THE EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CIVILISATION.
Essai sir l'Evolution tie la Civilisation Indienne. Par le Marquis de In Mazeliere. 2 vols. (Plon-Nourrit, Paris.)—It is quite im- possible in a necessarily short notice to do justice to the remark- able work of M. de In Mazeliere on the history of Indian civilisa- tion. The book throughout bears evidence of that industry which is sometimes associated exclusively with Germany, and it deals with an immense and most complicated subject in a manner of which French scholars alone seem to have the secret. It is almost im- possible to conceive of a thousand-page book in English on Indian history, philosophy, literature, social development, and political organisation which should avoid the charge of heaviness, but
these two volumes contrive to combine encyclopaedic information with a clear style and a light touch. The author traces the course of Indian civilisation from the earliest times to the present day. The first volume is occupied with the consideration of origins, of Hinduism and Buddhism, of early religion, of the waves of invasion from Central Asia, the new order introduced by Mahommedan conquest, and the organisation of the Mogul Empire. The second volume is a careful study of European influence on India, and describes and analyses the consolidation of British rule and its character. The book is not professedly a history, but incidentally it gives a succinct record of events. The results of very wide and careful reading are expressed in an admirably judicial spirit. We should fancy that the author has not himself visited India (though if this is the case he has a wonderful talent of absorbing the works of travellers), and it is evident that he is not personally acquainted with Oriental languages, and has not read all the books named in his extensive bibliography. For "Kaiser" in the title "Kaisar-i-Hind " is not derived from the German, nor is Captain Atkinson's "Curry and Rice," a book well known to a former generation, correctly described as a treatise upon agriculture. But these are very small points. M. de la Mazeliere seems to us to speak much too positively on obscure questions of ethnology, and to found too much on his theory of the influence of "feudalism," introduced into India by the "Scythian" ancestors of the Rajputs, on the older civilisa- tion. We do not really know much about the origin of the Rajputs. " Scythian " is as dangerous a plaything as the old word "Turanian," and the social structure that partly survives in Rajputana is something very different from the feudalism of mediaeval Europe. Again, Asoka's Empire was hardly the well- organised dominion over all India which our author describes. But the chapters on Hindu relig,ion, philosophy, law, and caste-organisa- tion give a sound and very interesting summary. The attitude of M. de la Mazeliere towards British rule is markedly friendly, but dis- criminating. He fully realises the extravagances of the Congress party—at least in its earlier days—and the unsubstantiality of much of the eloquence about the "financial drain." On one point about which we hear a good deal from Mr. Naoroji and his school his opinion is emphatic : "The promises made by the Queen" (in 1858) "England has kept." At the same time, he considers a diminution of home charges necessary, holds that the Imperial Exchequer should come to the assistance of India in certain directions (though here he seems to have overlooked the decisions founded on the recent Commission on Indian Expendi- ture, and is mistaken in supposing that India paid for the latest em- ployment of her troops in China), and considers the land-revenue system in the main unjustifiable. He hardly dwells sufficiently on the practical grievance, the inelasticity of our revenue system in hard times, but on the other hand fails, we think, to realise how deeply rooted in the Asiatic mind is the idea that the State shall receive a direct land revenue. Depending too much upon the printed word, our friendly critic is inclined to assign a disproportionate importance to Bengalee leaders, and to take as true representatives of the silent millions, or the proud fighting races, a handful of semi-Anglicised orators and journalists. The book might with advantage have devoted more space to the native States, to Frontier problems, to the very interesting history of the Sikhs, and to the efforts (represented by the Itajkumar Colleges and the institution at Aligarh) being made to educate the ruling classes. In a brief notice we are compelled to dwell upon points of difference, but we should wish to recognise very cordially the appreciative spirit in which a competent French critic approaches the problems of our rule in the East. Full use is made of all the standard works on India, and of the most recent
official publications. We are inclined to think that a somewhat condensed English translation of the Essai would be both useful and popular ; in the meantime we commend the work to all who are interested in India.
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