Show 1 1 INDIA AND ITS PEOPLES By Capt apt L R. R Claud Robinson WHAT IS INDIA EXCEPT in generalities the average e eman man elan knows very little about India Space there has bus not been annihilated as DS in oar western civilization by lIy telegraphs tele tele- graphs newspapers books telephones movies and wireless To comprehend end a 8 country even slightly you luu must t visit it To know It still better belter you must live e io in it And to know It best hest of or all all you yon must not only Jive live n n a Q country but study Its Us people their customs and mode of living I dont don't suppose ose 2 per cent of ot Americans have had hud the advantage of seeing India It is 18 not surprising therefore that we have the habit of ot speaking as nR If It It were a II country country coun coun- try like Uke France or lr Italy In Instead of ot a continent or combination of countries like Europe We are apt opt to forget that India tins has hasa tinsa a 8 population of composed of different races speaking different languages and practicing different re re- We also for forget et the far reach far rench- rench ing results of caste a social or class system und under r which every Hindu Is Is Isborn isborn born Into a group which for life defineR defines defines de de- de- de fines fineR bl his o occupation on method of living and even marriage limitations There are 2400 Hindu ca castes in and und it Is difficult to realize that 70 K Hindus out of a 8 total of nt 10 are ure looked upon by hy the castes caste which are ore above e them as untouchables or outcasts I Thousands oj of years a ago o when hen the I conquering Aryans d descended cen from rum rom I the Hie h North and oud became rulers mid and musters masters I of ot India they formed A n higher dvm than the dark thick featured ed I aborigines and to preserve e their own purity of race decided to exclude the ilia earlier race rare from their more morp Intimate e social settlements Titus Thus ori originated this tills body of ot untouchables s. s TouchIng Touch Ing lag them or even coming coining Into rHO remote remol contact with them involve oln the high caste aste Hindus In ceremonial defilement It Is Interesting to note that in a n recent recent recent re re- re- re cent utterance the spokesman of the these e people declared himself entirely entirely entirely en en- opposed to the of Mahatma Mahat- Mahat ma rna Gandhi the instigator ator of of the movement mo of 01 passive resistance in India Just imagine then a It region the size of or all Europe exclusive only of or Russia Rus Itus- sia stretching over 28 degrees ot of tat 1 latitude lati tude an and 40 degrees of ot longitude with witha I a population of 3 practicing nine great greut religious religions and speaking t different dialects belongings s to six distinct Its dis II families s of speech That is India from frum the point of view of the statistician statis statis- Statistics usually are dull and commonplace com com- things but at least In the I case of India we may sa sub that they are startling If their meaning Is to tobe tobe tolie be lie grasped we must clothe them with and arid blood Tills This can cren only bedone he lie done by hy hard and extensive e traveling In that vast ast m mysterious and romantic land THE HIGHWAY TO INDIA INDA FROM j HU J the dawn ot of o history India F l has hus been the victim of Invasion lu atter after Invasion What ol of the tile gateway through h which these invasions In came A little north oi of latitude 34 3 n II natural cut cUI In the mountains mountain runs for tor H II distance distance distance dis dis- dis- dis tance of ot 20 miles tulles from on nn the edge of the tran trail Indus plain to an on open spot sprat at Landi rhana r t on the border border border bor bor- der of or A Afghanistan It is known ns us the Kh Khyber ber pass Until the advent ud of 01 sea SE-a power this historic highway constituted practically cally the only channel through h which could enter the many nanny which have hu played so large a II part In shaping the de destinies of India It provided the main inlet through which lowed the tide of Ar Aryan an stock tuck which took root In the termite fertile soil sull o m of the valley and gave to the world th the rich gift of Indian thought and n. n Many centuries later thou though h s still years before the tr era a 11 western civilization lured by hy th the story of ot the richness of It the country which lay Iny beyond for tor the first time trod Its stony path This was the Invasion llIn of ot Alexander the Great A thousand years after Christ carne came another conqueror of ot opening up another her momentous chapter In the story ot ut the continent Mahmud was out nut for plunder plunder plunder der and ond he met and defeated the Kaj- Kaj puts at Peshawar This marked tho the beginning or of the Mohammedan Invasion Inva ll Invasion sion which was to end in the Mogul L j I I dynasty the splendor of whose sway I its is perhaps unsurpassed In the annals i 1 of ot the world Today the Khyber pass plu plays s 's a u less lessI hl historic part but but- butIs is still as it was us I before the main land thoroughfare between between be tIe tween India and anel central and nud we western tern Asia By Br an nn agreement made with the towards toward the end of ot th the mist last century the safety of ot the pas pass way wa 1 entrusted to the time Afridi tribe which whIch provided pro a n body of ot men for patrol amid ami escort duties More recently this corps corps' was placed on a regular basis pawl basis paid armed d and by British officers I and became a regiment known as us the Khyber Rifles The road rond as now metalled d and graded and you may travel it In comfort by hy automobile hll and view the great reat fort tort of Landl Lund hotel Kotal the ultimate outpost of Great Grent Britain in the direction of ot Af Afghanistan an 1910 lUO Western rn N er r Union J |