EARLY HISTORY.
2. The early history of India seems a confused tangle of strifes and
contentions between different nations and races for the possession of
this region, inexpressibly rich in all that makes a land desirable for
the occupation of man, and of wars between local rulers striving for
dominion. In the midst of this confusion, however, there seems to be
good evidence that the early civilization made its first appearance in
the valleys of the Upper Indus; that all invasions, until recent
times, were from the fierce tribes of the table-lands to the
northwest; that the industrious people of the valleys were driven from
their homes by successive incursions of barbarians, extending through
many centuries; that each horde, becoming partially civilized, was in
turn driven forward; and that the migrations were continuous from the
north to the south. Thus it happens that at present the population of
India consists of at least thirty distinct nationalities, and that the
aboriginal possessors of the Vale of Cashmere have been driven
forward, until now they are found only upon the summits of the
Neilgherry Mountains, in the extreme southern part of the peninsula.
THE MOGUL EMPIRE.
3. The Brahminical religion has prevailed in India from the earliest
period. The first literary productions of the people are the Vedas,
the sacred books of the Brahmins.
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