A History of Civilisation, in Ancient India. By Ramesh Chunder
Dutt. 2 vols. (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co.)—This is a "new and revised edition" of a work which, though all its contentions cannot be accepted, as, notably, in the case of Buddhism and Christianity, has made a most valuable contribution to the knowledge of a great subject. It may be as well briefly to describe the contents of the two volumes. The first consists of three books, containing respectively the "Vedic Period" (B.C. 2000-1400), the "Epic Period" (B.C. 1400-1000), the" Rationalistic Period" (B.C. 1000-320). In the second volume there are two divisions, dealing respectively with the "Buddhist" and the " Puranic " periods, the former including B.C. 320-AD. GOO, the latter going as far as A.D. 1000, a date far beyond what is com- monly connoted by the term "ancient." Chapter VIII. in this second volume contains a most emphatic condemnation of the caste-system. "It has served to divide the nation and create mutual ill-feeling. And it has served to degrade the nation in order to exalt the priests."
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