The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s1.15

c35.s1.15

The effective importation of Buddhism undoubtedly was the work of Asoka’s brother Mahendra and the other missionaries sent out by the great proselytizing emperor in the middle of the third century B. C. (*ante*, p. 193). The imperial religion does not seem to have become at any time the dominant creed of the South, although it attained a considerable amount of popularity during several centuries. In the seventh century of the Christian era it was dying out, overshadowed by both Jainism and Hinduism. After that date those two faiths almost exclusively disputed the field, often with great bitterness and ferocity. The early southern Buddhism ignored caste, but the mysterious and insidious power of the Brahmanical organization was too much for it, and won the day. The rules of caste are now enforced in the South with far greater rigour than in the North. It is not possible to follow the subject farther in this place, but it is safe to affirm that there is room for a very interesting book on the history of the conflict of religions in the Tamil and Kanarese country.