India Through the Ages - Flora Annie Webster Steel

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AT THE PRESENT DAY.

       Table of Contents

      The Ancient Age--When it began--Earliest hymns--The Black people--The White people-Was there a third tribe?

      The Vedic times--Extent of India--Rig-Veda--Seven rivers--Agriculture--Aryan gods--Aryan features--Hymns to the Dawn.

      Days of the Epics--Larger extent of India known--Two great epics--The Brahmânas--The Mâhâbhârata--Story of Bhishma --A golden age--Bhishma's vow and its results--The Princess Drâupadi--Bhishma's death--The Râmâyana.

      The marvellous millennium--Its literature--The Ûpanishads--Kapîla's philosophy--Vedanta teaching--Religious atmosphere--Gâutama Buddha--Yoga, and other philosophies--Megasthenes' accounts.

      The Sesu-nâga and other kings--Actual history--Scythians--First breath of reality--History of parricides--Nanda dynasty.

      The Anabasis--Alexander's march--Halt on the Indus--The Hydaspes--The stealing of a passage--His victory--Appeal to his soldiers--Forced to return--His sail down the Hydaspes to the sea--His death.

      The Great Mauryas--A landmark of history--Chândra-gupta's ability --His iron nerve--Seleukos Nikator--His great success and vast empire--Bindu-sâra--The great Asoka--His reign of religion--The Rock and Pillar edicts--An example to all people --His vast empire.

      The outlying provinces--Difficulty of piecing together historical facts--Case of coins--The personal equation our only guide--The Sâkas--The Yuehchi--Manes--Gondophares--St. Thomas --Horse sacrifice--Vikramadîtya--His era--Difficulty of recognising him--Soter Megas-Greek influence on India.

      The Bactrian Camel and the Indian Bull--Indo-Greek rulers--Age of gold--Transference of power--Mongolian invasion--Embassy to Rome--Kanîshka--Buddhist council--Hûshka, Jûshka, Kanîshka--Secretiveness of India--Song of the Plough.

       CHAPTER X

      The Great Gûpta Empire--Wedding bells--Kumâri Devi-- Chândra-gûpta II.--Samûdra-gupta--An Indian Alexander-- An Admirable Crichton--Vikramadîtya-gupta--The Golden Age of Hindus--Extraordinary artistic activity--A real Renaissance.

       CHAPTER XI

      The White Huns and good King Harsha--Attributes of the Huns-- Worst invasion--Hindu life crystallised into custom-Hypoæstheticised--Good King Harsha--Conversion to Buddhism--Hiuen T'sang, the Chinese priest.

       CHAPTER XII

      Chaos--The Dark Ages--No hero to hold the imagination--History silent--The Mahomedan invasion imminent--Mahomed's character.

       PART II

       Table of Contents

       CHAPTER I

      Campaigns of the Crescent--Northern battlefield--Constant invasion --New blood against old--New creed against old--Mahmûd of Ghuzni--Taking of Nagarkot--Twelve raids--The last to Somnâth--Mahmûd's cruelty--His avarice--A born doubter.

       CHAPTER II

      Campaigns of the Crescent again in milder form--Masûd's imitation of Mahmûd's exploits--The Ghuznevide dynasty--Shahâb-ud-din and Ghiâss-ud-din, the brother kings--The former's change of name to Mahomed--His loot and riches.

       CHAPTER III

      The Râjput resistance--Râjputs born soldiers--Prithvi-Râj--Story of his marriage with Princess Sunyogata of Kanaûj--His victory over Mahomed Ghori--The latter's disgust--His final attempt at revenge--Princess Sunyogata's reply--The fatal field of Pâniput--Râjputs overthrown--Kutb-din the slave left viceroy of India--Mahomed Ghori's death.

       CHAPTER IV

      The slave kings--Delhi founded by a slave--The Kutb Minâr-- Kutb-ud-din Eîbuk--Altâmish--His bad sons and good daughter--The Empress Râzia--Scandal--Her and her husband's death--Nâsir-ud-din--A good king followed by many bad ones--Extinction of dynasty.

       CHAPTER V

      The Tartar dynasties--Slack rule--Tendency to break up into petty States--House of Khilji--Allah-ud-din--His murder of his uncle, Dervish Sidi--Allah-ud-din and Padmani--Sack of Chitore--Difficulties in the Dekkan--Extinction of House of Khilji--Toghluk dynasty--Ferôze Toghluk.

       CHAPTER VI

      Invasion of Timur--The Toork--Timur's terrible cruelty--A crushing blow--Thirty years of stupefaction.

       CHAPTER VII

      Devastated India--No master hand in India--Puppet kings--The Dekka fairly consolidated--The Râjputs raise their heads-- Thirty-six years of kinglessness--Three strong men: a warrior, a bigot, a tyrant.

       CHAPTER VIII

      The Great Moghuls--Story of Babar the adventurer--His extraordinary versatility and charm--His memoirs and literary skill--His constant knight errantry and endless fluctuations of fortune--His final attraction to India.

       CHAPTER IX

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