History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v2.c27.32

v2.c27.32

As in the first volume, we have in the last book (V) taken a general survey of the condition of India during this period, and dealt with several important topics such as language, caste, religion, political ideas and administration civil and military. It is necessary to draw the special attention of the reader to the chapter on Kumārila and Śankara, two master-minds which gave to Aryanism its present form after overthrowing Buddhism in India. Hinduism, as it exists today, was then formed and this religious upheaval led not only to the remodelling of religion, but also of the social and even political condition of the country. In fact, as stated before, the rise of the Rājputs was due to this religious upheaval and the idea firmly gained ground that only Kshatriyas or Rajputs could rule. These Rajput rulers were naturally of a highly religious turn of mind (witness Bappā Rāwal and others) and were men of high moral character. They were, what is strange to our sight, even abstainers from wine. Arab travellers have recorded that kings in India abstained from drink; and any one indulging in it was considered unfit to rule. This religious revival was instrumental in raising the moral fibre not only of kings, but of the people also and there being only one religion in the land, namely Hinduism, this period was according to our view, the happiest period in Indian history. In the last chapter, we have tried to show at length how this period was the happiest in many ways. In fact, in our Marathi edition of this history, we have styled it the history of the rise, the prosperity and the fall of Hindu kingdoms; and truly enough, this period is the period of the highest prosperity of Hindu kingdoms, from which, in the next period they declined and eventually fell. Why they did so, is a very interesting and difficult question, which we shall have to deal with in our third volume.