ARYAN
INSPIRATION IN
INDIA
45
It
is equallyfallacious
toassume,as Dr. Coomaraswamy
has
also done,'
that Indo-Aryans
borrowed most
of their
architectural
ideas from
the non-Aryan tribes which became
subject
tothem. There
isabsolutelynohistoricalevidencethat
this
was the case,
butper contra there is strong reason for
believing
thatallthe
higherculture of the ancient Indianvil-
lage
communities, including
theirorganisation, artsandcrafts,
wasdirectlydue
toAryaninspiration,ortothe practicaladap-
tation ofAryan
philosophical speculations to the concerns of
daily
life. I do not mean that the Aryans found India an
artisticdesertorpeopled
byprimitivesavages. The more
or
less civilised tribeswhose
immigrations preceded
theirs may
possiblyhaveacquired
theirculture,directlyor indirectly,from
earlier Aryan sources
;
they may have represented an earlier
stratum of
Aryan civilisation. This would explain whythe
Aryans of Vedic India found it comparativelyeasyto adapt
themselves totheirIndian environment, without establishing
impassable social barriersbetween themselvesandtheirdark-
skinned neighbours
;
for
theexclusivenessof the
castesystem
did not exist in the sixth
centuryb.c. orfor
many centuries
after
thetime of Buddha.
Indian civilisation
is,like Hindu
sacrificial vessels, an amalgam of manymetals
;
but the fire
whichfusedthemandseparatedthedrosswastheAryangenius
—thephilosophyoftheVedas. Ifithasonce moretogointo
the melting-pot, thosewho tearupits
foundations should at
least study its historycarefully from its own
standpoint, and
equipthemselveswith sureknowledgeofthematerialsthey
are
usingtoform thenew
India, otherwisetheyaremereempirics
instatecraft,playingwithforceswhichtheydonot
understand
andwhichtheyareunable tocontrol.
1
"ArtsandCraftsofIndiaandCeylon,"p.107.