some of them, perhaps, akin to the actual ancestors of the Goths,
Huns, and Saxons of Europe, poured down from the plains of
Central Asia. At the time of which our history treats, the
aboriginal Indians had long been pushed out from Hindustan into
the mountainous forests that border the Deccan; which country has
been largely peopled, in its more accessible regions, by the
Sudras, who were probably the first of the Scythian invaders.
After them had come the Sanskrit-speaking race, a congener of the
ancient Persians, who brought a form of fire-worshipping, perhaps
once monotheistic, of which traces are still extant in the Vedas,
their early Scriptures. This form of faith becoming weak and
eclectic, was succeeded by a reaction, which, under the auspices
of Gautama, obtained general currency, until in its turn
displaced by the gross mythology of the Puranas, which has since
been the popular creed of the Hindus.

This people in modern times has divided into three main
denominations: the Sarawagis or Jains (who represent some sect
allied to the Buddhists or followers of Gautama); the sect of
Shiva, and the sect of Vishnu.

In addition to the Hindus, later waves of immigration have
deposited a Musalman population — somewhat increased by the
conversions that occurred under Aurangzeb. The Mohamadans are now
about one-seventh of the total population of Hindustan; and there
is no reason to suppose that this ratio has greatly varied since
the fall of the Moghuls.

The Mohamadans in India preserved their religion, though not
without some taint from the circumjacent idolatry. Their