Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/247

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THE SPREAD OF CIVILIZATION
199

Where a few scanty settlers had penetrated at first, powerful colonies grew; where religious teachers had retired in seclusion, quiet villages and towns arose. Where a handful of merchants had made their way by

TRAVELLING IN THE NILGIRI HTLLS.

some unknown river, boats plied up and down with valuable cargoes for a civilized population. Where hardy warriors or scions of royal houses had dwelt in exile or by the chase, powerful monarchs reigned over a conquered, civilized, and Hinduized aboriginal population. And where foresters had felled trees and