Geography

​All the Indians are frugal in their mode of life, and even more so in their camps. They do not like a superfluous crowd, and therefore they are well-behaved. There is a very great absence of theft among them. At any rate, Megasthenes, who was in the camp of Sandrocottus, says that although a crowd of forty myriads was stationed there, he did not see on any day any reported thefts of articles exceeding the value of two hundred drachmae, and this among a people who use unwritten laws. For they do not even know letters, but manage everything by memory; nevertheless, they live happily because of their simplicity and frugality. For they do not drink wine except at sacrifices, but they drink a beverage prepared from rice instead of barley; and their food is for the most part a rice pottage. Their simplicity in laws and contracts is proved by the fact that they are not litigious. For there are no lawsuits about pledges or deposits, nor do they need witnesses or seals, but they trust one another, placing confidence in them; and they leave their houses for the most part unguarded. These indeed are signs of self-control, but other things one would not approve, such as their always dining alone and their not having one common hour for dinner and breakfast for all, but each as he pleases; for with respect to social and civic life, the other way is better.

​Of exercises, they approve most of friction, and they smooth their bodies, among other ways, by means of smooth ebony rods. Their burials are simple and their mounds are small. But in contrast to their other simplicity, they adorn themselves; for they wear gold ornaments and use jewelry, and they wear garments of fine flowered muslin, and umbrellas are carried after them. For, valuing beauty, they practice everything that beautifies their appearance. They respect truth and virtue likewise, and therefore they do not give any privilege even to the old age of elders unless they also excel in wisdom. They marry many wives, bought from their parents, and they receive them in exchange for a yoke of oxen, some of them for the sake of obedience, and others for pleasure and abundance of children. If they do not compel them to be chaste, it is permitted to turn to prostitution. No one offers sacrifice wearing a garland, nor do they burn incense, nor make libation; nor do they slaughter the victim, but they strangle it, so that it may be given to the god not mutilated but whole . The one convicted of false witness has his extremities cut off; and the one who maims another not only suffers the same in return but also has his hand cut off; and if he deprives a craftsman of a hand or an eye, he is put to death. As for slaves, this writer says that no Indian uses any, but Onesicritus declares that this is peculiar to those in the territory of Musicanus, and indeed as a successful institution; just as he mentions many other successes of this country as being most excellently governed.

​For the king, the care of his person is performed by women, who are also bought from their fathers; outside the gates stand the bodyguards and the rest of the military. A woman who kills the king when he is drunk has as her reward the right to consort with his successor; and his sons succeed him. The king does not sleep during the day; and even at night he is forced to change his bed from hour to hour because of conspiracies. Of his excursions other than in war, one is that to the courts, in which he spends the whole day hearing cases, none the less even if the hour comes for the care of his person; and this is friction by means of rods, for he hears the cases and is rubbed at the same time, while four rubbers stand around him. Another excursion is that to the sacrifices; and a third is to the chase, which is a kind of Bacchic process, with women surrounding him in a circle, and the spear-bearers outside them. The road is roped off, and death is the penalty for anyone who passes inside as far as the women; drummers and bell-bearers lead the way. He hunts in the enclosures, shooting arrows from a platform (two or three armed women stand by him), but in the unenclosed chases, from an elephant. The women ride some on chariots, some on horses, and some even on elephants, and they are equipped with every weapon, just as when they go on a campaign.