Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c12.20

v1.c12.20

A similar process of groping in semi-darkness induced him to make constant references to serpent worship, which, as Sir E. Tylor remarked, “ years ago fell into the hands of speculative writers who mixed it up with occult philosophies, druidical mysteries, and that portentous nonsense called the ‘Arkite symbolism,’ till now sober students hear the very name of ophiolatry with a shudder.”¹ He repeatedly speaks of a people whom he calls the “Takshaks,” apparently one of the Scythian tribes. There is, however, no reason to believe that serpent worship formed an important element in the beliefs of the Scythians, or to suppose that the cult, as we observe it in India, is of other than indigenous origin.