Every Hindu history must begin with the code of Menu which was probably drawn up in the 9th century B.C.  In the society described, the first feature that strikes us is the division into four castes—­the sacerdotal, the military, the industrial, and the servile.  The Bramin is above all others even kings.  In theory he is excluded from the world during three parts of his life.  In practice he is the instructor of kings, the interpreter of the military class; the king, his ministers, and the soldiers.  Third are the Veisyas who conduct all agricultural and industrial operations; and fourth the Sudras who are outside the pale.

The king stands at the head of the Government with a Bramin for chief Counsellor.  Elaborate rules and regulations are laid down in the code as to administration, taxation, foreign policy, and war.  Land perhaps but not certainly was generally held in common by village communities.

The king himself administers justice or deputes that work to Bramins.  The criminal code is extremely rude; no proportion is observed between the crime and the penalty, and offences against Bramins or religion are excessively penalised.  In the civil law the rules of evidence are vitiated by the admission of sundry excuses for perjury.  Marriage is indissoluble.  The regulations on this subject and on inheritance are elaborate and complicated.

The religion is drawn from the sacred books called the Vedas, compiled in a very early form of Sanskrit.  There is one God, the supreme spirit, who created the universe including the inferior deities.  The whole creation is re-absorbed and re-born periodically.  The heroes of the later Hindu Pantheon do not appear.  The religious observances enjoined are infinite; but the eating of flesh is not prohibited.  At this date, however, moral duties are still held of higher account than ceremonial.

Immense respect is enjoined for immemorial customs as being the root of all piety.  The distinction between the three superior or “Twice Born” classes points to the conclusion that they were a conquering people and that the servile classes were the subdued Aborigines.  It remains to be proved, however, that the conquerors were not indigenous.  The system might have come into being as a natural growth, without the hypothesis of an external invasion.

The Bramins claim that they alone now have preserved their lineage in its purity.  The Rajputs, however, claim to be pure Cshatriyas.  In the main the Bramin rules of life have been greatly relaxed.  The castes below the Cshatriyas have now become extremely mixed and extremely numerous; a servile caste no longer exists.  A man who loses caste is excluded both from all the privileges of citizenship and all the amenities of private life.  As a rule, however, the recovery of caste by expiation is an easy matter.  The institution of Monastic Orders scarcely seems to be a thousand years old.