ABSTRACT
Much of our knowledge of early Indian history is based on little more than intelligent archaeological and ethnological guesses. Archaeology gradually reinforced the conclusions of the philologists, and in due course the common ancestry of the early Hindu invaders, the Persians and most of the peoples of Europe, was established. Perhaps the most important happening of this age was the development of an elaborate religious philosophy, having as its focal point the belief in reincarnation. Belief has been held by many peoples, but the distinguishing features of the Hindu doctrine were, first, its emphasis on conduct as the factor inexorably determining the form of rebirth, and, second, its profoundly pessimistic basis. The ordinary Hindu was more concerned with the local village gods than with Immanent Deity, and more anxious to make certain of material happiness in the life to come than to seek the cold comfort of absorption into the World Soul.
