Show N 0 DIA AND ITS PEOPLES by copt L L R claud robinson A BRIEF SURVEY OF INDIAN HISTORY IF TIP wea try to form a mental picture 1 of indian bli history tury we see sea a mn con used fused procession of kingdo kingdoms ins taking shape and dissolving again here and there great figures stand out the founders of mighty dynasties or the makers kingdoms of at one moment we are dazzled by the magnificence cence of some unusually brilliant reign tn the next we ore are left contemplating the ruins of all this greatness subsiding amidst anarchy and confusion in the fourth century B 0 chan dra dro gupta holds our attention as he be wrests tin an empire from the th generals ot of alexander A century later we find asoka Is equally compelling for his patronage of buddhism which re suited in ID its becoming one of the greatest religions in the world in the second fourth and seventh centuries we catch passing glimpses of great sovereigns in fin Ennis hka and haraba and in the eighth cen cea tury fury we witness the rise of the celebrated warrior clans of the during the dom dominion bilon buddhism was ius tit attacked tacked and vanquished by ula deism eardly have we realized the menn mean ing and greatness ot of the kajpus wul aul than we see new forces pouring through oli the defiles of the northwest frontier conquering slaying sinking and pro sely and assailing hinduism with a militant tant fanaticism inspired by a cr creed ed which recognized only one C god 0 d with this mohammedan con quest of india andia we inevitably assoni ate the fierce figure of Al ahmud of ianni 1 in the eleventh century and the resplendent epoch of the mogul dynasty towards the close of tile the mogul period we be see the close of the HIP Morat marathas hns of the dectus orid and onie once more we witness that familiar sight tn indian history of a crum bling blang and finally disappearing from the land while there Is romance in plenty to olor color these heeling fleeting pictures ures of the mind our impressions based ou on bard fact will show us that it Is war that thai casts its sinister shadow over averi tue the whole the result of alerce ambition atud a clash of rival creeds nor loes CUPS the early period of european ascend ancy in the east differ in this reaped from the erns eras which preceded it spain portugal france holland and great britain fought fiercely for dominion until at length a single power emerged triumphant |