ure of success.

The institution of caste is social rather than religious and has grown
gradually: we know for instance that in the time of the Buddha it had
not attained to anything like its present complexity and rigidity. Its
origin is explicable if we imagine that the Indo-Aryans were an invading
people with an unusual interest in religion. The Kshatriyas and Vaisyas
mark the distinction between the warriors or nobles and the plebs which
is found in other Aryan communities, and the natives whom the Aryans
conquered formed a separate class, recognized as inferior to all the
conquerors. This might have happened in any country. The special feature
of India is the numerical, social and intellectual strength of the
priestly caste. It is true that in reading Sanskrit literature we must
remember that most of it is the work of Brahmans and discount their
proclivity to glorify the priesthood, but still it is clear that in
India the sacerdotal families acquired a position without parallel
elsewhere and influenced its whole social and political history. In most
countries powerful priesthoods are closely connected with the Government
under which they flourish and support the secular authority. As a result
of this alliance, kings and the upper classes generally profess and
protect orthodoxy, and revolutionary movements in religion generally
come from below. But in ancient India though the priests were glad
enough to side with the kings, the nobles during many centuries were not
ready to give up thinking for themselves. The Hindu's capacity for
veneration and the small inclination of the Brahmans to exercise direct
government prevented revolts against sacerdotal tyranny from assuming
the proportions we should expect, but whereas in many countries history
records the attempts of priests to become kings, the position is here
reversed. The national proclivity towards all that is religious,
metaphysical, intellectual and speculative made all agree in regarding
the man of knowledge who has the secret of intercourse with the other
world as the highest type. The priests tended to become a hereditary
guild possessed of a secret professional knowledge. The warrior caste
disputed this monopoly and sought with less learning but not inferior
vigour to obtain the same powers. They had some success during a
considerable period, for Buddhism, Jainism and other sects all had their
origin in the military aristocracy and had it remained purely Hind