in them, through which the light may enter for them, and to enable them to observe the beasts approaching and charging into the inclosure. There, within the inclosure, they place some three or four female elephants, who are especially tame in spirit, and leave only one entrance, made by bridging over the trench. They cover this with earth and thick turf, in order that the beasts may not notice the bridge and think some trick is being played them. The men, therefore, keep themselves out of the way, lurking in the hiding-places near the trench. The wild elephants by day do not approach inhabited places, but in the night they wander in all directions and graze in droves, following the largest and bravest of their number, just as cows follow the bulls. When they approach the inclosure they hear the noise of the females and discerning them by the scent, they run at full speed towards the inclosed place. Going quite round the bank of the trench, as soon as they light upon the bridge, they rush forward into the inclosure over this. When the men perceive the entrance of the wild elephants, some of them quickly remove the bridge, others run to the neighbouring villages and tell the people that the elephants are shut up in the inclosure. When they hear this they mount the bravest and most tractable of their elephants and drive them towards the inclosure. When they arrive they do not immediately join battle, but allow the wild elephants to be severely distressed with hunger and to be cowed by thirst As soon as they think they are in a weak state, they then place the bridge over again and advance into the inclosure. At first an obstinate battle is fought between the tame elephants and those that have been caught Soon, as might be expected, the wild ones are overcome, being severely depressed by loss of spirit and want of food. The men, dismounting from the elephants, tie together the feet of the wild ones, which are now exhausted. Then they order the tame ones to chastise them with many blows until they fall to the ground in their severe distress. Standing near them they throw nooses round their necks and mount upon them as they lie on the ground. And in order that they may not shake off their riders or do any other reckless thing, they cut their necks all round with a sharp knife and tie the noose round along the cut; so that on account of the wound they must keep their head and neck quiet; for if they should turn their head round through recklessness, their wound is chafed under the rope. Then at length they keep quiet, and changing their minds of their own accord, they are now led by the tame ones into imprisonment.

14. Those of them which are quite young, or through badness not worth possessing, are allowed to take themselves off to their own haunts The captives are led into the villages and at first some green reeds and grass are given them to eat. They refuse to eat anything from loss of spirit; and the Indians stand round them and lull them to sleep by singing songs, beating drums and clashing cymbals. For, of all animals, the elephant is most naturally intelligent. Some of them have of their own accord picked up their riders who have been killed in battle and carried them away for burial; others have held the shield over them when lying on the ground; and others have incurred danger on their behalf when they have fallen wounded. One, having killed his rider in a fit of passion died from remorse and dejection of spirit. I myself have seen an elephant playing the cymbals, while others danced. Two cymbals were fastened to the forelegs of the playing elephant, and another to the trunk. With his trunk he struck the cymbal alternately against each of his legs in regular time, and the others moved round him as in a dance. These also walked, raising and bending their front legs alternately in regular time, just as the one who played the cymbals directed them. The female elephant copulates in the season of spring, like the cow or mare, when the air-vents near the temples of the females being opened exhale an odour. She carries her young sixteen months at the least, and eighteen at the most, and brings forth one, like the mare. This she suckles till the eighth year. Those which live longest live for 200 years; but many of them die before that age from disease. If they die from old age they reach that age. When their eyes are sore they are cured by pouring into them cow's milk, and their other diseases by giving them dark-coloured wine to drink. Pork is roasted and the fat is sprinkled upon wounds to effect a cure. The Indians adopt these cures for them.

15. The Indians think the tiger much mightier than the elephant. Nearchus says he saw a tiger's skin, but not the tiger itself; but that the Indians assured him that it is as large as the largest horse, and that no other animal can compare with it in swiftness and strength. When the tiger comes into conflict with an elephant he leaps upon his head and easily strangles him. Those which we see and call tigers are only speckled jackals, but larger than the ordinary jackals. In regard to the ants, Nearchus says that he himself did not see one like those which some other authors have described as existing in India; but that he saw many skins of these animals which had been brought into the Macedonian camp. But Megasthenes asserts that the story of these ants is correct; that these were the animals who dig up gold, not for the sake of the metal itself; but they burrow under the ground from instinct, in order that they may lie hidden in their holes, just as our small ants burrow a little under the ground. These ants are larger than foxes and therefore they burrow a distance proportionate to their size, and throw up the soil. As this contains gold ore the Indians obtain their gold from it. Megasthenes only relates hearsay, and as I myself am unable to say anything more certain than this, I willingly dismiss the story of the ants. Nearchus relates as a wonder that parrots are bred in India, and describes what kind of a bird it is and how it utters human speech; but as I myself have seen many and I know others are acquainted with the bird I shall give no description of it as of a marvel. Nor shall I speak of the size of the monkeys, or how beautiful those of India are, nor how they are caught. For these things are well known, except that monkeys are beautiful anywhere. Nearchus also says speckled serpents are caught, though they are quick in movement; and that Peithon, son of Antigenes, caught one twenty-four feet long. The Indians themselves said that the largest serpents are much larger than this. None of the Greek physicians found any cure for any one who was bitten by an Indian serpent; but the Indians themselves healed those who had been smitten. Nearchus says, besides, that Alexander had collected around him all the Indians who were cleverest in the medical art, and had it proclaimed through the camp that whoever was bitten should come to the king's tent. These men were also curers of other diseases and infirmities. But among the Indians there are not many infirmities, because the seasons there are temperate. If anything worse than usual seized them they communicated with the wise men; who seemed to cure whatever was curable, not without the help of god.

16. The Indians use linen clothing, as says Nearchus, made from the flax taken from the trees, about which I have already spoken. And this flax is either whiter in colour than any other flax, or the people being black make the flax appear whiter. They have a linen frock reaching down halfway between the knee and the ankle, and a garment which is partly thrown round the shoulders and partly rolled round the head The Indians who are very well-off wear earrings of ivory; for they do not all wear them. Nearchus says that the Indians dye their beards various colours; some that they may appear white as the whitest, others dark blue; others have them red, others purple, and others green. Those who are of any rank have umbrellas held over them in the summer. They wear shoes of white leather, elaborately worked, and the soles of their shoes are many-coloured and raised high, in order that they may appear taller.

The Indians are not all armed in the same way; but their infantry have a bow equal in length to the man who carries it. Placing this downward to the ground and stepping against it with the left foot, they discharge the arrow, drawing the string far back. Their arrows are little less than four and one-half feet long; and nothing can withstand one shot by an Indian archer, neither shield nor breast-plate nor anything else that is strong. They carry on their left arms targets of raw ox-hide, narrower than the men who carry them, but not much inferior in length. Others have Javelins instead of arrows. All wear a sword which is broad, and not less than four and onehalf feet in length. When the battle is at close quarters, a thing which very rarely happens to be the case between Indians, they bring this sword down upon the antagonist with both hands, in order that the blow may be a mighty one. The cavalry have two darts like the darts called saunia, and a shield smaller than that of the infantry. Their horses are not saddled or bridled like those of the Greeks or Gauls; but a piece of raw ox-hide stitched is fastened right round the front of the horse's mouth, and in this there are brass or iron spikes not very sharp, turned inwards. The rich men have ivory spikes. In the mouth their horses have a piece of iron, like a spit, to which the reins are attached. When therefore they draw the rein, the spit curbs the horse and the spikes which are fastened to it prick him and do not allow him to do anything else than obey the rein.

17. The Indians are spare in body and tall and much lighter than other men. Most of the Indians ride camels, horses, and asses, and those who are well off, elephants. For among the Indians royal personages ride on elephants. Next to this in honour is the four-horsed chariot, third camels. It is no honour to ride on horseback. Their women who are very chaste and would not go astray for any other reward, on the receipt of an elephant have intercourse with the donor. The Indians do not think it disgraceful for them to prostitute themselves for an elephant, and to the women it even seems an honour that their beauty should appear equal in value to an elephant. They marry, neither giving or receiving any dowry, but the fathers bring forward the girls who are of marriageable age and station them in a public place for the man who wins the prize for wrestling, boxing or running, or who has been adjudged winner in any manly contest, to make his choice. The Indians are bread-eaters and agriculturalists, except those who live in the mountains. These live upon the flesh of wild animals.

18. I think I have given sufficient information about the Indians. I have copied the very well-known statements made by Nearchus and Megasthenes, two esteemed authors. As my design in compiling this book was not to describe the customs of the Indians, but to relate how Alexander's fleet was conveyed from India into Persia, let the preceding portion of it be considered a digression from my narrative.

Coorg State

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A 1909 map of Southern India, showing, Madras, Mysore, Coorg, and Travancore, as separate territories.

Coorg State was a separate State within Union of India from 1950 to 1956 with Mercara as it's Capital.^[1]

History

Coorg was earlier a small independent kingdom till 1834, which was annexed by British, as a result of Coorg War and the King of Coorg was deposed.^[2]^[3] Coorg as such in 1834 became a separate province of British India. Upon independence of India, as a legacy, it became a province of Union of India.

A map of Republic of India in year 1950, showing boundaries of Coorg State.

Coorg State was formed out of the territory of former Coorg Province, which became a part and parcel of Union of India on 15th August, 1947.
Coorg worked as a Province, till it was created as a Class "C" State, named Coorg State on 26th January, 1950 within Republic of India. Class "C" States were under direct rule of Central Government.^[1]

Commissioners of Coorg State

(1) Dewan Bahadur Ketolira Chengappa, became its first Chief Commissioner from 1947 - 1949
(2) C.T. Mudaliar became Chief Commissioner from 1949 - 1950^[1]
(3) Kanwar Daya Singh Bedi, Chief Commissioner from 1950 - 1956^[1]

Chief Minister

Cheppudira Muthana Poonacha was the first and last Chief Minister of Coorg State from 1950 till 1956.^[1]

Dissolution

In 1956, when India's state boundaries were reorganized, it became a district of the then Mysore State^[1]^[4]^[5]Mysore State was later renamed as Karnataka, as the historical region of Coorg, now forms the part of Kodagu district of Karnataka.

Source: Wikipedia

The Future of Coorg - As Decided in 1949

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Since the Constitution of Mysore is yet to be completed Coorg can still have a voice in its enactment. But the choice of future association must vest in the people, however great the attraction of Mysore. If a Majority of Coorg's population chooses to join a west coast province, the Government of India for one may not have any objection.

COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG- 1898

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An Excerpt from

GOLD, SPORT, AND COFFEE PLANTING IN MYSORE

WITH CHAPTERS ON

COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG, THE MYSORE REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY, THE INDIAN CONGRESS, CASTE, AND THE INDIAN SILVER QUESTION

BEING THE 38 YEARS' EXPERIENCES OF A MYSORE PLANTER

BY

ROBERT H. ELLIOT

AUTHOR OF "EXPERIENCES OF A PLANTER," "WRITTEN ON THEIR FOREHEADS," ETC.

COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG.

The British Province of Coorg consists of a mountainous and jungly tract of country with elevations of from about 2,700 to 3,809 feet. The last is the elevation of the capital, Mercara, the tableland of which, for a stretch of about 26 miles, averages about 3,500 feet. This little province lies, as the reader will see by a glance at the map, on the south-west border of Mysore, with which, since its annexation, it has always been connected, and the Resident of Mysore invariably holds the post of Commissioner of Coorg. The population of Coorg is just over 170,000, and its area is 1,583 square miles, or about one-fourth of the size of Yorkshire. But, though small in extent and population, its Rajah and people played an important part as our allies in the war with Tippoo, and a full account of the facts is given in the history of Coorg which has been published in the "Mysore and Coorg Gazetteer." The history of the country, however, which has been gathered up by various European writers, is by no means of an alluring character, and indeed, after the beginning of this century, a more disgusting record of cruelty and oppression it would be difficult to find in the annals of any country. But three things at least the record most distinctly proves. The first is (though this hardly requires any additional proof) that man, though capable of being the best, is also capable of being by far the worst of animals; the second is that, Coorg being a sample of most of India in the times preceding ours, the Hindoos were perfectly right in leaving few annals behind them; and the third is that the blessings of British rule far exceed anything that anyone could imagine who had not read something of the condition of things in India before we took possession of it, for we have not only conferred on the people immeasurable positive benefits, but relieved them from the barbarous rule of cruel oppressors. In the case of Coorg there can be no doubt that we allowed the Rajahs of that country to carry on their work of cruelty and oppression towards their subjects for much too long a period of time, and our failure to act can only be partially excused by the fact that we were, in connection with the war with Tippoo, under great obligation to the ancestor of the Rajah we deposed. However, his vile oppression and cruel murders, which exceed anything the reader could believe to be possible, could no longer be tolerated, and in 1834 he was deposed, and his country absorbed into the British Dominions. Since that date the general welfare of the country was of course insured, and much of it is now a thriving coffee field which, as I shall afterwards show, has been of the greatest benefit to Mysore, and the adjacent British territory. Of the history and cultivation of coffee in Coorg, and my visits to the province, I now propose to give some account.

After the planting season of 1857 I went with a brother planter for a change of air to Mangalore, and from thence we went to Cannanore—a military station about 200 miles further down the coast—and, after a short stay there, rode up the Ghauts into Coorg, where we found the planters busy clearing the forest. Three years before our arrival Mr. Fowler had opened the Mercara Estate, and in 1855 Mr. H. Mann, and Mr. Donald Stewart had begun work on the Sumpaji Ghaut, while Dr. Maxwell opened up the Periambadi Ghaut Estates in 1856, and in 1857 Mr. Kaundinya founded a plantation in the Bamboo district which lies on the eastern side of Coorg. The first European plantation was, as we have seen, started in 1854, but for many years previously coffee cultivation had been carried on by natives in the Nalknaad District, though it seems to be quite uncertain as to when or how it was first introduced, or where the first seeds were obtained.

At first all seemed to be going well with coffee in Coorg, and for a good many years the fatal mistake of the planters in clearing down the whole forest, and leaving no shade over the coffee, was not decisively apparent, and from the lands that were thus cleared down on the above-mentioned Ghauts, which lie on the western side of the province, from 700 to 1,000 tons were picked annually when the coffee was at its best. But what in "the seventies" represented about £100,000 of valuable property, gradually became more and more unprofitable, till at last the estates were abandoned, and the land has now become covered with masses of Lentana (a crawling, climbing, thorny plant which has become a perfect plague in Coorg), amidst which may occasionally be seen the white walls of unroofed bungalows, and dismantled pulping houses, which testify to the melancholy ending of the work of the planters whom I found so busily engaged when, in 1857, I first entered Coorg.

Some attributed the failure to the Bug, some to the Borer, and to leaf disease, while others blamed the heaviness of the tropical rains, which washed away the valuable surface soil, the flight of which towards the western sea was much expedited by weeding with the mamoty (a digging hoe), which loosened the soil, and so prepared the way for its more rapid disappearance. And these causes no doubt hastened the end, but they were mainly results arising from one great cause—the neglect to supply shade for the coffee, and this again arose from the circumstance that most of the pioneer planters came from Ceylon where the coffee is planted in the open, and where shade is not required. And this failure, owing to the neglect of shade, had a most unfortunate effect, for it was owing to this that Coorg naturally acquired such a doubtful coffee reputation in the eyes of the uninformed public—a reputation which, as I shall afterwards show, arose not from any fault of the country as a coffee field, but solely from the fatal mistake of attempting to plant without providing shade for the coffee. And this mistake the planters, as we shall see, had great difficulty in shaking off, for when they saw the inevitable end approaching, and hastened to take up land in the eastern part of Coorg in what is known as the Bamboo district (because the jungle lands there consist very largely of forest trees interspersed with clumps of bamboos), they persisted in carrying their fatal Ceylon system with them, and Mr. Donald Stewart, called the Coffee King in Mincing Lane, who was a warm supporter of planting in the open, even issued, it is said, an order to his managers saying that if he found a single forest tree standing (the coffee around even a single tree would have proved him to be wrong) dismissal would follow. But nature proved to be too strong for Mr. Stewart and those who followed his example, and whole estates in the Bamboo district were practically exterminated by the Borer insect. At last the planters, warned by a long and bitter experience, gave way all along the line, and began to imitate the shade planters of Mysore, and shade is now as universal in Coorg as in Mysore, and under its protection the coffee in both countries thrives equally well. I may mention here that the Rev. G. Richter, who is now the second oldest resident in Coorg, took an active part in opening up the Bamboo district, and was for some time a partner in one of the estates. He has shown great zeal in endeavouring to introduce new products, such as tea, cocoa, ceara rubber, and vanilla. His manual of Coorg, I may add, is most interesting and exhaustive.^[48]

Besides the first mentioned, and now abandoned coffee district, and the Bamboo district, there is the important district of North Coorg, which, though it has a smaller number of estates, certainly contains coffee that, so far as I am able to judge, it would be impossible to surpass.

There are, in all, at present in Coorg 130 European estates, with a total area of 32,323 acres (of which 20,000 are in the Bamboo district), and 6,207 native estates and gardens, aggregating in all 70,669 acres. The average production of coffee from all these sources is estimated by competent authorities at from 4,000 to 5,000 tons of coffee per annum, or of a probable annual value of from £250,000 to £300,000. The yield from a well cultivated estate averages from 3 to 4 cwt. of clean coffee per acre. Exceptional properties there are, of course, which give higher returns than this, and some could be quoted which give 6 to 7 cwt. on the average, while sensational figures might be quoted as regards some remarkable estates. But to give an account of such exceptional estates might convey a misleading idea of the general return to be obtained from coffee in Coorg, though I think it well to allude to the fact that better returns than those first mentioned can be obtained, and have been obtained, as it is always of value to know what particular pieces of land can do under the most favourable circumstances, as this opens up the important question as to whether it would not pay better to confine cultivation on an estate to a narrow area of the best soils and situations on it—a subject to which I shall more particularly refer later on in this chapter.

In the case of well cultivated estates, an expenditure of eighty rupees per acre is incurred on superintendence and field labour, and fifty rupees an acre on manures and their application, but in many European, and most native estates, a total expenditure for superintendence, labour and manures of about eighty rupees only is incurred, and the results obtained are, of course, proportionately smaller. The native gardens and plantations are, as a rule, worked on the principle of taking everything that can be got out of the land, and putting nothing into it. Were these worked on European principles, it is hardly necessary to say that the export of coffee from Coorg would be largely increased.

Cattle manure, bones, oil-cake and fish constitute the manures mainly used in Coorg. The first is universally recognized as being the most valuable for coffee, but the supply available in the Bamboo district (which contains, I may remind the reader, 20,000 out of the 32,323 acres under cultivation by Europeans), where grazing is scarce, is so small that planters have to depend to a great extent on the three last-named manures. Messrs. Matheson & Co., the owners of about 7,000 acres of coffee in Coorg, kept for some years in their employ an analytical chemist,^[49] whose time was devoted to the analysis of soil, and the making of experiments on their estates, with the view of ascertaining what was best adapted for maintaining and improving their fertility. Salts of various kinds were experimented with, but, though the results from them were generally favourable, they were found to be too rapidly soluble for a climate so subject to heavy falls of rain. In the end, after many experiments, he came to the conclusion that the four above-mentioned manures were the best for the climate, and that the proportion applied should vary with the condition of the coffee. To illustrate this point I may add that in Coorg, bones and oil-cake are usually applied in the proportion of two of the latter to one of the former. If, however, a field has suffered badly from leaf disease (which destroys many of the leaves), or is not making wood as rapidly as it ought, it is customary to apply a larger proportion of oil-cake, or in some cases, to put down that manure without adding any bones. On the other hand, if there is a superabundance of wood, and it is desirable to throw the whole energies of the tree into the production of berries, then the proportion of bone manure is increased and that of oil-cake diminished.

In former times all manures were applied immediately after the crop was picked, and on estates where labour is scarce, or comes in late in the season, this system is still carried on. But from results actually obtained on estates in Coorg, it has now been proved that it is more advantageous to apply part of the manure immediately after crop, in order to strengthen the tree when the blossom showers fall (which they usually do in March and April), and to aid it in perfecting and setting the blossom, and a second portion after the heavy monsoon rains are over, in order to assist the tree in growing fresh wood, and in maturing the crop. The bones, oil-cake, and fish are usually mixed with burnt earth—a cubic yard to every five cwt. of the manure—and then scattered on the surface of the land around the stems of the trees, and forked in. The burnt earth, or indeed almost any good earth, makes an admirable addition to bones, oil-cake, and fish, for, though the first two, or the last two, furnish complete manure for coffee, they of course cannot ameliorate the physical condition of the soil, which, as I have fully shown in the chapter on manures, is often of more importance than its strictly speaking chemical condition. The burnt earth, in short, takes the place of cattle manure as a physical agent, and, for that purpose, I think that the soil, is to be preferred to cattle manure, as the former would certainly be cheaper and more lasting in its effects in keeping the soil in a loose and easily workable condition. On the other hand, it must be considered that cattle manure would be more moisture-holding than ordinary earth, though not more so than jungle top-soil, and when first applied, would be perhaps more opening to the land, than burnt or ordinary earth, but if the red earth (Kemmannu), to which I have alluded in my chapter on manures, can be obtained, that, I know from experience, would be more cooling, and moisture-absorbing than cattle manure.

I now turn to a point of great general interest, and one which furnishes another illustration of what I dwelt upon at some length in my introductory chapter, the wide-spreading value arising from the introduction into India of English capital which, as I have shown, develops the agricultural resources of the country in ever-widening circles. At first in Coorg the adjacent province of Mysore was the only source of labour supply, but the increased prosperity of the labourer consequent upon ample employment and enhanced rates of wages, enabled him to take up land for the cultivation of cereal crops in the neighbourhood of his own village, and hence the supply of labour declined, those who came to work in the plantations came later in the season, and altogether the labour supply from Mysore became more uncertain every year. Planters consequently, as they had in Mysore itself, had to go further afield, and now draw labour to a large extent from the Madras Presidency, the labourers from which in turn, will now have the means of developing the agricultural resources of their native villages. This is a point to which the attention of the Government cannot be too often drawn with the view of encouraging the opening up, by it, of every means of stimulating the employment of labour in India.

Coorg is now fairly well off for labour, and the old labour difficulties which used to be experienced have to a great extent disappeared. The average cost of Mysore labour—men, women, and children, and including the commission of the Maistries (as the men who collect and bring the labourers to the estates are called), is from 3 annas 6 pie to 4 annas a day (or say 5d. to 6d. a day, calculating the rupee at par, or 2s.). In quite recent times the maistries, who obtained large sums from the planters to make advances to the coolies, sometimes absconded with the money and thereby great losses ensued. But a better class of maistries have arisen, and Messrs. Matheson and Co. have now, with the aid of their permanent European labour agent, established a system of private registration by which the antecedents, status, and resources of the maistries are duly recorded. And though the services of doubtful maistries cannot as yet be altogether dispensed with, a preference is of course given to those of well established reputation, and the class of maistries generally is beginning to understand and appreciate the system of registration, which has every prospect of becoming general, and will, I need hardly add, be of great advantage to planters. But if maistries sometimes swindle their employers, the former are often liable to be swindled by the coolies to whom the advances have been made, and until a system of compulsory Government registration of advances to coolies is introduced, as recommended in one of my chapters on coffee planting in Mysore, it will be impossible to put our peculiar system of giving advances to coolies on a reasonably safe footing.

The plantations in Coorg have suffered, and still suffer considerably from leaf disease and Borer, to both of which I have, for practical purposes, sufficiently alluded in the chapter on the diseases of coffee. The effects of the former, though entailing much injury on coffee in Coorg, have not been so fatal as in Ceylon, as the long stretches of dry weather, often of four or five months' duration, seem to kill off large numbers of the spores, and so mitigate the damage arising from the disease. Messrs. Matheson and Co., at the instance of the chemist previously mentioned, sent out Strawsoniser spray engines for the purpose of treating afflicted trees with various solutions, but, though good effects were noticeable on individual trees, it was found that to treat whole estates in this way was quite impracticable, both from the cost and the immense amount of labour that would be required, and this fatal obstacle to the use of such remedies has been amply proved in Ceylon. But in Coorg the Borer is much more to be dreaded than leaf disease, and its ravages are such that even on the best estates fully twenty-five per cent.^[50] of the acreage is under supplies (i.e., young plants to take the place of the old ones which have died), and the late Mr. Pringle—the chemist—was of opinion that the loss of crop from Borer was not less than 2 cwt. per acre per annum. Before the introduction of shade the total extermination of an estate was far from uncommon, the estate in the Bamboo district opened by Rev. H. A. Kaundinya in 1857 being the first to perish, and though, as we have seen, owing to the introduction of shade, the Borer has been largely brought into subjection, considerable damage still takes place from it. Neither trouble nor expense has been spared in order to find an antidote to this pest. Rubbing the stems with the view of destroying the eggs of the insect, and applying thereto chemical ingredients have both been tried, but with very limited results. The late Mr. Pringle's antidote consisted of the application of two washes of alkali vat waste, costing five rupees an acre each, but, when carried into practice, the results were far from what he anticipated. Taking out the bored trees and burning them has proved the most effectual way of dealing with the pest, and would be productive of still better results if native neighbours would adopt the same practice. But as they will not adopt this practice, their plantations become nursery grounds for the propagation of the insect. Many planters in the Bamboo district pay 1 rupee per hundred for the Borer fly, and this results in a large number being caught, but it is not supposed that any appreciable effect has been produced from this practice.

There can be no doubt, it seems to me, that the primary cause of the existence of so much Borer was owing to the planters having at first planted in the open. This must have created an enormous supply of the insect, which found a splendid breeding ground in the conditions furnished by the planters, as is evidenced by the fact of whole estates having been exterminated by it, and it will require many years of judicious shading before this insect can be reduced within comparatively harmless limits. The reader will observe that I say judicious shading, and I will more fully explain what I mean by that expression when, later on in the chapter, I give an account of my tour through Coorg in 1891, and make some observations on the proper shading of coffee.

Most of the European estates in Coorg and many of the larger native plantations are held under what are called "The Waste Land Rules," under which land is put up to auction by the State at an upset price of 2 rupees per acre (10 rupees is the upset price in Mysore), plus the value of the timber, which adds somewhat to the price. As a rule there is now considerable competition for land, and as much as 100 to 150 rupees has frequently to be paid per acre. The land so purchased is subject to no assessment up to the fourth year, but from the fourth to the ninth year 1 rupee is charged, and after that 2 rupees in perpetuity. The bulk of the land suitable for coffee has been taken up, though large extents that might be utilized are included in the State forests, and thus are not available to the public. Hence there is little room for extension, and openings for young men with capital are few and far between, so far as obtaining fresh forest is concerned, though of course opportunities occasionally occur for purchasing estates, or acquiring shares in them on various terms.

And here I would particularly call the attention of the Government to the following remarks on the reservation of land in Coorg for State forests, much of which, as we have seen, might be utilized for coffee.

When, as in former times in Coorg, the planters used no shade, many good arguments existed in favour of making very large reserves of forest land in order to prevent denudation, and its injurious effects on climate, and on the water supply of the rivers and the country generally. But when you merely replace the underwood of the forest with an underwood of coffee which completely covers the ground, and again shield this from drying winds and the burning sun by a complete covering of trees, either those of the original forest or others planted to take their place, the case is entirely altered, and from the coffee land thus shaded there is no more loss of water and soil (perhaps not so much loss of water, as great pains are taken to avert wash) than there was in the original forest, and the climatic and conservative effects of forests are therefore entirely undisturbed. Wherever, then, lands exist which are suitable for coffee planting under shade, they should certainly, in the interests of the country generally, and especially of the rapidly increasing population, be taken up for coffee, and the State forests be confined to those tracts which, from over heavy rainfall, or other causes, are unsuitable for coffee planting.

Other products, and especially cinchona, have received a fair amount of attention in Coorg, and the land on the Ghauts to the westward, where, as we have seen, the coffee plantations have been abandoned, proved to be well suited for the production of the commoner kinds of bark, and large extents of abandoned or semi-abandoned lands were planted with cinchonas. But when the prices of bark fell (whoever takes to growing a drug will soon realize the meaning of the phrase "a drug in the market"), the cultivation was no longer worthy of attention, and has practically died out. Ceara rubber also met with the same fate.

I may here mention that Messrs. Matheson and Co., who held no less than 7,000 out of the 20,000 acres occupied by Europeans in the Bamboo district, went to great expense in introducing coffee seed from Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Jamaica, with the view of ascertaining whether coffee grown from the seed thus imported would be less susceptible to attacks of leaf disease. But, though the plants raised from these seeds are doing exceedingly well, it was found that they were also liable to be attacked by leaf disease, often before they were even out of the nursery, and in this respect proved to be neither better nor worse than the Coorg variety of coffee. A clearing of fifty acres has been entirely planted with coffee raised from Blue Mountain seed, but there is nothing in the appearance of the trees to show that they are not indigenous to the country.

Liberian coffee has been tried experimentally in several parts of Coorg, but I cannot learn that any results have been obtained which would tend to encourage its adoption as a substitute for the variety at present grown.

It is estimated that the Coorg planters employ at least 30,000 Mysore labourers in addition to local labourers and those from the Madras Presidency, and of the 30,000 in question Messrs. Matheson and Co. employ no less than about 5,000 for six to eight months of the year. The 30,000 coolies, with their maistries, draw from 12 to 15 lakhs of rupees per annum (from £120,000 to £150,000, estimating the rupee at par, and for the purposes of a labourer it goes nearly as far in India as when it was so) in wages, very nearly the whole of which eventually reaches Mysore either in payment for grain or as a surplus income which the labourers annually take with them when they return to their homes in Mysore. And as this capital is largely employed in developing the agricultural resources of the Mysore State, it is evident that anything that its Government could do—in the way of railway extension or otherwise—that would stimulate the employment of labour in Coorg would be of great advantage to the finances of Mysore. It is extremely interesting to follow the labour-spent capital of the planters of Coorg to its ultimate destination—to the western coast, to various parts of the Madras Presidency, and far away into the interior of Mysore, and to observe its effects on the country and its financial results. I am not in a position to say exactly what should be done in the way of railways for Coorg, but I trust I have sufficiently shown that the British and Mysore Governments are equally interested in doing all they can, in the way of railway communication and new and improved roads, to develop and encourage the planting resources of Coorg.

The last visit I paid to Coorg was in October, 1891, immediately after the breaking up of the Representative Assembly at Mysore, a full account of which I have given in a previous chapter. I left Mysore on the morning of Tuesday, October 20th, and on the first day drove to Hunsur, a town of between four and five thousand inhabitants, which lies twenty-eight miles to the west of Mysore city. At this place are the extensive coffee works and manure preparing establishment of Messrs. Matheson and Co., by whose manager I was most hospitably and agreeably entertained. Rather an interesting incident in connection with a panther had once occurred at his house, and as this illustrates what I have previously mentioned as to the (to man) innocuous character of this animal, it may not be uninteresting to give an account of what occurred. The circumstances were these.

One night my hostess, some time after retiring to rest, heard a noise in the open veranda which runs round the side of the bungalow just outside her bedroom. She got up, and, taking a lamp in her hand, went round a corner of the building in the direction of the noise, and just as she turned the corner in question there fell upon her astonished vision the spectacle of a panther, which at the moment was busily engaged in devouring the family cat. When the panther saw the lady he tried to make off along the veranda (which at that point was shut in at the side by a trellis-work), but at the moment of his flight the cook, who had also heard the noise, appeared at the opposite end of the veranda with a lamp in his hand. The panther then turned back in the direction of the lady, who stood spell-bound with the lamp in her hand, and as the cook, apparently equally spell-bound, remained stationary with his lamp, the panther, being thus as it were between two fires, lay down under a table which was placed against the wall of the veranda. At last he got up, made a move in the direction of the cook, and then changing his mind, rushed past the lady, and thus made his escape. Panthers seem to be numerous about Hunsur, and I heard another interesting story of their boldness, which I have not space to give, from a neighbour of my host.

After staying for a day at Hunsur, I drove, on October 22nd, to Titimutty, a small village on the frontier of Coorg, where I was met by Mr. Rose, of Hill Grove Estate, who drove me to his plantation near Polibetta, which is in the Bamboo district previously alluded to as containing about two-thirds of the European plantations in Coorg. Shortly after leaving Titimutty we drove through coffee on both sides of the road, and, though I spent four days in the district, and was constantly on the move, I was never once out of sight of coffee, as the plantations lie in a continuous block, and, as they are all thoroughly shaded, sometimes by the original forest trees, and sometimes by trees planted for shade, the general effect is that you are travelling through a forest of which coffee is the underwood—a forest lying on gently undulating ground from which nothing can be seen of the surrounding country. As the bungalows of the planters are of course surrounded by coffee and shade trees, they have necessarily an extremely shut-in appearance. But this rather triste effect might be obviated (and I have with good effect obviated it in the case of a bungalow which lies in the centre of an estate of my own in Mysore) by cutting vistas here and there through the shade trees through which peeps may be had of distant hills. This may seem to be a point of little practical value, but, as I have shown in a previous chapter, the amenities of an estate are of value, and are likely to become more so when the desirable nature of shade coffee property is more widely known. The bungalows in the Bamboo district are very comfortable, most of them having tennis grounds, and if the vistas I have suggested were cut out, their attractiveness would be much enhanced. But if the Bamboo district has not the scenic advantages of plantations in other parts of Coorg and in Mysore, these are much compensated for by the close proximity of one plantation to another, and I was told that at certain seasons there was generally a well-attended lawn tennis party on every day of the week. There is besides, in the centre of the district, a comfortable club where balls and dances are occasionally given. In short, the Bamboo district has features of its own which make it entirely different from any planting district in India. From being so much shut in, it might, at first sight, be supposed to be not a very healthy district, but I heard no complaints on that score, nor, from the appearance of the planters, would it have occurred to me that the district was at all unhealthy. On the evening of my arrival there was a dinner-party, at which four ladies were present, and later on there was music and singing, and all the accompaniments of a pleasant social life. So much do coffee districts vary in India, that the party was to me a startling surprise, which the reader may easily understand when I mention that, after leaving the most northerly plantation in Coorg and entering my district of Manjarabad, there is only one resident lady to be found there, and it is not till you reach the northern district of Mysore, some sixty miles further, that ladies, in the plural, again commence, though even there they do not exist to a very serious extent.

On the afternoon of the day of my arrival I walked round my host's estate, which carried an excellent crop, and also visited a neighbouring property. On the following morning I drove to the Dubarri estate, and walked round part of it, and in the afternoon visited the club—a comfortable, and in every respect suitable, building which, as I mentioned, is occasionally used for dances. I also visited the co-operative store, which contained a large supply of various articles. The church, which was close to the club, had been recently built, at a cost of 5,000 rupees, but, when I saw it, the interior was not quite finished. I may mention that in the Bamboo district there is a resident doctor who is employed by the various estates. Later on in the afternoon I rode from the club with Mr. William Davies to the Mattada Kadu estate (Messrs. Matheson and Co.'s property), of which he is manager, and rode through coffee all the way to the bungalow. I was most kindly entertained by Mr. Davies, who had a party of the neighbouring planters to meet me at dinner, after which we had much talk on the subject in which we were all mutually interested. On the following morning I awoke early, and was rather surprised, shortly after daylight, to hear the names of the coolies called over from the check-roll, as, though early hours were kept in the old days in Mysore, we have now become considerably later, owing, I surmise, to feeling that in these labour-competing days we are not as completely master as we once were. After a small breakfast I rode through the estate, guided by Mr. Davies, who was accompanied by two of his guests of the night before, and we then passed into the Nullagottay estate (all Messrs. Matheson's), after which we entered into Whust Nullagottay, and went to the bungalow from which (there is always an exception) there is a fine view of the Brahmagiri Hills. After a very short stay we again mounted, and presently passed into the Whoshully estate, and finally arrived, after riding through that property, at about midday at Mr. Robinson's bungalow, where we had breakfast. Mr. Rose came over in the afternoon, and we rode home to Hill Grove through Messrs. Matheson's estate which had been bought from Mr. Minchin, besides visiting the Hope estate. I thus rode through coffee for nearly the entire day. On the following day I went over another adjacent property, and on the day after, Monday, October 26th, started for Mercara, the capital of Coorg. I drove by way of Siddapur, paid a short visit to Cannon Kadu estate, and arrived at Abiel, Mr. Martin's estate, at about midday, rode round his estate in the afternoon, and then drove on to Mr. E. Meynell's charming home—the Retreat—which is about a mile from the town of Mercara.

I was particularly struck with the arrangements of this house, as it was a thoroughly English-looking home in every respect, and I only wish I could give a plan of it as a model for a residence in the hill and planting districts of India. The front veranda was inclosed with glass, and lined with flowers in pots, and from the centre of this projected a conservatory, at the end of which was the front door. You thus, after driving up to the house, walked through a conservatory into the inclosed veranda, and this not only gave a very pretty effect, but was practically useful by keeping carriages, with their attendant dust and disagreeables, at a sufficient distance from the veranda. My hostess very kindly permitted me to see the kitchen arrangements. These, as well as the storerooms, were in a wing projecting from the back of the bungalow. The kitchen, which consisted of a separate room, with a single door, was furnished with a Wilson range, and there was no door between the kitchen and the scullery. The latter was at the outside edge of the wing, and was entered by its own door—an arrangement, by the way, that might be practised with advantage in this country, as a connecting door is liable to admit smells from the scullery into the kitchen. The reader will, I trust, excuse the mention of these apparently trivial matters, but as I strongly suspect that much of the ill-health in India is due to the dirt and horrors of the Indian cook-room, which is usually at a little distance from the bungalow, and turned into a general lounge for the servants, I think it well to show that, with a little contrivance and attention, as great a degree of order and cleanliness may exist in India as in any other portion of the globe.

On the following day I called on Mr. Mann, son of one of the pioneer planters of 1855, and inspected an interesting coffee garden of four acres which is close to his bungalow in Mercara. Some of the coffee trees were planted thirty and others forty years ago, and they have given for many years fifteen hundredweight an acre on the average, and though many of the trees were evidently suffering from the effects of overbearing, there seemed no reason why they should not continue to bear good crops for an indefinite period of time. Estimating the value of the coffee at 80s. a hundredweight, the produce of an acre would be worth £60, of 100 acres £6,000, and allowing one-half for expenses—a very liberal estimate—there would be a clear income of £3,000 a year from 100 acres of such coffee. As 100 acres of land so situated—it was flat, lay in a hollow, and was well sheltered—could not be obtained, it might seem that an account of this garden could be of no practical value. But the garden in question raises one very important point in the mind, and that is whether it would not be better to abandon all inferior soils and situations on an estate, and concentrate all the labour and manurial resources on a more limited area, every operation on which could be carried out exactly at the right moment. This is a highly important question which I state here for the consideration of planters.

After spending two pleasant days at the Retreat, I bade my kind host and hostess good-bye (I have thanked Mr. Meynell, who I may mention represents Messrs. Matheson's large interests in Coorg, in the preface for the valuable information he subsequently sent me as regards planting in Coorg), and went on my way towards my home in Mysore, and stayed first at the Hallery estate, which is about six miles from Mercara, and is the property of my friend Mr. Mangles. The approach to the bungalow through the coffee is very pretty; the building stands at the head of a slope, and commands a fine and extensive view of the country and the distant hills. The amenities here had been well attended to: below the front of the bungalow terraces edged with balustrades had been cut, and formed into flower gardens, and I was glad to see that, in parts of the plantation, from which good views could be had, there were seats. I may observe here that there is a great want in plantations of seats, which are now the more needed as all logs in the old plantations have of course disappeared. Near the bungalow is an excellent stable, well paved, and quite in English style. On the following morning I wont with Mr. Sprott, who is in charge of Mr. Mangles's estate, to visit his Santigherry property, some seven miles distant, and on the way there went on the left of the road through a plantation belonging to Messrs. Macpherson and Ainslie. After this we re-entered the main road, passed the village of Santikoopa, and then entered and went round the estate we had come to visit. On the way home we diverged to the left and went through Mr. Murray Ainslie's estate, and round by an estate owned by Mr. Campbell, and finally arrived at Hallery at about half-past twelve. In the afternoon I went round part of the estate, which I had already seen something of on the day of my arrival.

Early the following morning, after bidding good-bye to the host and hostess who had so kindly entertained me, I started on my journey northwards, and after a troublesome and trying drive (for my horses), in which two rivers had to be crossed by ferry boats, and much deep unmetalled road struggled through, I arrived at 12.30 at Coovercolley—another estate of Mr. Mangles's—where I was kindly entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Trelawney (Mr. Trelawney manages this fine property). The bungalow here is particularly comfortable, and had the great advantage of a very wide open veranda. On the right of the approach to the bungalow was a neatly trimmed shoe flower hedge, which had a very pretty effect, and, as at Hallery, terraces had been cut in front for a flower garden. From the front of the bungalow there is an extensive view of much of the Coorg country, and I was particularly struck by its continuous jungly character, and with its great contrast to the Mysore country to the north, which is not so much a jungly country, as an open grass country studded with occasional wood, and park-like groups of trees. On the afternoon of my arrival I rode round part of this fine estate, and inspected other parts of it on the following morning and evening. On the next morning I started at a quarter to six, and after driving about twenty-four miles, crossed the frontier, and entered Manjarabad—the southernmost coffee district of Mysore. The northernmost part of Coorg consists of a long tongue of land which projects into Mysore, and the scenery, in its beautiful, open, and park-like character, naturally resembles that of Manjarabad.

On my visit to Coorg I look back with pleasure. It was, indeed, extremely enjoyable and instructive, and I cannot help regretting the fact that, owing to the nature of their duties, planters are obliged to remain so continuously at home; and then, of course, when they can get away, they naturally go for change of air and scene anywhere out of the coffee districts. The result of this is that the planters of the north of Mysore see little of those in the south, and that neither have any intercourse with Coorg, and that, in consequence, much valuable interchange of views and experiences that might otherwise take place cannot now do so. Had such intercourse existed, many of the mistakes made in Coorg as regards shade would probably have been avoided, and much loss of money averted.

The reader will have noticed that I have hitherto made no observations on the coffee I saw in Coorg, my reason for not doing so being that I thought they might be more conveniently reserved for the close of the chapter. I am glad that in the course of my observations I shall have much to say in praise of the state of coffee in Coorg, and if I should seem to be a little free in my remarks as to the management of shade, I trust that my Coorg readers will bear in mind that my experience of trees planted as shade to supply the place of original forest trees removed is the oldest in India, and stretches back to the year 1857, and that it requires a very long time, as they will see by consulting the chapter on shade, before all the points connected with shade trees can be proved with certainty. That mistakes as regards shade should have been made in Coorg, where shade experience is comparatively recent, is not at all surprising; in former times numerous mistakes were made in Mysore, and have only been rectified by long experience and observation.

My general impression on going through the Bamboo district of Coorg was that it contains a certain proportion of land of poor character (and this can be said of most coffee districts) which should never have been opened, but that there are many excellent and valuable estates, though it was plain to me that, from the more weakly, or perhaps I should rather say less robust, character of the shoots, and the appearance of the soil, it had, as a rule, much less growing power in it, and would consequently require more manure, than the deep and heavier soils of Mysore. But these soils in the Bamboo district, though lighter in character, are of course (and this is a fact of no small importance) more easily worked than those of Mysore. The next point that attracted my attention was the shade, and of the numerous estates that I saw in the Bamboo district there were only two that at all came up to my idea of what a well shaded property ought to be. I could see little signs of the shade being varied in kind and quantity to suit the various aspects, and many trees were preserved which were merely throwing shadow, not on to the coffee, but on to adjacent trees. Then I found that in one excellent piece of young coffee the shade had been planted in lines running from east to west, instead of being closely planted in lines from north to south (vide chapter on shade). The shade, too, generally speaking, was far too largely composed of one kind of tree,—the Attí-mara (Ficus glomerata)—and finally this tree, the defects of which I have remarked upon in my chapter on shade, was badly managed by being trimmed up to a considerable height above the ground. The result of this was that on land on which there was an enormous number of trees there was far too little shade, and a forester fresh from England would never have imagined that the planters had intended to grow umbrageous trees for the double purpose of lowering the temperature of the plantation and sheltering the coffee from sun and parching winds, but would have supposed that they were engaged in growing timber for sale. I saw land which, I feel sure, had at least three times the number of trees that would have been sufficient to shade it fully, had they been properly treated. Such a number of trees throw out, of course, a corresponding number of large roots, and one planter told me that in some instances coffee was being killed by the masses of Attí root in the land. As regards shade, then, there is much room for improvement in Coorg, and especial attention should be paid to this in the Bamboo district which has suffered so much from Borer. This pest, we know, thrives best under warm and dry conditions, and it is therefore of great importance that the kinds of shade most recommended in my chapter on shade should be freely planted, and other kinds gradually removed.

There was a very good crop on the trees when I passed through Coorg—one that, when picked, quite exceeded the expectations of the planters—and I saw two estates which had at once a good crop on the trees, leaves of good, well-fed looking colour, and a show of wood giving promise of an equally good crop for the following year; and it says well for cultivation in Coorg that any estate could show this, for the tendency of coffee, as of most fruit trees, is to give heavy and light crops alternately. As it is important to know the manures that were used to produce such results, I may mention that on one of these estates 6 cwt. of castor cake and 3 cwt. of bones had been applied the previous year, and for the four preceding years 2 cwt. of castor cake and 1 cwt. of bone had been used, but, in the opinion of the manager, the latter application had proved too small. On the other estate one-third of a bushel of cattle manure per tree, and from 7 cwt. to 10 cwt. of bones had been applied once in three years, and composts also had been used to a considerable extent. These were formed first of a layer of vegetable rubbish, then fresh pulp and lime, and lastly a layer of soil. The estate last referred to, on which the cattle manure, bones and compost had been used, belongs to Mr. Mangles—his Coovercolley estate—and is certainly the finest I ever saw, if we take into consideration the state of the soil, the colour of the foliage, and the evident prospect of continuously good crops. So well fed, indeed, was the land with nitrogen, that an application of nitrate of soda produced no perceptible effect on the trees. The land was probably over supplied with phosphoric acid, and an analysis of the soil would be of practical value, for if, as I have good reason to surmise, there is a very large supply of phosphoric acid in the soil, the use of bones might be suspended for some years, and a light application of lime used instead. Ten acres, at any rate, might be tried as an experiment. I was shown one piece of coffee which had been manured, when it was two years old, with cattle manure, and this piece had remained perceptibly superior ever since. On this estate 600 cattle are kept for the sake of their manure. I would suggest that the proprietor might, on say ten acres, discontinue the use of cattle manure, and, as an experiment, apply dressings of jungle top-soil instead, or the red earth alluded to in my chapter on manures, should that be available. The experiment might be valuable to the proprietor and to planters in general. Cattle manure is very expensive, and when 12 to 14 tons per acre—some fairly well rotted and some slightly so—were used in Coorg on one estate the cost was 72 rupees an acre, including cost of application.

In bringing these brief remarks to a close, I may observe that I formed a very high opinion of coffee in Coorg, and I feel confident that if the shade were remodelled on the system recommended in my chapter on that subject, the losses from Borer and leaf disease would be largely diminished, and a great general improvement in the coffee take place. We have experienced such results from improved shade in Mysore, and there can be no doubt that similar results will follow in Coorg. In remodelling the shade system, all light and dry soils should be first attended to and planted up with trees which give an ample and cool shade. The treatment of other parts of plantations may be postponed.

As regards the profits that may reasonably be expected from well managed and well situated estates in Coorg, I am happy to say that I have obtained from a friend the returns from his estates for the last ten years, and as his properties are of large extent, the return may be regarded as a very reliable one, more especially as the prices for three years of the period were very low. The average yield per acre was 4 cwt. 1 qr. 7 lbs.; the expenses, £9 4s. 2d., and the profits per acre £7 8s. 6d.

I only wish that, in conclusion, I could give as favourable an account of the prospects of sport in Coorg as I can of its coffee. Twenty-five years ago there was good big game shooting, but the absence of game laws, and the indiscriminate destruction of does, fawns, and cow bisons by the natives, at every season of the year, have changed all that, and it is with a melancholy smile that one reads in the "Coorg Gazetteer" that the Coorgs are such ardent sportsmen that they have hardly left a head of game in the country. But the first sign of advanced civilization—the intelligent preservation of wild animals—has begun, or will shortly be begun, in the enlightened state of Mysore, and I trust that its good example may soon be followed in Coorg, and all parts of India. With the aid of preservation game will soon increase in the more remote forests into which it has been driven back, and from thence spread into other parts of the country.

[48] "Manual of Coorg," compiled by Rev. G. Richter, Principal, Government Central College, Mercara. Mangalore, 1870.

[49] The late Mr. William Pringle, who, after leaving Coorg, wrote in 1891, for the "Madras Mail," some interesting and suggestive papers on the cultivation of coffee.

[50] I make this statement on the authority of Mr. Meynell (vide preface), and it is, no doubt, the result of his experience in the Bamboo district, but his estimate could hardly, I should say, apply to the estates I visited in North Coorg.

Coorg wedding

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A Kodava wedding is perhaps the only Hindu wedding ceremony, where the rituals are conducted without a priest and there is no puja; and where alcohol and meat is always served. The groom claims his bride after a member of his clan has killed mock banana trunk soldiers after which the elders bless the newly married couple. The food is brilliant non-vegetarian fare, and there is a lot of dancing.” Shooting a Kodava wedding is a different experience altogether; “Its a fun and happy ceremony and very regal- the clothes worn by the clan are an expression of the regal status. There will never be a person who turns and awaits to be photographed. It is so personal. People only want to bless the couple.”

The groom wears a white kupya (robe) with a chele (sash) and a churidar. The white brocade turban imparts a majestic look

The bride wears a red silk sari with dots draped in the signature Coorgi style. Teamed with a red long-sleeved blouse and a red veil that covers her head. The sari is handed down as an heirloom

Gold jewellery is worn on the hair, ears, wrists, fingers and neck. Silver jewellery for the feet and a jasmine garland complete the look

They worship their ancestors and therefore there is no priest. After the honour of cutting the banana plant stems, an elder guides the families through some rituals. The rest of the ceremony is family and friends blessing the couple with rice

A land of chivalry and pride, a life of solitary splendour, rich food and spices

If the men are known to be very strong, Coorg women are known for their beauty and confidence

Photographs courtesy- www.markswaroop.com

Coorg Map of - 1897

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Map of the Coorg province from the large map accompanying Lewis Rice's Mysore Gazetteer (volume 2, Mysore By Districts), Archibald Constable and Company, London, 1897.

India and the Greek World; A study in the transmission of culture.

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The Greeks Knew India Much Before Alexander's Invasion. Coorgs who resemble Greeks so much could have possibly migrated much before Alexander came to India.

The name of India, so far as is known, first appears in Greek literature in the 5th century B.C. in the works of Hekataios and Herodotos. The word is derived from the Indus river (Sanskrit sindhumeans "river"), and in the Greek as well as the Persian language 'India" originally meant only the Indus region, which then belonged to the Persian empire. Herodotos, however, already used the term in a wider sense to denote the whole country; and classical Greek usage followed his example.

Prior to the time of Alexander, Greek knowledge of India was acquired on the whole by wav of Persia. King Cyrus, founder of the Persian empire and of the Achaemenid dynasty (reigned 559-530 B.C.), added to his territories the region called Gandhara, directly south of the Hindu Kush mountains. About 518-515 B.C. Dareios I extended this conquest southward as far as the Indus river. Thereby the Indus became the easternmost boundary of the vast Persian colossus, which sprawled across all of western Asia to include, after 546 B.C., most of the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor. Communications between the extremities of this huge polity were now unimpeded by political frontiers. Moreover, Persian policies served inadvertently to promote that mixture of nationalities which so frequently provides intellectual stimulus. Large-scale deportations of peoples occurred on occasion, while slaves captured in war of often came to reside in portions of the empire far removed from their original homes. The skills and labor power of all of Persia's subjects, Greeks included, were employed in imperial building projects. Many Greeks served as officials or mercenaries in the various Achaemenid provinces; on occasion Greek physicians were employed at the Persian royal courts Conversely, Indian troops formed a contingent of !he Persian army which invaded Greece in 480 B.C., and of the army which opposed Alexander at Gaugamela in 331 B.C. Unquestionably the requirements of war, administration and commerce in the far-flung Persian empire produced numerous encounters between Indians and [11] Greeks. Most of these, no doubt, were inconsequential; but even genuine exchanges of ideas will ordinarily have left no trace for posterity.

One Greek in Persian employ who allegedly both travelled to India and wrote a book on the subject is Skylax of Karia, a mercenary soldier and subject of King Dareios I. At the command of this ruler, who wished to know at what point the Indus flows into the ocean, Skylax reputedly took a fleet of ships from the headwaters of the river down to its mouth, thence westward across the ocean and into the Red Sea as far as Suez. As described by Herodotos, this voyage was exploratory in nature, and was later followed by Dareios' conquest of the Indus territory. Unfortunately, there is good reason to question whether Skylax really made this voyage, or published an account of it which was available in the Greek world. In view of the warlike tribes whom Alexander the Great later encountered along this route, it is difficult to imagine a small explorer's party making this journey successfully. At the same time, extant evidence scarcely permits the alternative conclusion that Skylax ‘s expedition formed part of Dareios' conquering army. More importantly, a genuine voyager cannot have believed that the Indus flows eastward, as Herodotos reports, or that the trip required two and a half years. The latter notion is explainable only upon the historian's assumption that the expedition involved the circumnavigation of India.Herodotos (484-425 B. C.)

Knowledge communicated via Persia was doubtless also the source for those few Indian names which appear in surviving remnants of Hekataios of Miletos' Geography (ca. 500 B.C.). Unfortunately, the small number of the fragments makes it nearly impossible to tell precisely what Hekataios did know about India. By contrast, information is plentiful concerning his successor, Herodotos of Halikarnassos (484-425 B. C.), whose Historieshave survived in their entirety. The work of Herodotos provides an enormous variety of data about many countries - some of it in fact derived from Hekataios. Although it is probably safe to assume that Herodotos himself never visited India, he was an indefatigable collector of anecdotes from many sources. He knew, for example, that India embraced diverse peoples of widely varying physical appearance, customs and language. Some Indians were nomadic an ate raw flesh; others refused to kill any living creature. Apparently he also recognized the distinction between the Aryan and Dravidian races; the latter he compares to the Ethiopians in skin color and notes that they "dwell far away From the Persians southwards, and were no subjects of King Dareios." However, Herodotos clearly exaggerates India's population, saying that the Indians are "more in number than any nation known to me.” He emphasizes the country's wealth in gold; according to his information, India supplied a larger tribute than any other province of the Persian empire. Indian birds and beasts he regards as much bigger than those existing elsewhere, except for horses; Indian clothing he describes as [12] made from wool growing on trees (i.e. cotton). Herodotos' notions of geography were understandably inaccurate: for instance his belief that the Indus flows eastward, and that India constitutes the easternmost inhabited region of Asia, with only desert wastes beyond. Interestingly, nothing in his remarks gives the impression that India possessed much in the way of civilization, let alone the philosophic and religious eminence for which it became noted in Hellenistic times.

Herodotos' most famous statement about India-that gold is produced in the Indian desert by fierce ants larger than foxes-appears at first sight utterly fantastic.Ktesias (405-397 B.C.)

[] Finally, the last of those Greeks before Alexander who are known to have written about India was Ktesias of Knidos, who ought to have known more about the subject than any of his predecessors. A medical doctor by profession, he served for eight years (405-397 B.C.) as personal physician to the Persian king Artaxerxes Mnemon. Living thus at the Achaemenid court, he had unexampled opportunities to communicate with Persians of high rank and acquire an insight into the workings of the Persian empire. Upon his return to Greece Ktesias wrote a book called Persika, covering the entire history of the Near East from its beginnings down to his own time, as well as a much smaller work called Indika. Both of these have disappeared; but a number of fragmentary citations remain extant, together with extensive excerpts made by the Byzantine patriarch Photios in the 9th century.

Ktesias' credibility as a historian was already questioned by Aristotle, [13] and has remained a disputed issue. His books were full of entertaining stories and descriptions, including undoubted exaggerations if not pure fantasy in some cases. Thus he has been described as a founder of the historical novel. He claimed to have used Persian royal archives in gathering his material, though this seems unlikely, given the legendary character of so much that he relates. Unfortunately he had slight critical sense, and superimposed improbable stories upon what may originally have been genuine traditions.27 But he was a popular author, as the survival of his works into the 9th century demonstrates. Until the age of Alexander the Great he was a standard authority on Persia and India. With respect to India the information Ktesias has to offer is occasionally accurate, though more often exaggerated. Even from the vantage-point of the Persian court at Susa, India was still a strange and virtually unknown country; at such a distance, marvels become credible. He did take care, nonetheless, to distinguish between things he had seen himself and information he had only acquired by hearsay. He never claimed to have visited India, though we may suppose that he sometimes had occasion to meet Indians, or Persian officials who had served in the empire's Indian territories. Presumably he had seen articles of tribute or presents offered by Indian princes to the powerful Persian monarch. Thus he knew that India contained elephants, little monkeys with long tails, huge birds and talking parrots, and silver and gold in the mountains. But with equal assurance he describes Indian wonders: a fountain which fills with liquid gold each year; dogs large enough to fight lions; a river consisting of honey: a spring in which the water curdles like cheese, and if drunk becomes a truth serum; people who live as long as 200 years, and others having eight fingers on each hand and ears long enough to cover their shoulders. He does not examine such tales according to any standard of verisimilitude - except to say that he has omitted to relate even more extraordinary matters for fear he will not be believed! If we may judge from the wide dissemination of his books, Greek. readers did not expect a sceptical approach to the marvels of the Orient.

What the Greeks actually knew about India, therefore, was not very much and not very accurate. As the fruit of writings like those of Hekataios, Herodotos and Ktesias, educated Greeks of the period undoubtedly possessed some rudimentary awareness of India's existence. Presumably such information did not remain totally without effect. Knowledge of foreign peoples was a prime stimulus in causing the Greeks to examine their own traditions in a critical spirit; and this in turn had enormous importance in the development of Greek intellectual life. Herodotos himself gives evidence of how foreign contacts might produce a relativistic point of view: he notes that while each nation possesses its own customs, each also considers its own to be superior. As an example [14] he cites certain Indians at the court of Dareios of Persia, who considered it normal to eat their own fathers' dead bodies, but abhorrent to cremate them. The Greeks, of course, held precisely the opposite view.

Not totally to be discounted is the possibility that Indian religious ideas filtered into Greece through the agency of wandering holy man. The itinerant ascetic has been a familiar figure in India since the beginning of that country's recorded history. Buddhist missionary impulses in particular may have inspired occasional monks to proselytize beyond the Himalayas, though this becomes more likely from the 3rd century B.C. onward, when Buddhism experienced its first great age of expansion. One edict of the Buddhist emperor Ashoka (3rd cen. B.C.) actually records that he sent envoys into various Hellenistic countries to propagate the "Law of Piety. " The fact that no Buddhist writings of this period have ever been discovered on Hellenistic territory is not, in itself, conclusive evidence to the contrary: the Indian guru typically exerts his influence by means of speech and example rather than by written texts. Nonetheless, pre-Hellenistic sources totally fail to mention the presence of Indians of any kind among the Greeks.Sokrates (469-399 B.C.)

On this theme, however, a curious anecdote is told about the philosopher Sokrates (469-399 B.C.). According to the story, Sokrates in Athens once conversed with an Indian, who inquired what sort of philosopher he was. When Sokrates replied that he "investigated human life," the Indian laughed, saying that "no one was able to observe human affairs if he was ignorant of divine affairs." This incident is reported by the Christian historian Eusebios (260-340 A.D.), who cites it at two removes: from Aristokles, who in turn is quoting the musicologist Aristoxenos (fl. 320-300 B.C.). But even if the citation is accurate, the incident as recorded is highly improbable. Certainly a stray Indian holy man may have wandered somehow as far as Athens in the classical period, and even learned Greek along the way, though the probabilities are against it. But it is virtually unthinkable that such a man, once arrived, would have been regarded as a sage. Not only had the Greeks of Sokrates' time no inkling that the Indians might possess a philosophy; their contempt for “barbarians” (i.e. all non-Greeks) would have profoundly hindered any mutual understanding. Furthermore, it is beyond belief that a Greek of the 4th century B.C. (Aristoxenos) would have permitted an Indian to have the last word - the final laugh - in a discussion with so revered a personage as Sokrates. Conceivably the idea of an Indian's encounter with Sokrates was invented by Aristoxenos, who lived in the period just after Alexander's Indian expedition, and whose imagination may well have been aroused by that extraordinary adventure. But even if the meeting (unlikely as it is) did in fact occur, the contents of the conversation would seem to belong to a much later century. The late-Hellenistic age, unlike its classical predecessor, held a notably high [15] opinion of Indian wisdom. Eusebios himself may well have been glad to cite the alleged remark of an Indian in confirmation of the Christian conviction that divine concerns take precedence over human ones.

Despite the classical Greeks' ignorance of India, some significance presumably attaches to the fact that Greek philosophy originated in the cities of lonia on Asia Minor's western shore - that portion of the Greek world in closest touch with the Orient. Admittedly, this circumstance scarcely permits any inferences regarding Indian influence upon the Greeks. But the inter-cultural communication which the policies of the Persian empire facilitated certainly gave impetus to intellectual creativity - an impetus which cannot have remained without effect upon the life of Greece.V Soul-Wandering

[20] The notion that spirits or souls of dead persons may inhabit or "possess" animals or plants is widespread among both ancient and modern peoples in many pans of the world. But the belief that the life-force or soul of the individual passes from life to life, inhabiting a different physical body in each existence, is a much rarer doctrine. Known as metempsychosis or transmigration of souls, it is found in developed form in the ancient world only in India and Greece. Metempsychosis appears in rudimentary form in the Upanishads, and subsequently became incorporated into the ethical teaching of all the major Indian thought-systems down to the present day. Though vastly more important in Indian than in Greek religion, it was nonetheless known in Greece as early as the 6th century B.C., and played a significant role in Orphism and Pythagoreanism. Plato in the early 4th century B.C. could already refer to it as "an ancient tradition."

The earliest known mention of metempsychosis in any extant source occurs in a verse of the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, which probably dates from the 7th or 6th century B.C., though an earlier reference in the Rig Veda may hint at it. The development of this doctrine in India is apparently connected with the growth of monistic tendencies in religion, as the period which produced the ritualistic Brahmana literature passed into that of the more philosophical Upanishads, and then to the devotional Bhagavad Gita and the bhakti (i.e. faith) cults. The numerous gods and goddesses of the older Vedic hymns were gradually brought into a single system, each becoming identified with others, until eventually all were considered to be manifestations of Brahman, the world-essence. Likewise all earthly beings came to be linked through the idea of transmigration of souls. However, in the few instances where transmigration is mentioned in the Upanishads it is not associated with any theory of ethics. These texts are quite clear on the point that the soul of a person is freed from further transmigration only through mystic knowledge, not through "works" or actions of any sort.

[23] But in both India and Greece, metempsychosis in its characteristic and fullest development was a decisively ethical doctrine. The present status of every living being - whether human or animal, man or woman, high- or low-caste, happy or miserable - was believed to be the direct result of the quality of its behavior in previous earthly existences. Certain Greek mystery-cults apparently held that the soul becomes purified only through a series of successive rebirths. In India, metempsychosis was taught as an ethical doctrine by Buddhists and Jains, Vishnuites and Shivaites, adherents of the Sankhya and Vedanta philosophies, and by the practitioners of Yoga. Formulated as the law of karma (i.e. "act" or "deed"), ethical metempsychosis served to sanction traditional mores, inasmuch as proper behavior was defined according to custom. Strange from the Western viewpoint is the fact that karma was believed to operate as a kind of natural law, not requiring the intervention of any personalized form of deity.

The earliest Indian religion in which karma is known to have occupied a central place is Jainism, whose traditional founder, Parshvanatha, probably lived about the 8th century B.C. Jainism, which survives today as the faith of some two million Indians, first came to history's attention in the person of Mahavira (ca. 540-468 B.C.), its greatest exponent. Jain doctrine teaches that each living creature possesses a material soul jiva) which is originally pure and colorless, but through the activities of life becomes contaminated by karmic matter. Every act committed by man or beast is believed to produce karmic coloring on the soul-light colors for virtuous deeds, medium tones for minor offenses, with the darkest shades being reserved for serious transgressions. Since dark-colored stains are supposed to weigh down the soul, while lighter ones allow it to rise, the light-colored souls will be reborn correspondingly as gods or humans, the darker ones as animals or plants, or as inhabitants of Hell.

By the time of Gautama the Buddha, who was a contemporary of Mahavira, metempsychosis and the law of karma seem to have become widely accepted in India as virtually self-evident truths. It would otherwise be difficult to explain their acceptance in the Buddhist metaphysics, which declares all earthly phenomena to be in a state of continuous flux, and denies the existence of any permanent entity whatever. To Buddhists the notion of soul is self-contradictory - an opinion which (at least in the view of some critics) ought to exclude the idea of karma, since there is no soul or subtle material body to provide continuity from one life to the next. But as far as we can judge from the extant scriptures, early Buddhists were not unduly disturbed by this difficulty. Gautama himself discouraged all metaphysical speculation on the ground that it hindered the true goal of the religious life-namely, relief from earthly suffering. Only several centuries after the Master's death did the second great branch of Buddhism, the Mahayana, attempt to reconcile the ideas of [24] karma and universal flux. The Mahayana school explains karma as a kind of psychic energy, not as a material appendage to the soul. Karma is transferred from one person's life to the next through the chain of "dependent origination" which governs the workings of the universe.

A variation of metempsychosis was taught by the Sankhya philosophy, numerous schools of which are known to have flourished in India in the first half-millennium A.D. Sankhya in some form may actually be older even than Buddhism, though as a dualist and atheist system the earliest known exposition of it - the Sankhya-karika of Ishvarakrishna - dates only from about the 4th century A.D. Like Jainism, Sankhya assumes the existence of a plurality of souls; but it differs by its assertion that the soul (purusha) is a purely spiritual entity, incapable of being affected by material qualities such as color. In spite of this, the Sankhya notion of karma remains materialistic. It assumes that the visible living creature contains a subtler (but still material) inner body composed of the sense faculties, the breaths (which are the source of life), and the mind. This subtle body, rather than the soul, is the bearer of karmic influences and the basis of the reincarnated personality. Though the visible body dies, the subtle body persists and is reborn in human, animal or plant form according to the number and depth of the karmic scars upon it. Liberation from the otherwise endless succession of births and deaths is possible only when the person fully recognizes (through a kind of mystic intuition) that the soul is essentially pure and free, its bondage to matter (prakriti) being merely the produce of ignorance.Orphics

In Greece metempsychosis is not directly attested by any source before Plato, though its presence at an earlier date can probably be inferred. The doctrine is linked to the Orphics; we hear of "Orphic" holy men who wandered about seeking adherents and conducted religious ceremonies; but it is unclear just what their teachings were. The dramatist Euripides criticized some of these persons as unscrupulous practitioners claiming magical powers. The Orphics lived as vegetarians; they refused to sacrifice animals and used only bloodless offerings at their rites, possibly on the ground that human souls may migrate into animals. Orphic ceremonies were designed to purify the sinner of guilt, to assuage the anger of the gods, to cure disease, or to facilitate the soul's passage into the lower regions after death. Probably they included reading from books; all sources agree on the importance the Orphics attached to the written word. Plato could be referring to Orphics - though he does not say so expressly - when he speaks of the persons who equate the body with a prison or tomb of the soul, which is undergoing punishment for some reason. Likewise he mentions "certain priests and priestesses" - perhaps Orphics - who claim that the soul is immortal and will be reborn, and that therefore human beings on earth should lead a holy life. Surviving sources hardly permit us to judge whether or not a [25] distinct sect of Orphic believers, as distinct from mere practitioners of cult ceremonies, ever existed in Greece. However, the worship of the god Dionysos was sometimes associated with the rites of Orpheos; some texts also connect these rites with the Eleusinian mysteries.

The origins of Orphism too are wholly enshrouded in myth. As seen from the 4th century B.C., Orpheos was a personage both distant in time (allegedly pre-Homeric) and remote in origin: his home was semi-barbarous Thrace. Reputedly he was one of the great classic poets, equal to Homer and Hesiodos. Various poems circulated under his name, though sceptics denied his authorship: e.g. Ion of Chios says that the true source of some "Orphic" poems was Pythagoras. According to legend Orpheos had been a gentle lyre-player who could charm the most fearsome beasts by his music, and had initiated the mystic ceremonies (teletai) conducted in his name. Allegedly he had once visited the underworld seeking the soul of his dead wife, Eurydice, and afterward returned again to earth. Indeed, in many respects Orpheos resembles the typical shaman - a type of magician and miracle-worker known since ancient times in Central Asia and Siberia. The shaman is able to bring about a connection with the souls of the dead, with demons and nature-spirits; he experiences ecstatic trances in which his soul leaves its body and journeys to heaven or to the nether regions. Thus he serves as mediator for the living in their relations with the gods. The Orpheos of legend bears many characteristically shamanistic features: his journey to the underworld; his function as guide for the soul in its descent to Hades; his love of music and animals; his ability to heal disease, and his magical and soothsaying powers. Even the legend of his singing head - allegedly cut off by priestesses of Bakchos and thrown into a river in Thrace, where it floated as far as Lesbos and became an oracle - has analogues in Central Asia: the skulls of Siberian shamans are considered capable of prophecy.

Orphism remained a nebulous kind of religious underground in Greece, difficult to link with particular individuals or dates. But its most famous doctrine - namely, metempsychosis - was certainly taught by several identifiable persons of the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. One of these was Pherekydes of Syros, who composed a mythological account of the workings of the universe, the functions of the gods, and the fate of souls after death. All this he is supposed to have learned through revelation or secret books. probably Semitic in origin; his own forebears seem to have come from Asia Minor. Pherekydes asserted that the human soul passes from one body to another; apparently he also taught that the souls of the righteous and of the wicked will undergo divergent fates after death. Pherekydes was reputed to have been Pythagoras' teacher. Though there is no good evidence for this, the Pythagoreans of later times studied his book; and the teachings of the two men are similar in certain [26] respects.Pythagoras (6th cent. B.C.)

Pythagoras too taught soul-wandering; this is attested by the oldest traditions about him.Founder of a religious brotherhood in Kroton in south Italy (6th cent. B.C.), he reputedly could remember four of his own previous existences: namely as Aithalides son of Hermes, as the Euphorbos who was killed in the Trojan war, as a certain Hermotimos, and as a Delian fisherman. He believed in a psychic connection among all forms of life, claiming that his own soul was constantly passing into animals and plants; he claimed also to have visited Hades. Pythagoras' name is linked to that of Orpheos: a number of classical sources agree in placing the two side by side. His followers shared many features of the Orphics' way of life, especially the prohibition of meat eating and the employment of mystic rites to purify the soul. Music constituted a further bond between them: Orpheos' music supposedly could soothe even the guardians of Hades, while Pythagoras allegedly had discovered the mathematical relations of the notes on the musical scale. The differences between Orphics and Pythagoreans apparently lay in the realm of cult and social status, rather than doctrine: Pythagoreans were aristocratic, Orphics usually not; Pythagoreans honored Apollo, the Orphics Dionysos. Finally, the Orphic doctrine remained on a mythological plane, interpreting the universe in terms of personalized deities and procreation; while the Pythagoreans developed in the direction of rationalism. They became philosophers and mathematicians; their number-philosophy is an important source for Plato's theory of Ideas.

It is not always easy to separate the later Pythagorean philosophy from its more primitive antecedents. The historical Pythagoras, like Orpheos, was a shaman-like figure. His connection with gods and spirits, his rule over animals, his ecstasy, his presence in more than one place at a time, are all shamanistic traits, as is his periodic residence underground (in the underworld?), from which he periodically emerged looking like a skeleton – i.e. after fasting. Even his golden thigh, considered a sign of divinity, may derive from a practice typical of shamanistic initiations, in which the holy man's body is allegedly chopped into pieces and reassembled. Various other Greek religious figures shared these shaman-like characteristics. For instance there was Aristeas of Prokonnesos, who appeared in various places at once and accompanied Apollo in the form of a crow (a bird symbolizes the shaman's heavenward journey). Hermotimos of Klazomenai allegedly abandoned his body for years at a time; during this long ecstatic journey he traveled about prophesying. Epimenides of Crete reportedly slept for a long time in Zeus' cave on Mount Ida (retreat into a cave being a classic form of shamanistic initiation), where he fasted and fell into ecstatic trances. Thereafter he performed miraculous cures, announced the future, interpreted the past, [29] and exorcised demons. Plato recounts the legend of Er the Pamphylian, who fell in battle; his soul passed into the underworld. After twelve days it returned to earth to report what it had seen; Er's body still lay on the funeral pyre. Other similar tales are recorded in Greek classic literature. While untypical of Greek religion as a whole, they are not entirely uncommon.

Such stories of soul-wandering lead by a rather small conceptual step to a full-fledged doctrine of ethical metempsychosis. A soul which can leave its body and travel about at will - as the souls of shamans supposedly do - can reasonably be expected to choose its own situation. Thus in Plato's myth, Er observes how Fate directs the souls in the mysterious Beyond to select their own future lives. Various patterns of lives are laid out on the ground: human as well as animal ones. The soul makes its choice; henceforth it must cleave by necessity to the life it has selected. Though legendary in form, this is clearly a doctrine of ethical metempsychosis. Nor did the tale originate with Plato, who begins it with "once upon a time.” Presumably it represents an older mythological and philosophical tradition.Empedokles (early 5th cent. B.C.)

A whole century earlier, the philosopher Empedokles (early 5th cent. B.C.) taught metempsychosis. His poem Katharmoi deals with the fall of the soul from an original state of blessedness, and the ways by which it may regain its original purity. Empedokles regarded the soul as a divine being which had sinned, and which as an exile from the gods must wander about for thrice ten thousand years. In the meantime it must pass through all kinds of mortal shapes on land, sea and in the air. Empedokles himself claimed to have been a boy and a girl, a bird, a fish and a bush in previous incarnations. But in his current existence he evidently considered himself pure: in his native city of Akragas (if his own statement on the matter may be believed), he was honored as a god in his own lifetime. Significantly, Empedokles' philosophy of nature rests upon principles analogous to his doctrine of metempsychosis: it assumes the same periodic association and disassociation of elements which characterizes his concept of bodies and souls. He believed that the world is eternal: nothing has either a beginning or an end. The elements intermingle and cohere, then separate, then re-integrate, and so on forever.

[30]Plato

Plato too, apart from his tale of Er, refers to metempsychosis in several of his dialogues. In the Kratylos he mentions "some persons" who consider the body as a prison or tomb of the soul. In Phaidon he describes metempsychosis, though not as if he believed it himself, but rather as a pious hope or ethical desideratum. He presents the doctrine in the form of a myth, or as hearsay, while stating at the time that he finds no philosophical objection to it. Certainly the doctrine harmonizes well with his dualistic concept of the universe: namely his division of the human being into mortal body and immortal soul, and his division of the cosmos into the world of the senses and the world of Ideas.

Like the Jains of India, Plato describes wickedness as a corporeal weight or appendage upon the deathless soul: "The soul which is pure at departing draws after her no bodily taint," he says, whereas "the corporeal is burdensome and heavy and earthly and visible. And such a soul is weighed down by this and is dragged back into the visible world.” Moreover, the "corporeal" is the product of sens-al desire - a view reminiscent of the Indian notion that purity requires the subduing of bodily appetites. Finally, Plato's concept of metempsychosis agrees with the Indian doctrine in its inclusion of all living beings, not merely human ones. Thus he thought that men who had indulged in gluttony, violence and drunkenness might pass into the bodies of asses; persons who had chosen injustice, tyranny and robbery could become wolves and hawks, while those who had chosen moderation and justice might become social animals like bees or wasps, or even human beings once more.

Widely-discussed though it was, the metempsychosis-idea presented problems for the classical Greeks. Clearly they felt the doctrine to be foreign; thus they discussed its possible place of origin. According to Herodotos (mid-5th cent. B.C.), the Greeks first learned about metempsychosis in Egypt. Modern scholarship is sceptical of this claim: nothing discovered as yet in the texts of ancient Egypt suggests that metempsychosis, at least as the Greeks understood it, formed any part of [31] the ancient Egyptian religion. Nonetheless, Herodotos' opinion cannot be dismissed as pure error. Historical logic does not require that alien ideas be adopted either intact or not at all. The Egyptians did in fact believe in soul-wandering under certain special circumstances, which is to say that if the Greeks did borrow the idea from Egypt, they at some point altered its essential significance. Metempsychosis in Greek thought, as in Indian, is inseparable from the idea of reward or punishment for one's deeds in previous earthly lives. The Egyptian concept was different: occasional favored souls in heaven (i.e. the souls of deceased Pharaohs and high officials), if they knew the appropriate spells, were believed capable of taking up residence in their own tombs, or in the bodies of birds or animals: i.e. they could assume any form they desired. Aware as he was that the civilization of Egypt antedated that of Greece, Herodotos may easily have decided that Greek metempsychosis was indebted to Egyptian antecedents. Whether the Greeks themselves preserved any historical memory of an Egyptian origin for this doctrine is very doubtful.Pythagoras

Pythagoras too is linked by Greek writers with Egypt, and with India besides - apparently because he too taught metempsychosis. According to a tradition already current in classical times, Pythagoras had lived for a while in Egypt, where he presumably consulted the priests concerning their ancient sacred lore. Our earliest evidence for this notion is a remark by Isokrates (4th cent. B.C.), who is probably recounting accepted belief. However, Herodotos too may have had Pythagoras in mind when he referred to "certain Greek writers" who, he claimed, had learned metempsychosis in Egypt, but whose names he mysteriously refused to divulge. Quite possibly this alleged connection of Pythagoras with Egypt represents an attempt to legitimize his ideas by linking them with hoary tradition. In any event, a Greek philosopher's visit to Egypt even as early as the 6th century B.C. is in no way incredible. Graeco-Egyptian trade relations certainly existed at that time, and long before. Indeed, the Egyptians' reputation as originators of the arts of civilization may well have encouraged educated Greeks to seek them out.

But Pythagoras' alleged connection with India is far more dubious. The extant statements that he visited that country - all made by authors removed from Pythagoras' own lifetime by an interval of five to seven centuries - are unsupported by any credible evidence. In the late-Hellenistic age informed Greeks were aware that the Indian Brahmins believed in metempsychosis; thus the conclusion was not far to seek that Pythagoras had acquired his ideas in India. The intellectual fashion of the day undoubtedly played a role here: it was common in the Hellenistic period to attribute Greek ideas to remote and exotic sources.The assertion that Pythagoras in the 6th century B.C. visited India - a country of which barely the name was known in those days in Greece - is unlikely [32] in the extreme. We are probably safe in attributing this curious notion to the Hellenistic (but certainly not classical) Greek view that the philosophers of India possessed some special wisdom.

Another possible source for the metempsychosis-idea was Thrace, the wild country north of the Aegean. Inhabited in the interior by semi-civilized tribes, it bordered the Hellespont and held occasional Greek settlements along its Iittoral. Various indications do point to Thrace in connection with metempsychosis. The geographer Pomponius Mela reported - albeit in a later period - that some of the Thracian tribes believed in it; the doctrine may well have been much older among them. The god-poet Orpheos reputedly came from this country; and metempsychosis was Orphic doctrine. Pythagoras too was given a link with Thrace. According to a curious story told by Herodotos, the Thracian tribe of Getae believed in a powerful demon called Zalmoxis who lived in an underground dwelling; every fourth year they sent him a "messenger" in the form of a human sacrifice. Herodotos' informants - Greek settlers in Thrace - claimed that this Zalmoxis had once been a man, a slave of Pythagoras in Samos. The basis for the connection appears obscure, until we recall that undoubtedly it was the soul rather than the body of the sacrificial victim which journeyed to Zalmoxis; and Pythagoras was famous for his belief in soul-wandering. Herodotos, who had his own theory about the origin of metempsychosis, did not fully believe the story: he thought that Zalmoxis had lived long before Pythagoras.

Clearly the Greeks themselves were puzzled as to where the metempsychosis-idea came from: they agreed only that it was an idea somehow alien to their own mainline tradition. But their successors have not been notably more successful in resolving the problem. The origin of metempsychosis is still a disputed question. In view of the fragmentary preservation of sources from pre-classical times, it may be insoluble.VI Asceticism: Celibacy and Food Laws

A radical denigration of the physical world of the senses comes occasionally to expression in the literature of classical Greece. On a philosophical level, the best-known case is no doubt Plato's recommendation that the soul be cultivated in preference to the body. But a religiously-motivated asceticism can also be found in Greece even prior to the enormous inflow of exotic influences which occurred in the Hellenistic age. Certain priests. and sometimes also the worshippers of particular deities, were commanded to avoid various foods offensive to the gods, to fast, and to practice se+ual abstinence. Such requirements, to be sure, were exceptional. Taken as a whole, both the theory and practice of asceticism constituted a far more integral part of Indian than of Greek culture during the classical age.Plato

[36] ….. the best-known type of Greek asceticism is purely philosophical, associated with no prescribed form of physical or mental discipline. The body-soul dualism of Plato led naturally to the conclusion that the soul's welfare demanded subjugation of bodily appetites. Plato's attitude toward the body perhaps was influenced by Orphic beliefs that purity of soul brought escape from reincarnation. Thus he suggests, through the mouth of Sokrates, that "those who have indulged in gluttony and violence and drunkenness, and have taken no pains to avoid them, are likely to pass into the bodies of asses and other beasts of that sort." "Desire of the corporeal" causes such souls to wander about until they again become imprisoned in a mortal frame. "Each pleasure or pain nails [the soul] as with a nail to the body and rivets it on and makes it corporeal, so that it fancies the things are true which the body says are true.,,20 Escape from constant rebirth is only possible through "beholding that which is true and divine and not a matter of opinion," i.e. through philosophy.

But from a very early period the Greeks accepted certain notions of [37] ritual purity or pollution. Anyone desiring to make contact with the gods, i.e. to enter a temple or perform a sacrifice, had first to free himself of pollution. Exceptional purity was required of priests and priestesses - i.e. those persons who entered the temple regularly and handled sacred objects. The sources of ritual pollution varied widely according to the views of the different cults; most were taboos of a fairly primitive kind. The list of animals which might not be sacrificed, or of food which might not be eaten by the devotees of one or another deity, is a long one. Some metals could not be brought near to certain shrines; contact with murderers, corpses, insane persons, menstruating women or women in childbirth was widely regarded as polluting. Unless the worshipper observed the prohibitions, the god would take offense and withhold his blessings. Pollution could be removed, however, through specified procedures (depending on the cause): by washings or fumigations (frequently with sulfur), or by contact with pure things like laurel or olive branches, or by pig's blood (which was allegedly capable of trapping demons). Analogous concepts of ritual pollution and cleansing – although differing in specific methods and in the items forbidden - may be found in the ritualistic portions of the Indian Vedas or the Laws of Manu.

An act widely regarded as polluting both in ancient India and in classical Greece, was se+ual intercourse. Many Greek cults demanded that the participants in divine worship be chaste. Thus in some cases virgins and youths performed cult ceremonies, or priests and worshippers had to abstain from se+ual activity for a specified time-period before and during worship services. Chaste priests and priestesses served the great virgin goddesses, Athena and Artemis. Participants in the Eleusinian mysteries were required to avoid se+ual acts during the process of initiation. The Pythagorean brotherhood permitted se+ual relations only for purposes of procreation. But on the whole, continence plays a much smaller role in Greek than in Indian religion of the same period. Judging from the references to saints an sages in early Indian literature, Indian holy men frequently practiced a severe asceticism which included life-long se+ual abstinence. By contrast, the Greek type of religious chastity was usually temporary in nature. None of the Greek cults regarded permanent celibacy as an ideal mode of' existence.

The Greeks of historic times explained their regulations concerning continence on the ground that the union of human beings with gods or goddesses was se+ual (not mystic).For this reason such relationships with humans were forbidden to persons aspiring to union with a deity. Anyone sexually polluted had to undergo ritual purification before initiation into the sacred mysteries. But rationalist explanations fail to touch the probable source of the Greeks' feeling that chastity is associated [38] with purity - a feeling which certainly antedates any systematic theology. From the remotest times, both in India and Greece, the opinion was widespread that the se+ual act is polluting, even in wedlock, and that se+ual intercourse constitutes an impediment to holiness.

Another typical feature of classical Greek asceticism is the prohibition of meat-eating. The Orphics, for example, were known for their strict abstention from flesh; Plato says this was because they considered it "unholy to eat [meat] or to stain with blood the altars of the gods." Aristophanes in his drama The Frogs says that Orpheos was famous for teaching man kind not to kill - he does not specify animals, though this is probably what he means. In Euripides' play Hippolytos a father taunts his son with the "lifeless food" he eats since taking Orpheos for his "king." Clearly the prohibition was not uncommon. This abstention from meat must be viewed in light of the fact that animal sacrifice constituted the central act of Greek city-state religion. Through this ritual the citizen reaffirmed his membership in the body politic; and ordinarily meat-eating was inseparable from the sacrifice. Refusal to touch meat thus carried political as well as religious overtones. An ancient myth elucidated the meaning of sacrifice: when the god Prometheos taught mankind the use of fire, he reserved cooked meat to human beings, but left flavors and odors as the food of the gods. Animal sacrifice, which produced the odors of cooked meat, thus supplied the gods with nourishment and established direct communication between them and humankind.Pythagoreans

Whether the Pythagoreans forbade meat-eating absolutely is not clear from ancient sources. We know that they sacrificed cereals, raw plants and perfumes (incense, myrrh) instead of meat. In so doing, and in eliminating meat from their diet, they may have sought to reduce the religious distance between themselves and the gods, thereby negating Prometheos' original dichotomy between those who eat meat and those who (being immortal) need not do so. Some ancient authorities claim that Pythagoras himself abstained from meat-eating, though olhers say that he did not forbid the tasting of sacrificial meal. According to Plato, the Pythagoreans explained their abstention from meat on the ground that animals and human beings have the same type of souls, and that it is impious to act unjustly toward one's own kindred. Pythagoras' near contemporary, Empedokles, took approximately the same line; he abhorred animal sacrifice on the ground that one might thereby slay a close relative.

Certainly Pythagoras held a variety of primitive taboos which date back to a rather early stage of Greek religion. He believed, for example, that it was unlucky to stir a fire with a knife, to step over the beam of a balance, sit on a bushel, leave the imprint of a pan in the ashes, shake hands too eagerly, allow swallows under one's roof, etc. Many more [39] regulations of similar ilk are credited to him - apparently based on fears of demons and evil spirits. Greeks of later times, however, were evidently unable to believe that a renowned philosopher like Pythagoras could have taken such absurdities literally. Thus the historian Diogenes Laertios (2nd cent. A.D.) considered it self-evident that Pythagoras intended many of his rules to be understood only in a symbolic sense. (For example: "Don't step over the beam of a balance" means: "Don't overstep the bounds of equity and justice.")

Among Pythagoras' followers it appears that two schools of thought existed on the subject of meat-eating. Conceivably this division followed the lines of rationalist versus traditionalist. It is scarcely surprising if by the 4th century B.C. - the great age of classical Greek philosophy - some members of the school attempted to dispense with various ancient regulations now regarded as absurd. Thus according to Aristoxenos, the Pythagoreans permitted the eating of goat-meat and pork and forbade only mutton and ox-meal. These exclusions had a certain rationale: not only that the god Dionysos was supposed to assume an ox's form on occasion, but that the sheep and the plow-ox are humankind's close companions and essential to civilized life. By contrast, the pig roots out planted seeds; the goat eats vines and destroys grapes. Greek myths made plain these distinctions in declaring the pig to be the enemy of Demeter, goddess of agriculture, and the goat the enemy of Dionysos, god of vegetation and wine.

The existence of two opposed attitudes toward meat-eating within the same Pythagorean order - i.e. total abstention; or prohibition only of mutton and ox-meat-might also reflect a division between "ascetic" and "political" Pythagoreans. The brotherhood by no means confined its activities to philosophical or mathematical speculation; it was also deeply involved in the reform of the government of Kroton. Clearly, men who totally rejected the central ritual of Greek religious life were unlikely to be effective politically. Perhaps for this reason the "politicals" compromised on the matter of meat-eating, refusing to touch only those animals already recognized by Greek myth as harmful to civilized life. Within the same brotherhood, however, other members may have renounced civic participation in order to follow more consistently their ascetic proclivities. Some such explanation could account for the contradiction in the ancient sources as to whether the Pythagoreans were or were not complete vegetarians.VIII Alexander's Indian Expedition

[53] A new era in the history of India's relationship to the Greek world begins with the career of Alexander, called "Great" on account of his unprecedented military achievements. In 336 B.C. at the age of 20 he became king of Macedon and overlord of European Greece, inheriting the army created by his father Philip as well as Philip's plans for an invasion of Asia. In 334 B.C. Alexander crossed the Hellespont with a force of Macedonians and Greeks and began his march eastward into the Persian empire. For many of the Greeks this was a war of revenge for Persia's invasion of Greece a century and a half before. They could not have foreseen that the young Alexander would prove to be one of the great generals of history, or that he would lead them eventually to the ends of the known world. However, in several major battles Alexander defeated the Persian armies and overthrew the Achaemenid dynasty. Thereby he became heir to the vast territories of the Persian empire, which extended in the east as far as the boundaries of India. In 327 B.C. he invaded India itself, apparently believing that possession of that country would give him all of Asia.

[56] Regarded even in his own lifetime as a divinity, he soon became the Hellenistic hero par excellence. At least twenty of his own contemporaries published works about him; probably others did also. Some of these authors had personally accompanied the expedition: the best-known of these are Kallisthenes, Aristobulos, Nearchos the admiral, Onesikritos his chief pilot, and Ptolemaios the general and later king of Egypt. None of their accounts have survived whole; they exist only in passages quoted by later writers whose versions are often contradictory. To compound the problem of judging Alexander's accomplishments, his historians had every motive to flatter him while he was alive, and to enhance the interest of their narratives through exaggeration once he was dead. The tendency was also overwhelming to view him through the prism of famous literary parallels. He was described as imitating the heroes of the Trojan war, whose descendant he allegedly was, or the ten thousand Greeks whose march across Asia was so graphically described in Xenophon's Anabasis. Alexander's reputation even influenced geographical preconceptions, because he was believed to have reached the limits of the ecumene. Thus the river where he halted his advance in Iran (actually the Jaxartes) was identified by some writers as the Tanais (Don), the supposed boundary between Asia and the cold, uninhabitable north. The Hyphasis (Beas), where he stopped in India, became the southeastern limit of the world.

Alexander's foremost objective, no doubt, was military glory. This was also the foundation of his rule over the Macedonians and Greeks, not to mention the conquered Persians. But he had another objective as well - a civilizing mission - which became the basis of his posthumous influence. Unlike other famous conquerors - say Attila or Tamerlane - Alexander [57] did not pass through merely to destroy and plunder. He was the descendant of and king over rude Macedonian warriors; but in becoming the pupil of Aristotle he had received the best education the Greek world had to offer. Himself an admirer of Greek culture, who could quote long literary passages from memory, he aspired to conquer Asia through the Greek spirit as well as by Macedonian swords. He intended also to make his expedition into a journey of scientific discovery. By conscious design he included in his entourage literary and scientific men, who were expected not only to record the progress of the army, but also to observe carefully the peculiarities of the countries through which they passed. These activities naturally continued in India, and provided the Hellenistic world with its first reliable information about that distant land.

Like the rest of Alexander's conquered territories, northwest India became subject toHellenizing influences as an indirect result of his campaigns. The fact that Greeks not only ruled over foreigners, but also themselves represented a highly-developed civilization, led eventually to a far-reaching amalgamation in government, religion, literature, language, art and architecture. This syncretism began with Alexander himself, who was well aware of the need to conciliate those whom he conquered in war. Thus he sometimes wore Persian dress and adopted Persian court ceremonial. He appointed many non-Greeks to administrative positions and took barbarians into his army; he ordered that 30,000 native youths be taught the Greek language and the use of Macedonian weapons. He promoted intermarriage with the Persian nobility, setting the example himself and also giving presents to those of his men who married Asiatics. In many localities, but especially east of the Tigris where settlements were fewer, he founded cities or added colonists to existing ones. These original colonists were mainly old and wounded soldiers, particularly Greek mercenaries, who were intended as permanent garrisons but ultimately became powerful agents of Hellenization. This policy had clear antecedents in the older Greek pattern of colonization, except that the new cities were usually not on the sea, and the settlers came not from a single Greek city but from many.

Clearly this was one of Alexander's most important long-range projects. It is difficult to say whether Alexander truly possessed a vision of uniting all the peoples of his empire in mutual harmony. Certainly his efforts at syncretism motivated in part by the necessities inherent in governing a great empire, and especially of taking the Persians into partnership. Perhaps he was inspired also by some higher ideal of concord among a variety of peoples. In any case, the Greek and mixed Greek rulers who inherited his empire sought deliberately to fuse Greek and Oriental life-styles. They carefully fostered the Greek language and educational system, erected buildings and towns in the Greek style, promoted Greek colonization, and maintained continuing contacts with [60] the Greek homeland. At the same time they adapted in various ways to the native milieu, for instance by treating native deities as identical with whichever Greek ones had similar characteristics. This syncretism was in part deliberate, in part the natural result of the mingling of peoples. While primarily affecting the leading social classes, it also extended downward to a fair degree –f or instance to the Oriental proletariats who spoke broken Greek, or those Greeks who worshipped foreign gods in the mystery-religions. The Hellenistic age which Alexander inaugurated was marked by cosmopolitanism, broad tolerance, and receptivity to strange and exotic ideas: i.e. by an attitude quite contrary to that which had prevailed during the Greek classical period.IX Greek Civilization in India

[61] The greater portion of the Indian peninsula was never part of the Hellenistic world per se. Only the extreme northwest ever became subject to direct political domination by Greeks; and it was here, naturally enough, that Greek civilization exerted its greatest influence in India. For about two centuries Bactria (just north of the Hindu Kush) was ruled by Greeks - first as part of the Seleukid empire based in Persia and Mesopotamia, later as an independent state. For a time during the 2nd century B.C., Greek kings also dominated the Punjab in India proper. Greek rule then disappeared forever from this region. But for about six centuries more, Shakas, Parthians, Kushans and Huns continued to foster Hellenizing tendencies in Bactria and India.

Alexander of Macedon had certainly intended northwest India to become a permanent part of his empire. Prior to his withdrawal from the country, he established about a dozen satrapies with Macedonian governors and stationed garrison troops at strategic points to support them. As in his other conquered territories, he also founded a number of cities.. In India itself, however, these arrangements survived his death . by no more than two years. By 321 B.C. the territories lying east of the Indus river had become virtually independent. Presumably most of the Greek troops - loyal to Alexander, but not to his successors, and plagued by dissensions and jealousies even before his death - simply abandoned their posts and went elsewhere. Shortly after this the Indian conqueror Chandragupta Maurya (r. 321-297 B.C.), founder of the Maurya dynasty, incorporated this territory into an empire which ultimately covered more than two-thirds of the peninsula.

In the meantime, Alexander's generals fought over the remainder of his inheritance; India was temporarily ignored. But in 305 B.C. Seleukos Nikator, now firmly established as ruler of Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia, attempted to re-conquer Alexander's former Indian province. By this time Chandragupta was evidently well-entrenched in the northwest. He opposed Seleukos with such a formidable force that the latter was [62] obliged to recognize the Indian king's sovereignty over the Punjab and to cede additional territories (Gandhara, parts of Arachosia and Gedrosia) in exchange for 500 war-elephants and a matrimonial alliance. This defeat was perhaps less disastrous for the Greek side than has sometimes been supposed. Alexander's army in India, and Seleukos particularly, had experienced at first hand the power of elephants in battle. Indeed, elephants afterwards played a decisive part in Seleukos' victory over his rival Antigonos at the battle of Ipsos (301 B.C.) in Asia Minor. Moreover, this alliance laid the foundation for long-standing friendly relations between the Seleukid and Maurya dynasties. Several Seleukid ambassadors at the Maurya court are known by name: two of these, Daimachos and Megasthenes, wrote books about India based on first-hand observation. The work by Daimachos has disappeared almost entirely;' but Megasthenes' Indika, which survives in numerous ancient fragments, ultimately became the best-known and most valuable of all the Greek writings on India.

Meanwhile Bactria, between the Hindu Kush and the Oxus river, was ruled for half a century by the Seleukids. About 250 B.C. it became an independent state under its Greek satrap, Diodotos. About 190 B.C. the kings of Bactria incorporated into their domain a part of the Indus valley, including the great cultural center of Takshasila (Taxila), former administrative capital of the Maurya empire. But twenty years later this newly established realm split into two parts, henceforth to be governed by rival branches of the Bactrian Greek dynasty. A famous scion of this latter house was Menandros (Milinda), who ruled at Takshasila in the late 2nd century B.C., and whose patronage of Buddhism is celebrated in the famous exposition of Buddhist doctrine known as The Questions of King Milinda.

As elsewhere in the Hellenistic world, Greek rule in Bactria and India produced a partial amalgam of Greek and native forms of life and thought. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. this region - modern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan - was very far from being an economic and cultural backwater. Bactria under Greek rule was a flourishing country of many towns and cities; its capital, Baktra (modern Balkh) was a great entrepot for trade between Babylon and India. In the 3rd century B.C. Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka sent Buddhist missionaries to Bactria, where he erected rock inscriptions composed in Greekby someone who was obviously familiar with the vocabulary of Hellenistic philosophy. A thousand years later (7th cent. A.D.) the Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang counted one hundred Buddhist monasteries and three thousand monks in the city of Baktra alone.

[64] In any case, these kings gave Greek citizenship to Indians; and they were the only Hellenistic rulers to use their subjects' native language on their coinage. Menandros actually issued coins which represent him as a Chakravartin - the supremely wise universal monarch of Indian tradition who is believed to appear only at rare intervals in history. This same Menandros is the protagonist of the famous Questions of King Milinda, probably written ca. 150-100 B.C. This treatise, which has become a Buddhist classic, purports to record his discussions with a Buddhist sage named Nagasena, and concludes with the king becoming the monk's disciple. Whether or not this conversion to Buddhism truly occurred remains a historical puzzle, but in any case is irrelevant to Menandros' Indian reputation. No doubt the king found it politic, if nothing else, to support what was then probably the most influential religion in his domains. Beyond this, it is historically quite plausible that Menandros, who had spent his life in an Oriental country, should accept in perfect sincerity the principal religion of his adopted land. The Questions itself can be regarded as a true product of Hellenistic syncretism: apparently modeled in some respects upon a Greek dialogue, it also employs a typically Buddhist oral and repetitive style. But whatever the truth about Menandros personally, his status as a Buddhist believer is firmly established in Indian popular lore. The king appears in folk tales as the hero of certain stories which originally were told about the Buddha himself, or the emperor Ashoka. In fact Menandros is the only Greek king, not excluding Alexander, to be remembered in Indian tradition. Alexander was principally a conqueror - a type which India has never honored; Menandros was a wise man.

Amalgamation of Greek and Indian motifs is also attested in the layout of at least two ancient metropolises of north India-and perhaps of others yet to be discovered. Cities in India were normally constructed in irregular fashion; but Sakala, Menandros' capital city in the Punjab, is described as having squares and crossroads.

[65] Even under Parthian rule, Greek remained the lingua franca, as well as the language of high culture, in Persia and Mesopotamia.Buddha

[66] Ultimately the most striking and influential example of Indo-Greek interaction at any period occurred in the sphere of Buddhist art. Until about the first century B.C., Buddhists considered it totally unfitting to depict the Buddha as a human being. His presence was indicated by symbols only - the Wheel of the Law, his footprints, his umbrella, an empty throne, or the Bo-tree under which he attained Enlightenment. Portrayal of the Buddha in human form came about as the direct result of Hellenistic influences. The new art-form originated in Gandhhara, immediately to the south of the Hindu Kush – a region where Greek Indian and even Chinese cultures came into contact. The school was in its formative stages when Parthian rule supplanted that of the Shakas in Gandhara and the Punjab; and it profited fully from the Hellenistic revival associated with Parthian rule. The earliest known statue of the Buddha by a Gandhara artist dates from this Parthian period. Under the Kushans, i.e. from the middle of the first century A.D. onward, the Gandhara school reached its zenith.

This was a period unusually favorable to the diffusion of cultural models; for peace reigned in both the Roman and the Persian (Parthian) empires. Presumably a significant number of Hellenistic sculptors and painters migrated to Gandhara via the central Asian trade routes which crossed that territory, and established workshops to ply their skills. Certainly the larger works of art presuppose either Hellenistic craftsmen in Gandhara or Indians familiar with Hellenistic models. Unlike small trays and dishes, even medium-sized statutes are unlikely to have been carried in merchants' packs all the way from Mediterranean countries. Naturally enough, Greek artists were obliged to adapt their material to the wishes of local patrons; but their techniques remained Hellenistic. Thus the Buddha, formerly not portrayed at all, came to resemble the Greek god Apollo or a Roman emperor in heroic pose draped in a toga. The statues were drawn to classic proportions, following Hellenistic models for the physiognomy, the gestures, and the drapery, while the [67] reliefs employ that narrative style commonly found in western Asia for recounting the life-stories of historical or religious heroes. But in every case the themes were Indian, depicting scenes from the Buddha's life and exemplifying his powers as a saviour. Buddhist painting as well as sculpture seem to have flourished in Gandhara; the Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Tsang remarked upon the painted scenes which decorated the monasteries of that region early in the 7th century when he passed through. Although all the specimens of painting have long since succumbed to the Indian climate and the destructiveness of invaders, presumably here too an extensive synthesis of Indian and Greek forms occurred.

The evolution of this Hellenized art over a period of several centuries indicates that it was increasingly perpetuated by native craftsmen, who were more and more removed from the original Greek stimulus. In the course of the Kushan era the statues of the Buddha became less Greek and more Indian in appearance, while the Buddha himself was portrayed as a more spiritualized figure than previously. The efflorescence of Buddhism associated with the reign of Kanishka led to an enhanced demand for statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Thus a tendency developed toward the mechanical repetition of stereotyped motifs and conventional poses. The high point of this Buddhist art probably came between the early 2nd and the mid-3rd centuries A.D.; thereafter the standard of technical competence declined noticeably. Kushan coinage too decayed, not only in that new types were not presented, but that the images became more and more difficult to recognize, and the Greek Legends increasingly difficult to read.29 Nonetheless this Hellenistic art of Gandhara attained an extraordinarily wide diffusion. Not only did it spread to surrounding regions of northwest India; Hellenized statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were carried along the trade routes throughout most of eastern Asia. The Greek kings, Greek cities, Greek language and lifestyle all disappeared from northwest India and Bactria. But the Greek feeling for proportion and drapery became permanently embodied in the forms of the Indian saviors whose meditative forms are still found today in Buddhist temples and shrines throughout Asia.X Alexander and the Indian Wise Men

[68] One of the strangest among all the exotic phenomena that Alexander's arm encountered in India was the ascetic life-style. The Indian holy men {Greek sources often refer indiscriminately to all Indian ascetics as "Brahmins." For convenience's sake we shall here do the same, although some of the ascetics in question may easily have beenBuddhists or Jains [or Sadhus]. All of them, needless to say, were regarded as both holy and wise} who engaged in intentional self-mortifications, and received respect and deference from their fellow-citizens as a consequence, had no real counterparts in the Greek world. It was no wonder that the Greeks displayed a vivid curiosity about such persons and made various (generally unsuccessful) attempts to comprehend their motives. The earliest attested conversation between a Greek and an Indian holy man was described in a book by Onesikritos, the pilot of Alexander's fleet. The book has long since disappeared, except for fragments; but the incident with the holy men passed into legend. According to Onesikritos, Alexander had heard reports that Indian holy men went about n‰ked, bore hardships cheerfully, and as a result enjoyed great social prestige. Apparently always interested in the customs of the peoples he conquered, Alexander despatched Onesikritos to make contact with some Indians of this type. Just outside the city of Takshasila he encountered fifteen holy men standing, sitting or lying in various positions which they maintained without moving until nightfall. He invited them to an audience with Alexander; but with one exception - the man whom the Greeks called Kalanos - they declined, saying that whoever wished to learn about their doctrines should come to them.

It is not easy to judge the extent to which Onesikritos understood the ascetics' remarks, or interpreted them in the light of his own preconceptions. Certainly his report shows some Cynic influence, which is [69] natural enough in a man who had studied the Cynic philosophy in Greece. He also may have wished to flatter Alexander. Thus he claims that the leader of the ascetics, named Dandamis, praised Alexander for his interest in philosophy — an interest he said he had never before observed in a warrior-king. Dandamis also asserted that such a king should persuade or force all his subjects to practice (ascetic) self-control. Onesikritos interpreted this statement, Cynic fashion, to mean that the Indian believed that the best doctrine was "that which removes pleasure and pain from the soul". Obviously the Indian holy man impressed the Greeks favorably by his overt indifference to worldly power and goods. Ordered to appear before Alexander upon the promise of gifts if he complied but punishment if he did not, Dandamis replied that he desired nothing at all and did not fear the king's power. Alexander allegedly was not offended by this answer, but praised Dandamis' attitude and refrained from insisting that he come.

The historical reality of Onesikritos' meeting with the Indian sages is scarcely open to doubt. All the relevant sources agree that it occurred, including those which fail to mention any encounter between Dandamis and Alexander himself. Certainly the conversation must have been limited in scope: three translators were needed (perhaps from Greek to Persian, Persian to Sanskrit, Sanskrit into the local dialect); and Onesikritos says that none were persons of any particular learning. Conceivably he exaggerated his own role, which was apparently to prepare a meeting between Alexander and the ascetics rather than to hold a discourse himself. He may also have put words into Dandamis' mouth which the sage never uttered, especially his alleged words of praise for Alexander. However, this was probably more than just flattery; Onesikritos evidently had a genuine admiration for his king, precisely because he combined political with intellectual powers. Onesikritos' own philosophical interests appear in his tendency to regard the Indian ascetics as prime examples of the recommended Cynic mode of life — albeit the Cynics' motivations had nothing at all to do with the pursuit of holiness. Cynics investigated human life in order to identify the sources of happiness, which they believed required freeing oneself from dependence upon external events or goods. For this reason they concluded that the happy man was the one who restricted his wants to the barest necessities and suppressed all desires. The Cynics despised popular opinion and everything it valued: i.e. wealth, fame, learning, even ordinary bodily comfort. Quite aside from whatever the Indian ascetics may have told Onesikritos, their life-style in its externals conformed well to the Cynic ideal.

Onesikritos' explanation of the suicide of Kalanos also betrays Cynic preconceptions. This Indian ascetic, after accompanying Alexander's army from India to Persia, had himself burned to death upon a funeral [70] pyre at Susa in view of the whole army. Onesikritos gives as reason for this surprising act the fact that Kalanos had fallen ill, and that Indian holy men considered sickness a disgrace. But this is evidently an explanation after the fact, perhaps recalling the death by fire of Herakles, who was a Cynic hero, and anticipating the suicides of several prominent Cynics in later times. A generation after Kalanos' death the Seleukid ambassador to India, Megasthenes, sharply refuted Onesikritos' explanation of it. Modern scholarship tends to agree with Megasthenes that suicide was never a recommended form of death for Brahmins.

Whether or not Alexander ever talked to any Indian ascetics cannot be known for certain; but on the basis of extant sources this appears unlikely. The oldest accounts of the invasion of India fail to mention any such encounter. According to Onesikritos' report it would actually have been impossible because the Indian holy men "did not visit other people when invited," and Alexander presumably considered it beneath his royal dignity for him to seek them out. But Alexander's extraordinary exploits were clearly the stuff of which folk legends are made; and the story of his meeting with Indian wise men became one of the most popular embellishments upon the facts of his career. Numerous Hellenistic and medieval manuscripts describe a direct confrontation between Alexander and a group of Indian holy men, or between Alexander and Dandamis alone. The comparatively late appearance of all these stories in Hellenistic literature and their obvious dependence upon traditions dating back to Onesikritos and Megasthenes renders it unlikely that any of them is true. But only with the revival of Greek scholarship in the age of the Renaissance was this even suspected.

The origin of the legend is not difficult to discover. Presumably it was suggested by Onesikritos' experience with the Indian ascetics outside Takshasila, and by Megasthenes' description of the Brahmins' life-style written somewhat later. I n any case, the popularity of the story had little to do with any interest in India per se, or with any genuine impulse to record historical fact. The tale was intended to point a moral - in fact, several mutually contradictory morals.

What is probably the oldest account of Alexander's supposed conversation with Brahmins takes the form of a witty question-and-answer exchange. This version gives the impression of an entertaining anecdote rather than any attempt either to discover truth or to promote a point of view. The first manuscript in which it appears dates from about 100 B.C.; in the first century A.D. Plutarchos, the biographer of famous men, incorporated it into his Lives. In this story Alexander has taken prisoner ten Indian wise men who were guilty of persuading their king to revolt against the Greeks. Having heard of these men's ability in debate, he asks each of them one question, with the stipulation that anyone who fails to give a satisfactory answer will be put to death.

[71] Impressed by the Brahmins' sagacity, Alexander gives them all presents and lets them go free.

The second major version of Alexander's meeting with Brahmins exhibits a totally different spirit. Here the Indian sages no longer appear as clever riddle-solvers and worldly philosophers; rather they expound a serious ethical doctrine, austere and individualistic.Dandamis, the chief of the Brahmins, is made to utter opinions perfectly in accordance with the Cynic-Stoic doctrines, which then had attained widespread popularity in the Hellenistic world. The earliest known manuscript to embody this attitude is a papyrus of the 2nd century A. D., discovered in Cairo in 1950 and now in a library at Geneva. The same version is repeated in many subsequent manuscripts, most notably in a 4th-century treatise falsely ascribed to the classical historian Arrianos. The pattern for this form of the story was already established by Onesikritos, who had tended to treat the Indian ascetics as living examples of Cynic doctrine. However, Onesikritos never claimed that Alexander had interviewed any Brahmins himself. Probably a further model for the theme of king admiring philosopher was the popular (though probably spurious) tale of Alexander's confrontation with the Cynic philosopher Diogenes. According to this story, as Diogenes lay in the sun at Corinth Alexander offered him any favor he might desire. Diogenes repeatedly replied, "Stand out of my light!" Despite this rudeness, the king is said to have declared that if he were not Alexander, he would most like to be Diogenes.

In this Geneva papyrus version of the meeting, the Brahmin Dandamis appears as a sharp critic of the Greeks' mode of life. He advocates a [72] simple existence which ignores the refinements of civilization: thus the sage should be free from every desire which is not absolutely required by nature. He tells Alexander:

I have just as much of the earth as you and every other person; even if you gain all rivers, you cannot drink more than I. Therefore I have no fears, acquire no wounds and destroy no cities. I have just as much earth and water as you; altogether I possess everything. Learn this wisdom from me: wish for nothing, and everything is yours.

Among the defects of the Greeks' life-style Dandamis cites the wearing of clothes, meat-eating, drunkenness, carousing, avarice, wastefulness, war, and the subjugation of foreign peoples. He exhorts Alexander to renounce his bloody career and live in solitude like a sage. The king agrees as to the desirability of such a life. Unfortunately, he argues, his ties to his soldiers are too strong; for this reason he cannot renounce the world. Thereby evenAlexander, the world-conqueror, accepts the moral superiority of asceticism.

This clearly enunciated contrast between the Greeks' and the Brahmins' way of life obviously lent support to Cynic principles, which in the late-Hellenistic period came to be combined with Stoic philosophy. In both style and content the text of the Geneva papyrus conforms closely to the Cynic-Stoic diatribe, which was a popular oratorical form widely practiced in the 2nd century A.D. and afterward. The conversation between Alexander and the Brahmins, though untrue historically, nonetheless has a certain plausibility. A genuineresemblance is undeniable between the outward forms of Brahmin asceticism, familiar to Hellenistic readers from the Alexander-historians and Megasthenes, and the Cynic-Stoic attitude toward life. On the other hand, if asceticism is defined as the renunciation of earthly satisfactions in the service of some nobler ideal - i.e. spiritual purity or closeness to God - then Cynicism and Stoicism obviously fail to qualify. Both are forms of eudaemonism (although Stoicism also stresses duty). Their prescription for happiness demands an austere life-style so that the adherent of these philosophies may be independent of external forces which can be neither predicted nor controlled.

One more version of the Alexander-Dandamis meeting, similar to that of the Geneva papyrus, appears in a popular Christian paraphrase of the 4th century which is attributed (probably wrongly) to the 2nd-century historian Arrianos. {Thus the author is called Pseudo-Arrianos} This account begins with a discourse by the Brahmins, who advocate a life-style that satisfies only the minimum physical needs; they attack riches, luxury, and the perversions of Greek life. Their [73] fellow-ascetic Kalanos (the same who later burned himself to death at Susa) becomes the target of harsh criticism for having joined the side of "riches" by adhering to Alexander's army. The Brahmins describe their mode of life: they live in forests and dress in leaves, sleep on bare ground, observe chastity and silence, abstain from meat and cooked food, nourish themselves only on fruits of the earth and drink only river water. They continually sing hymns, despise pleasures of the flesh, and fight an uninterrupterl war against the senses. The text then describes Onesikritos' visit to Dandamis, who refuses an audience with Alexander on the ground that a wise man desires nothing. Nature already furnishes him with everything he needs, says Dandamis. Threats are unable to change his mind: he does not fear death, which is merely liberation from the flesh. Thereupon Alexander goes personally to meet the holy man, who invites him to abandon the world and find tranquility in a life of renunciation. Again Alexander refuses, citing the responsibilities of his position. Nonetheless he admires the Brahmins and offers them presents, which they refuse. The Brahmins compliment Alexander on his love of wisdom; he in turn praises Dandamis' opinions. The message of the text is clear: Alexander approves of the ascetics' life-style. Only practical considerations prevent him from imitating it himself.

Pseudo-Arrianos' treatise is extant in numerous Greek and Latin manuscripts - sure witness to its wide dissemination. Without question its influence was closely linked to the growing popularity of Christian monasticism in the 4th century. The Brahmins' opinions as given in this text not only conform to Cynic-Stoic ideas, but also to the views of important Fathers of the Church. In fact, Pseudo-Arrianos became favorite reading in Christian monasteries both West and East - welcome support from pagans in defense of a Christian-ascetic mode of life.

Yet the same Alexander-Dandamis story was utilized also for precisely the opposite purpose, namely to deprecate the monastic ideal. In a Latin text known as the Collatio Alexandri et Dindimi, written apparently in the late 4th or early 5th century, the Brahmins with their ascetic philosophy do not win the argument. Actually the Collatio presupposes the prior existence of Pseudo-Arrianos, though it alters various details. This time Alexander and Dandamis do not communicate in person, but rather by letter (recalling the older tradition that they never met). The text's description of the Brahmins' mode of life closely follows Pseudo-Arrianos, as does some of the social criticism, e.g. the invectives against cupidity, false education, and theater-performances. However, Dandamis avoids attacking Alexander directly; instead he criticizes the customs of the Greeks in general. Moreover, Alexander has the last word. He gives his opinion that the Brahmins' life of renunciation is due not to free choice, but rather to the conditions of poverty prevailing in India (a surprisingly modern viewpoint). He then praises the riches of Greece and [74] the high morals of its citizens, apparently in the name of an Aristotelian ideal of moderation.

The sympathies of the Collatio's author clearly lay with the antimonastic movement of the 4th century, which represented a reaction against the extremes of Christian asceticism. Possibly some scepticism was also at work — the feeling that Indian Brahmins could not conceivably be superior to Christian monks in the practice of a specifically Christian virtue like asceticism. Nonetheless the Collatio's revision of the Alexander legend clearly failed to accord with prevailing sentiment, either in its own time or later. In the medieval period the text was again rewritten in a way that served to exalt Dandamis' philosophy of asceticism. In this revised version it became extremely popular in the Latin West, largely replacing Pseudo-Arrianos, and was copied and recopied many times over.

Thus the legend of Alexander and the Brahmins was made to exemplify a variety of changing attitudes in the Hellenistic world. Onesikritos' original account of the incident was colored by his Cynic preconceptions, but apparently represented a fairly straightforward narrative of what actually happened - namely, that Alexander did not himself converse with any Brahmins. But the theme of king versus philosopher offered obvious dramatic possibilities. Thus Plutarchos (first cent. A.D.) and his source (ca. 100 B.C.) permitted the wise men with their riddles to outwit the military man, who nonetheless proved magnanimous and set them free. The author of the Geneva papyrus (2nd cent. A.D.) took the story as a vehicle for Cynic-Stoic criticism of the Greeks' over-refined mode of life. Pseudo-Arrianos (4th cent.) used the legend to advocate the life-style of Christian monks, while the Collatio (late 4th-early 5th cent.) took the opposite approach of discrediting the ascetics' motives. In the end, nearly everyone apparently believed that Alexander had really met the Brahmins; and the legend contributed powerfully to the widespread Hellenistic view that philosophers of India possessed some special wisdom.XI Pyrrhon the Sceptic (365-275 B.C.)

The earliest Greek philosopher who is likely to have had a direct connection with India was Pyrrhon of Elis (365-275 B.C.), the reputed founder of Scepticism in Greece. According to Diogenes Laertios (2nd cen. A.D.), the principal ancient historian of philosophy, Pyrrhon accompanied Alexander's army to India. This statement in itself is perfectly credible, since Alexander took many learned men with him. But Diogenes claims further that Pyrrhon's encounters with Indian wise men led directly to his love of solitude, to his formulation of the Sceptics' fundamental thesis: namely, that knowledge is impossible and that the truly wise man should therefore suspend judgment on all questions. Unfortunately, Diogenes is late enough to have been influenced by Hellenistic views concerning the priority of Oriental wisdom. However, he claims to rely for his information upon men who were probably Pyrrhon's followers. It is difficult to assess the actual influences upon Pyrrhon, Indian or otherwise, since he apparently wrote nothing himself. His ideas have survived only through fragmentary citations in later authors, so that reconstructions of his thought-system and its intellectual antecedents rest largely upon inference. But there are strong reasons to doubt that Indian doctrines exerted any serious influence upon Greek Sceptic philosophy. Quite possibly Pyrrhon, like his compatriot Onesikritos, did converse with Indian ascetics, and thereby acquired some conception of their thoughts. Nonetheless it is at least questionable whether a mature and well-educated Greek, with ideas presumably well-formed already, could be significantly influenced by talks with exotic and half-n‰ked foreigners - rudimentary as such exchanges had to be if two or three translators were required. Diogenes Laertios confirms that Pyrrhon in India was no intellectual novice. Prior to the Indian journey he had studied philosophy with a teacher of the school of Megara and then with Anaxarchos, the pupil of [76] Demokritos. Apparently he traveled to India as Anaxarchos' companion. However, as regards life-style, it is at least arguable that the effect of India upon Pyrrhon was important. He could scarcely have failed to notice the mental impassivity and physical endurance of the Indian holy men, which impressed itself so forcibly upon Onesikritos and later Megasthenes. No doubt he either witnessed, or heard vivid reports of the ascetic Kalanos' spectacular suicide upon the burning pyre at Susa - a sight certainly suggesting that a philosophy capable of motivating such extraordinary behavior must be of compelling nature. The burning of Kalanos was a practical object lesson in the tranquility attainable by a sage.

But the hypothesis that Pyrrhon's philosophy was indebted to India requires a corresponding assumption that Scepticism in his lifetime had no serious antecedents within the Greek tradition. However, this is not the case. Already in the 5th century B.C. both Sokrates and the Sophist philosophers practiced a type of sceptical thought - constant re-examination of received opinions in the light of reason - though they did not despair of the possibility of knowledge per se. Demokritos, the teacher of Pyrrhon's mentor Anaxarchos, believed that only atoms and the void are real; all else is mere opinion. Pyrrhon's Scepticism can reasonably be regarded as merely "the negative reverse side to the Socratic-Platonic inference" that virtue results from knowledge of the good. Evidently Pyrrhon held that the true nature of things is unknowable. The logical consequence of this is that virtuous conduct is impossible, because no one can really know what virtue is. For this reason the true philosopher will suspend judgment and refrain from all unnecessary activity.

Certainly it is possible to find analogues to this attitude in Indian formal logic, which is philosophically quite complex. For example, according to Eusebios (3rd cent. A.D.), Pyrrhon considered it inadmissible to say of a thing that it either is, or is not, or is and is not, or neither is nor is not.5This choice among four predicates is a logical device known in philosophy as the tetralemma. It is commonly found in ancient Indian texts; in Greece it is apparently unknown except among the Sceptics. But a case for Indian influence upon Pyrrhon can hardly be sustained on the basis of such a simple logical tool, which is scarcely so distinctive as to make independent invention unlikely. Indeed, the Sceptic's nihilistic attitude toward knowledge easily suggests this formulation.

Likewise conducive to Sceptical thought were the circumstances of Pyrrhon's own time. In late 4th-century Greece many competing philosophical systems were current - a fact tending to suggest that certainty is unattainable. The experience of Alexander's companions in Asia, who necessarily observed a vast diversity of peoples, customs and religions, must naturally have provided food for meditation on the relativity of all customs and faiths. As for political life, the once-cherished independence [77] and self-government of the Greek city-states had fallen victim to the party strife unleashed by the Peloponnesian War, the corruption and tyranny of Greek politics, and finally the conquest of Greece by Philip of Macedon, which was reaffirmed by his son Alexander. To assume Indian inspiration for an attitude of disillusion having such obvious prior causes within the Greek world seems gratuitous. In any event the Sceptic philosophy, based as it is upon rationalist premises, is far more characteristic of Greece than of India, where philosophy has usually stood in the service of religious faith.

Moreover, there is serious question whether Pyrrhon was really a Sceptic at all. Some evidence suggests that the Sceptics of a later period called him the founder of their school largely for competitive purposes i.e. to assert the priority of their doctrine over that of the Platonists. Probably the importance of Pyrrhon to his contemporaries lay rather in the sphere of practical conduct than in doctrine. "The Sceptics exaggerated the Scepticism of Pyrrho[n]." Supporting this view is the fact that Pyrrhon's immediate disciple, Timon, praised his teacher primarily not for his opinions, but for his modesty and his tranquil life. At a much later date the Roman orator Cicero spoke of Pyrrhon as a severe and dogmatic moralist who believed in probity and honesty. No uninitiated reader of Cicero's prose would ever suspect that Pyrrhon was supposed to be a Sceptic. Despite the anarchical tendency of his alleged views about the impossibility of knowledge, it is noteworthy that Pyrrhon advocated conformity to the customs of one's time and place. Following this precept, he lived an exemplary if humble life, which included performance of the most ordinary household chores. The calm indifference or even apathy with which he regarded his surroundings struck everyone who knew him. Pyrrhon the man was highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens (who perhaps did not comprehend his philosophy). They elected him a priest, and in his honor declared that philosophers were henceforth exempt from taxes.

Even if it is true that Pyrrhon was inspired by Indian holy men, nothing in either his philosophy or his life-style suggests that he understood their conduct for what it meant in an Indian context. The Indian ascetic is not indifferent to earthly circumstances because he considers knowledge impossible, but because he finds worldly involvement a hindrance to final salvation. Disinterest in mundane surroundings is preliminary to the mental concentration required for the yogic trance - the ultimate mystic experience. It likewise discourages the action (karma) which inevitably prejudices one's chances for a favorable reincarnation, and ultimately for total liberation from rebirth. Pyrrhon, so far as we know, offered no positive doctrine of other-worldly salvation, but merely a technique for making this present life more endurable. His attitude [78] differed only in degree from that of theStoics, who professed indifference to worldly advantages (while failing to renounce them), or of the Cynics, whose rejection of earthly pleasures was accompanied by a liberal dose of scorn. Evidently Pyrrhon was more consistently indifferent, more genuinely tranquil, than either of these.XII Travelers Indian and Greek

Indians to Greece

[79] While Alexander's invasion of India opened the way for future Indo-Greek encounters, it is not likely that Indians in any great numbers entered the Greek world until nearly the Christian era. To be sure, the movement of people and goods from northwest India to Persia presumably increased in scope during the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., when Greek dynasties ruled both regions. But for the Mediterranean area in this period the evidence of an Indian presence is minimal. Commercial contacts between Egypt and India apparently brought Indian sailors and merchants no farther than the mouth of the Red Sea. Very exceptional are those Indians whose appearance at Alexandreia receives mention in the pre-Christian era: namely, the ship-wrecked sea-captain who inspired Eudoxos of Kyzikos' journeys, or the Indian women in Ptolemaios III’s triumphal procession. In Greece too, except perhaps for the lone Indian who allegedly disputed with Sokrates, a single contingent of soldiers in Xerxes' army of invasion (480-79 B.C.) represents the only known instance of Indians setting foot in the country. No Indian embassies to Rome are recorded before the Augustan age. Perhaps war captives and slaves from India were sometimes sold in Mediterranean markets; specific information on the matter is lacking. This general absence of evidence, though common enough in ancient historiography, nonetheless suggests that any Indians who reached the Mediterranean prior to the Christian era wererare creatures indeed. But occasional such persons there must have been. The sea-journey from India to Alexandreia in Egypt (and by extension to Antiocheia, Athens or other centers of the Greek world) was technically feasible, even if rarely undertaken. Willingly or otherwise (as in the case of lost seamen or slaves), a few Indians must have arrived in Mediterranean countries from time to time - no less real for the fact that writers of history failed to notice them. Apart from trade, diplomacy, or sheer accident, the motive most likely to have brought Indians into the Greek world was religion. But in actual fact, most of the faiths native to India failed to spread very far beyond the [80] borders of the sub-continent. Certainly this was true of ancient Brahminism (the ritualist faith of the Indian Aryans) and of the heretical Jainism, whereas the post-Christian Hindu devotional cults dedicated to the gods Vishnu and Shiva expanded mainly in the direction of southeast Asia. But Buddhismwas another matter. In principle a missionary religion, Buddhism was open to adherents of every class and nation. Unlike Brahminism or the later Hindu cults, it rejected the idea of inherited class status (i.e. caste), which ensured the social dominance of the Brahmin priests and the automatic inferiority of everyone else. Within Buddhist monastic orders the rank which counted was spiritual, not hereditary. The universalist nature and missionary tendencies of the Buddhist religion impelled it eastward into Southeast Asia, China and Japan and northward into Central Asia. No obvious barrier prevented its expansion westward as well.

Possible evidence of Buddhist proselytizing in Hellenistic countries may be found in one of the edicts of the Indian emperor Ashoka (r. 274-236 B.C.) grandson of that Chandragupta Maurya who defeated Seleukos' attempt to restore Alexander's Indian empire. The inscription in question records that Ashoka despatched envoys to the Hellenistic kings of Syria, Egypt, Macedonia and Cyrene — all of whom are cited by their correct names. The edict states expressly that the emperor commanded his emissaries to propagate the "Dhamma," i.e. the Law of Piety. The term "Dhamma" (Sanskrit: Dharma), of course, is not exclusive to Buddhism; it comprehends such general moral principles as avoidance of killing (ahimsa), good family relationships, and concern for others' welfare. However, Ashoka personally was a professed Buddhist, at least toward the latter part of his reign. While expressly promoting religious toleration, he apparently also used the apparatus of the Maurya state to promote Buddhist doctrine.

Thus it is at least conceivable that the embassies mentioned in Ashoka's edict wereBuddhist missions. The fact that no extant Western source takes note of Buddhist proselytizing in any country west of Bactria, either in Ashoka's own time or later, is no real argument to the contrary. The edict itself does not claim successful results; the Ashokan envoys perhaps failed to reach their destinations; and official documents in Hellenistic countries are not likely to have recorded the presence of missionaries for a foreign religion. In general, on those points which can be corroborated from other sources, the information contained in Ashoka's edicts has proved accurate. The possibility of course remains that the envoys were primarily diplomats, not missionaries. But the edict itself says otherwise; and nothing is more natural than that the Buddhist emperor should have attempted to promote the spread of his religion in every conceivable direction.

The appearance of occasional Indians in the Hellenistic world begins to be noticed in Greek and Latin sources from the reign of Augustus [81] (27 B.C.-14 A.D.) onward. The orator Dion Chrysostomos (ca. 70 A.D.) makes brief reference to such persons in his discourse "To the People of Alexandreia": he mentions "a few Indians" among the men of many nationalities who listened to his speech. Dion's statement that the Indian merchants at Alexandreia belonged to a class held "in low repute" by the rest of their countrymen, who "say harsh things about them,'" may perhaps indicate that they were Buddhists or Jains [or ascetics, sadhus] – heretics from the orthodox Brahmin viewpoint. Tending to support this identification is the fact that in this period good Brahmins were forbidden to cross the seaon pain of incurring ritual pollution and possible expulsion from caste membership. No one knows whether this prohibition already applied to non-Brahmins in the first century A.D. (as it unquestionably did in recent centuries); it is belied by the incontestable fact of Hindu expansion into southeast Asia in the first several centuries A.D. Thus a possible reason for the low status of the Indians in Egypt might be simple caste prejudice - the fact that merchants (i.e. Vaishyas) ranked beneath Brahmins (priests) and Kshatriyas (warriors) in the traditional class structure of Hindu society. Additional evidence for the presence of Indians at Alexandreia is supplied by the Greek geographer Ptolemaios (early 2nd cent. A.D.), who provides data on the latitude and longitude of many places on the route between Egypt and India. Much of his information, he claims, was derived from the written and oral accounts of merchants and travelers, which might logically have included natives of India. From the Indian side, both Sanskrit and Pali literature make frequent reference of sea-voyages, while ancient Indian paintings and sculptures often depict boats or ships. For example, the Laws of Manu (2nd cent. B.C.-2nd cent. A.D.) discusses marine insurance and the permissible interest rates on money lent for shipping enterprises. The Buddhist jatakas - popular tales dealing with the alleged previous incarnations of the Buddha - describe the adventures of merchants in strange lands. However, no known Indian text is so specific as to mention Buddhists present at Alexandreia.

Over a period of more than five centuries, diplomatic missions from India or Ceylon appeared occasionally at the courts of Roman emperors: Augustus, Claudius, Trajan, Antoninus Pius, Septimius Severus, Elagabalus, Aurelian, Constantine, Julian (the Apostate), and Justinian. Ancient sources fail to tell us what the purpose of these missions was, though probably both commercial and political motives played a role. Certainly there was need to regulate the trade between India and the Roman empire, and to coordinate opposition to Parthia, the enemy of them both. However, Roman observers naturally interpreted these embassies as tributes to Rome's imperial greatness. Thus the emperor Augustus saw fit to include on his Ancyra inscription, summarizing the achievements of his reign, the fact that "to me were sent embassies of the kings from India who had never before been seen in the camp of any [82] Roman general." The poet Horatius spoke in one of his odes (17 B.C.) of "Indians and Scythians" as peoples "recently disdainful" who now awaited the "answer" of Rome! Despite such smugness, the major purpose of the Indian embassies was probably to specify the harbors and towns within the Roman empire and in India where foreign merchants might establish residence, practice their own customs and religions, and freely conduct their business.

One of these Indian missions came to Augustus from a ruler called Poros, or Pandion - the latter name almost surely a reference to the Pandhya country of south India. Pandion's envoys brought with them a letter to the Roman emperor written on a skin in the Greek language - clear evidence of previous encounters with Greeks in the Pandhya domains. Their journey had been hazardous; according to the letter, many men had begun the journey to Rome, but only three survived the trip. Pandion described himself as the suzerain over 600 lesser kings, but expressed a desire for friendship with the Roman emperor, offering him passage through his dominions at any time. "Passage" can probably be interpreted as permission for merchants from the Roman empire to travel throughout the country on business. Pandion sent Augustus some curious gifts: a man born without arms who could stretch a bow and shoot missiles with his feet; various animals, including vipers, a serpent, a river tortoise, and a partridge, all of unusual size. Pandion's ambassadors were accompanied by a holy man who subsequently burned himself to death upon a pyre in a public place in Athens. This event undoubtedly caused a great stir among the onlookers, who were at a loss to account for its motivation. The epithet engraved on the dead man's tomb called him Zarmanochegas, i.e. ,shramanacharyas, or "teacher of the philosophers,"[rather, teacher of ascetics] a name he had evidently chosen for himself. What sort of "philosopher" he was remains unclear. Possibly he was a Buddhist, since Buddhism at that time was in process of widespread expansion. [probably not, for acharya is a more Hindu term, vaishnavite even] On the other hand, Buddhist scriptures specifically prohibit suicide, though cases of this practice among Buddhists are known nonetheless; and Gautama himself is supposed to have condoned the act in one celebrated instance. Quite possibly St. Paul had Zarmanochegas in mind when he penned the famous passage to the Corinthians: "though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."

Intermittent though they were, the official Indian embassies sometimes contributed significantly to an increased knowledge of India in the Hellenistic world. A case in point isthe Ceylonese mission to the emperor Claudius (r. 41-54 A.D.), which originated under curious circumstances. According to Plinius, this embassy came about because one of Claudius' tax-collectors was blown off course in the Red Sea, eventually landing in a port of Ceylon. After learning the Ceylonese language, [83] this official was able to give the local king a description of Roman life. Interestingly enough, the fact which most impressed the king was the honesty of the Roman coinage, as proven by the discovery that all the denarii found on the tax-collector's person were equal in weight, although coined under several different emperors. Allegedly out of admiration for a country possessing such standards, the Ceylonese king resolved to establish friendly relations with Rome. The resulting mission supplied Plinius with nearly everything he knew about Ceylon's geography. The information thus acquired is recorded in his Natural History - one of the most widely consulted scientific works of the Hellenistic age.

Although certainly no very large migration from India into the Greek world occurred in either classical or Hellenistic times, it is clear that those Indians who did arrive sometimes made a great impression. Their strange appearance (by Greek standards), the exotic gifts brought by their ambassadors, and their incomprehensible habits - Zarmanochegas' fiery suicide recalling that of Kalanos in Alexander's time -obviously gave the Greeks some food for thought. These Indians certainly had an influence far greater than sheer numbers would indicate.

It is significant, however, that virtually the only sources concerning either Indian or Greek travelers to each others' countries are Greek. The Indians have left us almost no record of their foreign adventures, except in an overwhelmingly religious context where specific information is purely incidental to the story. The Buddhist Jataka literature furnishes a case in point: while occasionally mentioning the existence of merchants in faraway countries, the principal object of the tales is to illustrate some point of doctrine. On the other hand, from the time of Alexander onward occasional Greek visitors to India saw fit to record their experiences. This difference is no doubt attributable in part to the Greeks' scientific interests, which prompted them to make notes on the geography and customs of foreign peoples, while their Indian contemporaries-whose literature is chiefly spiritual in character-considered such mailers too trivial to record.Greeks to India

The first Greeks to set foot in India were probably servants of the Persian Achaemenid empire (550-330 B.C.) - that vast polity which touched upon Greek city-states at its western extremity and India on the east. The explorer Skylax, if he really did travel to India for King Dareios, was presumably not the only person of this kind: we know that Persia utilized Greeks in various capacities. However, the few Greek authors of classical times who mention India almost certainly never visited the country. Thus Alexander's invasion represents a turning-point: not only did it bring an army of Macedonians and Greeks into India; it also led to a considerable literature on the subject.

A generation afterward, Megasthenes became Seleukos' ambassador [84] to the Maurya empire - a happy choice which resulted in the most famous and influential of all Greek books about that country. The complete Indika is no longer extant; however, fairly extensive citations from it have been preserved in other Hellenistic writings. Megasthenes resided for several years at Pataliputra, the capital of the Maurya state. Thus unlike Alexander's companions, he knew a portion of India beyond the Indus valley. Though the reliability of his account has been questioned in both ancient and modern times, scholars now regard most of his observations on Indian life as essentially accurate. This fact - given the virtual absence of indigenous Indian historical sources from this era - makes Megasthenes a prime authority for the history of Maurya India.

Indeed, by comparison with later periods, the 3rd century B.C. is rich in surviving reports of Greeks who traveled to India. The Hellenistic rulers of both Persia and Egypt sent ambassadors there. An officer named Patrokles visited the country and returned with useful geographical information. In the same century King Ptolemaios II of Egypt (r. 285-246 B.C.) attempted to extend his power down the Red Sea and into the Indian Ocean. This extension of Egyptian influence presumably resulted in occasional voyages to India, though specific instances are unknown. Significantly, the only extant individual account of such a voyage in the Ptolemaic period stems from no ordinary sailor or merchant, but from Eudoxos of Kyzikos, a highly cultured sea-captain who arranged for the story of his expedition from Egypt to India to be preserved for posterity.

For the 2nd and most of the first century B.C., classical sources reveal almost nothing about contacts between India and the Greek world - either overland, where the Parthian empire (successor to the Seleukids) now blocked the route, or via the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, in which sea-captains had not yet learned to utilize the monsoon winds. Nonetheless the 2nd century saw the expansion of Hellenistic states into India proper, as the rulers of Bactria moved into the Indus valley. Here, even if nowhere else at the time, Greeks and Indians rubbed shoulders. The evidence of Greek artistic and architectural influence in both Bactria and India gives sure testimony to the Greek presence.

Then the very late first century B.C. saw a great upsurge ill trawl via the sea-routes between India and Egypt. For more than two hundred years - until disturbed by the political upheavals within the Roman empire in the 3rd century - numerous Greek merchants voyaged to India. Some of them came to reside on a long-term basis in Indian port-towns. Certainly the unknown author of the Periplous of the Erythraean Sea (ca. 75-90 A.D.) had access to first-hand information about the ports of western India, to judge from the exactness of his reports. But despite these rather extensive contacts, Hellenistic literature provides incredibly few accounts of such travels. Most of the persons who made the trip to [85] India are unknown to us by name. They are the anonymous seamen, merchants and hangers-on who followed the sea-lanes from the Red Sea to the Malabar coast, perhaps also occasional Christian missionaries. While the supposed voyage of Jesus' disciple Thomas to south India in the mid-first century A.D. remains unsupported by solid evidence, other Christians at a somewhat later date may well have accompanied the merchants from Egypt to Malabar.Pantainos

The Alexandrian philosopher Pantainos is reported to have preached Christianity in India in the late 2nd century A.D. Certainly the presence of a Christian community on the Malabar coast - precisely that region of India in closest contact with Mediterranean countries - suggests that missionaries from the Greek world probably contributed to its establishment.

Following the hiatus of the 3rd century, the 4th witnessed a resurgence in the Indo-Egyptian trade. Several accounts of Greek travelers to India survive from this period. A certain Frumentios of Tyros, who as a child accompanied his uncle to India on what seems to have been a tourists' trip, remained there for many years afterward as household superintendent to an Indian king. Returning finally to Alexandreia, he was appointed bishop of India in the year 336, and presumably returned to that country to spread the Christian gospeI. A Christian called Theophilos, described as an "Indian" from the island of Sokotra near the Red Sea mouth, undertook several missionary journeys on behalf of the Roman emperor Constantius in the mid-4th century. Theophilos visited Axum and south Arabia as well as India, where on the Malabar coast he discovered a Christian community which traced its origin back to Jesus' disciple Bartholomew. Likewise in the mid-4th century an anonymous Roman official from Thebes in Egypt apparently fled to India - for reasons now unascertainable. After spending some years in captivity on the Malabar coast he returned to tell his story. The Theban's rather fantastic adventures may well be based on fact, though we cannot be certain.

In the mid-6th century the Alexandrian merchant Kosmas Indikopleustes (i.e. the "India-navigator") is reputed to have visited the Malabar coast and Ceylon. Kosmas was the author of a world-geography and a book on astronomy: however, his only surviving work is the Christian Topography, which attempts to prove upon Biblical authority that the world is rectangular and flat. In this book Kosmas makes occasional references to India and Ceylon, causing some scholars to conclude (from the alleged vividness of his descriptions) that he had personally been there. A close reading of what he actually says, however, indicates that this is probably not the case. In Kosmas' time, as in medieval Europe, the name "India" was indifferently applied to south Arabia or even east Africa as well as to India proper; Kosmas' reputation as the "India-navigator" presumably rests upon this confusion.XXVI India's Image in the West: 1000 Years from Alexander to Muhammad

[252] Alexander's expedition to India necessarily marked a vast increase in the Greeks' knowledge of that part of the earth's surface. A number of the conqueror's associates - Kallisthenes, Onesikritos, Aristobulos, Nearchos, Ptolemaios - wrote about India; their works remained standard sources on the country for centuries afterward. Modern scholarship can reconstruct only partially the picture of India which Alexander's companions presented to the Greek world. But aside from assorted notes on the progress of the army, Indian flora and fauna, geography, customs, etc., it is clear that these men gave currency to what later became the dominant view of India as a gigantic land of many marvels, noted especially for its ascetic n‰ked philosophers.Megasthenes

Even more than the works of Alexander's companions, the book by the Seleukid ambasador Megasthenes (early 3rd cent. B.C.) dominated the Greek picture of India throughout the Hellenistic age. Megasthenes' Indika attained a circulation which was large by contemporary standards; it became the primary source for most subsequent Greek authors who had occasion to discuss Indian affairs. Megasthenes' range of interests was broad: he reported upon Indian geography and customs, the splendor of the Maurya capital, the variety of the Indian peoples, and the strange animals and plants of the country. Significantly, he noted that Indian society was divided into seven classes. (early evidence for the antiquity of the Indian caste system). He remarked also upon the presence of numerous ascetics, who he said were held in great esteem by their countrymen and consulted even by kings.

A more favorable political climate would presumably have led to additional Greek writing about India. But within less than a century of [253] Alexander's death, the route which he had taken across Asia became virtually closed to traffic. The reason was the rise of Parthia. In 248/47 B.C., nomadic tribes from northeast Iran defeated the Greek Seleukid king and set up the independent state of Parthia upon what had formerly been the eastern provinces of the Seleukid empire. This non-Greek kingdom now interrupted the former geographic continuity between the Greek-ruled state of Bactria, just beyond India's northwest frontier, and the Hellenistic lands of the West. The Parthian rulers (248 B.C.-226 A.D.) sometimes prevented trans-Asiatic traffic from crossing their domains altogether; alternately, they taxed it almost out of existence. Henceforth until the 3rd century A.D., when disorders within the Roman empire rendered Rome unable to police the sea-routes in the Arabian Sea, travelers from the Greek world to India generally took the water - rather than the land-route. In Mediterranean countries the very existence of the Indo-Greek kingdoms came to be almost forgotten. Most of the information we now possess about them - full of lacunae though this is - stems not from Hellenistic sources, but rather from archaelogical excavations done in the 20th century. For instance, the territory of ancient Bactria has yielded a rich treasure of old coins; and much may be learned from the legends they bear. But only a few isolated remarks concerning the Greek-ruled states of Bactria and northwest India can be found in the entire corpus of classical literature.

Hellenistic sources contain widely divergent estimates of the size and geographical configuration of India. Thus a reader of that period could hardly have known which authorities to believe. The general tendency was to exaggerate India's size. A few authors, e.g. Megasthenes, Eratosthenes and Ptolemaios, { this is the 2nd-century A. D. astronomer and geographer, not to be confused with the Ptolemaios who accompanied Alexander to India and later became king of Egypt.} quoted reasonably accurate figures; but no one considered the country smaller than it really was. Already in the 5th century B.C. Ktesias, presumably relying on Persian sources, had declared that India was as large as all the rest of Asia together. Onesikritos, the companion of Alexander, believed that the land beyond the tributaries of the Indus constituted an entire continent. Apparently he wished to make the Indus into the boundary of Asia, and thus justify Alexander's turning back at the Beas river. As for distances, Megasthenes gave a virtually perfect figure for the length of the royal road from Pataliputra (the Maurya capital) to India's northwest border; obviously he used the measurements of Maurya administrators.

[255] India's wealth and good fortune were proverbial among the Greeks. Diodoros of Sicily (late first cent. B.C.) reported that the country possessed large and fertile plains, supplied with water by numerous rivers; the land yielded two crops every year. Fruit trees of every variety grew there. Indian birds and animals were notable for their great size and strength; Indian elephants were more powerful than those of Africa, and trained for warfare. The subsoil contained every kind of ore, including much silver and gold, copper and iron. In addition to wheat the country produced an abundance of millet, irrigated by water from many rivers. Famine never visited the country, since in wartime the contending armies left farmers inviolable. Inhabitants of India were of unusual height and bodily strength; no one of them was allowed to be a slave. No foreign king had ever subjugated the country (so Megasthenes had reported).

Evidently the Greeks were willing to believe many strange tales about [255] India. Plinius quoted Onesikritos to the effect that in some parts of India no shadows existed. Arrianos, Dion Chrysostomos, Philostratos and Clemens of Alexandreia, among others, took at face value the story of the gold-digging ants. Chrysostomos claimed in addition that the rivers of India flowed with wine, honey and oil, giving as his source the statements of Indians then resident at Alexandreia (who perhaps recognized his predilection for marvels). Still, India was at least a definite place to the Greeks of those days - hardly the vague and almost legendary-country known to Europe in the medieval period. A fair amount of tolerably accurate information on Indian geography, customs, religion and social organization was available to anyone interested in obtaining it.

But even Greek writers who were not normally credulous or prone to exaggerate sometimes failed to examine their sources in a critical spirit. Megasthenes offers a case in point. Although his eyewitness descriptions of India have since been confirmed as substantially correct, he nonetheless accepted as literally true some fantastic stories - the evident product of hearsay rather than direct observation. For example, he stated that in the mountains of India there lived people whose feet were turned backwards and who had eight toes on each foot. In many cases the people had dogs' heads, and barked instead of speaking. Moreover, members of one Indian border tribe had no mouths: therefore they ate and drank nothing, but lived merely by breathing odors. Like Herodotos, Megasthenes mentioned gold-digging ants in India, which he located on a plateau in the eastern mountains. Significantly, all these exotic creatures were supposed to inhabit regions of India which Megasthenes himself had not personally visited. Presumably his descriptions of them reflected the prejudices current in court circles at the Maurya capital: civilized Indians have often regarded the primitive (or even merely remote) tribes of their country with contempt. (Witness the Ramayana epic’s characterization of the dwellers of Ceylon as "monkeys.") But Megasthenes' authority in the Hellenistic world was such that often other authors trustingly repeated his most improbable statements together with more plausible assertions.

Perhaps Megasthenes was the original source for the opinion, common in Hellenistic times, that India had somehow influenced Greek civilization. He gave currency to the notion that the Greek god Dionysos had once visited India. Hearing of an Indian legend that in remote antiquity a certain god had appeared in the country, conquered it, and subsequently introduced the arts of civilization there, he concluded that this mythological figure was identical with the Greek god Dionysos. More surprisingly, he stated expressly that on certain philosophical subjects the Indians and the Greeks held similar opinions. Both peoples, he claimed, believed that the universe "was created and is destructible," that it is spherical, and that the god who created it also pervades it; that [257] there are four elements, water being the primal one; but there is a fifth element of which the heavens and the celestial bodies are composed; and that the earth is situated at the center of the universe, and originated from an egg. In identifying as Greek the idea that the creator of the world pervades his own creation, Megasthenes evidently had in mind the Orphics and Pythagoreans. But particularly noteworthy, because so specific, are two other correspondences: the assertion that the Indians believed the universe to have been formed through water (the opinion of Thales of Miletos in the 6th century B.C.), and the idea of a "fifth nature" (equivalent to the Greek ether). Certainly in Megasthenes one finds no trace of the earlier Greek prejudice that all non-Greeks are "barbarians" beyond the pale of civilization. This Greek ambassador approached India in a sympathetIc spirit and (if anything) minimized the differences between Indian society and his own.

Megasthenes' writings show that India under the Maurya dynasty enjoyed a high level of political development. He mentioned many types of government officials: commissioners to maintain the rivers, re-measure the land, inspect the canals from which water was distributed into irrigation conduits, to collect taxes, superintend craftsmen, protect foreigners, construct roads, and place pillars every ten stadia to show byroads and cross-roads. The Indian judiciary had a reputation for energy and probity. An official spy-service was well-developed, making use of courtesans as informants. Armies were numerous; the cavalry employed elephants as well as horses; the foot-soldiers used bows and arrows, swords, javelins and shields, and went to war accompanied by trumpet and drum music. The entire country belonged to the king (this last point is not corroborated by other sources). But most of Megasthenes' information about the political life of Maurya India is confirmed by the Arthashastra, that classic Indian political treatise of perhaps the first century B.C., which is believed to reflect the practices of the Maurya state.

Megasthenes also understood the principle of caste {The more accurate term is varna (i.e. "class")[rather, “color”]; "caste" refers to any of the several hundred subdivisions within the varna. } - namely that this was a hereditary division within Indian society, and that intermarriage between the castes was forbidden. He named seven such classes (varna), however, rather than four (the usual number) {i.e. Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra.}; why he did so has never been satisfactorily explained. The first and most respected class was that of the "philosophers." Farmers were second in honor; the third was that of the shepherds, hunters and animal breeders. Fourth came the artisans, tradesmen and day-laborers; fifth the warriors; sixth the government inspectors; seventh, advisers and counselors in the [258] king's service. Several centuries later Plinius described Indian social structure much less accurately, dividing it in terms of occupations rather than hereditary social cIasses.

Among the "philosophers" Megasthenes noted a distinction between "Brachmanai" (i.e. Brahmins and "Sarmanai" (Sanskrit: shramana = “ascetic"). The Brachmanai he described as priests or teachers of the Indian religion; they were more highly esteemed than the "Sarmanal”, allegedly because of the superior consistency of their doctrines. In another place he remarked that some "philosophers" presided at sacrifices, made offerings to the dead. and gave advice to kings; this obviously referred to Brahmins. He noted also that the Brahmins' children were given prudent advice and suggestions from childhood onward; as they grew older they were sent to teachers for instruction. The men did not share their philosophy with their wives, for the illuminating reason that "no person who has contempt for pleasure and toil, and likewise for life and death, is willing to be subject to another" (i.e. to a husband) - eloquent testimony to the subordinate status of Indian women. Certainly these statements accurately reflect Brahmin practices as known from somewhat later sources, as well as the reverence traditionally rendered to Brahmins in Indian society.

But subsequent authors who quoted Megasthenes failed to comprehend his distinction between Brachmanai, i.e. members of a hereditary social class, and Sarmanai, i.e. persons who adopted an ascetic life-style. No doubt the ascetics Megasthenes encountered in India were sometimes Brahmins but might also have been Buddhists or Jains [>or usually were sadhus] - adherents of religions [>or low castes] which rejected the traditional class division of Indian society. It was probably out of this confusion that the Greeks drew their erroneous equation of "Brahmin" and "ascetic," believing that Brahmins were by definition ascetic wise men. However, Megasthenes himself seems to have used the word shramana in approximately its correct sense - to denote ascetics of any class or sect. There is no reason to suppose that he meant it to describe any single religious group.

Because Megasthenes referred to the Brachmanai and Sarmanai as distinct categories, some scholars have concluded that they were therefore mutually exclusive, and accordingly the Sarmanai must have been Buddhists or Jains. But no such simple explanation accords with the extant evidence. [>they were probably sadhus] Firstly, in Megasthenes' time the principal language of the Buddhists was Pali, not Sanskrit, so that any reference to ascetics derived from Buddhist sources should have called them “samana" rather than "shramana”. Moreover, in the early 3rd century B.C. Buddhism was not yet a major faith in India; it would become so only during the reign of the emperor Ashoka (ca. 274-236 B.C,), who lent the weight of his government to promoting it. Certainly Megasthenes never mentioned Buddha or Buddhists by name, As for Jains, it seems likely that he [259] recognized them as a separate group. Much later Strabon in his Geography reported that "writers” (meaning Megasthenes?) contrasted the "Brachmanai" with the “Pramnai," who were "a contentious and disputatious sect." Some of these latter were called "Mountain" Pramnai. others “Naked" Pramnai and still others "City" Pramnai - a terminology which corrresponds approximately to the ancient division between the n‰ked, or Digambara ("sky-clad"), and the clothed, or Shvetamba ("white-clad") Jains. [>Sedlar is all wrong here. These are not Jains, but the Giri (mountain), Naga (n‰ked), and Puri (city) sects of Shaiva sadhus, i.e. the “contentious and disputatious sect”. I wonder what “Pramnai” means, though. Paramhans, maybe?]

Megasthenes' remarks possibly also reflect some awareness of the traditional Indian theory of life-stages (ashrama), whereby men of the three upper classes were directed to spend the latter part of their lifetimes as ascetics after having been students and householders. [>but ‘Ashrama’ is also a designation for a (now Brahmin) sect of Shaiva sadhus] He noted that the most respected among the Sarmanai were called "hylobii" - aterm derived from vanaprastha, or "forest-dweller." This is the Sanskrit -:-" designation for someone who has completed the student and householder stages of life, abandoned his family, and entered the third stage - namely, a moderately ascetic existence in preparation for becoming a sannyasin or wandering monk (the fourth stage). The term "vanaprastha" cuts across class distinctions: any man of the "twice-born" classes can become one. The Laws of Manu, written somewhat after Megasthenes' time, but probably reflecting more ancient practices, speaks of "Brahmins . . . or [others] of the twice-born who reside in the forest." "Twice-born" refers specifically to members of the three upper classes of traditional Brahminic society. If Megasthenes used the term "hylobii" in Manu's context, he must have meant that Brachmanai were included among the vanaprastha, who in turn were the most respected of the Sarmanai. The greater esteem they enjoyed was perhaps owing to the fact that they were socially orthodox, not heretical like the Buddhists and Jains. [>rather, of higher caste than the other ‘Hindu’ sadhus] In short, Megasthenes recognized that "Brahmin" and "ascetic" were different, but not mutually exclusive categories.

Megasthenes' descriptions of the Indian Sarmanai are more detailed than the remarks of Alexander's companions (insofar as these are extant), but not inconsistent either with them or with much later reports on the subject. In discussing Indian asceticism all Hellenistic accounts are remarkably consistent. The existence of men leading lives of strict renunciation, esteemed by their countrymen and reputed to be wise, received mention in nearly all ancient accounts of India. The original Greek term for such men was "gymnosophists," i,e. n‰ked philosophers. Already in Alexander's time, Aristobulos and Onesikritos told of gymnosophists whom they observed lying n‰ked all day on ground scorching hot from the sun, or standing for entire days first on one leg and then on the other. Megasthenes reported that both the Brachmanai and Sarmanai spent their time in a grove near the city (Pataliputra?), abstaining from animal food and se+ual intercourse, speaking only of serious [260] matters, and communicating with anyone who wished to listen to them. After 37 years of this life they became householders, married as many wives as possible in order to have many children, and were permitted to eat certain meats. Thus Megasthenes anticipated the prescription of the Laws of Manu which decreed that a student should study the Vedas for 36 years before becoming a householder. Moreover, he stated that the Brahmins' principal topic of conversation was death, which they regarded as "birth into the true life, that is, the happy life." Towards present existence they maintained a detached attitude, asserting that nothing on this earth is inherently good or bad but merely a matter of opinion. As for the Sarmanai; they lived in forests, subsisting on leaves and wild fruits, clothed with the bark of trees, and abstaining from wine and se+ual intercourse. Kings communicated with them through messengers and used their services in public worship. In addition to the ascetic forest-dwellers ("hylobii") he mentioned “physicians" who lived indoors, eating what other people gave them; they practiced sorcery and cured diseases.Both forest- dwellers and physicians engaged in difficult feats of asceticism, e.g. standing all day in one posture without moving. Women sometimes studied together with the ascetics: they too were chaste. Interestingly, seven centuries later a Roman official from Thebes in Egypt, after some years of imprisonment on the Malabar coast, gave (apparently independently) a picture of Indian asceticism which agreed in its essentials with that of Megasthenes. He noted that the Brahmins of Malabar lived n‰ked beside a river, subsisted on fruits and wild vegetables, rested on leaves in the woods, engaged constantly in prayer, and possessed some higher form of knowledge.

The extant travelers' reports about Brahmin asceticism were reinforced by the well-attested instances of two Indian holy men who burned themselves to death in public laces before an audience of astonished Greeks. The first of these was Kalanos, who accompanied Alexander's army as far as Susa and then immolated himself on a funeral pyre in Alexander's presence. Another was Zarmanochegas (or Zarmaros), a member of the Indian embassy to Augustus, who burned himself to death at Athens in sight of the emperor. Clearly amazed at such spectacular suicides, Hellenistic writers failed to agree upon the reasons for them. Onesikritos thought that the Brahmins regarded physical disease as a disgrace. However, Megasthenes asserted (correctly, as we now know) that suicide was not a regular practice among Indian ascetics, but that only persons of an especially ardent temperament indulged in it. Strabon, commenting on the case of Zarmanochegas, offered the rather forced explanation that the holy man had heretofore enjoyed a happy life, but feared a change in fortune if he should go on living. More plausibly, the Roman senator Dio Cassius attributed Zarmanochegas' suicide either to the Indian's ambition to die a philosopher's death, to [261] advanced age, or to his desire to make a display in front of Augustus. As the number of extant literary references indicates, these two fiery deaths were common knowledge among educated people of the period. Plutarchos noted that in his day(late first cent. A.D.) the tomb of Zarmanochegas was still displayed at Athens. And the historian Iosephos related that during the Jewish war against Rome (66-70 A.D.) the hero Eleazar exhorted his troops to be as willing to die as the Indians who "commit their bodies to the fire."

The physical feats of the Indian ascetics were by Greek standards extraordinary and incomprehensible, far surpassing the comparatively moderate forms of religious philosophic self-denial found in the Hellenistic world. Undoubtedly it was this sensational aspect of Indian asceticism, rather than its underlying justification, which made so vivid an impression upon the Greeks. The chief sources of Greek knowledge about Indian holy men remained the writings of Alexander's companions and the Indika of Megasthenes. No reports on the subject by travelers to India are extant from the most active period of Indo-Greek trade - the first and 2nd centuries A.D. But in the meantime the "Brahmins" had become legendary in the Greek world. Especially the remarkable indifference to pain shown by these ascetics excited the admiration of persons not otherwise concerned with India. For example Cicero, the Roman orator and Stoic, praised them. The Church Father Clemens of Alexandreia compared the Brahmins' alleged contempt for death by fire with the recommended attitude of a true Christian toward martyrdom.

Moreover, the number of prominent Hellenistic thinkers who demonstrated an interest in India clearly shows that Indian philosophy. as well as Indian ascetic prowess, eventually acquired a considerable reputation in the Greek world. Among the relevant examples were men of widely differing religious and philosophical persuasions: the Neo-Pythagorean Apollonios of Tyana; Gnostics like Basileides and Bardaisan; the Neo-Platonist Plotinos; his disciple and biographer Porphyrios; and Mani, the founder of Manichaeism. Even to the moderately educated person of those days the name of India must have conjured up definite associations. The dialogues of Lukianos of Samosata, for example, bear witness to this fact. Lukianos (2nd cent. A.D.) was a popular satirist, writing for a broad (though not an unlettered) audience; it is not likely that he alluded to esoteric matters of which his public had no knowledge. He mentioned "Brahmins" in a perfectly offhand manner, suggesting that his audience knew well enough who they were. Thus in his satire "The Runaways" the goddess of philosophy tells Zeus, king of the gods, that "the Brahmins. . . are mine to a man." His dialogue "Toxaris," relating the adventures of two Greek students in Egypt, reaches its culmination when one of the young men, having resolved to seek wisdom, goes "off to India to visit the Brahmins." Such popular examples indicate better [262] than any scholarly treatise could do the widespread equation of "India" with "wisdom" in the later Hellenistic period.

On the other hand, an anonymous Greek popular comedy from approximately the same period (late first-early 2nd cent. A.D.) gives a much less flattering picture of India. Dealing with the adventures of a young Greek woman imprisoned by an Indian king, this theater-piece describes the Indian chieftains as "barbarians" who engage in wild dances and speak gibberish. The plot turns on the notion that Indians are unfamiliar with wine: this was an impression reported by Megasthenes. When the heroine's brother arrives to rescue her, she outwits her captors by making them drunk and thereby effects her escape. This minor comedy, though definitely addressed to a less cultured audience than Lukianos' satires, nonetheless assumed some vague awareness of India's existence on the part of its intended audience.

In view of the Greeks' at least occasional interest in India - which extended from the most highly educated circles far down into the general population - it is at first sight surprising that their picture of India owed so much to Alexander's companions and Megasthenes, and so little to the far more extensive Indian contacts which demonstrably flourished in the first and 2nd centuries A.D. The reason obviously was not the absence of more up-to-date information, since existing trade relations must have made this abundant, but rather 'an archaizing state of mind which caused such information to be ignored. To the educated person of the Hellenistic age, the greatest achievements of the human spirit belonged to the era of Greek history which ended with Alexander. The literature of all later periods was judged principally by the standard of faithfulness to 5th- and 4th-century models and themes. Moreover, India perhaps more than any other foreign land was associated with the name of Alexander; it represented the farthest extent of his extraordinary conquests. Apparently for such reasons, the writers of Alexander's generation (including Megasthenes) enjoyed supreme authority with respect to India.

All later Hellenistic writers on India who could lay claim to literary excellence - and this includes Arrianos, Quintus Curtius, Strabon, Plinius, Philostratos - depended for their view of India primarily upon the Alexandrian tradition, which was three to five centuries old in their time. They totally ignored south India - that part of the country having the closest real ties to the Greek world from the late first century B.C. onward. Alexander and his companions had known only the north. A major geographer like Strabon made very sparing use of contemporary travel reports in compiling his own account of India. He quoted frequently from the Alexandrian sources on India, but omitted to mention the pioneering journeys of Eudoxos of Kyzikos (almost certainly known to him through the writings of Poseidonios). Where Strabon referred to contemporary authors at all, it was chiefly to discredit their veracity.

[263] Plinius did mention a few sea-travelers of recent vintage; Ptolemaios used their reports extensively. However, both these men were more concerned with mathematical geography - i.e. ascertaining the true locations of places - than with descriptions of land and people, which had chiefly interested the writers Alexander's time and Megasthenes.Clemens of Alexandria

Given this rigid classicizing attitude, it is clear why Hellenistic writings on India included almost no specific references to what was then probably the chief religion of the country - Buddhism. Alexander's companions and Megasthenes had not mentioned Buddhists by name; the great efflorescence of this religion occurred after their time. But not until the 3rd century A.D. do we find a single explicit mention of the Buddha in any Greek writer. This was Clemens of Alexandreia, who as a Christian was not totally beholden to classical prejudice (with its inevitably pagan associations). Repeating Megasthenes, Clemens spoke of Brachmanai and Sarmanai as "barbarian" (i.e. foreign) philosophers; but he added to this list "Samanaioi of Bactria" and worshippers of "Boutta." Bactria meant the Kushan realm which at that period included portions of India; the "Samanaioi" were undoubtedly Buddhists. Clemens presumably did not suspect that the terms "Sarmanai" and "Samanaioi" were derived from variant forms of the same Indian word. Nor was he aware of any connection between Bactrian "Samanaioi" and the worshippers of "Boutta." But he obviously did not scorn contemporary sources, even if these were non-prestigious in a literary sense. His information about the Bactrians apparently was derived from overland contacts with the Kushan realm, his knowledge of the Buddha from south Indian sources. [>He had been to India himself, see Benz.]

Aside from the works of Alexander's companions and Megasthenes, we really do not know what writings about India may have circulated in the Hellenistic period. Certainly it is doubtful that any genuinely Indian texts were available even in the greatest libraries, such as Alexandreia or Pergamon. Our only extant note upon this subject comes from a very late source, the Christian writer Epiphanios (4th cent. A.D.), who claimed that in founding the Museum of Alexandreia King Ptolemaios I - who had served in India as one of Alexander's generals - ordered his librarian to gather books from the entire known world, including India. We do not know whether the librarian carried out his orders. But even if Indian books were available in the Hellenistic world, the likelihood is strong that no one would have read them. The sad fact is that Greeks rarely if ever learned foreign languages; they expected other peoples to learn theirs, which they confidently regarded as the only possible tongue for a civilized and educated person. Although they had long since ceased to regard foreign civilizations as "barbarian," the Hellenistic Greeks nonetheless lacked the genuine scholarly interest in foreigners' civilizations which only a solid knowledge of languages would have rendered possible. As far as we can tell, no Greek ever read the Zoroastrian,….. [264] the Egyptian wisdom books, not to mention the Upanishads or the Buddhist scriptures. Whatever information they possessed about these alien religions was many times removed from its primary sources.

Had they possessed a real desire to understand the country, Greek scholars could scarcely have been content for so many centuries to draw their view of India from the antiquated Alexander-tradition. But genuine investigation of the facts about India existed only where this was indubitably necessary for practical reasons, e.g. in the travelers' log-books which described the routes between places. Such documents were beyond the pale of respectable literature, even as source material (except for mathematical geographers). Obviously something more than mere faithfulness to the classical tradition was at work.

The truth seems to be that the Greeks of the Hellenistic age had a deeply felt need to assume the priority and the superiority of Oriental wisdom - not only Indian, but also Zoroastrian, Egyptian, Babylonian and Hebrew. With respect to their own political and religious institutions, they were men of little faith. Politically they had become Roman subjects; the Romans learned to speak Greek (which no doubt was an important ingredient in their successful imperialism), but did not restore the ancient Hellenic liberties. In religion, many educated Greeks clung desperately to the pagan deities, which were inseparable from the great tradition of classical Greek literature (though even some writers of the classical age had treated the gods with indifference or scepticism). The less educated turned in great numbers to alien faiths, until even philosophers came to believe that Oriental religion (though not Oriental civilization in general) was superior to the indigenous variety.

The high respect accorded to Indian wisdom in the Hellenistic age was not an isolated cultural phenomenon. The same attitude prevailed toward Zoroastrian and Egyptian tradition. But it is doubtful that Greeks would have reacted in this fashion to foreign religion - much of which had to do with life after death, astrology and the occult world - if they had read its primary literature and understood it on its own terms. The cultural gap was too wide; in many respects they would have been repelled. Instead they constructed an imaginative picture of foreign spirituality. The Hellenistic reputation of the Persian Magi or the Egyptian god Hermes Trismegistos was in fact largely the product of forgeries done by Greeks themselves, aided certainly by natives who told them what they wished to hear. The Greeks' estimate of Brahmin wisdom was similarly contrived: an imaginative creation anchored upon a few observed facts concerning Indian ascetics. This blind faith in foreign speculation was a clear sign that the Hellenistic Greeks profoundly lacked confidence in their own religious heritage. Precisely this attitude, and the felt need for an idealized replacement, made it impossible for them to seek a true image of the real India

Pattole Palame: Kodava Culture - Folksongs and Traditions

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Boverianda Chinnappa, and Nanjamma who translated Pattole Palame into English

The PATTOLE PALAME is a record of the culture of the Kodavas, compiled in the late 19^th and early part of the 20^th century by Nadikerianda Chinnappa (1875-1931), a subinspector of Police and a prosecuting inspector. He had enough opportunities to travel all over Kodagu, mainly on horseback,and observe the customs and traditions of the land. . Mr. Chinnappa’s travels in Kodagu land and his interest in Kodava culture purred him to to acquire a deeper knowledge of these people’s customs,language, songs and dances. He enjoyed singing Kodava ballads and beating the Dudi (Kodava drum). He was also fond of taking part in Kodava folkdances during festivals.His passion for Kodava songs and folklore prompted him to start collecting them. He compiled all the material he had collected;the history, customs and songs of the Kodavas and named it Pattole Palame.

The then Government contributed towards the cost of publication and the Pattole Palame was published by the compiler himself in 1924 in Kodava language with Kannada script, as there was no Kodava script as such. Later,the work was published three times by different agencies.The compiler himself tried to translate this into English but he passed away while the work was in progress. After a few decades Mrs. Nanjamma and Mr. Boverianda Chinnappa, the grandchildren of the author, translated this into English successfully.

Pattole Palame literally translates as Silken Lore, which

means Patt= silk, Pole = like, Palame = traditional sayings)

Words that are as smooth as silk.

It also signifies (Patt +Ole = Palm + Leaves, Palame =

traditional words) Words written on smooth, silken palm

leaves. Yet another interpretation is

(Patt + Olel = Inside palm leaves, Palame= words)

Words wrapped in silken palm leaves

that is, like valuables that were generally wrapped in silk in the olden days.

The translators opine that the compiler might have chosen this title from Kaiyyandira Appayya’s songs, where the words mean

Documents of stories and sayings related to a family or community, recorded on silken palm leaves.

The book Pattole Palame describes the folk life of the Kodagu where,The sacred waters of our mother-goddess Cauveri

Born of a miracle

Flowed down the hill

And severed Kodagu in half

Like a lemon sliced

And the slices placed on either side

Like a coconut cut

And the halves placed on either side

This land was divided.

The original Pattole Palame compiled in 1924 covered a broad range of topics on the culture of the Kodavas, in six chapters:

1. A description of Kodagu and its history

2. Kodava Customs

3. Kodava Festivals

4. Songs of Gods and Goddesses

5. Songs of Heroes

6. Miscellaneous material, including proverbs, sayings and riddles.

This translation has omitted the sections in chapter 1 of the original compilation that contain the geography and history of Kodagu and the section in chapter 6 relating to caste taboos. A note on the geography of the land, a very brief history of Kodagu and a description of Kodava society and culture are provided as background information, which has provided a better base for understanding the rest. The translators in their introductory words say:

Our translation of songs faithfully follows the line sequence in the original, except where we have transposed a line or two, or added a phrase or line in order to clarify the text for the reader unacquainted with Kodava traditions. The compiler used either Kodava or Kannada words for the titles of sections or in describing a custom or tradition. We have used only the Kodava equivalents (where available) with English translation.

The process of translation of Pattole Palame is completed in two different stages. The Kodava verses are translated into Kannada and then into English. Since the Kannada script is used in the beginning, the influence of Kannada has certainly affected the translation. Probably because the compiler and the translators are both skilled in writing and hail from Kodava culture, the original thoughts are reproduced without much destruction in this English translation. There lies the real success of this pioneer work as far as Kodava culture is concerned.Folk literature and traditional practices documented in such huge quantity is the first of its kind in this culture’s tradition. This is the first time in the history of Kodava literature that its customs and literature have been introduced to international scholarship on such a large scale. Thus,the efforts of Nadikerianda Chinnappa, through his 1924 publication, have given him distinguished status in the field of culture documentation. With the influence of modernization, the customs and beliefs, and the rituals and practices of this people are fast changing. Pattole Palame was compiled in 1924, and it has been translated after about eight decades. Though the translators know that several ritual practices have changed or vanished or sometimes, new ones introduced, they can do little about it, because they have rendered a faithful translation of the original. Scholars who wish to use this as a data bank have to consider the fact that this book dates back to 1924. However, since the Kodavas have retained a lot of their old customs and traditions despite technological advances, this book still holds fairly true of Kodava culture of the present.

The main text of the book is organized into seven chapters, in which the 6 th and 7^th chapters are on proverbs, sayings, riddles and the appendix, which includes maps and photographs, and helps as additional information. The first five chapters provide ethnographic details of the Kodava community. The very first chapter titled Songs of the Land describes the origin of River Cauveri and how the land was administered. A brief note is added at the beginning of each chapter, which provides information about the content and context of the translated songs. Though the observations and analyses are not based on any theoretical approach of folklore, the efforts to provide sufficient information helps the readers understand the background. The second chapter is compiled in a very systematic way, providing details of Kodava customs. The rituals of birth, marriage and death are described and the verses translated into English in free prosody meter to provide the feel of the original text. Since Kodavas are martial heroes involved in hunting and war, the death of a young husband is a common phenomenon, and tradition has forced the acceptance of remarriages. The customs and rituals followed at such remarriages are narrated in detail. Thus, the reader gets a clear picture of the traditional backgrounds in a meaningful way. The rich Kodava tradition is highlighted through its festivals. Festival performances such as dances and songs with their related myths, legends and the festival proceedings have been related. Kail Polud, Cauveri Sankramana, Puttari Polud, Sivarathri, Ugadi and Vishu Sankramana are the festivals commonly observed by all Kodavas. Kail Polud and Puttari Polud are associated with paddy cultivation, while Cauveri Sankramana celebrates the birth of the River Cauveri. Siva Rathri, Ugadi and Vishu Sankramana are festivals also celebrated in other parts of India. Kail Polud celebrates the end of the season of sowing and transplanting paddy and the beginning of the hunting season. Puttari is a harvest festival. This chapter comprises many songs sung during Puttari. They are associated with dance performances also. It also contains nade songs, stories and plays that are narrated during these festivals. Kodici songs are sung during Puttari, and tell about the beauty of the Kodici, the dancing girl and Konda, the dancing boy. Young boys dressed as Kodici and Konda dance to these songs.

The details of the festivals celebrated in every nad, the village, for thevillage deity and the other common festivals are also given in the notes,with the related songs translated.The fourth chapter gives the details of the gods and goddesses of this tradition. This chapter consists of nine songs about various gods and goddesses who came to Kodagu and settled there to become local deities.Kanartappa, Tiru Cambaratappa, Bendrukolappa, Igguttappa, Palurappa and Tirunelli Pemmayya are the six gods and Pannagalatha is the goddess about whom the songs are sung in the Song of the Seven Gods.

The other songs compiled here are the Songs of Five Gods, Three Gods, Two Gods,Song of Sartava, Song of Ketrappa, Song of Choli Povvediamme, Song of Ballattnad Povvediamme and Song of Omale Pudiyodi

The fifth chapter includes the songs of heroes like Kanniyada

Kamayya, Kaliyatanda Ponnappa, Nadikerianda Devayya, Kayyandira Appayya, Aiyya Kovira Appayya and Polledevira Appayya. These ballads are tales of valour in combat, of intrigue, deceit, magical spirits and powers.They also give us an insight into the customs of the Kodava people, their daily life and beliefs and their social ties and responsibilities. For example,on page 616, the song that describes the social structure reads as:

He cursed him

“Attached to this Okka

let there be no more

than one poleya

Or take the details of preparing the funeral pyre as described on page 618:

The youths of the village

Collected all the customary items

For the death ceremony,

Stacked sandalwood

And wood from mango trees

For the funeral pyre

And carrying the corpse

To the cremation ground............................

As mentioned earlier, the last two chapters of this book give the details of proverbs, old sayings, riddles, beliefs and superstitions. The translation of such sentences and phrases into English is a real challenge; because they have functional importance and their functions vary depending on the context; and translation in isolation will certainly create confusion. The efforts of the translators are again worth praising here.

Photos, facsimiles in Kodava language, the bibliography, the key to the transliteration and the index added at the end of this book have fulfilled the editor’s responsibility of furnishing such details.

The efforts taken by the translators of this marathon work are highly appreciable and command respect from the reader as well from the Kodava community. However, in the electronic era, as book production also demands a professional touch, a few observations are worth mentioning,without any lowering of respect for the great efforts of the compiler and translators.

Though the book is folkloristic in content, the author and the translators, with their limited folkloristic theoretical background and lack of professionalism in book production, have left room for certain limitations.

The ethnographic details of singers and informants are not furnished here.The songs are collected from different singers from a variety of contexts and compiled together as a series without specifying the context. The songs compiled here might have had variations and such variations are not highlighted. The songs were compiled in 1924 and have been translated now. Therefore, the deficiency in the collection/ documentation has carried to the translation too. The songs have musical meters and rhythmic phrases.

The ethnic prosody is specific in its original form, but in translation as free meter is used, the beauty of the texture might have been distorted. This phenomenon is common in all such translations.

The editor’s work lacks a professional touch. A change in the arrangement of Notes, End Notes and ethnographic details, plus details of the compilers and translators in a more orderly fashion could have provided a better design for the book. The book hardly finds any analysis and will serve as a good data bank. Because the Pattole Palame songs were collected in 1924, when our villages were still under the influence of the British and Indians were living with a feeling that their culture was being endangered and they were losing something traditional, the mere collection and documentation itself was felt very urgent and a sacred service to tradition. It was a romantic nationalistic thinking that provoked severalauthors to take up such compilation work as a measure of preservation, and Nadikerianda Chinnappa is influenced by this spirit in his Pattole Palame.

In a time span of over 80 years, a number of folklore theories have emerged and the international forum is demanding the exploration of local ethnic identity and the regional wealth of tradition. When regional language scholars also take interest in presenting their traditional wealth in the international forum, a stage for translations in English is well set. Such translations are proving very significant as they provide a broader base for micro and in-depth research studies from theoreticians in folklore discipline.Therefore, the efforts of the translators B. Nanjamma and Chinnappa are equally valuable as the work of the compiler.

Kodava song and the public non-assertion of difference

2012-04-28T00:01:00.000+05:30

Kodava men at Kota Beta play kolayat, a martial game.
The long-sleeved white kupya, worn over shorts or rolled up trousers
, is worn by only a few groups in more remote parts of the district
. The more common black kupya is seen in Figure 6.
Amongst other groups of Kodava, kolayat is generally very stylised and safe.

This article examines a core musical repertoire of the Kodava/Coorg song, the dudikotapat. (“songs with the beat of the dudi”). Conveying texts grounded in ancestor worship, accounts of localized deities and heroes, the relationship of the Kodava to adjacent regions, and the minutiae of life-cycle rituals, these songs are presented in a melodic style that the Kodava themselves regard as austere and limited. They are most frequently sung in circumstances which might lead one to conclude that both singers and listeners treat the music that represents them and allows them to identify and situate themselves culturally, with scant regard: in the midst of processions and rituals featuring much louder simultaneous performances, against a background of dancing and fireworks, or as people chatter. At the same time Kodava regard these performances as essential and derive greater pleasure from singing.

Drawing together various threads of discussion, I argue that though there are more visible markers of Kodava identity in the form of dress, martial games and ritual, the dudikotapat form a crucial means of self-identification, and of resistance to both Sanskritization, and, through the seeming indifference of performers, the exoticising gaze of the broader community.

Introduction

The traditional Kodava ceremony varies from the many marriage ceremonies of much of Hindu India in that it is non-Sanskritic, does not require the presence of a priest, and substantially consists of an exchange of vows led by senior relatives of the bride and groom. The ceremony as actually outlined on the resort’s website was a strange confection of both the Kodava and the mainstream. Protest quickly followed, substantially through the internet, and in part led by Kodava living outside the district.1 Within a few weeks, this particular item of cultural tourism ceased to exist.2 This, along with contemporaneous protests against the use of the image apparently of a ceremonially dressed Kodava man as a sort of ‘maitre d’’ for luxury train travel in Southern India, 3 suggest not only a defence of cultural particularity, but also a shift in the way Kodava wish to be regarded by other Indians.

The second anecdote is more personal. Shortly before, and early in, my time in Kodagu, I was offered interesting critical information about Kodava music. “You are going to find this music very dull.” “It is the least interesting music here.” “You know, the Kodava only have one tune.” “The Kodava are at the north pole, music at the south.” These comments are of course red rags to any ethno-musicological buffalo. But before this bull could charge, it had to be accepted that most of these comments came from the Kodava themselves.

It is necessary to somehow square these two anecdotes: on the one hand valorisation and protection of particular markers of Kodava difference, which extends beyond marriage ritual and dress to include sporting and military prowess; on the other, indifference, reticence and even embarrassment about their music. In order to illustrate in words something of the ‘embarrassment’ or reticence about the music, I will describe just two of the circumstances under which it might be heard, or not heard, as the case may be. The annual festival at the shrine of the gods Kakot Achayya, Akkavva, and Kari Kotta at Kakotaparambu near the town of Virajpet, celebrates the arrival of two gods from Kerala, and their deified companion. During the first evening of the festival proper, ritual objects, koyimes,are brought from the four houses of local families associated with the shrine. The first indication that the procession is approaching are the occasional sounds of the kombu, a large brass trumpet, blown at great volume with little apparent regard for stability of pitch. These sounds then juxtapose with those of the fireworks. As the procession approaches, the sound of the valaga comes to dominate. This is a form of dance music originally from Kerala, played by Dalit musicians on two double reed aerophones, frequentlynagaswaram, and one or two drums, either local variants of the thimila of Kerala, or modern military style tenor and bass marching drums. If the listener manages to get into the heart of the procession, they may hear the quietest stratum of the music, the one that the men in this picture are playing and singing.

Fig. 1: Procession to the shrine of Kakotaparambu.
The koyimes are wrapped in the
red bundle. Four Kodava men perform
the dudikotapat. Author’s photograph.

This song is a dudikotapat. (“song with the beat of thedudi”). Itis sung by the Kodava themselves and tells the story of the arrival of these gods. Unless the listener enters into the procession to seek it out, it is inaudible.

Similarly, each Kodava patrilinial clan, or okka,celebrates its ancestry on a specific annual day called the Karana Namme. On this day, not only the founding father of each okka, but successive generations “until the present”, are saluted. A dudikotapat giving an entire genealogy is sung over a period of up to eight hours.

As each living person is named, they are expected to honour their older relatives and make a prayer offering at the Nellaki Bolcha (Paddy filled lamp), a clay lamp in a niche in the western wall of the central hall, that forms the centre of devotion in a traditional Kodava house.

Karana pat performed at the
Ain-mane (ancestral house) of the Mevada
okka. Author’s photograph.

As this Karana pat is performed, most people engage in noisy socialising and celebration outside, enjoying the ignition of fireworks, and dancing to the sound of the valaga. Though some people at times listen intently, for much of the day the music largely appears to be ignored.

Inaudible and ignored though it may appear to be in both instances, the music however must be there. In this paper I will argue that its presence is maintained not merely through a resistance to change within established ritual, but because the music itself is resistance.

Music as resistance

The near ubiquity of music in public human interactions means that it will inevitably be linked at least through co-occurrence to acts or feelings of resistance. As such, this is a subject that scarcely requires exposition. Since resistance is almost the inevitable opposing counterpart to cultural re-formation, such as occurs with Sanskritization and the incursion of its supporting political forces, it is usually closely linked to the formation, definition and assertion of identity and difference. Most studies centre on identity formulation and resistance to extant or increasing hegemonisation: race, gender, class, religion, and sexuality, or mixtures of these. This is straightforward enough when particular genres are seen as the locus of particular groups, (traditional blues, ‘women’s songs’), but a little more complex when the genres themselves, such as rock, may be readily appropriated by cultural hegemony, may be contested, as in the case of rap, or may simply ‘move’. In many such instances the thrust of resistance may become textual rather than musical. Hebdige’s seminal work on subcultures (1979) showed that musical styles, rather than textual content or contextual happenstance, may become indicators of resistance, but that the link between musical style and elective subcultures, may be both selected and somewhat arbitrary.

Later hermeneutic studies advanced on Hebdige’s position, by attempting to demonstrate that aspects of musical style or even non-verbal content specifically encode resistance. These range from MacDonald’s (1990) contentious reading of coded messages in specific passages in the music of Shostakovich, through to those of Manuel’s (1989) reading of flamenco as featuring a collection of musical techniques each of which is almost the antithesis of a valued technique of the music of the Spanish courts. I will argue that thedudikotapat offer a resistance that is textual, in presenting accounts linked to pre-Sanskritic Kodava life, contextual in that the songs are performed within broader cultural events that are thoroughly and unmistakably Kodava, and stylistic, in that the style is distinctively ‘local’, allowing for the careful presentation of crucial texts, and offering a homology of the reciprocity that is central to traditional Kodava life.

The dudikotapat

The dudikotapat are central to the musical repertoire of the Kodava, and thus to many rituals. Conveying texts grounded in ancestor worship, accounts of localised deities and heroes, the relationship of the Kodava to adjacent regions, and the minutiae of life-cycle rituals, these songs are presented in a melodic style that the Kodava themselves regard as austere and limited. They are sung exclusively by men, and to the best of my knowledge, are never sung by non-Kodava.

A generic transcription of the most frequently used melody
. The ubiquitous dudi beat is also given. This melody is subtly varied both
from performance to performance, and within performances.
Contrary to proffered opinion, there is more than one Kodava tune.

The dudi is an hourglass drum, held most commonly by taking the tensioning ropes in the left hand, and struck with a switch. The songs are performed by two pairs of men.5 Each pair will sing between two and four stanzas, before the second pair, usually by singing a anacrusic phrase (translated as ‘listen’ or “so we say”), signal their intent to take over. The interruption may be a regular alternation, or may be in response to a perceived lapse in memory. The style within each pair could be described as heterophonic. Rich heterophony is prized, and is created by divergent timing and ornamentation of the basic melody, largely through a wide vibrato. The coordination of the four drums is generally imprecise. As the songs may take many hours to perform, singing is often done in shifts, and it is sometimes amusing to watch the efforts of a singer to find someone to take his place.

Four Kodava men, wearing traditional dress,
perform dudikotapat at Kakotaparambu.
The man second from the right was not
manually increasing the tension of the skin at this point.
Author’s photograph.

As outlined in the introduction to this paper, the dudikotapat are most frequently sung in circumstances that might lead one to conclude that both singers and listeners treat the music that represents them, and allows them to identify and situate themselves culturally, with scant regard. Certainly as an identity marker projected to and recognised by the wider community, song is in no way equivalent to some of the other markers listed above. At the same time, Kodava regard these performances as essential, and older Kodava derive great pleasure from singing. Until about 80 years ago, it was considered the mark of a Kodava man that he sings these songs. Though older Kodava lament that younger men do not wish to sing, that the same complaint was voiced forty-five years ago suggests that if the number of people able to sing is in decline, this decline is slow rather than rapid (Sri Sathyan, 1965: 441). During my fieldwork, solicited performances turned into occasions of great celebration, which the current researcher, a vegetarian who is easily inebriated, found demanding.

Dudikotapat and Sanskritization: Song as resistance

However many of the songs are maintained as projection of identity and for the pleasure derived from performance, I believe what is important is the manner in which much of the repertoire engages and reiterates part of the history of religious and political colonisation of the district. The position of the Kodava within broader contours of cultural change in India is well known through M.N. Srinivas’ seminal 1952 work on Sanskritization, Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India. As a theory, Sanskritization endeavours to explain the process of the spreading of cultural practices of high-caste Hinduism, particularly those associated with Sanskrit language ritual and text, across much of India. The minimal definition of this process is that:

The lower castes have a tendency to take over the customs and rites of the higher castes … [ensuring] the spread of Sanskritic ritual and cultural forms at the expense of others” (Srinivas, 1952: 209).

Srinivas’s original definition focuses on the instigation of caste mobility: a caste may advance itself hierarchically “by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism, and by Sanskritizing its ritual and pantheon” (Srinivas, 1956: 481). At the same time as it operates within a seemingly divisive hierarchy however, Sanskritization may have a socially cohesive effect. By locating themselves within a hierarchy, the adoptive group establishes and redefines the relationships necessary for integration to village life, both in its day to day manifestations and in its ritual activity. Furthermore, the ritual practices and ideologies associated with upper castes have a much broader geographical spread, thus ultimately linking the local with the Pan-Indian (Sriniva, 1989: 53-72). Thus Sanskritization acts as both a vertically and horizontally cohesive force.

Sanskritization however, represents only one stage of the cultural and religious transformation of the Kodava. The first stage consists of incursions, largely through trade, from Kerala. The exact details of these incursions are not clear: local historians suggest that they date from about the 12th century (B.P. Appanna, interview with author), though there is evidence for trade as early as 200 BCE (Sri Sathyam, 1965: 224-225; Kamath, 1993: 54). What is important for this paper is how these incursions are represented in sung repertoire, for with this trade, come gods. Fleeing the unbearable fishy stench of the coast, they establish themselves as a supplement to isolated ancestor worship and animism, and become the ritual responsibility not of single okkas,but of a number of families, sometimes from throughout the district.

The second stage begins in the late 16th century, with the ascendancy of the Haleri rajas of the Ikkeri dynasty. Though belonging to the lingayat sect of Hinduism, which ostensibly denies caste, the Kodagu rajas began to employ Brahmin priests from the adjacent districts of Dakshin Kannada and Tulunad, initially as teachers to their sons. Along with establishing temples to Siva, these priests began to assert control over aspects of worship and even interpretation at the more important temples. Previously localised deities became associated with or even renamed as Sanskritic deities (Srinivas, 1952). For example the temple of Iguthappa in Kakkabe, a rain god who is sung to have migrated from Kerala, became associated with Subramaniam, the son of Siva, greatly and widely revered in the south of India. According to one cynical Kodava autonomist, this was simply because someone found an image of a peacock, Subramaniam’s vehicle, carved on one of the temple walls. When I visited the temple most recently in October 2008, I was told it was a Siva temple, that men were to wear a lunghi to enter, and that non-Hindus were not allowed into the shrine. When I asked if it were really a Siva temple, the priest looked at me, perhaps a little abashed, and said “Siva-Subramaniam” before walking away.

There have been ongoing critiques of Srinivas’ theory, a number of which were summarised by Staal (1963): McKim Marriott quickly observed that Sanskritization does not take place by eliminating local little traditions, but adds to them – Nehru’s idea of Indian civilization as palimpsest at work (Staal, 1963: 263). Staal also cites Dumont and Pocock’s characterisation of the results of Sanskritization as “a more distinguished or prestigious way of saying the same things” (Staal, 1963: 264). According to Carroll (1977: 358-9), in response to definitional difficulties, and in recognition of the ‘two-way’ nature of processes, Srinivas later reduced Sanskritization to generalised process, downplaying the values inherent in his earlier definitions. She therefore asks whether

Sanskritization is really anything other than that phenomenon common to all societies where to a greater or lesser degree the plebeians follow the social and cultural lead of the elite, emulating the latter to the extent that their own financial resources and the presence or absence of social sanctions supporting elitist prerogatives permit (1977: 359).

Though her point is valid, it implies that Sanskritization is adopted by the group, not forced upon it. She draws attention to this when she argues that the prevailing anthropological model of India attempts to downplay power struggle in favour of struggle over ritual form, and that using Sanskritization as a mode of interpretation facilitates this (1977: 367-8).

Sanskritization is an interpretation of social movement in India which implicitly associates adoption of higher caste practice with upward mobility, and assumes that such adoptions are regarded as desirable by those who undertake them. What is under-recognised is the possibility that Sanskritization represents a process of internal colonization, and that this may be resisted. Srinivas (2000: 630) himself notes early Marxist critiques of his theory, and in a later study points to the role of the “dominant, landowning castes in thetransmission of cultural forms, ideas, and patterns of behaviour to the people living within their jurisdiction” (1997:17. Author’s emphases). This suggests that Sanskritization is imposed from the top, or that it is a good strategic choice, and not just a direct social climbing on the part of the adoptive group.

It was only much later that he recognized the potential for the revolutionary strategy of withdrawal from the Hindu social order and repudiation of upper-caste lifestyles as models for emulation by the socially deprived castes (Madan, 2001:17, Srinivas, 1997).

Though is impossible to think of the Kodava as a “socially deprived caste”, Madan’s obituary draws direct attention to the possibility that Sanskritisaztion may be resisted.

In fact, Srinivas hints at this when he argues that the Kodava

took quite easily to British diet and dress, and certain activities like dancing, hunting, and sports”, and that the association of these practices with British power may well have acted as a bulwark against Sanskritization in these matters (Srinivas, 1956: 487-88).

Whatever the case, with a few exceptions, vegetarianism and teetotalism have made no headway amongst the Kodava, and animal sacrifice has declined only so far as some shrines have become vegetarian, and some people chose to absent themselves from temples and shrines when animal sacrifice occurs. Hunting parties have declined, largely through government restriction, and through the realisation that the combination of drinking and hunting during particular traditional festivals was not always particularly sensible.

I maintain that contemporary political resistance, which of course is selective, and established cultural resistance, are paralleled in sung resistance, and that this resistance is both textual and stylistic. The dudikotapat repertoire textually represents two phases of Kodava culture. They represent the earliest and most intimate of surviving Kodava cultural practices, those that predate the arrival of Gods from Kerala: ancestor worship and the minutiae of traditional life, such as the Kotholi Koniumbaiah Pat, which celebrates the arrival of Cardamom in Kodagu. This repertoire also maintains songs that celebrate obsolete but still highly valued ideals, most notably the Nari Mangala Pat, a song that traditionally accompanies a ceremony whereby a Kodava man or woman is married to the spirit of a tiger they have killed. The repertoire also celebrates the second phase, that of the arrival of the gods and the advance of multi-familial and district-wide integration. The songs sing of reciprocal weddings between okkas,of brave men who made the difficult journey to Kerala and returned, of warrior heroes, and above all, of gods who came from Kerala, to find good people in the beautiful land of Kodagu of the golden necklace.

With one or two exceptions, the dudikotapat that are commonly sung do not celebrate any aspect of the Sanskritization of Kodagu, though Sanskritic elements appear such as in the dedicatory mentioning of deities. Though most of the political domination which may have facilitated Sanskritization came from the north and the east, no songs sing about this. They neither celebrate explicitly or implicitly the arrival of newer gods or heroes, nor lament what has occurred. Even the most traumatic event in Kodava history, the exiling and forced conversion to Islam of thousands of Kodava men by Tipu Sultan in 1785, seems to be referred to only once in Kovada cultural acvtivity, as a spoken vow in some variants of the wedding ceremony.7 Political rule came from the north and east. Culture and religion, come from the south and the west. The one dudikotapat that does seem to have some relation to the Haleri rajas, the Desi Kata Pat, a song that outlines the division of the district into smaller units, or nads, is widely believed to mark only the reorganisation and formalisation of an existing political structure (Boverianda and Boverianda, 2003:10. Appanna, interview with author). The last lines of this song, apart from a following envoi that is common to most if not all dudikotapat, neatly encapsulates the layering process:

A Madeva for every nad,

A Povvedi for every village,

An Ayappa for every hamlet,

A Nata for every lane

A Puda for every okka. (Boverianda and Boverianda, 2003: 39)

Madeva is a vernacularization of Mahadeva, or Siva, Povvedi or Parvati or Bhagavati, Siva’s consort. A local hunting deity is here renamed as Ayappa. a name that is less supra-regional than Siva, though known through much of Indian. A Nata is a deified snake, the representation of which may be found in many places other than just at the corner of ‘every lane’, and a Puda is a bhut, a ghost recollection of ancestor worship.

The exception that seems most clear is the Kaveri Pat,the song of the river Kaveri. Here is an obvious Sanskritization, particularly since the pat uses a so-called Kaveri Purana, of recent invention, as its text (Moegling, 1855: 17-18). Though this would seem to be a clear instance of a Sanskritic dudikotapat, the Kodava maintain that the Kaveri is theirs. The sources of the Kaveri is in Kodagu, and though the story may be an interpolation, the worship is not. “No one else in India worships Kaveri the way we do.” Moreover, there is some contestation of the claim that the source of the Kaveri, Talacavery, is a Pan-Indian site. As far as some Kodava are concerned, not only is Kaveri theirs, but it is theirs alone. In both instances, Kodava are able, through interpretation, to ‘rescue’ the texts from Haleri domination and Sanskritization.

Performed cultural resistance takes other forms, which are beyond the scope of this paper to explore in any detail. I will summarise two briefly. First, resistance has become textually inscribed in the form of a compendium of song texts, aphorisms and proverbs, and general descriptions of Kodava life, the Pattole Palame, by Nadikerianda Chinnappa in the early twentieth century. This text has been published in numerous Kodava language, Kannada script editions, and was translated to English in 2003 by the grandchildren of the original compiler. Though this text itself, and the comments of the English translators, may be seen as evidence of Sanskritization, with its ‘Kodava National Anthem’ mentioning Parvati, it summarises a substantial body of traditional repertoire, and has established itself as a resource to be consulted at times, if not used as an alternative to memorised performance.8

I will also recount one instance of mimetic resistance. At the annual festival at Kakotaparambu, the tenuous nature of the hold of Sankritic deities over ritual may be observed on several occasions. There is ongoing contrast between such elements as the vegetarian offerings to the Sankritised Kakot Achayya and the sacrificing of chickens and pigs to Kari Kotta, and the Brahmin supervised darshan of Kakot Achayya and Akkavva whilst the dudikotapat recounts their arrival from Kerala. In the order of ritual, Kari Kotta is worshipped first, though he was originally a Dalit whom the two other Gods adopted as a sort of chaperone, and though he is given no Sanskritic transformation. Tensions are acted out most dramatically on the second day. Kakot Achayya, now taking on aspects and the pan-Indian significance of Ishwara, or Siva, is carried from the shrine on the head of an entranced Brahmin, for circumambulations of a tree. These rounds are themselves an acknowledgement of traditional animism. Having promised firewood to a local goddess, Chaundi, and then having reneged on that promise, Ishwara is attacked by Chaundi and her servant, who are represented by entranced Dalit men. Should Ishwara, who is portrayed as cowardly, not be able to reach his temple in time, no festival is to be celebrated for twelve years. This calamitous event is avoided only by the unparalleled strategy of tackling the Goddess to the ground as she charges towards her intended victim. The ambivalence of the situation is to be celebrated: the Sanskritized deity ‘wins’, but only by a margin: the threat of the ‘local’ remains ever-present. That the rescue of Ishwara is effected through a traditional Kodava pastime, sport, is itself telling.

Resistance in song

Having argued that a particular song genre is effective as performed resistance to the process of cultural domination, I will demonstrate that song style, both in its difference from other genres and in its specifics, embodies and reinforces such resistance. I maintain that it is more than the presence of the songs, and their textual content, that gives them efficacy. It is the quality of the singing. Firstly the dudikotapat varies from other song types performed by the Kodava. Most notably and obviously, it varies from the style used to sing songs about more widespread Hindu deities. These songs are sung in a more generic South Indian style, accompanied often by harmonium and tali, small brass cymbals, and often use melodies found elsewhere. Close unison singing is sought, not heterophony. At the same time, the dudikotapat melody notated above may be heard, sung at much faster tempo for purposes of dancing, by performers from the Yereva tribe, another local group who in the past were frequently the slaves, now the servants, of Kodava households. At this stage, I cannot say whether the Yereva style is the dudikotapat sped up, or the dudikotapat is the Yereva style slowed down. What is important is the affirmation of indigeneity that may be drawn from the similarity of styles.

Beyond this, the style of dudikotapat effects resistance, both indirectly by facilitating rigid memorisation, and directly by paralleling the reciprocity that is essential in traditional relations between groups of Kodava. The performance of the songs in heterophonic pairs both necessitates and aids memorisation. Because pairs sing, the well-known strategies of extensive oral performance, repetition, centonisation, formulaic substitution, are impossible. The singing within each pair acts as a check against lapses of memory, and heterophony smudges over slight inconsistencies in the words. At the same time, the alternation of pairs ensures that one group can override the other if it is perceived that there are lapses of memory. The slow tempo accommodates ‘thinking time’. That the antiphonal structure of performance homologises idealised reciprocity which in turn is homologised by the insistence that at any event the people should “stand in two rows”, may almost be too obvious to draw attention to. Finally, the style of the dudikotapat is perceived as one that “is haunting and evokes images of times long past” (Boverianda and Boverianda, 2003:19. Author’s emphases).

For many Kodava, ‘times long past’ are best represented in the singing found in the more remote valleys of the west and the south of the district. As more than one Kodava pejoratively described it, “The singing is best in those places because the people are the most backward.” Here a friction within Kodava society must be acknowledged. It is between the most developed and wealthiest central part of the district, around the towns of Madikeri and Virajpet, and the more remote villages of Mokudlu, Kalur, Surabhi and Poradu.9 Certainly, the heterophony in songs recorded in Mokudlu and Kalur is richer and more complex, and a distinctive repertoire of melodies is used in Poradu. X But perhaps more importantly, the valorisation of the songs from the remote parts speaks of a differentiation from the centre, from that part of Kodagu most strongly under the sway of the Rajas.

If style itself is resistant, through its facilitation of memorisation, its homologising of other aspects of social style, and through the valorisation of its ‘remote’ or ‘old’ variants, then it may be sufficiently strong to accommodate even those texts that seem to accept Sanskritic elements and Haleri domination. The style ofdudikotapat confirms that the “Kaveri is worshipped our way”, and that the performances of the ‘backwards’ districts are best, remote as they are from the transformations brought about by the Haleri. Almost as a footnote, but one that neatly summarises the last point, it is worth noting that the academic documentation of song as resistance may be older than we think:

The ritual has fallen completely into the lowland rut, but the song retains its pristine vigour and acceptance. It would seem as if the mind set up a sort of barrier against sacerdotal influence at certain points, reserving them, as it were, as perpetual tokens of early independence. The source is Grover’s “The Folk-Songs of Southern India”, published in 1871 (135)

Conclusions

In conclusion, I argue that though there are more visible markers of Kodava identity in the form of dress, martial games and ritual, the dudikotapat form a crucial means of self-identification and of resistance, textually, contextually and stylistically to both Sanskritization and the cultural and political domination which facilitated it. Furthermore through the seeming indifference of performers, the exoticising gaze of the broader community is negated. The resistance to this exoticisation was noted at the beginning of this paper.Dudikotapat offers a profound cultural expression that is seldom heard, and even less frequently appreciated by the non-Kodava, one that the Kodava frequently maintain that the non-Kodava are not likely to enjoy. But the dudikotapat need not be heard or appreciated to be resistant, it need only be. Appreciation is a bonus. As one performer said after a recording, “This is our culture, only for ourselves. Thank you for being interested.”

References

Boverianda, N. and Boverianda, C. (2003) Translators’ notes to Pattole Palame: Kodava Culture-Folksongs and Traditions by Naikerianda Chinanappa. New Delhi: Rupa.

Cariappa, M.P. and Cariappa, P. (1981) The Coorgs and their Origins. Mysore: Geetha Book House.

Carroll, L. (1977) “‘Sanskritization, ’ ‘Westernization, ’ and ‘Social Mobility’: A Reappraisal of the Relevance of Anthropological Concepts to the Social Historian of Modern India”. Journal of Anthropological Research 33: 355-371.

Kamath, S.U. (Ed.) (1993) Gazetteer of the State of Karnataka. Bangalore: Karnataka Gazetteer.

Grover, C.E. (2002) [1871] The Folk-Songs of Southern India. New Edition. New Delhi: Rupa.

Hebdige, D. (1979) Subculture: The meaning of style.London: Methuen.

MacDonald, I. (1990) The New Shostakovich. London: Fourth Estate.

Madan, T.N. (2001) “M.N. Srinivas 1916-1999”.International Sociology. 16: 115-121.

Manuel, P. (1989) “Andalusian, Gypsy, and Class Identity in the Contemporary Flamenco Complex, " Ethnomusicology 33: 45-65.

Moegling, H. (1855) Coorg Memoirs; An account of Coorg and of the Coorg Mission. Bangalore: Wesleyan Mission Press.

Naikerianda C. (2003) [n.d.] Pattole Palame: Kodava Culture-Folksongs and Traditions. Translated Boverianda Nanjamma and Boverianda Chinnappa. New Delhi: Rupa.

Srinivas, M.N. (1952) Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

(1956) A Note of Sanskritization and Westernization. Far Eastern Quarterly. 15: 381-396.

(1989) The Cohesive Role of Sanskritization and Other Essays. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

(1997) Practicing Social Anthropology in India.Annual Review of Anthropology 26: 1- 24.

(2000) An Interview with M.N. Srinivas. Current Anthropology. 41: 629-636

Sri Sathyam B.N. (1965) Mysore State Gazetteer – Coorg District. Bangalore: Government Press.

Staal, J.F. (1963) Sanskrit and Sanskritization The Journal of Asian Studies 22(3): 261-275.

Wilks, M. (1989) [1810]. Historical Sketches of the South of India in an Attempt to Trace the History of Mysore from the Origin of the Government of that State to the Extinction of the Mohammedan Dynasty in 1799.Reprinted New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.

List of sound examples

Example 1: Batte pat (Song of the way) and valaga, Kakotaparambu, 14th December, 2008. Recording by the author.

Example 2: Mevada family Karana pat, Kakotaparambu, 12th December 2008. Recording by the author.

Example 3: Mevada family Karana pat, Kakotaparambu, 12th December 2008. Recording by the author.

Example 4: Kalachanda Palangappa, Katolappanda pat, Madikeri, 9th September 2008. Recording by the author.

Courtesy: John Napier

Dr John Napier received his undergraduate training in music and postgraduate training in performance at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, graduating in 1983 with the Medal for Excellence. He immediately joined the Queensland Theatre Orchestra as principal cellist.
He received his doctorate in 2001 for his study of accompanying ensembles in North Indian vocal music. His current research includes North Indian music, specifically the documentation of katha or epic singers in Eastern Rajasthan, music of the Kodava of South India, and diaspora music making. He is currently senior lecturer in Musicology and Ethnomusicology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He continues a part-time career in performance.

Contact Details

John Napier j.napier@unsw.edu.au

Of loyalty & betrayal

2012-04-27T22:10:00.002+05:30

Kodava King Lingarajendra was assisted by his trusted soldier Thathanda Subbayya on several hunting expeditions to please British officers. A famous painting, depicting the king offering Subbayya a gold bracelet, a gun and a sachet of gold coins, is still in the ancestral home of the Thathanda family

Lingarajendra was not meant to be king. However, a series of lucky breaks landed him on the throne of Kodagu in 1811.

It was a combination of luck and chicanery that propelled him from being the timid younger brother of Dodda Veerarajendra to finally usurping the kingdom of Kodagu by cleverly dislodging the eleven-year-old daughter of his brother who had been named successor to the throne.

After the demise of Dodda Veerarajendra, Lingarajendra started asserting himself, and within a short time took complete control over his domain.

He was wise in maintaining good relationships with the powerful British who had established a strong presence in neighbouring Mysore after overthrowing Tipu Sultan.

One of the attractions Lingarajendra offered the British officers was organising elaborate hunting expeditions in the dense forests of Kodagu, which had abundant wildlife. As a protectorate of the British, there was no external threat to his kingdom. He diligently presented two elephants every year to the East India Company as a tribute.

Lingarajendra had a very loyal and trusted lieutenant in a young Kodava soldier called Thathanda Subbayya. Lingarajendra, though short in stature, was physically very tough. Also, he was very agile and athletic. He was an excellent horseman, a sharp shooter and an able archer. Subbayya was one of the few who could match him in marksmanship. This brought the two closer and Subbayya was Lingarajendra’s constant companion on every hunting trip of the raja.

Thathanda Subbayya rose rapidly in the court of Lingarajendra and was promoted to the post of kariakara which was equivalent to the position of an Army Commander. In a well-documented hunting trip of Colonel Welsh and Lieutenant Williamson in March 1811, it was Thathanda Subbayya who was in charge of all the arrangements for the elaborate shikari. Colonel Welsh who later became a General was extremely pleased with the sizeable booty of trophies he collected after the hunt. He promised all support for Lingarajendra and also requested the raja for another hunting adventure during October the same year.

After the departure of the guests, an immensely pleased Lingarajendra presented Subbayya with a gold bracelet, a gun and a sachet full of gold coins. He then announced a gift which was awarded only to very special subjects. It was to be painted in a portrait along with Lingarajendra.

This painting depicting a reverential Subbayya in front of Lingarajendra is still in existence at the ancestral home, or the aynmane of the Thathanda family in Kukloor village near Virajpet. When I visited the aynmane, the present residents allowed me to take a photograph of the painting which is placed in a recess of the wall next to the traditional hanging lamp known as thook bolucha. This is a sacred place in Kodava homes meant for offering regular obeisance to ancestors.

Taming the tiger

All the attention that kariakara Subbayya was receiving generated great envy amongst other members in the court of the raja. They felt threatened, and feared Subbayya would soon be promoted above some of the senior officers.

Few of his rivals waited for an opportunity to damage the reputation of Subbayya in the eyes of Lingarajendra. A few months later, Lingarajendra received an appeal from nearby villagers about a tiger that was terrorising the area and they wanted the raja to help them eliminate the beast.

Lingarajendra asked Subbayya to make all the arrangements and also set up a machaan (platform on a tree) for him to stalk the tiger. A live bait was tied in the vicinity to attract the big cat.

Subbayya who was an expert in setting up machaans immediately got on to the job and made all the necessary arrangements for the hunt. His foes took advantage of this event to discredit Subbayya. They surreptitiously sent their men to sabotage the machaan on which Lingarajendra was to camp overnight. The ropes used to tie the machaan were cut half-way to make it weak and unsafe.

Subbayya’s sacrifice

Lingarajendra got on to the machaan and Subbayya sat on another machaan set up atop another tree. A little after midnight, the tiger made its appearance where Lingarajendra sat waiting. There was no escape for the tiger with Lingarajendra’s accurate gunshot.

But, with the recoil of the powerful gun, Lingarajendra’s machaan gave way as the weakened ropes snapped. It was entirely the agility of the raja that enabled him to hold on to a branch and get down using the rope ladder.

Lingarajendra was furious and wanted Subbayya to be brought to him immediately. Subbayya who heard the gun shot got down from his machaan and was walking towards where Lingarajendra camped. He met the soldiers on the way who were looking for him. The soldiers narrated what had happened.

Subbayya who knew the raja’s explosive temper was sure he would be killed on sight. He told the soldiers that he would follow them. He then sat under a tree and shot himself in the chest with the gun that Lingarajendra had presented him months earlier.

When Lingarajendra learnt about Subbayya having taken his own life, he was most upset. He had complete faith in Subbayya and had no intentions of harming his loyal kariakara. He vowed to investigate the incident and punish the culprits.

Subbayya was still a bachelor and was planning to get married soon. He was a rising star among Kodavas at the time. Lingarajendra bitterly grieved Subbayya’s untimely demise. He built a memorial (in Lingayat style) in honour of his trusted kariakara in Kukloor village. This monument is well-maintained by the Thathanda family even to this day.

Lingarajendra ruled Kodagu for nine years. The economy of Kodagu improved during his tenure and there was no threat of war. For the battle-weary citizens of Kodagu, this period of peace came as a great reprieve.

Lingarajendra, however, turned despotic during the later part of his reign. His son and the last raja of Kodagu, Chikka Veerarajendra succeeded him in 1820. In 1834, the British dethroned the unpopular Chikka Veerarajendra and Kodagu came under the direct rule of the East India Company. Chikka Veerarajendra was ingloriously exiled to Benares.

Courtesy : Deccan Herald

Author: C.P. Belliappa

The Story of Veerarajendrapete

2012-04-27T22:05:00.002+05:30

Veerarajendrapete, or today's Virajpet, was built by Kodagu ruler Dodda Veerarajendra to celebrate his cordial relationship with the British. The town has streets named Bengali Street, Jain Street and Telugu Street, after people from neighbouring regions arrived here following an invitation from the king

Dodda Veerarajendra sat on the throne of Kodagu from 1791 to 1809 and is considered the hero of Haleri dynasty that ruled the land for more than 200 years. Dodda Veerarajendra was baptised by fire as it were.

As a young man in his mid-twenties, he crafted a dramatic escape in 1788 after having been in Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan’s captivity for eight years. By 1791, with help from Kodava chieftains, he managed to gradually gain control over his kingdom.

In 1790, he signed a friendship treaty with the East India Company and formed an alliance with the British. It was in April 1791 that a senior British officer, General Robert Abercrombie, who was also the Governor of Bombay, visited Kodagu to hold discussions with Dodda Veerarajendra regarding specific help that they wanted from him.

General Abercrombie had travelled from erstwhile Bombay and was on his way to Srirangapatna. Dodda Veerarajendra met the General who arrived from Tellichery.

The location where they met was on a hillock about ten kilometres from the border.

The General was quite taken-up with the indomitable young raja. As required by the British, the raja readily provided supplies for their troops, beasts of burden to transport war material, and a place for the horses and elephants to be looked after.

He also agreed to provide land for setting up a field hospital to treat war casualties. In 1792, General Abercrombie again met the raja of Kodagu on his way back from Srirangapatna, at the same spot as their earlier meeting. The raja had made elaborate arrangements to make the General’s stay comfortable.

The elevated spot provided a panoramic view of the Western Ghats. During this visit they had more time to discuss a variety of subjects. General Abercrombie was fascinated by Dodda Veerarajendra’s narration of the history of the Haleri dynasty. He requested the raja to record these details which Dodda Veerarajendra did, several years later, under the title – ‘Rajendraname’.

This is the only recording of the early history of Kodagu. General Abercrombie later became the commander-in-chief of the British Army in India. He remained a good friend of Dodda Veerarajendra and was instrumental in Rajendraname being translated to English.

Dodda Veerarajendra was very happy after these two meetings with General Abercrombie. He felt secure after gaining British support. He wanted to commemorate this historic development and decided to found a town around this hillock where he had important discussions with the British general. He named the town after himself, Veerarajendrapete, and started construction of a fort and an ammunition dump on this hillock. A little distance away a pond was dug for the horses and elephants to be serviced.

Earlier wars had depopulated Kodagu to a great extent. Dodda Veerarajendra invited people from neighbouring areas with promise of land to settle down in Veerarajendrapete. Amongst those who made Kodagu their home were about 100 Muslim men and women from Kannur whose ancestors had earlier fled Bengal in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey.

About 700 Christians also took refuge in Kodagu. Dodda Veerarajendra provided land for them to build a church, St. Anne’s Church, which is very much in existence to this day. In addition, there were Mudaliars, Jains, Telugu Chettis and Moplahs from Kerala who settled down in the new town. Veerarajendrapete gradually came to be known as Virajpet. Presently, this busy town has streets named Bengali Street, Jain Street and Telugu Street depending on the original settlers.

This fort in Virajpet was last mentioned in a letter dated February 24, 1837 written by General Mark Cubbon the British Commissioner in Bangalore, to Captain C T Le Hardy the Superintendent of the then Coorg, granting a sum of Rs 150 for repairs. However there is no trace of this edifice now except for the two entrance gate-posts.

It is surprising that these remnants of the first structures to be built in Virajpet as far back as 1792 have not been paid much attention to. The gate-posts have withstood the ravages of time, but have ingloriously become a part of the wall surrounding the PWD Inspection bungalow which now occupies the site where Dodda Veerarajendra met General Abercrombie.

Courtesy : Deccan Herald

Author: C.P. Belliappa

Dark tale of the temple

2012-04-27T21:57:00.002+05:30

The construction of the Omkareshwara temple in Madikeri was completed in 1820 by Lingarajendra, the penultimate raja of Kodagu. The Shiva temple has a unique and most unusual architecture. It has a central dome with turrets in the four corners. The design reflects fusion of Hindu, Gothic, and Islamic style of construction. A beautiful water tank located in front of the temple adds to the serenity of this place of worship. There is a mantapa in the middle of this pond, which is connected by a causeway. The tank is full of gold fish of various hues, and is a visual treat.

The Shiva linga installed in the sanctum sanctorum was brought from Kashi (Benares) by three men who were specially deputed by the king to fetch the sacred stone icon. During its arduous transportation, the linga was never placed on the ground. The three men took turns carrying the linga and diligently performed the prescribed poojas at sunrise and sunset. Work on the temple started in 1817 and the linga was consecrated in the shrine on March 26, 1820.

This occasion was celebrated for three days, and all the citizens of Madikeri took part in various rituals. Hundreds of devotees were provided free meals during the three days of festivities. Lingarajendra arranged for a lamp to be lit inside the temple in perpetuity – a practice which is being continued to this day.

However, there is a dark story behind the construction of this temple. Lingarajendra took control of the kingdom of Kodagu rather tenuously in 1810. He soon consolidated his position and within three years became a feared raja to his subjects. It was in the beginning of 1817 that a poor old man from Puttur brought his beautiful daughter to Madikeri. His wife had died and the old man was rather desperate to ensure a secure future for his daughter. In his anxiety, he imprudently decided that his daughter could be one of the wives of the prosperous raja of Kodagu. He wanted to meet the raja along with his daughter.

Lingarajendra was away on a hunting expedition at the time. The old man and his daughter were wandering in Madikeri for shelter when they were directed to meet a prominent man in town named Subbarasaiah. When Subbarasaiah heard about the purpose of the Puttur man’s visit, he was aghast. He reprimanded the old man for his foolishness. After providing them food and shelter for a day, he urged them to get back to their village before the raja’s return.

But the town was full of spies who immediately informed Lingarajendra how Subbarasaiah had sent back a prospective bride for the raja. Lingarajendra was enraged and sent his dreaded Siddi guards to bring Subbarasaiah to his court. Lingarajendra thundered at Subbarasaiah’s insouciance. He ordered him to immediately get the girl back to Madikeri. Subbarasaiah pleaded that he had absolutely no knowledge of the whereabouts of the old man and his daughter. Lingarajendra warned Subbarasaiah and his family of dire consequences.

Subbarasaiah’s fate

When he did not relent, Lingarajendra asked his guards to bring to the court the two young sons of Subbarasaiah. Lingarajendra threatened that they would be beheaded if Subbarasaiah did not tell him where to find the old man and his daughter. Subbarasaiah beseeched Lingarajendra and pleaded his ignorance. Lingarajendra barked his orders and the Siddi assassins lost no time in executing their master’s instructions. Subbarasaiah fainted on seeing the horror.

When he recovered, he was so devastated that he did not care for his own life any longer. He cursed and berated the raja. Lingarajendra ordered Subbarasaiah be cut limb by limb. The Siddis were merciless. As life ebbed from his body, Subbarasaiah swore he would return as a Brahma Rakshasa, and torment the raja for the rest of his life.

From that day onwards, Lingarajendra started seeing the apparition of Subbarasaiah. He could not sleep, and very often found himself rolling off his cot.

He was advised to perform various poojas to appease the Brahma Rakshasa but none worked. His health deteriorated drastically. Finally, Neeleshwar Tantris from Mangalore were consulted. After much study of their manuscript on exorcism they suggested construction of a temple dedicated to Shiva where the Brahma Rakshasa be given a place to reside. They also recommended that the Shiva linga should come from the holy city of Kashi.

Lingarajendra finally found peace but it lasted only a few months. The thought of Subbarasaiah’s ghost started tormenting the raja once again. Lingarajendra literally went insane and died by the end of 1820 aged 45. Subbarasaiah’s premonition had come true.

Courtesy : Deccan Herald

Author: C.P. Belliappa

Kaimada - A Commemorative Mantap

2012-04-27T21:50:00.002+05:30

In a remote village named Chikkamandoor in south Kodagu, there exists a stone structure known as kaimada which means a commemorative mantap.

This is one of the oldest edifices in Kodagu which is still in its original state. Though a modest construction, it has an interesting story behind it.

It was built around 1700 by Acchu Nayaka in honour of his benefactor Nanjunda Urs, who was the ruler of neighbouring Periapatna.

Acchu Nayaka’s descendants continue to live in the same premises where Acchu and his father Chittiappa Nayaka lived more than 300 years ago. I visited this location, and the residents enthusiastically showed me the kaimada and the courtyard where Acchu and Kodava commander named Paradanda Ponnappa had their duel.

There are two stone carvings inside the kaimada. One of them is that of Nanjunda Urs. The pièce de rèsistance is an amazing relic from the past. One of the men took me to a spot nearby, and with a stick dug the earth a couple of inches. There was black material underneath. He scooped out a handful and held it. It was charred paddy. The gentleman explained that this was the remnants from the granary that was set ablaze when Chittiappa Nayaka was attacked three centuries ago!

Acchu Nayaka had a traumatic childhood. His father Chittiappa Nayaka was a powerful warlord in the region, but had many enemies. Chittiappa Nayaka and his family lived in a well-guarded mud fortress.

However, on one fateful day, he and his soldiers had let down their guard while celebrating nari-mangala (tiger-wedding) which was a special event when a man slays a marauding tiger in his domain. His people were grateful to Chittiappa Nayaka for having gotten rid of the beast which had terrorised them for many months.

In celebration, Chittiappa Nayaka and his close aides imbued large quantities of the local brew – bollekallu – and by nightfall they were in a stupor. Aware that Chittiappa Nayaka’s defence was compromised, his detractors surreptitiously attacked his fortress and set fire to the dwellings within the walls of the compound.

There were haystacks and granaries nearby. The fire soon engulfed the entire area. Though Chittiappa Nayaka and his men regrouped and fought gallantly, but their resistance was quelled, and the entire family perished in the inferno except for Chittiappa Nayaka’s new-born baby boy who was rescued by Ayyavva the maid.

Nanjunda Urs’ benevolence
Ayyavva carried the baby, and after travelling under great odds reached Periapatna. She found a job in a farm and brought up Chittiappa Nayaka’s son as her own. She affectionately called him ‘Acchu’.

Acchu grew to be a sturdy and good-looking lad by the time he was seven years old. He was noticed by Nanjunda Urs, the ruler of Periapatna, during Ugadi celebrations one year. When Ayyavva was asked about the boy, she rather unconvincingly answered that he was her son.

When Nanjunda Urs quizzed her further, Ayyavva lost her nerve and narrated the story of Acchu and his father Chittiappa Nayaka. Nanjunda Urs immediately had both Ayyavva and Acchu shifted to his palace where Acchu grew up with the children of the ruler. Acchu received education and training in martial arts along with the sons of Nanjunda Urs. He excelled in warfare and statecraft, and as an adult proved a valuable asset to Nanjunda Urs.

Acchu learnt from Ayyavva the horrendous atrocities committed on his family. He now sought revenge, and was determined to reclaim his father’s domain. Nanjunda Urs readily agreed to assist Acchu in this quest and offered the services of 500 of his soldiers. Acchu marched with this band of well-armed men and succeeded in taking possession of not only his father’s realm but also those of his detractors. Acchu Nayaka, as he was known, soon became a popular and powerful ruler in south Kodagu.

Enter the Haleri dynasty...
By then, in the northern parts of Kodagu, a minor faction of Lingayat rulers from Shimoga established their reign in Haleri – a small village known for milk production. They came to be known as the Haleri dynasty, which ultimately ruled Kodagu for more than two centuries.

Siribai Veerappa Raja was the fourth generation ruler from the Haleri dynasty and a contemporary of Acchu Nayaka. When Siribai Veerappa demanded Acchu Nayaka pay him tribute, it was flatly refused. The Haleri Raja was on a mission to extend his sovereignty all over Kodagu.

He despatched a strong army led by an able Kodava commander named Paradanda Ponnappa, to subdue Acchu Nayaka. Many attempts by Ponnappa to storm the bastion of Acchu Nayaka were repelled. Acchu Nayaka sent his emissaries to Ponnappa to join hands with him to drive the Lingayat rulers out of Kodagu; but Ponnappa was not prepared to betray Siribai Veerappa.

Unable to defeat Acchu Nayaka, Ponnappa and his men managed to sneak into the fortress of Acchu while he was away on one of his hunting expeditions. They took his family hostage.

On his return, Acchu was infuriated but could do very little. He then challenged Ponnappa for a one-to-one combat. Ponnappa accepted the challenge and the two warriors fought in the open court-yard. They were equally matched and the fight went on for several hours. Both were badly injured.

Finally, it was Ponnappa who emerged victorious. Ponnappa could have killed his rival, but spared his life. Ponnappa waited for two weeks for Acchu to recover from his injuries. He too had to nurse his wounds. Ponnappa then took Acchu Nayaka to Siribai Veerappa as a prisoner.

When the raja heard about the entire episode he was full of admiration for Acchu Nayaka. He treated him as an equal and extended all courtesies. However, Acchu Nayaka and his family were under house-arrest till Acchu’s demise.

Courtesy : Deccan Herald
Author: C.P. Belliappa

Kodagu’s Paadi Igguthappa temple - in existence since 1153

2012-04-27T21:42:00.000+05:30

Kodagu’s Paadi Igguthappa temple became a prominent place of worship during King Lingarajendra’s reign. The temple, located atop a hill in a forested area in Kakkabe, has been in existence since 1153

Goddess Cauvery and Lord Paadi Igguthappa are the two presiding deities of Kodagu. If legends are to be believed, Igguthappa temple located atop a hill in a forested area in Kakkabe, in the southern part of Kodagu, has been in existence since 1153 AD. Legend also has it that Igguthappa is one of the seven divine siblings who chose Kodagu as his abode.

The temple became a prominent place of worship during Lingarajendra’s reign. Legend has it that in 1811, Lingarajendra came to the densely forested area surrounding the temple to hunt for elephants. Lingarajendra’s main source of income, besides taxes collected from his subjects, used to be cardamom and ivory. Every pod of cardamom grown and every tusk extracted from an elephant had to be surrendered to the raja at a price fixed by him!

Lingarajendra was camping at the nearby Nalknad palace and had instructed his dewan Apparanda Bopu to organise the hunt. Dewan Bopu arranged for machaans to be built on trees and had hunting dogs and drum-beaters to herd the elephants. On the appointed day Lingarajendra and Bopu sat on a machaan armed with powerful guns especially designed to shoot elephants.

In spite of all the drum-beating and dogs barking, not a single elephant was to be seen. The raja started getting restless and directed his ire at Bopu. Lingarajendra’s nasty temper was well-known and Dewan Bopu who was a devotee of Igguthappa started silently praying for some divine intervention. Suddenly a huge pachyderm with mammoth tusks appeared silently from the nearby bushes.

The elephant looked up at the machaan where Lingarajendra and Bopu were seated and started scratching itself on the tree trunk. The raja and dewan froze and were too petrified to shoot the beast. The action of the elephant shook the large tree so violently that they were about to fall off from their perch. This time around, Dewan Bopu prayed loudly to Lord Igguthappa to save him and the raja. Lingarajendra too joined Bopu in prayer. Suddenly the behemoth stopped, once again looked up, and gently sauntered away into the forest.

Lingarajendra, a Lingayat, was a worshipper of Shiva and had not visited Igguthappa temple which was dedicated to Vishnu. He made an exception and asked Bopu to immediately take him to the temple. It was a modest shrine. The head-priest welcomed the raja and advised him to perform various poojas including tulabhara (donation of grains equivalent to the weight of the devotee), to thank Igguthappa for saving his life.

After all these rituals, Lingarajendra asked the priest if he could do anything for the temple. The priest was quick to request for a punarnirmana (renovation) of the temple.

Lingarajendra immediately agreed and the temple was renovated and the approach improved. He also made grants of wet-lands in the vicinity, the income from which continues to be used for the upkeep of the temple. When the reconstruction was completed, he visited the temple again. At the temple, he had a sack full of silver coins brought. Lingarajendra dipped both his hands and scooped out three heaps of silver coins. He then ordered Dewan Bopu, who was present, to get an idol of an elephant made out of the coins. The coins weighed about three kilograms.

Silver elephant

The best silver-smiths from Mangalore were commissioned to craft an idol of an elephant. On the back of the idol is inscribed in halagannada (old Kannada), the year in which it was dedicated to Igguthappa for favours granted to Lingarajendra. This exquisite silver elephant is used daily in the poojas performed at the temple.

In 1835, the year after Lingarajendra’s son Chikka Veerarajendra was deposed by the British, Dewan Apparanda Bopu took it on himself to renovate the temple. The structure was reconstructed and was fitted with tiles replacing the earlier thatched roof. The temple once again went through reconstruction in 2008. Descendants of Apparanda Bopu along with other devotees have provided silver cladding for the entrance door.

Paadi Igguthappa is an important deity for the people of Kodagu. He is considered a provider of bounty and one who fulfills his devotee’s wishes. Iggu means grain and thappa means give.

Puthari, the harvest festival in Kodagu, is normally celebrated 90 days after Onam. Every year, paddy is first harvested in fields belonging to Lord Igguthappa. People of Kodagu celebrate the festival the following day. On a daily basis, those who visit the temple are served a simple but scrumptious lunch.

Courtesy : Deccan Herald

Author: C.P. Belliappa

Jamma (Privileged tenureship)

2012-04-27T20:07:00.000+05:30

A system of land tenure, known as Jamma, was formerly instituted in Kodagu during the pre-colonial Paleri Dynasty of the Lingayat Rajas . Jamma agricultural lands (generally reserved for wet-rice cultivation) were held almost exclusively by Kodavas as a hereditary right, and were both indivisible and inalienable. Importantly, rights over the adjacent forests (bane) were also attached to Jammatenure, such that relatively expansive agricultural-forestry estates have remained intact across Kodagu. The exclusion of plantation crops, such as coffee, from India’s Land Ceiling Act has further insulated these holdings from postindependence land reform efforts across India. Importantly, rights over the adjacent forests (bane) were also attached to Jamma tenure, such that relatively expansive agricultural-forestry estates have remained intact across Kodagu. A unique feature of Jamma tenure is that tree rights remained with the Rajas, and were subsequently transferred to the colonial and post-independence governments and remains an import determinant of land use practices in the district.

Ever since Kodagu, which was a “C” State after Independence, was integrated with the then Mysore State, now Karnataka, in the year 1956, the original inhabitants of Kodagu, with the majority ethnic group Kodavas after whom the name Kodagu is apparently derived, including Amma Kodavas, Kodagu Gowdas etc., and the tribals with their own land tenure, specially Jammma Bhoomi, have been pestered by four major problems.

One is about Jamma land holdings. Second, the land owners right over trees. Third, the recommendation by the Committee to declare Kodagu as a deemed forest area and fourth one is the delimitation of the Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies of Kodagu by the Delimitation Commission.

All these four issues directly affect the original inhabitants of Kodagu to an extent that there is a danger of disintegration of Kodagu as a geographical entity that existed for centuries, even before the Lingayat Rajas and later the British, came to rule Kodagu. Though many promises were made about protecting the political and property rights and privileges of Kodavas and other original inhabitants of Kodagu by the Karnataka government at the time of integration, the conduct of the subsequent governments belied all those promises. Take for example, the Jamma Bane holdings.

The government has been issuing notifications that questioned the rights of Jamma holders contrary to what has been held as their absolute property except to the condition that in case any Jamma holder wants to alienate or sell the property, he should do so only to another Jamma holder and that too after obtaining permission from the then Commissioner of Coorg (later the Deputy Commissioner) paying a Nazrana, a fee to the government, decided as per set norms.

This is the most far - sighted and wise law set down by the Lingayat Rajas and followed by the British as they realised its beneficial effects, both on the geography and the original inhabitants of Kodagu. The reason for adopting this kind of land tenure can be traced to the early days of Kodagu, which was a thickly forested highland with hills, valleys, and heavy rainfall, which would touch 300 inches in certain areas, pouring almost for six months in a year from May to October. As a result, Kodagu was a place infested with malaria and wild animals. People were afraid not only to settle down in Kodagu as agriculturists but also afraid even to go to Kodagu as laborers.

It was noticed by the Rajas that people were even abandoning their land and going away to the planes. This would not only affect the revenue to the Palace (the government) but there was a danger of not getting enough soldiers for the King's army. It was under these circumstances the King came up with a new kind of land tenure in the form of reward for military service and incentive for the inhabitants to remain in Kodagu.

With the kind of restrictions put on the Jamma holdings the land owners were prevented from selling their land and going away. However, the exemption and concession in land revenue on these Jamma holdings made the land owners to stay back in Kodagu taking in their stride the hazards of living in a land infested with malaria, heavy rains and wild animals. History says when Tippu Sultan was killed in the last Mysore war hundreds of Konkan Christians fled Srirangapatna back to Mangalore and Kharwar via Kodagu. The then King Doddaveera Rajendra requested them to remain in Kodagu by granting Jamma lands. That's how there are many landholding Jamma Christian families in Kodagu.

With the advent of the British (1834) Kodagu was opened up for coffee plantation and the living conditions improved. All the same the British thought it wise to respect the Jamma and other land holdings enjoyed by a large number of Kodavas and others with pride. This has indeed helped Kodagu to remain, to a large extent, in the hands of Kodavas and other original inhabitants till now.

However, a few years back a case was filed in which issues relating to the Jamma tenure and the right to alienate such property to whomsoever one liked were discussed and even a court verdict had emerged upholding sale of Jamma property to non-Jamma holders and get the khatha transferred to the buyer's name. Subsequently government issued a notification claiming Jamma land to be the property of the government with the owner having only the right to cultivate without any rights for the standing timber and minerals. This again created anxiety among the Jamma property owners.

It is indeed disturbing that even to this day neither the government nor the holders of Jamma property really know each other’s rights and privileges in this regard.

In a place like Kodagu families with distinct names with a common house (Ayn house) surrounded by a cluster of houses, cultivating their landed property of Jamma and other tenures live in peace, homogeneously, with a common culture, language, custom and celebrating festivals, having their own temples.

If any member is allowed to sell the property to an outsider who may belong to another religion, another caste and community, speaking a different language, there is bound to be some sort of disturbance to peace and harmony at some time or the other with recurring frequency. Not that such a situation does not exist now but it is rare and only in few places. If Jamma tenure is abolished and the properties are turned into free holdings, indeed there is a danger of many selling their property to outsiders and leaving Kodagu for good.

If this trend continues, after a period the demography of Kodagu will change so also its geography. As it is, lot of landed property is changing hands from the locals. What with Kodagu being considered a tourist destination and a number of Holiday Homes and Holiday Resorts mushrooming all over Kodagu. Soon it will be a Kodagu without Kodavas, the major ethnic group and other indigenous groups. Kodava is a community, which has its origin in Kodagu. Just as what Punjab is for Punjabis, Kashmir is for Kashmiris (including Kashmiri Pandits), so is Kodagu for Kodavas. The State and Central governments should protect the Kodavas and help them to stay in the present defined geographical area where they really belong. If Jamma property rights are abolished Kodagu will not be there for Kodavas and other original inhabitants numbering about 20.

Incidentally, there is a school of thought in Kodagu that belives this Jamma land tenure is a great impediment in developing the plantation and the land. Reason: The financial institutions, banks and Credit Co-operative Societies, do not advance or lend money on the security of Jamma land, as its owners are not absolute owners in the eye of law. If this is so, the government may take remedial steps to remove this hurdle in the new Land Reforms Act likely to be enacted soon.

However, there is some hope now that the District in - charge Minister Ramachandra Gowda has said recently that Kodagu would get Jamma rights in the new Land Reforms Act. Some hope this to save Kodagu for the locals.

The other issue relates to the land owners' right to the standing trees. Here there are two categories of land — redeemed and unredeemed. If the owner has already paid the fee for felling and selling the trees it is redeemed. If it is not redeemed he has to apply and obtain permission by paying the required fee whatever. It is here the Forest Department is giving hell to the tree owner and it is here one may find the cesspool of corruption. Even to cut a tree to build one's own house is impossible and can be made possible only with bribe. Even genuine cases are not considered suspecting the intention of the owner. However, if bribe is paid the suspicion disappears. The law regarding the standing trees in Kodagu on private lands indeed needs a re - look.

To add insult to injury there is now a move to declare Kodagu as a deemed forest area inviting, with such declaration, all the legal restrictions and natural difficulties in cultivating plantation crops like coffee, cardamom, pepper, orange etc. There is an apprehension if it would be possible to cultivate these commercial crops in a manner that would give maximum or optimum yield if the trees are not allowed to be cut or trimmed for maintaining the required shade. It is hoped with such a declaration as 'deemed forest area' the residents are not forced to relocate themselves from Kodagu just as the tribals are being relocated from the reserved forests of Kodagu!

Now let us turn our attention to the danger of liquidation of Kodagu as a geographical and administrative entity by the Delimitation Commission headed by Justice Kuldeep Singh. Who knows this may be a prelude to the disappearance of Kodagu as a district in time to come. According to reports, Kodagu will have two MLAs instead of the present three. There was no independent MP for Kodagu ever since it was integrated with Karnataka in 1956. It was made part of the Mangalore Parliamentary constituency. Now the Kuldeep Singh Commission says Kodagu will have only two Assembly constituencies, Madikeri and Virajpet. The present Somwarpet constituency will be merged with Madikeri constituency. And the two Assembly constituencies will go to the newly created Mysore West Lok Sabha constituency and not the present Mangalore constituency.

This kind of division of constituencies has left people wondering if there is a political game plan to erase Kodagu, even as a district, from the map of Karnataka. People apprehend this to be a prelude to future liquidation of Kodagu as an independent entity with its own geographical and administrative boundaries. It is almost like a big fish swallowing the small fish. However, in a true democracy, in a pluralistic society like ours, the peoples' representatives should be selected not merely on the basis of the number of people residing in a given area but also by according representation to indigenous ethnic groups with their own distinct culture and language, living in areas like Kodagu. Malaysia model, which is working very well, is a good example here.

If the issues mentioned above are not deliberated in a rational and humane manner and negotiated with the State and Central governments by the people affected, the Kodavas and other indigenous groups living in Kodagu will not only lose their land but also their identity. If proper protective steps are not taken by the Kodavas and other indigenous groups in Kodagu, in the next 20 years Kodagu will become the playing field for outsiders to selectively deforest the land and turn it into a destination for holiday resorts and holiday makers. There seems to be a conspiracy. The idea of declaring Kodagu as an area of "Deemed forest" will help this tourism industry entrepreneurs immensely but not the farmers and planters. If it happens, Kodavas could be seen only in some museums with live models dressed in their traditional attire — like the Red Indians in some American museums.

The tragedy of Kodagu is the crisis of leadership and division of opinions amongst the stakeholders. It could be for reasons of individual self-interest, for reasons of caste or simple machination by immigrant traders, entrepreneurs and laborers who have no sentimental bond towards Kodagu. So the new slogan for Kodagu should be, sons of the soil wake up and unite now. You have everything to lose if you do not. Tomorrow it may be too late.

Dr.Gregg Cox develops script for Coorg Language

2012-04-27T03:37:00.000+05:30

German multi-linguist devises a script with 34 alphabets

Dr Greg Cox

Gregg Cox has studied languages since the age of 8 beginning in 1971. Since that time, Gregg Cox has taken formal examinations in 64 languages and unofficial examinations in another 16. Gregg Cox has travelled the world conducting language study in both ancient and modern languages, amassing a huge private library of many of the world’s languages.

PATH-BREAKING: The Kodava script devised by German multi-linguist, Gregg M. Cox

Kodavas and Kodava-related issues have been in the news. Be it inventing a new script for the Kodava language or determining the origin of the Kodavas through DNA tests. Reactions, barring a few individuals and organisations, have been few in comparison with the slew of write-ups that have appeared in the media.

Efforts were made in the past by some to devise a script for the Kodava language. They include script by the late Iychettira Muthanna, who has authored books in Kodava, Kannada and English. But, a reluctant Kodava society did not pay much heed to it.

The “Coorgi-Cox Alphabet,” now devised by a German multi-linguist, Gregg M. Cox, is in the news in Kodagu, of late. The 34 alphabets and a double vowel in addition, make an interesting sight. How Dr. Cox, who speaks 64 languages and whose name has found a mention in the Guinness Book of Records, formulated the alphabets, is now known to many. A few say Dr. Cox must be complimented for his efforts to bring out photographs, compact discs and even introducing a contest to popularise the script at his own cost.

A Coorg Wedding that Never happened

2012-04-26T02:16:00.000+05:30

Maharaja Duleep Singh

Princess Victoria Gowramma

Veerarajendra, the King (exiled) of Coorg, and his daughter Gowramma, were the first Indian royals to land in Britain in 1852. Gowramma's embracing Christanity and acquiring a Western education, as a ruse to secure permission to visit England. Queen Victoria was Godmother to Gowramma, Queen Victoria had grand marriage plans of the princess and another exiled royalty Maharaja Duleep Singh of Punjab.Much to the disappointment of the British, Maharaja Duleep Singh was not keen to enter into matrimony with Gowramma.Maharaja Duleep Singh played matchmaker and helped in forming an alliance between the 19 – year – old Gowramma and 50 – year – old Col. John Campbell, who had served in the Army in India.the couple had a child named Edith Victoria Gowramma.Gowramma who succumbed to tuberculosis and died when she was 23 years old.

Lady Login

Lady Login's Recollections about court and camp life are also worth reading as it covers in some detail the guardianship, encounter with Duleep Singh, and marriage of Princess Victoria Gauramma [sic. Gauramina] to Lady Login's brother, John Campbell, and also gives some information on her daughter, Edith Victoria Gauramma Campbell, born in London in 1861 and who became the subject of a court case over guardianship after her father disappeared in mysterious circumstances.
Lady Login's description of this oddly dressed and lonely orphan at the age of 7 or 8 being unable to read or write properly, simply known as "Gip" or "Gipsey" and who never had any friends apart from a page boy, make for poignant reading. She had no idea who Queen Victoria was and their first encounter shows that the Queen was very kind towards her and much enjoyed meeting the guileless child.
Edith Victoria married Henry Edward Yardley in Kent in 1882.

Love Story Kodagu’s Tombs tell

2012-04-25T19:10:00.000+05:30

Kings and their legacies have always captured popular imagination. While some have faded into the past, some survive in our memories. The story of the brave rulers of Kodagu and the significance of the beautiful mausoleums they built.

By 1791, Dodda Veerarajendra had consolidated his position in Kodagu and had successfully moved on from the Tipu Sultan era.

Dodda Veerarajendra started rebuilding his kingdom after years of conflict with Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. He had recaptured the important fort at Madikeri, and had constructed a modest palace in Nalaknad in the southern part of Kodagu.

At the time, Dodda Veerarajendra and his royal consort Nanjammaji had an eight-year-old daughter named Rajammaji. The raja wished for a son to inherit his throne. In accordance with rajneethi he could marry a royal consort once every twelve years.

After a long search for a suitable bride, he decided on a matrimonial alliance with the beautiful sister of his Kodava revenue official, Karanika Subbaiah. The bride was given the name Mahadevammaji.

In February 1796, Dodda Veerarajendra had a grand celebration at Nalaknad palace to commemorate the twin events of his coronation and marriage to Mahadevammaji in a specially built mantapa which stands well-preserved to this day.

However, much to Dodda Veerarajendra’s disappointment, Mahadevammaji whom he adored immensely, gave birth to three daughters in the ensuing ten years. In 1806, she was pregnant again and the raja fervently hoped he would have a son to carry forth his legacy.

He conducted several poojas, havans and homas to please the Almighty in hopes that he may be blessed with a male-heir. By then Mahadevammaji had become very weak and sickly.

Dodda Veerarajendra was aware that this would be the last chance for Mahadevammaji to endure child-birth. His worst fears came true when he had a double whammy on May 17, 1807. Days after his royal consort gave birth to their fourth daughter, a debilitated Mahadevammaji died leaving the raja totally heart-broken and deeply disappointed.

Eternal love

The grief-stricken raja chose a spot over-looking the town of Madkeri as the final resting place for his beloved wife. He named that part of the town as Mahadevpet in memory of Mahadevammaji. This name continues to this day.

Dodda Veerarajendra also started the construction of a grand tomb for his wife, the design of which had some likeness to the Taj Mahal. In his will, he gave detailed instructions that he would like to be buried next to Mahadevammaji when he would meet his end.

Dodda Veerarajendra had three sons, but they were born to his minor wives. He was now totally obsessed with who would succeed him after his demise. His first choice was his eldest daughter Devammaji born to Mahadevammaji. In 1808, when Devammaji was barely nine years old, he arranged her marriage to a young Kodava who was renamed Mallappa.

In his elaborate will, the raja wanted Devammaji’s yet-to-be-born son to be named after him and declared his successor. If Devammaji did not have a son, the eldest son born to one of her three sisters was to inherit the throne of Kodagu.

He further stated in his will that in the event his four daughters failed to produce a male-heir then the fittest amongst his three sons: Rajashekara, Shashishankara and Chandrashekara, from his minor wives would ascend the throne to continue his legacy.

In order to ensure his will was executed, Dodda Veerarajendra requested Arthur Cole, the British Resident at Mysore to be the executor of his will and also be guardian to his minor daughters.

Arthur Cole brought this to the notice of Governor General Lord Minto. Lord Minto wrote a letter in April 1809 recognising the raja’s will.

He also gave his assurance that the East India Company would ensure the will was implemented.

Dodda Veerarajendra’s health had taken a heavy toll, and on June 9, 1809 he breathed his last aged 46. In spite of all his efforts, his young daughter Devammaji could not hold on to the throne of Kodagu.

Dodda Veerarajendra’s wily brother, Lingarajendra, usurped the throne in 1811 with tacit support from the British. Lingarajendra completed the tomb of Dodda Veerarajendra and Mahadevamma.

Loyalty

There is another interesting story of a very able army commander – Biddanda Bopu – who served under Dodda Veerarajendra and took active part in their military campaigns against Tipu Sultan. After Tipu was ousted from Kodagu, Dodda Veerarajendra asked Bopu to name the reward he would like for having fought so gallantly against the enemy.

Everyone in the raja’s court expected Bopu to ask for large tracts of land, gold, silver and live-stock. But to everyone’s surprise Biddanda Bopu made a humble request: on his demise to be buried in the same premises as his beloved raja!

This Biddanda Bopu’s wish was fulfilled when he died in 1808. Years later, Bopu’s son Somaiah rose to the same rank as his father, during Chikka Veerarajendra’s reign. When Somaiah died in 1879, in deference to his wishes, the British Chief Commissioner permitted his mortal remains to be buried next to his father’s tomb. Both these tombs are intact.

When Lingarajendra died in 1820, an identical mausoleum was built by his son Chikka Veerarajendra on the right-hand side of Dodda Veerarajendra’s tomb. Another smaller tomb was built in 1834 on the left-hand side where the royal priest Rudrappa is interred.

This locale is known as Gaddige. The mausoleums are well-preserved, and currently the entire area is being landscaped and refurbished.

Courtesy : Deccan Herald

Author: C.P. Belliappa

Journeys of discovery

2012-04-25T00:42:00.001+05:30

Shared past: Nicholas Balmer and Prema Jayakumar.
Researching their ancestors, a Briton and an Indian rediscover links long forgotten.

IT was a story of an extraordinary comradeship. The relation that existed between Thomas Hervey Baber, sub-collector of Tellichery in 1805 and his deputy, Kalpally Karunakara Menon, defied the norms of the period. But sadly, no one thought of documenting it. Their successors are trying to do that, in their own ways.

When Prema Jayakumar, one of the leading translators in Malayalam, started working on Kalpally Karunakara Menon, it was just an attempt to record the story of her ancestor for family members to read. Around the same time, Nicholas Balmer, an English civil engineer, inherited a "trunk full of letters" from a distant ancestor.

Little did they know then that these two names were deeply embossed in the land's history. Thomas Hervey Baber, who was Mr. Balmer's great grandfather, and his deputy, Kalpally Karunakara Menon, led the team that captured Pazhassi Raja.

Broader relevance

Both of them realised that the stories they had at hand were too big to restrict to family histories and started working on separate books. At an advanced stage of research they came to know about each other through a common friend. After a couple of years' communication through emails, they met for the first time at Kochi this December.

"We were told about our ancestor as the hero of a rather romantic story, a child who ran away from home in his teens and rose in life using his talent. But all these were wrong. I now have his will with me," said Ms. Jayakumar.

At the other end, Mr. Balmer also has a different experience. "When I started reading the letters and the history of dealing with people from different communities, I felt that I could understand it. Because I had 250 Indians and Pakistanis working for me in the Gulf. When I used to listen to my workmen, I realised what my ancestor might have been through."

The lives of Thomas H. Baber and Kalpally Karunakara Menon crossed each other's with the former's arrival as an official of English East India Company. Baber was the Sub-Collector of Tellichery when Pazhassi Raja was killed.

"Menon was often the trouble-shooter for Baber," said Ms. Jayakumar. "And he was recalled many times for specific assignments, even after he retired from service following Pazhassi Raja's death. Once he was sent to Coorg (to negotiate with the Raja of Coorg for avoiding a war) and to Pune on another occasion to negotiate release of five persons kidnapped by a local ruler."

Fruitful meeting

Both Mr. Balmer and Ms. Jayakumar are now in possession of loads of research material. Their meeting was also a chance to exchange them. One of them being a memoir by Colonel James Welsh, who came to Malabar to deal with the insurgency that broke out in Wayanad. Col. Welsh had Karunakara Menon as his guide, as recommended by Baber.

The memoir reproduces a drawing of Karunakara Menon's residence at Ramanattukara. "This banyan tree, shown here, fell the day my uncle was born," said Ms. Jayakumar, with an unmistakable joy in her voice. She then showed Mr. Balmer a black and white family photograph that had her uncle as a young man.

When he Balmer started out, Baber was just the man who tracked down Pazhassi Raja. Or that was what he could get from the Internet. But, letters and documents that Mr. Balmer inherited paint another picture of his ancestor. "He campaigned against slavery. He was an outsider with the English community here."

New material

Balmer has collected archival material, which includes an extract, as preserved in the Malabar Manual, from the complete report that Thomas Baber filed to the Collector of Malabar on December 31, 1805, where he gave a detailed account of Pazhassi Raja's last battle. The report narrates how the body of the fallen king was carried in the palanquin of Baber and his ailing lady in the palanquin of Baber's captain. The king was given a proper funeral, despite English hostility. Baber wrote: "I was induced to this conduct from the consideration that although a rebel, he (Pazhassi Raja) was one of the natural chieftains of the country, and might be considered on that account rather as a fallen enemy."

While Balmer tried to reconstruct the story of Baber's life from his "often-hurriedly written letters" and ledger entries made by East India Company clerks, Ms. Jayakumar had to cross-check the veracity of stories handed over from one generation to another within the family. Balmer, who is touring the State along with his son, wants to get "the Indian perspective of history", to complete his book. His tour programme also included hunting for the unmarked tomb of Baber and his wife at a church somewhere in Thalassery.

After retiring from the East India Company, Baber returned to London. But the lure of Malabar was too much for the Englishman and he soon returned. "There are no accounts whether Baber met Karunakara Menon on his return. But it is believed that they died almost during the same period," Ms. Jayakumar said. The story was not destined to end there. And so, the tale of friendship resumed after six generations.

Courtesy: The Hindu

ANAND HARIDAS

Talakaveri History

2012-04-25T00:23:00.001+05:30

Talakaveri or "Talacauvery" is the place which is considered to be the source of the Cauvery River. It is located in the Brahmagiri hill near Bhagamandala in Kodagu District, Karnataka. Talacauvery is at an altitude of around 1276 metres above sea level, the spot can be reached by a 2 km journey from Bhagamandala up the Ghats.

Talakaveri is famed as a mountain region with the original source of famous river Cauvery and hence the name Tala-Cauvery (head of Cauvery).

A trip to Coorg is never quite complete without a trip till Talakaveri. While the beautiful landscape of Coorg and the sprawling coffee plantations evoke much awe in the tourists, a trip to Talakaveri is quite the cherry on the icing, for those particularly spiritually inclined. Talakaveri is supposed to hold great religious importance and there is a holy Kundike from where the river emerges as a small perennial spring and then flows underground again to emerge a short distance away. It is believed that taking bath in Talakaveri is very sacred and it can relieve the man form all his sufferings.

Bhagamandala, Shiva Temples, Goddess Cauveri Amma Temple and Talakaveri wildlife sanctuary are some of the places to see in Talakaveri.

Bangalore is 278 kms from Talakaveri. Talakaveri is about 44 kms from Madikeri.

Talakaveri too has many popular legends associated with it. According to the legend Agasthya had Cauvery in his kamandalam. Ganesha took the form of a crow and toppled the water. He then quickly reverted back to a small boy. The sage thought it was some naughty kid who was playing a prank on him. In his rage he tried to strike Lord Ganesha. When the lord showed himself the sage was bewildered. As repentance, he knocked his own head.

The Kadambaas, The Gangas, the Changalvas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagar Empire, The Wodeyars, Kings of Mysore and British are some of the dynasties that ruled this place.

Known to be the source of river Cauvery, the place of Talakaveri became a famous pilgrimage centre for temples.

Mayura Varma, Venkappayya, Lingaraja, Edurkala K Shankara Narayana Bhat, Parltaya Anantha Bhat, Nanja Raja, Piriya Raja, Muddu Raja, Linga Raja, Vira Raja, Tipu Sultan and King Dodda Vira Rajendra are some of the famous people associated with this place.

The following poem gives us a sense of devotion of Kodavas to Mother Kaveri:

Kodava Anthem

Sri Mula kanniye,
(O primeval sacred maiden)
O Mother Kaveri,
Wear pommale* Kodagu as a garland, O Mother!

Why do you need a jommale**?
Why do you need a garland of flowers?
Wear the golden land of Kodagu as a garland, O Mother!

O sacred form of Parvati
O Lopamudra,
You descended to earth as a Brahmin’s daughter,
And to cleanse the sins
Of all the sinners
You flowed from the kundike*** to the Eastern sea.

To all the proud ones
You are merely flowing water.
But to the suffering, you are sorrow-relieving holy water.
Those without children
Those without family
And those weary with suffering, bless and care for them, O Mother!

– Nadikerianda Chinnappa

The Unique Jewelry of Coorg

2012-04-24T22:39:00.002+05:30

Coorg jewellery is very distinctive, yet the influence of neighboring States is evident. The jewellery worn by the Coorgs are inspired by nature, in the form of flowers, fruits, serpents, the moon, sun, and stars.

The 'Karthamani' and 'Pathak' are both symbols of marriage in Coorg. The former, fine black beads strung on a gold chain, sometimes made with as little as two grams of gold are common to both South and Western India.

The ‘Pathak’ is usually a half sovereign, or a larger gold coin, engraved with Goddess Lakshmi or Queen Victoria, framed by rubies, surmounted by a cobra, with hanging fresh water pearls, and a chain of gold and coral beads on a twisted strand of black glass beads.

The 'Jomale' which consists of gold moulded grooved beads strung on black cord, about 71 cms long, is a necessary part of a Coorg bride’s wedding jewellery. The hollow beads are filled with lac. Nowadays, the Jomale is strung on different coloured threads to make a fashion statement.

The 'Kokkethathi', a crescent shaped repousse pendant set with graduated cabochon rubies, framed with sea pearls, filled with lac, and a chain of ' Gund ' or hollow gold beads, is mandatory for a Coorg bride. The pendant has the image of a seated Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth, flanked by two birds, by a cobra with a distended hood, which is a multiple symbol of wealth and fertility. The chain is usually 26 inches long to show it off to advantage.

The Coorg bride has a choice of beautiful bangles – The 'Kadagas' are gold hollow bangles, that literally clasp the wrist. They could be made of a single, double or triple bands of gold ornamented with twisted gold wire and rubies.

The 'Paunchi', which has gold grains in two or three recurrent rows, is a work of art, as is the 'Vajrachudi', which is supposed to represent jackfruit. 'Pimbale', and 'Piribale' are simpler gold bangles.

The Coorg head ornaments, are of South Indian origin. The main head piece usually has Shiva and Parvathy with Ganapathy, and the ornament is made to stay firm, with three strands of hair woven through a slit in the jewel. The 'Jadaenagara', includes the ‘Suryamukhi' and the 'Chandramukhi' and the 'Kutchu' of 3 black strings, ornamented with gold which hold the plait in place.

As the bride walks to the 'Mantap', or stands for the Ganga Puja, her feet are very much in focus. The jewellery she wears on her feet, in silver, are special to Coorg and represent the finest craftsmanship of the local jewellers. There are individual toe rings attached to chains, linked to the ankle chains all of which are finely crafted.

The earrings could be 'Jhumkis' , 'Muravu' or 'Bogadi', all of Carnatic origin, and mostly gold, ruby and pearls.

The repousse work commonly used in Coorg jewellery , uses a small quantity of metal, beaten to paper thinness, to convey an impression of weight and solidity, and a three dimensional effect.

The Coorg sari needs to be pinned with a 'brooch' – and that has spawned a special set of ornaments. Very popular are miniature ‘Peeche kathis' and 'Odikathis' , the ornamental knives, men wear on special occasions. Many old timers have 'tiger claw' brooches, from an era, when ‘Shikar’ was a way of life.

Courtesy: Chindamada Arati Monappa for http://www.coorgjewellery.in/

Nalknad Palace

2012-04-24T00:40:00.000+05:30

Kodagu is often hailed as the land of warriors and kings, but when it comes to forts and palaces, there are not many monuments to be seen. The one palace that stands out is the Nalknad Palace, writes B V Prakash

Though the tiny, but picturesque district of Kodagu is often hailed as the land of warriors and kings, when it comes to forts and palaces built by erstwhile rulers, the monuments seem to be few.

The one palace that stands out amidst lofty mountains and verdant forests is the Nalknad Palace. Close to the village of Kakkabe near Virajpet, a little deviation from the main road leads to this rather secluded monument which is visited more by passing trekkers heading to climb the Tadiandamol Peak than regular tourists. Its architectural attractions as well as its intriguing history are often missed out.

And a palace came into view...
At a bend on the way up from Kakkabe, an indication to the left guided me to an open grass field where from amidst the tall trees and shrubs the palace came into view abruptly. It is a very wide two-storeyed structure with white walls and tiled roofs. The main entrance with tall, well-carved wooden doors leads to a sprawling courtyard with the paths lined by flowering plants. As Anand, the caretaker here offered to take me around more facts come to the fore. The small enclosure at the immediate right of the pathway is the Kalyanamantapa, a brick and mortar structure with sculpted decorative figures on its top corners. We walked ahead to the steps leading to the main hall but not before appreciating the finely carved pair of elephants flanking the steps.

The rooms at the extreme left were once the kitchen and an armoury. The stairs took us to the wide and spacious upper floor. As we entered the king’s room on the left, Anand drew my attention to the ceiling designs. The uniform box-like depressions with brown red flowery ornamentations suggested the king was a connoisseur of art. He was none other than the valiant Doddaveerarajendra who was instrumental in winning back the kingdom from the clutches of Tipu.

A bone of contention
After the fall of the Vijayanagar empire, a line of Wodeyars successively ruled the hilly terrain of Kodagu. The Mysore rulers Hyder Ali and later his son Tipu had always nurtured a plan to conquer Kodagu.

During one such attempt in the 1780s, Tipu took the young Prince, Doddaveerarajendra as a prisoner and detained him in Piriyapatna. But the Kodagu soldiers revolted and assisted him to flee from prison and establish his rule at a place called Kurichi. However, his territorial disputes with the Kote Raja of Kerala made the latter burn this palace and kill his family members. At this juncture, Doddaveerarajendra who only had the support of his people, had no option but to seek the help of the British fighting Tipu so that the latter could be kept at bay.

Built in 1792
While the Anglo-Mysore wars engaged Tipu, the king Dodaveerarajendra developed his territory, ensured a good administration and also built this palace at Nalknad in 1792.
His soldiers too developed their expertise in guerrilla warfare suited to the hills and thwarted many an attempt to conquer Kodagu. King Doddaveerarajendra once again established his rule in Kodagu.

Later with the intention of begetting a heir to his throne he married Mahadevammaji in 1796 at the very Kalyanamantapa mentioned earlier. When she too could not bear a son for him, his brother Lingarajendra and after him Chikkaveerarajendra held the rule before being taken over by the British.

Impressive mural
Coming back to the present, we admired the series of hexagonal wooden pillars supporting the roof before moving into the queen’s room with an exclusive bath. Here too the ceiling decorated with age old painting still intact caught the eye. We saw four dark rooms at the backyard meant for confining prisoners. At the main hall on the ground floor, the huge mural on the wall is impressive. Named Royal Procession, the painting depicts the king riding his elephant, surrounded by soldiers and musicians.

The original paintings are fading under coats of lime wash rendered on them over the years. But the efforts of INTACH ( The Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage) in restoring the paintings by treating the limewash chemically is certainly laudable. Also the palace which till recently was used a bee-keeping centre is now being maintained neatly by the archaeological department.

Cairns of megalithic era

2012-04-24T00:34:00.001+05:30

UNEXPLORED:A view of the cairns at Doddamalte village in Kodagu.

Madikeri: Antique cairns that have been sighted in a few places in Kodagu have so far remained a mystery. One of the sites where a number of such structures are found is at Doddamalte village, close to the picnic spot of Honnammanakere, in Somwarpet taluk of Kodagu district.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which had conducted a survey of the area a couple of years ago, had concluded them as megalithic burial monuments. These are called cairns. These cairns remain at the ground level or in some cases their tops crop out of the ground a little bit. They resemble a stone chamber about six or seven-foot long, three-and-a-half to four-foot wide and about four to five-foot in height. In some cases, granite pillars raised at four corners are surmounted by a granite slab.

These burial structures, which could date back to 2,500 to 3,000 years, (megalithic period) appear either as solitary structures or in groups or in columns at Doddamalte village. One could surely conclude that human civilisation thrived at that age in Kodagu. However, not much of an effort has gone into the mystery to ascertain what exactly those cairns contained, residents of Doddamalte, who call the spot as “Pandva Pare”, say.

There are two hillocks towards both ends of Honnammanakere, one of the popular picnic spots in Kodagu, near Somwarpet town. The hillock towards left of the Honnammanakere temple has these megalithic burial monuments.

Shivanand, a resident of Somwarpet, says the ASI did take up some kind of survey of the area two years ago, but nothing happened afterwards. The areas had rich deposits of granite. Quarrying took place in one portion of the hillock but it had now stopped, he told The Hindu.

Legend also has it that the Pandavas, celestial heroes of the yore, travelled the place and stayed at the spot by which the name Pandava Pare was derived.

According to another version, people who dug up the Honnammanakere did not get water. Water came in abundance only after human sacrifices were made. Those bodies were buried at Pandava Pare. Whichever theory is correct, the ASI has failed to protect these monuments, including fencing, leave alone ascertaining the facts.

The ASI had two circles in the State, one at Dharwad and another in Bangalore. These monuments came under the purview of the Mysore sub-circle of the ASI.

Similar sites were found at Bavali village in Madikeri taluk ( The Hindu reported it two years ago) and also in some places such as Kedamullur in Virajpet taluk.

According to information gathered here (from the Gazetteer of Coorg), one such cairn was first noticed in Kodagu in 1856 and several others were found near Virajpet in 1868 and also near Fraserpet (now Kushalnagar) later.

The first-ever find of a celt (pre-historic chisel-edged stone tool) or a "stone hatchet," in Karnataka was made in 1868 at the crest of a hill six km north of Mercara (Madikeri) in Coorg (Kodagu), according to the Assistant Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), C.B. Patil.

The celt was found by H.A. Mangles in the Cauvery valley, where he found fragment of a stone hatchet.

He communicated this to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta (Kolkata), and it was handed over the Indian Museum in Calcutta later, he said. Mr. Patil is here in connection with a programme to create awareness on conserving monuments, taken up by the ASI and the National Service Scheme (NSS).

J. Coggin Brown, who catalogued the pre-historic collection in the Indian Museum, documented this implement with accession number 994 as a "celt with upper part missing, having a sharp crescentic edge, fashioned on smoothed diorite."

Therefore, the theory that the first-ever Neolithic celt in the State was found in Ligsugur of Raichur district is not true, Mr. Patil said. The Neolithic age extended approximately between 2500 B.C. and 1000 B.C.

Neolithic site

According to the publications of M. Taylor, who undertook investigation of the Megaliths, it was evident that no Neolithic artefact or a site was discovered and reported in India till his publications of Megaliths appeared in 1851, 1852, and the one presented later to the Royal Irish Academy on May 12, 1862. The view of many scholars that the discovery of the first Neolith stone axe (celt) was made by Capt. Meadows Taylor at Lingsugur in Raichur in 1842 is not correct, says Mr. Patil.

The first-ever Neolithic habitation site or settlement was discovered in Bellary in Karnataka in 1872. It was William Fraser, a district engineer stationed at Bellary, who discovered the habitation in Bellary in the Tungabhadra valley. The finding was commended by Robert Bruce Foote, who is called as the "Father of Indian Pre-history."

Kodagu from the tenth century

2012-04-24T00:24:00.000+05:30

Kodagu (koDagu) (ಕೊಡಗು) also known as Coorg in its English version is now a district of Karnataka. However, it had been a tiny kingdom with a history and ethnicity of its own for centuries. The natives of Kodagu speak a language that belongs to the Dravidian family of languages. (Kodava language) The history of modern Kodagu, coinciding with the rule of the hAlEri dynasty begins only in the early decades of the seventeenth century. However, it would be appropriate to trace the history of Kodagu from the tenth century when we find a substantial mention of the land and its people. After that, It was ruled for almost seven centuries by various dynasties of South India, even though the cengALva kings had a constant presence in Kodagu controlling the region as feudatories. Some archaeological findings near towns and villages such as virAjapETe, sancamakEri, andagOve, doDDabilla, kirEbilla and koDagarahaLLi have yielded some stone cists belonging to the megalithic age. The excavated material include bones, clay beads and toys, iron weapons and earthen pots (For further details see: Subbayya, K. V., 1978. ‘Archaeology of Coorg with special reference to megaliths.’ Mysore: Geetha Book House) This confirms the fact that Coorg was a human habitat in the pre-historic era also. However, many theories about the origin of Coorg are enmeshed in myth and legends.

The Sangam texts of Tamil dating back to the 2^nd Century A.D. mention kuDag nADu, and aver that it was a part of the pAnDya kingdom. Sangam literature was naturally interested in the land of origin of the River Kaveri which was very precious to them. The words ‘kuDukam’ and ‘kuDumalai’ mentioned in ‘silappadikAram’ and other Sangam texts is construed as the etymological origin of Kodagu. ‘kuDu’ means ‘bent’ in almost all Dravidian languages. The western border of Kodagu is bent like a sickle.

The northern part of Kodagu was ruled by the Kadambas was ruled from the 2nd century to the sixth century where as the southeern part was was ruled by the Gangas of Talakad from the 4^th century till the 11^th century. However, cangALvAs (Chengalvas) the kings of ChanganADu were in actual control as the feuadatories of Gangas and they had ‘palsare’ as their capital. Gangas were defeated by the Cholas in the 11^thcentury and the Changalvas shifted their loyalty to the latter. Another clan called kongALlvas controlled some parts of Kodagu including the northern parts like sOmavArapETe and even they were loyal to Cholas. When Cholas were driven away by the Hoysalas both Changalvas and Kongalvas had to accept being subordinate to them, even though there was some early resistance by Pemma Veerapa the Chengalva king. The power balances shifted again and now the Kodagu lords were subordinate to some Muslim kings. After that, the all conquering Vijayanagara Empire rode roughshod over the region. It was during this period that Nanjaraja the Chengalva king built a new capital and called it Nanjaraja Pattana.(Early 16^th century) Later in 1589 A.D., Piriyaraja or rudragaNa yet another Chengalva king renovated singapaTNa and called it PiriyapaTNa. After the dissolution of Vijayanagara Empire, Kodagu was conquered by the King of Mysore in a decisive battle. Piriyaraja heralded the fall of Chengalva dynasty.

After the fall of Chengalva kings, a prince from IkkEri (bidanUru) named VIrarAja established a small kingdom at hAlEri a small village about ten kilometers from maDikEri. These Veerashaiva kings ruled over KoDagu from 1600 A.D. till 1834 when it was taken over by the Britishers. The capital was sifted from hAlEri to maDikEri in 1681. (muddurAjakEri) The history of KOdagu after the seventeenth century is beyond the scope of this note. Hyder Ali also played a crucial role in the affairs of Coorg for quite some time. Coorg as we know it today was built essentially during the regime of the hAlEri dynasty. Kings like lingarAjEndra, doDDarAjEndra and cikavIrarAjEndra have contributed their own mite to the development of Kodagu. Most of the important temples and other edifices were built only during their regime. For futher details about the language, literature and culture of Kodagu please go to the entries mentioned below

War on Triple Alliance of Mysore-Coorg-Chirakkal

2012-04-24T00:09:00.003+05:30

Pazhassi Raja - an artist's view on a laterite wall

As a royal clan, Purannattu Swarupam had three branches, a western branch or Padinjare Kovilakam at Pazhassi near Mattannur, an eastern branch or Kizhakke Kovilakam at Manatana near Peravoor and a southern branch or Tekke Kovilakam at Kottayampoil near Koothuparamba.

Originally the headquarters of this kingdom was based at Muzhakunnu near Mattannur, as they followed a system where the eldest male of the clan became the Raja of the kingdom and chief of whole royal clan. The headquarters was later moved to Kottayampoil or Kottayam, a small town, located 7 k.m. east of Thalassery and Koothuparamba. Thus the name Kottayam came to be identified with this kingdom and her royal clan.

his nephews, Ravi Varma and Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja now took over reins of government. Vira Varma was a skilled in political intrigue and manipulation whereas Ravi Varma was too incompetent to play any serious political role and hence his role only was nominal. Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja was only one capable of meeting challenge of foreign threat and he rose to become most powerful figure in Kottayam, much to chargin of his jealous and vengeful uncle Vira Varma. Hence Vira Varma played a series of power games with aim to check growing clout of his nephew. So relations between Vira Varma and Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja was one of enmity right from onset.

War on Triple Alliance of Mysore-Coorg-Chirakkal

Military situation was grim for Pazhassi Raja and his troops - in 1774, Coorgs had joined hands with Hyder Ali on promise of being gifted Wynad and a large Coorg army camped in Wynad to help Mysore troops. In 1776, Hyder Ali re-installed Hindu Raja in Chirakkal and latter joined Mysore war effort to crush Pazhassi Raja. This triple alliance which lasted till 1780 reached nowhere near defeating Kottayam army.

Thalasseri or Tellicherry in late 18th century was a harbor-fort which was held by British East India Company as a factory. Value of Tellicherry as a naval base meant that her capture could seriously impact British naval situation in West Coast. Also rebels in North Malabar bought arms and ammunition from British in Tellicherry. So if Hyder could capture this fort, he could in a stroke cripple both rebels in North Malabar as well as British military power at a regional basis.

So in 1778, Hyder’s vassal, the Raja of Chirakkal, besieged Thalasseri and enforced an economic blockade-under orders from Hyder himself. The British factors at Talassery armed Pazhassi Raja’s men to enable them to recover Kottayam from the Mysorean occupation army. This move by the British ensured that the Chirakkal army was now at risk of being struck in the rear by Pazhassi Raja’s force. The Chirakkal troops began to retreat. But Pazhassi chased and devastated the Chirakkal army, and then marched to Kottayam where he obliterated the Mysorean occupation and over-ran all of Western Kottayam. But at this critical moment when the Mysorean army in Malabar could have been destroyed by a joint action on the part of British and the Rajas, the British factors at Talassery were instructed by the Governor not to upset the nominal peace with Hyder. Destruction of Coorg army in Wynad enabled Raja to throw a whole new army into contest at Thalasseri.

In 1780, Pazhassi Raja proposed a plan to the British to break the Mysorean siege of Thalassery: he and his men would strike the enemy in the rear from the east as the British came out of the fort and struck the Mysorean line in front. Both armies would effect a junction that would split the enemy into two. The Mysorean and allied troops could then be routed easily. But it was only in 1781 that the British understood the value of this plan and their Bombay authorities agreed to it. An operation was carried out as per Pazhassi's plan; it ended with the destruction of the Mysorean forces. Sardar Khan himself was killed. What followed was a rebellion in Kottayam by the Nayar militia led by Pazhassi Raja. Soon, the Mysoreans were ousted.

What angered Pazhassi Raja even more was that his brother Ravi Varma who paid visit to Tipu Sultan in 1786 for peace talks was forced to sign a treaty which ceded Wayanad to Tipu Sultan. Pazhassi Raja decided not to let Tipu enjoy Wayanad in peace and kept up a guerrilla warfare that constantly harassed Mysore troops in Wayanad and neighborhood. War in Wayanad lasted for seven years - till 1793 - when the last of Mysore garrisons were expelled from soil of Wayanad.

Pazhassi Raja was disturbed when he heard about the terms which British put forward to Rajas of Malabar in 1792 because British had signed a cowl with him in 1790 which promised to respect independence of Kottayam. The summary of the British terms in 1792 were as follows:

The Raja to be able to rule as before but British to control him “in case of oppressing inhabitants”.

A resident to be appointed to enquire about “complaints of oppression”.

Two persons on the part of the British and two persons on the part of the Raja to make valuation of land revenue of Kottayam.

The Tax to be paid by each subject to be ascertained.

The Raja’s tribute to be settled in October 1792 according to the appearance of crop.

The British share of the pepper to be delivered at a price fixed by the British in December 1792.

The remainder of the pepper to be bought only by merchants appointed by the British.