In the day of battle we should see in each the same excitements to glory and contempt of death, and the _dramatis personae_ of the field, both celestial and terrestrial, move and act alike. We should see Thor, the thunderer, leading the Siebi, and Hara (Siva) the Indian Jove, his own worshippers (Sivseva); in which Freya, or Bhavani, and even the preserver (Krishna) himself, not unfrequently mingle. =War Chariots.=—The war chariot is peculiar to the Indu-Scythic nations, from Dasaratha,[2.6.66] and the heroes of the Mahabharata, to the conquest of Hindustan by the Muhammadans, when it was laid aside. On the plains of Kurukshetra, Krishna became charioteer to his friend Arjun; and the Getic hordes of the Jaxartes, when they aided Xerxes in Greece, and Darius on the plains of Arbela,[2.6.67] had their chief strength in the war chariot. The war chariot continued to be used later in the south-west of India than elsewhere, and the Kathi,[2.6.68] Khuman, Kumari of Saurashtra have to recent times retained their Scythic habits, as their monumental stones testify, expressing their being slain from their cars [70]. =Position of Women.=—In no point does resemblance more attach between the ancient German and Scandinavian tribes, and the martial Rajput or ancient Getae, than in their delicacy towards females. “The Germans,” says Tacitus [_Germania_, viii.], “deemed the advice of a woman in periods of exigence oracular.” So does the Rajput, as the bard Chand often exemplifies; and hence they append to her name the epithet _Devi_ (or contracted _De_), ‘god-like.’ “To a German mind,” says Tacitus, “the idea of a woman led into captivity is insupportable”; and to prevent this the Rajput raises the poignard against the heart which beats only for him, though never to survive the dire necessity. It is then they perform the sacrifice ‘johar,’ when every sakha (branch) is cut off: and hence the Rajput glories in the title of _Sakha-band_, from having performed the sakha; an awful rite, and with every appearance of being the _sacaea_ of the Scythic Getae, as described by Strabo.[2.6.69] =Gaming.=—In passion for play at games of chance, its extent and dire consequences, the Rajput, from the earliest times, has evinced a predilection, and will stand comparison with the Scythian and his German offspring. The German staked his personal liberty, became a slave, and was sold as the property of the winner. To this vice the Pandavas owed the loss of their sovereignty and personal liberty, involving at last the destruction of all the Indu [71] races; nor has the passion abated. Religion even consecrates the vice; and once a year, on ‘the Festival of Lamps’ (_Diwali_), all propitiate the goddess of wealth and fortune (Lakshmi) by offering at her shrine.