Page 83 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

902 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Herodotus on Battle Dress

In Book 7 of his History, Herodotus colorfully de-
scribes the way in which soldiers of various lands
prepared to do battle. Momigliano, A. (1990). The classical foundations of modern historiogra-
phy. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
The Indians wore cotton dresses, and carried bows Romm, J. (1998). Herodotus. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
of cane, and arrows also of cane with iron at the Thomas, R. (2000). Herodotus in context: Ethnography, science and the
art of persuasion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
point.... The Caspians were clad in cloaks of Waters, K. H. (1985). Herodotus the historian: His problems, methods and
skin, and carried the cane bow of their country originality. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
and the scymitar . . . The Sarangians had dyed
garments which showed brightly, and buskins
which reached to the knee: they bore Median Hinduism
bows, and lances. . . .The Arabians wore the zeira,
or long cloak, fastened about them with a girdle;
nglish scholars in the early nineteenth century coined
and carried at their right side long bows, which
Ethe term Hinduism as a collective name for the
when unstrung bent backwards. . . .The Ethiopi-
indigenous religions of India.They added -ism to the des-
ans were clothed in the skins of leopards and
ignation Hindu, which goes back several thousand years
lions, and had long bows made of the stem of
to the Persians and the Greeks, who had so named the
the palm-leaf, not less than four cubits in length.
people living beyond the Indus River. It may be impos-
On these they laid short arrows made of reed, and
sible to define Hinduism as one religion, but it makes
armed at the tip, not with iron, but with a piece
perfect sense to speak of a Hindu culture and Hindu civ-
of stone, sharpened to a point, of the kind used
ilization. Over thousands of years there grew on the
in engraving seals. They carried likewise spears,
Indian subcontinent a distinctive culture embracing all
the head of which was the sharpened horn of an
spheres of human activity. From India it was carried to
antelope; and in addition they had knotted clubs.
large parts of Southeast Asia, including Sri Lanka, Myan-
When they went into battle they painted their
mar (Burma), Indonesia, and the Philippines. Claims
bodies, half with chalk, and half with vermilion.
have been made for Hindu connections to Mexican and
Source: Rawlinson, G. (1860). The history of Herodotus (Book 7). New York: D.
Appleton & Co. Mesoamerican pyramid temples. Ships coming from
India via the Philippines may well have reached Central
America centuries before Columbus. Today the various
streams comprising Hinduism claim more than 900 mil-
successor,Thucydides, narrowed the scope of mainstream lion followers worldwide.
Greek historiography to contemporary war and politics,
the Histories continued to provide a model and funda- Origins
mental source for world histories throughout antiquity. Hindus call their own tradition Vaidika dharma, “the
Vedic dispensation.” Its original heartland was the Sapta
Stanley M. Burstein
Sindhava—the area watered by the seven great rivers
See also Greece, Ancient; Engines of History; Writing flowing into the Indus. Later this region came to be
World History called the Punjab, the Five-River Country, after one river
had dried out and another had changed its course. Iti-
hasa Purana, a vast ancient narrative literature that is the
Further Reading repository for ancient Indian history, contains tales of the
Bakker, E. J., de Jong, I. J. F., & van Wees, H. (Eds.). (2002). Brill’s com- beginnings of humankind and of Hindu civilization,
panion to Herodotus. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.
Evans, J.A. S. (1991). Herodotus explorer of the past:Three essays. Prince- including long lists of dynasties going back several thou-
ton, NJ: Princeton University Press. sand years.