History of India

Edited by A. V. Williams Jackson, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages in Columbia University

Volume 9 – Historic Accounts of India by Foreign Travellers Classic, Oriental, and Occidental

Collected and Arranged by A. V. Williams Jackson

1907

A Typical Indian Idol

Image-worship and the use of idols have been characteristic of the religions of India from early times. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains alike resort to these plastic representations of their divinities and sacred personages, even if their use during the ancient Vedic period cannot be proved.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Account of India by the Greek Writer Strabo

Chapter 2 – The Practice of Suttee, or Widow-Burning, in India, According to Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian, Italian, Dutch, French, and English Accounts

Chapter 3 – A Description of India in General by the Chinese Buddhist Pilgrim Hiuan Tsang

Chapter 4 – Al-Biruni’s Arabic Account of the Hindu Religion

Chapter 5 – An Account of the Temple of Somnath by the Persian Geographer Kazvini

Chapter 6 – The Portuguese Navigator Vasco Da Gama at Calicut and His Reception by the Zamorin

Chapter 7 – The Portuguese Commander Albuquerque’s Entrance into Goa and Description of Malabar

Chapter 8 – Hindu Manners and Customs as Described by the Dutch Missionary Abraham Roger

Chapter 9 – A Description of Bengal by the French Voyager Francois Pyrard De Laval

Chapter 10 – The Italian Traveller Pietro Della Valle’s Description of Ahmadabad

Chapter 11 – Sir Thomas Roe’s First Audience with the Great Mogul

Chapter 12 – Francelin’s Notes on Ceylon and on Southern and Western India

List of Illustrations

A Typical Indian Idol – An Indian Decorative Design – Coin of Alexander the Great – The Ganges at Benares – The Sabarmati, a River of Western India, on its Way to the Sea – The Descending Branches of a Banyan-tree – Falls of the Kavari, Swasamudram – Bridge of Boats on the Indus – At the Monkey Temple, Benares – The Great Temple at Madura – A Tent of the Primitive Lepchas in Northeast India – The North Indian Tribes Conquered by Alexander – A Royal Bengal Tiger – Noosing Wild Elephants – Elephants at Work Hauling Timber – A Snake-charmer at Benares – Sawing Timber – Preparing Rice for Food – The Dilwara Temple at Mount Abu – A Hindu Ascetic in a Trance – An Indian Scene – A Statuette of a Hindu Ascetic – Monolithic Carvings of the Temple at Mahabalipuram, Madras Presidency – Indian Foot-soldiers – An Elephant in a Royal Procession at Baroda – Hindus at the Well of Knowledge, Benares – An Old Buddhist Relief from the Bharahat Stupa – Hindu Races in the Vedic and Epic Ages – Lord William C. Bentinck – Women at the Village Pond – An Indian Woman with her Jewels – Hindu Women – Suttee, or Widow-burning, in Ancient Times – Indian Musical Instruments – Children near a Ruined Shrine in the Bombay Presidency – An Indian Woman with a Characteristic Necklace – The Rama Ghat at Ayodhya – A Betel-box – A Group of Child Widows – A Pillar of the Gupta Age – A Type of Brahman Woman – The Moat and Ramparts at Tanjore – An Old Picture of a Widow Preparing to be Burned with her Husband – A Scene at the Village Well – The Sacred Waters of the Ganges – A Modern Burning-ghat at Calcutta – An Old Buddhist Sculpture from the Bharahat Stupa – A Scene in the Tista Valley – An Indian Picture showing the Signs of the Zodiac – A Gandhara Sculpture, apparently portraying the Bathing of the Infant Buddha – A Fakir – An Aged Musician with a Gourd-lyre – A Gateway of the Buddhist Stupa at Sanchi – A Chinese Buddhist Monastery – The Buddhist Tope at Sarnath near Benares – A Gandhara Sculpture of Buddha – Paraphernalia for a Chinese Buddhist Ritual Observance – An Indian Representation of Buddha – An Indian Pot – The God Brahma – The God Krishna, or Vasudeva – A Hindu Cave Temple at Ellora – The Golden Temple and Lake Amritsar – A Buddhist Funeral Urn – Ruins at Ujjain, said to have been the Native Town of Varahamihira – The Torments of Hell – A Group of Women and Children in the Shade of Palm-trees – An Inscribed Buddhist Sculpture from Hashtnagar, Dated 384 A.D. – The Martanda Temple of the Sun in Kashmir – The God Skanda, also called Kartikeya – Ruins of a Temple to Hanuman, Rama’s Ally, in Southern India – A Zoroastrian Dakhmah, or Tower of Silence – Surya, the Hindu Sun-god – On the Banks of the Ganges in Benares – A Shrine of Narsimha in the Bombay Presidency – A Sacred Lake in India – Tank at the Cenotaph of Suraj Mal – Sculptured Lions at Sarnath near Benares – The So-called Gates of Somnath – Dom Vasco da Gama – A Native Vessel of Calicut – The Pool at Ulwar – Vasco da Gama and the Zamorin of Calicut – A Decorated Water Car at Madura in Southern India – Dom Andre Furtado de Mendota – An Indian Betel Nut Cutter – Affonso de Albuquerque – An Old Portuguese Fort near Sanjan – Interior of an Ajanta Cave – Brahman Priests at Rameswara, Southern India – A Group of Women and Children – Native Indian Ploughs – An Indian Spinning-wheel – Two Pariahs – Among the Katkaris, a Wild Tribe in Western India – Indian Caste Marks – Sculptures of a Southern Indian Temple – A Statue of the God Siva at Vellore in Southern India – A Toda Hut at Utakamand in Southern India – An Indian Snake Charmer – A Toda Temple at Utakamand in Southern India – The Marble Rocks at Jabalpur – A Tamil Bathing-place at Trichinopoli – A Devil Dancer of Ceylon – The Huge Stone Bull at Tanjore – Sculptures of the Hindu Divinities Siva and Parvati, at Ellora – An Indian Decorative Design – India’s Great Mountain Barrier on the North – The Irawaddy, which Empties into the Gulf of Bengal – The Temple of the God Vishnu at Conjevaram – Giant Bamboos – From a Statuette of an Indian Elephant – The Bank of the Ganges at Benares – Pietro Della Valle – A Corner of Rani Sipri’s Mosque at Ahmadabad – The River Sabarmati at Ahmadabad – Rani Sipri’s Tomb at Ahmadabad – The Taj Mahal at Agra – Sir Thomas Roe, Ambassador to the Great Mogul – The Moghul Emperor Jahangir and his Son, Prince Khurram, afterwards Shah Jahan – Temple of the Holy Tooth of Buddha at Kandy, Ceylon – A Ruined Shrine at Pollonarua in Ceylon – A Scene in Travancore, South-Western India – An Indian Bullock-cart – Bombay from Malabar Hill – A Manuscript of the Avesta with Pahlavi Translation

This collection transcribed by Chris Gage
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