Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 708

668
CHANGES IN MILITARY PROFESSION
with descriptions of feats of arms and accounts of battles,
I thought that a few details on this subject would not be
entirely out of place in such a work as the present.
The Kshatriyas, or kings, and their descendants the
Rajputs formerly held undisputed sway in India, and they
alone had a right to follow the military profession. All
this, however, has nowadays undergone a complete change,
ambition having found a way through this hard and fast
rule.
At the present time there are very few native rulers
who belong to the old warrior caste. In this case, as in
many others, the strongest have seized the reins of govern-
ment. Indeed, in many provinces one may find princes of
very low origin, who by their courage, their talents, or their
intrigues have raised themselves to their high position.
In
the same way the profession of arms has now been thrown
open to men of all castes, from the Brahmin to the Pariah.
On the one hand one may see a Brahmin who has attained
the rank of commander-in-chief of an army, while on the
other hand, especially in the Mahratta armies, you may
see them serving as common troopers.
Though the habits of the Hindus appear more likely to
impair their courage than to make them good soldiers, the
art of war nevertheless seems to have been as well understood
by them from very early times as any other,, and those who
followed the military profession have always been held in
high esteem.
In fact, military officers took rank in the
social scale immediately after the priesthood. The Brahmins
themselves, actuated by motives either of gratitude or of
self-interest, allowed them to participate in some of their
own high prerogatives, such as the valued privileges of being
allowed to hear the Vedas read and of wearing the triple
But however much the Hindus may have honoured
cord.
the profession of arms, and however full their national
histories may be of wars, conquests, sieges, battles, victories,
and defeats, it is nevertheless remarkable that no nation
has shown at every epoch in its history so little skill in
When pitiless conquerors, at the head of
military science.
savage and warlike hordes, forced their way over the northern
mountains and spread themselves like a devastating torrent
over the fertile provinces of India, the peaceable and docile
inhabitants were unable to offer any effectual resistance.