Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c6.14

c6.14

Their wars, their conquests and the founding of new kingdoms all implied that there were victorious kings, whose lineage and exploits would have been sung in many a kṣatriya ballad.¹ With their territorial expansion their religion naturally extended its sphere. Political supremacy fostered religious ascendancy, and rishis² and munis, protected and favoured by royal power and Aryan prestige, spread and propagated their doctrines and observances, not only in the countries conquered, but also in the surrounding regions beyond the actual Aryan sway. Thus they gradually brought the alien peoples and tribes under the influence of Aryan beliefs and customs. This process has prevailed to the present day, and along with it another process must have been going on also, which likewise has continued to the present day, namely, the Aryans met with religious practices and beliefs among the peoples whom they ruled over or came into lasting contact with, and have assimilated some of them gradually, thus modifying their own religion to a certain extent.