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) They are all, however, now merely formless heaps of loose Syones) and none of them yielded any results to their explorers. M2 92 THE TOPE AT SANCHI. ETHNOGRAPHY.. It would add very much to the clearness of what follows, if, before proceeding to describe the individual bas-reliefs, it were possible to determine even approxi- mately the races of the people represented in the sculptures at Sanchi, as well as to what epoch of history the events depicted should be ascribed. Even on the most cursory glance, there is no difficulty in discriminating >etween the two principal races who take the most prominent part in all the events depicted. There is a third, probably a fourth, race represented, but as they oceur only once, there are no sufficient means of comparison to determine vho they may be, and it will therefore be sufficient to allude to them when jeseribing Plates XXVIII. and XXX. Of the other two there can be little difficulty in recognizing one as “ Hindus,” acaning by that term the civilized race who, at the time when the Gateways were erected, occupied the valley of the Ganges, and who, from their capitals of Ayodhyé and Indraprastha or Pataliputra (Palibothra), had been the dominant class in {India for at least 2,000 years before the time to which we are now referring. Originally these people were no doubt pure immigrant Aryans; but before Sakya Muni preached his reform, their blood had become so mixed with that of the aboriginal and inferior races as to render the success of that new gospel possible. They still, however, retained the civilization and the pre-eminence which the original intellectual superiority of the Aryans had imparted to them. In the sculptures they are easily recognized by their costume. This consists of the dhoti, wrapped.round the loins in precisely the same manner as it is at the present day; sometimes they have also a chudder over their shoulders; and all wear the turban. This last seems to be mingled with the hair, and twisted into the most fantastic shapes, more resembling the form now seen in Burmah than those usual in Bengal; but still it is fundamentally always a long strip of cloth wound round the head in what was no doubt then considered an elegant and fashionable form. The costume of the women is more difficult to * describe, though this is principally in consequence of its scantiness. Both at Sanchi and Amravati the women always wear enormous bangles about the ancles and wrists, and generally strings of beads round the neck, but their body clothing generally is limited’ to a bead belt round the body below the waist. From this -belt slips of cloth are sometimes suspended, more generally at the sides or behind than in front, and _ sometimes also a cloth, worn something ike the dhoti of the male sex, is also added, but when that is the case it is represented in the sculptures generally as absolutely ‘transparent. ~ The most remarkable part of the female costume is the head diveas: which is as voluminous as the body dress is scant. It is represented, Figs. 1., 2., and 3., Plate III., and seems to consist of two long plaits of hair mixed with beads, and a thick roll of cloth, so as to form a sort of tippet, almost covering the whole of the back of the wearer. 1 ETHNOGRAPHY. 93 It. is, however, not only in the Topes thatthis absence of dress is so conspicuous. In all the sculptures at Karlee, or Ellora, or Mahavellipore, or in the paintings in Ajanta, the same peculiarity is observable. Everywhere, indeed, before the Maho- medan conquest, nudity in India conveyed no sense of indecency. The wife and mother of Buddha are at times represented in this manner. The queen on her throne, the female disciples of Buddha, listening to his exhortations, and on every public occasion on which women take part in what is going on, the costume is the same.* It is equally remarkable that in those days these unveiled females seem to have taken: part in every public transaction and show, and to have mixed with the men as freely as women do in Europe at the present day.t All this is the more remarkable, as in Buddhist books modesty of dress in women is frequently insisted upon. In the Dulva, for instance, a story is told of the King of Kalinga.presenting to the King of Koéala (probably Oude) a piece of muslin, which afterwards fell into the hands of a lewd priestess. She, it is said, wore it in public, while it was so thin that she, notwithstanding this, appeared naked, to the great scandal of all who witnessed the exhibition.t The probability is, that the story and the book that contains it are of very much more modern date than our sculptures. It certainly is in direct conflict_with their evidence. The other race above alluded to is very easily distinguished from that just described, both in appearance and in their social status. C The costume of the. men consists of a kilt, literally a kilt, not a cloth wrapped round the loins, but so far as can be judged from the sculptures, needle made, and fastened by a buckle or string. They also wear a cloak or tippet, which seems to be equally shaped and sewn, a thing apparently utterly unknown in India till the fashion of shaped. garments was introduced by the Mahomedans.§ Their head dress is also very peculiar; either it is that‘their hair was twisted into a long rope or plait like a Chinaman’s, and then bound round the head in a conical form, or a piece of cloth or rope was similarly twisted. ‘Their most marked peculiarity, however, is that they all wear beards, whereas no single individual of the other race either at Sanchi or Amravati has a trace of a beard or of even a moustache. ) This is the more remarkable, as Nearchus tells us that the Indians daub their beards with various colours, so that some are white, others black, some red, some purple, and others green! |} Curtius tells us they never shave. _ Diodorus assures us that they nourish their beards during their’ whole lives, and received this custom from Bacchus, whom they call the bearded deity; and Strabo tells us they. suffer their beards to grow without a and dye them various * When we first visited Japan in 1860, the females were seen “tubbing” in the public streets in the open light of day. Whatever it may be now, nudity conveyed no idea of indecency to the Japanese ten years ago. } In India there are some tribes where the females still go nearly naked. The Putooas, for instance, described by Mr. Samuells, J. A. S. B., XXV. p. 295; have no other dress than a string tied round their waists, from which every morning they suspend a fresh bunch of leaves in front and another behind ; literally the costume of our first parents in Paradise. In the south of India*some of the females, of the races on the west coast especially, wear nothing above the waist, in curious contrast to the countries where, the Mahomedans ‘have held sway, where the women are now generally secluded, or, if appearing in public, are completely veiled. { Asiatic Researches, XX. p. 85. {| Arrian, Indica, XVI. § Buchanan ‘Hamilton, in Martin’s Eastern { Q. Curtius, VIII. 9. 22. India, IE. 699. ** Diodorus, IV. 5., “Od .THE TOPE AT SANCHI. colours by way of ornament;* and Solinus gives the same testimony. It is true all these authorities may have copied from one another, and that they may only refer to:one people on the banks of the Indus, but the shaven condition of all the Hindus on our monuments and the universal prevalence of beanie with the other vace are very remarkable.t The costume of the women differs from-those of the Hindus even more than that of the men. They wear a petticoat striped like that of the other sex, and apparently gathered in at the knees, so,as to form a neat and modest dress, and a cloak or tippet: similar to that of the men is thrown generally over one shoulder so as to leave one breast ‘bare, but sometimes both are covered. On their heads they wear a neat and elegant turban (Plate IIL, Figs. 4. and 5.). They wear no. bangles nor ornaments of any kind. Who then are these people? From their dwelling in the woods and the pecu- liarity of their costume both General Cunningham{ and Colonel Maisey are inclined to regard. them as priests or ascetics, though the latter remarks, “ they are nowhere ‘“ seen worshipping Topes, trees, wheels, or the disc and crescent symbols. In one “ eompartment they may be seen worshipping the serpent in a fire temple,”’§ &c. It is curious that in their only appearance at Amravati. (Plate TX X.) they are equally worshipping the serpent, but never mixed with those paying respect to the ~ other objects of adoration. After a careful study of all the bas-reliefs bearing on this subject, it does not appear to me doubtful that the sculptors at Sanchi meant to represent this people as the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. of Malwa, to whom the Hindus came either as conquerors or as missionaries. The Topes were erected of course and Gateways sculptured by the latter race, and they represent the other as always inferior and engaged in servile’ employments, but they do not represent them as converted to Buddhism. As just mentioned, they nowhere join in worship with the superior race, and the only act of adoration in which_they are engaged either here or at Amravati is the adoration of the five-headed Naga. This is the more remarkable, as we shall see hereafter, that both at Sanchi and Amravati the Naga is the tutelary deity and emblem of the other, or at least of another race. The circumstances which apparently induced General Cunningham and Colonel Maisey to regard them as priests, was that their costume resembled that of ascetics in Burmah and other Buddhist countries at the present day. This hardly, however, seems a sufficient reason for the purpose.