=Cairns, Pillars.=—In Saurashtra, amidst the Kathi, Khuman, Bala, and others of Scythic descent, the Paliya, or Jujhar (sacrificial pillars), are conspicuous under the walls of every town, in lines, irregular groups, and circles. On each is displayed in rude relief the warrior, with the manner of his death, lance in hand, generally on horseback, though sometimes in his car; and on the coast ‘the pirates of Budha’[2.6.87] are depicted boarding from the shrouds. Amidst the Khuman of Tatary the Jesuits found stone circles, similar to those met with wherever the Celtic rites prevailed; and it would require no great ingenuity to prove an analogy, if not a common origin, between Druidic circles and the Indo-Scythic monumental remains. The trilithon, or seat, in the centre of the judicial circle, is formed by a number sacred to Hara, Bal, or the sun, whose priest expounds the law. =Worship of Arms. The Sword.=—The devotion of the Rajput is still paid to his arms, as to his horse. He swears ‘by the steel,’ and prostrates himself before his defensive buckler, his lance, his sword, or his dagger. The worship of the sword (_asi_) may divide with that of the horse (_aswa_) the honour of giving a name to the continent of Asia. It prevailed amongst the Scythic Getae, and is described exactly by Herodotus [iv. 62]. To Dacia and Thrace it was carried by Getic colonies from the Jaxartes, and fostered by these lovers of liberty when their hordes overran Europe. The worship of the sword in the Acropolis of Athens by the Getic Attila, with all the accompaniments of pomp and place, forms an admirable episode in the history of the decline and fall of Rome; and had Gibbon witnessed the worship of the double-edged sword (_khanda_) by the prince of Mewar and all his chivalry, he might even have embellished his animated account of the adoration of the scymitar, the symbol of Mars. =Initiation to Arms.=—Initiation to military fame was the same with the [76] German as with the Rajput, when the youthful candidate was presented with the lance, or buckled with the sword; a ceremony which will be noticed when their feudal manners are described; many other traits of character will then be depicted. It would be easy to swell the list of analogous customs, which even to the objects of dislike in food[2.6.88] would furnish comparison between the ancient Celt and Rajput; but they shall close with the detail of the most ancient of rites.