Caste in India: The Facts and the System c8.s7.11

c8.s7.11

It would find no favour with the sacerdotal power, whose domination it would threaten, and sacerdotalism exercised a very strong and consistent influence, paralysing even the power of the military aristocracy. The configuration of the country does not constitute natural centres of concentration, for the boundaries are all vague. Pastoral life long maintained a spirit of strict tradition, and was untouched by any marked love of action. The number of the vanquished was great. Crushed rather than absorbed, they were slowly invaded by sacerdotal propaganda rather than subjugated by a sudden conquest. With some modifications this subdued population kept, especially where localized and isolated, much of its old organization. The mere fact of its presence in the country and the example of its extremely primitive institutions, which merged so easily into the somewhat crude organization of the immigrants, formed another obstacle to the foundation of a genuine political power. There was no vestige of a state.