Megasthenes: Indika

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FRAGMENT I

OR AN EPITOME OF MEGASTHENES.

(Diod. II. 35-42.)

        (35.) India, which is in shape quadrilateral, has its eastern as well as its western side bounded by the great sea, but on the northern side it is divided by Mount Hemodos from that part of Skythia which is inhabited by those Skythians who are called the Sakai, while the fourth or western side is bounded by the river called the Indus, which is perhaps the largest of all rivers in the world after the Nile. The extent of the whole country from east to west is said to be 28,000 stadia, and from north to south 32,000. Being thus of such vast extent, it seems well-nigh to embrace the whole of the northern tropic zone of the earth, and in fact at the extreme point of India the gnomon of the sundial may frequently be observed to cast no shadow, while the constellation of the Bear is by night invisible, and in the remotest parts even Arcturus disappears from view. Consistently with this, it is also stated that shadows there fall to the southward.

India has many huge mountains which abound in fruit-trees of every kind, and many vast plains of great fertility--more or less beautiful, but all alike intersected by a multitude of rivers.

        The greater part of the soil, moreover, is under irrigation, and consequently bears two crops in the course of the year. It teems at the same time with animals of all sorts,--beasts of the field and fowls of the air,--of all different degrees of strength and size. It is prolific, besides, in elephants, which are of monstrous bulk, as its soil supplies food in unsparing profusion, making these animals far to exceed in strength those that are bred in Libya. It results also that, since they are caught in great numbers by the Indians and trained for war, they are of great moment in turning the scale of victory.

        (36.) The inhabitants, in like manner, having abundant means of subsistence, exceed in consequence the ordinary stature, and are distinguished by their proud bearing. They are also found to be well skilled in the arts, as might be expected of men who inhale a pure air and drink the very finest water. And while the soil bears on its surface all kinds of fruits which are known to cultivation, it has also under ground numerous veins of all sorts of metals, for it contains much gold and silver, and copper and iron in no small quantity, and even tin and other metals, which are employed in making articles of use and ornament, as well as the implements and accoutrements of war.

        In addition to cereals, there grows throughout India much millet, which is kept well watered by the profusion of river-streams, and much pulse of different sorts, and rice also, and what is called bosporum, as well as many other plants useful for food, of which most grow spontaneously. The soil yields, moreover, not a few other edible products fit for the subsistence of animals, about which it would be tedious to write. It is accordingly affirmed that famine has never visited India, and that there has never been a general scarcity in the supply of nourishing food. For, since there is a double rainfall in the course of each year,--one in the winter season, when the sowing of wheat takes place as in other countries, and the second at the time of the summer solstice, which is the proper season for sowing rice and bosporum, as well as sesamum and millet--the inhabitants of India almost always gather in two harvests annually; and even should one of the sowings prove more or less abortive they are always sure of the other crop. The fruits, moreover, of spontaneous growth, and the esculent roots which grow in marshy places and are of varied sweetness, afford abundant sustenance for man. The fact is, almost all the plains in the country have a moisture which is alike genial, whether it is derived from the rivers, or from the rains of the summer season, which are wont to fall every year at a stated period with surprising regularity; while the great heat which prevails ripens the roots which grow in the marshes, and especially those of the tall reeds.

        But, farther, there are usages observed by the Indians which contribute to prevent the occurrence of famine among them; for whereas among other nations it is usual, in the contests of war, to ravage the soil, and thus to reduce it to an uncultivated waste, among the Indians, on the contrary, by whom husbandmen are regarded as a class that is sacred and inviolable, the tillers of the soil, even when battle is raging in their neighbourhood, are undisturbed by any sense of danger, for the combatants on either side in waging the conflict make carnage of each other, but allow those engaged in husbandry to remain quite unmolested. Besides, they neither ravage an enemy's land with fire, nor cut down its trees.

        (37.) India, again, possesses many rivers both large and navigable, which, having their sources in the mountains which stretch along the northern frontier, traverse the level country, and not a few of these, after uniting with each other, fall into the river called the Ganges. Now this river, which at its source is 30 stadia broad, flows from north to south, and empties its waters into the ocean forming the eastern boundary of the Gangaridai, a nation which possesses a vast force of the largest-sized elephants. Owing to this, their country has never been conquered by any foreign king: for all other nations dread the overwhelming number and strength of these animals. [Thus Alexander the Macedonian, after conquering all Asia, did not make war upon the Gangaridai, as be did on all others; for when he had arrived with all his troops at the river Ganges, and had subdued all the other Indians, he abandoned as hopeless an invasion of the Gangaridai when he learned that they possessed four thousand elephants well trained and equipped for war.] Another river, about the same size as the Ganges, called the Indus, has its sources, like its rival, in the north, and falling into the ocean forms on its way the boundary of India; in its passage through the vast stretch of level country it receives not a few tributary streams which are navigable, the most notable of them being the Hupanis , the Hudaspes, and the Akesines. Besides these rivers there are a great many others of every description, which permeate the country, and supply water for the nurture of garden vegetables and crops of all sorts. Now to account for the rivers being so numerous, and the supply of water so superabundant, the native philosophers and proficients in natural science advance the following reasons:--They say that the countries, which surround India--those of the Skythians and Baktrians and also of the Aryans--are more elevated than India, so that their waters, agreeably to natural law, flow down together from all sides to the plains beneath, where they gradually saturate the soil with moisture, and generate a multitude of rivers.

        A peculiarity is found to exist in one of the rivers of India,--that called the Sillas, which flows from a fountain bearing the same name. It differs from all other rivers in this respect,--that nothing cast into it will float, but everything, strange to say, sinks down to the bottom.

        (38.) It is said that India, being of enormous size when taken as a whole, is peopled by races both numerous and diverse, of which not even one was originally of foreign descent, but all were evidently indigenous; and moreover that India neither received a colony from abroad, nor sent out a colony to any other nation. The legends further inform us that in primitive times the inhabitants subsisted on such fruits as the earth yielded spontaneously, and were clothed with the skins of the beasts found in the country, as was the case with the Greeks; and that, in like manner as with them, the arts and other appliances which improve human life were gradually invented, Necessity herself teaching them to an animal at once docile and furnished not only with hands ready to second all his efforts, but also with reason and a keen intelligence.

        The men of greatest learning among the Indians tell certain legends, of which it may be proper to give a brief summary. They relate that in the most primitive times, when the people of the country were still living in villages, Dionusos made his appearance coming from the regions lying to the west and at the head of a considerable army. He overran the whole of India, as there was no great city capable of resisting his arms. The heat, however, having become excessive, and the soldiers of Dionusos being afflicted with a pestilence, the leader, who was remarkable for his sagacity, carried his troops away from the plains up to the hills. There the army, recruited by the cool breezes and the waters that flowed fresh from the fountains, recovered from sickness. The place among the mountains where Dionusos restored his troops to health was called Meros; from which circumstance, no doubt, the Greeks have transmitted to posterity the legend concerning the god, that Dionusos was bred in his father's thigh. Having after this turned his attention to the artificial propagation of useful plants, he communicated the secret to the Indians, and taught them the way to make wine, as well as other arts conducive to human well-being. He was, besides, the founder of large cities, which he formed by removing the villages to convenient sites, while he also showed the people how to worship the deity, and introduced laws and courts of justice. Having thus achieved altogether many great and noble works, he was regarded as a deity and. gained immortal honours. It is related also of him that he led about with his army a great host of women and employed, in marshalling his troops for battle, drums and cymbals, as the trumpet had not in his days been invented; and that after reigning over the whole of India for two and fifty years he died of old age, while his sons, succeeding to the government, transmitted the sceptre in unbroken succession to their posterity. At last, after many generations had come and. gone, the sovereignty, it is said, was dissolved, and democratic governments were set up in the cities.

        (39.) Such, then, are the traditions regarding Dionusos and his descendants current among the Indians who inhabit the hill-country. They further assert that Herakles also was born among them. They assign to him, like the Greeks, the club and the lion's skin. He far surpassed other men in personal strength and prowess, and cleared sea and land of evil beasts. Marrying many wives he begot many sons, but one daughter only. The sons having reached man's estate, he divided all India into equal portions for his children, whom he made kings in different parts of his dominions. He provided similarly for his only daughter, whom be reared up and made a queen. He was the founder, also, of no small number of cities, the most renowned and greatest of which he called Palibothra. He built therein many sumptuous palaces, and settled within its walls a numerous population. The city he fortified with trenches of notable dimensions, which were filled with water introduced from the river. Herakles, accordingly, after his removal from among men, obtained immortal honour; and his descendants, having reigned for many generations and signalized themselves by great achievements, neither made any expedition beyond the confines of India, nor sent out any colony abroad. At last, however, after many years had gone, most of the cities adopted the democratic form of government, though some retained the kingly until the invasion of the country by Alexander. Of several remarkable customs existing among the Indians, there is one prescribed by their ancient philosophers which one may regard as truly admirable: for the law ordains that no one among them shall, under any circumstances, be a slave, but that, enjoying freedom, they shall respect the equal right to it which all possess: for those, they thought, who have learned neither to domineer over nor to cringe to others will attain the life best adapted for all vicissitudes of lot: for it is but fair and reasonable to institute laws which bind all equally, but allow property to be unevenly distributed.

        (40.) The whole population of India is divided into seven castes, of which the first is formed by the collective body of the Philosophers, which in point of number is inferior to the other classes, but in point of dignity preeminent over all. For the philosophers, being exempted from all public duties, are neither the masters nor the servants of others. They are, however, engaged by private persons to offer the sacrifices due in lifetime, and to celebrate the obsequies of the dead: for they are believed to be most dear to the gods, and to be the most conversant with matters pertaining to Hades. In requital of such services they receive valuable gifts and privileges. To the people of India at large they also render great benefits, when, gathered together at the beginning of the year, they forewarn the assembled multitudes about droughts and. wet weather, and also about propitious winds, and diseases, and other topics capable of profiting-the hearers. Thus the people and the sovereign, learning beforehand what is to happen, always make adequate provision against a coming deficiency, and never fail to prepare beforehand what will help in a time of need. The philosopher who errs in his predictions incurs no other penalty than obloquy, and he then observes silence for the rest of his life.

        The second caste consists of the Husbandmen, who appear to be far more numerous than the others. Being, moreover, exempted from fighting and other public services, they devote the whole of their time to tillage; nor would an enemy coming upon a husbandman at work on his land do him any harm, for men of this class, being regarded as public benefactors, are protected from all injury. The land, thus remaining unravaged, and producing heavy crops, supplies the inhabitants with all that is requisite to make life very enjoyable. The husbandmen themselves, with their wives and children, live in the country, and entirely avoid going into town. They pay a land-tribute to the king, because all India is the property of the crown, and no private person is permitted to own land. Besides the land-tribute, they pay into the royal treasury a fourth part of the produce of the soil.

        The third caste consists of the Neatherds and Shepherds and in general of all herdsmen who neither settle in towns nor in villages, but live in tents. By hunting and trapping they clear the country of noxious birds and wild beasts. As they apply themselves eagerly and assiduously to this pursuit, they free India from the pests with which it abounds,--all sorts of wild beasts, and birds which devour the seeds sown by the husbandmen.

        (41.) The fourth caste consists of the Artizans. Of these some are armourers, while others make the implements which husbandmen and others find useful in their different callings. This class is not only exempted from paying taxes, but even receives maintenance from the royal exchequer.

        The fifth caste is the Military. It is well organized and equipped for war, holds the second place in point of numbers, and gives itself up to idleness and amusement in the times of peace. The entire force--men-at-arms, war-horses, war-elephants, and all--are maintained at the king's expense.

        The sixth caste consists of the Overseers. It is their province to inquire into and superintend all that goes on in India, and make report to the king, or, where there is not a king, to the magistrates.

        The seventh caste consists of the Councillors and Assessors,--of those who deliberate on public affairs. It is the smallest class, looking to number, but the most respected, on account of the high character and wisdom of its members; for from their ranks the advisers of the king are taken, and the treasurers, of the state, and the arbiters who settle disputes. The generals of the army also, and the chief magistrates, usually belong to this class.

        Such, then, are about the parts into which the body politic in India is divided. No one is allowed to marry out of his own caste, or to exercise any calling or art except his own: for instance, a soldier cannot become a husbandman, or an artizan a philosopher.

        (42.) India possesses a vast number of huge elephants, which far surpass those found elsewhere both in strength and size. This animal does not cover the female in a peculiar way, as some affirm, but like horses and other quadrupeds. The period of gestation is at shortest sixteen months, and at furthest eighteen. Like mares, they generally bring forth but one young one at a time, and this the dam suckles for six years. Most elephants live to be as old as an extremely old man, but the most aged live two hundred years.

        Among the Indians officers are appointed even for foreigners whose duty is to see that no foreigner is wronged. Should any of them lose his health, they send physicians to attend him, and take care of him otherwise, and if he dies they bury him, and deliver over such property as he leaves to his relatives. The judges also decide cases in which foreigners are concerned, with the greatest care, and come down sharply on those who take unfair advantage of them. [What we have now said regarding India and its antiquities will suffice, for our present purpose.]

I FRAGM. I.B.

Diod. III. 63.

Concerning Dionusos.

        Now some, as I have already said, supposing that there were three individuals of this name, who lived in different ages, assign to each appropriate achievements. They say, then, that the most ancient of them was Indos, and that as the country, with its genial temperature, produced spontaneously the vine-tree in great abundance, he was the first who crushed grapes and discovered the use of the properties of wine. In like manner he ascertained what culture was requisite for figs and other fruit trees, and transmitted this knowledge to after-times; and, in a word, it was he who found out how these fruits should be gathered in, whence also he was called Lenaios. This same Dionusos, however, they call also Katapogon, since it is a custom among the Indians to nourish their beards with great care to the very end of their life. Dionusos then, at the head of an army, marched to every part of the world, and taught mankind the planting of the vine, and how to crush grapes in the winepress, whence he was called Lenaios. Having in like manner imparted to all a knowledge of his other inventions, he obtained after his departure from among men immortal honour from those who had benefited by his labours. It is further said that the place is pointed out in India even to this day where the god had been, and that cities are called by his name in the vernacular dialects, and that many other important evidences still exist of his having been born in India, about which it would be tedious to write.

BOOK I.

FRAGM. II.

Arr. Exped. Alex., V. 6. 2-11.

Of the Boundaries of India, its General Character, and its Rivers.

        According to Eratosthenes, and Megasthenes who lived with Siburtios the satrap of Arachosia, and who, as he himself tells us, often visited Sandrakottos the king of the Indians, India forms the largest of the four parts into which Southern Asia is divided, while the smallest part is that region which is included between the Euphrates and our own sea. The two remaining parts, which are separated from the others by the Euphrates and. the Indus, and lie between these rivers, are scarcely of sufficient size to be compared with India, even should they be taken both together. The same writers say that India is bounded on its eastern side, right onwards to the south, by the great ocean; that its northern frontier is formed by the Kaukasos range as far as the junction of that range with Tauros; and that the boundary towards the west and the north-west, as far as the great ocean, is formed by the river Indus. A considerable portion of India consists of a level plain, and this, as they conjecture, has been formed from the alluvial deposits of the river,--inferring this from the fact that in other countries plains which are far away from the sea are generally formations of their respective rivers, so that in old times a country was even called by the name of its river. As an instance, there is the so-called plain of the Hermos--a river in Asia (Minor), which, flowing from the Mount of Mother Dindymene, falls into the sea near the Aeolian city of Smyrna. There is also the Lydian plain of Kaustros, named after that Lydian river; and another, that of the Kaikos, in Mysia; and one also in Karia,--that of the Maiandros, which extends even to Miletos, which is an Ionian city. [As for Egypt, both the historians Herodotus and Hekataios (or at any rate the author of the work on Egypt if he was other than Hekataios) alike agree in declaring it to be the gift of the Nile, so that that country was perhaps even called after the river; for in early times Aigyptos was the name of the river which now-a-days both the Egyptians and other nations call the Nile, as the words of Homer clearly prove, when he says that Menelaos stationed his ships at the mouth of the river Aigyptos. If, then, there is but a single river in each plain, and these rivers, though by no means large, are capable of forming, as they flow to the sea, much new land, by carrying down silt from the uplands, where their sources are, it would be unreasonable to reject the belief in the case of India that a great part of it is a level plain, and that this plain is formed from the silt deposited by the rivers, seeing that the Hermos, and the Kaüstros, and the Kaïkos, and the Maiandros, and all the many rivers of Asia which fall into the Mediterranean, even if united, would not be fit to be compared in volume of water with an ordinary Indian river, and much less with the greatest of them all, the Ganges, with which neither the Egyptian Nile, nor the Danube which flows through Europe, can for a moment be compared. Nay, the whole of these if combined all into one are not equal even to the Indus, which is already a large river where it rises from its fountains, and which after receiving as tributaries fifteen rivers all greater than those of Asia, and bearing off from its rival the honour of giving name to the country, falls at last into the sea.]

FRAGM. III.

Arr. Indica, II. 1. 7.

Of the Boundaries of India

(See translation of Arrian.)

FRAGM. IV.

Strabo, XV. i. 11,--p. 689.

Of the Boundaries and Extent of India.

India is bounded on the north by the extremities of Tauros, and from Ariana to the Eastern Sea by the mountains which are variously called by the natives of these regions Parapamisos, and Hemodos, and Himaos, and other names, but by the Macedonians Kaukasos. The boundary on the west is the river Indus, but the southern and eastern sides, which are both much greater than the others, run out into the Atlantic Ocean. The shape of the country is thus rhomboïdal, since each of the greater sides exceeds its opposite side by 3000 Stadia, which is the length, of the promontory common to the south and the east coast, which projects equally in these two directions. [The length of the western side, measured from the Kaukasian mountains to the southern sea along the course of the river Indus to its mouths, is said-to be 13,000 stadia, so that the eastern side opposite, with the addition of the 3000 stadia of the promontory, will be somewhere about 16,000 stadia. This is the breadth of India where it is both smallest and greatest.] The length from west to east, as far as Palibothra can be stated with greater certainty, for the royal road which leads to that city bas been measured by schoeni, and is in length 10,000 stadia. The extent of the parts beyond can only be conjectured from the time taken to make voyages from the sea to Palibothra by the Ganges, and may be about 6000 stadia. The entire length, computed at the shortest, will be 16,000 stadia. This is the estimate of Eratosthenes, who says he derived it principally from the authoritative register of the stages on the Royal Road. Herein Megasthenes agrees with him. [Patrokles, however, makes the length less by 1000 stadia.] Conf. Arr. Ind. iii. 1-5.

FRAGM. V.

Strabo, II. i. 7,--p. 69.

Of the Size of India.

        Again, Hipparchos, in the 2nd volume of his commentary, charges Eratosthenes himself with throwing discredit on Patrokles for differing from Megasthenes about the length of India on its northern side, Megasthenes making it 16,000 stadia, and Patrokles 1000 less .

FRAGM. VI.

Strabo, XV. i. 12,--pp. 689-690.

Of the Size of India.

        [From this, one can readily see, how the accounts of the other writers vary from one another. Thus Ktesias says that India is not of less size than the rest of Asia; Onesikritos regards it as the third part of the habitable World; and Nearchos says it takes one four months to traverse the plain only.] Megasthenes and Deimachos incline to be more moderate in their estimate, for according to them the distance from the Southern Sea to Kaukasos is over 20,000 stadia. [Deimachos, however, allows that the distance in some places exceeds 30,000 stadia. Of these notice has been taken in an earlier part of the work.]

FRAGM. VII.

Strabo, II. I. 4,--pp. 68-69.

Of the Size of 1ndia.

Hipparchos controverts this view, urging the futility of the proofs on which it rests. Patrokles, he says, is unworthy of trust, opposed as he is by two competent authorities, Deimachos and Megasthenes, who state that in some places the distance from the southern sea is 20,000 stadia, and in others 30,000. Such, he says, is the account they give, and it agrees with the ancient charts of the country.

FRAGM. VIII.

Arr. Indica, III. 7-8.

Of the, Size, of India.

        With Megasthenes the breadth of India is its extent from east to west, though this is called by others its length. His account is that the breadth at shortest is 16,000 stadia, and its length-by which he means its extent from north to south--is at the narrowest 22,300 stadia .

FRAGM. IX.

Strabo, II. L19,--p. 76.

Of the setting of the Bear, and shadows falling in contrary directions.

        Again, he [Eratosthenes] wished to show the ignorance of Deimachos, and his want of a practical knowledge of such subjects, evidenced as it was by his thinking that India lay between the autumnal equinox and the winter tropic, and by his contradicting the assertion of Megasthenes that in the southern parts of India the constellation of the Bear disappeared from view, and shadows fell in opposite directions,--phenomena which he assures us are never seen in India, thereby exhibiting the sheerest ignorance. He does not agree in this opinion, but accuses Deimachos of ignorance for directions, as Megasthenes supposed.

FRAGM. X.

Pliny, Hist. Nat. VI. 22.6.

Of the Setting of the Bear.

        Next [to the Prassi] in the interior are the Monedes and the Suari, to whom belongs Mount Maleus, on which shadows fall towards the north in winter, and in summer to the south, for six months alternately. The Bears, Baeton says, in that part of the country are only once visible in the course of the year, and not for more than fifteen clays. Megasthenes says that this takes place in many parts of India.

Conf. Solin, 52.13:--

        Beyond Palibrotha is Mount Maleus, on which shadows fall in winter towards the north, and in summer towards the south, for six months alternately. The North Pole is visible in that part of the country once in the course of the year, and not for longer than fifteen days, as Baeton informs us, who allows that this occurs in many parts of India.

FRAGM. XI.

Strabo, XV. i. 20,--p. 693.

Of the Fertility of India.

Megasthenes indicates the fertility of India by the fact of the soil producing two crops every year both of fruits and grain. [Eratosthenes writes to the same effect, for he speaks of a winter and a summer sowing, which both have rain: for a year, he says, is never found to be without rain at both those seasons, whence ensues a great abundance, since the soil is always productive. Much fruit is produced by trees; and the roots of plants, particularly of tall reeds, are sweet both by nature and by coction, since the moisture by which they are nourished is heated by the rays of the sun, whether it has fallen from the clouds or been drawn from the rivers. Eratosthenes uses here a peculiar expression: for what is called by others the ripening of fruits and the juices of plants is called among the Indians coction, which is as effective in producing a good flavour as the coction by fire itself. To the heat of the water the same writer ascribes the wonderful flexibility of the branches of trees, from which wheels are made, as also the fact of there being trees on which wool grows.

Conf. Eratosth. ap. Strabo. XV. i. 13,-p. 690:--

        From the vapours arising from such vast rivers, and from the Etesian winds, as Eratosthenes states, India is watered by the summer rains, and the plains are overflowed. During these rains, accordingly,--flax is sown and millet, also sesamum, rice, and bosmorum, and in the winter time wheat, barley, pulse, and other esculent fruits unknown to us.

FRAGM. XII.

Strabo, XV. i. 37,--p. 703.

Of some Wild Beasts of India.

        According to Megasthenes the largest tigers are found among the Prasii, being nearly twice the size of the lion, and so strong that a tame tiger led by four men having seized a mule by the hinder leg overpowered it and dragged it to him. The monkeys are larger than the largest dogs; they are white except in the face, which is black, though the contrary is observed elsewhere. Their tails are more than two cubits in length. They are very tame, and not of a malicious disposition: so that they neither attack man nor steal. Stones are dug up which are of the colour of frankincense, and sweeter than figs or honey. In some parts of the country there are serpents two cubits long which have membranous wings like bats. They fly about by night, when they let fall drops of urine or sweat, which blister the skin of persons not on their guard, with putrid sores. There are also winged scorpions of an extraordinary size. Ebony grows there. There are also dogs of great strength and courage, which will not let go their hold till water is poured into their nostrils: they bite so eagerly that the eyes of some become distorted, and the eyes of others fall out. Both a lion and a bull were held fast by a dog. The bull was seized by the muzzle, and died before the dog could be taken off.

FRAGM. XIII.

Aelian, Hist. Anim. XVII 39. Conf. Fragm. XII. 2.

Of Indian Apes.

        In the country of the Praxii, who are an Indian people, Megasthenes says there are apes not inferior in size to the largest dogs. They have tails five cubits long, hair grows on their forehead, they have luxuriant beards hanging down their breast. Their face is entirely white, and all the rest of the body black. They are tame and. attached to man, and not malicious by nature like the apes of other countries.

FRAGM. XIV.

Aelian, Hist. Anim. XVI. 41. Conf. Fragm. X11. 4.

Of Winged Scorpions and Serpents.

Megasthenes says there are winged scorpions in India of enormous size, which sting Europeans and natives alike. There are also serpents which are likewise winged. These do not go abroad during the day; but by night, when they let fall urine, which if it lights upon any one's skin at once raises putrid sores thereon. Such is the statement of Megasthenes.

FRAGM. XV.

Strabo, XV. i. 56,--pp. 710-711.

Of the Beasts of India, and the Reed.

        He (Megasthenes) says there are monkeys, rollers of rocks, which climb precipices whence they roll down stones upon their pursuers. Most animals, he says, which are tame with us are wild in India, and he speaks of horses which are one-horned and have heads like those of deer; and also of reeds some of which grow straight up to the height of thirty orguiae, whi1e others grow along the ground to the length of fifty. They vary in thickness from three to six cubits in diameter.

FRAGM. XV.B.

Aelian, Hist. Anim. XVI. 20.21. Conf. Fragm. XV. 2. 1.

Of some Beasts of India.

        (20.) In certain districts of India (I speak of those which are most inland) they say there are inaccessible mountains infested by wild beasts, and which are also the haunts of animals like those of our own country except that they are wild; for even sheep, they say, ran wild there, as well as dogs and goats and oxen, which roam about at their own pleasure, being independent and free from the dominion of the herdsman. That their number is beyond calculation is stated not only by writers on India, but also by the learned men of the country, among whom the Brachmans deserve to be reckoned, whose testimony is to the same effect. It is also said that there exists in India a one-horned animal, called by the natives the Kartazon. It is of the size of a full-grown horse, and has a crest, and yellow hair soft as wool. It is furnished with very good legs and is very fleet. Its legs are jointless and formed like those of the elephant, and it has a tail like a swine's. A horn sprouts out from between its eyebrows, and this is not straight, but carved into the most natural wreaths, and is of a black colour. It is said to be extremely sharp, this horn. The animal, as I learn, has a voice beyond all example loud-ringing and dissonant. It allows other animals to approach it, and is good-natured towards them, though they say that with its congeners it is rather quarrelsome. The males are reported to have a natural propensity not, only to fight among themselves, by butting with their horns, but to display a like animosity against the female, and to be so obstinate in their quarrels that they will not desist till a worsted rival is killed outright. But, again, not only is every member of the body of this animal endued with great strength, but such is the potency of its horn that nothing can withstand it. It loves to feed in secluded pastures, and wanders about alone, but at the rutting season it seeks the society of the female, and is then gentle towards her,--nay, the two even feed in company. The season being over and the female pregnant, the Indian Kartazon again becomes ferocious and seeks solitude. The foals, it is said, are taken when quite young to the king of the Prasii, and are set to fight each other at the great public spectacles. No full-grown specimen is remembered to have ever been caught.

        (21.) The traveller who crosses the mountains which skirt that frontier of India which is most inland meets, they say, with ravines which are clothed with very dense, jungle, in a district called by the Indians Korouda. These ravines are said to be the haunts of a peculiar kind of animal shaped like a satyr, covered all over with shaggy hair, and having a tail like a horse's, depending from its rump. If these creatures are left unmolested, they keep within the coppices, living on the wild fruits; but should they hear the hunter's halloo and the baying of the hounds they dart up the precipices with incredible speed, for they are habituated to climbing the mountains. They defend themselves by rolling down stones on their assailants, which often kill those they hit. The most difficult to catch are those which roll the stones. Some are said to have been brought, though with difficulty and after long intervals, to the Prasii, but these were either suffering from diseases or were females heavy with young, the former being too weak to escape, and the latter being impeded by the burden of the womb.--Conf. Plin. Hist. Nat. VII. 2. 17.

FRAGM. XVI.

Pliny, Hist. Nat. VIII. 14. 1.

Of the Boa-Constrictor.

        According to Megasthenes, serpents in India grow to such a size that they swallow stags and bulls whole.

Solinus, 52. 33.

        So huge are the serpents that they swallow stags whole, and other animals of equal size.

FRAGM. XVII

Aelian, Hist. Anim. VIII. 7.

Of the Electric Eel.

        I learn from Megasthenes that there is in the Indian Sea a small kind of fish which is never seen when alive, as it always swims in deep water, and only floats on the surface after it is dead. Should any one touch it he becomes faint and swoons,--nay, even dies at last.

FRAGM. XVIII.

Pliny, Hist. Nat. V1. 24. 1.

Of Taprobane.

Megasthenes says that Taprobane is separated from the mainland by a river; that the inhabitants are called Palaigonoi, and, that their country is more productive of gold and large pearls than India.

Solin. 53.3.

Taprobane is separated from India by a river flowing between: for one part of it abounds with wild beasts and elephants much larger than India breeds, and man claims the other part.

FRAGM. XIX.

Antigon. Caryst. 647.

Of Marine Trees.

Megasthenes, the author of the Indika, mentions that trees grow in the Indian Sea.

FRAGM. XX.

Arr. Ind. 4. 2-13.

Of the1ndus and the Ganges.

See translation of Arrian.

FRAGM.XX.B.

Pliny. Hist. Nat. V1. 21.9-22. 1.

        The Prinas and the Cainas (a tributary of the Ganges) are both navigable rivers. The, tribes which dwell by the Ganges are the Calingae, nearest the sea, and higher up the Mandei, also the Malli, among whom is Mount Mallus, the boundary of all that region being the Ganges. Some have asserted that this river, like the Nile, rises from unknown sources, and in a similar way waters the country it flows through, while others trace its source to the Skythian mountains. Nineteen rivers are said to flow into it, of which, besides those already mentioned, the Condochates, Erannoboas, Cosoagus, and Sonus are navigable. According to other accounts, it bursts at once with thundering roar from its fountain, and tumbling down a steep and rocky channel lodges in a lake as soon as it reaches the level plain, whence it issues forth with a gentle current, being nowhere less than eight miles broad, while its mean breadth is a hundred stadia, and its least depth twenty fathoms.

Solin. 52. 6-7.

        In India the largest rivers are the Ganges and the Indus,--the Ganges, as some maintain, rising from uncertain sources, and, like the Nile, overflowing its banks; while others think that it rises in the Skythian mountains. In India there is also the Hupanis, a very noble river, which formed the limit of Alexander's march, as the altars set up on its banks testify. The least breadth of the Ganges is eight miles, and the greatest twenty. Its depth where least is fully one hundred feet.

Conf. Fragm. XXV.1.

        Some say that the least breadth is thirty stadia, but others only three; while Megasthenes says that the mean breadth is a hundred stadia, and its least depth twenty orguiae.

FRAGM. XXI.

Arr. Ind. 6. 2-3.

Of the River Silas.

See translation of Arrian.

FRAGM. XXII.

Boissonade, Anecd. Graec. I. p. 419,

Of the River Silas.

        There is in India a river called the Silas, named after the fountain from which it flows, on which nothing will float that is thrown into it, but everything sinks to the bottom, contrary, to the usual law.

FRAGM. XXIII.

Strabo, XV. i. 38,--p. 703.

Of the River Silas.

        (Megasthenes says) that in the mountainous country is a river, the Silas, on the waters of which nothing will float. Demokritos, who had travelled over a large part of Asia, disbelieves this, and so does Aristotle.

FRAGM. XXIV.

Arr. Ind. 5. 2.

Of the Number of Indian Rivers.

See translation of Arrian.

BOOK II.

FRAGM. XXV.

Strab. XV. i. 35-36,--p. 702.

Of the city Pataliputra.

        According to Megasthenes the mean breadth (of the Ganges) is 100 stadia, and its least depth 20 fathoms. At the meeting of this river and another is situated Palibothra, a city eighty stadia in length and fifteen in breadth. It is of the shape of a parallelogram, and is girded with a wooden wall, pierced with loopholes for the discharge of arrows. It has a ditch in front for defence and for receiving the sewage of the city. The people in whose country this city is situated is the most distinguished in all India, and is called the Prasii. The king, in addition to his family name, must adopt the surname of Palibothros, as Sandrakottos, for instance, did, to whom Megasthenes was sent on an embassy. [This custom also prevails among the Parthians, for all are called Arsakai, though each has his own peculiar name, as Orodes, Phraates, or some other.]

Then follow these words:--

        All the country beyond the Hupanis is allowed to be very fertile, but little is accurately known regarding it. Partly from ignorance and the remoteness of its situation, everything about it is exaggerated or represented as marvellous: for instance, there are the stories of the gold-digging ants, of animals and men of peculiar shapes, and possessing wonderful faculties; as the Seres, who, they say, are so long-lived that they attain an age beyond that of two hundred years. They mention also an aristocratical form of government consisting of five thousand councillors, each of whom furnishes the state with an elephant .

        According to Megasthenes the largest tigers are found in the country of the Prasii, etc. (Cf. Fragm. XII.)

FRAGM. XXVI.

Arr. Ind. 10.

Of Pataliputra and the Manners of the Indians.

        It is farther said that the Indians do not rear monuments to the dead, but consider the virtues which men have displayed in life, and the songs in which their praises are celebrated, sufficient to preserve their memory after death. But of their cities it is said that the number is so great that it cannot be stated with precision, but that such cities as are situated on the banks of rivers or on the sea-coast are built of wood instead of brick, being meant to last only for a time,--so destructive are the heavy rains which pour down, and the rivers also when they overflow their banks and inundate the plains,--while those cities which stand on commanding situations and lofty eminences are built of brick and mud; that the greatest city in India is that which is called Palimbothra, in the dominions of the Prasians, where the streams of the Erannoboas and the Ganges unite,--the Ganges being the greatest of all rivers, and the Erannoboas being perhaps the third largest of Indian rivers, though greater than the greatest rivers elsewhere; but it is smaller than the Ganges where it falls into it. Megasthenes informs us that this city stretched in the inhabited quarters to an extreme length on each side of eighty stadia, and that its breadth was fifteen stadia, and that a ditch encompassed it all round, which was six hundred feet in breadth and thirty cubits in depth, and that the wall was crowned with 570 towers and had four-and-sixty gates. The same writer tells us further this remarkable fact about India, that all the Indians are free, and not one of them is a slave. The Lakedaemonians, and the Indians are here so far in agreement. The Lakedaemonians, however, hold the Helots as slaves, and these Helots do servile labour; but the Indians do not even use aliens as slaves, and much less a countryman of their own.

FRAGM. XXVII.

Strab. XV. i. 53-56,--pp. 709-10.

Of the Manners of the Indians.

        The Indians all live frugally, especially when in camp. They dislike a great undisciplined multitude, and consequently they observe good order. Theft is of very rare occurrence. Megasthenes says that those who were in the camp of Sandrakottos, wherein lay 400,000 men, found that the thefts reported on any one day did not exceed the value of two hundred drachmae, and this among a people who have no written laws, but are ignorant of writing, and must therefore in all the business of life trust to memory. They live, nevertheless, happily enough, being simple in their manners and frugal. They never drink wine except at sacrifices. Their beverage is a liquor composed from rice instead of barley, and their food is principally a rice-pottage. The simplicity of their laws and their contracts is proved by the fact that they seldom go to law. They have no suits about pledges or deposits, nor do they, require either seals or witnesses, but make their deposits and confide in each other. Their houses and property they generally leave unguarded. These things indicate that they possess good, sober sense; but other things they do which one cannot approve: for instance, that they eat always alone, and that they have no fixed hours when meals are to be taken by all in common, but each one eats when he feels inclined. The contrary custom would be better for the ends of social and civil life.

        Their favourite mode of exercising the body is by friction, applied in various ways, but especially by passing smooth ebony rollers over the skin. Their tombs are plain, and the mounds raised over the dead lowly. In contrast to the general simplicity of their style, they love finery and ornament. Their robes are worked in gold, and ornamented with precious stones, and they wear also flowered garments made of the finest muslin. Attendants walking behind hold up umbrellas over them: for they have a high regard for beauty, and avail themselves of every device to improve their looks. Truth and virtue they hold alike in esteem. Hence they accord no special privileges to the old unless they possess superior wisdom. They marry many wives, whom they buy from their parents, giving in exchange a yoke of oxen. Some they marry hoping to find in them willing helpmates; and others for pleasure and to fill their houses with children. The wives prostitute themselves unless they are compelled to be chaste. No one wears a crown at a sacrifice or libation, and they do not stab the victim, but strangle it, so that nothing mutilated, but only what is entire, may be presented to the deity.

        A person convicted of bearing false witness suffers mutilation of his extremities, He who maims any one not only suffers in return the loss of the same limb, but his hand also is cut off. If he causes an artizan to lose his hand or his eye, he is put to death. The same writer says that none of the Indians employ slaves; [but Onesikritos says that this was peculiar to that part of the country over which Musikanos ruled.]

        The care of the king's person is entrusted to women, who also are bought from their parents. The guards and the rest of the soldiery attend outside the gates. A woman who kills the king when drunk becomes the wife of his successor. The sons succeed the father. The king may not sleep during the daytime, and by night he is obliged to change his couch from time to time, with a view to defeat plots against his life.

        The king leaves his palace not only in time of war, but also for the purpose of judging causes. He then remains in court for the whole day, without allowing the business to be interrupted, even though the hour arrives when he must needs attend to his person,--that is, when he is to be rubbed with cylinders of wood. He continues hearing cases while the friction, which is performed by four attendants, is still proceeding. Another purpose for which he leaves his palace is to offer sacrifice; a third is to go to the chase, for which he departs in Bacchanalian fashion. Crowds of women surround him, and outside of this circle spearmen are ranged. The road is marked off with ropes, and it is death, for man and woman alike, to pass within the ropes. Men with drums and gongs lead the procession. The king hunts in the enclosures and shoots arrows from a platform. At his side stand two or three armed women. If he hunts in the open grounds he shoots from the back of an elephant. Of the women, some are in chariots, some on horses, and. some even on elephants, and they are equipped with weapons of every kind, as if they were going on a campaign.

        [These customs are very strange when compared with our own, but the following are still more so;] for Megasthenes states that the tribes inhabiting the Kaukasos have intercourse with women in public, and eat the bodies of their relatives, that there are monkeys which roll down stones, &c. ( Fragm. XV. follows, and then Fragm. XXIX.)

FRAGM. XXVII B.

Aelian. V. L. iv.1.

        The Indians neither put out money at usury, nor know how to borrow. It is contrary to established usage for an Indian either to do or suffer a wrong, and therefore they neither make contracts nor require securities. Conf. Suid. V.

FRAGM. XXVII. C.

Nicol. Damasc. 44; Stob. Serm. 42.

        Among the Indians one who is unable to recover a loan or a deposit has no remedy at law. All the creditor can do is to blame himself for trusting a rogue.

FRAGM. XXVII D.

Nicol. Damasc. 44; Stob. Serm. 42.

        He who causes an artisan to lose his eye or his hand is put to death. If one is guilty of a very heinous offence the king orders his hair to be cropped, this being a punishment to the last degree infamous.

FRAGM. XXVIII.

Athen: iv. p. 153.

Of the Suppers of the Indians.

Megasthenes, in the second book of his Indika, says that when the Indians are at supper a table is placed before each person, this being like a tripod. There, is placed upon it a golden bowl, into which they first put rice, boiled as one would boil barley, and then they add many dainties prepared according to Indian receipts.

FRAGM. XXIX.

Strab. XV. i. 57,--p. 711.

Of fabulous tribes.

        But deviating into fables he says there are men five spans and even three spans in height, some of whom want the nose, having only two orifices above the mouth through which they breathe. Against the men of three spans, war, as Homer has sung, is waged by the cranes, and also by partridges, which are as large as geese. These people collect and destroy the eggs of the cranes, for it is in their country the cranes lay their eggs, and thus the eggs and the young cranes are not to be found anywhere else. Frequently a crane escapes having the brazen point of a weapon in its body, from wounds received in that country. Equally absurd is the account given of the Enotokoitai, of the wild men, and of other monsters. The wild men could not be brought to Sandrakottos, for they refused to, take food and died. Their heels are in front, and the instep and toes are turned backwards. Some were brought to the court who had no mouths and were tame. They dwell near the sources of the Ganges, and subsist on the savour of roasted flesh and the perfumes of fruits and flowers, having instead of mouths orifices through which they breathe. They are distressed with things of evil smell, and hence it is with difficulty they keep their hold on life, especially in a camp. Referring to the other monstrosities, the philosophers told him of the Okupedes, a people who in running could leave the horse behind; of the Enotokoitai, who had ears reaching down to their feet, so that they could sleep in them, and were so strong that they could pull up trees and break a bowstring. Of others the Monommatoi, who have the ears of a dog, their one eye set in the middle of their forehead, the hair standing erect, and their breasts shaggy; of the Amukteres also, a people without nostrils, who devour everything, eat raw meat, and are short-lived, and die before old age supervenes. The upper part of the mouth protrudes far over the lower lip. With regard to the Hyperboreans, who live a thousand years, they give the same account as Simonides, Pindaros, and other mythological writers. The story told by Timagenes, that showers fall of drops of copper, which are swept together, is a fable. Megasthenes states--what is more open to belief, since the same is the case in Iberia--that the rivers carry down gold dust, and that a part of this is paid by way of tribute to the king.

FRAGM. XXX

Plin. Hist. Nat. VII. ii. 14-22.

Of fabulous races.

        According to Megasthenes, on a mountain called Nulo there live men whose feet are turned backward, and who have eight toes on each foot; while on many of the mountains there lives a race of men having heads like those of dogs, who are clothed with the skins of wild beasts, whose speech is barking, and who, being armed with claws, live by hunting and fowling. [Ktesias asserts on his own authority that the number of these men was upwards of 120,000, and that there is a race in India whose females bear offspring but once in the course of their life, and that their children become at once grey-haired.]

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Megasthenes speaks of a race of men among the Nomadic Indians who instead of nostrils have merely orifices, whose legs are contorted like snakes, and who are called Scyritae. He speaks also of a race living on the very confines of India on the east, near the source of the Ganges, the Astomi who have no mouth; who cover their body, which is all over hairy, with the soft down found upon the leaves of trees; and who live merely by breathing, and the perfume inhaled by the nostrils. They eat nothing, and they drink nothing. They require merely a variety of odours of roots and of flowers and of wild apples. The apples they carry with them when they go on a distant journey, that they may always have something to smell. Too strong an odour would readily kill them.

        Beyond the Astomi, in the remotest part of the mountains, the Trispithami and the Pygmies are said to have their abode. They are each three spans in height--that is, not more than seven-and-twenty inches. Their climate is salubrious and they enjoy a perpetual spring, under shelter of a barrier of mountains which rise on the north. They are the same whom Homer mentions as being harassed by the attacks of the cranes. The story about them is--that mounted on the backs of rams and goats, and equipped with arrows, they march down in spring-time all in a body to the sea; and destroy the eggs and the young of these birds. It takes them always three months to finish this yearly campaign, and were it not undertaken they could not defend themselves against the vast flocks of subsequent years. Their hats are made of clay and feathers and egg-shells. [Aristotle says that they live in caves, but otherwise he gives the same account of them as others.]

        [From Ktesias we learn that there is a people belonging to this race, which is called Pandore and settled in the valleys, who live two hundred years, having in youth hoary hair, which in old age turns black. On the other hand, others do not live beyond the age of forty,--nearly related to the Macrobii, whose women bear offspring but once. Agatharchides says the same of them, adding that they subsist on locusts, and are swift of foot.] Clitarchus and Megasthenes call them Mandi and reckon the number of their villages at three, hundred. The females bear children at the age of seven, and are old women at forty.

FRAGM. XXX.B.

Solin. 52. 26-30.

        Near a mountain which is called Nulo there live men whose feet are turned backwards and have eight toes on each foot. Megasthenes writes that on different mountains in India there are tribes of men with dog-shaped heads, armed with claws, clothed with skins, who speak not in the accents of human language, but only bark, and have fierce grinning jaws. [In Ktesias we read that in some parts the females bear offspring but once, and that the children are white-haired from their birth, &c.]

        Those who live near the source of the Ganges, requiring nothing in the shape of food, subsist on the odour of wild apples, and when they go on a long journey they carry these with them for safety of their life, which they can support by inhaling their perfume. Should they inhale very foul air, death is inevitable.

FRAGM. XXXI.

Plutarch, de facie in orbe lunae. (Opp. ed. Reisk, tom. ix. p. 701.)

Of the race of men without mouths.

        For how could one find growing there that Indian root which Megasthenes says a race of men who neither eat nor drink, and in fact have not even mouths, set on fire and burn like incense, in order to sustain their existence with its odorous fumes, unless it received moisture from the moon--

BOOK III.

FRAGM. XXXII.

Arr. Ind. Xl.l.-XII.-9. Cf. Epit.40-53, and Plin. Hist. Nat. VI. xxii. 2, 3.

(See the translation of Arrian's Indika.)

FRAGM. XXXIII

Strab. XV. 1. 39-41, 46-49,--pp. 703-4, 707.

Of the Seven Castes among the Indians.

        (39.) According to him (Megasthenes) the population of India is divided into seven parts. The philosophers are first in rank, but form the smallest class in point of number. Their services are employed privately by persons who wish to offer sacrifices or perform other sacred rites, and also publicly by the kings at what is called the Gre