History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c8.3

v1.c8.3

We will begin, of course, with the description recorded by Hiuen Tsang. After stating that India was called Shintu or Hintu (a name which corresponds with the Sind and Hind of the Arabs) Hiuen Tsang says ‘Among the various clans and castes of the country, the Brahmins were purest and most esteemed; so from their excellent reputation the name Brahmins’ country had come to be a popular one for India.” (Watters Vol. I p. 141). It is indeed a matter of pride as well as regret to Brahmins that they still maintained their pre-eminence by their good conduct and intelligence and their reputation outside their country in the seventh century was exactly the reverse of what it is to-day. The land bore their name outside the country and the name was even a popular one. Next to the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas also maintained their character for high morals and simplicity of life as also for valour. At page 157 we find the further remark; “The Kshatriyas and Brahmins are clean-handed and unostentatious, pure and simple in their life and very frugal.” Thus the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas, the two leading castes of India were in those days deserving of the foremost rank which has always been assigned to them in Indian society. At page 168 the four castes of India are thus described by Hiuen Tsang.