The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland for 1899 [1 ed.]

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1899

1899 tiie

JOURNAL OF THE

ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND FOR

1899

.

PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, 22,

ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON, W. MDCCCXCIX.

STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS,

f

PRINTERS, HERTFORD.

CONTENTS.

PAOE

Art.

—The Cinder-Mounds Bellary. By R. Sewell — A Persian Manuscript attributed Fakhru’ ddin of

I.

.

.

1

to

Art. II.

By Reynold

Razi.

Art. III.

— The Sources

A. Nicholson

Dawlatshah

of

17

with some Remarks

;

on the Materials available for a Literary History

— The

Art. IV.

T.

By Edward

Theory of ‘Soul’ Davids

Provinces.

Barbad and

in the

Upanishads.

Legal

37

By 71

Kaimur Range, North-West By John Cockburn

— Maham Anaga. VII. — Some Early

List of the

on

in the

By H. Beveridge

Art. VI. Art.

Excursus

G. Browne, M.A., M.R. A. S.

W. Rhys

— Cave Drawings

Art. V.

an

and

Persia,

of

RudagT.

Babylonian

Documents.

II.

89 99

Contract-Tablets

or

By Theophilus

G.

Pinches, M.R.A.S

103

Malay Books bequeathed to the Society by the W. E. Maxwell, K.C.M.G. By C. Otto Blagden, M.R.A.S

121

late Sir

Correspondence.

By

de Harlez

1.

Tathagata.

2.

Chiniot of Babar’s First Campaign in India.

3.

Pedro Teixeira on the Veddas

4.

Donald Ferguson More Light on ‘Omar Khayam.

5.

Ari.

C.

131

By

D. G. Barkley

6. 7.

132 of

Ceylon.

By 133

By H. Beveridge

135

John The Tantras. By Louis de la Vallee Poussin The Mohammadan Calendar. By Lewis L. Kropf

139

By

R. F. St.

Andrew

St.

.

141

142

CONTENTS.

VI

PAGE

Notices of Books.

The Upanishads.

Yol. I

Wilhelm Geigeb.

Isa

:

Ken a and Mendaka

.

.

145

Etymologie des Singhalesischen.

Ceylon Tagebuehblatter und Reise errinerungen.

W. Rhys Davids

Reviewed by T. James G. Smithee.

146

Remains,

Architectural

Anu-

radhapura, Ceylon

148

Reynold A. Nicholson.

Divan-i-Shams-i-Tabriz.

and MSS.

By

the

B

E. G.

152

Catalogue of Japanese Printed Books

R. K. Douglas.

By

Poems from

Selected

Museum.

in the Library of the British

F. Victok Dickins

159

Muhammeds Lehre von der Offenbarung quellenmassig untersucht. By H. Hieschfeld .. Sven Hedin. Through Asia. By T. W D. Menant. Les Parsis. By E. W. West Dr. 0. Pautz.

Les Eonctionnaires Coloniaux. Le Regime Foncier aux Colonies. By C. 0. Blagden

Le

G. van Yloten.

livre des

Beautes

Abu Othman Amr b. Bahr By H. Hieschfeld

Dr. C. H. Ethe.

177

W

By E. H. By T. G. Pinches By Egypt Exploration Fund.

Hittitur und Armenier.

T. G. Pinches F.

F.

in

Modern

By

Syriac.

of

By

the

E. G.

Archaeological Survey of

F. Ll. Geiffith.

Stanley

Cook.

Inscriptions.

182

Persian

B

185 Egypt.

T. G. Pinches

A.

181

185

A Grammar

Ibving.

Language

175

Grundriss der Iranisclien Philologie

F. Ll. Gkiffith.

Rev.

167

al-Djahiz de

V, Neupersische Litteratur. P. Jensen.

165

et des antitheses

attribue a

Basra.

161

186

A

Glossary

of

the

Aramaic

By Hope W. Hogg

190

Notes of the Quaetee. I.

II.

III.

Genebal Meetings of the Royal Asiatic Society

197

Contents of Foeeign Oeiental Jouenals

198

Notes and News

200

Ka6mlr

Antiquities.

By Dr. M. A. Stein

Panjub Notes for 1898.

By

R. N. Cust

201

207

VU

CONTENTS.

PAGE

A few Remarks on Pictographs, Script. By R. N. C Notes on James

or Archaic

of

208

Author

Fraser,

Forms

“ History of

of the

By Wm. Irvine

Nadir Shah.”

214 220

IV. Additions to tue Library

Art. VIII.

— Extracts from the Tamil Malai,”

“ Purra-poru] Yenba-

By

and the “ Purra nannurru.”

the

Rev. G. U. Pope, M.A., D.D

IX.

Art.

— The

Initiative

Art. X.

—Notes

the Avesta.

of

Professor Mills,

225

By

Rev.

the

D.D

271

on the Origin of

the ‘Lunar’ and

‘

Solar’

Aryan Tribes, and ou the ‘Rajput’ Clans. B. H. Badkn-Powell, C.I.E., M.R.A.S Art. XI.

— The

Pre-Aryan Communal Village

Europe.

Art. XII.

J.

F.

in India

295

and

Hewitt

329

— The Coinage of the Mahaksatrapas and Ksatrapas of

Surastra and Malava (Western

By

E. J. Rapson, M.A.,

XIII.

Art.

By

By

—

Ksatrapas).

M.R.A.S

357

Yet More Light on ‘Umar-i-Khayyam.

E. G.

By

Browne, M.R.A.S

409

Correspondence.

•

By Sydney H. Ray

1.

Torres Strait Languages.

2.

Pali

3.

Buddhist

4.

Persian

5. 6.

Razi. By Paul Horn The Peppe Inscription. By T. Bloch The Gosinga Kharosthi MS. By T. W. Rhys

7.

The Theory

8.

Early Commerce between India and Babylon.

MSS.

in Nepal.

Sculptures

By

C.

from

.

.

Bendall Takht-I-Bahal.

422

By

A. A. Macdonell

Manuscript attributed to

422 Fakhru’ ddin

Davids

424 425

426

Avesta.

T. AY.

421

of

Soul and the Initiative of the

By Herbert Baynes

Rhys Davids

429

By 432

CONTEXTS.

Vlll

PAGE

Notices of Books. Professor G. Dalman.

Die Worte Jesu, mit BerueckJuedischen

nachkannonischen

des

sichtigung

Schriftthumsund der Aramaeischen Sprache. Be-

viewed by M.

G

433

Bobert Sewell. Eclipses F. Kielhorn

of the

436

Bomanjee Byramjee Patell. E.

By

in India.

William Wilson Hunter. History India. By Bobert Needham Oust

Sir

C.

Moon

British

of

437

By

Parsee Prakash.

W. West

440

Mabel Duff.

The Chronology

By

India.

of

B. C. Temple

&

Messrs Jenks

By D. L.

W.

S.

451

The Booklet

Irving.

of

Crumbs.

Margoliouth

King.

453

First Steps in Assyrian.

Handbooks

Morris Jastrow, Jun.

By

J. T.

.

.

to the History of

By T. G. Pinches Horovitz. De Waqidii libro

458

Beligions.

Josef

Magazi scripsit

inscribitur .

.

.

Commentatio

J.

Burgess.

qui

Kitab

critica

al

quam

By H. Hirschfeld

M. Y. Portman. Notes on South Andaman Group Temple The Gandhara

462

the Languages of of

455

Tribes.

By

the

B. C.

463 Sculptures.

By

E. J.

Bapson

468

Notes of the Quarter. I.

II.

III.

General Meetings of the Boyal Asiatic Contents of Foreign Oriental Journals

Society.

471

472

Obituary Notices

Hofrath Friedrich Muller Henry Clarke Warren C. J.

Bodgers

IY. Additions to the Library

473 475 479 482

IX

CONTENTS.

PAGK

Transliteration

the

of

Allied

and

Arabic,

Sanskrit,

Alphabets.

List of

Art.

1-32

Members

XIV.

—Two

Words from Bana’s

of

Lists

By

Carita.’

F.

*

Haraa-

W. Thomas, M.R.A.S

Art. XV. — Xotes on the Origin of the

485

‘Lunar’ and ‘Solar’

Aryan Tribes, and on the ‘Rajput’ Clans. B. H. Baden-Powell, C.I.E., M.R.A.S Art. XVI.

By 519

— A Theory

of Universal Grammar, as applied to Group of Savage Languages. By R. C. Temple

a

Art. XVII.

— Notes on Zarathustra’s Doctrine Soul.

Art. XVIII.

By

—The

E.

565

regarding the

W. West

605

Chahar Maqala (“ Four Discourses ”)

of

By Edward

G.

Nidham(-i-‘Arudi-i-Samarqandi'.

Browne, M.A., M.R.A.S

613

Correspondence.

By H. Beveridge By C. Otto

1.

Humayun’s

2.

Balonga, the oldest Capital of Champa.

3. 4.

Mramma. By R. F. St. Andrew Ari. By Taw Sein Ko

5.

Persian Manuscript attributed to Fakhru’ddln RazI,

Inscription at Jam.

Blagden

665

with a Note on Risalatu al-Ma'arri and other

6.

665

’1

MSS.

St.

John

667 669

Ghufran by Abu ’1 'Ala in the same Collection.

By Reynold A. Nicholson The Author of the Sasanavamsa.

669

By Mabel Bode

674

Notices of Books.

David Lopes.

Historia dos Portugueses no Malabar,

por Zinadim.

Reviewed by Donald Ferguson

Professor Dr. Sachau.

fur

Orientalische

.

.

Sprachen an der K. F.

W.

Universitat zu Berlin J.

S.

Speyer.

The

677

Mittheilungen des Seminars

frataka

Garland of Birth-stories

678

(=

Jataka)

Mala,

or

680

X

CONTENTS. PAGE

W.

Arnold. The Preaching of Islam. H. Hirschfeld Joseph Dahlmann. Genesis des Mahabharata T.

A. Y. Williams Jackson.

By

Ancient Iran.

Paul Deussen.

By 682 685

Zoroaster, the Prophet of

E.

W. West

Philosophie

der

686 Upanishads.

By

T. W. Bhys Davids Romesh C. Ddtt. Mahabharata. By Rh. D Karl Ergen Neumann. Lieder der Monche und Nonnen Gotamo Buddho’s. By Rh. D

691

694 697

Notes of the Quarter. I.

General Meetings of the Royal Asiatic Society

.

.

Anniversary Meeting II.

III.

Contents of Foreign Oriental Journals

724

Obituary Notices Dr. G. Sir

W. Leitner

725

M. Monier- Williams

IY. Notes and

730

News

734

Gold Medal

735

Y. Additions to the Library

Art.

XIX.

— The

Hebrew Manuscripts

Hunterian Library

in the University of

By

Glasgow.

XX. — The

737

Arabic, Syriac, and

in the

Art.

T. H.

Weir, B.D

739

Chahar Maqala (“Four Discourses”) of

Nidharm - i-'Arudi'-i- Samarqandi. Concluded .) ( By Edward G. Browne, M.A., M.R.A.S Art.

699

699

XXI.

— Baghdad

during the Caliphate.

By

G.

Le

Strange Art. XXII.

757

847

— Notes on

Inscriptions from Udyana, presented

by Major Deane.

By M.

A. Stein, Ph.D

895

Correspondence. 1.

Ospreys.

2.

Ospreys.

3.

Some

By W. F. Sinclair By F. W. Thomas

Arabic

Nicholson

Manuscripts.

905

906

By

Reynold

A.

906

— CONTENTS.

XI PAOK

Notes of the Quarter. I.

II.

Contents of Foreign Oriental Journals

Obituary Notice

Peter Peterson III.

915

Notes and News: Gold Modal

Index Alphabetical List of Authors.

917 921

925

JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC

1899

SOCIETY.

i

.

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF AUTHORS. PAG1

Baden-Powell. *

Solar

’

Notes on the Origin of the ‘Lunar’ and Aryan Tribes, and on the Rajput Clans 295, 519 ’

‘

Maham Anaga

Bevekidge.

99

Browne.

with some Remarks

The Sources of Dawlatsliah on the Materials available for a Literary History of ;

Persia,

and an Excursus on Barbad and RudagI

37

....

Yet More Light on ‘Umar-i-Khayyain

The

Maqala

Chahar

(“ Four

409

Discourses ”)

Cockburn.

Cave Drawings

in the

of

613, 757

Nidhami-i-‘Arudi'-i-Samarqandi

Eaimur Range, North-

West Provinces Davids.

Hewitt.

The Theory

89

of

‘

Soul

’

in the

The Pre-Aryan Communal

Upanishads

71

Village in India and

Europe

Le Strange. The

Mills.

329

Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate

847

A vesta

271

Initiative of the

A Persian Manuscript attributed to Fakhru’ ddin

Nicholson.

RazI Pinches.

,

Some Early Babylonian Contract-Tablets

Documents. Pope.

II

103

Extracts from the Tamil “ Purra-porul Yenba-Malai,” and the “ Purra-nannurru ”

Rapson.

The Coinage

of Surastra

Sewell.

and Malava (Western Ksatrapas)

The Cinder-Mounds

357

of Bellary

1

Major Deane Temple.

A

Thomas.

Two

895

Theory of Universal Grammar, a Group of Savage Languages

West.

225

of the Mahaksatrapas and Ksatrapas

Notes on Inscriptions from Udyana, presented by

Stein.

Weir.

17

or Legal

Lists of

The Arabic.

Words from Bana’s

Syriac, and

‘

as applied to

565

Harsa-Carita.’

Hebrew Manuscripts

485

in the

Hunterian Library in the University of Glasgow ....

739

Notes on Zarathustra’s Doctrine regarding the Soul

605

JOURNAL OP

THE ROYAL ASIATIC

Art.

I.

— The

Cinder-Mounds of Bellary.

Southern India abounds

SOCIETY.

By

R. Sewell.

in prehistoric remains,

mostly of

the neolithic, but some few undoubtedly of the palaeolithic

age

and of all the districts of the Madras Presidency more remarkable in this respect than the country

;

none

is

The present area

about Bellary.

of this division comprises

now

the old capital of the Vijayanagar kingdom,

usually

Hampe, from the name of a little village on the Tungabhadra River, which in the old palmy days constituted 1

called

a small fraction of the great city. district the territories of

On

the south of the.

Maisur form the boundary.

Adoni lies near its eastern and on the north the Tungabhadra River divides

fine old rock-fortress of

belonging

country

the

Within hills

to

the

Nizam

The

frontier, it

from

Haidarabad.

of

these boundaries are seen in every direction rocky

with a very sparse covering of vegetation, standing

boldly out of the level plain, some singly, some in ridges,

and

in

a few tracts massed together into confused heaps

extending in at the west

all

of

directions for

many

miles.

Yijayanagar,

the district, was built on and

about just

a mass as the last described, through the middle of which 1

It

takes

its

name from

“ Pampa ” becoming

a

in Canarese

great temple dedicated tc S'ri Pampapati, “ Parnpa ” was the old name

“ Hampa. ”

of the river. j.r.a.s.

1899.

1

— THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

2

deep

the

flows

A

writer,

and rapid current of

the

Tungabhadra.

who had been deeply impressed by

of the site of the city, thus

as the eye can reach for ten square miles there

between

heaven

and

paved with them, the sky granite particles

....

sun

but boulders

earth

literally in

:

nothing

is

earth

the

;

— “ Far is

pierced with them, and their

is

and

glitter

view

his first

describes the scene

in

scintillate

thousands of

inorniug

the

all sizes,

.

.

.

.

heaps upon heaps, in one instance 250 feet in height.”

My

personal belief

is

that in former years this whole

was covered with forest, though now in most places so barren, and that the ancient tribes who dwelt therein had the cool and comfortable shade of trees over their tract

heads, as well as ready-made dwellings to live in amongst

the crags and huge broken masses of gneiss and granite.

Everywhere are found neolithic celts and implements polished axe-heads, hammers, mealing-stones, bone-crushers, with some few flint or agate flakes and cores and on the rocks of the Peacock Hills, a rauge about four miles east ;

of Bellary, there are in the sides of several boulders

many

hollows scooped, in which the old workers had polished their

The

weapons.

gneiss is here crossed by an enormous dyke and the armourers of those days had selected

of trap rock,

the spot for one of their principal workshops.

In the plains close to the foot of the curious and large cinder-mounds

mounds, and

to

others

and

;

similar

to

places in the neighbourhood, that

hills are

these cinder-

it is to

them found I

am

two very in

other

anxious to call

attention in the present paper. I

have purposely prefaced

description,

man

with the principal

kingdom, has held

my

observations with a slight

which connects the dwelling-places of neolithic city

of

the

Yijayanagar

great

for the reason that, while general opinion hitherto all

the cinder-mounds to be the

historic races of Southern India,

ground

for

I

work

of

the pre-

hold myself that there

supposing that some

may

be, after

is

fair

of

no very great antiquity, and that their origin can be

plausibly explained otherwise.

all,

«>

THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

Two

mounds

of these remarkable

described to

me

are,

as stated,

under

There are two others

the hills four miles east of Bellary.

have not seen them) as lying in the

(I

plain on the eastern side of the Copper Mountain, a range

about

five

between

south-west

miles

west of

eleven miles

some low

This I know well.

enormous mass

at

hills,

in

the

place

a

Budigunta.

at

and

two outside the limits

close to the river.

It occupies the sides

all

In this natural

a mass of cinder and scoriae, about

is

yards long by twenty broad, and from ten to

That

pass

called

are rocky heights of considerable elevation.

height.

one,

a

of

centre of a small valley, surrounding which on

amphitheatre

is

centre

But the most important of all is an Nimbapuram, amongst the rocky hills

north-east, of Vijayanagar, a mile or

of the old city,

There

Bellary.

of

Bellary,

it

is

fifty

fifteen feet in

shown palmyra palm

a deposit of some antiquity

is

by the fact of its being overgrown with old trees, whose roots are deeply sunk into the mass itself. Now the question is and it constitutes one of our South Indian antiquarian problems how did this mass originate? What was it caused by ? It. is a huge conglomerate of cinder and ash and slag. Was it a furnace ? If so, for what purpose ? It is absolutely unlike any of the prehistoric

—

—

cinder-mounds found in other parts of the world. It has no resemblance whatever to a “kitchen-midden.” Those who have examined portions of it say that it is not the refuse of any such factory as

is

worked nowadays,

can be compared, and

it

has been found that no factory

mounds

since the

two

Then, what was it ? remarks made by Lieut. Newbold, a very competent and very earnest geologist of refuse results in

I

will

like this.

recapitulate

first

the last generation, and latest examination,

in

Jermyn

An

made

the

then

turn to the results of the

this year at the Geological

Museum

Street.

article

by

Lieut.

Newbold appeared, with an

illus-

tration, in the

Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for

1843

p.

(vol.

“ ancient

vii,

mounds

129), in

which the remains are entitled Dr. Benza declared

of scorious ashes.”

"

THE CINDER-HOUXDS OF BELLARY.

4

the specimens submitted to him to be “ nodular and tufaceous

carbonate of lime, more or

less calcined

and

semi-vitrified,

probably from having been long exposed to the

which,

atmosphere, have imbibed again some carbonic acid.”

The Budigunta mound dome-shaped, 46

is

described by Mr.

and 420

feet in height

Newbold

as

feet in circumference,

entirely formed of scorious ashes.

“Towards the summit they

are whitish and friable, and

appear to have been crushed, but nearer the base are seen

....

masses

larger

internal structure of vesicular,

shining,

semi

-

The

vitrified.

the more calcined portions

not homogeneous, but imbedding in

highly

is

cavities

its

whitish friable ashes and hard dark-green or black cellular

Mr. Newbold found in the Budigunta mound which appeared to him to have been fashioned by human agency “ probably a portion of some ancient vessel.” cinders.”

a piece of hornblende rock

One rocks,

of the is

—

Peacock Hill mounds, that nearest

described very accurately by Newbold.

It

is

to

the

about

15 feet in height, having a tabular but somewhat concave

summit, which of

is

semi-vitrified

together.

“ girt in by a low rugged wall, composed

blocks

Its longest

of

scorious

diameter

is

93

ashes feet.

rude pottery were found on the surface.”

made excavations

in the

mound.

loosely

piled

Fragments of The explorer

lie found that the upper

portion, to the depth of 4| feet, consisted of ashy-grey earth

and

ashes,

with horizontal bands of a darker colour and

which were slightly Below this lay a bed of scorious Then a ashes, partly vitrified and about 5 feet thick. foot of ashes similar to the former mixed with fragments which resembled charcoal. Underneath was a bed 2j feet thick of a dark earth, and below this a bed 3 feet thick of gravel, the detritus of the main rock on which it rested. of a soft chalky texture, “ portions of

unctuous to the touch.”

This

last affords positive

proof that the remains are not of

volcanic origin.

“ All the ashy earths,” says Lieut. Newbold, “ and most of the less vitrified fragments of the scorious ashes, effervesce

—

;

THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY. slightly

ashes

day ”

with

acid

what

for

lime be required

of

by, and even

if

....

limekilns

native

the

moreover,

and,

;

quantities

sulphuric

dilute

from

result

is

Xo

such

present

the

of

purpose

There

?

O

such

could

no city hard

Hindu

there were the most ancient

forts

were constructed of cyclopean masonry executed without mortar, while the houses of the poorer classes were made Mr. Newbold, bent on the solution of

of hardened mud.

the problem, examined various Hindu brick-kilns, pottery-

furnace remains, the debris of iron-smelting factories, and refuse, and found no similarity between them and the contents of the huge mounds. The refuse of the glass-workers was the nearest, but in it was no

of glass- workers’

trace of the soft chalky ashes.

Hindus

Baffled here he turned to the

and learned that everywhere

mounds the

for their explanation,

the neighbourhood of the

in

tradition existed that they were the remains

of great funeral pyres, where the bodies of giants or demons or demigods had been burned in ages far back or of enormous human or animal sacrifices performed by

holy

Rishis

hermitages.

their

in

Following

this

clue,

Mr. Newbold sought for recent funeral pyres, and found that the ashes left here strongly resembled those found at

the ancient mounds.

he writes as follows

Of

the remains of

modern cremation

:

“The harder and semi-vitrified portions were formed from the calcination of the bones while the ashes resulting from that of the muscular and fatty matter, mingling with ;

those of the charcoal and fuel, formed a soft whitish-grey

earth

....

In both the ancient aud recent scoriae

small fragments of quartz

may

probably from the granitic kindled,

be seen imbedded, derived

soil

aud which, with the

on which the

alkali

of the

were

fires

wood

ashes,

....

have probably assisted the process of vitrification Like the recent human ashes, they fuse before tbe blowpipe into a greenish-grey enamel, some of the less calcined portions

giving out a distinct animal odour, though not

equally strong

in

the

ancient

ashes

....

On

the

THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

6

however,

whole, less

vitreous

the

human

character,

ashes are of a lighter

and

from the

less

arising

evidently

and continuance of heat to which they were exposed, and from the circumstance of the bodies at the present day being generally burnt singly on separate The greater weight, density, and higher pyres degree

....

state of vitrification

may

mounds

of the scorious ashes of the

be accounted for by the greater intensity of beat

under pressure to which they were subject. For if we are disposed to admit that there are gleanings of truth in the tradition of the Hindus, that these ashes are really animal than I have if, after a more minute analysis means of rendering, they prove to be what they certainly most resemble, it is apparent from the density

remains, or the

exhibited in the section of the

mound

large

opened, the

the masses of the scoriae, and their state of vitri-

size of fication,

that they must have been

perhaps

two,

the

of one, or

result

enormous and long- continued

It

fires.

is

quite certain that they cannot be the ashes of individual

funeral pyres collected into heaps

....

and

it

may

be added that the mounds are almost always found sequestered spots at a distance from any town.”

The

writer then points out that

though

in

in

the case of

both calcined human remains and of burnt limestone there exists free lime which, having attracted carbonic acid from

atmospheric exposure, would effervesce slightly when treated with acids, a state of things observed during the examinaof

tion

analvsis

ancient mounds, a careful by a gentleman in Manchester

the contents of these of

the

scoriae

lime in

resulted in the discovery of phosphoric acid with

them

— “ a fact which leaves but

little

doubt of their animal

origin.”

Such was Lieut. Newbohl’s decided opinion 1843.

Fifty-five

years

later,

viz.

in

in

the year

the current

handed over some specimens obtained from mounds, and brought by myself to England, to Mr.

these

I

"Watts, of the Geological Society, at the Street,

Museum

in

year,

same

W. W. Jermyn

London, usking him whether modern examination

— THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

7

would confirm or disprove the notion that the mounds were the remains of enormous pyres, on which

were consumed animals.

the

bodies

of

heat

human beings or given me the following

either

Mr. Watts bus kindly

1

in fierce

written opinion “ These specimens are certainly not volcanic slags, :

nor

any process of ore-smelting. They to he such slags as result from lime-

are they derived from

do not appear, either,

burning, glass- or brick-making.

“The

large

Nimbapuram

from

specimen

consists

of

a glassy slag, which has caught up while melted numerous of

bits

As

of various

grit

Newbold

Lieut.

sorts,

points

and quartz.

chiefly felspar

out,

this

is

the

surface dust

from decomposition of the rocks on which the mounds are situated. Fragments of bone are to he seen

resulting

in this slag.

“ The smaller specimen from

Biidigunta consists of a

mixture of slag with ashy matter which result of

is

probably the

The light-coloured slag is deeply contact with the dark ash. The microscopic

burning

coloured at

aspect of the slag

fuel.

is

similar to that of the larger specimen,

greater abundance, numerous minute bundles of crystals, almost certainly carbonate of lime, which have been deposited in them since the slag

but the cavities contain, in

cooled down.

These account

6lag with acid,

for

the effervescence of the

and have been produced by the action of

carbonic acid on the lime salts in the slag. “ The specimens from the Peacock Hills

seem

be

to

specimen.

practically

the

The dark colour

and

is

fuel

still left

same

as

in

near

the

Bellary

Bfldiguuta

of the ash disappears in heating,

evidently the relic of the carbonaceous matter of the

“Mr. E.

in the ash.

Newton has examined the bones in this box, and finds that while one specimen is undoubtedly human, two are certainly not human, and the rest are indeT.

terminable.”

1

One

of

my

specimens was from Biidigunta, the larger from Nimbapuram.

THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

8

We may

then assume with a fair amount of certainty

that these great

mounds

are the remains of

enormous pyres

on which were burnt the bodies of animals or human beings, or both.

But why

And when ?

?

I do not think

Let us consider the

latter first.

necessary to assume that the remains must

it

They seem to indicate the by burning of animal substances, possibly bodies of human beings, alive or dead. Mr. Newbold pointed out two ways in which the ancient races may have caused these mounds. First, there is mention in a Hindu work, the Parasu Rama Vijaya of women consuming themselves en masse on the same pyre with the bodies of their husbands slain in battle; and in an old Tamil record the women of belong to the prehistoric races. destruction

,

a whole aboriginal tribe are represented as causing a great pile of fire to

be kindled, into which they leaped, and died

execrating their enemies, the Hindus, who, by treachery,

had succeeded in slaughtering every male of their

clan.

what more probable, he says, than that the mounds are made of the ashes of the slain, burnt collectively monuments perhaps of the bloody after some battle struggles that took place between the early Brahmanical Secondly,

—

settlers

and the savage aborigines

Or they might, he themselves,

remains

the

?

great

of

performed by the Rishis of

old,

sacrificial

holocausts

since the annals of the

country abound in allusions to both sacrifices

by the Hindus

thinks, even be, as held

bestial

and human

on a fearful scale of magnitude, made

for

the

discovery

of

malign spirits, or hidden treasure, deities presiding over agriculture and commerce.

to

attainment of supernatural in

But must we go fact that they are

the

races

that

propitiation

so far

found

used

power, for

in

the

of

back in history

?

Surely the

a country where most undoubtedly weapons resided, need not

neolithic

be accepted as conclusively establishing that the neolithic

For neolithic were the creators of these mounds. all over the district, and the discovery of a celt here and there amongst the debris would not races

remains are found

— THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY. sufficiently support such

come down

a theory.

I

think

9

it

to

suffices

much more modern times, and though the notion of vast human and animal sacrifices carried out by the ancient races may possess a charm to the antiquarian mind we must be careful to guard against a too hasty to

acceptance of

it.

I ask, then, is

may

it

or

not possible that these

is it

be only from three to

mounds

hundred years old ? If so, they may have been caused in one or other of the following ways For the first. This country was the scene of fearful carnage and wholesale massacres during the wars between five

:

the

Muhammadan

kings of the Dakhan

kings of Yijayauagar.

and the Hindu

There were bloody battles in the

plains and vengeful slaughters of citizens after the capture

At Adoni,

of fortresses.

the Peacock Hills,

forty

miles north-north-east of

Muhammad Shah

Muhammadan

confederation

Bahmaui,

at the sack

Outside Vijayanagar the

of that town, slew 70,000 Hindus.

massacred

all

the inhabitants

and after the fall of the great city their excesses knew no bounds. Is it not possible that on the sites where so many thousands of dead lay in the burning sun the Muhammadan commanders may have collected the remains and consumed them in vast pyres to prevent pestilence amongst their troops? The situations of the mounds certainly do not militate against this theon rather the reverse. Witness the mouud at Budigunta, on

in the suburbs,

r

the

ridge

of

the

pass

described

above,

the

—

very place

where terrific hand-to-hand fighting- mav be conceived to have taken place in the attack and defence of one of the principal approaches to the

Or

Hindu

capital.

commonplace an explanation, I will offer one more romantic, which might at least account for the enormous mouud amongst the rocky hills at Nimbapur on the river outside Vijayanagar. The Hindu dynasty that ruled, at that place, over all Southern India for two centuries was fouuded about the year 1336 a.d. In 1442 the capital was visited by ’Abdur Razzak, ambassador from if

this

is

too

— THE CIXDER-HOUXDS OF BELLARY.

10 Persia,

and we have

Jlatla’us-Sa’dain

his

in

1

a

glowing

description of the magnificence of the sovereign, amongst

whose cherished possessions was a seraglio of 700 ladies princesses and others. About the same time, or perhaps a little earlier, xsicolo Conti, an Italian traveller, went to Yijayanagar, and from his rather short account of the place I extract the following

passage 2

wives

:

— “The

as

inhabitants of this region marry as

who

they please,

Their king

husbands.

other kings of India.

burnt with

more powerful

is

He

are

many dead

their

than

all

the

takes to himself twelve thousand

whom four thousand follow him on foot wherever he may go, and are employed solely in the service of the kitchen. A like number, more handsomely equipped, ride wives, of

on horseback.

The remainder

are carried

by men

in litters,

of whom two thousand or three thousand are selected as his wives on condition that at his death they should

voluntarily burn themselves with him, which

is

considered

honour for them.” 1514 Duarte Barbosa visited Yijayanagar, 3 and

to he a great

In

A.n.

this custom of satl, stating that the women of the city were burnt with their deceased husbands “ in an

he notes

open space outside the This description the

city,

entirely

Nimbapur mound.

where there

coincides

He

is

a great fire.”

with the situation

goes on to say

:

— “ When

of

the

hundred women burn themselves with him in the same manner, and they throw themselves suddenly into the pit and fire where they burn the body for the pit and fire are very large, and of the king and many a great quantity can be burned in it men, confidants of the king, burn themselves with him.” kina:

dies

four or five

;

...

The next authority

is

the

traveller

Caesar Frederic, 4

who, relating his adventures at Yijayanagar in 1567 a.d., describes the ceremonies attendant on a widow becoming

1

2 3 4

Matla' ut-Sa'dain (Sir Henry Elliot’^ History of India,

Hakluyt Hakluyt

edition, vol. xxii.

Id., vol.

ii,

edition, vol. xxxv, p. 93. p. 347.

vol. iv, pp.

95-126).

11

THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

on her husband’s death, and the processions about the

sail

form of and going along the river’s side called Nigondin, which runneth under the walls of the city, until they come unto a place where they use to make this burning of women and when there dieth any great man his wife with all burn themselves together his [female] slaves

and

streets,

spelling)

:

then

writes

— “ Then

the

discard

(I

go

they

of

out

the

old

city,

....

....

with him.” Here, again, the

after

all,

description

aptly

with

coincides

the

So that it may, be merely the funeral pyre where for two centuries

situation of the

Nimbapur cinder-mound.

successive holocausts of large

numbers

of living

women

took

place,

hundreds being burnt at one time at the death of

every

sovereign,

while

destroyed day by day

large

— the

numbers

were

similarly

wives of citizens, chiefs, and

princes, residents in this very extensive

and populous

city.

I offer this suggestion as a not unreasonable explanation

of

what must otherwise seemingly remain

inexplicable.

In opposition to this theory must be specially noted the annular shape of one of the Peacock Hill mounds.

one case

it

is

certainly difficult to conceive that

In it

this

could

manner suggested and the problem as to its origin must be considered as yet unsolved. Mr. Hubert Knox, of the Civil Service, who made a very have

been

caused

in

the

;

me

with his

original notes, as well as with a letter written to

him on

careful examination of

it,

has kindly favoured

by Mr. R. Bruce Foote, of the Geological Survey of India. Mr. Foote knew the place well, and his Both these gentlemen opinion is therefore of much value. believe the mound to be prehistoric, and to have been made by the tribes to whom must be credited the stores of neolithic axe-heads, crushers, and other implements found in abundance amongst the boulders on the hill above. the

subject

Parallel with the axis of the hill runs a large trap dyke,

and

it is

of this hard

were made.

and durable material that the weapons

This dyke, indeed,

is

almost certainty the

cause of there having been a settlement here of the tribes

THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

12

that lived in neolithic days, a settlement of the existence

which there

of

abundant evidence.

is

Commanding an

extensive view over the surrounding country, raised above

the main forest below, and therefore exposed to pleasant

ample store of material weapons and implements of all broken masses of cliffs and boulders, amongst

breezes, this range of hills, with its

the

for

sorts,

manufacture of

its

which the inhabitants could always find shade when the day was hot, and protection when the weather was inclement, would form an ideal habitation for the tribes of those days. And that it did so is plain. For not only are there found amongst the crevices remains of neolithic implements in abundance, but on

stone

rock

the

faces

themselves are the hollows made by the manufacturers in the act of

number

a

polishing,

great antiquity I

while on the

of graffiti, man}' of

shall not

boulders

above

which are beyond doubt

are of

1 .

attempt to discuss the latter in the present

paper, but merely note in passing that the presence, amongst

the representations here given, of animals most

commonly

found amongst forests has tended to strengthen

my

that a far to

belief

former days the jungle covered this country to The animals greater extent than is now the case.

in

which I allude are elephants, bears, monkeys, deer or branching horns, aud peafowl. In the plain close under this hill to the east are two

elk with

large

One

cinder-mounds.

is

solid

and

lofty,

have been formed in the manner I have ventured

The

other, however,

ring formed by a

is

different.

mound about

and may to suggest.

It consists of a circular five

feet

high, with

the

centre of the ring scarcely raised above the level of the plain

surrounding

yards across

its

it.

The ring measures

diameter.

about thirty

Mr. Knox notes that he and

Mr. Fawcett cut a trench across the enclosed space. “ We found that the whole of the inside consists of ashes which

1

Mr. F. Fawcett read a paper about these before the Ninth Congress of London

Orientalists in

THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

13

Our

lay on the earth about the level of the field outside.

trench was carried up to the mound.

hard bank which encloses

the

This bank had a nearly perpendicular section

....

specimens and a sloping section outside of the cinders were submitted to Mr. It. B. Foote we found bones and pottery among the ashes, but not Mr. Fawcett took the bones which a single worked stone. inside,

seem determinable

England.

to

They have been

.... identified

as chiefly those of rodents.”

This

last

inspection of

statement must certainly be traversed by an

some of the bones now shown, which are too

am Museum

large to have belonged to any known rodent; while I

by the opinion of experts in the Geological Jermyn Street. Mr. E. T. Newton, as already stated, Possibly declared one of the bones to be certainly human. for “rodent” we should read “ruminant.” fortified

in

Mr. Bruce Foote’s opinion on the specimens is important, August 1, 1891 “I have examined

—

lie writes, under date

the contents of the box carefully.

exception are slag or ash

—not

The specimens without The ash

a trace of tufa.

shows in many cases traces of vegetable matter in a rather

comminuted

Some

state,

of the ash

such as you see

is still full

in

it

buffalo’s

dung.

of carbonaceous matter, evidently

from imperfect combustion. I to think the wider heaps due

am more to the

heaps of cattle manure and straw.”

than ever inclined

combustion of great

He

then refers to

a custom he had heard of as existing in South Africa,

where up their cattle manure in banks inside their “ Such accumulations of manure when dry thorn zaribas. would have been very liable to take fire, and would have smouldered away slowly if very tightly pressed down, or When clayey sand or burned fast where loosely packed. felspathic sand was mixed with the dung, and the heat fierce enough, it would inevitably form a slaggy cinder, but where pure the soft ash would be produced One bone must have been scraped with a moderately sharp implement, and looks as if it were to have been carved into some definite object The total absence of stone some

tribes pile

....

....

THE CINDER-HOUNDS OF BELLARY.

14

implements in the excavated part

a puzzling fact,

is

for

I certainly found celts, mealing-stones, and corn-crushers, in

some quantity,

Sanavasapur camp, together with

in the

One

pottery in considerable variety.”

found

Kapgal (Peacock

this

in

Hill)

piece of pottery circle,

and

is

was

now

exhibited.

Mr. Foote sums up his views on the several mounds the Bellary district thus:

in

— “The zariba cattle-manure theory

good for such cinder-mounds as are really such as Budikanama, of the others, have Nimbapur, and Sugur, appear to been really funeral Gadiganur, Kanchagar-Bellagal, and the Kapgal pyres. will only hold

Some

camps.

mounds

I

am

doubtful about

;

but Sanavasapur, Lingadihalli,

and Halakandi I incline to regard as genuine zariba camps. The smaller cinder-mounds at Sangankal, Kuriguppa, and Kakaballa I regard as great feasting-places

;

the

number

of mealing-stones, corn-crushers, and pounders they shewed,

together with the lot of bones chiefly of oxen, makes this idea quite probable.”

According

Bellary cinder-

to this authority, therefore, the

mounds would be divided into of them which are doubtful.

three classes, excluding three

1.

Large feasting-places,

2.

Gigantic funeral pyres, three.

3.

Zariba camps, three.

With regard

to

No.

2,

three.

Mr. Foote’s opinion

is

in accord

with mine.

As

to

No.

3, I

Kapgal mound it

regret that I do not

is

certainly seems to

me

The

— only

camp

to

be

thirty yards, ninety feet,

In a true zariba the defenders must have room

to wield their

slings

their size.

impossible for a zariba

so extremely small in area across.

know

classed by Mr. Foote as “doubtful,” and

—and

if

weapons

—

to hurl their spears, to

we allow a space

whirl their

of only ten feet all

the inner circumference for this purpose,

we

round

are reduced to

a circle of seventy feet diameter for all the cattle,

women

THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

15

this would and children, old men, and non-combatants seem to be far too small for the purpose. In conclusion, then, and to sum up, the situation, so far We have as I am personally concerned, is as follows. :

a

large

Some

of

number of cinder-mounds in the Bellary district. them are probably of the neolithic age. Are they

all so ?

A. Three appear to have been enormous funeral pyres. I suggest that these

incineration

to

soldiers,

of

may

possibly

living

owe

human

and animals slaughtered

their origin

beings,

dead

in battle, possibly

of so recent a date as the fifteenth

and sixteenth

centuries a.d.

B.

The

rest

may

perhaps be

be of

neolithic

more modern.

Mr. Bruce Foote’s

age, but

Of

some may

these

we

have

classification.

Large feasting-places (three). I confess to whether they may not be smaller examples of Class A. One of the Kapgal mounds, viz. that which is solid and lofty, I have seen, and think its shape and size incompatible with the idea of its being the remains of anything connected (a)

a doubt as to

with mere feasting. (

of

b)

Zariba camps (three).

those

I have not seen any

mentioned and can form

no

opinion.

But unless they are much larger than the annular Kapgal mound I cannot subscribe to the theory. (c)

Doubtful (three).

places the annular

The

Amongst

these

origin of this last remains at present, to

an unsolved problem.

Mr. Foote

Kapgal mound.

my

mind,

THE CINDER-MOUNDS OF BELLARY.

16

Additional Notes.

That the dead were sometimes collected and burned can be proved by contemporary Portuguese

(p. 9)

after battles,

chronicles.

Purchas, about 1616, confirms these accounts

(pp. 10, 11)

of wholesale burning of numbers of

women, and, like Caesar by the river’s side to the burning-place,” a description which tallies with the situation of the Nimbapur mound.

them

Frederic, describes

(p.

11)

as “passing

Mr. Knox has written

to say that

he now accepts

the author’s views.

To account

for the present small size of

in face of the suggestion that they

some

may have

of the pyres,

originated in

the burning of thousands of dead bodies after a battle, I offer the following explanation

:

—The agriculturists of the

neighbourhood would use the remains for manuring their fields. Year by year the heaps would grow less and less, the ryots digging into them from the outside, while the wind

But

blew the ashes and lighter materials from the surface.

year by year also the untouched centre would become more

and more indurated. The nett result would be the perpetual exposure of a hardened core, left in position because it was and growing harder by exposure and pressure.

valueless,

The greater size of the mass explained by the fact that it lies rocky

with

hills,

surrounding

a

at in a

Nimbapuram may amount of

very limited

be

narrow valley between cultivation

it.

Lastly, I would mention that the topographical position

known cinder-mounds lends colour to the theory may be the remains of extensive incinerations since, while neolithic bodies of men slain in battle

of the

that they of

;

remains of the ancient races are met with district,

these

approaches

main

to

mounds the great

lines of attack.

are

all

only met with on

Hindu

over the the direct

capital at Vijayauagar

— the

—

:

i;

Art.

A

II.

Persian Manuscript attributed

By Reynold A.

Pazi.

This

which

manuscript,

now

is

Fukhru ddtn ’

to

Nicholson. ray

in

possession,

has

number of pages at the beginning. name occurs in the text, but the cover an old Oriental penman has left the

unfortunately lost a

Neither inside

nor author’s

title

following inscription: ijL •

“

“ a conserve of

\)iis-

.1

it

(ginger)

and honey strengthens the memory.” (106. 2).

the form,

is

cf. L

Causal of

makes the mouth ,

proportions,’ e.g.

= j!!a,j,

scribe for

1

“

^a-~*A

:

aJL*aj h^Lao,

swell.’

The meaning appears

(185. 6, 9).

\j,j (147. 10)

For

_JCU-

(151. 14). ‘

bread baked in a J

l”

t3

;

Vj

0*J

s

.

wV~:

^

\ '

J

(the properties of aloes- wood, ambergris, sandal- wood,

and ladanum).

The

(Section 6, on flowers).

P. 4.

following are mentioned and their properties described:

j5,

iJ^scj ,

yjA-j

i^Uj,

t

,

—

(also called

P. 7.

c^U^L* jJ potables).

-^4

P.

8.

;

o

:

,

gJLiL* (Fourth Discourse, on These are of three kinds

toxicating drink, other beverages

AlUL*

>

falls into

in-

accordingly, this

;

three parts.

jJ

1^7

water,

:

(Part

Jjl

I,

in explanation

This Part

is

divided

Jjl J«ai (Section

1,

on the

of the properties of waters). into nine sections.

u_>7

advantages

enumerates

P. 10.

^j\pjtsc~*

of

,J

drinking

water).

author

five advantages.

Jua3 (Section 2, on the different

IfjT

kinds of waters).

There are two kinds

containing no foreigu substances, such.

The

(

b)

:

(a)

water

water containing

Eight signs of pure and sweet water.

A

)

)

:

21

ATTRIBUTED TO FAKIIRU’ DDIN RAZI. P. 13.

(Section 4, on the different.

1

uLai

lfr>T

(a) water water). There are two sorts which falls from the air, (6) water which proceeds from the earth, (a) is superior to ( b ), (1) because it is free from contamination, (2) because the falling raindrops move rapidly, and motion is a cause of heat, and heat is a cause of purity.

sorts of

P. 14.

why

:

rain in

P.

:

16.

why

:

lightning Ail**

is

why

:

rain in winter

(b)

(a)

better

and purer than

rain accompanied with thunder and

rain-water, though

is

it

purer than any

becomes putrid.

Water which proceeds from the earth: (1) running standing water. Running water proceeds (2)

from fountains,

why

is

reasons.

purer.

other, quickly

water,

Four

summer.

is

(«)

standing water the ground

(

from melted snow or

b

superior to

(,

There

( b ).

are

three

well-water, (b) water bubbling

(a) :

>J aj),

c ( )

kinds of

up from

water in woods or reedy places.

J-ai (Section

P. 24.

drinking water in large quantities). evils arise

P. 27.

Six reasons

ice.

.

on waters cooled by

1

have (a)

,

ice

suffered

sun in pools.

change).

It

(Section 7,

on waters which

8,

These

three

are

kinds

water heated by the

b ( )

fire.

extremely deleterious, for three

is

The author enumerates

mineral waters.

(c )

uUi

and snow).

A n Ju-i (Section

j

water heated by

reasons.

^Jlz>

,a

J>j~>

which these produce, along with

various maladies

remedies for them.

P. 39.

made with brackish P. 40.

water).

J-ly Aj Jjl

,j

of

wine).

(Section 9, on food

jX)\

t_jT

(^ art

011

^ine).

(Section 1, on the advantages

uLaj

Though wine

is

forbidden

physician must be acquainted with properties. it,

(a)

it

Two

its

benefits are derived

purifies the spirit,

(

b

it

by law, the good and bad

from drinking

strengthens the

body.

jL

P. 47.

1rT

(S ection 2, explaining

va—

grape

vlr1

jj

3,

ex-

plaining the evil effects of wine).

P

.

A

54.

(Section 4, explaining suited to wine).

aX.4

jJ

J-.U

what persons have constitutions

— 23

ATTRIBUTED TO FAKHRU’ DDIX RlzI. P. 00.

j—

jl}

y*

>

A.ib (Section

P. 56.

most

suitable).

"

J

I

j

ALc

,

^

-*

\A

been accustomed a.jT joaj

(Section 7,

who

liave

not

drink wine).

to

^JUjj ^Jut J-ui on the symptoms which show themselves

drunken man).

in a

is

y-l

t

(Section 6, concerning those

AjJ

P. 58.

O

t

explaining in Avhat season wine

5,

»£»-

The author propounds twenty

questions (JiLw»), to which he gives answers:

(1)

Why

(2)

Why, when

drinking wine produces drunkenness. a

man

increase,

spirits

is

engaged in drinking, his high

whereas he ends by making a row

(AiS SS}j£.). (3)

Why

a drunken

man imagines

that everything

is

turning round. (4)

(5)

Why

man

a

squints in the last stage of drunkenness.

Why, although the nature of wine men are more sensitive to cold.

is

hot,

drunken

(6)

Why

habitual wine-drinkers have fewer children.

(7)

Why

those w ho drink their wine neat suffer less from r

dimness of sight and vertigo, while those who mix it with water are liable to these maladies. (8)

Why, wine suffer

(9)

seeing that cold is

is

the cause of tremors, and

hot and moist, those

who drink much wine

from tremors.

Why, since the nature both of men is hot and corresponding children should not drink

it,

children and of

young

to the nature of wine,

while young

men

should.

A PERSIAN MANUSCRIPT

24 (10)

Why

some men cannot have sexual intercourse when

they are drunk. (11)

Why

some men, if they drink -with small cups, get drunk quickly, whereas if they drink with large cups, they do not get drunk at all, while others again experience the contrary.

(12)

Why

negroes

more than other men

desire

to drink wine.

(13)

Why

persons accustomed to sour wine,

to drink sweet-flavoured

they happen

if

wine at a party

,j),

(

are slow in getting drunk.

(14)

Why

those

who

live

on oily food are slow in getting

who

take

little

drunk. (15)

Why

those

exercise are slow in getting

drunk, while those who take

much

exercise get

drunk

quickly.

(16)

Why

some men, when they drink wine, are more

than usually grave and dignified, while others are

more than usually light-headed and ill-mannered. (17)

Why

(18)

Why

crapula

(

tUcA)

is

sometimes when

nausea,

while

at

worse than drunkenness.

men

other

drink wine

times

men

it

produces

suffering

from

nausea are cured by drinking wine.

(19)

Why, when

a

man

constipation (c_i it

(20)

has a laxative

Why

but

awake

sleep all

little,

night.

if

wine,

it

produces

he drinks moderately,

effect.

some drunken men

others

much

drinks

lu»-«l),

and,

sleep a great deal, if

they once wake,

while

keep

ATTRIBUTED TO FAKHRlj’ P. 74.

25

DUl.V RAZI.

(Section 8,

jj

on the

nature of wine).

P. 76.

-i-

T

Aaj

jl_«

,

drunkenness)

makes him

(Section 9, on the stages of

and briugs

All the benefits of

face.

man from

(1) It relieves a

:

bolder,

care,

and

a fresh colour to his

have been

wine, which

enumerated, belong to this stage.

(2)

It disorders

man

the bodily and mental faculties, so that a

begins

and sing, and to sport with his inferiors, annoy those present. (3) It deprives a man of reason, and reduces him to the lowest degradation.

to dance

and

to

The consequences allows this

u aA

P. 77.

are epilepsy, apoplexy, hemiplegia,

Hippocrates and sudden death. kind of drunkenness once a month.

paralysis,

facial

J.j

Juai (Section 10, on

t_>LJ

Four causes

the causes of getting drunk quickly). are mentioned.

when wine should be drunk). should not be drunk on an empty stomach, but beneficial to those who have a stomach. cold

(Section 11, explaining It is

’

‘

Five signs of a ‘cold’ stomach.

j

what

a

man

,L*uj (Section 12,

,

should eat that he

may

explaining

drink heartily

and be slow in getting drunk). P. 82.

Aj!

JLj

(Section 13, on

a

man becomes

iz

some

J

jO

J-ai

results of drinking wine).

When

a slave to the pleasures of wine, he

neglects all worldly and religious

affairs.

The author

—

26

^

A PERSIAN MANUSCRIPT gives three prescriptions calculated to render wine

Several things which take the smell of

distasteful.

wine out of the mouth are mentioned. (Section 14, on the

l« \r>

P. 83.

kinds

different

tinguishing (3)

smell,

grown,

consistency,

(4)

rawness

or

each of these heads. 8 raisin-wine ( )

and

P. 01.

1

seven

colour,

)

(

2)

place where

(5)

ripeness,

(7)

taste, it

newness

was or

Finally, the author mentions

and wines made from

(oF‘^

LU

\y

on the various sorts of

^jOj* (Part III,

\

beverages employed in health and disease).

ljL^), oxymel

sherbet

are mentioned,

Sweet

and

and the merits of each

b

jjT joA» (Section 15, on remedies for

show themselves

fuqqii‘

discussed.

l.

P. 9o.

P. 99.

dis-

millet.

y

Ay JCj

(

has

Further subdivisions are enumerated under

oldness.

rice

"Wine

wine).

characteristics:

6)

(

of

,_j

symptoms which

in the drinking of wine).

J-ai (Section 16, on the cure

jU>of crapula).

P. 103.

,*302

^JLiL* (Fifth Discourse, on

the regulation of victuals). ,j

simples).

man. from

Of

all

(Part

Jjl grain,

wheat

is

I,

on the natures of

the most suitable for

There are two kinds of bread, fine flour (iA.,«

^b),

(

6)

(a)

bread made

bread made from dry

flour

four

b)

(a)

:

unleavened

bread baked in earth,

pan

way

according to the

classes

compounded (

Bread may be divided into

^Ij).

(,_>

bread

The following simples pulse

are

beef,

(

beans

:

sesame

(A:sru£),

on flesh-meats).

2,

mutton, goat’s

:

flesh,

venison

horse-flesh,

flesh,

rice

>S), kid’s flesh, fish, hare’s flesh, flesh of

(ytl

the

^li).

kidney-beans

are mentioned

camel’s

veal,

mentioned

also

(Section

The following *

(_U£

barley bread (y>- ^li).

(e)

(Lj J), French beans

jj

is

^hj),

(

millet

(-yO,

it

j« bread baked in an iron

(c)

Finally, the author adds

P. 108.

which

in

(d) bread baked in ashes

j\j

97

DDIN RaZI.

ATTRIBUTED TO FAKIIRU

wild

ass

flesh of the

jbJs

of

flesh

(

mountain-ox

the

mountain-goat and mountain-

sheep, flesh of the domestic fowl

y*

£

j-*s4 j

1»-

,

,j

Juai

spoon-meats).

This

b^i, bl^jj and

or

bls^jj, b^,.i,

b -
.

(Section 11, on dry-

P. 154. fruits).

The following

are mentioned

:

b*^,

^ t__; li£.

L

>

(Section 12, on sweet things).

P. 157.

This deals with^i-i, jjws, A-jb, aJj!b, l

!*!=»-,

ad b»

c^2

P. 158.

mentioned are

(Section 13, on

-’

uuoj

j.^

asa£

The

•

a recipe for cleansing

1

The

(^jj

text has

Those

fbb

Section concludes with

(

oil

oils).

.

A PERSIAN MANUSCRIPT

30

P. 1G0.

I

manner 1

lA~sT (Part II, on the

jus

of eating food).

(Section

jus

Four kinds

of food).

Things which act upon

(a)

:

on the true nature

1,

the body but are not acted upon by

it. These are Things which act upon the body but ai’e themselves gradually acted upon by it and decomposed, (c) A repetition of ( b ). This sort of

deadly poison.

food

is

(

b)

which produce no peculiar decomposed bjr

P.162.

—

u^

sA

(Section

'

’'-J

Aj

and evening on the

—

1

how

(

a*

1

0L ,

'

..

jus.

j^

food should

two days

thrice in

d') Things

on the body, but are

effect

A--S

’

Food should be taken

at the time of

jus.

These are called

it.

explaining

2,

^

by physicians

called

be eaten). at

:

morning

day, and on the second day

first

noonday prayers (^A-j jUJ).

Finally

the author describes the effects of dry food, oily food,

and

bitter food,

P. 169.

^

^AA

U

Ills

flesh.

(Sixth Discourse).

ei^Al~»

(Part

jlS Jjl

This part

intercourse).

which need not be given

P.221.

j*

into

falls

on sexual

I,

twenty

sections,

in detail.

jd

}

Aj

(Part II, on going to the bath).

P- 220.

,

on motion and i

*

(Section

w

a! Li..*

rest).

i t

1,

)

l)

.

.

i

*

—

jy

l.>-

t

h

?

on the need of motion and exercise for

healthy persons).

whole bodv,

(Seventh Discourse,

e.g.

Two

kinds of exercise

walking,

:

(a)

b of a single limb. ( )

of the

— 31

ATTRIBUTED TO FAKHRU’ DDIX RAZI.

P

227.

,

"J

c^-S, >

'

J.j

,j

^

>

|

(Section 2, on the time

^

for exercise).

Jax**

r. 229.

J-ai (Section

ijljjl .J

3,

on

the limits of moderate exercise).

^

P. 233.

J-ai (Section

on partial

4,

Various exercises suitable to the

exercise).

hand, the tongue and tbroat, the chest, and

foot,

the

tlie

eye

are specified.

llUU (Eighth

P. 23o.

Discourse, on the regulation of sleep and waking).

After discussing the nature

enumerates

—

rest to the faculties,

warmth body

is

is

of

sleep

(1) the benefits of sleep:

collected

b it aids digestion, ( )

c ( )

supplied with moisture.

gives

the vital

The

injurious effects

aud the

explain (2) the proper way to sleeper should lie for an hour on his

author goes on

The

it

and strengthens the body, ( d) the

of sleep in certain cases are next described,

sleep.

author

the (a)

to

right side and then turn to his face

downwards

is

left side. Sleeping an aid to digestion, while sleeping

on the back rests the body better than any other posture.

In conclusion, I transcribe two passages which specimen of the author’s style

a fair

P. 92.

will afford

:

clii

\&\j\ ijjJLsj

fpb JL*

See Dozy, “ Supplement,” sub voc.

^

^ '

A PERSIAN MANUSCRIPT

32

A^ y% t& Lii-w^

A-wj AA>lj

Aaxj L—j

j A Jj) y*

\

L iXj A^V)

C_~

^

2fj

^

>

3

i^y**

AxjJI^j

£yZ

A;

^

^

1

t

L

^X*>“^AJ Aj^A

j

Ll

^t— - Aj d£

L—-?^

L.-^—J^A^li

^

^ j^S.

cULi U

|

g

^

Aio

^

j

kX-’l-J

^lii

^

^

}

AJ^il**

?'

^

A**«

AA^

J

|

gly ^yyjj

^

^J~j“

r*>

^j—^Sj\j J[^^js^j %

i^_s

hJ

A x£j

j

J

\^> : \ jj* ji\ }

b^-*-» ^j-jl

u^L^j 1

jc>^»-

2

A^j

^

cLi-ij^ A^j

Ll^i^

d^ AiJb^^-

^

A

y.

(_>U_-1

rr

JIkQS

^

AA;lj

1

AJb A Xj,s*

^j.

clii &£*j\j\ (^jA^ a.’Ij

lj

%

^_^*- ^5"

j£-2>

A—

AJj'a^.

V.

j+JLj

A^$"

j\ y

$ A^^i

c^.g.^3

d.>

Si^i

Ajl AXj j±>Ja ^y*

yUj

^

^

^

'

A^ A

> b*A

r.

Aj bfcJtiSL

>A*A/i

^

A^'

>

^

A.I

^.Ij^Ax

>

lV.*

A—ib

^

L

J^

U5'*

$yjj£.

1

j~

^

—

l

A *J

-

2flJCi1

Au£

Ij

(*'

V.

U^,

1 ..

\— Jv

c

>

CA«g b

fcX^i

•'

*

•

*

^ ^

^

y

^

Ajb A>~ Liy%— ^S»^

—-^T^

A

4i

j

A

J

^yj

A-l \j

1

b* ^

f—

(J«ai

^

A.Ab

\y*Jb

fcb r-1t

ij' Ail

J

4^—

L

J

''

A PERSIAN MANUSCRIPT

34


~

j Aio^

A^J b
O XwU

text has

^

J

,

»

1^3

1 r.

A^

^s

^

A-*-j

b

^ O^rb^ a j/ c-y^ ^—’ ^- 4

j>-

"

^y

^

ly i

p A*

“

Many similar instances are to be found amongst both the Arabs and Persians, but we have restricted ourselves to the mention of this one. A king, therefore, cannot dispense with a good poet,

who

shall

conduce

to the

immortality of

and books. For when the King receives that command which none can escape, no trace will remain of his army, his treasure, and his

name, and

shall record his

renown

in divans

1 See Ethe’s Rudagi't VorUwfer find Zritgenossen : cin lieitrag zitr Kentnit* der iiltestcn Denkmaler Neupersischer Poesie, p. 40. where the two couplets iu question are cited at the end of the notice consecrated to Hantala.

2

See Barhier de Meynard’s Diet. Giiogr. Hist,

s.v.

I -. ... 1

C-

and ad

calc.

et

Lit. dc la Perse,

p.

197,

—— — 57

BARBAD AND R I'D AG I. his store

‘

Of

all

name

but by means of the poet’s verse shall his

;

Sharlf-i-MujallidI of Gurgiiu says

eiulure for ever.

wealth which teas

that worldly

—

:

by the House of

left

Sasan and the House of Suntan There remains only the praise and eulogy of Hudagi and the ” song and legend of Barbad.’

The Guzida, after describing (p. 61) the splendour and luxury of Khusraw Parvlz, continues thus (3)

:

J-i-'

[var.

^)sj j* ».>-

•

J

J

s

.Xib

1

>

•

•

|

— Jn w f—

1

»J

*)-i

.

,

•'

*

—

* -/

cr*j^

“And

as for Biirbad the minstrel, the like of

science hath not

now appeared, he had

till

whom

for the

in that

banquets

of Parvlz three hundred and sixty melodies, one of which

he used to sing each day

;

and

with the masters of music,

from

his of

all

words are a

whom

final

appeal

are but gleaners

his harvest-field.”

(4)

Qazwiin

passages

more detailed, and in three Balahbad [ = Biirbad] the

is

speaks

of

different

minstrel.

under the article Fars (pp. 154-6), he says “ The Persians imagine that amongst them [i.e., as

First,

:

would appear, the old Kings

of Persia, of

it

whose greatness

he has just been speaking] there existed ten persons, each unrivalled in his

own

These ten

order, even in Persia.”

are Farldun, Alexander, Nushlrvan, Bahiarn Gur, Rustam, Jamiisp,

Buzurjmihr, Balahbad,

the

whose

sculptor

ait

immortalized on the rocks of Bl-sutun the form of Shabdiz, the favourite horse of

Khusraw

Parvlz, and, lastty, Shlrln’s

unfortunate lover Farhad. Of Balahbad he says “ And the eighth of them was Balahbad the minstrel, :

who to

mankind in minstrelsy, and he was minstiel and when anyone desired to lay any Kisra Abarwlz excelled all

;

— BARBAD AND

58

Rl'DAGI.

matter before Kisra, yet feared his anger, he communicated it to

Balahbad, and gave him

gifts to

compose a poem on

the matter and thereto an

air,

who thereby was informed

of the matter.”

and

to

sing

it

before Kisiii,

Again, in describing the sculptures and bas-reliefs of Bl-sutun, he says

280)

(p.

:

b. Muhammad al-Hamadhani says: 1 ‘On the face Mountain of Bl-sutun is a portico cut out from the rock, in the midst of which is the figure of Kisra’s horse Shabdiz, with [Kisra] Abarwiz mounted upon it. And on the wall of the portico is the portrait of Shirln and her attendants, said to have been executed by Futrus, 2 the son of Sinimmar, 3 and Sinimmar was he who built Khawarnaq

“Ahmad

of the

Now

outside Hlra.

of these portraits]

the cause of this

[i.e.

the sculpturing

was that Shabdiz was the most intelligent

of quadrupeds, the greatest in

bodily strength,

remarkable in disposition, and the most enduring

the most in a

long

So long as his saddle was on him, he wrnuld neither

gallop.

make water nor

and so long as his bridle void excrement was on him, he would neither snort nor foam [with his mouth]. He had been presented to Abarwiz by the King Now it happened that he [Shabdiz] sickened, of India. and Kisra said, “ Whoever and his sickness waxed sore brings me tidings of his death, him will I slay.” So when [Shabdiz] died, the Master of the Horse feared lest he should be questioned about him, and be compelled to give So he came to Balahbad, Kisra’s tidings of his death. ;

;

and asked him to make it known to Kisra in Now Balahbad was the most skilful of men in a song. And when Kisra hearkened minstrelsy, and he did this. minstrel,

to

it,

he divined

Shabdiz that

is

dead! ”

sayeth

it.”

its

purport, and said,

And [Balahbad] And Kisra said,

“Woe

uuto thee!

“It is the King “ Well done How

said,

!

See Yaqiit, vol. iii, pp. 250 et seqq. Other forms nre Fattiis (Hamadhani nnd Yaqut), Qatliis, and even Qanfiis. 3 See Noeldeke’s Gesch. d. Arab. u. Fers. zur Zeit d. Saxanid., pp. 8

,

The

first

‘Abdu’llah

vyJ'

compose good poetry

to

Ja'far

Muhammad

b.

1

in

b.

ji hu*! 1

aj\Ji\

‘j& “

tji

o’*'

Aj

%

J1J1

Persian

Hakim

b.

j was Abu ‘Abdu’r-

Rahmiin b. Adam ar-Rawdhakl, a poet eloquent of utterance, whose verse is widely current and whose divan is well

known in

in Persia. In his day he excelled all his compeers composing verse in Persian. AbuT-Fadl al-Bal‘amI the

Yazlr used to say,

‘

RawdhakI has no equal amongst

the

” Arabs or the Persians.’

This notice

is

rather important on account of the vocaliza-

name which it indicates and it merits some attention, since the work (hitherto, I believe, unknown) in which it occurs is of considerable antiquity, being dedicated to the Atabek Shihabu’d-Dln Tughril Beg, who (a.d. 1231-2) and died in fell from power in a.h. 629 tion of the poet’s

a. h.

631

(a.d.

;

1233). 1

Its

Abi’r-Rida al-Mawsill.

b.

but professes to have been original dated a.h. 306

author

The MS.

(sic),

is

Isma‘11

itself is

transcribed

Hibatu’llali

dated a.h. 1074,

from an ancient

probably a mistake for 806.

To return ‘Arfidl of 1

See

De

to the Chahar Maqd/a, the author, Nidhaml-iSamarqand, when in his native town in a.h. 504

Slaue’s translation of Ibn Khallikan, vol. iv, pp. 424, 432, and 433.

— BlRBAD AND RUDAGI. (a.d.

G3

1110-1111), not more than 170 years after Rfidagi’s Dihqan Ahil Rijil Ahmad b. ‘Abdu’s-Samad

death, met the

and learned from him some particulars concerning Rudagi which are incorporated in the following narrative

al-'Abidi,

14«)

(f.

“

:

Now

the service of Kings naught

in

is

better than

by improvisation the King’s temper is cheered, assemblies are rendered brilliant, and the poet himself attains his object. Such favours as Riidagl obtained from the House of Saraan by his improvisations and by

improvisation, for

virtue of his verse none hath experienced. “ Anecdote They relate thus, that Nasr .

—

b.

Ahmad, who

was the central point of the Samanid group, whose fortunes reached their zenith during the days of his rule, was most plenteously equipped with every means of enjoyment and material of splendour well-filled treasures, an efficient army, and loyal servants. In winter he used to reside at the capital, Bukhara, while in summer he used to go to Samarqand, or some other of the cities of Khurasan. Now one year it was the turn of Herat. He spent the spring at Badghis, where are the most charming pasture-grounds of Khurasan and ‘Iraq, for there are nearly a thousand watercourses abounding in water and pasture, any one of which would suffice for an army. “ When the beasts had well eaten, and had recovered their strength and condition, and were fit for warfare or to take the field, Nasr b. Ahmad turned his face towards Herat, but halted outside the city of Marghazar-i-SapId and there pitched his camp. Cool breezes from the north were stirring, and the fruit was ripening in the districts of Malin and Karukh fruit such as can be obtained in but few places, and nowhere so cheaply. There the army rested. The climate was charming, the breeze cool, bread plentiful, fruit abundant, and fragrant scents filled the air, so that the

—

1

soldiers

—

enjoyed their

life to

the full during the spring and

summer. 1

See Barbier de Meynard’s Diet, de

which the former

is

distant

la Perse, pp.

487, 511-512, according to

from Herat two parasangs, the

latter ten.

— BARBAD and rudagi.

6-1

“

When

Mihrjan [the autumnal equinox] arrived, and the came into season, and the eglantine, basil and yellow rocket were in bloom, they did full justice to the charms of autumn, and took their fill of the pleasures of that season. Mihrjan was protracted, for the cold did not wax

juice of the grape

severe,

For

and the grapes proved

to

be of exceptional sweetness.

Herat one hundred and twenty different varieties of the grape occur, each sweeter and more delicious in the district of

and amongst them are in particular two kinds which are not to be found in any other region of the inhabited world, one called Pannyan and the other Gulchidi, tight - skinned, slender - stalked 1 and luscious A cluster of Gulchidi grapes sometimes attains a weight of than the other

;

,

five

maunds

can one eat

;

the}''

many

are black as pitch and sweet as sugar, nor for the sweetness that

is in

[And

them.

besides these there were] all sorts of other delicious fruits.

“ So

Amir Nasr

b.

Ahmad saw

Mihrjan and

and was mightily pleased therewith. began

to

fruits,

narcissus

bloom, and the raisins were plucked and picked in

Malin, and hung up on the

its

Then the

Amir with

his

lines,

and packed

army moved

hamlets called Ghiira and Darwilz.

into

in chests;

the two

and

groups of

There he saw mansions

each one of which was like highest paradise, having before a garden or pleasure-ground with a northern aspect. There they passed the winter, while the Mandarin oranges began to arrive from fSIstan and the sweet oranges from it

1

Tang -takas.

Bahrain! of Sarakhs, the father of Mu'izzi the Saljuq poet-

laureate, says, describing the black grape of this or a similar kiud yi-Ndsiri, s.v. takas) :

(

Anjnman-ara -

E’^

(?)

would seem is-tu

to

(?)

¥

be equivalent

di-im-tim, of the present

100

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS. text.

Cf. Delitzsch, Handicorterbuch , p. 221.

An

alternative

was by throwing the offending wife into the river (J.R.A.S. for 1897, p. 610, and the wellknown tablet of Akkadian laws).

method

of execution

The clause decreeing that Ahhu - ayabi is Innabatum would seem, from a comparison to

her

stepdaughter

marriage, though this fact

support parallel

having handed

passages, to be due to the latter

property

to

of

on

the

occasion

all

her

of

her

not stated in the record of

is

the deed.

That Ahhu-ayabi was not the real, but the adopted daughter of Innabatum, is implied by a comparison of this text with those translated on pp. 604 and 605 of the J.R.A.S. for July of

last year,

quoted above.

Bu. 91-5-9, 419.

Concerning an alleged Runaway Slave.

D

P.

Arad-D.P. Bu-ne -ne

sa Tam-hi-i-li-su be-el-su 3.

a-na As-nun-na a-na isten bar ma-na kaspi id-di-nu

su

-

sattu himiltu i-na li-ib-bi 6.

As-nun-na ki

be-lu-tam il-li-ik-ma a-na Bab-ili ki it-ta-bi-tam

D.Pp. Sin-mu-sa-lim u D.P. Marduk-la- ma-za ugare(P) 9.

D.P. Arad-D.B. Bu-ne-ne iz-zu-u-ma ki-a-am ik-bu-sum

um-ma su-nu

-

raa

12. el-li-ta ab-bu-ut-ta-ka

gu-ul-lu-ba-at ta-al-la-ak i-na

BARA-NITAH

D.P. Arad-D.P. Bu-ne-ne su-u 15. ki-a-am i-pu-ul

um i-na

su-u-ma

BARA-NITAH

(pi.)

u-ul a-alla

-

ak

(pi.)

eli

"

:

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS.

110

18. il-ka sa bet a-bi-ia a-al-la

ak

-

D.P. Li-bi-it-D.P. Addi D.P. Addu-lu-zi-rura 21.

u Ib-ni-D.P. Samas ah-hu-su

MU

D.P.

AMAR-UDUK U

IN-PAD-DE24. a-na

Am-mi-ti-ta-na

LUGAL E

E-WES

Arad-D.P. Bu-ne-ne a-hi-su-nu

a-na ri-su-tim la ra-ga-mi

D.P. Arad-D.P. Bu-ne-ne a-di ba-al-tu 27. it-ti ah-hi-su i-lik

bet a-bi-su-nu

i-il-la-ak

30.

Mabar A-wi-il-D.P. Addi D.P. Amurru mahar Ilu-bi-sa mar D.P. Sin-i-din-nam IT I

33.

SU-UMUN-A UTU NIS-IA

MU Am-mi-ti-ta-na LUGAL-E AD-GI-A GIT-LA BI

-

D.P.

UTUKI

D.P.

AMAR-UDUK-

DA

Translation.

3.

6.

9.

Arad-Bunene whose master Tambi-ili-su into Asnunna, for 1| mana of silver sold him for five years in the midst of Asnunna in subjection he went, and (then) to Babylon be fled. Siu-musalim and Marduk-lamuza, overseers Arad-Bunene recognized (?), and

(?),

thus said to him as follows, even they 12.

:

thy bright armlet

—

marked thou must go among the sanctuary- people (?). Arad-Bunene, he is

“

;

Ill

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS. 15. thus

answered

as follows, even he

way

18. the

:

among

I will not go

the sanctuary- people

of the house of

my

(?)

—

father

I will go.

Libit-Addi, Addu-luzirum, 21. and Ibni-SamaS, his brothers,

the spirit of Merodach and Ammi-titana the king

invoked 24. to

Arad-Bunene, their brother,

to slavery (he was) not to be claimed.

Arad-Bunene, as long

as he lives,

27. with his brothers

the

way

of the house of his father

goes. 30. Before

Awel-Addi, the Amorite

before Ilu-bisa, son of Sin-idinnam.

Month Taiumuz, day 25th 33. year Ammi-titana, the king,

held great counsel with Samas and Merodach.

Free Rendering.

Arad-Bunene, whose master, Tamhi-ili-su, sold him into

Asnunna

for 14

mana

of silver, served faithfully for five years

Asnunna, and then escaped to Babylon. Sin-musalim and Marduk-lamaza, overseers, recognized Arad-Bunene, and

in

said to

him thus

of a slave)

“

:

—thou

Thy

bright armlet has a

Arad-Bunene answered thus temple-servants of

my

I

(?).

father.”

mark

(like that

must go among the temple-servants

am

I will not go

among

(?).”

the

doing the business of the house

Libit-Addi, Addu-luzirum, and Ibni-Samas,

his brothers, swore to

Arad-Bunene,

to

go into slavery

by Merodach and Ammi-titana the king

their brother, that

—

as

long as he

he should not be claimed he is to do, with his

lives,

brothers, the business of the house of his father.

(Here follow the names of the two witnesses, and the date.)

)

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS.

112

Line

As

2.

the characters

are written rather close

together, the question naturally arises whether

they

may

not have here another value than that usually attributed

TamhwAsk Line

must be regarded

lines

abi-ia allcih

&T4

This phrase

:

my

father” and “he

house of his father.” ‘

mean

alaku ought, therefore, to ‘

i.e.

(ell

The

8.

agave

equally

Line

to

illustration

we have am going

sa bet

ilka

the

way

of

going the way of the

is

of someone, and belutam

’

‘

go under domination,’

to

transcription of the characters

very doubtful

is

as being merely provisional.

this

be-lu-tam

to serve a master.’

Line f-«


Ilka alaku would therefore seem to

go about the business

to

JL* *0

apparently,

receives,

19 and 28, 29, where and ilik bet abi-su illak “ I 18,

the house of

mean

as being possibly provisional.

4

6.

il-li-ik-ma.

from

name

This being the case, the reading of the

to them.

fact, it

The

translation

yy

must he regarded is,

of course,

so.

HT

9.

word seems

the

— in

root,

that

with

perhaps,

Indeed, nazu

0

*8?

,

The meaning

iz-zu-u-ma.

to be clearly indicated bj^ the context.

in

is,

all

in

nazazu,

probability,

its

connected,

nazu,

meaning of

‘

of

As

to

witness

’

probably be found to account for some

will

of the irregularities

of

the verb nazazu, as tabulated iu

Delitzsch’s Handworterbuch.

Line

12.

SET

£-TI

it

53T

SW,

el-li-

Another difficult phrase. According to means ‘a kind of fetter,’ but from this

ta ab-bn-ut-ta-ka.

Delitzsch, abbuttu

have been an armlet or wristlet. must be the adjective qualifying it, though adjectives preceding the noun are comparatively rare. passage

it

would seem

If this be the case,

to

ellita

Line 13.

,

gu-ul-lu-ba-at.

This

must be the 3rd person fern. sing, of the permansive pu’ul gullubu,

from the root galdbu.

‘to cut,’ ‘to cut

off,’

abbuttu have the

meaning of

Gullubu

especially of

is

generally rendered

the hair.

‘fetter’

If,

however,

or ‘armlet,’ gullubu

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS. must

also signify

with

a distinctive

Line

to cut in,’

.

um, seems

um-mn,

(oblique case after

to be written here,

to provide

by mistake,

as in line 11. here,

and dhhi

The singular occurs

in line 27.

itti)

,

MU AMARUDUK U AMMI-TITANA

LUGALE INPADDEWES.

This

is

the usual oath-formula

found in these texts, and indicates, from is

‘

and has only one h ( ahi-sunu ‘their brother’).

Lines 22, 23.

it

and

to engrave,’

Note the plural uhhu, ‘brothers,’

Line 21. in line 24,

*

mark.’

£ ^yyy |

16.

w /ryyy

for

*

113

equivalent

Merodach and Ammi-titana the king

position, that

by Arad-Bunene, their

English idiom

the

to

its

“ they swore

to

brother, that he should not be claimed as a slave.”

The word resu,

ri-su-tu, is

>

meaning

‘

head,’

but from resu

Delitzsch’s Handtcorterbuch 1

as

is

not from the noun ‘

servant,’

among

placed

which in

the roots having

middle radical.

Bu. 91-5-9, 511.

and Judgment.

Claim

D.P. Ri-ba-tum marat

Ribatum, daughter of Sala

Sa-la-a sa Sa-la-a abu-sa 3.

6.

who

1

Sala, her father,

Mu-ul-lu-uk-tim ummi-sa 2 ia-di nu si

and Mulluktim, her mother,

D.P. Sa-nu-ma u Mar-ir-si-tim

Sunu-ma-ilu and Mar-irsitim,

mare E-ri-ib-Sin

sons of Erib-Sin,

u

-

ilu

gave (property)

*

A

9.

ir-gu-mu-si-im-ma

made

dayane samnet

took judges, and

ik-su-du-ma

gan

(?)

ekli (P)

hi-bi-il-ti-sa

ut-te-er-ru-si 1

2

J.n.A.s.

The The

original has the original has the

1899.

8

(?)

to her

claim against her, and gan, the field her in-

heritance

(?)

they claimed from her. Akkadian at-ta-a-ni, her father.’ Akkadian ama-a-ni, her mother.’ ‘

‘

8

u

;

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS.

114

Su-nu-ma - ilu u Mar - ir - si - tim mare E-ri-ib-Sin

12. D.P.

Sunu-ma-ilu

and Mar-irsitim A

sons of Erib-Sin

15. u-ul i-tu-ru

shall not

u-ul i-ra-ga-mu,

(and)

shall not bring action.

MU D.P. UTUKI A- A D.P.

make claim

The

D.P.

AMAR-

spirit

Samas, Aa,

of

Merodach,

UDUK 18.

u Sa-am-su-i-lu-na [IN-

and Samsu-iluna, they have

PAD-DE-WES] Mahar mahar

-ilu

invoked. .

.

.

Ap - pa - an - ili

Before

....

-ilu

.

.

.

before Appan-ili, the judge

;

before Sinnatum, the judge

;

day an 21.

mahar D.P. Sin -na-tum dayanu mahar D.P. Sin-im-lik dayanu

SE- KIN -TAR

ITI

before Sin-imlik, the judge.

Month Adar, day

10th,

UTU U-KAMA 24.

MU

AMA-AR-GI

KI-

year of Arnargi (and) Kengi.

EN-GI KI Free Rendering.

(The tablet) of Ribatum, daughter of Sala,

to

whom

Sala,

her father, and Mulluktu, her mother, have given (property).

Sunu-ma-ilu and Mar-irsitim, sons of Erib-Sin, made claim against her, and took judges, and claimed from her 8

(?)

gan, the field her inheritance

(Result

:)

(?).

Sunu-ma-ilu and Mar-irsitim, sons of Erib-Sin,

make claim, and shall not bring action. They have invoked the spirit of Samas, Aa, Merodach,

shall not

and Samsu-iluna.

The

translation of ‘inheritance’ for hibilti in line 10 seems

to be required

by the context.

The word, however,

as well

as the meaning, is doubtful.

Utterrn in line 11 apparently comes from (uni, the root of

Hum

in line 15.

115

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS. The

“Year

date,

of

Amargi and Kengi,” is equivalent to Whether this entry refers

the second year of Satusu-iluna.

some conquest, or to a battle, is uncertain until further Keugi is given as historical details have been acquired.

to

equivalent to the land of Sumer, identified with that portion

known

of Babylonia

in the

most ancient times as Shinar.

Bu. 91-5-9, 418.

An Appeal

concerning Property Detained.

berutu (?) Samnet sar ana salset bar ma-na

sa

8

a plantation

sar,

which

mana of

for 3|

silver

kaspi

3

sa

-

is

mu

-

Marduk-mu-ba-

D.Pp.

was bought. Marduk-mubalit

li-it

haraset

hired

-hu-ul-lu-si

.

.

6.

berutu

sar

(?)

mi-is-lum

part

it-ba-al-ma i-te-pu-us

he took and acquired

zu-ha-ar-su

its

sattu

hamsaa 9.

(?) it

5 sar, a plantation (was) the

i-na

smaller piece

years in

a-si-ib

li-ib-bi

the

50

for

(?)

(?)

midst

have in-

I

habited.

um-ma a-na-ku-ma

gu-

um-me-er-ma id-nam kasp-am 12.

kasp-am di-nam u

bitu

esret (?) it

15.

u-ul id-

and the house was 10 gan, a

ekli si-bi-

i

-

di

-

id-di-nam-ma -

ka

-

:

field,

al

i-na-an-na a-di a-na-ku

“

Be

lost to

going by

who

my

me.

the possession

of the shrine-man ia

IS. is-tu satti selasaa

ak

(said)

ha-ab-la-an-ni

sa ki-nu-un su-bi-lu-u

-

then

pay the money,” (but) he did not pay the money,

BARA-NilATI

ala D.S.

I

contented, and

gan

[sa?] a-lik

a

Thus

(?)

side

delivers the censers

gave the place, and since the 30th year

I

am

Yow

eating (of

its

as long as I

produce).

—— EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS.

116

har-ra-an

21. i-na

be-li-ia

pathway

in the

of

my

lord,

of thee,

ka.-ta

i-na Sippar D.S. wa-as-

in Sippar dwell,

ba-ku half of

mi-si-il ekli-ia

24. si-bu-ut

field

il-

the elders of the place have

sa-ni-i-im-ma

it-

for the second time it has

ku-ma a-na

my

D.S.

ali

ta-at-

taken,

.

.

been (sequestrated

.

Be-li at-ta bet beruti

(?)

My

lord,

?).

thou the house of

the plantation

kub-bu-um-ma

27.

a-na

ra-kab-ia

li-ki-

.

.

be-li-ia

claim (?) and take, (and) let me send my messenger

lu-ub-lam

u ekl-am

to

ha-lu-ni-

sa

30. si-bu-ut ali

D.S. li-se-

let

lu-nim li-te-er-ru-

-

the elders of the place

the field let

nim-ma

ma

them

return,

and -

I shall not die.

at

My

33. Be-li at-ta i-zi-iz-za

D.P. Marduk ra-im a-na

has been

give up,

ekl-am a

lord,

field that

sequestrated from me,

in-ni

la

my

and the

-

ka

su-te-su-ri-im

36. i-na ki-it-tim ib-ni-ka

lord, be thou angry Merodach, he who loves thee,

to cause to

be directed

in justice created thee.

Free Rendering. (Tablet) referring to 8 sar, (the measure) of a plantation

was bought for 3^ mana of silver. Marduk-mubalit hired it, and a plantation of 5 sar was the amount he took I have inhabited the smaller portion for and acquired. “ Please pay the rent.” I said to him thus fifty years. lie did not pay the rent, and the house is a loss to me. that

:

A

of

field

goes'

by

(this) place

on

it.

10 gan, the property of the temple-servant who side, who causes the censer to be brought

my

he sold (me), and since the 30th year

Now

I

have lived

that I dwell in Sippar, in the service of thee,

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS.

117

ray lord, the elders of the place have taken the half of field,

and

for the second

My

me).

lord,

time

lord,

and

let

who

let

me

my

send

messenger to

the elders of the place give up the field that

me

has been sequestrated from

and I

(from

(r')

do thou claim and take possession of the

house (and) plantation, (and)

my

has been alienated

it

my

My

shall not die.

—

let

them return the field, Meroduclv

be thou severe.

lord,

loves thee, formed thee to rule in righteousness.

This text being a given with

all

the above translation

difficult one,

reserve,

is

many improvements in the when more is known

for

rendering will undoubtedly be made

concerning the language and manners and customs of the

time to which line

it

The

belongs.

years mentioned in

fifty

8 and the thirtieth j'ear referred to in line 18 are,

naturally, difficult to

reconcile,

though an explanation of

found before long.

this difficulty will probably be

words and expressions at present doubtful

Certain

also obscure the

meaning, as well as one or two slight breaks.

The rests

by berutu

transcription of

on the probability that the group

&

’Eh, which was pronounced the Akkadian, and was therefore a variant Itepiis in liue 7

new form

(the

‘

to

acquire.’

secondary one of

If

6,

26)

equivalent to (ki-gala )

in

it.

this

the kal)

which

epesti,

be the case, has

hitherto

to

be

met with

the pu’ul, found in the Assyrian contract tablets. Zi/har in line 8

is

apparently the construct case of zuharu,

word that seems to come from the small,’ by the change of s into s.

a

In line 10 the verb texts, omitted.

‘

Gummer

said is

pu’ul of the verb gamaru,

here the meaning of ‘

of

The form

registered in the dictionaries. is

is

same

seems to come from the root

has the meaning of a

(lines 1,

‘

’

is,

root saharu,

as often

‘

to

be

happens in these

apparently the imperative of the ‘

to complete,’

and has evidently

be content,’ equivalent to our word

please.’

BARA-jSITAH

(line 14)

would appear from

to designate a ‘temple-servant.’

The

this passage

text Bu. 91-5-9,

419

EARLY BABYXONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS.

118 (see

p.

109

seems to indicate that the temple-servants

ff.),

were escaped slaves whose masters could not be found. Kinun in line 16 is apparently the terminationless form kinumi, meaning, according to Delitzsch,

of

and

‘censer.’

Kubbn

have regarded the form here used as being

and probably means

to claim

*

Izizza in line 33 seems to be is

’

(line 27) is apparently the imperative pu’ul of kabu,

to speak,’

Izizzn

chafing-dish

but the singular may, nevertheless, be intended.

collective,

‘

I

‘

probably for

from

or

*

demand.’

‘

to be angry.’

again being for

this

iziza,

’

ezezu,

the

izza,

root-vowel being kept on account of the obscuration of the

form that would otherwise have occurred by the bringing together of the two s’s. Notwithstanding the

many

doubtful points in this text,

may

the general sense of the whole

One

fairly certain. is

it

be regarded as being

peculiar thing about

addressed to some one

who was

person making the complaint, there

is

it is,

that although

the superior of the

not the usual dutiful

introductory phrases that generally begin documents of this kind.

This being the case,

the personage was

it

impossible to find out

is

who was appealed

who

to.

Bo. 91-5-9, 2,474.

Claim and Judgment.

A-na

isten

amtu ad-kal

3.

Concerning one

slave,

her

sa A-ya-ti-ia

handmaid (?), which Ayatia, her mother,

a-na

to

si-im

um-ma-sa Hu-la-al-tim

Hulaltum, her daughter,

marti-sa i-zi-bu-si-ma

Hu-la-al

left,

her,

and Hulaltum

turn

A-ya-ti-ia umma-sa

6.

D.P.

Ayatia, her mother

it-ta-assu-si-i-ma

nourished her, and

D.Pp. Sin-na-sir mu-ti D.P. A-ya-ti-ia sa i-na

Sin-nasir was husband of

liu-zu I).S.

Ayatia.

What was

in

Buzu

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS. 9.

D.P.

A-va-ti-ia

sattu

Ayatia

119

20th year

(in) tbe

esraa i-zi-bu-si-ma

um la ra am

her and (there) was

left

no tablet a-na mi-im-roa sa A-yati-ia

su

(?)

After Ayatia

a-na si-ma-ti-sa il-li

15.

D.P.

of

Ayatia.

12. is-tu A-ya-ti-ia

-

anything

concerning

(?)

(?)

to her fate

ku

went,

a-na

Sin -na- sir

Sin-nasir against Hulaltum

Hu-la-al-tim as-sura ad-kal-si-im

concerning her maid

(?)

ir-gu-um-ma

brought action, and

Isarlitn

I-sar-

li-im

ra-bi-a-an Sippar

18.

scribe of Sippar,

D.S.

u kar Sippar D.S. di-

and recorder

nam

(?)

of Sippar,

judgment caused them to have.

u-sa-hi-zu-su-nu-

ti-ma 21.

He

ar-nam i-mi-du-su

placed the

him u-ul i-ta-ar-ma u-ul i-ra-

he

Marduk u

make claim and

shall not bring action.

D.P. Samas

nis

;

shall not

ga-mu

wrong upon

D.P.

Ha-ani-

mu-ra-bi 24. Di-in I-sar-li-im

D.P. Amat-D.P. Samas

The

Samas, Meroand Hammurabi (they have invoked). spirit of

dach,

J udgment of

Isarlitn,

Amat-Samas, the agent,

D.P. damkaru 27.

30.

D.P. Itti-Bel-ki-in-ni

Itti-Bel-kini,

D.P. Bur-Siu

Bur-Sin,

D.P. Il-su-ba-ni

Il-su-bani.

Arah Adari

Month Adar,

MU

Year

IT-TI -SI-DA

ELLIL-LA

of the canal Sida-Ellila.

EARLY BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLETS.

120

Free Rendering. slave, her maid, whom Ayatia, her Hulaltum, her daughter, and Hulaltum (on that account) nourished Ayatia, her mother. And Sin-nasir What (was) in the city Buzu (was) husband of Ayatia.

Concerning

mother,

Ayatia tablet

one

left to

the 20th year, and there was no

her in

to

left

(documentary evidence) concerning anything (that

(?)

After Ayatia died, Sin-nasir brought

belonged) to Ayatia.

an action against Hulaltum on account of the maidservant, and Isarlim, scribe of the city of Sippar and recorder (?) of Sippar, caused

him

(Sin-nasir)

them

to

to

He

receive judgment.

He

he in the wrong.

Judgment

bring action in the matter.

is

declared

not again to

of Isarlim.

(The

four names which follow are apparently those of a kind of jury.)

The

and 16) by ad-kal is very uncertain, the second character of the group having There is every probability that the word so many values. is

transcription of t^y

(lines

1

Akkadian.

In line 9 the text seems to he corrupt, and the rendering “ there was no tablet ” is, therefore, provisional. Perhaps

we ought (or la

to read, instead of

duppa )

la

ra-am, £yp[

ty^j

um

um-ma

>^y

ra-ga-am, “(saying) thus:

(?),

‘(There

to be)

is

no going

”

to law.’

From

this inscription it

to which

it

over their

refers,

own

property.

adopted Hulaltum property.

seems clear

Babylonian as

that, at the period

women had

In this

case,

Ayatia must have

her daughter, and

Sin-nasir, however,

is

absolute control

left

to

her her

here represented as pro-

ceeding against his foster-daughter to recover the slave referred

to.

The mutilation

of the chronological

to fix the exact date in the reign of

tablet

was written.

list

does not allow' us

Hanimurabi when the

121

MALAY BOOKS BEQUEATHED

LIST OF TIIE

TO THE SOCIETY BY THE LATE

SIR W.

MAXWELL,

E.

K.C.M.G.

Compiled from Notes made by C. Otto Blagden, M.R.A.S.

1.

MS.

Hikdyat Indra Pntra.

Dated

a page.

a.d. 1887.

A

22

Fol.

110.

Size,

13 by

work,

on

liues

8.

2.

Tuhfat al Najis.

3.

modern times, including an account of the Royal Family of Selangor. By Raja ‘Ali of Riau. MS. Fol. 228. 22 liues on a page. Dated a.h. 1307. Size, 12^ by 7£. Hikdyat Shamsu‘1 Barin. MS. Fol. 83. 25 lines on

4.

a page. Size, 13 by Hikdyat Raja Bxidimdn.

history of

a page. 5.

Size,

MS.

MS.

22

Fol. 28. 7.

lines

25 lines on

Fol. 42.

8£.

Sultan

Mahmud Shah

22

on a page.

of

Fol. 21.

Kitab TJndang Jlalaka.

the

to

9.

abruptly at 58th chapter. 6.

containing

Malay States down

13£ by

Laws

Undang-undang. Malacca.

historical

certain

Book

lines

Size,

of

13 by

Laws

on a page.

8.

of Malacca.

Size, 13

of

Ending

by

MS.

8.

Three Malay Tales by Mir Hassan, viz. Sri Rama, fol. 27 Raja Donan, fol. 29 Raja Ambon g, fol. 20. MS. 24 lines on a page. Dated a.h. 1303. Size, :

;

;

13 i by 8i. 8.

A sal

Raja-raja Malay u, or Kitab Katurunan Raja-raja

A Genealogical

Malayu.

Chronology of Malay Kings.

Followed by sketches of the history of Muar and

Naning

;

a

list

Councillors

(circ.

(561-1242)

a

States

;

(a.h.

of Malacca Governors and Resident

1717-1855); a list of the Khalifs of Riau and other Malay

history

1087-1156), containing

a

good

deal

122

THE MALAY BOOKS

LIST OF

about the relations of the Malays with the Dutch

Government 9.

Dated a.h. 1242. 13| by 8j. Apparently the same as the lists

Chronological Extracts.

No.

in

A

24

Treatise on lines

11.

Size,

but without the following history.

8,

Fol. 11. 10.

MS.

of Malacca.

21 lines on a page.

Fol. 27.

lines the

on a page.

TJndang-undang

on a page.

Size,

Hukurn Qanun. Size, 13 by 8.

13 by

MS.

Laws.

Menangkabau.

MS.

8.

Fol. 30.

34

Followed

by MS.

a poetic address to the reader bjr the copyist.

14.

Fol. 25. 26 lines on a page. Size, 13 by 8. Book of Laics. Wants beginning. MS. Fol. 19. 22 lines on a page. Size, 13 by 8. Kitab Ta‘bir Mimpi. Treatise on the interpretation of Dreams and other matters connected with Luck and Magic. MS. Fol. 15. 27 to 30 lines on a page. Size, 13j by 8. Taj al Salatin, or Mahkota Segala Raja-raja. MS. Fol. 102. 20 lines on a page. Dated a.d. 1880. Size, 13| by 9|. Hikagat Kanja Mara. Litho. Singapore, a.h. 1303.

15.

A

lift.

12.

13.

Treatise on Magic, Divination, in No.

13 by 16.

).

A

19.

MS.

Hikayat Raja

A

1st part (continued

lines on a page.

Size,

Genealogical History of the Kings

Fol. 100.

Religious Treatise.

MS.

etc.

22

21 lines on a page.

Size,

9.

Fol. 17. 18.

A

MS.

Kedah.

12f by (a)

Fol. 30.

8.

Si/silat al Salatin.

of

17.

MS.

26

BCiijan

Fol. 80.

25

Treatise on Laics.

Fol. 11.

(b)

lines on a page.

A

Book of Laics. 13 by 8.

Size,

Budvnan. A series of 22 Tales. lines on a page. Size, 13 by 9. Imperfect. Maritime Law, Law

Family Property, etc. MS. Fol. 43. 32 lines on Size, 12f by 8. Book A of Laus. 64 chapters. Followed by a chapter containing a story of Raja Nusrawan the Just

of

a page. 20.

(a)

(Charitra Ilaja

22

lines

Nusrawan

on a page.

Size,

‘Aadil).

12| by

8.

MS.

Fol. 20.

BEQUEATHED TO 21.

A History of Kedah.

Mdrong Mahawangsa. 19 lines on a page.

22. Surat

Anbia.

at

123

TIIE SOCIETY.

Size, 12^

of

Stories

by

MS.

Fol. 75.

8.

Yol.

Prophets.

the

I.

Beginning with the Creation of the World, of Satan, Adam, etc., to Joseph’s being sent into Egypt. MS. Fol. 150. 23 lines on a page. Size, 12g by 8J. 23. Surat

Anbia.

at

Continuation of story of

Yol. II.

Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Zachariah, to Jesus

(Nabi

Isa). Followed by 12 pages of short stories, ending with that of Jonah (Nabi Yunus). Fol. 142.

Dated a.h. 1294.

A

24. (1)

fighting

On

(2)

Lucky and Unlucky

Treatise on Foic/s.

Cock-

(for

18 chapters.

?).

Casting

Shooting,

of Bullets,

(Magic.)

etc.

7 chapters.

A

(3)

MS. 25.

A

History

Genealogical

2 chapters.

of

Kings

the

of Perak.

Fol. 21.

23

Fol. 49.

on a page.

lines

down

History of Perak,

to

Size,

12§ by

8.

about a.d. 1770.

Con-

taining particulars regarding the relations with the

MS.

Dutch Government of Batavia, etc. lines on a page. Size, 12k by 8£.

Fol. 61.

25 26.

MS.

Sejarah Malayii.

Dated a.h. 1266. 27.

Hikdyat Bistamam

28.

Hikdyat

Biwayat.

clan

29.

30.

12| by

Litho.

(?).

Romance. MS. Dated a.d. 1882.

21 lines on a page.

Fol. 118.

Size,

8.

Singapore.

Fol.

Stories

and

Traditions.

A

23 lines on a page. llj and 8|. 186.

Fol. Size,

Comparative Vocabularies of Malay and various Dialects. Some of the words are those of non-Malayan Jungle

A

Semang,

Tribes,

Sakai,

written

in

23

on a page.

lines

the Arabic

Mythical History relating

with a a page.

the list

Jakun,

Mentra,

character.

MS.

Size, 12

(?).

by

Size, 11

by

7|.

all

8.

Beginning with

myth about Iskandar, MS. Fol. 13.

of Rajas.

etc.,

Fol. 154.

Adam

etc.

20

and

Ending lines

on

124 31.

Hikayat Abdullah

33.

well-known

the

of

First lithographed

bin 'Abdulkader.

‘

edition

32.

THE MALAY BOOKS

LIST OF

autobiography of

the

Munshi ‘Abdullah. Litho. 4to. Edited by Roorda van Eysinga. Printed. Sri Rdma. Amsterdam, 4to. 1843. Sh'iar Ken Tambuhan. A Poem, with notes. Edited by de Hollander.

J. J.

Printed.

By

Printed.

Leiden, 1853.

4to.

Lettres et Pieces Diplomatiques.

34. Chrestomathie Malaye.

E. Dulaurier.

Fasc.

I.

8vo.

Paris,

1845. 35.

A

Raja Ambdng.

Malay

Faii’y Tale. Printed.

Pamphlet.

last page.)

(Wanting

8vo.

36. Hikayat ''Abdullah bin Abdulkader '

Duplicate of Ho. 31.

.

Imperfect. 37.

Taj al Salatin.

38.

Hikayat Jahidin.

39.

Collection

Litho.

Sarawak,

4to.

Printed.

a.h. 1287.

Singapore, 1888.

8vo.

des principales Chroniques Alalayes, C/irouique

de Pasey,

etc.

E. Dulaurier.

Fasc.

8vo.

Printed.

I.

Paris, 1849. 40. Biblia Halaice.

41.

(2) Qdrnus al

By

only.)

Willmet.

J.

A

Mahmud

Said

Harlemi, 1824.

8vo.

(Malay

Malay Dictionary.

Printed.

bin ‘Abdulkader.

Singapore, 1893.

8vo. 42.

Ed.

Mahmudiyah.

Malaye.

Chrestomathie

Printed.

Fasc. I and II.

Chroniques Malayes.

1849.

By

43. (1) Sh'air

(?).

8vo.

Paris,

1845.

8vo.

Paris,

(Bound in two vols.) Poem. Fol. 66. 17 lines,

E. Dulaurier.

MS.

A

in

double column, on a page.

An lines

44. (1)

Account of on a page.

the

Isrd and Mi'rdj.

Size,

8f by

TJndang - undang Menangkdbau.

MS.

132 chapters.

in

Fol. 32.

19

6.

Fol. 69.

A

Book

of

Laws

13 to 16 lines on

a page. (2)

A

Genealogical Account and Lists of the Kings

Perak.

of

Fol. 12.

(3)

Another paper on the same

(4)

Short Chronological Account of the Sultans of Stamboul or

Rum.

Size,

8£ by 5£.

subject.

Fol. 12.

BEQUEATHED TO 45. Rules

Land Assessment under

of

the

Malacca Lands

Singapore, 1888.

8vo.

Printed.

Ordinances.

125

TIIE SOCIETY.

Burong Bdyan Budimdn. MS. Fol. 130. 13 to 16 lines on a page. Dated a.d. 1879. Size, 8=j by 6J. A Book of Laics. Containing Law of Property, Maritime Code of Malacca, Laws of Menangkiibau, Constitutional Law, Hukum Qanun, Criminal Law, Fol. 77. 17 lines on a page. Size, etc. MS. 9 by 6i. An Alphabetic Acrostic Poem. Pantan Alif Bd Ta.

46. Jlikdyat

47.

48.

MS. 49.

A

by

double column, on a page.

Part with Malay

Book of Arabic Prayers or Texts. 17

or

notes

lines, in

double column, on a page.

of Patani

(?).

by

6|.

Raja Donan.

MS.

translations.

By Daud

Treatise on the Laic of Marriage.

Size, 9

51.

lines, in

7j.

interlinear

50.

14

Fol. 4.

Size, 9

MS.

Printed.

Fol. 77.

21

Fol. 17.

Size, 9

by

6j.

bin ‘Abdullah

lines

on a page,

Singapore, 1887.

8vo.

Alf Lailah ica Lailah, or Jlikdyat Saribu Safu Mdlam. Malay version of the Arabian Nights. First

52. IJikayat

Litho.

portion.

a

Singapore.

A

Book Borneo MS. MS.

53. Surat

Fa‘al.

Size, 8 1

54. Kitab at

of

Divination.

Copied from

11 lines on a page.

Fol. 21.

by 6|.

Huruf Aksar

bildngan.

A

short treatise ap-

parently ou the mystic meaning and value of the letters of the

a page. 55.

Alphabet.

Size,

Taj al Solatia. Size,

8| by

Muhammadan

MS. Dh‘ul

A

Fol. 84.

Yazan.

Prince of

16 lines on a page. 57.

Fol. 12.

15 lines on

15 lines on a page.

62.

Tubb‘a

56. Jlikdyat

MS.

8f by 6£.

Size,

A

History of

Yemen. MS. 8j by 6|.

a pre-

Fol.

169.

Series of Explanations of various Arabic Words. Arabic words in red, followed by lengthy Malay

explanations in black. a page.

Size,

8* by 6|.

MS.

Fol. 9.

17 lines on

126 58.

A

Mainly love songs, especially 16 and 17 lines, in double column, on a page. Size, 8 by 6j. Rikayat Strangled (?) Bayu. A Romance. MS. Fol. 57. 15 lines on a page. Size, 8f by 6J. Rikayat Raja-raja berputra, or ‘Adat Segala Raja-raja Malayu yang purba kala. A treatise on the Malay Court Customs and Ceremonies observed during Pregnancy. With Notes and Glossary. MS. Fol. 60. 15 lines on a page. Size, 8 by 61. Collection

of Poems.

MS.

Pantuns.

59.

60.

THE MALAY BOOKS

LIST OF

Fol. 97.

Treatise on the

Muhammadan Law

MS.

17 and 18 lines on

61. Kitdb al Fara'idh.

of Inheritance.

Dated a.h. 1275. Size, 8| by 6f. the Isra and AJi'rdj. Litho.

a page. 62.

An

Fol. 22.

Account of

8vo.

a.h. 1298. 63.

A

Poem.

MS.

on a page. 64.

Sha'ir Song king

8j by

A

(?).

lines,

in double column,

6J.

Poem about

Kosambi Karta

of

15

Fol. 38. Size,

Litho.

(?).

Ratu Udina

a certain

Singapore,

4to.

a.h. 1303. 65.

Sha'ir Acheh.

A

Poem

about Achin.

Litho.

4to.

Litho.

4to.

a.h. 1303.

A

Bungd Ayer Mdwar.

66. Sha‘ir

Poem.

Singapore, a.h. 1296. 67.

Rikayat Abu Sambah.

A Story.

Litho.

4to.

Singapore,

A

Litho.

4to.

Singapore,

a.h. 1304. 68. Sha‘ir Iblis Shaitani.

Poem.

a.h, 1302. 69. Sha'ir

A

Unggas bersudl jawdb.

Poem.

Litho.

4to.

Singapore, a.h. 1298. 70. Rikayat

A

Panchatandran,

Malay version

Rikayat

or

of Kalilah

Gallia

wa Damnah.

Damina.

Litho.

8vo.

Singapore, a.d. 1868.

Pemimpln Johor Malay Grammar and

71. Kitdb

(or

Janhari).

Style.

Litho.

A

Manual of

8vo.

Singapore,

a.d. 1878.

72. Sha'ir Pengantin

Nikah Kahwin. a.h. 1303.

Jurdgan Awi

A

Poem.

(?),

or Sha'ir Pcngantin

Litho.

4to.

Singapore,

.

BEQUEATHED TO THE Bungd Ayer Mduar.

73. S/ia‘ir

Singapore,

4to.

Litlio.

1303.

a. h.

A

dan Puyu-puyu.

74. Sha'ir I/can Terubo'

Poem.

Litlio.

Singapore, a.h. 1304.

4to.

75.

127

SOCIETY.

A

Tanbiah al Akhwdn.

Muhammadan

of the

Treatise on the Ceremonial

Religion.

Raja Shah Mardan.

76. Ilikdyat

MS.

origin.

Fol. 88.

Litlio.

A

Law

4to.

Romance

of Indian

15 lines on a page.

Size,

Romance.

MS.

8 by 6£. 77.

Hikayat Ilang Yol.

A

Tuah.

Historical

Fol. 199.

I.

Hang Tuah. Yol. II. Fol. 173. and a.h. 1310. 17 lines on a page.

Dated

78. Hikayat

79.

Muhammad

Hikayat Litho.

4to.

a.h. 1292.

80.

A

81.

Hikayat Maharaja Ali

Malay of a number Arabic Technical Terms (Religious, Grammatical, of Legal, etc.). MS. Fol. 32. 13 lines on a page.

Treatise containing the Explanation in

Dated a.h. 1263.

Size, 8

‘

A

by

6^.

Historical

15 lines on a page.

Fol. 27. S2.

1892

7f by 65. Historical Work.

A

Hanifia.

a. d.

Size,

Romance. by 6g.

Also known as

Sha'ir Salindang (or Silindung) Dalima.

Sha‘ir Sri Biuiian. in double column,

A Poem.

MS.

on a page.

Litho.

Fol. 72.

Size, 8

The Rites and Ceremonies

83. Sabilal.

by

15

lines,

6|.

Muhammadanism.

of

Singapore, a.h. 1289.

4to.

MS.

Size, 8

(First fasciculus

wanting.) 84.

Sha

f

ir

*

Abdul Muluk.

A

Poem. Litho.

4to.

Singapore,

a.h. 1288.

The Gospel of London, 1886. 86. Sha‘ir Abdul Muluk. Litho. 85. Injll Lukas.

‘

87.

Bab

A

al Nikah.

Fol. Size,

88. Sha‘ir

St.

4to.

Luke.

Treatise on Marriage

17 lines on a page.

7f by

6.

a.h. 1298.

A

8vo.

Singapore, a.h. 1284.

127.

Punggo \

Printed.

Poem.

Litho.

Law. MS. Dated a.h. 1245. 8vo.

Singapore,

128

THE MALAY BOOKS

LIST OF

Menyurat Surat Kiriman kapada Raja-raja,

89. Peraturan

dan Aturan Membuat Klra-Kira dan Haribulan. sort of “ Polite Letter- Writer.” Litho. 4to.

etc.,

A

Singapore, a.h. 1288. 90.

Hikayat Raja Budak.

Ken Tambuhan,

91. Sha'ir

Litho. 93.

A

Litho.

Hikayat Abu Naicas.

(2)

4to.

17 lines on a page.

Fol. 77.

94. Sha'ir Jauliar Manlkam, or Juragan

Poem.

A

Poem.

Treatise on Religious Observances, Fasting, Prayers,

MS.

95.

A

or Tabuhan.

Hikayat Darmah Tasiah.

(1)

Singapore, a.h. 1288.

4to.

Singapore, a.h. 1288.

4to.

92.

Litho.

Litho.

by

Size, 7£

Budiman.

etc.

6J.

A Romantic

Singapore, a.h. 1284.

4to.

(1) Hikayat Si Miskin. Litho. Hikayat Darmah Tasiah. Litho. (3) Hikayat

Collection of Pieces, viz.: (2)

Abu Nawas.

"Litho.

Hikayat Raja Suliman.

(4)

Litho. (5) Charita Laila Majnun. MS. Fol. 26. Dated a.h. 1274. Sha'ir MS. Fol. 5. (7) Sha'ir (6)

A

Litho.

Sinyor, or Sha'ir Stlambari.

(8)

Sha'ir Iblis.

Litho. 96.

A

Customary Laic of Menangkabau and other Legal Matters. Written in a dialect containing Treatise on the

Menangkabau words. lines

97.

An

on a page.

Size,

MS.

Fol.

to

17

Fol.

34.

136 of Yol.

IT,

MS.

Account of the Lsra and Mi'raj. 15 lines on a page. Size, 7| by 64.

98. Niemann's

Bloemlezing.

14

58.

7f by 5f.

Pages

1

to

being part of Hikayat ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abdulkilder

Munshi. 99. Johor

Land Revenue

8vo. 100. Penggli

In Malay.

Regulations.

Printed.

a.h. 1311. Ildti.

Printed. 101.

Printed.

The Acts

4to.

A

Collection

of

Modern Anecdotes.

Singapore, A.n. 1878.

of the Apostles.

Malajr

.

Printed.

London, 1888. 102. The Psalms of David.

Malay.

Printed.

8vo.

8vo.

BEQUEATHED TO THE SOCIETY.

129

A GenoaKings of Perak. MS. Fol. Ki. 15 to 18 lines on a page. Written at Blanja, Perak, a.h. 1299. Size, 6^ by 4.

103. Si/si/ah Raja-raja yang diddlam negrl Perak. logical History of the

104.

A

Religious

a page.

Treatise.

Size,

MS.

Fol.

32.

15

on

6f by 4j.

105. Fragment wrapped up in ornamental doth.

Part of a

First dozen or so of pages missing.

historical work.

On

lines

the lines of the Sejdrah Malaya, but shorter, and

with several divergencies. of the Perak

a page.

Rajas.

Size, 7 1

MS.

Ending with a history Fol.

36.

15

lines

on

by 4f.

—This

list has been made for record and library Mr. Blagden hopes to make a more thorough examination of the collection and to catalogue them more

Note.

purposes.

exactly.

— 0. C.

J R.A.S.

1899.

9

^

131

CORRESPONDENCE.

Tathagata.

1.

Monsieur

Honore

et

d’ajouter quelques mots

Secretaire,

— Permettez

-

moi

ce qui a ete dit de la question

a,

debattue dans notre Journal

c’est-a-dire,

;

du sens

de

et

l’etymologie du mot tathagata.

Je ne puis dire quelle signification

les

premiers bouddhistes

attacbaient a ce terme, mais on peut hardiment affirmer ce qu’il etait

En

pour eux au premier

et le second

tathagata a 4te traduit en chinois par les

a.c.,

deux mots zho ‘

lai

dont

#[]

venir, Tenant,’

Consequemment, pour 4poque tathagata

que

Mais en ce cas, que pas d’une maniere obvie Si

ou

les

equivalait

N’est-il pas probable

La reponse

:

le

ce

premier signifie ‘ainsi’

venu.’

Indous bouddhistes de cette tatha

a

agata,

‘

ainsi

venu.’

c’etait soil acception primitive ?

ce tatha qui ne s’explique

signifie ?

mot

me

parait

tatha a ses derives

vraie nature d’un etre,’ tathya

‘

*

k cette question ne

Ton compare

de Rotfi

de notre ere.

de l’introduction du bouddhisme en Chine,

effet, lors

en l’an 67

siecle

‘

pas

difficile.

tathatwam

1

la

vrai ’(Sanscrit Wbrterbucfi

wahre natur, wahr), et a son congeuere tattwam on sera force de conclure que tathagata selon les Indous eux-memes, ‘qui est venu veii-

essence, verite,’

signifiait,

diquement, selon sa nature,

comme

cela devait

eti-e.’

Je propose cette solution a la discussion de nos savants confreres.

—Yotre tout devoue, C.

Louvain 24 ,

Oct.,

1898.

de Harlez.

;

132

CORRESPONDENCE.

Chiniot of Babar’s First Campaign in India.

2.

Belfast, Oct. 27, 1898.

Dear of the

Sir,

— In

Mr. Beanies’

Kandahar Inscription”

October,

1898,

after

citing

on “ The Geography

article

in the Society’s Journal for

the

references

in

Babar’s

Memoirs, pp. 254, 255, to the countries of Behrah, Khushab, Chenab, and ChaniOt, he identifies the last of these places (at p. 804) with “ Chiniot, a town on the Bavi near Gugaira,” and interprets Babar’s reference to it as meaning

the

Rechna Duab.

Chiniot

is

not on the Ravi, but on the Chenab, and

fully sixty miles

Bhera, which

known

is

town, and

is

from Gugaira, and about fifty miles from almost due north of it. It is still a wellthe headquarters of a revenue subdivision

is

Jhang district. It will be found under the name of Chanyot in the map of the Panjab illustrating Alexander’s campaign, opposite p. 104 of Cunningham’s “ Ancient Geography of India,” and as Chandanvati in (tahsil)

of the

map

and a rocky hill near it is mentioned In an enumeration of old cities of the Panjab at p. 183. in the Archaeological Survey Report for 1872-3, at p. 94, Cunningham includes Sodra, Chaniot, and Shorkot on the the following

;

Chenab. It

was while on his way across the Salt Range

to

Bhera

in

February, 1519 a.d., that Babar mentioned these countries, “ among which ” he “ now was ” (Dowson’s Elliot, M.H.,

had been Kabul which districts and Zabul. lie appears to have meant the were within easy reach of the fort of Bhera, and could be and the mention of controlled by a force stationed there

iv,

232),

and which he desired

to recover, as they

in the possession of Sultan MasTid Mirza, ruler of

;

Chiniot indicates that the country in

that neighbourhood,

Some part on both banks of the Chenab, was included. of the Rechna Duiib (between the Cheniib and Ravi rivers) would thus be included, but probably not a very large part and the country adjoining the Ravi, as well as the Upper

— PEDRO TEIXEIRA ON THE VEDDAS OF CEYLON. Rechna Duab, could hardly be

referred

to,

as

133

they would

naturally he controlled by the garrison of Lahore.

From the positions of Bhera, may fairly be inferred that the the greater part of the as this

was included

But

Khushab

as

from Bhera,

line

it

Lower Chaj Duab, except

in the other three

so

far

countries named.

only about forty miles in a straight

is

its

Khusluib, and Cliiniot

Cheniib country embraced

territory can scarcely be said to comprise

At most it the Sind Sugar Duab. would represent the middle part of that Duiib, and probably it would not extend right across it to the Indus. In the same article, at p. 801, last line, a comma is apparently omitted between Shor and Patan Shaikh Farid. Shor appears to be Shorkot, north of the confluence of the Ravi and the Cheniib while Patan Shaikh Farid is the place now known as Piik Patan, the ancient Ajudhan, near which there was an important ferry over the Satlej (see Cunningham, “Ancient Geography of India,” p. 218). Yours truly, D. G. Barkley. the southern part of

;

To the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society.

3.

Dear

Pedro Teixeira on the Veddas of Ceylon. Sir,

—Yone

Ceylon seems

to

of the

many

writers on the

have called attention

to

what

the earliest reference by a European writer

men

of

the woods.”

Teixeira’s Relaciones

2 ,

from the subject of products, etc.

“

1

is,

Veddas of

apparently,

“wild

to these

This occurs in cap. xxxv of Pedro where, in one of his his

book,

he

many

refers

to

digressions

Ceylon,

After speaking of cinnamon, he proceeds

its :

And

before leaving the forests where it [the cinnamon] grows same Island of Seylan, I shall relate the custom of a certain race that lives in them which is worthy of being known these barbarians are called Pachas, and dwell naked in the thickets and in the

:

1

I

exclude the Greek and Latin authors quoted by Tennent, as their references

are doubtful, to say the least. *

See R.A.S. Journal for 1897, pp. 624-628, 933-939.

134

COKRESPOXDEXCE.

woods, living on the fruits thereof:

but their principal food

is

which the Island contains a large number, and killing many with bow and arrow they cut them in pieces, and in the trunks of the oldest and most worm-eaten trees, which on that account have most capacity, having filled them with honey, of which there is abundance there, they place as much of that flesh as will fill them, and leave it thus until the time of need, when they make use of it; which in the honey is preserved without corruption, and they eat it without preparing it in any other way to which I refer on account of its being a strange manner

flesh of deer, of

;

of living.”

That the above refers to the Veddas there cannot be the custom being described by Governor Rijklof van Goens 1 in 1675, by Robert Knox 2 in 1681, and by least doubt, the

Captain Joao Ribeiro

3

in

1685.

Teixeira has, however,

confused the Veddas with a low caste of Sinhalese, who, in early Portuguese times in Ceylon, appear to have led a

bandit

in the western forests,

life

armed

(like the

Veddas)

with bows and arrows.

The is

earliest reference that I

have found to these Pachas

V, liv. v, cap. viii), where, recounting the massacre in 1539, by command of Miguel

in Couto (dec.

treacherous

Ferreira, of the

Moors Pachi Marca and Cunhale Marca,

the historian says

:

— “ And

that night, as they were going

where by order of Madune were through the concealed many Pachas (who are a caste of Chingalas of the most cruel nature, who when they have overthrown an enemy immediately cut off his nose and lips), as they were passing along they poured flights of arrows upon them, and one by one struck them all down, and cutting off their heads sent them to Miguel Ferreira, by which he forests,

was appeased.” Again, in his graphic description of the famous siege of

Colombo by liv.

1

2

3

ix,

‘

Raj u

cap. iv)

’

(Raja Sinha I) in 1587, Couto (dec. X,

says that at one of the posts of defence

In Valentyn’s “Oud on nieuw Oost-Iudien,” doel “ Hist,. Rel.,” p. 63. “ Fatnlidade Hist.,” p. 70.

v,

“Ceylon,”

p. 208.

MORE LIGHT ON ‘OMAR KH.VYAM.

135

the captain of the fortress placed “ some Dorias

who

Pachas,

1

with their

are a race low by blood, but valiant in war.”

From Bocarro (dec. 13, cap. clxviii) we learn that in 1617 the captain-major Manuel Cesar marched with his troops to Hiripitiya, in the Hiipitigam Korale,

the faithless pachas,”

of

to

inflict

“a

village

chastisement on them

for their treachery.

Ribeiro (op.

mentions the Pachas as a people of low

cit.)

and from the Portuguese account of the siege of Colombo bv the Dutch in 1655-6 embodied in Baldaeus’s

caste

;

“ Ceylon,”

seems that Pachas were

it

defence of the city,

Valentyn list

;

as they

still

employed in the

had been seventy years before.

does not enumerate them in his elaborate

(op. cit.)

of castes

2

and the only mention of them that I have

found in his work

is

in a list of castes in the disdvani of

Colombo drawn up in 1707 by the Dessave Bolscho, where 922 “Paatjes” are entered, being preceded by “Chialiassen” (

chaliyas , or cinnamon-peelers)

{hinndi'd, or

The name ‘Pacha,’ died out in Ceylon. paja,

or

and followed by “Hunawas”

washers for chaliyas). as applied to a caste, appears to

The word

“ Sudra,

pajaya,

itself is

have

simply Sink, pajja,

man, one

low and wicked

of

a degraded tribe, mischievous fellow” (Clough), the literal

meaning being

‘

foot-born,’

origin of the Sudras.

Croydon ,

Sir,

to

the

legendary

Donald Ferguson.

Oct. 1, 1898.

4.

Dear

referring

— Yours very truly,

More Light on ‘Omar Khayam.

— With

very interesting

reference to Professor Denison Ross’s

article,

and

to

Mr. Burn’s

letter,

I beg

leave to point out that the true reading for the penultimate

1

A

Duraya

is

a headman of the jaggery, palankin-bearer, and cinnamon-

peeler castes. 2

The Portuguese diarist says: “On the 13th four Pachas deserted.” This the English translator (in Churchill’s “Voyages,” vol. iii) renders: “The 13th we sent away four Pachas, or Advice-boats” He evidently confounded Pachas with pataxos. !

)

136

word

CORRESPONDENCE. of the first line of the verse quoted at p.

April number has shown

kham and not

is

me

that this

the

is

*£>

ham.

359 of the Mr. Whinfield

MSS.

of the Tarikh Alfi in the

Lucknow

reading in the

edition of the quatrains, and I have since found British

it

in three

Museum and

in

two in the India Office. This reading also makes better sense. What ‘Omar said was, “ You have gone and come back, nay, you have turned crooked,” in allusion to the circumstance of the erect body of a man having been changed into the crooked or bent body of a quadruped. If the abridged copy of the Tarikh Alfi referred to by Professor Schukovski be that described by Dr. Dorn in the Melanges Asiatiques, vi, 121, it is a very modern work, it having been written in 1834. The Tarikh Alfi was written by the order of Akbar and dates from about 1586. The dates given in it are calculated from the death ( Rihlat of Muhammad, and so are ten years less than the Ilijra dates. Hence, when ‘Omar Khayam’s death is placed under the year 495 in the Tarikh Alfi this means 505 a.h. But even then the date given for the death

twelve years less than

is

commonly accepted one (517 a.h.). The notice in the Tarikh Alfi is a curious

the

apparently longer than that in Professor Schukovski.

the

and

one,

abridgment used by

It begins in the

same way

as the

extract at p. 358 of our Journal, but there seems to be some

‘Omar’s ancestors,

differences in the readings.

it

tells

us,

came from Shamshad.

The Persian of the curious passage about ‘Omar’s avarice is: “az waste bakhal dar intishak-i‘alilm u tjnat dar tasnlf chandan asarl namand.” The story about the three friends

donkey

is,

and

is

not given, but the

stor}*-

also the anecdotes about ‘Omar’s quarrel

Sultan Sanjar and about his

The new date Mulk.

with

last hours.

for ‘Omar’s death

is

important, for

it

the improbability of his having been a schoolfellow of al

of the

reduces

Nizam

Both Professor Browne and Professor Denison Ross

reject the story about the three friends

anachronisms, hut

Mulk was born

in

is

it

408

on account of alleged

really so unbelievable? a.h.,

and was cut

oil'

Nizam

al

by the bund

— MORE LIGHT ON ‘OMAR K HA YAM.

137

when he was about

seventy-five

of an assassin in 485 a.h.

Does the

years of age according to our calendar. it

be one, that Hasan died in 518 a.h.,

Nizam how long the

that he should have been

We if

do not know

in

505

killed.

a.h., or only

Of

fact,

if

impossible

it

Hulk’s schoolfellow? might have lived

al

hitter

At

he had not come by a violent death.

Khayam might have

make

all

events ‘Omar

been his contemporary, for he died after Nizam al Hulk was ) ears

twenty

r

Hasan

course, if

lived

till

518, he cau hardly

have been born in 408, hut he may have been some years younger thau Nizam and still have been at school with him.

must be remembered,

It

Hasan

that

too,

certainly

died at an advanced age, and that the period 408-518

Muhammadan

not so formidable in the

is

calendar as in the

It amounts to 106 and not to 110 years. For convenience of reference I note the pages in the MSS. which refer to ‘Omar

Christian.

:

3.

B.M. MS., Or. 142, pp. 300c & 6. Do. do. Add. 16,681, p. 526 b. Do. do. Add. 6,551, pp. 3236 &

4.

India Office MS., No. 312 (113 of Ethe),

1.

2.

Do.

do.

— The

Dastur

5.

P.S.

No. 835, al

Wazra

324c. p.

280.

p. 2486.

Khwandamlr, a work

of

written after the Hablba-s-suir, gives 478 as

Hasan Sabah’s death (B.M. MS., Or. 234, a notice in Schefer’s Supplement,

the date of 906), and

p.

which

is put as an extract from the Wasaya, but does not occur in that work, gives 492 as the date. Probably, however, these

56,

p.

if.

are

both

mistakes.

A

better

defence of the story

perhaps be found in the uncertainty about

Nizam

al

The commonly

Mulk’s birth.

the

received

may

date of date

is

408, but that seems to rest

on the authority of Arabic writers who were far removed in place, if not in time.

The

local history

written in

the

called

the Tarikh-i-Baihaq,

middle of

the

sixth

(B.M. MS., Or. 3587, Supplement), and the same date as the date

century,

which was gives 410

p.

43c, No. 89 of Rieu’s

is

given in the Nasakk

138

CORRESPONDENCE.

Nizam

Jahitnava (B.M. MS., Or. 141, p. 89ff). a story accepted by Gibbon, is said

himself to be 93 years of age. in

what

known

is

Certainly there

of his career to

make

himself, in

have

to

it

declared

nothing

is

necessary that

he should have been born as early as 408. He was Prime Minister for thirty years, but he may have begun when he was thirty, and we do not hear of his being much employed in public affairs before 455. The only employ-

ment

we hear

that

of was at Balkh, but as he was ill-treated

there he probably did not remain long before he ran away.

Something,

may

too,

be said for the verisimilitude of the

the Wasaya.

story in

the ninth

That book cannot be older than the eighth centmy, but it was

or the end of

written by and for a descendant of the Vizier.

It contains

anecdotes of Alp Arslan and others, and one or two of them

Are

have been copied into the Nigaristan. inventions as

Is

?

these

also

not more likely that the author used,

it

he says he did, books and family traditions, and that

there

is

a substratum

friends ?

It

truth in the story of the three

of

would help us

of the story if

we knew

in deciding

on the authenticity

the date of the

who

is

(s.v.

Bijistan) refers to an

Imam

Muwaffiq

mentioned as the teacher of the friends, but it is Haji Khalfa (vi, 144, and iii, 316) difficult to identify him, speaks of an Imam Muwaffiq who died in 568, and Yiiqut greatly respected

If either of these be the Muwaffiq of the

520.

the

in

Abul Qiisim Muwaffiq who was Nishapur, and who flourished about

story

is

false.

On

the

other

hand,

Wasaya

Imadu-d-dlu

M. Schefer’s Imam A1 434, and had ‘Umid al Mulk

Isfahan!, in an Arabic extract given at p. 115 of

Supplement, quotes some one who speaks of an

Muwaffiq who was teaching Alkindarl for a pupil.

in

This seems to support the story.

Nizam’s predecessor as Vizier, and was presumably older than he, for he was the minister of Alkindarl was

a previous king.

If he

was

at school in 434,

Nizam may

have been a later pupil. Indeed, if the story be true, he must have been about the last pupil that Muwaffiq had, for he

was then over

85.

1-39

ART.

I have gone into these details from a desire to support

the

story

if

a difficulty.

the

admit that the chronology

possible, but I It is

due

Mr. Whinfield

to

is

to point out that

apparent anachronisms in the story were noticed by

him several years ago,

in the introduction to his translation

of the quatrains.

Beveridge.

II.

Ari.

5.

The in

histories of

his

Burma,

as stated

by

Sir

&

Co.,

work, published by Triibner

mention of certain conducted

the

or

recluses

Pugan

at

33,

p.

Ari,

called

priests,

prevalent

religion

A. P. Phayre

make who

the year

in

Phayre seems to think that they were and that their “ practices resembled those of the Yamacharis of Bengal.” lie, however, makes no attempt to explain the word, and now a.d.

1000.

Sir A.

the

priests

of Niiga worship,

Mrs. Bode,

who

does not pretend to

Mr. Tawseinko

know anything about

may

be connected with ariyo.

says, in his notes

on the Kalyani inscriptions

Burmese, suggests that

it

1469) “A debased form Buddhism, which was probably introduced from Northern India, existed at Pagan. Its teachers, called Aris, were of

King Dhammaceti

of

Pegu

(a.d.

:

of

vow

not strict observers of their

celibacy

of

and

;

it

is

expressly recorded in native histories that they had written records of their doctrines, the basis of which was that sin

could be expiated by the recitation of certain hymns.” too,

makes no attempt

ought

to

have attracted

As given

to explain this word, notice.

in Stevenson’s Dictionary,

Burmese history

in

my

possession, it

which properly transliterated would be to the

modern pronunciation

If this

He, whose spelling

of

formed from the verb

is

spelt

336^)58^

aratitn, but,

Burmese,

word were pure Burmese

and in the copy of

it

is

now

according

ari.

would be a noun

which might be pronounced ,

either as

ri,

reh,

or rih, with a

heavy accent.

There

is

140

COEEESPOXDEXCE.

no verb of

this

obsolete,

found

is

kind in present

though one, now

word -

“ Poor copies out of heaven’s original,

Pale earthlj pictures mouldering to decay, 7

What care altho’ your beauties break and fall, When that which gave them life endures for aye? ” Bad

verse-translations are certainly not to be encouraged,

and a very good scholar may be a very bad versifier; but where the gift of song is conjoined with the scholarship, can

there

be

no question

that,

in

a rendering into verse, even though

it

the

case

of

poetry,

be at times somewhat

more truly reflects the original than a bald prose however literal. The impulse given to Persian in Germany and England by the genius of Itiickert

free, far

version, studies

and FitzGerald assertion. will

their

is

a sufficient witness to the truth of this

It behoves Orientalists to

ultimately conduce favourite

studies

so

as

much

remember that nothing the advancement of

to

an increase in the interest of

the general reading public in their results literature,

form,

important

factor.

if

not

everything,

is

at

;

and least

that, in

a

very

— loo

PERSIAN MYSTICAL POETRY.

Of the text and translations of the odes selected from the Divan by Mr. Nicholson, we need only say that they display the most careful and scholarly workmanship, and that only very few places could we, after a careful scrutiny,

a

in

suggest any change of

Ode TV

~ 4 JJ

- rf.-

ft

,

1

-

,

s

~

the seventh couplet

in

instance,

for

14-15)

(pp.

0J

—

:

1

~

"

wW.-'


Now the glossary

remarkable parallel form Xp*lX (cp. Jer. x, 11).

shows that whilst the inscriptions contain both forms, the common form xy"lX occurs in only one inscription and the peculiar parallel form in no less than nine. This might lead to the generalization that the are

late,

Aramaic represented by the

inscriptions,

used almost invariably the

inscriptions containing the

form

word are noted more

most of which

with

p

.

carefully,

If

the

however,

on the famous and its neighbourhood, and the legends on certain well-known weights and tablets from Nineveh, all belonging to the eighth century or the seventh. Elsewhere in the Aramaic inscriptions the word does not happen to occur except in the one case referred to, where it appears in the common form This is in the Sinaitic peninsula, and the inscription, which is one it

will be found that they are the inscriptions

sculptures from Zenjirli

•

of the three that bear dates, belongs to about the year 189 A.n.

Anyone who experiences difficulty iu remembering the by the numbers will find it pretty easy to construct an analysis of them on a single leaf of paper to keep as a mark in the glossary. He will thus be able

inscriptions

to determine at once the nature of the attestation

word

or form.

of

any

196

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Enough has been addition

to

the

said to

Semitic

show that the glossary

library

useful

convenient for scholars, and to suggest it

learners

those

who

an and use

by reporting important inaccuracies Cambridge has done well in encouraging

to help on the cause

to the author. its

to to

is

younger scholars by undertaking the publication of such

a work.

Hope W. Hogg.

.

At the last moment, as these sheets are being passed for the press, M. Lidzbarski’s eagerly expected Handbucli der Nordsemitischen Epigraphih has been issued, and

is

found to contain a complete

would not be fair to compare it with the other work, their scale and scope being so different. Had the scholars in Germany and England who encouraged Mr. Cook to go on with his work been able to tell him of the enterprise on which Lidzbarski was engaged, the glossary, at least in its present form, would probably not have appeared. If its author does not regret his labour, however, no one else will. The Glossary and the glossary.

It

equivalent columns of the Handbucli seem, on a rapid glance, to be to

One would some extent complementary as well as parallel. Each has entries that the other

not willingly be without either. lacks

many

;

and the plan

of the smaller

references and other notes

will find very useful.

—H.

M

r .

H.

work made

which the

it

possible to give

learner, in particular,

— 197

NOTES OF THE QUARTER. (October, November, December, 1898.)

T.

General Meetings of the Royal Asiatic November It

1898.

8,

— Lord Reay (President)

Society.

in the Chair.

was announced that

The Rev. W. A. Briggs, M.D., Mr. M. N. Venketasvaini, Mr. V. R. Pandit, Captain F. Webb Ware, Mr. M. Macauliffe, Mr. C. G. Luzac, Mr. Y. C. Seshacharri, Mr. F. W. Thomas, Mr. Nobushige Amenomori, and Mr. H. Franklin had been elected members of the Society. Mr. R. Sewell read a paper on “The Cinder-Mounds of

The paper appears

Bellary.”

A discussion

number. Kennedy, Dr. Gaster,

in the present

followed, in which Mr. J.

Mr. Beveridge, and Dr. Thornton took part. December It

13.

— Lord Reay

(President) in the Chair.

was announced that

H.H. the Maharaja

of Mysore, Mr. A. R. Macdonald, Mr. Robert Pearce, and

Mr. Suryanarain

hadbeen

elected

members

Row

of the Society.

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

198

The Rev. Professor

Mills, D.D., read a paper

Initiative of

the Avesta.”

a subsequent

number.

A

discussion

Professor

followed,

Dr.

Ross,

The paper

“The

on

will be printed in

which Mr. E. G. Browne, and Professor Rhys Davids

in

Gaster,

took part.

II.

Contents of Foreign Oriental Journals. Vienna Oriental Journal.

I.

Steinschneider (M.).

Vol. xii, No. 2.

Heilrnittelnamen der Araber.

Hartmann

(M.). Zur kurdiscken Literatur. Kegl (A. v.). Visal und seine Sohne, eine Dichter-Familie des modernen Persiens. Mahler (Ed.). Aegyptologiscbe Studien auf dem Gebiete

der Chronologie.

Journal Asiatique.

II.

Tome

Le Monstre Rahab

Loisy (A.).

xii,

No.

1.

et l’histoire biblique

de

la creation.

Chabot

B.).

(J.

Notes

d’epigrapkie

et

d’arckeologie

orientale.

Le

Parisot (M.).

Feer

dialecte de Ma'lula.

Specimen de

(L.).

III. Zeitschrift

langue lepcha ou rong.

der Deutschen Morgenlandiscuen Gesellschaft.

Band

Mann

la

lii,

Heft

3.

Quellenstudien zur Geschicbte des

(0.).

Ahmed

Sah Durrani (1747-1773). Eine unbekannte Bearbeitung des Iloutsma (Tb.). Marzban-nameh. Mordtraann (J. H.). Die himjarischen Inschriften von Kharibet-Se’oud.

Brockelmatin

(C.).

Bohtlingk

(0.).

Brooks

W.).

(E.

Wolff (M.). kijame.

Zur syrischen Betonungs- und Verslehre. Miscellen.

Notes on the Syriac Chronicle of 846.

Bemerkungeu

zu der

Schrift

Ahwal-al-

199

CONTEXTS OF FOREIGN ORIENTAL JOURNALS.

Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der

IV. Vienna.

"VVlSSENSCHAFTEN, PllIL.-HlST. KLASSE.

Muller

Bcitriige zur Text-kritik

(Fr.).

Karuamak

des

Artasir

i

Aturpiit

i

i

zur

Beitriige

Andarz

JJd.

und Erkliirung

Papakiin.

Text-kritik und Erkliirung des

mit einer

Mahruspaudiin

i

CXXXvi.

deutscken

Uebersetzung.

Die semitischen Elemente der Pablawisprache. Die Transscription freinder Alphabete. 13d.

Biibler (G.).

A

Schroeder (L.

v.).

cxxxvii.

Legend of the Jaina Stupa

Beziehung zum Taittirlya-Aranyaka. eiuem Nachtrag

V.

Sr.

Herausgegeben mit

Bd. xlv.

Zur Grarnmatik des classischen Arabisch.

(Th.).

Bulletin de l’Academie Imperiale des

Petersburg. Sciences.

Radloff

Mathura.

G. Biibler.

v.

Denkschriften.

Noldeke

at

Die Tiibinger Katka-IISS. und ihre

Serie v,

Eine

(TV.).

neue

Tome

viii,

No.

1.

aufgefundene alt-tiirkiscbe

Inschrift.

VI.

Munich.

Sitzungsberichte der schafxen, 1898.

Hirth

Heft

Aus der Ethnograpkie

(Fr.).

Laufer

k. b.

Akademie der Wissen3.

des Tscbau Ju-kua.

Studien zur Sprachwissensckaft der Tibeter.

(B.).

Zur Exegese und Kritik der

Caland (W.).

rituellen

Sutras.

On

Mills (L. H.).

Hopkins

(E.

W.).

Schreiner (M.).

Bewegungen im

Pahlavi.

Padmasarabhava and Mandarava.

Griinwedel (A.).

Avarta.

Beitrage zur Geschichte der theologischen

Islam.

Schwallv

(Fr.).

Windisch

(E.).

Nachtriige.

Zu “ The Indian Game

of Chess.”

200

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

Notes and News.

III.

Jewish Ethics.

—

Professor M. Lazarus has at length System of Jewish Ethics ( Die Ethik des Judenthums, T. Kauffmann, Francfort-on-the-Main, 1898), in a large and beautifully got-up volume. As might have been expected from so distinguished a thinker, this work

published

leaves

his

to

little

be desired, both

regards deepness of

as

thought and clearness, and elegance of diction. there

is

Although

no lack of smaller works on the subject, a systematic

representation of the ethical principles as developed in post-

Of

Biblical Jewish writings has been a desideratum. interest are the author’s

rejection of ethics

arguments against E.

which are founded on a

v.

special

Hartmann’s

theistic basis.

—

Magic among the Hebrews. Readers of the Journal will recollect that some months back Dr. Witton Davies read a paper before the Society on “ Magic, Divination, and Demonology among the Hebrews and neighbouring peoples.” This paper has been expanded and has just appeared under the same title. A notice of it will appear in our next issue.

Oriental Congress. President, Sir

Douglas,

Professor

—A

Committee, consisting of

Raymond West,

the

Professor Sayce, Dr. Thornton,

Mr. Sewell,

Mr. Lyon,

Mr. Hewitt,

Dr. Gaster, and Dr. Cust, has been appointed to carry out for this country all matters connected with the forthcoming

Rome in many members of the

The Council

International Congress at

October.

hope that

Society as possibly can

as

will take part in the proceedings.

The Peppe

Relics.

—With reference

in last Journal (p. 868),

of

Siam

is

we have now

to

to

sending an envoy to India

our announcement

add that the King

to receive the relics

The Majesty by the Indian Government. King, who gratefully accepted the offer, has agreed lo

offered to Ilis

Bangkok portions Burma and Ceylon.

distribute from

Buddhists of

of

the relics

among

the

— NOTES AND NEWS.

201

KasmTr Antiquities. The following

interesting account, written by Dr.

from the Times of India, Xov. 5

Stein, is abstracted

A

we published the news that the KasmTr upon the proposal of Captain S. II. Godfrey,

short time ago

Durbar,

Resident

Assistant a

museum serve

for

characteristic

KasmTr, has resolved

in

Srinagar.

at

a suitable building to

M. A.

:

is

The new

establish

to

institution, for

which

already in course of construction,

is

KasmTr antiquities and of specimens of the arts and industries of the the

reception of

Talley.

There

perhaps, no part of India which could furnish more interesting materials for a local museum. There is certainly none in which the establishment of such au institution is at present more needed or more significant as a mark of progress. The whole of KasmTr might have is,

richer or

been described, until not so long ago, as one great of local antiquities.

museum

There were the ruins of ancient date

which still cover so many promineut sites in the Talley. Time-honoured were the products of the artisan, the method of the administration, the

ways and thoughts of the people.

Great are the changes which Western influences have produced in KasmTr, particularly during the present Maha-

They reach deeper than any we can trace in Much of what modern history. reform has swept away will not be regretted even by the most ardent lover of old KasmTr. But much of what is of high value and interest to the student of Indian history and art, is also now bound to disappear. It is time raja’s reign.

the

country’s previous

‘

’

remains of antiquity, whether they are in

to collect these

stone

and wood,

in

manuscripts, or in the traditions and

thought of the people.

The

interest

which these remains claim

nected with the old history of KasmTr. again,

is

is

closely con-

And

the latter,

rendered curious and attractive by the exceptional

advantages

we

enjoy for

its

study.

Indian literature has

202

NOTES OF THE QUARTER. want of

often been blamed,

and not without

historical works.

Kasmir, however, has preserved for us

a

series

of Sanskrit

Adding

Europe.

which

chronicles

mark

value fairly reach the

justice, for its

in authenticity

and

of the chronicles of mediaeval

to these the Persian records

time onwards, Kasmir history presents

itself to

from Akbar’s us in reliable

accounts extending over more than 1,500 years.

Traditions

popular in origin, but yet of value, which are recorded in the oldest of

these works, Kalhana’s Rajntarahghii, carry

us back even further to the times of Asoka and the great

Indo-Scythian kings. It is not alone this wealth of truly historical records which enables us to restore in detail the picture of ancient Kasmir. Small as the country is, its contribution to ancient

Indian literature has been considerable. Sanskrit works by Kasmlrian authors are plentifully preserved in the Valley. Kasmlrians seem always to have had an open eye for the realities of life

It a

is

not

and for the peculiarities of their country.

chance that these

old

give

writers

us

many

glimpse of contemporary Kasmir, such as the

curious

scholars of

India proper rarely vouchsafe to us in regard

own homes. Nor are we entirely dependent on these indigenous sources. It is well known how much valuable information on ancient

to their

India has reached us in the accounts of foreign travellers.

These do not

us in Kasmir.

fail

“

The favoured

Land

of

Sarada” (Parvatl) has always been famous for its sacred mountain Tirthas. sites, its holy springs or Niigas, its A land of such spiritual merits could not be missed by the pious Christian pilgrims who wandered through the breadth and length

of

Muhammadan

India during the centuries preceding the

The curious and

conquest.

which they have

left

correspond to the long stay they used to

seems

in

indifferent

fact as if

to

the

detailed notices

us of the Valley and

these pious

material

Kasmir has always had climes. Now, too, the

its

men

charm

inhabitants there.

It

had not been wholly

attractions

Hiijls of

its

make of

for visitors

the

country.

from northern

Yarkand and

the regions

203

KASMIR antiquities.

beyond readily linger in the Valley before resuming their long journey. Hiuen Tsiang did so before them, and so other less known Buddhist pilgrims who passed through the “ Paradis terrestre des Indes ” (Bernier) to the sacred places of the dusty hot plains.

In the light which we derive from this wealth of records, Kasmlr resume fresh life. The coins of Kasmlr rulers, which we possess in almost unbroken the tangible remains of old

more than mere framework for dynastic lists. We know often a good deal of the reigns and persons of the kings who issued them. The coins and their legends more than once illustrate in a characteristic fashion incidents of which the Chronicles succession from Indo-Scvthian times onwards, are a

tell us.

The ruined temples and sculptures, which are far more numerous about the Valley than the guidebooks would show, furnish ample materials for the study of the architecture and art of ancient Kasmlr. They, too, are not mute records with date and origin doubtful, as India proper.

From

is

the Chronicles

so often the case in

we

learn the deities

which these temples were dedicated, the names of their founders and of the sites which they were intended to to

We

adorn.

can often trace the varying fortunes which

these structures underwent, and strange indeed they were

sometimes.

Many

a famous

shrine which

served with the riches

it

we

still

see in

ruins

its

Hindu The massive quadrangles

once contained unscrupulous

kings in their financial troubles.

of others were used at times as fortified places, just as in

the Middle

Ages did

so

many monuments

of ancient

Rome.

During the endless rebellions of the later Hindu period they stood more than one siege. Frequently we find popular Muhammadan shrines built with the slabs and columns of ancient

Hindu

into Ziarats.

shown

to

mark

temples, or

Muhammadan

the latter simply transformed shrines in most cases can be

the sites of earlier

This fact strikingly illustrates process

of

Hindu worship. that

conversion which led the

slow and

gradual

great mass of

the

204

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

Kasmlr population from their old gods and beliefs into tbe fold of Islam. In more than one direction this conversion has remained superficial. The qualified student can still easily trace the old Hindu in the customs and superstitions of the Kasmlr villager. Islam did not enter Kasmlr by forcible conquest. Kot the valour of

its

at all times

inhabitants

— hut

—

it

seems

to

have been small indeed

the great mountain barrier to the south

had saved the Valley from Muhammadan invasion. The great Mahmud repeatedly endeavoured to reach Kasmlr the bravest of his Hindu opponents in the Panjab had found there a refuge. But in the narrow defiles which lead to :

the passes over the Plr Pantsal, even the resistance of a small

stronghold like the ancient Lo/iara was enough to stem the wave that in the plains of India had proved irresistible. Kasmlr thus escaped that great break which the Muhammadan conquest marks in the historical development of other Indian territories. The subsequent gradual conversion to Islam did not affect materially the marked historical

individuality

the

of

country, or

the

traditions

and habits of its population. The ease and accuracy with which we can restore the ancient topography of Kasmlr serve to illustrate this fact.

If

we take

comparison the great Panjab plain we

for

find there only a

few ancient

out as landmarks of strikingly different

is

Kasmlr.

in

and

local

We

names standing epoch.

It

is

can there trace the

back into Hindu times, with such thoroughness and

accuracy as It

sites

pre-Muhammadan

pilgrimage places, administrative divisions,

ancient towns, etc., far

the

if

we

stood on the classic soil of Greece or Italy.

not surprising,

perhaps,

that

the ancient routes

Until through the mountains have remained unchanged. the advent of the British engineer man had little chance to

work great changes

here.

But

able tenacity of local tradition in to

the

present

it still shows the remarkKasmir that we can even

day follow up the old tracks

mountains mentioned

in our

histoiical

records,

the watch-stations which guarded the passes.

over

the

and locate Thus,

e.g.,

205

easmTr antiquities.

the site of the stone gate which closed “ the western entrance the kingdom ” in Iliuen Tsiang’s days, in the gorge

of

below Bararaiila

On still

(

Varahmula ),

bears

still

its

ancient name.

the heights of the Pir Pantsal Pass popular tradition shows the place where cruel King Mihirakula (of the

century) was believed

sixth

have amused himself by

to

throwing elephants over a precipice. It is the same in other parts of that geographical microHundreds of ancient localities mentioned cosm, Kasmlr.

towns down

by the Sanskrit chroniclers, from great

modest hamlets, can be identified with certainty. than

the

name

“ the City of

Sri,

i.e.

has retained more Srinagart,

of

to

Srinagar

the ancient capital

the goddess of fortune.”

name which

the Kasmlr capital has borne Asoka; though the guidebooks, following a whimsical etymology of that worthy but in historical matters amusingly naive traveller, Mr. Vigne, will persist “ the City of the Sun.”) The antiquarian in turning it into (This

the

is

since the days of

can

identify in

still

it

the remains of

buildings that once adorned

was divided, the intersected in Kasmlr,

high

up

whether in

the

canals

irrigation

many

of the great

the quarters into which

and main thoroughfares

canals

Thus

it.

it,

history guides us wherever

the great

in

alpine

flat

the

Of

makers;

changes in the course of the Yitasta Hydaspes, our ‘Jhelum’) we can give the date.

the old

sites

inscriptions,

yield,

in

and other

order to find

the

(the

old

objects

museum.

Muhammadanism

entered the Yalley from

Kasmlr

which worthy of

antiquities

preservation in a

its

for

not necessary, however, for us to go back to the

is

sculptures, coins,

had

ancient

the

even

artificial

It

which

we move

of the river plain or

side-valleys.

we know

it

when

since the time

the north has

Many

connection with Central Asia and Khorasan.

were imported from those quarters and developed by the Kasmlrl with that imitative talent which

interesting

arts

distinguishes

Muhammadan still

him.

Many

excellent

specimens

of

this

art of Kasmlr, Persian in its chief features,

survive, but they are rapidly leaving the country.

206

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

The Kasmirl, like other people, has the defects of his The same ability with which he reproduced the

virtues.

best elements of Persian art-design in his metal and textile

work

him

leads

to imitate only too readily

European models,

poor as the specimens of Western art mostly are that have hitherto reached him. Collectors know how to appreciate the worth of old Kasmlr of

Most, perhaps, of what was

art.

has already found

value,

private collections of Europe.

Kasmlr

be

lost if

its

old art industries. It

is

evident that nothing could help more to guide back

workman

the modern

to the

models of this type. is

retain

is to

way into the public and Not much time remains to any of the good products of

its

the best means

It

former level of his art than select

for their preservation in the country.

It is gratifying to find the

importance of

and the former

its

Kasmlr Durbar

alive to the

obligations in regard to the antiquities

aits of the country. is

museum

equally certain that a

is

concerned

it

As

far as the study of the

has already shown

its

by

interest

enabling Dr. Stein to study the archaeology of Kasmlr in

and

detail,

to

prepare an annotated English translation of

the oldest of the above-named Chronicles. of publication

This

through Messrs. A. Constable

The new museum which building of which is now doubtedly lead to

a

far

has been rapidly

more

&

is

in course

London.

Co.,

and the

sanctioned,

advancing,

effective

preservation

ancient remains than has hitherto been possible.

form the starting-point

also

new

for a

un-

will

It

of

may

era in the develop-

For many of the European modern Kasmlr art. visitors from the plains who reach the Kasmlr capital in yearly increasing numbers it is sure to prove an attraction.

ment

of

From whichever it

point of view the

new

institution is judged,

Durbar

does credit alike to the enlightened policy of the

and

to

Captain

Godfrey’s timely

initiative.

It

satisfactory to think that the funds required for the

is

also

museum

have become available through the improvement in the State’s finances, which has been remarkably steady during the

office of

the present Resident, Sir

Adelbekt Talbot.

207

PAN JAB NOTES FOR 1898. Panjab Notes for 1898.

Davidson, after employment on the Afghan

Colonel

I.

frontier, has

compiled a collection of 1,600 to 1,800 sentences the Siah-Posh

of the language of

Kafir,

an independent

Hindu nor Mahometan, who dwell in the mountainous district on the eastern frontier of the kingdom The compiler had of Afghanistan as lately demarked. peculiar opportunities, and has made good use of them. neither

race,

He a

now preparing a Vocabulary he has not attempted Grammar. Of this language little or nothing is known. is

:

It is important that these collections should be published. II.

Mr. Macauliffe, of H.M. Indian Civil Service on the

retired

list,

has prepared a careful translation of the Sacred

Singh Sect, dwelling in the Province About forty years ago a German Professor, Dr. Trumpf, was sent out to India bv the India Office to

Books

of the Sikh or

of the Panjab.

learn the language, and so far, that

was valued required

:

make

a translation

:

he succeeded

he published a volume, the Adi Granth, which at

the

time,

something better

but

is

now

a fuller knowledge of the language, and a larger

MSS.

selection of original

And

Mr. Macauliffe, after

this

a residence of a quarter of a century

amidst the people,

knowledge of the modern Vernacular, and an acquaintance with learned and intelligent Sikhs, has succeeded in

a

The difficulty now is to publish it. Specimens work have appeared in the pages of the Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review. Mr. Macauliffe, though

supplying. of the

he has taken his pension,

still

seems

to cling to

India as

home, and though in England at the present moment, he is returning to Amritsar to give the last finishing touch a

to

his work,

and

if

the funds are forthcoming from the

Sikh Chieftains, to carry III.

M. Ujfalvy,

it

through the Press.

of Paris, has published in the

French

language a most interesting volume on the inhabitants of both the North and South slopes of the Hindu-Kush he :

has himself visited the North, or Russian, slope, and brings into notice

the Ghalcha tribe.

He

goes into great detail

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

208

with regard to the people of the Southern slope, and is familiar with all the great English authorities, who have in late years written

interesting one

to

The book

on the subject.

read,

and

my

is

a verv

long acquaintance with

the Author, and general knowledge of the region, justify

me

in

pronouncing the work

Of course

be trustworthy.

to

the languages and customs of the tribes are fully noticed.

have received from the Author of a volume, entitled “Les Ba-Ronga, les indigenes de la Baie de Delagoa,” a copy of his very interesting ethnographical IY.

I

study in the French language.

with M. Junod, and he Mission

settled

is

many

years

Province of South

that

in

on the East Coast.

Africa, a colony of Portugal

siderable portion of the

I have long been acquainted

a missionary of a Swiss Protestant

work

is

one of the Bantu family, and the religions not risen beyond the Animistic Class

two chief features are a conception of Heaven.

that the (2)

A

con-

dedicated to the language,

(1)

:

the latter has

our Author states

:

worship of ancestors,

q

t

October 1898. ,

A

few Remarks on Pictographs, or Archaic Forms of Script.

A

more accurate use of terms

is

necessary

:

the

word

‘Alphabet’ in the Oxford English Dictionary applies

to

Written Characters representing sounds by a symbol, and the oldest existing specimen of such Alphabetic writing

the Moabite Stone, which

eighth century before

may roughly

the

Christian

is

be attributed to the era.

Yet both

in

English and French writings we find such use of the word ‘Alphabet,’ as

is

quite unjustifiable.

It

may

be the case,

Exodus there was a free use of Ideographs, and Assyrian Cuneiform, in the the Egyptian Regions between the Euphrates and the Nile; but neither of these Written Characters were Alphabetic, and the that at the time of the

that the Alphabetic Writings

impression therefore

is

left,

Moses

in

the eighteenth century before the

attributed to

209

ricroGiunis. Christian era could not have been from his hand

:

he

may

have written in Ideographs, which at a subsequent date were transliterated into the Phoenician Alphabet. Before the epoch of Alphabets, came the period of the extensive

of

use

Egyptian

the

Characters: they are too well

and

known

Assyrian

to

Written

require any addi-

tional remarks.

But apparently at a date possibly anterior to these great and at any rate more or less independent of them, are certain Pictographs, or Archaic Forms of Writing, the full description of which will be the work of the Twentieth Scripts,

Among

century.

these are

:

A. Cretan and Aegean

in

Europe.

B. Kheta, alias Hittite, in Asia. Tifinag in Africa.

C.

And

there are

of Cyprus,

many

others, such as Cypriote in the Island

and Orkkan in Siberia

general attention to the subject

keep clear of

all local

:

:

my

object

is

to

care should be taken to

forms of Alphabetic Writing.

myself to the three in

my

list

as

draw

I limit

specimens of the three

Continents.

A.

Cretan and Aegean.

In the Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. xiv (1894), p. 270, appeared a remarkable communication from the pen of

Mr. Arthur Evans on the subject of “ Primitive Pictographs, and a Prae-Phenician Script, from Crete.” It made a great impression on me, but I was deep in other subjects, and could only

make

a note of

In the same Journal,

it.

vol.

xvii,

part 1897,

p.

327, has

pen of the same writer a communication on “Further Discoveries of Cretan and Aegean Script, with Libyan and Proto-Egyptian Comparisons.” The subject

appeai’ed from the

is

now

lifted

into the first

rank of questions to be solved

in the Twentieth century. j.r.a.s.

1839.

14

XOTES OF THE QUARTER.

210

The second Essay Part

“

I.

The

is

divided into three Parts

:

Discoveries,” subdivided into nine Sections,

with 27 Plates. “ Proto-Egyptian

Part II.

and Libyan Comparisons,”

subdivided into four Sections. “ Concluding Observations.” Part III.

The Author

states, that from the was demonstrable that there existed a form of pictographic writing from its simplest beginnings to a more conventional and abbreviated stage.

Part I (second Essay).

evidence of Cretan seals

A

it

data supplied by

seals, vases, and inscribed showed the further existence of a linear system of writing, connected with the other, and presenting striking comparisons with Egyptian Inscriptions on the South, and the syllabic script of Cyprus and Anatolia. In some

variety of

stones

instances Cretan

linear characters displayed a remarkable

correspondence with Pheniciau and Early Greek letter-forms.

The evidence showed,

that the purely pictorial class of

Cretan seal went back to the Twelfth Dynasty in Egypt, or

more than 2500

B.c.

and further evidence has since gone

;

to

prove an earlier contact of Crete with Egypt than that date.

They

were, however, beyond doubt indigenous , the later

conventionalized

pictographs

approaching

nearer

to

the

Hittite character than the Egyptian.

The Author then (1)

passes under review the different classes

:

Primitive Prism seal with linear characters and figures.

(2)

Early Pictographic Prism

(3)

Later

(4)

Signet-shaped

(5)

Seals and other objects with linear signs.

(6)

Inscribed vase from Cerigo.

(7)

Inscribed Libation Table from the Diktaean Cave.

seals

seals.

with conventionalized Pictographs. stones

with

conventionalized

Picto-

graphs, and other figures.

and 3. The points of resemblance to the Cretan and Egyptian scripts are here dwelt upon, and there can be no doubt that the populations of Crete Part II, Sections

1

:

211

PICTOGRArHS.

and Egypt were thrown into constant intercourse, and a resemblance of the outcome of their culture and form of no surprise.

religious worship can cause

Section 2 opens out the tion, that

more interesting considera-

still

Crete was the meeting-point of Thraco-Phrygian

elements to the North, and Libyan elements to the South.

The Author intermediaries relations

the same

considers

seems

the intervention

that

necessary

to

explain

of

the

Libyan

primitive

At

between Crete and the Valley of the Nile. remains found in Crete bring

the

time,

the Western

relation with

coastlands

of

it

in

Asia Minor, the

While Egypt must be admitted, the

mainland of Greece, and even the Danubian Basin. the influence from the South of

presence of

must

members

of the

great Thraco-Phrygian

race

also be admitted.

Section 4 deals with the resemblance with the

Alphabet, which

Part III.

is

Tifinag

described separately in this essay.

The Author

admits, that the proved antiquity

Egyptian Script gives some warrant for inferring,

of the

that the Egyptians are not indebted to the populations of

the

Mediterranean Basin for the ideas of interchange of

thought by means of the eye as well as the

ear.

On

the

other hand, he concedes, that the ancient relations betwixt

Crete and the African littoral of the Mediterranean suggest, that the early Script

Egypt, was at quarter.

limited It

is,

This

of

the island,

least influenced in its is

as far as

we can

if

not derived from

development from that

safely go with our present

knowledge of the environment. moreover, evident, that through a wide European

area there exist the records of a primitive 'picture-Script,

which, as far back as prehistoric time, showed a tendency to simplify itself into

abbreviated linear signs.

The Author concludes with the following remarks, which speak highly for his good sense and freedom from sensational

haphazard guesses

“ I have abstained

from any attempt

the linear, or the pictographic, Script.

to interpret either

The main object has

been to collect materials and institute comparisons.”

—

—

212

NOTES OF THE QUARTER. B. Kheta or Hittite.

In Luzac’s Oriental List, 1898, I read as follows “ A book has just been published by Colonel Conder entitled “ The Hittites and their Language,’ in which the author :

‘

“makes an attempt to explain “what he calls ‘translations’

the Hittite symbols, and gives

of the ‘Hittite’ Inscriptions. “ Colonel Conder bases his system of decipherment on the “ assumption that the Hittite, Cyprian, and Akkadian forms “ of writing are interchangeable, and that a superficial “ resemblance in the form of any two signs is sufficient to

“prove their identity of value. His ‘translations’ of the “ texts are based on the further assumption, that Hittite ’

‘

“is Turkish in character. It is needless to point out to our “ readers, that both these assumptions are entirely without

“proof or foundation. “ “

is

it

We could

wish that the labour, which

evident Colonel Conder has expended on his work,

had been applied in a direction, where it might have been more valuable results.” In The Athenceuni of August 27, 1898, p. 285, is a very

“ rewarded with

hostile review of Colonel Conder’s newly-published book,

Hittites and their is

made

German

Language ” (Blackwood & Son).

“The

Allusion

to Professor Jensen’s articles in the Zeitschrift of the

Oriental Society about three years ago, and

decipherment of this language.

Professor Jensen has

published a solid work, “Hittites and Armenians.”

the

now

Colonel

and fifteen plates of Conder gives a Hittite Inscriptions taken from the Marash Lion, various No bilingual Inscription has been slabs, figures, and seals. found. No two authorities agree Jensen connects the Armenian with it, Conder the Accadian there is no certainty, that they have any claim to the name of Hittite, for no Hittite Vocabulary,

:

:

character has been identified to the satisfaction of

C.

quote from

I

1883 “

all.

Tifindg.

my own “Languages

of Africa,” p. 75,

:

Of

the

old

Libyan

or

Numidian form

of

writing

213

PICTOGRAFIIS.

“ specimens are found in Inscriptions brought casually to “ light, and not yet satisfactorily explained. It is the “ mother of the existing local written Character, called “ the Tifinag, the language being called Tamashek, and “ the tribe using it is the Tiwarik of the Sahara, a sub“ division of the Berber Family.”

Oudney

first

noticed

them

attention to

in

them

in

found blocks of

this Character.

meaning.

;

Richardson drew

by him was

In the highways of the

published by the Foreign Office.

Desert are

1822

1847, and an account

stone

The Arabs were

In the houses are similar scribblings on the

Attempts have been made, with some

walls.

with

entirely covered

totally ignorant of their

success, to

They are read from right to left, and form a syllabary. Hanoteau in his Grammar of the Kabail and Tamashek Languages, Halevy and l)e Saulcy in the Journal translate them.

Letourneux

of the Asiatic Society of Paris,

of the Florence Oriental Congress,

in

Faulman

the Report

in

work

his

on Written Characters, have noticed this Character. See also De la Blanchere, “ Inscriptions Sahariennes et l’ecriture Libyque ” (.Bulletin Cor responda nee Africaine, vi, p. 354, Duveyrier, “ Explorations de Sahara Inscriptions,” 1883) ;

“Alphabet Libyque” ( Journal de

p.

396

p.

253, 1884). I

is

;

communicated

a master

in

to a

la

Societe Aaiatique,

Vice-President of this Society,

who

department of science,

my

this particular

intention of writing a brief

Memorandum on

this

subject.

A

“ In his reply he remarked hypothesis, or rather a “ suspicion, has been growing up in my mind of late, that :

“ the chief Hieroglyphic systems of the ancient world really “ had a common origin somewhere in Western Asia that “ all the pictorial systems were developed out of this :

Along with this suspicion “has been another, that the Neolithic people of primeval “ Egypt and Northern Africa had a linear system of “ writing, which has left its traces in the Tifinag and “ linear Cretan, and signs on Neolithic Egyptian pottery. “These signs continued to be used by the non-Phenician “ primitive and embryonic Script.

214

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

“ population of Egypt down to a comparatively late date, “ and are found not only in pottery but on the rocks.” “ However, these are only suspicions, and I must leave “

it

“ or

to

younger men I

not.

am

This explains

whether they are

to find out

justified

getting too old for pioneering work.”

my

motive in putting forth this brief paper.

I lay the idea, the suspicion, the germ of a conception, before

some

years old,

Anglo - Indian

retired

who wants

He

not occupied by another.

down

partiality or prejudice,

read up

all

the Journal

about

official,

fifty

which has been apparently

a subject,

can feel carefully, without

the outline of the conception,

that has been written, and write a paper for of

Society in

this

Twentieth Century.

the

years

early

I shall not be there to read

of

the

it.

11.

N.

C.

October 25, 1898.

Note on James Fraser, Author of the “History of Nadir Shah” (1742). James Fraser is the author of the first book in English on Nadir Shah, “ that veiy costive Sophy,” as Byron calls him, known in the East as Fraser’s

work

is

or the Scourge of God.

a first-hand contribution to the history of

the period, important not only by reason of

its

early date,

but because of the number of original documents preserved,

documents

not

to

be

found

addition to his claim as an author, he brief record as

an

early, if

manuscripts iu India contributor

to

the

;

is

not the very

it

elsewhere.

1

entitled to first,

has

In some

collector of

and thus indirectly a prominent

valuable

Bodleian Library at Oxford.

Oriental

On

collections

of

the

the strength of the above

achievements he was, I should have thought, entitled to Lowndes (ed. 1858, p. 834) gives the “ Ilistory of Nadir Shah ” as published This is an impossible date, Nadir Shah’s invasion of India, with 1732. which the hook is chiefly concerned, not having occurred until 1737-8. The All the copies I have seeu are of the date must surely be a mistake for 1742. Apparently the first edition appeared in Jauuary second edition and dated 1742. of the same year (Gent. Mag. for 1742, p. 56). 1

in

— 215

NOTE ON JAMES FRASER. a modest place in the “Dictionary of National

Biography”;

and though passed over

still

name of

is

Joseph

rectified

there,

Irving

(1881)

by Dr. Eth4

it

a small contribution

“Nadir Shah”

may

volume of announced (now, first

alas

nearly

!

volume.

from

by me.

lately acquired

be

yet

his Bodleian

Eraser’s biography, I

to

manuscript notes

in 1751 to Samuel

that his

Eminent Scotsmen”

but this neglect

;

nine years ago) in the preface to his

As

of

in the second

Catalogue of Persian MSS., as

transcribed some

stranger

is

“Book

not to be found in the

a

copy of

have the

The book belonged

Smalbroke, sou of Dr.

It.

Smalbroke,

the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry mentioned by Fraser in his preface, p.

vi

are without doubt

by

[On the

(at

the top).

“January

flyleaf.]

The

notes referred to

Smalbroke himself.

S.

2lst, 1754,

Novo

Stylo

Died Mr. James Fraser at his own house at Rylick near Inverness in Scotland at Suratt,

he went out Writer

:

this

Book, carried his new-married Wife

him

to d

to

ye Factory

then after Returning to England and publishing .

.

with

.

.

ye Indies, whither he went as Supercargo.

Return’d

iuto England, December London in ye Beginning of 1750. He then intended to send his MSS. & goods by Sea to Scottland. He complain’d of his want of Latin, and intended

ye 2

time (after 6 years stay)

1749, where I saw

to

them

in

compleat an Antient-Persick Lexicon out of several im-

perfect ones y l he possess’d

Zerdusht from

Smalbroke

&

y

e

like

original,

wise

to

and

to Translate the

had promis’d Translate the Yaed

as

he

Zund

of

to

Bp.

of

the

Brahmans.

= Beth in and beautifully written and adorn’d MS. in broad- twelves) & some chapters of allegorical writings (ethical) of some of the Brahmins w ch he had Translated into English & redd to me. They “Mr. Fraser show’d me

the Yaed (or Baed

Bernier) in ye original characters (a

little

contain’d a Fiction of Gvants or Peris fighting in Battle

&

a conversation of

chariot

concerning

some the

borrow’d from Plato’s

of

them taken up into their waran emblem perhaps first

soul,

Wings &

Chariot of y e soul, for y e

216

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

Greeks Books were carried into Indostan by y e Traders of Persia & Egypt after y e Macedonian conquests, if not before.”

Merchant ” added to author’s name. “Dr. R. Smalbroke, at whose request Mr. Fraser studied the Old Persick (in order to Publish Zerdusht Book) [and] afterwards brought many Fine MSS. at his return in 1749 (Dec. vii), seen by me Siuce Mr. Fraser’s death in S. Smalbroke in his custody. Scottland bought (at my intimation to Oxford) for y e

[On

“

title-page.]

[Preface, p. vi, line 2.]

University.” [id., line 17.] [id., line ‘

21.]

pure tongue

’ :

....

“I studied [Arabic] under” “Three hours each day [in Sanskerrit see Bernier].”

As to Geronimo Xavier’s knowledge of [p. 17, note f.] the Persian language: “ But he seems never to have learn’d he wrote his Spurious Gospel (published by

it well, for

Dieu) in Portuguese

Ben Kassem Xavier and

&

got

at Lahor, or at least corrected.” his doings, E. D.

Journal Asiatic Soc. Bengal, [p. 69, third line

correspondence,” “ credit to letter

Mr.

S.

from if

De

turned into Persick by Molana

it

See, for this

Maclagan, “Jesuit Missions,”

vol. lxvi (1896), p. 110.

foot.]

After the words “ treacherous

at all true.”

This remark does great

Smalbroke’s acumen, for the sending of any

by Nizam- ul-Mulk

to

Nadir Shah

is

very doubtful

indeed. [p.

to

131, note, on custom of having two governors, one a city and the other its castle] “ in imitation of

command

Cyrus’s method in Persia.” “ Nadir Shah,” in line 2 of the heading] [p. 227, after

“by some

Missionaire.”

[p. 231, as to Nadir’s answer to his mother] “exactly the

answer of Oliver Cromwell

to

L

d

Broghill.”

217

NOTE ON JAMES FRASER. Catalogue of Oriental Manuscripts. [p. 19,

under “Avar Danish.”]

“It seems at

least (to

have been originally y e invention of Perzuia, or Buzurj rather, in Persiek about a.d. 550 (tbo he fathered

me)

to

on

[it]

c

Brahmins), and

y

immediately translated

into

Greek.”

[On margin.]

“

A

copy

e y original

(finely wrote) of this in

tongue Mr. Fraser brought home in 1749,

w

h

saw.”

I

end of the para.] “There are two Greek Versions of it, one a verbal one, and seems very old, printed Sapienta by [blank] at Hamburgh under y e title of 20,

[p.

at

*

Y

Indorum.’

c

other

is

a Loose Paraphrase printed with

Byzant

There is French translation of these Fables & an English one from it lately, 12°. The English is called ‘Pilpay’s Fables’ for Bidpai, y c supposed Narrator of them to an Indian Portallas’s Latin version in ‘Histor:

.’

:

a

Prince.” [p. 29,

“

Farhang Jahanguiri.]

M

r

Fraser brought a 2 nd

copy of the Appendix, 1749 (tho imperfect too)

now

;

both are

in y e

Bodley Lib.” “See many more MSS. par[p. 40, added at end.] ticularly of the Zand in Old-Persick & several Lexicons (tho’ all imperfect) of y t tongue, but wh. he intended to

&

&

the whole Yaed of y e Indians in r the Bramiiis character wh. Fraser showed to me S. S.

compleat

publish

M

in

1749 in London, wh. now

I

hear are safely deposited

his Widow y by D r Radclif’s executors & given to the University of Oxford at y e instigation of D r Owen, who heard of them r from James Brunker, to whom I related as above. in

e

Bodley Library, having been bought of

M

“ (Signed)

The place

of

Sam l Smalbroke.”

James Fraser’s death, “ Rylick near Inver-

seemed to point to a connection with the familv owning the estate so named (also spelt Reelick, Relick, Relig). It lies in the parish of Kirkhill, a few miles southwest of the town of Inverness, and had in 1845, after great

ness,”

;

218

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

drainage improvements, a rental of £(340 a year

(“New

Account of Scotland,” vol. xiv, p. 460). The family, according to John Anderson (“Historical Account Statistical

of the family of Frisel or Fraser,” 1825, pp. 71-6, 195),

was founded early in the sixteenth century by Ilutcheon Bain, an illegitimate son of Thomas, fourth Lord Lovat (d.

On

21st October, 1524).

Gentry,”

ed. 1894, vol.

i,

referring to Burke’s

(1713-1755) was descended in this progenitor

“Landed

James Fraser tbe seventh generation from

p. 709,

I find

that

he was the second but eldest surviving son

;

of Alexander Fraser

(d.

1733).

Mary, only daughter of Edward she died 18th June, 1795.

James married in London, Warwickshire

Satchell, of

Their only son, Edward Satcbell

Fraser (1751-1835), was the father of John Baillie Fraser (1783-1856), the author of several books of travel in India and Persia (see “ Dictionary of National Biography,”

and “Encyclopaedia Britannica,” 9th edition). Another son was William Fraser, Commissioner of Dehli, who was shot there in 1835 (W. H. Sleeman, “Rambles and Recollections,” 1844, vol. ii, pp. 215-231; R. Bosworth Smith, “Life of Lord Lawrence,” 1883,

vol.

i,

pp. 75-78).

Other grandsons of James Fraser were connected with the East, viz., Edward S., who died at St. Helena, 25th April,

Alexander Charles, who died in India, 4th June, and George John, 1st Bengal Cavalry, who Burke’s died at Aurangabad, 27th August, 1842, aged 42. 1813;

1816, aged 27

date, S.

;

1755, for James

must,

if

we

follow

Smalbroke’s notes, be altered to 1754.

The Court Books to

Fraser’s death,

of the East India

1750, which I have been

Company from 1728

permitted to consult at the

India Office, furnish no confirmation of Mr. Smalbroke’s

statement that James Fraser went out the as

Very probably

a Writer.

that was

first

the

time to India case,

though

But I find that, on his second visit to that country, he went as the Company’s servant, having been appointed on the 12th November, 1742, I

have not traced the appointment.

a Factor on the

Bombay

His bondsmen

£1,000 each were

in

establishment to reside at Surat.

Hugh

Ross and George

NOTE ON JAMES FRASER.

On

Fryer, of London, merchants. posted as an agent to cent,

commission, other 2^

between his

On

Parker. a

Mocha

little

girl,

in the

219

the same date he was

Red

per cent,

Sea, with 2| per

being

apportioned

two colleagues, Captain Freeman

and

Mr.

the 29th December, 1742, Fraser’s wife and a relative of his, were allowed to proceed to

Bombay ou one

of

the

Company’s

On

ships.

the

14th

September, 1748, a letter was received from James Fraser at Surat, dated the 10th, 22nd,

and he must have

left

and 24th November, 1747

;

India soon afterwards, for on the

12th January, 1749, he presented a Memorial for an inquiry

some official dispute or quarrel. He is there described “ as late of Council at Surat.” I have not pursued my

into

inquiries further, the above being sufficient to confirm the assertion that he

was in the Honourable Company’s

Anquetil Duperron (“ Zendavesta,” liminaire,

cccclviii, cccclix)

vol.

I,

service.

Discours pre-

heard of Fraser at Surat from

the Pars!, Dastur Shapur, and

was to inspect Fraser’s 1762 he (A. D.) visited Oxford, when brought a prisoner of war to England. James Darmsteter (“ Annales du Musee Guimet, Zandavesta,” I, Introduction, xi) does not seem to have known much about “ Quelques Fraser, nor is what he does say very accurate. annees plus tard” [i.e. after 1720, when Bourchier sent home to Oxford a Zand manuscript] “ l’Ecossais Frazer, conseiller a Bombay, se rendit a Surat pour etudier aupres des Parsis ils lui vendaient deux manuscrits et lui refuserent leurs lecons.” Here we may note (1) that Fraser was of the Surat, not of the Bombay Council (2) that he had already lived at Surat ten years, 1730-1740; (3) that he procured many more than two Zand manuscripts ” shows, (4) that, as p. vi of his Preface to “ Nadir Shah Zand MSS.

it

in the Bodleian that in

;

;

;

he had no difficulty in obtaining Pars! teachers

;

(5) that, as

Mr. Smalbroke’s annotations prove, Fraser had a working knowledge of the Zand tongue. Fraser’s death at the

220

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

comparatively early age of forty-one years goes a long to account for his

way

doing nothing further with the materials

that he had so assiduously accumulated.

W.u. Irvine.

Additions to the Library.

IY.

Presented by the India

The Fauna

Office.

of British India.

13

vols.

London, 1889-97. Alexander Gardner.

8vo.

Memoirs

Pearse (Major Hugh).

of

London, 1898.

8vo.

Presented by the Senate of the Calcutta University.

Land-Law

Mitra Siirada Charan.

Law

Bengal.

of

8vo.

Lectures, 1895.)

(Tajore

Calcutta, 1898.

Presented by the Madras Government Museum.

Thurston

(E.).

Eurasians of Madras and Malabar; Note on

Tattooing; Malagasy-Niao-Dravidians

With ten vol.

ii,

Toda

;

Petition.

(Madras Government Museum Bulletin, Anthropology.) Madras, 1898. 8vo.

plates.

No. 2

:

Presented by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press.

Nicholson (R.

A.).

Shamsi Tabriz.

Selected

Poems from the Dlvani

Edited and translated. Cambridge, 1898.

8vo.

Cook

(S. A.).

Glossary of the Aramaic Inscriptions. Cambridge, 1898.

8vo.

Presented by the Leiden University.

Amr

ibn

Bahr

livre des

al-Juhiz

al-Basri

(Abu Othman).

Beautes et des antitheses:

G. van Yloten.

Le

texte arabe, par

8vo.

Leide, 1898.

8vo.

Paris, 1898.

Presented by the Musie Guimet.

Menant (D.). Les l’arsis. Aymonier (E.). Voyage en

Laos.

Tome

ii.

8vo.

Paris, 1897.

221

ADDITIONS TO TIIE LIBRARY. Presented by Professor Rhys Davids.

Asoka Carita (Bengali).

Sen Krishna Bihari.

Calcutta, 1895.

8vo.

Presented by the Religious Tract Society.

Thornton (D. M.).

Tarsi, Jaina,

and Sikh, or some Minor

Presented by Messrs. J. D. Keynrer

Oudemann

Two

London, 1898.

8vo.

Religious Sects of India. O

§

9

Co.

Die Triangulation von Java. 4to. Haag, 1895—8.

(Dr. J. A. C.).

vols.

Presented by the Delegates of the Clarendon Press.

Margoliouth

(D.

S.).

The Letters

Abu

of

’L-’Ala

of

Edited from the Leyden *MS.,

Ma’arrat Al-Nu’rnan.

with the Life of the Author by Al-Dhahabi, and with translation, notes, indices,

and biography. Oxford, 1898.

4to.

Presented by R. C. Dutt, Esq.

Rajataranginl, or History of the Kahlana and others. Kings of Kashmlra, translated by J. C. Dutt. Three vols.

8 vo.

Calcutta,

1879-1898.

Presented by Major L. A. Waddell.

The Gazetteer of Sikkim. 4to. Book of Tress Cuttings on the Discovery

A

of Buddha’s

Birthplace.

Presented by Professor Leumann.

Tsuru- Matsu Tokiwal.

Studien

zum Sumagadhavadana. 8 vo.

Darmstadt, 1898.

Presented by the Authors.

Sewell (R.).

Eclipses of the

Moon

in India. 4to.

Cordier (H.).

Pamphlet.

La

London, 1898.

Charles Schefer. 8vo.

Paris, 1898.

Roy. 8vo.

Paris, 1898.

Collection Charles Schefer.

222

NOTES OF THE QUARTER. Sohantung und Kiau-tschou.

Iliith (F.).

Pamphlet.

8vo.

Miinchen, 1898.

Zur Kulturgeschichte der Chinesen. Pamphlet.

8vo.

Miinchen, 1898.

Sanjana (D. D. P.). Observations on M. J. Darmesteter’s Theory regarding Tansar’s Letter to the King of Tabaristan and the Date of the Avesta.

Pamphlet.

Johns (Rev.

C.

H. W.).

8vo.

recording the Transfer of Property.

Yol.

8 vo.

Texts.

Whinfield (E. H.).

Masnavi

i

of

Second 8vo.

Gerini

(Captain G. E.).

Witton).

(T.

among

the

(T.

E

The Preaching

The

).

(D.).

London, 1898.

of Islam.

London, 1896.

Historical Development of the Quran.

8vo.

Lopes

Milan, 1898.

their Neighbours.

8vo. Sell (Rev.

Jalal-ad-din edition.

Magic, Divination, and Demonology

Hebrews and

W.).

Cuneiform

London, 1898.

8vo.

8 vo.

Arnold

:

Catalogo di Monete Siamesi.

Pamphlet. Davies

i

Cambridge, 1898.

Manavi

Translated and abridged.

Ruini.

Leipzig, 1898.

Assyrian Deeds and Documents

Madras, 1898.

Historia dos Portugueses no Malabar por

Zinadlm.

8vo.

Irving (Rev. F. A.).

Lisboa, 1898.

Syro-Persian (Modern) Grammar. 8vo.

Ur mi, 1898.

Presented by the Translators.

Smirnov (J. H.). Les populations finnoises des bassins de la Volga et dc la Kama, traduit du Russe et revues Pte. I, Groupe de la Volga: (1) Les par Paul Boyer. Tchertbnisses (2) Les Moidves. Roy. 8vo. Paris, 1898. Abul Fazl. Akbar Nilma. Vol. i, fasc. 2. Translated 8vo. Calcutta, 1898. by H. Beveridge. (Bib. Indica.) Muntakhabu-t-Tawarlkh. Vol. i. TransAl-Badaoni. (Bib. Indica.) lated by Lieut.-Colonel G. Ranking. ;

8vo.

Calcutta, 1890-8.

223

ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY. Dutt (R.

The Mahabharata,

C.).

translated into English

London, 1808.

Post 8vo.

verse.

Presented by the Publishers.

Bibliotheque

Colouiale

Internationale.

Serie

Documents

officiels.

fonctionnaires Coloniaux

:

Le Regime Foncier aux Colonies

Tome

officiels.

(Sven).

Through Asia.

Two

Bruxelles, 1898.

vols.

8 vo.

Muhammeds Lehre von

Jensen (P.).

Ilittiter

W.).

Strassburg, 1898.

First Steps in Assyrian.

8 vo. "Wright.

Arabic Grammar.

Two

J.).

Cambridge, 1898.

Die Chronologie der alt-tiirkischen 8vo.

Inschriften.

Jastrow (M.).

The Religion

Leipzig, 1898.

of Babylonia and Assyria. 8vo.

Lazarus (Dr. M.).

London, 1898.

vols.

8vo.

Marqnart (Dr.

Leipzig, 1898.

und Armenier. 8vo.

(L.

London, 1898.

der Offenbarung. 8vo.

King

Documents

Allemandes. 8vo.

(0.).

:

i.

(2) Colonies

Pautz

i.

Inde Britannique.

(1)

Hedin

Les

Tome

Paris, 1898.

8vo.

Serie 3.

2.

Boston, 1898.

Die Ethik des Judenthums. Roy. 8vo.

Frankfurt-am-Main, 1898.

JOURNAL OF

THE ROYAL ASIATIC

Art. VIII

.

— Extracts from

the

SOCIETY.

Tamil “ Pwrra-porul Venhd-

By

Malai,” and the “ Purra-nannurruP

the Rev.

Gr.

U.

Pope, M.A., D.D.

The Parra -porul Venha - Malai professing called

“ The Twelve

disciples

Chapters,”

of Agastiyar A

a very ancient

is

be founded upon a

to

older

still

by one

as

twelve

the

This points to a mythic origin,

but we cannot historically go further than or compiler,

of

work,

composition

its

he would represent himself.

Tamil author, It is quite

Tamil writer who would become a classic to cite his original, or the authoritative ‘first-work’ from which he draws (or professes to draw) his materials. (See Nannul 4-10, and Pope’s 3rd Grammar, p. 142.) Where there is no such ‘first-work’ Muthanul), he or his ®pir essential for a

,

,

commentators must suppose or invent one, and ascribe

some venerable personage.

to

AIYANAR-ITHAN, he

is

said to

of

whom

The

real

nothing

is

author

here

known but

can hardly be

less

been for the

first

1

is

that

have been a descendant of the old Qera kings,

and the compiler of this very interesting composition.

ix,

it

than ten centuries old.

It

It has recently

time printed under the editorship of

In the commentary on the Tol-Kappyam hy Nacchinarkkiniyar, Porul -athi, 94 (Ci Vai Tamotharam Pijlai’s edition, p. 807, Madras, 1885), reference is

made

to this statement.

j.b.a.s.

1899.

15

— ;

226

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

Ye. (^aminathaiyar of Uttamatana-puram, the very learned

and worthy Tamil Head-Pandit of the Kumbakonam College and has probably never been seen by any European till now, though the late Sir Walter Elliot (clarum et venerabile nomen ) obtained and caused to be translated some fragments of it. These were edited for private circulation by

Some were

R. Sewell, Esq., M.C.S.

also printed in the

Asiatic Quarterly.

means * garland.’ Vcnba (see Pope’s Kurral, and NaJadi, Int. xxvi) is the name of the metre

JIalai Int. xxv,

very

artistic quatrains like those in the Naladiyar.

Porul

is

in general,

Porul

is

a subdivision both of

and

divided

these,

Agam

most

the

in

Tol-Kappgam, into

Of

grammar and

Agam

war,

and the

affairs

of

Purram

(‘inner’) and

(‘the subjective

other things

*

This

’)

’

—

grammar,

ancient

the

(‘outer’).

treats of love, its various

Purram

emotions, incidents, and accidents. relates to all

of treatises

signifies ‘substance, reality, subject.’

life in

(‘

the objective

’)

and especially This work, though

general,

kingdoms.

professing to treat of practical subjects in general (Purram),

has portions, as will be seen, which belong to the other

(Agam )

division

— emotional

The

and passionate.

ideas

and

even the phraseology of these verses are cited and used

by

commentators upon the other

all

as being of

classics,

absolute authority. It is divided into twelve chapters

(Padalam

Skr.

:

or as they are generally termed, Tinai (^Sstnn),

1

containing

360 quatrains. It seems probable that the

work

than the Kurral, and suggested is closely allied in

1

and

Tinai. is

sections

the

This

(turrai

=

quatrain.

;

main

^rrj).

subdivisions of

summary

subject and in tone to

of its couplets.

divisions of

This latter

a subject.

is

called

Kolu

(

=

little

‘

genus,’

These are divided

equal to ‘species,’ and

Here, each chapter

and every quatrain has a curious This couplet

really signifies

any subject. is

It

the Purra-nannurru

much used Tamil word -of -all -work

applied to the

more ancient

itself is

many

is

is

into

used for

preceded by a

small

couplet giving the pith of the

‘substance, contents’

:

from

Qaa ®Y).

227

rURRA-rORUL YENBA-MALAI. (P.N.N.), with which and studied,

Tol-Kappyam

it

must be

more recent than the text of these works. be necessary to give some account of the Purra-

though

It will

the

“Four Hundred

or

niinnurru,

it is

Lyrics

anthology has been lately printed for the

of

Life.”

This

time,

though

first

has been in existence for upwards of a thousand years, and contains ballads which in substance must have been it

sung

We

in the early centuries of our era.

Qaminathaiyar, of

Tamil

is

now

the

iu the

learned

and

Kumbakonam Government

carefully edited

apparatus in such a

way

owe

it

also to

Professor

indefatigable

College, that

it

and put forth with all necessary that it may find an entrance into

the house of every Tamil scholar.

This

the fifth large

is

work issued by the same editor. The industry and learning which have been employed in the editing of these books would have gained for Qaminathaiyar a very high place among scholars in Europe, if the subject had been one which the scholars of the West were disposed to value. But, although the very ancient, copious, and refined Tamil language is inferior to none, it is regarded by most people as the

(probably barbarous) vernacular of a people living

somewhere in a remote

district of

Great Britain’s imperial

Neither does our Indian Government nor do

possessions.

our Universities fully recognize the value of Tamil literature;

and those who spend their

lives in the study of the great

South Indian classics must resemble men seeking for pearls under water. Our editor’s compatriots, however, will not be

slow

to

recognize

the

conferring upon his people. his labours

may

benefit

Nor

is it

that his too

much

studies to

are

hope that

be so far recognized as to procure for him

such pecuniary assistance as

Tamil scholarship

is

may

save

him from absolute

a direct road to poverty

loss.

!

To return from this digression. This work consists of 400 Lyrics, varying in length from six lines to fifty, being the most part songs sung by Court minstrels and wandering bards in honour of the kings of the South, for

including not

only the

Qeran

but

king's,

Pandiyan,

about

120

of

the

Qoran,

the

petty

and

the

Rajas and

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

228 chieftains less

who then

divided the South, and were more or

independent, having their fortresses on every

coign of vantage throughout the southern land. ancient rulers and heroes scarcely anything

what

these,

known but

is

and a few similar works, enable us

hill and Of those

to conjecture.

Their names have not yet been found or recognized in

on

inscriptions or

coins,

and

it is

many

shall ever be able to recover

history.

very doubtful whether

we

authentic details of their

the glimpses of ancient manners, thought, and

Still,

conditions of

life

interesting.

The

afforded

by these poems

ancient

about

bards,

are exceedingly

150

number,

in

fragments of whose songs have thus been rescued, were of very unequal powers

;

but some of them display,

I

if

am

not mistaken, very great poetical genius, -and some of the

fragments are veritable gems. It

worthy of note,

is

also,

that of these poems, except the

introductory invocation (which

of

is

much

later date,

by

Peruin Devanar, 1 the translator of the Maha-Baratham),

none make any decided allusion to Qiva worship. Demons are constantly referred to, and various charms and ceremonies for driving

them away from the

their delight to hold their

Throughout

all

eery

"where

battlefield, festivals,

it

was

are mentioned.

the petty kingdoms of the Tamil lands there

seems then to have been a system of demon-worship much

what now Feasts and

like

‘

prevails in the extreme south.

dances in

murugu,’ a fragrant wood

He

to.

honour of :

Murugan

(from

T.

Agal/ochum ) are often alluded

was evidently the tutelary god of the aborigines of is now promoted to be the younger son

the South, and of Qivan.

I shall reserve a

heroes and

their

more minute account

their

bards,

for

of

another

these poems, occasion,

return at once to the Purra-porul Vcnbd-Mdlai.

1

lie seems to have edited a series of works for the

Madura

literati.

and

“ PURRA-PORUL VENBA-MlLAI.”

PADALAM Vedchi,

The

I.

or the Cattle-raiders.

and the following seven

Vedchi,

tinai is called

first

229

They are taken

divisions have titles of a similar import.

from the garlands worn by warriors in the contests in which the tribes of South India in those times seem to have been incessantly engaged. The Tamil rhetoricians enumerate eight species of distinctive garlands worn by kings and

when

warriors

going

on various

forth

garland being supposed

indicate

to

expeditions,

the

the character of

the

undertakings, and the feelings of those engaged in them. 1

This

to us a novel

is

form of the

The Vedchi (QsiilL@)) commonly called Flame 1

the country geranium.’

sometimes of

language of

the

soldier’s

experience

if

to strike terror

headdress

;

though

it

extent

The armies

of military uniform.

place

is

and of a deep

the opposing hosts, and to some

Europe have never been unmindful of of the

which

sometimes

or

profusion of flowers,

brightness,

These garlands were intended

scarlet hue.

flowers.’

coccinia,

Forest,’

It bears a

dazzling

quite

into the eyes of

supplied

the

of

‘

‘

Ixora

the

is

the

moral

of

effect

would be a novel

our troops went forth to war like a marching

garden of flaming

who wore the

and

fragrant flowers

The warriors

!

would seem no small part of the duty and duty was delight of the ancient South Indian soldier. This Padala/n, or chapter, contains twenty verses, and illustrates with exceeding clearness several phases of the thoughts and habits of the people in those good old vedchi were cattle-raiders.

It

—

that this constituted

—

‘

times

’ !

verses,

A

translation

is

given of

the

more important

and a summary of the remainder. § 1.

The King’s Call

Verse

1.

to

the Cattle-raid.

The King Summoning

his People.

“Youthful warrior, who bearest the wondrous three-pronged dart,

go forth, seize and bring home the herds of cattle with 1

They were not infrequently

artificial,

composed of gold and gems.

— EXTEACTS FEOM THE TAMIL

230

See your foes bending their bows, as though they would cut down whole forests and set them on fire, and inspecting their arrows as they fit them to the string. Put their ranks to flight ” the bulls their leaders

!

!

The Toddy-booth.

§ 2.

This introduces the idea, which front in these poems, of the

*

is

always coming to the

toddy-jar.’

begins and ends with the canteen Verse

The

[§ 15.]

raid

!

2.

“ Forget not, 0 thou with the loving large eyes, the clear

sweet boiled palm-juice in the standing jar of toddy, never

The warrior on whose

empty.

who

is

shall

fierce of

see

eye,

feet are the heroes’

endures not debt.

anklets,

To-morrow’s morn

the foeman’s herds thronging thy wide

-

extended

gates.”

would seem that these champions cleared off their scores with the nymph of the palm-wine jar by means of the plunder they brought home. [§ 16.] All classes except Brahmans, even the ladies, are represented as indulging freely in the use of toddy. The same thing is illustrated in the Kambar-Ramayanam, where the whole It

Court

— king,

queens, princes, counsellors, and warriors

are represented as indulging in a most unedifying debauch

of

many

days’

Canto of the

[Bala-Khandam,

duration.

xviii

:

‘

The

Festivities.’]

Eager for

§ 3.

Verse

the fray.

3.

“The raven’s hoarse cry arises in who own the beauteous herd omen

—

the jungles of our foes of

to

ill

beating their drums our warriors armed with

them; while long spears

put on the vedchi flower and go forth upon the well-nigh impervious paths, where the raven croaks.” 1

Cf.

P.N.N., 280.

1

,

.

“ FURRA-rORUL VEXBA-MALAI.

speaks

of

which

omens

231

’

Omens

§ 4.

This

'

continually

are

referred

to here.

Verse “ In the little

4.

town encircled with

barriers, at eventide,

while our people stand around with clasped hands, she [the

woman

wise forth •

of the village]

and would

speaks,

toddy from the jar in the

is

bear'st the bent

ours.”

bow

in thy

‘

Bring

stand’;

but really says,

shed.’

Therefore, 0 thou

Bring the large-eyed cow from the

who

say,

mighty hand, the victory

1

They go forth.

§ 5.

The raiders armed with bows, and so styled in Tamil, ‘Ploughmen of the Bow’ (cf. Kurral 872), go forth through the stony wilderness to the

hill fortress of

whose

off.

cattle

they are bent on carrying Verse

those

5.

“ Like death's satellites, bearing the curved

bow

in their left

hands, followed by flocks of vultures they go forward

!

Their minds fixed on the station where the herds of cattle are found,

they

make

for the hill

whereon the long iambus wave.”

The Scouts.

§ 6.

The

send forward trusty spies to ascertain the

raiders

precise position of the bell-bearing herds, of the warriors to

1

=

Here

‘

whom stand,’

or

‘cowshed’ ;

jar,’ or ‘

‘

large-eyed

’ ;

and for

0

they heard

Bring the large-eyed cow from the

the mistake of a letter (d for

?),

and the number

these belong.

fold.’

to urge

them

^

gi_s«asjr = ‘toddy from

=

The

‘

cow’

syhil

:

so she

the

seemed to say,

seemed inYoluntarily, by

to the raid.

:

EXTRACTS PROM THE TAMIL

232

Terse

6.

“ Our friends have gone forth in the deep darkness to ascertain the place of the herds, and their number, and the hosts of the

bowmen who

with

honey-dripping wreath, deckt

The of the

and

jewelled anklet

hero's

” !

raiders hill,

defend them, 0 eagle-eyed warrior king,

hidden in the dense jungle at the foot

lie

make

while the scouts

their

way through

the

darkness up the gorge, to spy out the dwelling-places of those against

whom

the foray

§ 7.

The

is

The Fort Surrounded.

raiders surround their enemies’ fortified dwelling

the crest of the

hill,

and

this

every side

unknown

;

and set guards is done in the

to

on

prevent egress on

silence of the night

to the unsuspecting objects of the attack.

Terse “

made.

7.

None from hence shall 'scape Like fires of the day of doom enemy came forth at dawn. Their power is spent. The stealthy marauders have surrounded every part !

the

none of the beleaguered ones shall issue forth.”

After a short but fiery contest the attacked have retired within their stronghold, which

§ 8.

The

raiders,

is straitly

The Storming of urging

on

their

besieged.

the Hill-fort.

swift-footed

bearing aloft their bent bows, storm the

fort,

horses

which

is

and soon

enveloped in flames. Terse “

Hate lends them help

;

8.

while fierce

they rush on regarding no obstacle those fall that living never

fire !

knew

rages they shout;

In the broad daylight defeat

!

With jewelled

anklets’ sound

and deadly bows the raiders storm the mountain

fort.”

; :

;

;

“ PURRA-PORUL VENBA-MALAI.” § 9.

The Seizure of

233

the Cattle.

Having overcome and taken the stronghold, the victorious bulls aud cows and calves. heroes seize the whole herd

—

Verse

9.

“ Like a congregation of spotted tigers, in the town in

midmost of the

ia/witi-encircled

upland plain

they take possession of the assembled herds, and round about stand steadfast to repel all

§ 10.

Now

muster on

who would

The Fight around all sides

set

them

free."

the Herds.

the clansmen of the attacked

people wearing wreaths of Karanthai (siribszn^,a species

This wreath is a dark purple flower). worn by the bands that come forth to rescue the stolen cattle and repel the raiders. The whole subject is more of Basil, bearing

fully treated in the secoud

Pa da lam. Verse

“ Those,

who came

10.

to retake the herds

from the raiding

host,

have fallen the vultures have swooped

down upon

the

corpses of the

slain their

dark clouds are like those of the arrows reeking with blood,

that the foemen, fearful as those of the cruel

bowman

death,

have sent forth."

§ 11.

The

The Cattle driven

off over the

Wolds.

raiders, to elude pursuit, drive off the

herd quietly

through wild unfrequented paths. Verse

11.

“ Let the cattle graze, and rest awhile in quiet companionship ‘

’

thus spake the bow-bearing, jewel-ankleted hero, though

he saw the rescuing host rushing after, like water from a lofty hill

and

so

they paused under the shadow of the mighty crags.”

—

!

234

;

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

The Raiders' Return.

§ 12.

The

relatives of the raiders rejoice at the return of their

hero with the

spoils.

Verse

12.

“ First come the cows with their hanging dewlaps;

then come the bulls with their black masses of hair.

The warlike drums sound

who

out,

and the woodland maids

feared for their loved ones hail the signs that show

them

safe.”

§ 13.

The Spoils brought home.

While the drums sound a state

of

out,

and the whole town

is

in

eager expectation, the raided herds enter the

village enclosure.

Verse

13.

“ The Warrior’s spouse, with shining rows of teeth and rare beauty, sees her hero

crowned with wreaths midst which the beetles

hum Her heart

swells with gladness as she beholds the herds

with tinkling

This

is

bells filling the

sung of in P.N.N., 262

“ Bring out the buried toddy in

open spaces of the village.”

;

:

slay the

rams

;

pandal thatched with green leaves, with slender ( bambii ) posts,

lavishly strew fine sand from river-bed

My Lord, who comes home his faithful

This

is

first

!

led the charge against the foeman’s van,

in rear

guarding the captured herds

comrades march, more wearied than himself.”

a song of

Madura.

indulge in these sports?

Did even the Pilndi kings

See also P.N.N., 297.

!

— ——

!

“ rURRA-PORUL TENBA-MALAI.”

§ 14.

The raided herds

235

Division of the Spoils. of

cattle

are

among

distributed

the

successful soldiers according to each one’s deserts.

Vehsb

14.

“ To those to those

who overcame with their glittering swords, who sought out as spies, and brought back the

to the skilful ones that interpreted the

they divide the herds of cattle in the

little

town."

The Feast.

§ 15.

The warriors with jewelled anklets, that toddy,’ and dance rejoicing.

walk, drink

tale,

favouring omens,

tinkle as they

*

Yersb

“ The aspect of the maidens,

15.

sweet of speech and fair as

Lakshmi, fills

with pleasing pains the warrior’s soul

The gladness of the intoxicating draught departs, as does the anger against his foes from out his soul.”

Love

is

lord of all

§ 16.

The all

Gifts.

spoils acquired in the raid are lavishly

bestowed on

that ask.

Terse

16.

“ The wealth brought back from the battlefield

by the warriors

that flinched not in the strife, but bent their bows,

has become the price paid for the fiery drink

by musicians, drummers,

§ 17.

To those who

singers,

Extra Rewards.

as scouts

explored beforehand

of the fierce strife they give

unto themselves.

and singing women.”

the scene

more honour than they take

—

;

:

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

236

Verse

“ To those

who

17.

feared not death, but night and day

explored the battlefield, spied out, and brought us news,

some

gifts

beyond those given

0 warrior wielding the keen

§

to others surely is due,

dart, that slays the fiery foe

” !

The Favourable Prognosticators.

18.

Some reward

is

given to those

who

expounded

faithfully

the lucky signs. Verse

“

When we went

18.

upon our foemen’s

forth with minds intent

herds,

these

made

plain the favouring signs, and sounds that gave

us heart

think not of what

is strictly

due as their share

;

to each give

four cows, with udders large, distended with milk

The Drummer.

§ 19.

The to

virtues of the old

ancestral

” !

man who

beats the drum, according

custom, for the jewel-ankleted warriors,

are

celebrated.

Verse “ For

my

grandsire’s grandsire his grandsire's grandsire

beat the drum so

19.

he for me.

Pour forth

!

for

my

For

From him

sweetest wine

father his father did the same

one other cup of palm-tree’s

“

purest

” !

The following song (P.N.N., 290) is

;

duties of his clan he has not swerved

illustrating this section

attributed to the ancient poetess Avvaiyar

:

0

king, whose chariot drawn by angry elephants

i9

foremost in the fray, pour out for him the palm-wine.

Ilis father’s father, in fierce fight,

when

died tenacious as the workman’s pincers,

defending the king, thy father’s father

!

spears flew thick,

;

“ PURRA-rORUL VENBA-MALAI.” He,

too,

with valour

shall, like

filled, instinct

237

with glory of his race,

palm-leaves that screen from sun’s fierce rays,

hide thy head from the spear hurled at

§

Here they

it.”

1

The Demoness Kottavai.

20.

celebrate the never-failing grace of her

who

protects the warlike host, whose glory never grows dim.

Verse

20.

“ Her beauteous banner bears the

Her hand

lion’s form.

the golden parrot grasps and bounding stag.

A countless host of demons round her press — great When we designed the attack on the foeman’s fort, she

went before our

21.

§

The damsels, with dance with Velan,-

host,

and made

foes flee

Kottavai

!

” !

The Devil-Dance.

flawless jewels decked, dance the mystic

now

the deed

is

done.

This

is

called the

Vallai Dance.

Verse

“ Did the black-throated One it is

21. 3

behold, he would rejoice;

the dance performed for the dart-hurling

Murugan

by warrior and by jewel-bearing lovely maid, with fragrant garlands dight.”

The following (P.H.K, 257) gives a portrait of the leader It is somewhat confused, hut belongs to the VEDCHI Padalam of the cattle-raid.

Call the Milkmaids!

“ Softly he treads as though pebbles were in his sandals

huge

his

paunch and broad

his chest,

bright his eye, and beard bristly as the mountain-side, his cheeks

hang down “

like

He

will cover thy

2

Velan

= spearman.

3

Civan.

1

dewlaps

head

in the

!

day of battle.”

!

;

EXTEACTS FEOM THE TAMIL

238

Who

is

this that thus

cometh with

his

bow

?

A

fearful

sight

Look

close,

he

not one whose fort

At

is

early

he doth not come from far is

;

in the wilderness.

dawn he watched

tbe course of the foeman’s

herds,

pointed them out with his hand, numbered them,

and with his bow drove

off the

would-be rescuers

The herd is large, but what the gain if those who milk with white large-mouthed and who churn, are not at hand.”

!

vessels,

These twenty-one verses form the whole Padalam com-

memorating the incidents

of the cattle-raid.

PADALAM

II.

The Karanthai Wreath, or the Rescuers. This species

is

a wreath of basil or tulagi, a sacred plant of several

having dark purple flowers, contrasting with the

bright crimson of the Vedchi of the former Padalam.

This

Karanthai wreath was worn by those who went forth oppose the raiders and rescue the herds.

to

In P.N.N. there

are eleven lyrics referred to this Tinai.

§ 1.

The Karanthai.

Ilere the owners of the herds with their chaplets of dark

purple flowers rush forth to the rescue. Verse

22.

“ The crowding warriors crown their heads with garlands of karanthai,

and go forth

to rescue the herds the

foeman drives away

as though one should bring back the souls of dwellers on earth

begirt

by the sounding

sea, after

death has devoured them.”

;

“ PUREA-PORUL VENBA-MALAI.” The Summons.

§ 2.

The people whose herds

and haste

Verse

the spear,

men

death in their fierce anger,

—

are bidden

to the rescue.

23.

“ The jewel-ankleted heroes, the fierce

who wield

away

are being driven

to relinquish their occupations

they

239

bowmen,

terrible to sight,

all

who

fear not

hear the sound of the drum,

and go to rescue the flocks which the Vedchi-chapleted have carried off.”

The Rescuers on

§ 3.

Only those

war remain

unfit for

the

Track.

town

in the

;

the rest,

boiling with fierce wrath, follow the track of the raiders.

Verse “

24.

The conch-shell sounds, with the mighty horn, and instruments of music adorned with peacock feathers, and roused by the

roll of the

loud drum,

and over the

the Rescuers arise,

fiery desert

following the tracks of the cattle,

make

— spears

their

way,

glistening like

the sun.”

§

25.

They draw near the with fearful energy, fortunes

is

The Doubtful Fight. raiders,

and a

surround them, attack them

battle

with

many

changeful

fought. Verse

25.

“ Like a multitude of tigers or lions or warrior-elephants, full of

power and wrath and honourable shame and glorious

resolve

they shout, and hasten on, as they hear the raiders’ defiant cry;

— and

so the battle rages.”

—

!

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

240

The following

sections of this chapter speak of the glory

They fall fighting But we shall henceforth

of the individual heroes on either side. to the last

of

full

enthusiasm.

content ourselves with a few specimen verses.

The Glory of

§ 13.

The

praise

sung of

is

King.

the

Marravan king, a valiant

the

*****

swordsman.

Verse

“ They truly

live

who

yield their lives fighting against the

amid the

foe in the fierce battle

whirling of the spear

flash of

swords and the

” !

The Heroic Race.

§ 14.

The

34.

praises of the heroes of tried valour

and of ancient

race.

Verse “ The

men

35.

of ancient race that appear foremost in the fight

wielding their swords

;

who stand

as, in

deluge, some mountain-top rises firm

what wonder if their glory ” passed away

the universal

amid the

when

lives

flood

;

all falsehoods

have

!

Thus ends the chapter

We

have seen that

of the Rescue.

many

of the lyrics

in

the Parra-

nannurru seem to have been composed from the hints given in these verses; or

it

may

be that from those lyrics this more

systematized work has arisen.

Certain

it

is

that they are

Thus and must be studied together. P.N.N., 259, evidently refers to an incident in the attempted closely

rescue.

connected,

The

rescuers are in sight of the raided flocks, but

the raiders themselves are not seen

angry pursuers “ See’st not the

:

—

;

the bard cries out to the

ambushed Marravars with well-strung bows,

hid in the jungle vast amid the leafy trees,

who while

the raided cattle move,

move not with them

11

Stay, stay, all honour to thy glorious soul

whose

0

!

foot the hero’s jewelled anklet wears,

glistens the

241

PURRA-PORUL VENBA-MALAI.’*

sword resplendent, whose

thou

by whose

side

steeds,

quivering with eagerness, shake like the priestess’ frame before the

demon

shrine,

Here we have an

when Murugan

inspires her soul

instructive glimpse of the current

” !

demon

worship, with the agitated priestess dancing wildly before

image of the

the

This

hill-god.

may

be seen daily even

yet in the South.

Cattle-lifting

a chief topic in

is

the beginning of warfare

:

all

these poems.

It

was

the Raid was followed by the

and these by the organized Invasion of the enemy’s This country (for which another wreath was assumed). led to the systematic defence, and the defenders assumed

Rescue,

The siege and protection of forts each Then came war in demanded its appropriate garland. And general, and for that another wreath was b rne. finally, the victors who had gained supremacy had another wreath, which they wore as the proud token of their victory. Thus our work relates to the expeditions in which these eight different chaplets were worn by the combatants. Some interesting chapters follow in which kings and their attributes, and miscellaneous matters connected with the a different wreath.

life

of the people, are illustrated.

It

is

from these, as has

been said, that the authors of the Kurral, the Naladiyar,

and other, lesser poets drew much of their material. It must be evident, therefore, that in many respects the work

we

are

now concerned with

is

an introduction

to

almost

the whole of the genuine poetry of the Tamil language.

The thorough exposition to us the

one another from their It

of these chapters, which reveal

South Indian primitive

making war with would require a volume.

tribes

hill fortresses,

must be remembered that in those days there were three kingdoms of the South the Pandiyan, with Madura

—

great as

the

its

capital;

Qora, j.r.a.s.

with 1899

.

the

Qera, with Karur as

Urraiyur

as

its

its

chief town.

centre; (See 16

and

my

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

242

and here, verses 240-3.) But besides had its chieftain, who some-

Naladivar, p. 414;

these, almost every little hill

times considered himself subject to

one or other of the

great powers, but generally was independent, and sometimes

even fought against them. the most part

These petty chieftains were

for

of lower caste, if indeed caste distinctions

were really recognized among them. In the greater kingdoms Brahmanical influence was predominant, and was gradually leavening the whole South.

The

chief tribe of

the Marravar, or

They

‘

what we may

men

call the aborigines

of violence,’ as the

name

were

signifies.

often fought as mercenaries iu the armies of the greater

They

kings. of the

still

form

a very great part of the population

extreme South, and have no small share of the rude

qualities of their ancestors.

The Demoness whom they worship was called Kottacai f § 20], ‘the Victorious

One’

[in

the object of worship

Malayalim, Kotti]. She was evidently

among

the oldest peoples of the South,

Demoness whose worship is performed under many names in the Devil temples which are still found The Brahmans have transferred in every southern village. her attributes to Uma, the wife of Civan, and call her Durgd, with whom she is now quite confounded. There was also and

is

the great

1

a divinity, the Hill-god of all the South, as being the son of Kottavai.

Fragrant One.’

And

who

His name

is

is

represented

Murugan,

‘

the

he has been received into the Hindu

Pantheon and invested with the attributes of Kdrttikeyan, is so regarded by nearly all

the warrior son of Civan, and the rural tribes.

Originally

it

seems quite certain that

he had nothing to do with the Brahmanical deities. The student who would form an independent opinion on these subjects must read these verses in the original, comparing them with the Purra-ndnnurru, and with the Tol-Kappyam

(Pond, 56-60), and with chapter lyrics

’).

Good

1

of the Pattu-patlu (‘ten

editions of all these have been issued by

1 The whole history of the myths connected with Durgd and many kindred subjects should be studied in Muir’s “ Sanskrit Texts,” vol. iv, with references to the very complete index.

“ PURRA-PORUL YENBA-MALAI.” Cdininafhaiyar, and

Tamotharam

Pillai,

veteran scholars, whose

learning and industry are worthy of

works

it is

243

all praise.

Of

these

hoped that some account may hereafter be given.

The dances in honour of these Murugan, are many, and are lamented Sundararn

Madras Christian

Pillai,

in

divinities, still

and especially of

performed.

The

late

an article published in the

March, 1891, has given

College Magazine,

an exceedingly interesting account of the Pattu-pattu, and he says: “It seems not altogether impossible that Mnrugaii

was originally a Driividian deity of time,

when Aryan

and that

;

civilization

found

it

in the

course

expedient to

adopt the cult of the independent nations over which

it

came to exercise its influence, a place in the Puranic mythology was found for the war god of the Tamils, as transformed and embellished by Aryan genius, just as in more recent times Buddhistic institutions and even Buddha himself, under the

name

of Sasta,

came

to be absorbed into

Brahmanism.” Perhaps one of the most remarkable can be found anywhere

is

‘

developments

’

that

that of the idea of this Devil-

dance as seen to this day in the South, into the really beautiful

blessing

idea to

doubtedly,

is

of

Qivan’s mystic dance

the origin of the dance in Tillai.

PADALAM The

giving

the whole created universe.

Vahji

This,

life

and

most un-

[See Nal., 16.]

III.

Wreath, or Invasion of the Enemy’s Territories.

Raids such as have been described naturally lead to syste-

who have proved and treacherous neighbours. The injured king now declares war, or makes war without matic invasions of the territories of those

themselves such troublesome

declaring it; while he and his warriors, binding the Vahji

wreaths upon their brows, go forth with their fourfold full

— 244

!

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

array of elephants, Vanji is

is

is

name

the general

found on

all

and infantry. The any creeping plant, such as

horses,

for

the mountain slopes.

This particular wreath

represented as composed of flowers of a yellow colour,

and the plant round. is

chariots,

is

It is the

one 'whose leaves are green

symbol of a race the

never extinguished.

the poetical

name

It

is ,

whom

seem that the Qera kings, of were remarkable

in the P.N.N.,

the year

all

of whose valour

curious that Vanji has become

Karur the Qera

of

fire

for

and

capital,

it

would

twelve are celebrated

the frequency of their

Being

invasions of neighbouring territories.

Thus

add that their wrath was implacable.

most

for the

we may

part mountaineers, their energy was resistless, and

in P.N.N., 4,

the great poet Paranar sings of one of these expeditions,

and

song

his

work.

He

is

a

many

specimen of very sword, the

celebrates the

same

the

in

jewelled anklet, the

capacious shield, the fiery charger, the resistless elephant,

and the towering banner-crowned chariot of a king thus concludes

;

and

:

“ Like the ruddy sun arising over the dark sea, art thou in thy beauty,

And

king

them that provoked thy wrath and helpless, ” the tender infant forsaken by its mother

shall ceaseless like

0

therefore, the land of

mourn,

foodless,

!

§ 1.

The king puts on

The Invasion.

the unfading

Vanji wreath, and con-

templates the subjugation of the enemy’s land.

[The invasion and complete subjugation of the whole southern seaboard by the famous is

related in P. Pattu,

vi,

Versb “ Like

young

Pandyan Nedum

(jeriyan

149, etc.] 36.

bulls red-eyed

the youthful warriors bend their bows,

with glistening eyes, longing for the battle-feast

;

and

put on the Vanji wreath, to subdue the unsubdued.”

so

—

—

:

“ PURRA-PORUL YENbI-MALAI.” The Invading Hosts.

§ 2.

The heroes

245

arise in their wrath,

brandishing their bright

swords, amid the trumpeting of the elephant-hosts. Versb

.

37.

“ The drums sound out like the roaring of the angry sea

Wreathed with the Vauji the valiant bands rush

on.

In the midst of the glittering bands, like the eternal the elephants

madly rush

The following

!

fires,

like black clouds in the rainy sky.”

verses speak of the uplifting of the banner,

and the unsheathing of

the sword.

Kottavai

is

again

introduced as putting to flight the enemy’s forces.

The Model Hero.

§ 6.

Verse

“

You ask how

41.

the hero distinguishes himself

foremost mid his kinsmen's hosts, he emulates the

Like

prowess of the bravest. foeman’s ranks

he penetrates the

fire

these are the deeds of the jewel-ankleted

:

hero.”

Woe

§ 8.

The

soldiers

to the

Conquered.

commiserate the sufferings of the land they

overrun. Verse “

The

lotus-like eyes of the warrior,

the warlike wreath, are as

43.

he

exclaims

* :

wet with

They

whose breast bears tears,

perish, a

fearful

spectacle

to

beholders,

they

who erewhile rode

forth with garlands gay,

with glistening eyes, and sound of warriors’

§ 9.

cars.’

”

The Reicards.

As they come to distribute the who of the foe shall be spared ?

spoil,

the question arises,

all

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

24G

Yer.se 44.

“ Touch not the temples,

where

sacrifices are offered

spare the dwellings of the holy ascetics

;

;

enter not the houses of the sacred Vedic Brahmans.

Let

all the rest

[So P.N.N.,

be abandoned to our warriors as their guerdon.”

9.]

The vanquished enemy now submits and pays The prowess of the heroes is again celebrated.

The Wasted Land.

§ 14.

The

tribute.

devastation of the ravaged land, and the deserted

homes, described.

[Cf.

P.N.N., Verse

6.]

50.

Spoils.

“ Gather the slaves, the heaped-up jewels, pearls, red gold, the plunder from the stately homes,

and give them

to the warriors

of the hostile king

The

;

while subjects

make loud laments

inhabitants of the invaded land

the country

is

ravaged with

fire

;

” !

flee

on every side

their fortresses.

§

The Warriors’ Feast.

22.

Verse

58.

“ The instruments of music sound out. tigers rush

upon the

field

The heroes

and reap the crops and

like feast,

while they explore the resources of the vanquished lands.”

§

23.

Triumph and

Glory

to the

;

and the invaders build

Conquering Invaders.

pity mingle in the final song.

"

“ PURRA-PORUL venba-malai.” V BHSE “

Where

247

60.

palaces like mountains reared their heads, the roar

of the

consuming

among

the ruins.

1

fire is

Wild jungle plants grow

heard.

The conqueror

rides glorious on his lofty car,

round which triumphing hosts flow like a mighty sea

These desolating: wars account

for

the

!

multitudes

deserted strongholds whose ruins are yet to be seen,

of

and

comparative sparseness of the population at the In P.N.N. twelve period when authentic history begins. the

for

lyrics refer to this chapter.

In

all

of an oft-times savage ferocity.

great and most implacable warriors

Whatever

faults

the poems there

is

a note

These old Dravidians were !

may be found with

the

government

under the Pax Britunnica by peevish and restless partisans,

we

see that the idea of a

Pax

Tamuliensis

PADALAM

is

a myth.

IV.

The Kanji Padalam, or the Defence of the Kingdom. The Kanji

is

the Ulmus integrifolia, or elm-tree, and

was dark.

its

and leaves formed the wreaths worn by the defenders of an invaded country, and were

foliage

Its flowers

supposed to be indicative of a stubborn resolve to conquer

This most generally ended in the death of the king and the overthrow of his kingdom, and hence the same word (Kanji) is used for the wreath of a minstrel

or die.

who

inculcates moral precepts, and more especially dwells on the instability of worldly things. The word Kanji has

thus become a

synonym

verses under this

for sober counsel,’ and some of the heading have nothing paiticular to do with ‘

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

248

The great example

war.

of this

the Madura-Kahji, an

is

account of which will be given in the

the Pandiyan,

life of

Talai-Alanganatta Qeruvendra Nedurn Qeriyan.

The Kafiji Wreath.

§ 1.

The inhabitants

of the invaded country put on wreaths of

the Katji, and retire to

make

a last stand in their

mountaiu

fortresses.

Verse

“

‘

Since there

is

61.

no longer any band

to

withstand the foe upon

the plain, at least

we can

die

’

on the heights of our native

So saying, intent upon the defence of their

hills

little

!

mountain

homes, the warriors assume the Kanji wreath.”

The following verses of the final struggle.

heroes

fall

;

in the chapter illustrate the fierceness

Marvels of bravery are

their wives

with them

perish

The w arrior demons and

related.

r

the

;

open his wounds and dies on the plain brood over the gory battlefields, sometimes helping and sometimes destroying the dying men much

rips

;

demonesses

;

consumed, libations to the great demoness

toddy

is

poured

out,

and a universal wail

is

are

heard.

The Elegy.

§ 19.

Praise and pity mingle in the song as the heroes ascend to the paradise of the valiant. Verse

“

He was

the raft on which his people sailed over the sea

of battle

the

life

80.

!

He was

of his town,

a pillar amongst the mighty

and of the world

!

The door

of charitable deeds has been closed by the spear

that tore open our leader’s breast

” !

!

He was

:

“ PURRA-PORUL VEXBA-MALAI.” In P.N.N.

249

forty-one lyrics, of which this gives

tliere are

the keynote.

Other topics are introduced, but the chapter ends with the *

crushing defeat

and,

’

it

would seem, the extermination of

the conquered people.

P AD A L A3I

V.

THE DEFENCE OF THE FORT.

The Nochi Wreath. The next chapter

When

hostile

speaks of the defence

kings besieged

a

fort

its

of

hill-forts.

defenders

were

accustomed to assume a wreath of the leaves and flowers of a wild creeper called the Nochi, or

many

There are

species of the

Viter,

‘

Yitex Nirgundi.’

which

is

often called

the ‘five-leaved chaste tree’ (see Ainslie’s “ Materia Medica,” vol.

ii,

p.

The

252).

flowers are of

a pure, pale-bluish

and have a pleasant fragrance. This flower is very celebrated in Tamil songs. The poet Moci-cattanar has sung of it very sweetly (P.2LN., 271, 272) colour,

“

Like linked gems are Nochi’s curling ringlets blue

Mid

!

none whose tender hue So fills the soul with love as thine, whose blooming wreath Men see the youthful maiden’s slender form ensheathe, In the wide guarded city, sight beloved of all. all

the flowering trees

is

—

And when

fierce

The warriors on

As It

enemies attack the moated wall, their brows thy flowers defiant show,

sign they shield their virgin fort from every foe.”

was the symbol of

chastity,

and those that wore these

wreaths were pledged to keep their fort inviolate. virgin

fortress

at its foes.

The

guarded by warriors so adorned, laughed

Much

those ancient days

of !

romance mingled with the ferocity of

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

250

The Nochi.

§ 1.

The heroes go forth

guard their turret-crowned

to

battle-

ments, whence archers shoot forth their deadly arrows. Verse

86.

“ Like the host of the Avunar, whose triple fort the god with serpent crowned, and fiery form would take, these warriors crowned with Nochi wreaths

guard their strongholds, wielding the sharp-pointed dart.” This

is

borrowed

one of the commonplaces of Hindu verse, here

from

Malta

the

The story

Bharata.

-

the

of

destruction of the three forts of the Asurar (or Avunar) is

most

celebrated

Muir’s Sanskrit Texts,

(see

vol.

iv,

pp. 203, 225).

There were

sky three

in the

one of iron, another of

silver,

cities of

the valorous Asuras,

and a third of gold, which

Maghavan (Indra) could not demolish, with all his weapons. Then all the great gods, distressed, went to the great Itudra (afterwards known as Qivan) as their refuge, and said to him, after they

were assembled

devoted to thee in

Daityas

destroy the

worlds.”

all

:

with

their

his arrow,

Vivasvat,

feather,

its

Bestower of honour,

cities,

He, being thus addressed,

making Vishnu of

“ Rudra, there shall be victims

the sacrifices.

Agni

all

said,

its

and deliver the “ So be it ” and ;

barb,

Yama,

the son

the Vedas his bow, and the

excellent Savitri (the Giiyatri) his bowstring, and having

appointed

Brahma

through these

cities

his charioteer, he in

due time pierced

with a three-jointed three-barbed arrow,

the colour of the sun, and in fierceness like the fire which burns up the world. These Asuras with their cities were there burnt up by Rudra. [Cf. Tiruvi^agam, xiv.] One of the most famous historic (?) defences of a fort is The fort was called Gana-perreferred to in P.N.N., 21. eyil, and its king bore the epithet of Vehgai-tndrban (he whose breast wore a Kino garland). It was besieged by the of

1

1

Now

printing at the Oxford University Press.

“ PURRA-PORUL VENBA-MALAI.” Madura,

famous king of

something will be said

251

Ukkira-peru- Varuthi,

whom

of

The

P.N.N.

in the analysis of the

poet Mulam-kirar of Aiyur enumerates the parts of the “ There was, first of all, a moat so deep that fortification :

it

reached

down

to the abodes of the

demons

next, there

;

was a wall that rose up to the heavens this was crowned with turrets from which the archers shot forth their arrows; there was an impervious wood that surrounded all; and there were numerous small forts at every angle.” ;

The chapter contains the usual his warriors, relates

how they

fell

praises of the

king and

fighting to the last

“ they

:

desired not, these lions in the fight, to guard their bodies

There

or their lives.”

is

his

THE BESIEGERS

The

to give

When plant,

Urrinai

Wreath.

which

is

(

Oerua lanatar), a species of cotton-

mentioned

in

implying the worthlessness and weakness of the

they went to

We

chapter. sacrifice

P.N.N., 50, where it is said belong to the ‘Western

to

This seems to have been worn by our heroes in

Country.’

fort

[Yenba, 95-126.]

an army marched to besiege a fort they wore

have ‘golden shoots,’ and

derision,

VI.

ATTACKING ENEMIES’ STRONGHOLDS.

:

a wreath of the Urrinai

are

seize.

told

There in

by the combatants

it ;

little

is

that

remarkable in this

sheep were offered in

Qivan

(as

besiegers

above).

make

rafts

The

encircling

taken.

;

wood

;

is

as also those of

cut

down; the

on which they pass the moat; scaling

ladders are applied to the wall into the area

who

the exploits of Vishnu,

stormed a fort called Virago, are celebrated

is

king

daughter in marriage to the leader of the besieging army.

PADALAM

to

were

also a hint that these sieges

often the result of a refusal on the part of the

;

the besiegers leap

tremendous fights take place

;

down

and the

fort

;

252

;

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL §

This relates

tow

the conquerors, yoking asses, plough up

the foundations of the

upon the

Utterly waste.

23.

fort,

and sow worthless jungle plants

spot.

Verse “

120.

The beautiful homes with pictured walls are

levelled with

the dust asses are

yoked

to

plough up the

soil

with spears

while worthless plants are sown on the foundations.

Thus rages the conquering king ” !

Other verses

tell

how

there

a solemn washing of their

is

blood-stained swords in sacred waters, and their presentation as

offerings.

The conqueror

newly-acquired country

;

solemnly wedded to the

is

neighbouring kings bring tribute

;

“ They and the chapter ends with universal submission make a desert and they call it peace.” This subject is formally discussed in Tol-Kdppyam, Porul, :

An admirable illustration of 66-68, pp. 135-146. found in P. Pattu, vi, 149, etc.

PADALAM WAR The

When a

IN GENERAL.

Tunibai

Wreath.

a king contemplated an offensive

This

is

is

VII.

war he assumed

wreath of the especial war-flower, the tumbai

Indica).

it

( Phlomis

celebrated in Sanskrit as the droim.

The Wreath.

§ 1.

Verse 127

.

“The king, whose war-drum sounds

like unceasing thunder

from the stormy clouds, contemplates

He

war

that shall

has put on the warlike

bedew the

tunibai

battlefields

with blood-

wreath, and leads forth

his hosts eager for the glorious strife.”

.

“ PURRA-PORUL VEXBA-MALAI.” To

these old kings the excitement of

253

war was

a necessity

was only thus that the monotony of existence of life; Yet the horrors of war are much dwelt could be relieved. it

upon

in

hesitating,

was

these

and

verses,

king

the

represented

is

and only deciding upon battle when

The twenty-five

apparent.

present, without

verses

of

its

as

necessity

the

chapter

any attempt at arrangement, many of the

striking incidents of ancient war.

§ 2.

Presents

The king heaps upon

to the

Troops.

his chosen

warriors gifts so that

they go forth joyously under his banner. Verse

128.

“ Badges of victory, lands, precious treasure, farms,

murderous elephants, and horses,

— the king distributes.

His enemies, tho’ strong in horses and chariots, tremble

when

they hear of the movements of the jewel-bearing king.”

Can

§ 3.

the fight not he prevented ?

Both armies are brave

might

:

it

not be well to avoid a

struggle ? oo Verse

129.

“ Should these warriors meet on

the

demon-haunted battle-

ground and with their polished spears begin the will prove the saying false, that ” is guardianship of human lives.’ ’t

Praises are gallant heroes,

now sung

The field

battle has

fight,

glory of the king

of the elephants, the horses,

and the war

§ 9.

*

the

chariots.

The Bard's Eulogy.

been fought, and the bards on the battle-

burn or bury the dead with appropriate songs of

praise.

!!

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

254

Verse

137.

“ The tender spouse, the mother, the children

Upon

the battle plain the fiery piles are

know

lit,

not this

!

the death songs

sung

Heroes who

have gone

beneath the elephants they slew banquet with the heroes’ gods ”

fell

to

!

While demon shapes

shadows dance before,

like fantastic

behind, and around, the bodies of some of the slain heroes are carried home.

§

The

Joy mingled with

23.

wife, seeing the

glorious wounds,

and

wailing.

body of her husband covered with grasping the sword, weeps with

still

proud joy. Verse

“Even death own

is

151.

abashed, for here

is

valour greater than his

The wife takes the sword from the hand of her dead warrior and, watching

bedews

calm triumphant repose,

his

is

;

glad as she

with tears.”

his breast

This ends up with her voluntary death.

§

They

perish not

though they

lie

25. ;

renown

their

Verse

They urged a stubborn grasping

still

gloriously. is

established for ever,

strewn over the battlefield.

,

“

All died

154.

fight alone

their spears

;

;

the two kings

the earth

is

desolate

fell,

!

Swiftly their wives uprose, and threw themselves into the flames.

Behold, even fierce death himself

This

last verse

referred to

(^cran

seems

to

be a reminiscence of the history

in P.N.N., 62, 63.

prince

is satisfied.”

There the kings were the

Kudakko-Nedum-Qeralathan, and

his

rival

—

— “ rURRA-PORUL VENBA-MALAI.” the Quran Peruvirral

Killi,

who

on the same battlefield.

fell

Their deaths were sung by the

255

Karatlalaiyar and

poets

Paranar.

There

is

power and pathos

former of these

in the following dirge,

P.N.N, “

What

by the

:

62.

has become of the defiant valour of these rival

kings

?

Demon-Furies probe deep the wounds of the fallen heroes, while with bloody hands they besmear their dishevelled locks,

and hovering round display their blood-stained forms.

With

sullen sound the

death-drums moan, while demons

dance.

The kings themselves raging with heroic wrath are fallen, and lie amid the vultures that devour the slain. The victorv-vaunting kingly canopies are low, the drums that erewhile announced the leaders’ glory and their sway, lie

Ocer the

broken there. field,

where myriads fought, a fearsome

stillness

broods.

The in

heroes’ wives on dainties feast no more, nor bathe perfumed waters, but lie dead on the bosoms of their lords.

They have gone to feast in the world of the gods, who wear unfading wreaths from the tree of Immortality, whose eyes slumber not, who eat ambrosial food.

—

Let the glory of the heroes live

The

site of this

referred to in old

famous battle

Tamil

verse.

for

is

aye

” !

unknown, but

it is

often

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

256

PADALAM

THE

VIII.

CONQUEROR.

The Vagai Wreath. The leaves and flowers of the vagai ( Mimosa flectima), which are white, were worn by victorious kings, or any who

won

prizes in a competition.

four verses, and appears at

plan or purpose

which

;

it

This chapter contains thirtysight to be entirely without

indicates

the course of conduct

anyone, of any caste or

entitles

his fellow-men.

of

but

first

It

is

class,

to the praise

probably of later introduction.

There are more conquests than men are apt

to

imagine.

more worthy of the Vagai than those of war. A few of these verses, more artificial than the preceding, throw light upon the feelings and habits of the people, and these I have given. Much of this is from Manu (or similar works), and is the Peace has

its

victories,

introduction of the

Brahman code

into the South.

We

have

here the four castes, Kshattriyas, Brahmans, Vaisyas, and

Qudras.

The King's Vagai.

§ 2.

The

king,

Triumphant War.

The Kshattriya.

returning from conquest, puts on the white

vagai garland, with the dark jewelled anklets, and girds

himself with a purple cincture. Verse 156

“These were the glorious wounds of

.

I received on the battlefield;

them and sorrows we will think no more

Bid the

my

heroes

victor’s

who have overcome

anklets, stainless

!

the fiery foe put on

wreath,

and

girdle’s

purple

folds.”

Eight more verses similar

to

those

in

the

chapters celebrate the kingly warriors’ triumph.

foregoing

;

11

257

PVRRA-PORUL VEXBA-MALAI.”

The Brahmans' Yagai

§ 9.

;

;

The learned Brahmans ydgam sacrifices.

:

Sacred Rites.

celebrate their victory

by

offering

the

Versb

“ On the land bordered by the

163.

on whose borders the surges

sea,

rise,

he

who has

seen the Vetham's farthest shore,

sits

an

ascetic

king.

He, mid the praises of s hinin

himself the

all.

lights his sacrificial fires,

g light of men."

The Merchants' Yagai

§ 10.

:

Practical Life.

This speaks of the sixfold deeds of the merchant king, free

from

all evil.

Verse “

He ploughs and reaps sells piles of

164.

the harvest

precious wares

;

guards the lowing kine

;

learns lessons of sacred lore

performs his daily rites with the three scatters his gifts, nor looks for

he

is

the merchant king."

These are the prietors

The ‘

:

They

are the

:

triumph

’

the (

pro-

Faithful Toil.

Qiidras, or fourth caste, are those

under

capitalists,

Yellalar are their servants.

The VeUdiar-Y agai

§11.

soil

recompense

;

;

1

Yaisyas.

and the

;

fires

direction

Yagai

)

is to

of

the

who

higher

do the will of their Versb

cultivate the

Their

castes.

lords.

165.

“ They flourish, in obedience to the three higher ranks; according to the orders

of these they act,

and refuse no

command they live according to the

‘

ethic

’

rules prescribed

where the beetles hum

they plough the

fields,

they are the

of all that live on the earth.”

1

J.r.a.s.

life

He

1899.

had a wreath,

too, of the Strychnos

;

dower. 17

&

258

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL The

§ 12.

Here

a

is

Chieftain'

warning

the

to

tempted, contemplating his others contemptuously

Vagai

!

Those

’neath ashes white; but wait

all

men.

.-

who

rightly judge that smoulders

fire

till it

wonted

still,

utterly dies out.”

of vanquished enemies

in their ashes “ live their

13.

never be

greatness, to treat

but must learn to honour

;

touch not with their hands the

§

He must

chief.

hosts, like the billows of the sea,

despise not thy foes

The power

Conciliation.

own fame and

Verse 166

“Glorying in thy

:

may

yet revive

even

;

fires.”

The Wise Man's Yagai Verse 167

Truth.

:

.

“ The sun sheds light and scatters darkness in three worlds, earth, hell,

and heaven.

The wise man knows three times,

—the

past,

and

present,

future belong to man.

Though

sun,

and worlds, and times should change and

though milk become

and light darkness

§

The

22.

,

sour,

— the good man's word of truth fails not."

The Glory of

hero’s mother speaks

the

Heroic Race

:

its

Vagai.

:

Vers® 176

“My

pass,

.

father lives in stone, a hero’s effigy;

my

husband

fell

in

battle slain.

My

brothers died, resisting the foe to the last.

My

son, like

When

all the

host had perished,

a porcupine, pierced by innumerable darts,

fighting against the foeman’s king.”

fell

“ PURRA-PORUL VENBA-MALAI.” §

The Town of

23.

the

Heroes

Verse 177

its

:

2-09

Vagai.

.

“ Once in the village courtyard children fitted their arrows to their bows, to shoot the hares that

ward

of their

§

gathered there.

off the strokes of hostile kings,

own

leaders

Excellence

30.

:

is

such

is

the city

now

”

now

!

The Vagai of the Good.

Victory.

Verse 185

“They change not

Its heroes

from the mighty breasts

.

changing moon.

as in the sky the

Though they obtain wealth brought

in ships

from over the

ocean, will their excellence change,

whose hearts are pure

as the white conch-shell found on that ocean's shore

Grace

33.

§

This chapter, contains subject,

many

in Life

and Death.

concerned with

” ?

The final Vagai.

the

conqueror’s wreath,

verses that hardly seem to belong to the

and seem

to

be of later origin

the following quatrain, which

meant

is

;

but

it

ends with

to teach that there

is

no real victory but that which overcomes the world.

is

an aroma of the Bhagavat Gita here. Verse 188

“ Before the

.

body perishes, that long with many pains

has afflicted us and bound us

with

There

many

fast, let

us escape from the net,

meshes, of the world, which

is

full of fear

and

confusion,

and gain the right path

!

This alone

Thus ends the eighth chapter warrior have been sung in order.

;

is

strength

and

victory."

the eight wreaths of the

;;

!

;

;

;

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

2G0

PA DAL AM IX. ROYALTY. This chapter, in fifty-one quatrains,

and glories of

duties

the

is supposed to treat of king and kingdom. The

the

Kurral, ch. xxxix, contains the substance. miscellaneous, and

its

nection with the Purra-niinnurru

A

few verses illustrating the

are interesting. to

them was

a

‘

It

entirely

is

topics will better be studied in con-

In P.N.N., 2b9, perfect

P.N.N.,

(cf.

lives of is

6).

these old chieftains

given a picture of what

life.’

The Pakagon. “

He wedded one with armlets decked, one fair to He put on cbaplets in the pleasant flowery park He smeared himself with fragrant sandal paste He slew his foes with all tbeir kindred race He friends extolled and magnified

see

;

;

Homage

none he paid as mightier than himself Triumphed o’er none as weaker than himself. He ne’er sought aid of others as a suppliant To none that asked did he refuse his aid. lie shone with glory in the councils of the state He stood a bulwark ’gainst the vanguard of the foe; to

;

He He

followed

urged

Round

up

relentlessly their fleeing host.

his charger swiftly o’er the plain

;

the long course he drove the lofty car

;

He rode aloft on mighty elephant of state He quaffed from golden bowl the sweet palm-wine He made the hearts of minstrels glad with feasts ;

;

;

His lucid word made clear the darkest theme And thus, all that a man may do he did Take ye the head of this all-glorious one,

:

Cut off with sword, or burn, or let it lie Where’er you will his glory is secure .” ;

The king was Nambi Nedum Qeriyan, evidently a king of Madura in very ancient days. He is mentioned nowhere else. The minstrel was Murruvalar (‘ the laughing one ’) of Perei/il (sec notes

on

v.

36),

and

this

is

his only

remaining song.

—

:

“ PERRA-PORUL VEXBA-MALAI.”

The following

2G1

(P.N.N., 215)

beautiful verse

Kothai, the Ceran king, on the death of his queen

“

My sorrow swelling me from

to free

saw the fuel heaped

I

by Mti-

:

I

;

I

!

1

bore her forth

spreads

laid her

there ou the

;

fire

on her couch

The innocent in soul hath died, What charm hath life henceforth me here!

of rising flame

and

is

knows no bounds, but hath not strength

this loathed life

burning ground, where Kalli

to

;

left

!

me?”

for

These kings not unfrequently renounced their kingdoms

and became

ascetics.

This

is

referred to in the two following

(P.N.N., 251, 252.)

songs.

The King has renounced

his

Kingdom and become an Ascetic.

“We

saw erewhile the king within his pictured home weaving gay garlands for the happy mountain maids

but now, upon the mountains in the bambu brake

amid the

waterfalls, he dwells,

with wood

2

and lights

his fire

the elephants have brought

and dries his tangled hair.”

“Amid

the roaring cataracts he makes his

his

hue

He

plucks the creepers’ sacred flowers. 3

is

changed;

his locks are

brown

way; as Tillai buds.

But

erst

he wove

the net of courtly words that took the simple hearts of the fair maidens iu his stately palace-home.”

The following that

will

lyric (P.N.N., 243),

vibrate

in

many

hearts,

which was

Tandinar, one of the bards of the ancient “ I

muse of

YOUTH

!

strikes a chord

Todi-talai

Madura

the tender sadness

Viru-

College.

still

In sport I moulded shapes of river sand, plucked flowers to wreathe around the mimic forms returns

!

in the cool tank I bathed,

with 1

2 3

little

hand linked in hand,

maidens, dancing as they danced

!

A kind of Euphorbium, abundant in desolate places. Wild elephants serve tbe holy ascetic. Tbe Tali, a convolvulus, sacred to Civan. (See Tiruvacjagam,

xix, 36.)

—

;

;

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

262

A I

band of innocents, we knew no plunged beneath

where

guile.

o’erspreading myrtle’s shade,

th’

trees that wafted fragrance lined the shore

;

then climbed the branch that overhung the stream,

while those upon the bank stood wondering

and headlong plunged, dived deep aneath the stream, and rose, my hands filled with the sand that lay beneath Such was my youth unlesson’d. ’T is too sad Those days of youth, ah whither have they fled ? I threw the waters round,

!

!

!

I

now with trembling

hands, grasping

my

staff,

panting for breath, gasp few and feeble words. ” And worn I

am

and

OLD

!

[Cf. Naladiyar, ch.

The young prince Cdttnndr of Olli-ur,

by Nallatbanar.

whom

ii.]

was sung was Penan whose dirge (P.N.N., 242) was sung to

It is as follows

this

:

“ The youths wear garlands bright no more

;

the damsels gather flowers no more

the bard puts wreaths around his lyre no more

the songstress gay adorns herself no more

;

!

Qattan is dead, who with his mighty spear O’ercame and slew great heroes, triumphed so O jasmine, dost thou flourish still in land of Olli-ur?” !

PADALAM

X, XI, XII.

Miscellaneous. These three chapters form a kind of appendix, into which much has been thrown that belongs properly to the other There are, however, a few throw light upon the ancient history of the We have seen the warriors crowned with eight

great division of Aga-porul. verses that

South.

different wreaths.

kings.

There are three flowers worn only by

“ PURRA-PORUL VENBA-MALAI.” The Palmyra Wreath of

§ 1.

263

the Ceran.

3

The Qera king, when he went

forth

war, assumed which flourished

to

a wreath of the flowers of the palravra-tree, 1

which he then held sway.

most

in the lands over

“

the gushing waters of the hill of Kolli, 2

Verse 240.

By

where the Kanthal

spreads

leaves like a canopy,

its

Vanavan crowns his brows with the when he goes forth to war his wreath is

the

*

The Margosa Wreath of

§ 2.

The

the

Margosa

Paneliiyan wears the

cool blue lotus

Pandiyan. 5

;

the palmyra-flower."

Vembu.

wreath when he goes

forth to battle.

Verse

241.

“The great Varuthi, the guardian just, the horseman swift, who leads forth a valiant host of stout warriors crowned with 6

Tumbai,

when he goes out

with bannered chariot dreaded by

to fight,

his foes,

crowns himself with the

The Atti

§ 3.

The Atti

is

Vembu 7

wreath, praised by

Wreath of

all."

the Coran.

the wreath worn in war by the

‘

Qembiyan.’

Verse 242. “

The garland of the king of the land of Kaveri’s rushing

flood,

waere heroes go forth on elephants, wielding the murderous sword,

decked with the jewelled anklets,

and

brandishing

their

spears, is the Atti."

1

Borassus flabeUiformis. range of hills in the Salem district, belonging to the Cera kingdom. Gloriosa super ba. 4 The heavenly ’ an epithet of Cera kings. 5 The Nim , Vembu: Mel in Azadirachta (Lin.). In Portuguese ‘ Amargozeira’ and corrupted into Margosa. See my Xaladiyar Lex. (in loc.). -

A

3

‘

:

6

'

An

epithet of the Pandiyans

Atti

(

Bauhmia racemosa ),

=

1

shining

called also

’

?

Ar.

It is

worn by Civan.

—

1

EXTRACTS FROM THE TAMIL

26

In Dr. Hultzsch’s “Epigraphia Indica,”

(

the death of a hero

who

that had

(Q^rr(Lp

delineation. 2

It

being universally

compare the differences

difficult to fix

more

in opinion as to the

closely the dates of such documents age of Homer, of the Rig Veda, etc. ;

J

273

THE INITIATIVE OF TnE AVESTA.

them, whereas we should be in doubt as to the existence of these ideas in very many passages were it not for these

remarkable,

And

rences.

somewhat widely separated, occur-

if

they are, of course, important to a history

of intellectual development, as

conceptions in this refined

showing a capacity

manner

to define

at a time prior to other

attempts, and in a place and under circumstances amidst

which one might

Where

least expect to find such a state of things.

any certain knowledge can be found ? the

of

on his lines

such

penetrating

Greeks who

speculative

and

1 ;

if

philosophised

we

the possibility that

was not thus untutored

this

so far as I

it

to

have been,

is

only shown

in intellect as to this particular,

see.

were not a mechanical historical priority, so to the

in

distinctions

rational

hegemony

a

is

can

If there

a

naturally suppose

very terminology and the other related characteristics.

Here, then,

speak,

it

at

ancient Iran was not as bereft of

intellectual culture as

by

distinctions

conceded that Zarathushtra antedated the

It is generally earliest all

which we have

in all the then extant literature of

actual

and

all

enouncement of these

of the

dates

that tbey implied, then there was indeed

priority,

if

not

an

actual

isolation,

the

in

appearance of such an advanced development as arising out apparently unpromising

of such

taining itself in despite of the

Unless

circumstances.

closely related to the

we deny

Avesta

persisting concomitant

the

that

(so that

Rig Veda

earl}’’

those

Rk

itself

abstract

a proof of the

almost

in

names

which

afterwards

advanced development.

Middle Asia, whose

1

J.r.a.s.

gods

in

became the

the

Rig Yeda,

Imagine a people were Benevolence,

Putting the death of Heraclitus at 470-478 b.c.

1899.

and

do we find such astonishing

Ameshaspends, although loosely traceable is

find such

abyss,

Also, the altogether remarkable grouping

discriminations? of

we

system arising out of an unknown

where in the

is

they belong almost

together in such a discussion as this), where do a refined

and main-

antecedents,

still

18

274

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA.

Government, Devotion, Healthful Weal, and Deaththe words speak for themselves what a public there must have been in early Iran to make such Justice,

Long-life;

less

—

—

And

terms possible.

if

these distinctions

in the history of thought,

an epoch

in

the

history of

Take

religious, thought.

Whether they were

marked an epoch

how much more do they mark religious,

or philosophical-

their chief feature, dualism.

anterior, posterior, or contemporaneous

with certain parts of the Rig Yeda, they show a startling

advance upon the state of theological opinion as to

this

subject which prevails in those richly poetical productions.

The mixed elements have

all

been

in the recognized characters of deities

sifted

Nothing at all corresponding Greek Hercules (or Zeus for

out.

either to an Indian Indra or a

the matter of that)

Ahura Mazda

is

is

any longer

a spiritual

visible in the Gathas.

God

(in

the Gathas) even

more bereft of anthropomorphic paganism than the early All conJewish Yahveh in some of His manifestations. ceivable good is gathered and centred in Him (the Good God), Ahura, and all conceivable evil is gathered in Angra Mainyu a polarity of thought becomes pronounced and the most marked theological dualism which has ever been ;

;

formulated presents the evolution of

He

:

the

Good God could not prevent in

the

beings

whom

created, nor could the evil force prevent the evolution

what

of

itself

evil characteristics

is

good.

Surely this was no

trivial

phenomenon. It seems to me and decidedly hard-

have been eminently important

to

It gathered up all those elements of dualism which had been recognized in all religions previously, and which have been recognized in other religions ever since. Even our Christianity must acknowledge that the possibility of evil inheres in the possibility of good, it being inconceivable that God Himself could have made a world without But no one it it is the most commonplace of questions.

headed.

;

had

at

any previous period of time pretended

to state

condition 60 bluntly as Zurathushtra. saying, with a contradiction in terminology, “ there chief

its

Instead of is

an

;

:

THE INITIATIVE OF THE A VESTA. Almighty God who was powerless

to

275

create

without sin,” he simply cut the matter short

no such being that

He

;

universe

there was

he thought) in such a sense almighty

(so

could have undone the fundamental laws of morals

and of anterior logic

God

a

If a supreme

the Hegelian sense).

(in

could have avoided the toleration of misery in the

existing universe,

been good

if

There was a

‘

difficult to see

it is

He had

how

not in fact so avoided

limit

’

lie could have

it.

in the very nature of things

which

made unmixed prosperity an impossibility as well as unalterable holiness. The texts do not go into the details which 1

have mentioned, but there were two great limited forces,

I

and they are described naturally enough (after the fashion of the time) as personal

“Thus

:

“ There were two original spirits.”

are the spirits primeval

who

as twain

2

by their deeds

are famed

In thought, in word, and in deed, a better they two and an

Of these

evil.

the wise choose aright

let

evil-minded

“Then

those spirits, created as

Life and non-life, decreeing

ordered

The worst

life,

choose ye not as the

;

!

first

they two came together,

how

all at

the last shall be,

;

at last, of the wicked,

but to the righteous

the better mind.”

Then “

‘

cf.

Y., xlv, 1

:

Thus forth I announcing speak this life’s first two spirits, Of whom the more bounteous thus the evil accosted Never our thoughts, nor creeds, nor understandings Never our beliefs, nor words, nor yet our actions, Nor can our souls, or faiths, ever be one ” 3 ;

’

!

1

It could not

2

Cf. Y., xxx, 3.

3

A repudiation par eminence.

be defined and so

‘

perceived.’

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AYESTA.

276

The mixture was abhorrent to their keen logic, and the word became later a term of derision. Whether true or false, and as much so if true as if false, the doctrine was important. Somebody had to propose it, and no-one at that period had ’

‘

ever dreamed of stating

it

any analogous But the speculative

so boldly, nor has

suggestion been put in clearer light. interest

is

surpassed by the moral.

If

we

could trust our-

the Gathas,

selves to a literal translation of

we should be

quite astounded at the singular depth of their tone, considering their age, or,

we might almost

say, without

any particular

consideration either as to their age or circumstauces.

The

literal

ligious

words express almost the enthusiasm of a

brotherhood,

and they have

re-

been considered the

most marked productions of antiquity

in this respect aside

Those who from want of knowledge care less for them have betrayed their own sense of their extraordinary moral elevation by finding fault with from our Semitic scriptures

recurring expression

its

1

.

yet this

is

;

exactly that which

should recognise as a priceless quality,

produced is,

even

if

it

we

were

at the total sacrifice of rhetorical animation.

It

however, true that this vivacity cannot be given up, and Strange as

for a curious reason.

light fortunately

it

may

appear, in one

and in another unfortunately, we are not

always permitted to accept the plain recurring words in their first

and obvious

well content to accept

sense.

If

we were we should

be

even a far larger measure of iteration

which some superficial observers object to in hymns, for we should have the words holiness,’ ‘benevolence,’ ‘ruling power,’ and ‘devotion’ recurring at

than

that

these

‘

every turn with a resulting

effect so

remarkable as to recoup

us for the surrender of every claim to rhetorical point and life

;

but unhappily (or happily)

we cannot

lay claim to the

right to render the words always exactly in their natural

meaning.

Facts show that the clear terms

be taken in a

realistic

the community, although their literal

1

may

sometimes

sense, as referring to persons or to

meaning includes no

See the Critical Review, Jan., 1896.

277

TIIE INITIATIVE OF T1IE AVESTA.

and it is our ungrateful task to try to break supreme morality, gaining therefore more We must do all that it is possible for us historical detail. to do to show that the terms do not always convey an actual meaning which corresponds to their literal force; and just in so far as we can give them au application to the scenes such idea

;

down

their

of the

contemporaneous experience, just in so far we gain

we

brightness of colour to our picture, while

degree the depth of

a corresponding

sacrifice

to

And

the thought.

we can indeed make out that the composer was at times men when we had thought that he was talking of principles, of the State when we had thought that he was talking of holiness. But our victory is very far from for believe as we may that he often being complete good mind,’ used the name of a principle, such as the talking of

;

‘

‘

righteousness,’

‘

or

devotion,’

‘

rule,’

designate certain

to

good men, holy communities, devoted partisans, or govern-

ment

officials,

we can

never

yet

get

sentiment which pervades the whole

rid

of

for the

;

deep

the

good

‘

men

’

were only alluded to as constituent members of a sanctified

community, dear to Zoroaster as holy church

is to

a Catholic,

and the enthusiasm for a holy race was a passion deep as the Jewish, because

To

could save the soul.

it

moment. If he spoke of holiness and meant by it the church, it was of course only the church as an embodied holiness (which, wonderful to say, was illustrate for a

‘

’

one cf his

mind

’

own

expressions).

and meant by

member

individual

it

the

‘

he spoke of the ‘good

If

good man,’

of a beneficent

was because the

it

community

was, after

all,

which a sane benevolence became real if he spoke of the ruling power and meant by it (as we indeed often do) the administration, or the army, it was the only object in

;

’

‘

because he viewed authority as the inexorable condition of prosperity,

national

or

material,

and because

executive

of his

individual, it

was

nation

sometimes personified ideas.

After

concepts remain

made

only

religious

;

and all

so

and

moral,

spiritual,

actual

of

in

the

the

other

our iconoclasm these

what they have been declared

to be,

and

:

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AYESTA.

278 that

pre-eminent in the history of the moral sense, so

is

we know

far as

of that history up to their approximately

estimated date.

As

embodiment of the great moral

the

representative classes or individuals

by no means eliminates the moral

ideas in different

among

the

community

force from them, neither

does their full supranatural personification in sub-gods or archangelic beings extinguish the vitality of the principle,

my

though hypostatisation in

opinion introduces a lower

stage.

And

as

a technical

phenomenon,

this

personification of

the main ideas of Zoroastrianism seems also to in religious

it

is

place

on the whole here, as

Of

moral element.

abstracts appears

may

safely

era

while dwelling upon the speculative interest,

touched upon

hut

its

mark an

mental development, and I might indeed have

admit

habit became

involves a strong

course, a quasi-personification of similar

often

the

in

Rk

of the Veda,

(or indeed claim) that

toward

set

it

the

and we

wherever the mental

poetical

personification

of

religious principles, an analogous development took place;

hut where do we find

it

so clearly defined as in the

Avesta

?

Ahura addresses Asha, the personified holiness of the law/ The saint prays, and “Asha to Him makes answer.” “ 0 Asha, when shall I see thee ? ” and the same of the Good Mind. Aramaiti, the ready mind of devoted zeal, is ‘

likewise addressed in the vocative, and she

daughter, while

and

to

all

is

termed Ahura’s

the leading four are bidden to listen

come

“ Ye, the

most bounteous Mazda Ahura, and Piety with Him, the settlement furth’ring, thou Good Mind,

And Asha

and thou the Dominion, all, and have mercy for

Hear ye me,

all

deeds which I do

whatsoever.”

In the later Avesta the personification of these powers or attributes becomes quite the predominant usage, issuing in

one passage of a truly sublime type, where the souls of the seven Immortals are represented as being of the “ same ‘

’

279

THE INITIATIVE OF THE A VESTA.

thought and word and deed, seeing each other thinking of good thoughts and words and deeds; having one father

and commander, Ahura Mazda.” becomes apparent later on, and in

To be

1

is

it

sure, a deterioration

indeed foreshadowed

the earlier parts of the later Avesta,

if

not possibly in

the Gathas themselves, but this does not alter the curious

by adverbs

supreme good

He

speaks

and

rules

;

benevolence, interesting

it

history to

see

treated

The thoughts, words, and God are naturally qualified

the circumstance.

interest of

deeds of the

is

in

His truth, acts with Ilis

light

of

the

authority technical

;

but

His

how

philosophical

truth, this benevolence, this authority

this

subjects subordinate

as personal

closely related to

with with

The

Him.

to

Him

and yet

fact that this hypostatisation

does not totally emasculate the virility of the ideas, I have

already asserted on the same authority which supports us in defending their application to the to functions

among

the people.

human

individual and

If the Zoroastrian felt that

Asha, the holiness of the law, was more actual as holiness

when he thought were striving

community who with what emotion must he

of it as alive within a

to live

up

to

it,

Being whom he thought and for the purpose of making his holiest ideals real. Surely it must have helped him to love the law better when he believed that there was a mighty spirit close in the presence of Ahura, whose separate function it was to watch and help on the universe in obeying that law, and who to this end especially furthered its proclamation and have

adored

an

archangelic

existed,

confirmed

its

sense

individual

of

influence in populations

men.

And

so

and within the moral of

the Benevolence,

Government, and Devoted-zeal. All these noble concepts were the thoughts of God, but as such alone they might have been impaired by confusion in their effect upon our limited receptivity,

the

and each might be

lost

in the other

;

Archangels embodying each of them severally kept

them apart

for us.

They remind us 1

Yasht,

siii,

83.

at once of the

Greek

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA.

280

with the daimones of Plato and the Stoics, and they

logos

and the aeons of the Gnostics

recall the dynameis of Philo

but the Zoroastrian development was vastly closely allied

v:as

the

to

Vedic,

Surely this hypostatisation

The

is

have already hinted.

I

as

;

for it

earlier,

a feature of signal value.

personification of mental abstracts appeared in

Bactria hundreds, or decades at

rough

of years before an

least,

analogous development took place iu the most favoured land of the ancient West.

We

cannot say that the Ameshaspenta were distinctly

termed

emanations

‘

’

from the Deity

more theological terminology

in

to

nor can they be said

;

proceed

‘

from either

’

a Father or a Son, but that ‘truth’ with which ‘

proceeds

’

from Him, and when

at the

God speaks

next step this truth

called a person,’ to establish a more obvious means of communication with the Almighty, the resulting ideas constitute something which is indistinguishable in its

is

‘

effect,

but not

in its motive

1

from the Platonic,

Stoic,

and

Philonian analoga.

As

to

the

practical virtues

in

That

necessary to particularize.

social

justice

life,

it

not to be asserted, while vindictive retribution too

already mentioned

;

Benevolence

upon.

emphatically insisted either

God

the love of

is

is

to be imitated.

but the Avesta seems to afford

;

perhaps

has

been

expressed

and it was, of Mercy toward enemies cannot be

or His delighted good wish for us

hardly

is

was urged needs

course, traced,

the earliest examples of

charity to the poor in an organized shape. “

Your

rule,

what

own

in

is it ?

my

Yr our

riches ?

how

I

may be Your

actions,

Through Righteousness and Thy Good Mind, to nourish Your poor in their sufferings Foremost of all we declare You, before Demons and demonised men.” ;

Yasna, xxxiv, The motive

9.

of the Platonic emanation was the impurity of matter which could not touch without au intermediary, an idea radically opposed to Zoroastrianism. 1

God

2S1

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA. “Thine is the Kingdom whence Thou givest, Lord, better.”

poor and right-living

to

Yasna,

And we

in Vendidad, xxi,

which deals

liii,

8.

in supranatural imagery,

read of a spiritual heavenly home, which seems especially

combating diseases; and the idea

to exist for the purpose of

may have been new

to literature.

Among

domestic virtues, respect to parents stood high, for the question is asked at Yasua, xliv, 3, “ Who hath made ” dutiful the son to the father ?

The bestowal of significant names came into vogue in manner which reminds of Puritan England or New

a

England.

Pouruchista,

the

‘

much taught

the generation affected pious training of

of

course,

uses

which

Zoroastrianism, but which

were

it

;

shows how

one,’

reminds us

subsequent

original

to

regards us were

also,

still

early

are beautifully touched

upon

as

Orientalism.

The

virtues of

in the bridal

home

life

song in Yasna,

liii,

1

these moral features in temporal in store for those

“

Thus

As

who

and life

in correspondence with

judgment

there was a

failed in attaining them.

I Tl conceive thee, bounteous,

Ahura Mazda,

saw Thee, rewarding, and words Thou givest

in creation’s birth I foremost

When III to

deeds, most just,

the

By Thy

evil,

pure blessing to the good.

great virtue in this world’s last change

In which

last

changing Thou

a spirit

!

bounteous

Comest with Thy Good Mind and Thy Kingdom, Mazda, By deeds of whom the settlements in Right are furthered

Laws unto these to teach Armaiti striveth, Laws of Thy holy Realm which none deceives.” Yasna,

1

“ Let each one the other devotedly cherish

;

so the

home

shall be

xliii.

happy.”

—— THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA.

282 “

Who Our

me, be he or

e’er to

man

or

woman,

which Thou as best pereeivest, the holy gives with good men’s ruling,

tribe’s gift gives

Prize for

Whom

praising

You

I urge as

comrade leading,

Forth to the Judge’s Bridge with

all I

go.”

Yasna, xlvi, 10.

So in Yasna, xlix, 3

“These give I

Men

and again of the “

Lord, in

safest,

Thy

protection,

living yet, and souls of saints on high

Then

evil

evil rulers, evil doers, speakers,

Those believing

With

” ;

ill

and

spirits evil

minded,

poisoned food the souls to meet are coming,

In Falsehood’s home

at last their bodies lie.”

And

as quite an astonishing fact these rewards and punishments are subjective; the retribution is in the soul’s own self compare Yasna, xxxi, 21, where it is said, “ This be your world, 0 ye foul; by your deeds your own souls will ;

bring

it.”

“ Cursed by their souls and selves,

Their being nature, ever in

Demon’s home

their dwelling is.”

Yasna, xlvi, 11.

And

show the continuity of the doctrine, the external which, though scattered, were yet so plainly marked in the Gatlias, are preserved and restored in the There lost souls come to later but still genuine Avesta. meet the condemned man as well with poisoned food and to

particulars,

reviling words

;

pleasing features are, however,

first detailed.

In a passage which has been greatly admired, the man’s own conscience comes to meet his soul under the form of a beatified being. The saint is bewildered, and asks, “Who

and she answers, “ I am thyself thy good thoughts and words and deeds.” The soul, incredulous, like

art thou ? ”

;

;

the one in the Gospels, inquires, “

Who

hath desired thee

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA.

283

She answers, “Thou hast called me hither,” »and she recites his good deeds, one of which is, curiously enough, exactly the same as in St. Matthew “ Thou didst care for the stranger coming from near and hither with his love?”

:

from afar.”

1

Fancy such expressions occurring centuries before Christ

(if

in

remote Iran some

only a few), and, as proved from

which had more fully been formulated 2 where the evil are dragged traced out in the Vendldad Manah, the Archangel of to Hell, and where Vohu Benevolence, arises like Christ from his golden throne to meet the saved man, who passes on to endless bliss. We may have had adumbrations of the like, as I suppose, in other ancient religious systems, but to no degree like this it was a realistic picture frescoed upon the religious the passages cited, evidently repeating earlier

still

!

details

The matter

is

,

;

imagination.

Whether

it

was (together with other highly coloured

delineations as to resurrection, etc. of Daniel’s

Judgment

;

see below) the original

in what might be whether they both proare propositions which can

scene, depicted

called a Jewish-Persian book, or

ceeded from an earlier original,

never be definitively proved nor refuted.

The golden thrones

Amesbaspentas recall the and in view of ‘ the consummation the saints strive with holy emulation to bring on Frashakard, which was the ‘restitution of’ of

the

thrones of the apostles in the Apocalypse, ’

all

things

3 .

Those features in eschatology which have

less

of

the

moral point in them are also represented, and perhaps in

manner even more advanced than they are in the New the righteous dead arise, and enter upon a life

a

Testament 1

“When

“ Inasmuch

;

saw

I thee a stranger,” etc., the soul asks;

as ye did it,” etc.

— Matt., xxv, 38, 40.

and the answer

2

Fargard, xix.

3

“ Yea, may be like those who bring on this world’s perfection, As the Ahuras of the Lord bearing gifts with Asha’s grace, For there are our thoughts abiding where wisdom dwells

in her

is,

home.”

Yasrta, xxx, 9.

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AYESTA.

284

unaging, without disease, passions

A itself

that

;

deformity,

death,

they eat imperishable food, etc

moment

question in ethnology of the utmost

No

upon our attention. the

Indian

Aryans,

the

or

evil

1 .

presses

one doubts, as I suppose,

who spoke early who spoke Zend, for India through territory named the

people

Sanskrit, once lived with the people

the Aryans went

down

into

in the Avesta, or reported

by the Greeks,

as being deeply

coloured with Zoroastrian associations. It

is

indeed

safest

to

suppose

the

that

people

who

worshipped God under the old name of Daevas, and who are so prominent in an evil sense in the Avesta, were only

tribesmen whose vanguard had already long since gone south 2 If they were, indeed, no more than a last shred of them, yet the conjunction the lingering remnant of the

.

of circumstances

is

of

rare

interest.

It

is

seldom that

two distinguished ancient peoples, later separated by hundreds of miles, in close connection, even if one of them is but a feeble residue yet it is undoubted, while a possibility comes into view which might be almost Ave see

;

regarded as of

Were

overpowering moment in such questions.

these Daeva-worshippers

who were

so fiercely

fought

in the Gathas not a forgotten shred of a people, the masses

of

whom

had long previously migrated

they actually the vanguard of

those

to

India ?

;

but were

masses themselves,

whose descendants only afterwards reached the Indus, and became the Aryan Hindoos, so that they were not merely their distant cousins lingering at a later day in the north ? Their gods Avere largely the same as those in the Avesta, with the peculiarity that some of the chief ones among

them have exchanged their characteristics, being devils in the languages also in one lore and deities in the other which these details were written Avere closely coguate. The question arises were, then, those tribes on the frontier of Iran when the Gathas were first sung, against whom the ;

—

and elsewhere. That they were closely connected by with these early emigrants is absolutely certain. 1

Yaslit, xix, 89,

2

Centuries earlier.

ties

of

kindred

;

THE INITIATIVE OF

285

TIIE AVESTA.

bloody border wars, which are everywhere so apparent in the Avesta, were directed, actually the fathers of the future

Indians

?

If they were

not

— we have

—and no one can say that they certainly were

in the

ethnology that

Avesta documents of such importance for impossible to exaggerate their value in

it is

this connection

in the history of races

hang over the

for ever

profoundly impressive episode

attest a

to

;

and the

To proceed: apart from ethnology could give as a

my

If

history in the Giithas. title to

must

possibility of the fact

subject. itself,

we have an

actual

venerated friend Prof. Oppert

an exposition of one of the columns of

the Behistun Inscriptions “

the Medes,”

The People and the Language of how much more appropriately might something

like that

be the

‘Medes’!

They

more

so

;

title

of the Giithas, with

everything being

‘

I

’

and

the four chiefs stand out in bold

pray

;

now

furious at

their progress,

‘Iranians’ for

are as personal as the Psalms, if not, indeed,

now

‘

Thou,’ and the figures of

relief.

the Daevas-men

They exhort and and anxious over

now

in suspense before the encounters,

heart-broken at defeat or jubilant in victory

;

while

all

ends in a political marriage fragment of a characteristic description.

I can only repeat

in the Giithas all is sober

and

what real.

I have said before

1 :

Grehma and Bendva,

the Karpans, the Kavis, the Usiks are no mythical monsters

no

dragon

threatens

the

settlements,

and no fabulous

Zarathushtra, Jamaspa, Frashaoshtra,

beings defend them.

Maidyomah, the Spitamas, the Hvogvas, the Haechataspas are as real as auy other characters in history, and they are mentioned with a simplicity which is as unconscious. Except a possible claim to inspiration there are no miracles all the action is made up of the exertions and passions of living and suffering men. Let the Zendist study the Giithas well, and then let him turn to the Yashts and the Vendldad he will go from the land of reality to the land of fable. He leaves in one a toiling prophet to meet in the other a phantastic demigod ;

;

1

.

1

See SBE,

,

xix, Introd., p. xxvi.

;

:

286

a

;

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AYESTA.

There are few documents extant which afford indirectly more genuine portrayal of events. While all annals

which make

so-called historical assertions are liable to the

strongest suspicion (one might almost say that they

by

their

very affirmations make a supposed fact more improbable once),

at

indications

conscious are,

which

are

both

and unsource of sound

indirect

on the contrary, the sole

conclusions as to the reality of supposed past events.

We

know from the Gathas that a little nation in midAsia were impassioned in their religious convictions, and as refined as the

that

Greeks in their modes of religious thought

they possessed an organization which aimed at the

regulation of agricultural and other forms of industrial civil life

;

that they were of our

Aryan blood

closely related to the Indian

Aryans

;

;

that they were

that they struggled

through border wars with tribes whom they deemed half pagan that they ultimately founded a branch at least of ;

the great Medo-Persian nation, and spread their religion

among

over vast territories successive

generations

among them Data have

bore the

;

millions of inhabitants through

and the

name

most

memorable figure

of Zarathushtra.

in the history of politics are involved in this,

and we

in the Gathas, I believe, for the first time in the

Aryan

A contribution

to the

world, a union of Church and State. historj

r

of logic

at the outset.

is

A

involved in what has been already said history of rhetoric, if one existed,

gain a memorable particular.

That such a

state of

would mental

culture should have prevailed as could make possible such expressions as “ This ask I Thee aright, Ahura, tell me,” ;

is

truly astonishing

when we

they were

clearly see that

God

used with no slightest approach to a foolish belief that

would either physically hear or vocally answer. “ This ask I Thee, aright, Ahura, tell

Who Who Who Who of

me

ever earth and sky from falling guarded hath save Thee brought forth forests and rivers with the winds hath yoked storm-clouds to racers ;

;

the good man’s grace ever was source ?

;

TIIE INITIATIVE

This ask I Thee

aright,

;

287

OF TIIE AYESTA.

Ahura,

tell

me

:

Who with skilled hand the lights made, who the darkness; Who with wise deed hath giv’n sleep, or our waking; Who hath auroras spread, noontides and midnights, |

Warning

discerning man, duty’s true guides

might have been written yesterday.

It

It

is

?”

1

simply certain

that the interrogatives are those of rhetoric, though this seems

The

incredible for the period. of Ahura,’

daughter of Ahura

‘

Coming

uses of such terms as ‘son

were more

’

to

be expected.

more technical matter, we have an almost

to

equally interesting item in the matter of

metre.

I

fear

we hardly

nature

of

this

the very

realise

exceptional

Rig Veda have been sacred at least two thousand years some of and studied for (say) them are mentioned in the Veda itself, but one of the oldest and most valued of them was found in the Zend Avesta some forty years ago 2 Zend philology has the reputation of being the most difficult of Oriental subjects in an Aryan tongue, as it requires a serious knowledge of several ancient languages. The Pahlavi in which the ancient native commentaries are The metres

circumstance.

of the

;

.

is the most inscrutable of which have been preserved in manuscripts.

chiefly written

of the

Yasna

translation

sequence of

the

in

its

is also

all

characters

The Sanskrit

of a peculiar cast, disturbed

words by the

fact

that

it

rendering of a rendering, while the Parsi-Persian irregular as

is

it

indispensable.

No man

yet sounded these ancient expositions to parts

all

of their

enormous help 1

Yasna,

2

Some

extent,

though Spiegel

is is

a as

living has ever their

has

depths in

given us

3 .

xliv, 3 et seq.

most precious parts of the Gathas are written in trishtup, and others in trishtup with the simple addition of a line. 3 Since Spiegel’s pioneer attempt no second edition of the Pahlavi translation of the Yasna has appeared outside of the Gathas. Spiegel did the great of the

foundation work here as from the beginning, but most valuable as his contribution was, having been based upon a single manuscript, it was as of course just in so far limited as a means of permanent assistance, and it is now well-nigh half a century old. So also his very valuable text and partial rendering of Neryosanoit

is

now, of course, to some degree antiquated, while the exceedingly precious

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA.

288

Very few indeed have ever made the shadow attempt to explore these regions, and excessively

1

number

small

of scholars

independent experts some

advanced

to the highest enterprises of

the open

statement

that

translations unmastered

But

lest

I

of an

among

who pretend

they have

the

be

to

most prominent

the

of

from

have

Zend philology with these

left

original

2 .

should be misunderstood,

say that the lore of the Avesta

let

me

hasten to

by no means alone

is

as

to this particular.

As

human

a simple matter of fact, the

been in a position in which

it

family has not

has been able to support

a sufficiently large class of persons fitted

and willing

to

grapple with these nearly endless and too often thankless

which those who have sacrificed is enough to repel many who might otherwise be both competent and ready. But Slowly and little by little the we must not despair. tasks,

and

the

report

themselves sometimes bring in

pioneers

extracting the ore

;

the

and

miners

are

while the very mass of the work

still

clearing

are

forests,

the

undone offers an opportunity to enterprising minds, and enough has been discovered to whet the flagging appetite. We need first of all a thoroughly critical edition and explanation of the Asiatic commentaries, and we need translations made only after they have been thoroughly left

studied.

And occasion

here I 3

to

suppose that

it

is

proper for

me on

give some general idea of the plan of

this

my own

Parsi-Persian rendering, often the key to the Pahlavi, has not been at all reproNor does any full and modern duced, except in the Five Zarathushtrian Gat.has. explanation of the Pahlavi of the Vendidad exist, while partial translations are most speak to and so of the Parsi-Persian often silent when we wish them Justi’s masterly dictionary, of which ltoth could write version of the Vendidad. “ zweckmassiges eingerichtetes nmsterhaft Handbuch,” is, of course, now as the it was published in 1863, and needs to be supplemented to some degree too old by the labours of scholars who understand all parts of their business. This is only a part of what needs to be done on the texts of the Avesta itself, not to speak of the Pahlavi literature. ;

;

1

2

Who

can name more than a very few units ? Writing to others to decipher their texts

for them, and, ns too often in similar cases, with difficulty forgiving their benefactors for doing them the favour. 3 what occasion this paper was first read. Let it be kindly remembered on

THE INITIATIVE OF

well-meant labours, and of those which Spiegel’s

pupils.

bahnbrechend

objects

chief

alphabet :

all

;

my

object

and explain every part of

it

in

So vast had been the lack of labour since

details.

its

field

But work was

involved.

Spiegel’s were different in kind enormous territory

take a single

to

which by men

on

necessarily spread over an

was

and any

translations,

be proud to build, though criticised

who did not know the

my

my

propose for

I

texts,

commentaries were, indeed, a foundation

man might

2S9

TIIE AVE8TA.

main works in this respect, that editors and had been, and have been even till to-day, forced furnish provisional editions and renderings which must

Spiegel’s

translators to for

ever bear the saw,

I

ago.

as

The

which

mark

of limited preparation.

others did,

the

astounding gap

many

particular work, as attempted in the only

years

manner

ought to have been attempted, had at that date been attempted by nobody living, and nobody was willing to undertake it. It being left wholly unattended to

in

in the I could

it

manner

desired, I set out as

an autodact

to

do what

toward an exhaustive rendering of the Gathas, with

the Asiatic commentaries

edited with

the collation of

all

MSS., and interpreted by that well-nigh endless translation and re-translation which their peculiar circumstances the

required

1 .

See the “ Five Zarathushtrian Gathas,” Introduction, p. xiv et seq. I am from underrating the very useful suggestions which have been made by the pupils of Roth (for I am of their number). On the contrary, that very great interpreter did an inestimable service (strange to say) in attempting to read the Gathas (at first only) with a practical disregard of the Asiatic commentaries, even being, as he told me more than once, without “ any experience” of their chief language (later, however, even writing upon it, in Z.D.M.G. Zend was with him, let it be remembered, only a secondary study). It was an indispensable service for some scholar of supreme authority to read the Gathas as pure Sanskrit (so to speak), giving us all the courage to say that the Pahlavi commentaries are by no means slavishly to be followed, and great is mv own personal indebtedness to him. I understood from him that Haug was his pupil also on the Zend and at the date of Haug’s great work on the Gathas he, too, evidently had no knowledge of the Pahlavi language, affording, nevertheless, the most valuable preliminary results but such provisional and tentative expositions should be followed by others attempted only with a mind prepared by exhausting the materials. (I need hardly remind many of my readers that Haug became later a high authority on Pahlavi, giving us discoveries and hints of inestimable value. Roth also, as I have said, later conceded its importance.) fai

;

;

;

j.k.a.s. 1899.

19

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA.

290 was

It

urgently

then

1

still

for

me

that

Professor

to take his

Darmesteter so

place in writing the

needed translation of the Yasna (which contains

Gathas)

the

reason

this

requested

in

the

volume

thirty-first

of

the

“ Sacred

Books of the East.” “ In the hope of a favourable answer.” The remaining parts of this note are answer to erroneous statements which are carelessly contradictory to my own printed remarks (see below) these errors have also been given a wide circulation in a publication of an importance of its kind second to none. I gladly take this opportunity to correct them. In the preface to the thirty-first volume of the “ Sacred Books of the East,” p. 5, I had said: “ My work on the Gathas had been for some time in his [Professor Darmesteter’sJ hands, and he requested me as a friend to write the still needed volume of the translation Although deeply appreciating the undesirableness of following one whose scholarship is only surpassed by his found genius, 1 myself unable to refuse.’’ Yet there appeared so long afterward as 1895 actually in the Annuaire of the University of Paris the extraordinary remark “ Avec cet ouhli de soi (!) qui characterise le vrai merite il ceda a M. Mills l’honneur d’achever la publication,” and distinctively gave the impression in some other words that I suggested (!) the arrangement. The exclamation points are my own. This very singular version of the facts lingers 1

in

;

—

in Paris to contradict

....

me

till

this day.

The renderings afterwards published

in

my

Gathas

(let

me

repeat once for

all)

possession in an unfinished condition, though provisionally printed, and he wrote pointedly asking me to repeat them in the

were

in Professor Darmesteter’s

hook which he was urging me

to write as his coutinuator: “Vous n’avez qu’a detacher de vdtre travail [the Gathas] la traduction rhythmique avec quelques Cela notes explicatives et le mot-a-mot [Latin] quand vous en ecartez trop. vous prendrait infiniment peu de temps, puisque de travail est deja fait dans l’espoir d’une reponse favorable.” (Nov. 5, 1883, some sixteen years ago.) aud I was also so fortunate as to be of service to other distinguished persons a somewhat similar occurrence forces me to allude to it to explain to students of Zend who may he using certain books and may wonder why thev do not see my This time it was gentlemen on the other side of the Rhine name in them. whom I was able to help. But, unlike my great colleague, these beneficiaries, to whom I had extended assistance immeasurably gn ater than acts of decipherment, resorted to the strange policy of total silence, combining together to omit all mention of my name in some hooks bearing on this subject (a course which is considered among scholars one of the most aggravated forms of indignity which it is possible to devise). Darmesteter could speak in noble terms of thankfulness with Pischel aud Justi, and that not in private communications hut in leading publications see the Qott. gelchr. Am. of May 13,

.... ;

:

Itevue Critique of Sept. 18, 1893 Z.D.M.G., Julv, 1896 etc., etc. 1893 But what will an honourable public say of professed old friends, who had received the closest form of personal teaching by long previously advanced copies of an unpublished pioneer work, put often at their own request gratuitously into their hands, and then combining to boycott the scholar who had taught them And this is the explanation of a fact noticed as curious by their rudiments. a very distinguished friend of all Zendists in the London Daily Telegraph of ;

August

;

;

10, 1894. Fortunately the circumstance has been as harmless as it was contemptible. My 6ole offence, I need hardly say, consisted in the original treatment of things hitherto unattempted, and the very strong expressions of recognition which followed them. Though I was warned by Darmesteter of the fate of all pioneers, and though the actual result has been favourable beyond measure, yet one cannot forget the sting of a degraded ingratitude.

TIIE INITIATIVE OF

And

Professor

and

long since adopted, of

the

rest

produce Avesta.

the

of

an

As

was so kind as to say, my procedure A large 650 pages) includes a dictionary. is at this moment in type, and I hope soon

Pischel

work

(after a

so

treatment

exhaustive

291

be spared I must continue on with precisely

if life

same plan

this

THE AVESTA.

of

fraction of this

1

to offer the University a first section of

to

be followed

may

temporarily

it,

by others without interruption, save such as

Side by

take place from the pressure of inevitable duties.

hope

side with this effort I

with a preliminary

to progress

treatment of the Pahlavi Sanskrit and Persian texts of other

Yasna and Yendldad on the plan mentioned. seem to have secured a serious adhesion in reference to some reforming suggestions as to the decipherment of the Zend alphabet itself as distinguished from that of the Pahlavi. A somewhat full article which parts of the

I should also report that I

appeared in the

German

last (October)

Heft of the ZeiUchrift of the

Oriental Society engaged the acquiescent sympathy

of certain distinguished scholars

before

its

and

publication,

this

who saw

it

in manuscript

I regard as important in

view of the new matter suggested. If

but one -half of

what

specialists

report

elements of interest involved in the study of the

truth,

many who have no time

it

enter

to

as

to

the

be in fact into

the

professional details of this laborious speciality will greatly

view of it based upon the solid For the benefit of such persons me say what indeed will seem to them somewhat

desire to acquire a general results already attained. let

unaccountable

:

it

is

that the extraordinary difficulties of

the Gathas have reference largely to technical detail.

Just

which makes them most difficult to advanced experts, viz., their sparse expression, makes them to a certain degree all the more accessible to one who values them chiefly for that

1 Mills’ “"Werk, das ergebniss langjahriger Miihe und entsagungsvoller Arbeit, vereinigt bis auf ein orterbueh das in Aussicht gestellt wird, alles was fur die Erklarung der Gathas nothwendig ist . . Immer wird es die .

W

.

Grnnlage bilden auf der sich Vede weitere Forschung aufbauen muss. Mills bat mit ihm der Avesta forschung einen hervorragenden Bienst geleistet.” Professor Pischel, Zeitsehrift der Deutschen Morgeulundischen Gesellsc/iaft (Heft ii, 1896).

—

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA.

292 their high a novice, (that

is

moral tone.

Incredible

as

may

it

some of the most difficult strophes to say, some of the most difficult

appear to

in the

Gathas

who

those

to

exact an absolute certainty as to the precise literary point of the detailed

sentences) are

made up

words of the

of

simplest description, so that the translation of the actual

terms of the greater part of the strophes into the cognate Sanskrit possesses no difficulty at

word imitations only in

all

in Latin can often vary from

of synonyms. knowledge of the consecutive terms the

and even word-for-

1 ;

An

choice

is,

each other of

acquisition

a

wdth the exception

and there, by no means a very and these literal terms convey what

of inscrutable forms here intricate undertaking,

Biblical students most admire, viz., the depth of the moral

sentiment and the height of

more

its

We

fervour.

might even

words untranslated, indicating the spaces w’hich their rendering would occupy by blanks, and very much of great importance would be left; indeed, it would not be too much to say that the most of what

leave all the

we for

difficult

value them for would this

difficulties

still

One reason

be preserved.

things has been

of

state

already

stated

great :

maj occur on a part of a strophe which bears r

on ideas of a secondary or qualifying importance

But

general theme).

these

differences

in

exegesis are also robbed of their fatal severity to

which I have already alluded, but which

again in a

new form, and draw from

conclusion.

one of

It

two,

was

three,

this, as

differing renderings, as

is

what

is

correct one

;

but,

differ,

can

(see

opinion

as

to

by that cause

I will

now

state

a vitally important

above on

slightly

p.

277)

:

flagrantly

or

usual in similar cases,

of the two, three, or four

may

expanded

even four

or

it

the

(to

may

be the

seldom indeed the case, not one

varying views, grossly as they

possibly avoid

expressing what

we most

value in our researches. If the ‘good

mind’ when meaning the ‘good man’ has

that sense only with a full inclusion of

1

all

See Roth's “ Festgruss," p. 192.

that the good

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA. mind meant in the meant the ‘church’

—

(see above) if Asha never them without a solemn reference

Giithas in

‘law’ which the church embodied,

to the

on page 277)

— why,

everywhere, and

and religious depth.

am

above

(see

etc.

then, the terminology absolutely shuts

the purely commonplace sense

out

totally)

293

it

(almost,

not quite,

if

shuts in the expressiou of moral

1

who has taught on Zend philology Oxford since Thomas Hyde expounded such parts of it had been then discovered in the year 1700. 2 That the

I

in as

the

Professor

first

subject should have been so long neglected

regretted; and

is,

indeed, to be

hoped that we may pursue

to be

it is

now

it

with vigour.

As

implied in what I have already said, the

is

of an accredited specialist

toward

its

on such a subject

is

first

duty

to contribute

completion as a legitimate branch of science,

and this can only be done by printed books.

Knowledge which

locked up in a single

is

but a precarious tenure public estimation.

Every

philology

should

or

specialist be,

has

on such a subject as Zend overwhelmed with

well-nigh

which must ultimately come

labour, all of

memory

exaggerated in

also

It must, moreover, perish with the life

of its possessor. is,

and becomes

;

to press.

I offer,

of course, no exception to this rule, and I cheerfully give

the

rest

my

of

life

under

the

providence

of

God

to

this duty.

I will close in the

Critical

by

citing the

remark of

Review of January, 1896:

a respected writer

“The

Giithas, or

many

of us it is (for instance) of inferior importance whether ’ finding the way to God ’ or ‘ finding His throne ; the ‘ way must lead to the ‘ throne,’ and the throne ’ is found by the way ’ ; and yet this uncertainty occurs in a passage of the utmost difficulty, where a positive decision is almost impossible. 1

Surely to

a sentence

means

‘

’

‘

‘

2 It was in this year that he published his “ Historia Religionis Veterum Persarum.” He was one of the most distinguished Orientalists of his time (born 1636, came to Oxford 1658, made Reader of Hebrew 1659, Keeper of the Bodleian in the same year, in 1665 was appointed Librarian-in-chief, 1673 Archdeacon of Gloucester, 1691 Laudian Professor of Arabic, 1697 Regius Professor of Hebrew, Eastern interpreter at the Court under Charles 11, James II, and 'William III, died Oxford 1703).

m

THE INITIATIVE OF THE AVESTA.

294

Hymns, of Zoroaster are by far tbe most precious relic which we possess of Oriental religion the only sacred literature which in dignity, profoundness, in purity of thought, and absolute freedom from unworthy conceptions of the divine, could ever for a moment be compared with ;

the

Hebrew

scriptures.”

295

Art. X.

— Notes

Aryan

Tribes,

and on

Baden-Powell,

By way

of

‘Lunar' and ‘Solar'

on the Origin of the

‘Rajput’ Clans.

the

may

explanation, I

By

B.

II.

M.R.A.S.

C.I.E.,

be

permitted to say that

having been for some time engaged on an inquiry into the history of the various kinds of Indian landlord tenure as a

matter of theory, but on the basis of local

facts, it

not

1 ,

became

the origin and distribution of the which the landlord classes most commonly

necessary to consider tribes or clans to

belong.

A

number

and I thought

much more

it

in the

notes

of

might be

were

thus

accumulated

hope of receiving correction, and of thus

gaining information, than with the design of imparting superior proprietor class

when

‘

Hindu,’ or at least originally

Hindu, a large proportion belongs

Some

of

the

resent being so designated,

Tne

latter

it.

Northern India, that of the

It at once appears, as regards

‘Rajput.’

;

put them together,

useful to

the tribes

to

known as now

higher

families,

and

themselves ‘Kshatriya

call

however,

.’

2

name, again,

reference to the military

is usually understood to have and ruling caste of ancient times,

1 Which I hope eventually to publish in continuation of my study of the Indian village communities and their tenures. 2 Or in the spoken form Chatri. This, in fact, is the equivalent of Kshatriya,’ and not the word Khatrl, which is also in use but indicates quite another caste. The latter has no real connection with the old military order, though sometimes attempts are made to assert such a connection. The objection to be called Rajput’ now applies to a Rajput’ is quite modern, the reason being that large group of caste-men who have become agricultural, and have even taken to cultivating with their own hands (saving only the touch of the plough not that!). The higher families therefore desire some distinguishing name, and naturally assert that of the twice-born caste of old. Yet when the name Rajput was first used, it certainly was in a laudatory sense, meaning the royal or ‘

‘

‘

—

ruling race.

DISTRIBUTION OF ARYAN TRIBES.

296 and

have been comprised in two great groups known ’ and Lunar respectively. It was almost

to

as

Solar

‘

‘

’

inevitable to inquire whether anything could be ascertained

about the (probable) real birthplace and connection of the so-called

Rajput

‘

’

So much

races.

that the names names which occur

is clear,

of the various clans and septs are not

any

in

early

literature

and

;

they

can

but rarely

be

connected, even by any tradition that will stand the slightest

with the Kshatriya races of the Mahabharata and

analysis,

The term ‘Rajput’ seems rather

Puranas.

have been

to

invented expressly to meet the case of conquering or ruling clans and houses whose origin did not, in general, enable

them

to be linked with the established

‘

Solar

’

or

‘

Lunar

’

genealogies.

am

I in

informed that the terra

‘

raja-putra

but

son,’

not used as the designation

is

occurs

deserves

further

investigation.

much connected with Rouses,”

and

the

due

When to

any

their

land

seems

to

have originated with

Some

cause

princes whose

dignity

cases, customs, history,

an origin.

But here

earlier races of the

“ thirty-six

the

royal

Rajput clans

of the largest

such a connection other

and whose

or

of

asserted,

is

than

an

is

rarely desire

‘orthodox’

origin

had become famous in the In most was acknowledged.

clan

and birthplace are I

it

natural

the

to

bards and genealogists to find

for

caste

connected with the Solar and Lunar

are professedly not races.

a

the idea

latter

mediaeval bards.

the

of

The question, however, The term certainly is

tribe before the eleventh centur}\

of

often

’

Sanskrit literature in the sense of ‘prince’ or ‘king’s

refer

to

all

against such

a connection

most familiar centre

with

the

— the Ganges Valiev

and Magadha, or For there is a more Ayodhya. tangible connection, in some cases, with the Aryan stock, in the fact that some Rajputs are derived from, or mixed up with, the great Yadaya tribe or group of tribes. Now

and the old

states of Indraprastha, Kiisi,

the ‘Solar’

kingdom

since

uniform

of

tradition represents

Yadu

(the ancestor) as

a brother of Puru, the progenitor of the ‘Lunar’

tribes

— DISTRIBUTION OF ARYAN TRIBES. (their

common

Yadavas

father being Yayiiti),

are, in a sense,

Lunar.’

*

But

it

it

297

follows

that the

noteworthy that

is

with Yayiiti (or perhaps with his father, Nahusa)

all

know-

ledge of ancestry ceases, and the earlier names in the table are of mythical persons

— the

Mercury (Budha),

I shall therefore take the liberty of

etc.

moon, the earth, the planet

confining the term ‘Lunar’ to the Ganges Valley group the reputed descendants of Puru, and better known as the To make Lunar apply to both, Kuru-PanQala families. would be to render undistinguish able two totally distinct groups. For, assuming the entry of the Aryan confederate tribes at the north-west corner of India, all literature and tradition point to a wide and early separation between the Yadava tribes who took the Indus Valley line, and the other tribes who went eastward crossing the Panjab and gradually occupying the whole of the Ganges plaiu as far as the sea. These two groups I shall distinguish as the ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ (or Ganges Valley) Aryans. Once separated, they always remained apart distinct in dialect and racial character, and, for a long time, in religion. They were separated in the north by the intervening Panjab plains, and in the south by the line of the Narbada and the Vindhvan Hills. The two groups were only brought in contact in after times (1) by the curious formation and ‘

’

—

;

movement (via the Chambal Valley) of the Surasena branch, of whom came Krishna, who entered into an alliance with the Pandava and (2) by the vague contact of the Haihaya king Sahasra - arjuna with the (Brahman) Bbrgu tribe 1

;

(Parasurama), and, some generations

later, of the

Talajangha

branch of the same with a king of Ikshwaku

Owing

to the peculiarity of

tribes, there is a

thread of connection in that

however, does not necessarily attach to

the

line,

I take the opportunity of

that I keep the

’

what has 1

I

of the

to

Solar

be said about

which,

(Brahmanic)

Solar group of Oudh. ‘

descent.

the Sun-worshipping or Solar

noting

history entirely distinct, putting it

in a separate section.

permit myself to use the familiar form, for simplicity of printing, instead more accurate Krsna.

298

DISTRIBUTION OF ARYAN TRIBES.

Notwithstanding that the Rajputs are largely foreign and post-Aryan,

impossible

is

it

deal

to

with their history

without considering the general facts about the

‘

Lunar

and

’

and traditional statements have been taken as they stand, and for w hat they are worth their continuity, and even probability, are sometimes attested by coins and inscriptions. It is, of ‘Solar’ genealogies.

In doing

this, literary

r

;

course,

open to anyone to attribute them

them

to explain

On

allegorically.

fancy, or

to

all

the other hand,

a people so retentive of genealogical reminiscences as

human

me

or natural progenitors are concerned

unlikely that the

wholly imaginary.

may

It

be genuine up

further

knowledge

the whole

is

to

this is so or not,

show that there it

is

is

mythical or

not thereby rendered

whether by change or addition

variations tend to

seems to

it

and that where

was had

may

Moreover, different genealogies

1 .

variations,

—

their forefathers are

point,

a certain

failed recourse ;

and

far

quite possible that a genealogy

is

to

supernatural ancestors suspicious

of kings

lists

among

— as

;

Whether

a real basis.

worth while seeing what

literary references, traditions,

and

‘

contain

but these very

gotracharya

is

it

that

really

’

do

assert or imply.

It

is

not beyond the

memory

generally received opinion

of living persons that the

regarding the

represented the Sanskrit-speaking chief, if not the only,

of all ranks

Aryans

‘

Hindu

as

races

’

forming the

important element in the population

throughout India

2 .

The Aryans,

so

it

was

believed, in the course of their general advance into India,

met with some barbarous, snub-nosed, black importance

;

these

they

put to

flight,

tribes of little

driving

them

to

Himalayan Vindhyan Hills of the centre, or to places still further south. Aryans then filled the land, as far as it They it was who was adapted for immediate occupation. ranges in the north,

refuge, either in the outer

or to the

1 Moreover, where some mythic story is introduced, impossible to connect with real persons, it is very likely to be an allegorical way of representing

some 2

real occurrence,

Excluding, that

which could not be explained.

the originally are conventionally called ‘aboriginal.’ is,

Moslem

tribes

and those non-Aryans who

299

DISTRIBUTION OF ARYAN TRIBES.

comby their Vaisya caste, aided by the Sudra or munities servile, fourth, caste; and the whole country was ruled oyer introduced agriculture, and

practised

it

in

‘

village

’

hy Kshatriya kings, with the help of Brahman councillors. The Brail manic caste and religion were assumed as everywhere dominant. Little attention was paid to the indications that there were other tribes of importance who appear to have entered India about the same time as the Aryans, or and that these were not always perhaps before them Little disposed to yield submission to the Brahmanic yoke. ;

attention

was paid

also

to

the subsequent

irruptions,

or

changes that must have taken place locally, when successions of Saka, Kusan, Gurjara, and Hiina tribes came to India. Nor was allowance made for the important to the great

whose language must have which we already had affinities with the Kharosthi and the language owe the Pali element in character. These Northern races sooner or later abandoned influence of

some of these

tribes,

Sanskrit, and to

their original worship of the

and adopted Jainism,

or, still

Sun and the Serpent (or both ?) more widely, Buddhism. The

great body of Jaina or Buddhist tribes were not converts (or perverts)

from orthodox Brahmanism, in whatever stage I am not aware of any evidence of

of development.

conversions (I

wholesale

do not say individual cases) of

from Brahmanism to Jainism or Buddhism. Bather those separate faiths were adopted by clans who were either far removed from contact with Brahmanical developments, or who never accepted them until long after Epic and tribes

Puranic history

In the

closes.

absence

such corrective considerations,

of

the

Brahmanic stories reported undiscriminatingly by Tod and others were accepted and it was taken, as a matter demanding no further inquiry, that the ‘Rajputs’ were of Solar or Lunar origin, as the case might be and ;

*

’

*

’

;

that, in fact,

they continued, unbroken, the line of the old

This general acquiescence in a prominently Aryan, Brahmanic, or ‘ Sanskrit ’ origin for everything was, however, not unnatural, seeing that, as a fact, Hindu military caste.

‘

’

VARIETIES OE INDO-ARYAN RACE.

300 dialects,

well as

as

and religious observances, have

caste

spread widely and coloured the greater part of Indian social

although the result was reached

to a surprising extent,

life

And

way other than that commonly supposed. day we are perhaps too much inclined to in a

everything If

we

‘

to tins

Sanskritize

’

1 .

look to the actual extension of

note the regions where Sanskrit

is

Aryan

speech,

and

substantially the basis of

popular language, both north of the Narbada and in the

west and centre of India,

must have had

its

it is

evident that

Aryan

influence

source partly in the actual early settle-

ment of Aryan clans and partly in later changes effected by Brahmanic missionaries. If we imagine a map of India, coloured red where Aryan speech mostly prevails and blue where the Dravidian and Kolarian, etc., were but slightly and if we draw a double line across the continent, affected following the double line of the Vindbyan ranges, north aud ;

south of the Narbada, the upper line

we

observe tbat the country north of

red and most purely so in the Madhyadesa

is

,

In the further regions

or central region of the Ganges.

would be almost unchanged, since the Telugu, Tamil, and other local languages have only

of the south

received

1

the

blue

additions

from the Sanskrit, but

In a quite recent authority I have seen

it

basis

the

of

objected that the Iluna must be ’

Huns

Kshatriya of the fifth century, hut to some other But is race, because they appear in a text of Manu or in the l’urana, etc. there sufficient reason to believe that these texts, whether by origin or later referred, not to the

‘

So, too, when recension, are earlier than the first few centuries of our era ? strange names in Hebrew appear for articles of commerce imported by King Solomon (1000 b.c.) from India, we immediately set about discovering What Sanskrit - speaking people had by Sanskrit origins for the words. that time so prevailed as to have made their speech the common language What possible Sanskrit name tto of commerce on the West Coast of India? take a single example) could there be for ‘ sandalwood,’ when the tree does not grow in or near any country in which a Sanskrit-speaking people had established

Maisur, the home of Sant alum album, was not an Aryan country, and only became ‘llinduized’ at a late date, when it acquired a Hrahmanic As a matter of fact we find the old Dravidian name of the product dynasty. adopted into Sanskrit (as well ns into every Indian dialect and even into Burmese) when the wood became an article of commerce throughout India. algum of Scripture can be directly traced I do not say that the ‘almug’ or We must make allowance to a Dravidian name, as most of the other words can. also for the uncertainty of the kind of wood intended, and for the possibility of a name being transmuted (or substituted) by trading intermediaries from the But certainly there is no Sanskrit original. coast of Arabia or Afiica.

themselves?

‘

’

VARIETIES OF IXDO-ARYAX RACE.

301

But the upper part of the country below the lower line would be less easily distinguished. A sharp division as to colour would not be possible. The Narbada Valley itself would be chiefly

the language

As

red.

not Sanskritic.

is

country beyond it, at the western end an well-marked suffusion of red would cover

to the

extensive and

Upper West Coast

Gujarat, the Western Dakhan, and the at the eastern end, a smaller suffusion

At the

entirely) Orissa.

country there would

hill

to

intercourse

between

Magadha beyond ‘Hinduized

’

;

;

would cover (but not

eastern end, too, of the

Vindhyan

element, owing

be some Aryan Baghelkhand and the region of

while in the middle the present

dialect of the Central Provinces

is

due

much

to later

events. 1

But

it is

not enough merelv to distinguish areas in which

the speech was more or less affected

element.

The

subject

is

pretensions to be able to speak to

T

sa}

,

that within

by a dominant Sanskritic I have no

one regarding which ;

much 6eems

but so

the large area coloured

imaginary map, the Sanskrit grammarians

(I

correct

red on

our

believe

not

before the fifth century) distinguish three principal variations

— which

were doubtless intended, each,

The

to include several

was characterized by the MaharastrT, the central bv the Suraseni, while Upper India had an eastern portion distinguished by the Magadhi. This is exclusive of the Southern dialects, which cannot properly be treated as * Prakrits,’ though naturally they were so imagined by Brahman writers. It subordinate varieties.

may

be

reasonably

western

area

supposed that these

writers,

living

some other orthodox centre, regarded the general Aryanized speech of Central Tipper India or Madhyadesa, as the standard so that the three named are the prominent variants from that standard. These authors were perhaps too centrally situated to know of the ancient Aryan element in distant Kasmlr, or of the perhaps near Ujjain or Kanauj

or

;

1 See Gazetteer Cent. Prov., Introd., p. exxvii. It was not till after the reign of Akbar that any considerable Hindi-speaking population extended beyond the Xarbada districts.

VARIETIES OF INDO-ARYAN RACE.

302 Sindhi with

Panjab

archaic traces, or of the Sanskritic basis of

its

Now

speech.

Maharastri region

the

(including,

minor variants of Kac^h, Gujarat, or Marwar) does really show a region where special causes for and so in the case of the a change can be assigned (Suraseni) area of the Chambal Yalley. The same is true of the Magadka country about Patna and Gaya, and perhaps I

suppose,

the

;

Bhojpuri dialect of

including the

impossible to suppose that

among pure Aryan

settlers,

and

true

It

locality.

as they

differ,

is

came

to

Aryan

tribes themselves did

;

but the variations are

more due to admixture, not with a few scattered local but with numerous and not uncivilized non- Aryan

families, races,

either

they

also

It is

arose

over different regions in the

course of their separate progress

much

Bihar.

variations

merely differentiated by time

the rule

part of

marked

these

preceding or accompanying them.

may have been

of foreign races

Largely

developed by a subsequent addition

— notably so in the case of Magadha, Central

Rajputana, and Western India.

Now

it is

curious that both the geographical conditions

and the traditional evidence, combine to explain, in each case, what the general cause of the local difference was, even though details may often remain obscure. For example, tradition tells us of a branch of the the Suraseni centre Aryans who came, not at all with the Lunar Aryans to the Ganges plain, but separately, by the western line, to It was a subdivision of this a home in the Narbada Yalley. group that extended northwards up the Chambal Valley. As their ultimate centres were at the further part of the valley, with Mathura and Bindraban on the Yamuna for their capitals, they were thus brought into a certain And as Krishna was contact with the Eastern Aryans. born in this family, and was afterwards worshipped (with Mathura as a centre of the cult), the whole locale became famous. The development of this cult, its immense ‘

’

:

popularity, and the connection established between its centre

and the western peninsula of Gujarat, are among the most Then, again, Magadha

curious features of Indiau history.

303

varieties of indo-aryan race. was notoriously a

special or distinct centre , 1 not only because

of the early Kolarian races in

(Turanian)

the

rulers,

was

(Pataliputra)

capital

it,

Sesnilga in

but also because of foreign

and

Maurya,

the

And we

the regiou.

whose have

an even more complete explanation of bow Western India

came

As

to be differentiated.

connection readers

West

the

is

it

with

of

population

the of

that

Rajput

the

distinctive

the

calls

West, with

all-important as regards

And

it is

clans,

I

may

character of

superior mercantile caste, and

its

its

I

must not go into

who

’

‘

agricultural supremacy.

notorious that these people are different both from

details

about this curious country

a footnote that the earliest (epic) legend places the

tribe

now Hindu

Mahratha chiefs, its Kunbi tribes,

the people of North India as from those of

1

in

remind

just

the

energetic

number and

attention

special

for

Madras

;

but I

kingdom

in the

2

This

may

say in

.

hands of a

are (in the Rgveda) closely connected with the Bharata, who take as (Ku§ika) Yiswamitra. But before long we find the dynasty

their leader the

Jarasandha (always belonging to the Lunar genealogy, but in reality of indicating some fusion of the KuSika race with the Lunar Aryans) not only ruling Magadha, with its largely Kolarian population, but extending his power all round, overthrowing the Solar princes to the north-west of his dominion, and Then in the course of time perhaps owing to a general threatening Mathura. destruction of Lunar princes in the Great War we find the Aryan dynasty replaced by one whose designation, S'esnaga (or S'isunaga), indicates a Turanian,

—

—

serpent-worshipping, origin, and probably a connection with the Nagbahsi houses which, at an undetermined date, established dominion over the Kolarian inhabitants of Chutiya Nagpur and Eastern Central Provinces. The advent of these non-Aryan rulers, whether as a new importation or a revival of a power already in India, seems to synchronize with the ‘prophecy’ of the Vishnu- Purana that pure Kshatriya kings would cease, and the Yavana, Tusara, etc., reign in their stead. At the end of the S'esnag times, the Maurya appear ; and whether we accept the improbable Buddhist account (Max Miiller, Hist. S. Lit., p. 283 tf.) or the Hindu, the originator was certainly a foreigner. He is found in connection with Taxila in the north ; and that, in Alexander’s time, was the capital, if not of the Taka, still of a serpent-worshipping king. It is apparently from Magadha that the foreign Andhra ( Gens Andarce of Pliny) originate, though they are known chiefly as dominating the northern Telugu Being Buddhists, Manu speaks of them with contempt (x, 36), as he country. does of the LiQQhavi (x, 22), though the latter were of great power and dignity (Corp. Ins., iii, 135). Not only was there this strong influx of foreign rulers, but there must have been a large Kolarian (Magh) element in the population. Zimmer mentions that in the Atharvanveda Magadha is alluded to as a mixed ’ race. (Altind. Leb., p. 216 see also p. 35.) 2 Maharastra probably began to receive an Aryan (Yadava) element almost as soon as the Ganges Valley, if not before it. I cannot readily adopt the derivation of the name from mafia = 1 magna regio.’ More probable is the origin from Mahar, the name of a once important Dravidian people whose relics still exist. The country is not mentioned by this name in the Mahabharata (?), but much later in the Mahavahso, in connection with the sending of Buddhist ‘

;

MOVEMENT OF THE

304

TKIBES.

Western Aryan influence is traceable southwards as far as the upper part of the North Kanara District It received a gradual expansion eastward up to and after the seventh century but it was evidently very "ancient in the Upper Western districts in the Dakban highland, and along the Narbada Valley as far as the Cedi country to the north1

.

;

—

east of the present Central Provinces.

we look to the Vedas as our earliest sources of informawe do not expect to find the means of making a complete list of Aryan and allied tribes, or of tracing the If

tion,

order of their movements. fit

in

with what

is

But what

said in the Epics

most important point has been alluded

when

the tribes

Gandhara,

etc.

— such of

— reached

them

indications there are,

and Puranas.

The

to already, viz., that

as did not

the plains, one

remain in Kilsmlr, group, and that

a powerful body, occupied the Indus Valley, and (naturally) also the country

immediately adjacent on the east (such

as

the Sauvira land, so often mentioned along with Sindhu)

and there

is

;

evidence that in remote times they extended as

far as the Indus mouths.

From

such a position the group

of tribes, as they multiplied or were joined by cognate (or other) tribes of later date from the

Western

passes,

must

have been attracted by the wealth and sea trade of Gujarat,

and have extended in that direction, and thence up the Narbada and Tapti Valleys and over Upper Western India But another group of Aryan tribes and allies in general. extended in the other direction, viz., away from the Indus The evidence does not towards the Jamna and Ganges. show any considerable or permanent early Aryan domination The reason can only of the central plains of the Panjab. it was partly because other tribes were be conjectured already in possession, and still more because, in the absence :

missions after the third synod, apparently in Asoka’s time (Lassen, ii, 246). Varaha Mihira calls the people by this name. When the Mughals conquered the country (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) they corrupted or changed the name of the people (Mahratha) into Marhatta, which means ‘robber.’ Ilwen Thsang speaks of the country as having a large capital, which perhaps means the seat of the West Chalukya dynasty. 1

North Kanara

District

Manual,

vol.

ii,

25.

;

MOVEMENT OF THE of irrigation

(in

305

TRIBES.

would m.t

such- early times), settlement

have been invited by the nature of the country, except in the immediate vicinity of the rivers of the tribes crossed the

Panjab

and beyond the Jamna.

to

that

after

in

We

times the people

country and the adjoining

In any case the bulk

1 .

and went eastward

plains,

are not surprised to find

and kings of the Sindh

West and South Panjab,

are

regarded almost as foreigners (along with the frontier Saka,

Yavana,

and intercourse with them was less frequent. to have been some special determining this continued separation, beyond the mere

etc.),

But there seems cause

for

accidents of tribal

The Mahabharata seems

movement.

point to some schism or quarrel

;

for the Panjab

is

to

declared

be impure, and unfit for decent Aryans to live in even

to

two days and that, because the people would not obey Brahmanic ordinances, “ na hi brahmacaryam garanti.” And in the time of Panin! the distinction is also to some extent accentuated these people, says the grammarian, are without kingly government and religious ordinances 2 From this we may infer that all the Brahman families of any for

;

;

.

importance

led, or

accompanied, the eastward-going tribes

any that remained were regarded as have

not

shared

in

the

‘

degraded,’ and would

development

of

religion,

law,

philosophy, and literature that was destined to take place in the

Ganges Yalley.

Jalandhar (Trigarta) might (e g.) have early been by an early expansion, from the Ganges "Valley settlement. I refer only to permanent settlements the early Aryans, being largely pastoral, may have formed temporary encampments on the banks of the 1

Such

inhabited,

a fertile region as

either at once or

;

rivers. 2 No doubt in the course of time this idea of impurity would fade awav. Adventurous princes seeking new settlements would soon disregard it, and in any case, could have found domains like those of the ‘ Porus of Alexander’s time, where they were not in contact with impure races. Later on the M. represents the Pandava princes as making alliance with the Bahika, Madra, etc., of the Panjab. Brahmans, too, would be tempted to return in order to extend the sphere of their influence, just as they penetrated into other ‘uncivilized’ regions. (See Lassen, Ind. Alt., ii, 181 Muir, A.S.T., ii, 482.) The Bombay ’

;

Gazetteer (vol. i, p. 13, note) refers to a similar impurity, except in the case of pilgrimages, attaching to the more distant countries of Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, and Saurastra: (this last addition is very curious, since in the Ramayana,

Saurastra is an Aryan land). In M anu’s time it would seem that the Panjab was reckoned as an ‘Aryan country,’ since (ii, 19) ‘Aryavarta’ takes in the whole land between the Himalaya and the Vindhya, as far as the ocean, both east and west. j.r.a.s.

1899.

20

30G I

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.

may pause

features of

moment

for a

remark how the geographical

to

country assisted in keeping separate the two

tlie

groups, so that their later

movement and expansion

tinued to take them farther and farther apart.

con-

For the

Panjab plains being a barrier westward, the Indus Valley group would expand downwards to Western India, as already stated. In that course of movement, the barrier of the Vindhyan Hills would keep them separate from the Ganges

And

Valley Aryans.

let

me add

ranges themselves form

hill

that not only did the

an obstacle, but

whole

the

between the Jamna-Ganges on the north

belt of country

—

and the Narbada where the first Vindhyan ranges are reached, must have been for a long time something in the nature of a ‘neutral ground.’ It was only locally and sparsely

inhabited

iuhospitable chiefly

by

‘

;

part

in

part

in

:

it

The

Nisada.’

it

was

was

barren,

forest-clad,

hilly,

and

and

inhabited

earliest indications suggest only

of Avanti (near the Narbada Valley) as dominated by Aryan kings; while at the eastern end were the Cedi, perhaps identical with the Vatsya people of the further Madhyadesa above. Rajputana and Northern

the rich plateau

till long afterwards, when Yadava began to be driven from the Indus and Panjab, and when the general movement began which is noticeable

Central India were not colonized the

about the sixth and seventh centuries.

But turning

to

the

Vindhyan

barrier itself

:

had the

extended right across the continent extreme West Coast, not only would the Aryans of the Ganges have been kept (as they were) out of Southern India, but the ‘Western’ group would have been unable to extend as they did and the whole course of subsequent

line (or rather lines)

to the

;

conquests

historic

Yadava

1 ,

‘satraps,’

and nor

would

their allies,

the

have

been

changed.

Neither

nor Greeks, nor Indo-Scythiau

Gurjara,

nor

the

Arabs,

nor,

lastly,

cannot say I believe in the Yadava approaching Gujarnt, etc., by sen. should they ? It is not, however, impossible that they sent trading vessels from the Indus mouths to the West Coast. But no other tribes came by sea. As to the formidable nature of the obstacle presented by the Vindhyan Hills, now much modified by road and railway, see my “ Iud. Village Commuuity,” p. 45. 1

I

Why

30

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.

Mahmud

of Ghazni and the later emigrant Kathi tribes, would have reached Kaggh, Gujarat, and the West, however

much attracted by the prospect of desirable possessions. But the barrier does not so continue. At some considerable distance from the mouth of the Narbada the upper line of The whole of hills 8 tops short and turns northward.

Ka^h

Gujarat from

Narbada

to the

is

thus directly open

Nothing but and that would present but little difficulty to lightly equipped armies and tribal groups ot early times at any rate, during some seasons of the year. Moreover, the desert could in some cases be skirted round. Once in the level country of Eastern Gujariit, the West Coast districts were directly accessible; the whole Narbada towards the Indus Valley on the north-west. a desert tract intervenes,

—

1

Valley lay open up to Jabalpur; the lower (parallel) valley

Tapti opened in

of the

jungles

rendered

— be

inaccessible

;

known

(very early

as

the eastern central hills and

till

progress

further

the country of the

Berar

to

Vidarbha) and Kanhdes,

difficult.

Nor would

—

Mahratha highlands Ahmadnagar, etc. and it would offer many advantageous

strongholds. It should

not be forgotten that this configuration also

movement of the earliest Turanian or Drawho colonized the South, and who seem to have come through the Western passes (where they left

directed

the

vidian tribes

a local trace in the

Brahui

tribe).

These tribes

been nearly contemporaneous with

movement.

Aryan

coming by

may have

the Yadava in

their

would bring in their national and linguistic influence, without coming in contact with the Eastern Aryans; the two might have remained more entirely apart than they actually did but for the

1

We

tribes

Chambal Valley

know

as

this line

settlement, to which allusion has

a matter of history

how

in the eleventh century

Mahmud,

coming through the Western passes beyond the Indus, crossed the river at TJQQh, skirted round the desert, touching Ajmer and the Abu country, and thence moved directly on the plain towards the north of Gujarat and came to Anhilpur, whence he crossed the peninsula to attack Somnath. A similar route must have suggested itself to many other earlier adventurers. Others would, at possible seasons, have crossed the open desert and the Irina or Runn. 1

’

VEDIC AND EPIC TRIBES.

308 been made.

It seems also that before very long the route

from Gujarat to Malwa, and thence to Ajmer (via Dohad, Ratlam, and Mandasor), became known and used. Further east there would in time be communication from the country above the Upper Narbada and Baghelkhand

advanced or

but the

:

far-

met with would be hardly more Brahmanical than the tribes of the Narbada

Eastern people

there

itself.

We

may now return to the Yedic and Epic notices of movement. In the Rgveda a number of tribes are mentioned by name some clearly Aryan or confederate, others hostile or alien. The ‘Aryavarna’ are naturally the tribal

— 1

central object.

Two

One

points directly concern us.

that not the least notice

is

taken of any descendants of

is

Ikshwaku (reputed ancestor of the Solar race) going eastward towards Ayodhya, or joining the Aryan host in the Possibly, therefore, such a move may eastward march. have taken place before the times represented by the Yedic hymns. On the other band, there is mention of the Ikshwaku house or family as ruling in the Indus Yalley at or near Patala.

This shows an

Indus’ or ‘western

‘

’

location

of ‘Solar’ races, and illustrates the rather curious assign-

ment

(in

the Yishnu-Purana) of

The second point

Saurastra.

principally represented by the

who

are descended

Turvasa,

from,

Yadu, and

‘

another that

is

Solar

the

‘

to

locale

aryavarna

’

is

pahgakrstaya,’ or five races

named after, Anu, Druhyu, But four other important them, are named. (1) The Trtsu or

Puru. 2

tribes, in close relation to

under the king Divodasa and under the

orthodox Aryans,

his son Sudiis are apparently

guidance of

Yasistha

and

1 It is not necessary for my purpose to take any note of the several names The dasyu or enemies are, I suppose, certain that are doubtful or disputed. tribes in the Northern hills; for the Nisada or Bhil tribes would hardly have been met with so far north of the Janma forest region (see Zimmer as to the The ltgveda does not represent a stage of Parnaka, Altind. Leb., p. 38). But already there I might say the Sutlej -Jamnn. progress beyond the Ganges were ‘AhLJjor snake-worshipping tribes, as there were in the Panjab, centuries ‘

’

—

later, in 2

Alexander’s time.

Zimmer,

10. 5. etc.

p.

122, collects the places of this mention

:

Rg.,

i,

108. 8;

viii,

VEDIC AND EriC TRIBES.

As enemies of Sudas, once mentioned. 2 The Trtsu are

by Indra.

specialty helped

Matsya people are

309

1

(2) the

at one

and afterwards are opposed by the Bharata, and ultimately cross the Jamna and settle there, apparently near the upper part opposite the Sutlej. time in conflict with the

They are heard

‘

’

five

no more, and are never mentioned in the But the Matsya reappear, closely allied with their neighbours the Pangala in the great war, and are settled on the west bank of the Jamna, somewhere north of the place of the disappearance of the Saraswati, and of

Epics or Purilnas.

apparently close to where

the

once were. 3

Trtsu

The

others are (3) the Bharata and (4) Kusika tribes, mentioned

The Bharata

together.

puny, arbhakasah) are driven

(called

hack across the Bias and Sutlej, apparently to a settlement further east. 4

Rgveda

There

is

no further mention of them in the

but they appear as an exceedingly numerous people

;

Epic times, and were certainty settled in the country east of the Jamna. Further remark about them is, however,

in

made under

the head of the

among

frequently quarrel

But the whole of the

Solar

are overthrown

ever

afterwards.

allusions point to the tribes being not

of

them not Aryan

whatever difference of

whether

The Aryans

tribes.

themselves, as

they are accompanied or surrounded by

;

many

other tribes, true

’

merely meeting with locally settled enemies who

alone, or

is

‘

this or that tribe

named

this general

;

opinion is

may

or is not

remark

exist

as

to

meant

to

be

‘Aryan.’

As regards the ‘five tribes’ themselves, Puru is supposed Zimmer to have come from an earlier settlement on the

bj

1

The Trtsu

(Rg.,

Zimmer,

are

called

As

20. 7).

iii,

the

to their

sacrifice-loving

Rg.,

s

This appears from the Ramayana,

vii, 8.

’

(in vol.

ii) is

Mahabharata

ii,

for the

quite opposed to this,

71, v. 5.

same.

6

The

(Lassen).

And Zimmer,

place assigned in Lassen's

and many, many miles loo

far east.

But

explained that the Matsya (also called Kirata) afterwards extended further

east to the *

Sudas

16.

p. 127, refers to the

map

Kshatriya sons of

p. 126.

1

it is

‘

help from Indra and crossing the Jamna, see

Rg.,

neighbourhood of the Cedi.

iii,

33

;

but

it is

desirable that this should be cleared up.

-

YEDIC AND EriC TRIBES.

310 Indus

Anu may

1 .

be intended to appear as

banks of the Parusni or Ravi or Turvasa; but

and

this

may

2

Nothing

.

Yadu and Turvasa

is

first settled

said about

on the

Druhyu

are mentioned together,

suggest a remoter, north-western or western

Drahyu and Anu are also home, in union, of their tribes. mentioned together and both names are afterwards (in the ;

Epics) associated with the ‘derelict’ tribes in the Panjab

and

beyond Peshawar.

those 5

with Srnjaya 3

this

;

genealogy as that of one of

And when

the

‘

Turvasa

mentioned

is

name afterwards appears

five tribes

the

five

are opposed

’

in the

also

Epic

Panpala brothers.

by the

Trtsu, they

—

by a people with a name in dual form the Vaikarna. Zimmer has given good reason for concluding that this name represents the Kuru-KrvI people who are afterwards so prominent east of the Jamna 4 The Yeda suggests no blood affinity between the ‘five’ and these Kuru-Pangala it remains for the Epics and Puranas to are

aided

.

;

assert

it.

The Mahabharata

of course represents, in general, a

later stage of settlement

knowledge

The

.

much

and a greatly extended geographical

real theatre

of action

the country of

is

the Eastern Aryans, though the Yiidava and their offshoots,

1

The

2

Rg.,

3

Zimmer,

1

The name Kuru does not occur

‘

Saraswati’ viii,

ia

so interpreted

:

Rg.,

vii,

96. 2.

74. 15. p. 124.

in the Yeda, but there are references to the KrvI are actually named and we learn from the S'atapatha Br. that KrvI was the ancient name of the Paiiqala people. 6 It is not of much use to enumerate the tribes and countries noticed, because whether any it is so uncertain what is the date of each portion of the poem mention is in the original or of later interpolation. Taking the text as we have it, we find that the Panjab and Sindh tribes are regarded rather as foreigners, though sons of the Aryan Yadu, Anu, etc. The Aryan home is the Madhya The Upper Doab (on both sides of the Jamna) has become the site of the deSa. kingdoms of Indraprastha and Hastinapura. The Southern Doab is Panqala. So is the Chambal Benares (Kasi) and the Mutsya country are long settled. (Qarmanvati) region, and part at least of what was afterwards called Malwa. The Narbada Valley is occupied. East of that is the Qedi country and Mahakosala (Raipur and the Chattisgarh plain), also Berar (Vidarbha), and perhaps KauhdeA So is the Tapti Valley, the Upper Dakhau (Dakshinapatha), and vague reference is Little notice is taken of Ayodnya or Kosala Saurfistra. made to the Southern as also to the Eastern and North-Eastern Kingdoms, and The serpent-worshipping tribes are in full possession, even to Simhala or Ceylon. and make the subject of many legends. The Aryans have gained ground quite as much by marriages and alliances as by force ot arms.

Kauravya people

:

the

;

—

;

VEDIC AND EriC TRIBES.

311

Haihaya, Tiilajangha, Surasena, and also Bboja, as well as Puru now appeals the Magadha kings, are all spoken of.

younger than Yadu for he acquires the place of honour as “ having given his youth to restore as chief, although

;

The other

his father (Yayati’s) strength.”

background

sons fall into the

Anu, Druhvu, and TurvaSa are

:

all

connected

with the more distant kingdoms, with which the poet has little

concern.

Anu

tribes

— Madra,

Bahika, etc ., also called Aratta, and settled

is

the father of the abandoned Panjab 1

near the Yadava of the Indus region.

Turvasa

is

generally

represented as the progenitor of the Yavana, a term used for the ‘Greeks’

— when

they were in evidence

generally applied to a group

and

north

-

west

frontiers

India

of

father of the Anga, generally

other

the

— but

more

of cognate tribes on the west

He

2 .

end of Upper India

this

;

is

the

also

N.E. Bengal

placed in is

at

because

curious

of a thread of connection often appearing between foreign

ruling

clans

Naturally,

authors refer to the (N W.)

of

Magadha, and the North

in

perhaps, ‘

the

sound

Druhyu

Anu.’

Gandhara

of is

people,

*

West

-

Anga

’

sometimes the ancestor

and sometimes of the

This variation reflects the uncertainty which hangs

Bhoja.

over the much-wandering Bhoja, who, apparently of connection, in the

frontier.

makes some

may

very well

North-West.

The

remoter kingdoms on

belong

fact

is

to

an

Yadava home

earlier

quite clear, that all these

the North, North-West, East, and

North-East, are regarded as rather out of the pale

;

and

authors are in some doubt about their exact origin. 1

As

Anu’s connection with Anartta, part of Saurastra, there is a The V.P. associates it and the city Kusastliali with a son of one of Ikshwaku’s brothers, from whom came Revata, whose daughter married Balarama, brother of Krishna (Wilson, p. 354). But Trna, a descendant of Anu, gives rise to the (historic) Yaudheya tribe of the Lower Sutlej Valley, who were attacked by Rudradaman, the ‘Western Satrap,’ about 150 ad. In R.’s inscription (at Girnar) they are placed along with the Panjab Malava (Malli) and Madra (J.R.A.S., 1697, p. 885 ff.). The M. represents Yudhisthira as having a son called Yaudheva by a daughter of the king of the S'ibi (Lissen, to

difference.

i,

792). 2

This is stated, in so many words, in the Y.P. (Wilson, pp. 175 and 177), first mentions ‘ Yavana,’ and a little further explains that the term includes the Sindhu, Sauvira, fluna, Salva people, those of S’akala, Madia,

which

Ambastha,

etc.

; ;

THEIR PROGRESS AXD ASSOCIATES.

312

The more purely Aryan settlers of Upper India are all derived from a common ancestor, Puru, who has (as I have said) gained pre-eminence over his brethren. But the secondary progenitor, Kuru, soon becomes more prominent and the designation Paurava,’ if used at all, is only retained by one branch. The whole Aryavarta up to Bihar and Magadha is marked by the territories of these tribes. But, as I have observed, they are by no means the sole occupants, or even dominators, of tbe entire area. I cannot discover who ’

‘

‘

are intended to be the special settlers of that sacred portion of soil between the Saraswati and the Drsadvati, west of the

But west

Jamna. 1

Jamna

of the

are placed tbe

they are not called blood relations of the Pancala, nor are they of the Kurus,

prastha

;

Beyond, comes a kingdom and

Allahabad)

domain

Mithila

of

‘Lunar’

Yideha,

or

east

of

(Prayag,

of which

Magadha,

near

is

the

and

(to

none of these latter belong to though Magadha comes under their

Kosala

chiefs,

;

in the course of time.

It

not

Pratistliana

at

Varanasi,

or

Kilsi

tbe north-west)

sway

but they are their

and the kingdoms of Hastinapura and Indra(connected with Pandu) adjoin their territory.

close allies

tbe

Matsva

five brothers of

noteworthy that the Epic and Puranic record does

is

point,

as

we might

expect,

to

tbe

settlements

at

Hastinapura, Indraprastba, or any place on the west 6ide of the

Jamna

cities.

(e.g.

The

first-reached

about Thanesvar), as the earliest established

founded at or near the

earliest capitals are not

frontier

Eastern

of

We

settlement.

are to

understand that in some way, the great ancestors established themselves

in

the

heart

the

of

Puru himself Prayag; the city

country,

(e.g.) becoming king of Pratisthiina or and kingdom of Kasi (or Benares) are understood to be though founded contemporaneously with Puru himself ;

some authorities make to

this

line of

kings only collateral

Puru, being descendants of Puru’s uncle

Yayali).

Moreover,

‘

Bharata

1

Cf.

’

(brother of

becomes king of Antarveda

Manu,

‘

ii,

19.

’

313

THEIR PROGRESS ANI) ASSOCIATES. before

Ilastinapura

even

founded.

is

This

looks

as

if

was in the occupation Matsya - Kuru - Pangala The Pahgala only slowly and gradually made their way. afterwards build Ahighatra, Makandi, and Kampilya, and the Matsya build Vrikasthala and Upaplavya (which the

of

country

other

the

nearer

and

tribes,

frontier

that

the

mind that even kingdoms never covered the entire We cannot look on ancient Madhyadesa area of the country. the N.W. Provinces, where we pass the as we do now at boundary of one district or division only to enter upon the next, in an unbroken series. The early kingdoms were often separated by great stretches of waste laud and dense forest. It has also to be borne in

I cannot trace).

the complete series of

With regard to the intervening settlements held by we must understand the allusions in the M. to mean that the Matsya - Kuru - Pangala had to contend with serpent races — the Nagas,’ who were born of the mythic Kasyapa and his serpent wife Kadru, and who were named Vasuki, Sesa, Takshaka, Karkotaka, etc. When the Kuru need to build another city besides Ilastinapura, other tribes,

‘

and proceed

to

Iudraprastha,

clear

the

‘

a

(by burning the forest) for

site

snakes

’

are

driven away

with

Their king Takshaka escapes at the time

slaughter.

great ;

and

afterwards more friendly relations exist, since Arjuna twice

marries daughters of the race

—one,

by the way, connected

with the ancieut State of Manipura (N.E. Central Provinces). Hostility

however, easily renewed

is,

;

and

in

the time of

Arjuna’s grandson Parikshita, the king insults a

who calls on Hindu king is tion,

the

slain (bitten).

to

myriads perish of

averted.

dynasty at

Janmejaya, his son,

a

;

in retalia-

but Yasuki, who (curiously enough)

Brahman,

intercedes,

it

is

the

and further destruction

Fergusson thinks that the appearance of a ‘Naga’ Magadka (after the Kusika-Lunar) is merely

a resuscitation of Turanian clans already in

But

hermit,

avenge him, and the

undertakes a great ‘sacrifice’ to destroy the Naga, and

nephew is

‘snake king’

may be connected with

sixth century b.c.

the country.

a fresh invasion about the

314

THEIR PROGRESS AND ASSOCIATES. have no

I

suggestion

to

offer

regarding

general

the

and spread of these serpent - worshipping tribes, whether before the Aryans or simultaneously with them or whether their known site (Taka tribe) in the N.W. Panjab, and their dominion in Kasmir, gave off branches which extended southward and eastward. It is quite possible that one group of Dravidians took the Indus line and went directly south, while another group introduction

;

kept to the north

;

so the

Naga

‘

Chutiya Nagpur,

’

in the Eastern Ceutral

may

either have been wanderers upwards from the southern continent, or have

Provinces,

travelled to

downwards from

Magadha and

Vindhyas.

etc.,

the

north-west frontier across

country at the eastern end of the

the

have already expressed a belief that the great

I

bulk of the southern and peninsular Dravidians came by land (and partly perhaps in trading vessels by

Western route and the Western

sea),

by the

where the Brahiii That need not prevent the supposition that another, smaller group (or some other section) entered further north. But to return to the Aryans and their associates in Upper India. The Matsya-Kuru-Pancala are by no means the only kingdoms besides Prayag and Kasi, not forgetting the ‘Solar’ dominions in Oudh and the country east of it. We must find room for the great Bharata tribe, who, indeed, gave their name Bharata is made to to the whole land Bharatavarsa.’ still

passes,

preserve a relic of the ancient language.

—

be king of

‘

‘

which appears

Antarveda,’

whole Doiib, though more properly

to

apply to the

to the south part of

it.

Then, again, the Bharata are in close connection with the Kusika (or Kausika), of whom came Viswamitra, son of Gudin, the sage,

who

Kanauj on the Ganges also Kusika foundations.

Magadha,

is

Gadhi founds Kausambhi and Magadha are

2 ;

represented

Bharata

the

led

1

.

Jarasandha, afterwards king of as

a

‘

Lunar

’

prince

;

and the

1 lie In chap, vii Manu calls Viswamitra the son of Gadhi, a Kausika. attained the lirahmanhood by his great humility. 2 And one of the names of Gadkipur or Kanyakubja was KuSastkala (Lassen, i, 168, note 3).

AND ASSOCIATES.

TIIEIR PROGRESS

Puranas place him fifteenth there

is

a

curious

from Kuru

descent

in

315 but

;

about his miraculous birth

story

(in

which perhaps suggests some union of the Kusika All the authorities, however, call Lunar tribes.

halves)

aud

Jarilsaudha the son of Vrihadratha

The

various

cities

*

changed

have

to

their

Kuru aud Pancala became and so, indeed, do many other reigning houses. the beginning of the great war we find the

masters before long enemies,

appear

’

1 .

;

since the

Thus at Pandava priuces claiming the Panpala and

Matsya

cities

2

or

,

that had been founded

by even

by

earlier hands, since

Kusasthala (Kanauj) aud Varanavata (south of Hastinapura)

were also claimed by them. But whatever changes took we see how, all over the Madhyadesa, other tribes

place,

besides

At

Lunar Aryans established

this point

it

their cities.

will be convenient to reproduce in

two

short Tables (I and II) the chief personages of importance to the descent.

According

to usage,

represents the king of a state with

usually there

is

king-ancestor.

aud Turvasa,

A

a whole

the single its

clan or tribe derived

I have not put in the sous of

as they

have been

glance at the two

name

capital city

lists

Auu, Druhyu,

shows,

first,

that the

‘

takes notice of

Yideha or Mithila

is

mentioned

Solar

’

ancestral

connection with either the Lunar or the Yadava line.

at all.

and

from the

sufficiently alluded to already.

house from Ikshwaku has no kind of (human)

M. accordingly hardly

often ;

The

Ayodhya or Kosala Next we find the

3 .

two houses of Puru and Yadu are

really completely distinct,

only joining at last in the distant

common

But what the names

is

of most importance

is,

ancestor Yayati.

that while the whole of

in Table I are connected with Upper India, and imply an absorption of the kingdoms or domains of the Bharata and Kusika into the Eastern ' Aryan group, the ‘

1

See Wilson, Y.P., 455, 456, and note. The Ramayana calls him a Kusika outright. Bharata has not only been adopted into the Lunar genealogy but also into the Solar this will be discussed further on. 2 Lassen, i, 840. 3 I refer to the list of countries and people from the Bhishma Parva which appears in the Y.P. (Wilson, pp. 178— 185j. ;

316

TRIBAL ANCESTORS.

whole of Table II

is

connected with princes and their domains

Sindh and South Panjab, in Western India, Berar, and

in

—

Western ’ group, quite distinct, as geographical indications would prepare us to expect. Thus I infer that the Qedi, who from their position may have become earlier influenced by Brahmanism, really came not from the Eastern group but from the Indus line via the Narbada Yalley; and that the Bihar Bhoja extended in a similar direction 1 the Narbada Yalley region

short, it is the

in

‘

‘

’

.

Table

PURU

I.

(son of Yayati)

Bharata, marries a daughter of the King of Kasi (generations before Hastinapura is founded) Hasti (founder of Hastinapura) I

Ajmlda (and other

°

Santa

sons)

Riksha (4th progenitor of

I

Ku6ika-Kau£amba,

|

KURU

Bsjaswa

[The five brothers of Pancala

The

land.

family

is

|

Jakasandha

Note

.

— Both

Dritara?tra

Yudliisthira,

Duryoahaua

Bhima, Arjuna,

Drupada,

etc.)

,

}

i,

PAN DU

Vrihadratha

history of the

given in Lassen, i, 745.]

Gadhi,

etc.

etc.

tables

are

derived

from Tod’s

763, and appendix to the volume.

The

table,

compared with Lassen,

dotted lines indicate that several

(or many) intermediate names are omitted. The different genealogies iu the Adi (Sambhava) Parva of the M., as given in Mr. Hewitt's paper (Appendix A), J.R.A.S. for 1889, pp. 316, 317, do not really present, as far as I can see, any

point that affects the result as to the general relationship or tribal connection Particular names differ, are put iu or

intended.

sequence

1

is

not the same.

The V.P.

All the genealogies

left out,

and their order of

insert Bharata.

when

further illustrates this distribution

it

describes the ‘regions’

and says of Upper India that on the west side of it dwell the Yavana (see note 2, p. 31 1), on the east side are the Kirata, and iu the middle “the (our For see Wilson, pp. 175-7). castes” (explained to mean the Kuru-PanQiila the rest of India, the author mentions the regions of Malwa, tSnurastra, etc., as and the south includes the Paundra, Kaliuga, etc. in the west of India,

;

;

— WESTERN ARYANS ALWAYS Table

YADU o

o

IT,

(son of Yayati)

Fifth son

Kro^tri

II A

Kvatha

Kaisika

CEDI,

317

DISTINCT.

I II

A YA

Satvata

etc.

Mahabhoga

Andhaka

Sakasra-arjuna

Yuyudhana

Bhoja kings of West Bihar Kukkura,

Talajangha

S'iira

etc.

S'urasena, etc.

Vasudeva

Nanda

Krishna, Balarama, and

Note

.

— Other

Sahasra-arjuna.

with

genealogies

Krishna

the S'urasena

make

S'iira

certainly

is

and

For the sake

branch.

S'urasena both

commonly

descendants of

treated as closely

connected

comparison with Table III

of

Solar houses, it may be mentioned which gives the (Brahmanic) slain by the (Bhrgu Brahman) I'arasurama, is Harischandra, son of Trisankhu (Solar) is reigning (Skanda-P.). Eight descents later (32nd in the whole list) we have Sagara in conflict with the (further on),

that

when

‘

’

Sahasra-arjuna

Talajanghas.

Let

me

develop a

distribution different,

and

further the evidence of this separate

domination of the characteristically

but linguistically

Aryan groups.

Yadava

little

local

(with

There

many

is

allied,

‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’

a complete unanimity as to the

branches) dominating

first

the Indus

Valley and then the Gujarat peninsula, Western India, and the Narbada country.

The Indus Valley settlements would

naturally overflow somewhat on the Panjab side also.

And

was afterwards increased by some early event possibly indicated by the story of the scattering of the Krishna branch by the Mauryan emperor, which drove some of the Yadava into the Salt Range or North-West this overflow

Panjab. 1

Marks 1

of this residence

still

See Arch. Rep. N. India, vol.

survive.

ii,

p. 16.

Again, 6ay

WESTERN ARYANS ALWAYS

318 120

about

b.c.,

in

consequence

of

DISTINCT. the

Indo

-

Scythian

movement, some of the West and North-West Panjab tribes, as well as those of the Indus, were displaced we see that the Jhareja and the Bhatti (or Bhati) these were Yadava branches of the stock who were driven to Kacch and Gujarat, and to ‘Bhattiana,’ Jaisalmer, and the ‘Yaduvati’ country east of it (where the Jadun State of Rasauli still ;

—

—

survives). 1

The Silrasena settlement, by the time it had (at Mathura and Bindraban) come into nearer contact with the ‘Eastern’ group, seems at once to have been subjected to attack. We hear of Jarasandha from Magadha driving the tribe away. Again, they succumb to the Mauryan king. Once more, to quote Cunningham, “they were overwhelmed by the Indo-Scythians under the [Northern] Satrap Raj ubul and They next fall under the power of the his son Saudasa. Gupta. At the time of Hwen Thsang’s visit in 635 a.d. the King of Mathura was a Sudra, but a few centuries later Jadu Rajputs’ are in full possession both of Bayana and Mathura. Nearly the whole of Eastern Rajputana belonged the

‘

to the

Yaduvansi.”

How

2

Yadava became connected But it must be

the Krishna branch of the

with the Gujarat peninsula

is

not so clear.

remembered that early Aryan (or semi-Aryan) tribes would naturally have extended to North-Western Gujarat most of them probably of Yadava connection long before the move

—

—

towards Mathura.

became

celebrated,

connections

And when Yadava

(like the later Riivs of

to discover their descent

we have no

once the Krishna family

families of any branch, or

mere

Junagadh), would hasten

from Krishna himself.

direct evidence of specific

Yadava

Naturally

tribes in the

This secondary movement towards the old S'urasena region was very likely by the traditions of the tribes (see Beames' Elliot, Gloss., i, 128) but the author did not notice that the occupation of the Yaduvati was the consequence of the S'aka movements, and long centuries after the original S'urasena It was in connection with this invasion settlement (cf. Arch. Rep., ii, 21, 22). that (the Yadava) Salivahana, from his Dakhan home, made a brave but ultimately unsuccessful stand against the Indo-Scythians, defeating them at Kaliror, sixty miles from Multan. 2 Arch. Rep., vol. xx, p. 1 H. 1

directed

;

WESTERN ARYANS first

ages

we have only

;

—BHOJA.

819

the fact of Yadavas in the Indus

region and the certainty that this group extended southwards.

Whatever the truth may be, legend soon connects Mathura and as soon as the Surasena are disturbed at Dwarka

with

1

’

;

Mathura, we to

and

find the

Krishna clan backwards and forwards,

from the peninsula

;

and

Balaruma marries the

daughter of Revata, a local king. In Saurastra we find Akriti, brother of Bhlsmaka, king of a local Bhoja territory 1 .

Bhlsmaka himself

Bhoja and is king of Yidarbha, and is the father of Krishna’s wife, Rukminl. Krostri, the eon of Yadu, is also king of Yidarbha, and so are his many descendants

2 .

is

called a

The Satvata branch

early kings of ‘the South .’

(of

Yadava) are

also

In later times we find the

3

ancient Rastrakuta (in this very branch) dominant in the

Dakhan, and it

may

shall notice their career later on

;

meanwhile

be said that reasonable evidence can be adduced

linking on the Rastrakuta with the later Revagiri, and the

‘

Hoysala

There are Kunbi divisions

Of the

collateral

’

Yadavas

also,

Yadava dynasty

of

as far south as Mysore.

claiming Yadava origin.

branches (Table II) we have limited

and scattered information. These tribes, who long remained non-Brahmanic, were perhaps hardly worthy of much notice from Brahmanic writers. But all are found in the neighbourhood.

The Bhoja tribes are said to have had eighteen divisions, number frequently used, but meaning nothing

a specific

more than that the tribe was numerous and much subdivided. Something has already been said as to their locale and their Yadava connection 4 One branch (that of West Bihar) is .

1 See Lassen, i, 758. When Arjuna visits Kusasthali (Dwarka), families of Yrsni (Krishna’s Yadavas), Andhaka (another Yadava), and Bhoja families come out to greet him. 3 The Y.P. (Wilson, p. 441) remarks on the great number of the Yadava

branches. 3 See Aitareva Br., viii, 3. 3-14. 4 See Raieniralala, “Aryans in India,” ii, 387. Wilson (Y.P.,p. 186, note) also concluded that the Bhoja were derived from [perhaps ‘ related to would be better] the Yadava. Bhojakata, one of their cities on the Lower Narbada, was ’

founded by Rukmi, Krishna’s wife's brother, and Bhlsmaka is called a Bhoja. The uncertainty of origin is reflected in the variations of the genealogists. The M. derives Bhoja (in the remote past) from Druhyu. Others take them, more

WESTERN ARYANS

320

—HAIHAYA.

shown as directly connected by descent from Yadu through Andhaka. They seem to have been in conflict -with the Haihaya in the Lower Narbada Talley. They are mostly connected with the Narbada region and with Malwa kings of

may

’

‘

be remote descendants, though in a very mixed race.

The Haihaya

are a distinct branch of the Yadava, with

The

a separate history.

Narbada Talley part

—

is

—

first

tribe is certainly ancient,

and the

in the lower, afterwards in the upper

the scene of their settlement

;

it

is

a sufficiently

from

distinct territory to place the tribe considerably apart

‘Western’

their other

a

to

loss

account

Bhrgu-descended

for

(i.e.

and make them quite outer Aryans of Upper India. I am

relatives,

strangers to the ‘Eastern’ at

and

;

name Bhoj among the Pramara Halwa suggests that possibly the Pramara Rajputs

recurrence of the

the

legend

the

which brings the

Brahman) Parasurama on

the

to

scene in the Narbada Talley, even if the upper end, nearer

Bundelkhand and Mahakosala,

is

But the

intended.

of the destruction of Sahasra-arjuna (Kartavirya)

The Haihaya have the Solar kings

relations, the

several

Parasurama

and

places in the

list of

who

Taljangha,

generations

Kartavirya, judging

is

the

after

by

the

Trisankhu and Sagara.

story

explicit

1 .

also fight

time

of

respective

I do not

know

proximately, from Kunti-Bhoja, father’s sister’s son of S'ura. See Lassen, i, also Wilson, V.P., p. 418 (note 20) and pp. 720 and 757, as to the connection It must always remain doubtful whether the Bhoja are not Dravidians, p. 424. and whether some contemporaneous like the Bharata, with the Aryans proper were not united by adopting Brahmanic customs and by marriage, and so taken up and grafted on the Aryan (Yadava) stem. ;

;

Sahasra-arjuna is represented as deriding the Brahmans. “ clad in skins,” From because “ they thought so much of themselves” (Muir, A.S.T., i, 462). early times we begin to have mention of hermits from the North in the Vindhyan Possibly forests; a settlement in the Pavosni (Tapti) Valiev is also mentioned. the ‘ heathen Haihaya mocked the Brahmans, who by their own clansmen or some local adherents avenged themselves. Parasurama is made contemporary with Rama of Oudh by the V.P., which represents the latter as humbling tbe former Parasurama again appears as miraculously reclaiming the Malabar but this latter is a quite late legend to glorify the local const out of the sea Namburi Brahmans. But possibly it is intended that we should take Parasurama as one of those sages who, like Vasistha and Yiswamitra, live through whole ages and appear when wanted he represents a principle, or symbolizes the fact that now and again the priest merges into the warrior or fights his own battles. Even Brahman kings (in Kabul and Sindh) were not unknown to history, at least in the early centuries of our era. 1

’

‘

!

;

:

’

WESTE RN ARYANS— HAIHAYA.

.‘521

what event the driving of the Haihaya to the farther or whether we have is to be referred evidence to establish the Bhoja in their place in the Lower Valley. But the Haihaya rule in the Upper Valley and in to

extremity of the Valley

;

1

the North-East Central Provinces

is

historic.

It

is

curious

Haihaya are often connected with the Cedi people, of whom a single mention occurs in the Rgveda 2 and the ‘Vatsya’ tribe appears to have been settled in the same Indeed, general region, up to the west frontier of Magadha. that the

;

Lasseu notes

3

that the “city of the II.”

Vatsya,” and the country

The Cedi

also, if

‘

is

called “city of the

Vatsabhiimi,’ in the Mahabharatu.

they are not identical with the Vatsya,

boast in their inscriptions of descent from the (Haihaya)

Kurtavlrya

The Kalachuri

4 .

(or

Kataohuri)

are

of

this

group also, and they (with the Traikutaka clan) are at one When the clan was defeated time dominant in the West.

by the early Culukya king Mangallsa in the late sixth they were ruling from Tripura (Tewar), near The Haihaya were at one time Buddhists, and Jabalpur. are afterwards mixed up with the Nagbansi chiefs. As

century

much

they were so

out of the notice of the Brahraanic

have been regarded very much on the same footing as the Nagbansi and other foreigners 5 authors, they

seem

to

.

The ancient Some confusion

was Mahismati (Mahesar in the Tndore State). caused by the attempt to carry the reminiscence of this traditional seat further up the Valley to Mandla: there is no reason to believe that Garha Mandla, or any other place there, was ever called Mahismati. 2 Rg., viii, 5. 37. 3 Vol. i, 744, note. 4 See Arch. Rep., ix, 77. It will be observed that the genealogies (Table II) make them Yadava, but in another branch. In a later volume (Arch. Rep., xvii, 71) Cunningham says that the Cedi in the oldest Rajim inscription (Raipur District, Central Provinces) do not refer to H., but call themselves sons of Kuru. This may have some special justification, but certainly, in general, the Haihaya are alluded to as ‘ Cedi swami =lords of the Qedi ; and the Kalachuri alwavs accounted themselves Haihaya (see Arch. Rep., ix, p. 92, and Corp. Ins., iii, Introd., p. 10). The Gujarat bards sometimes insert the Kalachuri (in some corrupt forms) among the “thirty-six royal clans ’’ They were of high rank, and married into families of Mewar, and the Malwa Pramara, in the twelfth century. 5 I can only just allude to the illustration afforded by Sleeman's account of the ‘ Gond princes (not that the princes were Gond, but that they ruled over Gondwana, and left many illegitimate descendants called Raj Gond). The tradition originates the dynasty in one Jadava-raya ’ (the names suggest a Yadava tribal connection) who was serving a Haihobansi chief. He transferred his services to a local Nagbansi prince, married the prince's daughter (and 1

(lower) capital is

’

’

‘

j.r.a.s.

1899.

21

WESTERN ARYANS

322

Of the Surasena

— SURASENA.

(or Surasenaka),

whose history

is

made

important by the Krishna legend, something has already

been

There

said.

Krishna

is

is

some confusion about the descent.

usually associated with

the

Surasena, but

the

genealogy derives him from Sura in a collateral branch.

Perhaps there was a double connection. But the families are Krishna and the Surasena take opposite not always friendly ;

sides

in

war.

great

the

In any case with Mathura, the

centre of a very Brahmanic worship, the Surasena

— called

— the righteous (Brahmanic) law-keepers, must

‘bhadrakara’

have been separated from the Haihaya 1 It was natural to examine the list of kings and tribes that .

are represented as taking part in the great war.

We

should

expect to find the array exaggerated by bringing on to the

who could have had nothing really to do we might come upon certain indications of

scene distant kings,

with

it

;

affinity.

but

still

There

is,

however,

We

light on our subject.

I have said) are not on the

little

information which throws

only notice that the Surasena (as

Pandu

side with Krishna.

King

of the kings are attached merely (like the

Some

of Kasi) on

The Bhoja and other Narbada some appear on one side and some on the other. The Haihaya are not named, perhaps are meant to be indicated under ‘King Dristaketu of Cedi.’ the ground of family

peoples are

much

ties.

divided

;

and succeeded to the kingdom. This, Sleeman says, was in Samvat ’415 (presumably Cedi era) or late iu the seventh century (Sleeman which is not admissible). makes it Vikram While speaking of the Yadava and cognate tribes, it is impossible to omit all mention of the Ahlr, apparently the same as the Abhira, who are certainly a non- Aryan, perhaps early Tndo-Scythian tribe, from the north-west. Now, they hold no place in the Panjab, but in the N.W.P. in Ahirwara and the Upper West of India. They are not now esteemed, but once furnished princes both in Nepal and on the West Coast. One list at least, gives Abhira,’ a place in the

only child), ‘

:

1

‘

J.R.A.S., October, 1897, p. 890, and Arch. In the N.W.P. the Ahlr are still divided into great, and quite Rep., ii, 300.) independent, sections Jadubahsi, Nandabausi, and Gwalbansi (Elliot, i, 3). Nanda, with whom Krishna took refuge, was an ‘Ahlr’ chief. The author of the Prabandh Cintamani (circd 1305 a. n ), in relating the story of the Yadava ltavs of Junagarh, called Navaghana “the Ahlr liana” (Rasmala, p. 118), In the Central Provinces, while an inscription calls the same family “ Yadava.” where the Alnr are numerous, they seem to be connected with some traditional “ Gaoli ” of former importance, and their name survives in Gwalior, Gavalgarh. Gol-khnnda, etc. The Abhira appear in the Samudra Gupta inscription, and are the people of Ptolemy’s Abilina. ‘thirty-six

royal

clans.’

—

(See

323

CONSEQUENCES OF SEPARATION. Here,

‘King Vrihadbala of Kosala’

loo,

is

named

just

as

taking side with the Kurus, but without the least allusion to

remarkable dignity or power of bis

Ayodh}^a, or to any

kingdom.

The lines

separate character of the Yadava, Lunar, and Solar

appears clear

far

so

become

themselves

;

and,

subdivided

so

moreover, the Yadava that

distinct

centres

Western’

This separation of ‘Eastern’ and Aryans would not only facilitate the growth of different linguistic and physical features would entail much it

naturally arise.

‘

;

difference

in

necessary to

ideas

of

caste

and

religion.

It

is

only

the entire change that came over

recollect

‘Hindu’ religious ideas as they developed from the Yedic Purana and Tantra and the caste rules of later days were so little developed in Yedic times that the tribes of those days in their first movement could have carried with them, to the west, very few such restrictions. The whole of the systems of religion, law, and philosophy, as well as the literature, which we associate with the term Hindu,’ were in fact developed by Brahmans and among the Eastern group after their settlement throughout stage to that of the

;

‘

The Yadava and their congeners would have, no part in this progress. In the Indus Valley and Western India, the Aryan element could mix without

Aryiivarta. originally,

hindrance with at least the superior families of other tribes or families

— Dravidian, early — such as the Abhlra,

Sfi

and Yu-chT

Saka, Gurjjara, etc

Then, again, the

P uranic

and

or Abar,

later

Saka

Nagbansi, Andhra, Bala,

1 .

some centuries must have elapsed before and law reached or were accepted

religion

1

I do not mean to imply that even the Eastern Aryans very soon, or very completely, acquired strict caste ideas. Not only have we repeated allusions to sages and heroes marrying ‘serpent’ and other strange, not to say ‘inferior,’ wives, but a more general laxity long prevailed. Air. J. F. Hewitt (J.E.A.S., 1S89, p. 196) has justly called attention to a conversation in the M. in which

Yudliisthira says to one’s

Men

own

Nahusa that “in human

society

it

is difficult

to ascertain

promiscuous intercourse among the four orders. the orders have children by women of all the orders.’’

caste, because of the

belonging to all This, however, shows that the idea of established ‘ orders and of the propriety of caste distinctions, existed and that is more than can probably be said for early times in Western India. ’

;

324

CONSEQUENCES OF SEPARATION.

by the Yadava and other ruling

Whether they new settle-

races.

long retained a Yedic type of worship in their

we have no means

ments,

they

of

knowing

but for centuries

;

were non-Brahmanic,

and Jainism and Buddhism appear at one time dominant in their early history as reflected in the cave-sculptures and other remains. It is notorious, too,

that those (independent)

faiths

are always

connected with Northern and Indo-Scythian tribes and the

West who had affinities with them. Wherever we can trace a family to the early Yadava, or to Magadha, or the Indo-Scythian times, or to the Naga earlier dynasties of the

connection, or to princes like the Maurya,

we

invariably

some early worship of Sun or Serpent giving way to Jainism or Buddhism, as the case may be, before an ultimate find

prevalence of the worship of Siva or Visnu.

On

the other

hand, none of the Ganges Valley (Lunar) Aryans are non-

Brahmanic, nor open

But Brahmanic into the

accept

Buddhism when

by the

arises.

filtered

Nor is the an early ‘Hindu’

East.

possibility of finding

and there before the general Brahmanic superioritjE Brahman to wander, and must have made

dynasty here

or

acknowledgment of hermits early began occasional

it

and customs only slowly

West and South and Lower

fact altered

prince

to

religion

royal

or

baronial

converts.

There

are,

for

example, inscriptions of the ‘Western Satraps’ which show there were many Brahmans then iu Gujarat and If we Upper Dakhan, though Buddhism was prevalent general traditions which from the prevail, and can judge character of the Western Brahmans, the certainly foreign we shall, I think, conclude that the Brahmanic faith was that

1

.

1

M. we hear of Brahmans in the Fayosni (Tapti) Valley, and even Among the kshatrapas we notice Gokarna on the West Coast.

In the

as far as

Ushavadatta (probably ruling during the

first

quarter of the second century).

Though a S'aka by birth, he is believed to have adopted the Brahmanic faith. The inscriptions, with pardonable exaggeration, record how he gave 300, OuO cows and other wonderful gifts to Brahmans. lie fed, we are told, “ hundreds thousands” of Brahmans every year, which is obvious nonsense, because such number could not have been in existence in the West. It cannot be supposed that Brahmans accompanied the Yadava from the Indus; so that none could be found but hermit wanderers in small groups from the North. (See Bombay of a

Gazetteer, vol.

i,

pt. 1, p. 125.)

— SPREAD OF BRAHMANISM.

Maharastra before tbe seventh or eighth

not general in

century

1 .

The success of the Brahmanic

among

325

a

minority of

small

ideal,

developed as

ruling

a

it

was

overcoming

race,

Buddhism, proving superior to all racial and geographical barriers, is one of the most remarkable facts of Indian history. But Brahmanism really displaced no cherished national divinities; it only ranged or embodied them in

new order

a

ritualistic

and

other hand,

its

admit

could

it

;

even the hated Niiga

2

it

;

formally objective worship,

negation

any

of

intelligible

the greatest strength of social

lay in its

— nearly

provided the modus vivendi for

the

relations,

hangers-on, and

Brahmans took complete were calculated status

to

;

this

element

The second the Brahman

—

king, and his host of nobles,

officials.

possession.

Of both elements the Their rules of caste

promote the interests of both.

In the

the lower orders, they fixed a certain, if humble,

case of

of

respectability

—

certain,

abyss of outcastedom below at

all

second.

element included both the spiritual ruler ruler, the

up. One non-Aryan

made

was

Society

very mixed), agriculturist and industrial

and the temporal

But

combined

It took possession of both the

Hindu

of which

nothing and

worship whatever.

element was the mass of the people (or

on the

while,

reality of

is

Brahmanism

and religious system.

elements

deities,

local

various schools of subjective speculation could

develop a misty pantheism which the

kinds of

all

could devise the most minutely

least,

effected

a

presented an obstacle

it

:

because

but

caste,

was the some extent

there to

permanent division of labour, to

over-competition

am’

in

and given

T may refer to the tradition or legend of the Kidamba king Mayura-varma, Mayurasarma, of N. Kanara, introducing eighteen agrahara of Brahmans, which could not have been before the seventh century. (See Bom. Gaz., vol. i, pt. 2, As regards Mr. Baine’s remark (Census Rep., 1891, Pari. Blue Book, p. 560.) p. 141) that the Mahrathi language is peculiarly Brahmanic, any such feature could have been taken on, just as the introduction of Christianity affected the vocabulary, etc., of many languages that had long been fixed. 2 Nor need I argue about S'iva and phallic worship being of Dravidian origin. The whole genesis of S'iva worship and the rival Visnu sect is curious. The Krishna cult seems to have been invented as a bid for popular favour for the Visnu side against the Saivite. 1

or

‘

’

326 trade

SPREAD OF BRAHHANISM. industry.

or

appealed

family

to

Among

upper

the

and

pride

ideas

caste

classes,

respectability

of

and dignity 1 Bat, indeed, the Brahmanic system a whole not merely its caste distinctions attracted

as

.

—

—

classes.

satisfied

all

The populace in towns found their religious sense by the assistance of a family priest, ever ready

with his sacred ceremonial and

offices

arranged in connection

with every event and stage in family

life. In the country wandering teachers and ascetics attracted eager attention, and shrines and holy places were established all over the continent 2 Nor were the ‘mela’ or local religious gatherings and periodic pilgrimages without a powerful effect in attracting adherents. To these must be added the power of the Brahman to declare ‘good’ and ‘bad’ days the astrological government of life, and his control of supernatural influences by charms and exorcisms, which, in spite .

—

of educational a power as

continue to be almost as much Nor was the system less adapted to classes. The Brahman made his presence

progress,

ever.

capture the ruling

needed at every Raja’s court, direct

to

organize

sacred law.

and

Here, too, astrology played no unimportant

Kings seem,

part in securing priestly ascendency. times,

business

the State correspondence as well as to declare the

to

have

accepted the traditional

position

at all

of

the

Brahman, and never to have had any misgivings as to the great merit of making land-grants and lavishly endowing priestly families. In the developed Hindu State polity, the Brahman Counsellor is as much a part of the Constitution as the Raja himself. To this organizing power of the Brahman we undoubtedly ascribe the general spread and immense success of Hinduism over the West, and still more the South, of India, where the Aryan element was otherwise so little diffused. The (Southern) legend of Agastya but symbolizes the process

— the Brahman teacher converting the

1 And it is not necessary to say that caste rules had a certain moral utility they had their good aspect as well as their bad. * It is notorious to the present day how any ascetic teacher or hermit will gather a following. The effect of shrines and the meins connected with them is equally well known. ‘

’

SPREAD OF BRAHMANISM.

327

Dravidian masses from bis hermitage or preaching station,

up at every mysterious point of natural scenery,

set

mountain peak or

way

his

oil

The Brahman minister found

riverside.

Kshatrapa as well

into the Court of the Scythian

as into that of the rude but capable

Dravidian princes.

He

them with a new idea of family dignity and its increase by caste observance he proceeded to organize the local Court and the public administration; and to judge by inspired

1

;

the Sanskritic inscriptions only, that Court would often be

imagined as more extensively

‘

Hindu

’

than

really was.

it

some members of a more nearly Arj'an military race would be received 2 and given high command, being found useful in introducing improvements into the army. All this happeued, not in any rapid flood of Aryan progress, but in the slow course of centuries, and by individual Then,

too,

influences.

Nor must

it

be forgotten that the Brahmanic system had

not only to reckon with more or less crude Kolariau and

Dravidian religious ideas.

and

times

at

Jainism.

had

to

It

had

to

contend with a

powerfully State-protected,

Moreover (and

rival,

Buddhism and

this chiefly concerns us here),

admit and provide for a long and varied

it

series of

foreign additions to the ruling and dominating class.

For

some parts of India, the orthodox Kshatriya element never existed in others it had died out, and in others had in

;

been replaced by foreign clans

who were

not indisposed to

adopt the form of orthodoxy, so long as their

own

conquering position and dignity were provided

ruling and

for.

not repeat the enumeration of these foreign elements

I

need

— from

the sixth century b.c. down to the sixth century a.d. All were originally outside the pale of Hinduism; and despite

1

We

hare examples in the Ceutral Provinces and elsewhere of how the Naga discarded their ancient symbol, and accepted ‘Rajput’ rank and an impossible genealogy for some Epic or Puranic hero. Such princes adopt caste observation with extreme strictness. After some few generations (backed by chiefs

wealth and success) they are admitted to marriage alliances with Rajput houses

more established reputation. With reference, for example, to the possibility of some real descendant of Pandu, or other Aryan Kshatriya of the North, finding his way to power in the Southern Pandyan kingdom. of

2

‘

’

;

SPREAD OF BRAHMANISM.

328

Brahmanic system among the longWestern and Southern peoples, Brahmanic institutions had a very limited hold on countries like the Panjab, where to this day we find Brahmans indeed everythe attractiveness of the

acclimatized

where admitted, hut not much held Hindu law ’ is almost unknown.

in reverence, while their

‘

a few high-caste families in

custom of

Everywhere, except

cities,

adoption, marriage,

inheritance,

in

the agricultural tribal etc.,

prevails

and doubtless the limited influence of Brahmans made it so much easier to convert ‘Rajput’ tribes to Islam (which was common), and helped the establishment of Sikhism.

Very probably other provinces remote from the Madhyadesa, would furnish similar examples. No wonder that so few surviving castes and clans repreNo wonder, on the other sent pure descent of any kind. hand, that on becoming

‘

Hindus,’ so

many began

kindred with Brahmanic heroes or sages;

Moslem

just

to claim

as

many

from Arabian chiefs and saints, though their Hindu origin can hardly be concealed. There is, indeed, an obvious gradation of superiority, mental and castes claim descent

physical,

connected

especially in

with

higher

the

Northern India

;

castes

and

clans,

but these mark the superior

among them the ‘Aryan’ But the mass of middle and lower industrial, are either not Aryan

elements of several races, while

has had the best chance. castes,

agricultural

or

’

*

at all, or represent only the least advanced,

sections of the race. (To be continued.)

and most mixed,

— 329

Art. XI.

— The

Pre- Aryan Communal Village By J. F. Hewitt.

India

in

and Europe. In Mr. Baden-Powell’s

article,

XXV

No.

of the Royal Asiatic Society for

July,

of

the Journal

1898, on

Land-Tenures in India, he asks with on the same subject in the Journal of the Society 1897

As

I.

letter

for July,

on the following points

for further local details

,

Village

my

reference to

:

whether the original matriarchal stage of village

to

life

described by

of

both

me

to be

is

and

Kolarian

found

in the

Dravidian

primaeval history

tribes,

or

whether

its

were only indigenous among one of these groups. On p. 609 he also asks for a statement of the grounds

institutions II.

for asserting that the matriarchal

actually prevailed, locale

and

information

I

sketched

as to the

and actual features of the Naga and Ooraon villages

mentioned by III.

He

the whole

me

on

p.

631 of

my

letter of July, 1897.

asks (p. 611) for further proofs showing that cultivated

produce of

brought into one common it

form of village

for further

was issued

for the

the village

stock or central

common meals and common

was whence

lands

store,

use of the

associated cultivators.

In answering the

first

question

it

is

clearly the distinction which, according to of

the meaning

Dravidians.

of

the

In the

first

terms,

necessary to state

my

separates

place, the

understanding Kolarians

and

languages of the two

races

are radically distinct, the Kolarians or Mundas speaking dialects akin to those of the Mon tribes of Burmah, while the Dravidian tongues are allied to the Madras Tamil,

and Tamil

who

is also,

Madras Cholas, Western Bengal. There

I believe, the speech of the

there represent the Kols of

330

THE PRE-ARYAN COMMUNAL VILLAGE a distinct difference in the characters of the two

also

is

races, the Kolarian

Mundas being

garrulous, exceedingly sensitive,

excitable, light-hearted,

and not nearly

so steadily

industrious as the Dravidians, who, as represented

Bhuyas, their most distinctive

tribe, in

silent, self-contained, indomitabl}'' obstinate,

Both

races are dolikho-kephalic,

b}'

the

Chutia Nagpore, are

and persevering.

and as a general rule the

Ho

Kolarians, at least in their dominant tribe, the

Kols of

Singhbhum, have not the semi-negroid features and thick lips of the Dravidian Blm}’as and Marya or Tree Gonds. But neither of these races are to be found now iu India in a pure unmixed state. All their component tribes have in the course of past ages and the process of the birth of local nationalities been very much fused together, and thus Dravidian customs are found among the Kolarians and Kolarian

among

my own

from

Gonds

the Dravidians; and as far as I can judge observations

of the forests of

I

would say that the Marya

the Central Provinces in Kakeir

and Bustar, where the Mahanuddi and Wardha are

the purest

original

Gonds

is

representatives

Dravidian

stock.

proved by the

fact

in

Central

first

of

the

of

the

clans

are

The mixed character that

their

ruling

immigrants from

Turanians, undoubtedly descended from

Asia Minor, who

rivers rise,

India

introduced into India the sacred

oil-

Sesamum Orientate) and the northern millets, Jowari ( Holcus Sorghum ) and Kessari ( Paspalum fnnnentaceum). They were the Gonds of the second immigration described in their national epic, the Song of Lingal, as being born in the caves at the sources of the Jumna. They were thence carried down the river by the flood which arose seed, the Tilli

(

while they were cooking their kessari millet, and the four

Gond clans were saved from death by Lingal and Dame the tortoise, who placed them in safety on the tortoise earth of the Ivushika or Naga race, and taught them to build houses and to found the tribal city of Nur-Bhumi. These immigrants united with the people fathers of the four ruling

1

1

Hewitt, “ Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times,”

vol.

i,

Essay

iii,

pp. 222, 223.

IN INDIA of the first immigration,

AND EUROPE.

who had come,

331 like the

Mundas,

from the mountains of the North-East, the hill lands of North Burmah and Southern China, and had become amalgamated with the still earlier Dravidian races born of the forest trees.

In consequence of

this

constant intermixture of early

among whom only

indigenous and immigrant races,

the

very faintest sense of national as opposed to local distinctions existed,

race

it

is

somewhat

among which

described

as

to

difficult

determine exactly the

the distinctly matriarchal customs I have

regulating the union of the sexes in India

For very similar customs to those of India are proved by the writings of Khwang-tzi, the greatest of the arose.

followers of Lao-tzi, the apostle of Taoism, to have existed in the

primaeval villages of China.

lie in pt.

iii,

sect, vii,

describes the age of the first village founders as that of the

who roosted at night on trees, lived on acorns and chestnuts, and did not know the use of clothes. These

Nest-builders,

people, he says,

knew

their mothers, but did not

know

their

and from this state they emerged to become a people who ploughed and ate and wove and made clothes 1 In Chutia Nagpore and the adjoining districts of Chuttisgurh we find every stage of village organization existing in fathers,

.

India before the institution by the immigrant Jats and Rajputs of Northern India of Bhaiachara

and Pattidari

villages,

with

rights of private property in the soil vested in the families of the village shareholders.

The evidence furnished by

these

tarty tenures fully proves that this Chinese description of early village life gives a very true account of the of Indian villages.

Nest-builders

is

to

The

first

be found

origin

stage approaching that of the

among

the Kolarian Korwas,

occupiers of the Pats or volcanic plateaux of Jushpore and

North-East Sirgujya.

These,

which were originally one

have been divided into a number of elevated islands,

plateau,

separated from one another rising in these

1

by the deep valleys of the rivers Each of these is

central mountain lands.

Legge, “ The Texts of Taoism”

:

SBE.,

vol. xl, p. 171.

THE PRE-ARYAN COMMUNAL TILLAGE

332

occupied by a section of the Korwas, over huts,

who

scatter themselves

surface in small groups, living in the rudest possible

its

made

But

of tree branches stuck into the ground.

each location the fertility

only occupied for two or three years

is

the soil cleared for

of

move

exhausted, and then the occupants

The nucleus round which

Byga

till

encampment

their

another

to

is

tract.

these scattered groups congregate

the maker and consecrator by the hunters. He, in the Lahsun Pat, which is that which I know best, used always to live in its centre before the Korwas were deported from the Plateau because of their persistent habit of robbing merchants and

is

their

or tribal priest,

of the arrows used

travellers passing along the roads encircling

The only permanent

their rocky fastnesses.

the

Korwas was

the

base of

village

among

that in the south-west of the Pat formation

in the Maini valley.

This was the

home

of the chief of all

the scattered clans, the potentate answering to the or head of a Kol

Manki

Parha or province.

The next stage succeeding that of the nomade Korwas Munda and Kol villages, each ruled by its own Munda or headman, while each Parha or union of ten

is

found in the

or twelve adjoining villages has, as

among

the Korwas,

its

tribal priest.

In succession to these Munda villages we find those of the Gonds of Chuttisgurh, where the headman is aided in the management of the village by four or more assistants, the subordinate members of the village Panchayut, who are, as I

have described

in pp. 635,

636 of

my

letter in the

Journal of July, 1897, the autocratic rulers of the village.

The

transition from these

Munda and Gond

villages to

the elaborately organized villages of the Ooraous, which I have fully described in

Times,”

Ooraon

vol.

i,

Essay

ii,

my pp.

“

Ruling Races of Prehistoric 91-95,

is

very great.

The

tribes are those ruling the central provinces of the

This forms the Lohardugga plateau of Chutia Nagpore. estate, and before our assumption of the Government was the ruling portion of the dominions of the Nagbunsi Rajas This name means the mother (chut) of Chutia Nagpore.

)

AND EUROPE.

IX INDIA

But

country of the Nagas.

this

name

333

Nagpore or the Gond kingdom

of

land of the Nagas was also that of the whole of

the

Haihaya or

west

the

to

the

kings of

ITaio-bunsi

extending from the valleys of

Behar

the

boundaries of

Central or

'l'apti

the

Cheroo kings of the Gangetic Valley on the

boundary

is

marked

still

by the

estates

Ghatwali landowners of Khurrukdeha the Ghatwals of

were

placed

to

India,

Nerbudda

in

Magadha

or

east,

vested

and

this

in

the

Ilazaribagh and

in

Birbhum, Bancoorah, and Midnapore, who guard the boundaries of the Ghats or

mountain passes leading down

In the remains

to the plain.

Haihaya kings of Chuttisgurh given to Mr. Chisholm, Settlement

of the Deshbohi of the old for

1629

Sbt.,

1563

a.d.,

by the descendants of the Sherishtadars or record holders of the Haihaya kings, Chutia Nagpore Officer of Belaspur,

named as a subordinate tract of the Ilaihaya kingdom, aud its wealth in gold and diamonds must have made it the most valuable part of their dominions, and have justified its name of the Mother Country of the Nagas. The name Haihaya or Haio-bunsi means, I believe, the sons ( bunsi is

of the water-snake

They, like the Chutia Nagpore Rajas, used the sign of the Naga snake as their totem mark, (/inio ).

Kushika or Kushite Egj'ptiau worn by all Hindu Vishnuites and Sivites. The land ruled bv the Haio-buusis was once the whole of the Gond lands of Central and North-Eastern India, afterwards called Mahii-Kosala and Kosala, the country of the Kashis or Kushikas. The present Raja of Huldi in Ghazipur is a Haio-bunsi, and Sir H. Elliot tells us they are also found inSohajpur. Also in the Vishnu Purana the Haihayas are aud doubtless wore

it

(like the

kings) on their foreheads, where similar marks are

spoken of as the early rulers of that the oldest

name

of

Ayodhya

or Kosala, and Cunningham, 1 tells us the country was Ganda or Gonda.

local tradition, as recorded

by

Sir A.

The Ooraon

tribes,

represent the

mixed Naga, Gond, and Munda races under

1

successors

of

Cunningham, “ Ancient Geography

the

Gonds,

of India,” p. 908.

probably

THE PRE-ARYAN COMMUNAL TILLAGE

334

their original aspect, before they were subjected to the later

the Cheroos or later Jats and the Kshatriva and the relation in which they stand to the Cheroos

influences of tribes,

shown by the

owner of the greater part of the Hazaribagh district, an appanage attached to the office of Senapati or Commander-in-Chief of the Chutia Nagpore Rajas, is a Kharwar by caste, and it is from the Kharwars that the Cheroos or Jats are descended The organization of the Ooraon kingdom of the Nagbunsis and of the Ilaihaya land of Chuttisgurh also shows a later addition to the strength of the ruling authority in the Kaurs and Rantia Kaurs. To these representatives of the Kauravyas of the Mahabharata were allotted the greater number of the frontier estates of Chutia Nagpore and Chuttisgurh, which are still held by their descendants. They were the military guardians of the frontiers, and are thus the equivalents of the Kharwars to whom the office of Commander-in-Chief was entrusted. The Ooraons are undoubtedly later immigrants from the North than the millet-growing Gonds. They call them-

is

fact that the

1

.

selves

the sons of the

whence the

it

first

an animal indigenous to Syria,

ass,

has been brought to India.

people

who brought

They say they w ere r

the plough to India, and that

they came from the West, the land of Ruhi-das, a

name

meaning the country (das) of the red men, and similar to that of Rotou, meaniug red,’ by which the Egyptians called the Syrians. They brought also barley, a Mesopotamian plant, with the plough, and one of their chief *

festivals is the

villagers

Kurruin

dance round

festival,

the

when

the

almond-tree,

cut

held in August,

Kurruin,

or

from the forest and planted for the occasion in the centre of

the

village Akra, or

They wear in youug barley plants, sown headmen in river sand, mixed

dancing-ground.

their hair yellow sprouts of the

by the daughters of

village

with turmeric, the sacred plant of the yellow

races.

' For the connection between Cheroos and Jats see Hewitt, Prehistoric Times,” vol. i, Essay v, p. 484.

“ Ruling Races

of

AND EUROPE.

IN INDIA

Tn their villages

we

33.5

Panchayut of the Gonds

find the

replaced by the rilling council, composed of the

headman, the

village

Pahan

or

village

Munda

or

and

the

priest,

who became the Patwari of and the North - West, and the Kulkarni of Except the Pahan, these officers do not, like Bombay. the Munda and Gond headman, hold a separate tract of land as an appanage of their office, but they have allotMahto, the village accountant,

Bengal

ments the

the three tracts of cultivated land set apart for

in

of Bhunhiars,

clans

whence the Thus we have in

or original settlers,

Munda, Pahan, and Mahto are chosen.

this organization a distinct instance of clan or guild tenure,

and an appropriation of cultured

soil

to the official village

clans in place of the land alloted to the

who

Gond headman,

gets one share out of the five into which the

village

Munda headman, whose

holding

lands are divided, or to the certainly in

many

is no larger than that of other and whose official emoluments consist

cases

well-to-do cultivators,

produce given him by the ryots.

of the donations of forest

Another most distinctive mark of the Ooraon villages Manjhus, or royal land, found in every village.

which represents the headman’s share given Patel,

is

to

the

is

the

This,

Gond

a grant appropriated by the Raja, whose capital

was originally

Lohardugga

in the central

plateau.

province of Khokra, on the

This Manjhus land

is tilled, under by the ryots, who hold the Munda, Pahan, and produce is stored in the

the superintendence of the Mahto, the

lands

not

appropriated

Mahto koonts, or

clans,

to

and

its

royal granaries.

These Ooraon villages are

all founded on a primaeval and the original Munda Raja, or Manki, has, by the intermarriage of the ruling family with the successive Ooraon, Kharwar or Naga, and Kaur invaders, become a Nag-bunsi Rajput. The Ooraons, according to their own evidence and that of the Mundas, entered the Lohardugga district peaceably, with the permission of the

Munda

basis,

Mundas, and the truth of

this statement is to be

the existence to the present

day

of the old

found in

Munda

Parhas,

THE PEE -ARYAN COMMUNAL VILLAGE

336 each with

distinctive flag,

its

which have been merged

in

the large Ooraon provinces of Khokra, Doisa, and Pethoria.

Throughout the whole of held,

not

land

tilled

in

by each ryot

this

but

individual,

area the

common

liable

is

at the village redistributions.

to

village lands

are

and the pass into other hands property,

In these redistributions, not

only the lands held by the subordinate cultivators, but also those of the headman, I

experience I

come

into the

can assert positively as to believe

settlement

as

that

in

common

Chuttisgurh,

officer

Lohardugga

in

the

Mahto lands are also redistributed. have now become very rare among

stock.

This

my own

from

that district, and Munda, Pahan, and Such distributions

the

best

cultivated

Lohardugga, and as I have never settled a series of Ooraon villages I cannot say whether the clan lands of the Munda, Pahan, and Mahto koonts show by the

villages

in

segregation variety

of their plots, in villages containing a great

of

soils,

that

they have

been

subjected

to

this

process, but I

have been told by Mr. Webster, who was

from 1864

1866 Manager under the Court of Wards the Chutia Nagpore Raja, that he has

of

to

the estates of

known land

to be redistributed in the jungle province of

those allotted to the Munda, Pahan, and Mahto koonts must have been treated in the same way. Thus the right of property vested in the clan was not the right to certain fields in perpetuity, but that

Tori, and,

therefore,

to a definite

quantity of

soil

of an

equal quality to that

measurement being, before we introduced linear measurements and maps, made, according to the custom of Chutia Nagpore and Chuttisgurh, by reckoning the unit of land as the area which would be sowed by a

originall}" held, the

maund

of seed.

A

great deal of information on this point

might be gathered from an examination of the maps of the Bhunhiari lands of the Mundas, Pahans, and Mailtos of the Lohardugga plateau, prepared by the Surveyors employed by Government under the Bhunhiari Act to inquire into these local land tenures. This inquiry began in 1869, and the Munda, Pahan, and Mahto lands in each village were

IX INDIA AND EUROPE.

337

mapped and recorded in the settlement papers, not in tlxe names of the individual tillers of each plot, but under the general heading of the lands of the koout subject to distribution

among

the clan

members according

to clan customs.

The only plots in these lands held as individual rights were

Pahan koont allotted as appanages of his rank to the Pahan chosen to the office among the members of the priestly clan. He thus was in the position of an English those in the

holding glebe laud appropriated to each successive

rector

holder of the post.

As

to the matriarchal

communal

these

are found

among

them

the Mundas, Gonds, Ooraons, and their

The

allied tribes.

customs originally associated with

village tenures, very distinct traces of

rule uuder

which the young men of a

neighbouring village of the Parha are invited to the seasonal dances by the girls of another

is

customary among the the Kolarian

Dravidian Juangs and Bhuyas as well as

Ho

and everyone who has seen these dances and the accompanying the celebration of these festivals, some of which last for three days and nights, can understand from the evidence of his own eyesight that these gatherings, where rice beer is consumed in enormous quantities, were originally instituted for the propagation of children. These children were in matriarchal days looked on as the legitimately born children of their mother’s village, but now those who owe their parentage to these dances are generally legitimized by Kols,

orgies

the

marriage of their parents.

subsequent

Among

the

Ho

Kols these meetings of the "iris of one village with

the

men

of another at the great annual

Magh

(January-

February) festival are prolonged for weeks, during which

from village to village and dance in the These orgiastic meetings are, as the “ Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times,”

the united bands go

Akras I

of those they visit.

have shown in

vol.

i,

Essay

iii,

pp. 204, 205, described in Rg., viii,

7-9, as the times

when Indra and the bard used

58

(60),

to visit the

Rudra the red one, the red-headed stick god of the Gond forest-races, and drink ‘Madhu’ or intoxicating spirit at these dances. The dances of the

house of

Bhim -sen

j.r.a.s.

1899.

THE PRE-ARYAN COMMUNAL VILLAGE

33 S

women

village

are also mentioned in Rg.,

i,

92, wliere the

beams of the morning sun are said to be like the “ maidens who come trooping out on the shady village green (the Akra under the shade of the Sarna), dressed in their brightest clothes and ranged in order for the dance, bringing with them Soma,” which was originally an intoxicating liquor. Also, in another hymn, Rg., x, 146, the first stirrings of the birth of the spring leaves are said to be caused by the sound of the dancing cymbals used as musical instruments in these

dances.

The

which

dances

seasonal

have now almost,

if

not

quite,

disappeared from the Northern India of the Yedic

bards,

still

flourish

are held in the

everywhere in Chutia Nagpore.

Akra

the Sarna or sacred village grove. of the primaeval forest

of

permanent

The

They

or dancing-ground, under the shade of

villages,

still

This grove

retained by the

who carved them

village dwellings are placed close to

is

a remnant

first

founders

out of the forest.

and round

it,

this

Gonds This separated the home

centre ran the ring of cultivated land called by the

the ring of the guardian snake.

of civilized life from the world of death, the land of the

uncleared forest.

The children begotten near the Akra

under the shade of the mother trees were thus the children of the grove, and hence,

when marriages succeeded

to the

by the Bagdis and Bauris of Western Bengal, the Bunjhias, Kharwars, Rautias, Lohars, Mahilis, Muudas, and Santals of Chutia Nagpore, and by the Kurmis throughout India, of marrying matriarchal unions, arose the custom observed

a tree before they were united to their husbands. was these matriarchal customs which made the tree called Marom by the Gonds, the mother of the Marya or Tree It is the memory of this tree mother which is Gonds.

all brides to

It

preserved in the

worshipped

name

throughout

of the mother goddess universally

Southern

India

the

as

goddess

Mari-amma, or the Mother Mari. She is the only Indian She is the deity whose image is always made of wood. 1

1 Abbe Dubois, “ Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies,” edited by Beauchamp, vol. ii, pt. 3, chap, iv, p. 589.

IN INDIA goddess Chief

King

called

“ where the

women

one husband.”

said

is

Nila, conquered

to

the southern land of

rule

by Sahudeva.

This

is

called the land

are not obliged to confine themselves to

This

1

330

Mahubhdrata Mahisli-Mati or the

the

in

who

Mother,

AND EUROPE.

the land of the Nairs, where the

is

unions between the sexes are governed by a custom directly

For the Nair woman,

derived from the matriarchal age.

though obliged by existing custom unless she chooses to keep

month

him

marry, does

to

of their union,

and

for the rest of her life

the

first

slie

takes temporary partners according

by

restricted

Among

not,

longer, see her husband after

her

fancy,

as

found the custom of educating

all

to

tribal rules.

these Nairs

is

children as children of their mother village, which

described on p. 631 of

Land Tenures

my

letter

have

I

on the Origin of Indian

in the Journal for July, 1897.

men

arose from the rule forbidding the

of

This custom any village to

become the fathers of the children of the women of their

own

It also survives

village.

Marya Gonds,

the

among

the Niigas in Assam,

the Juangs, and Ooraons, and under

boys and girls are placed, as soon as they can

all

their

mother,

matrons. another,

under the care of

the

village

elders

The boys occupy one building and the and each sex

it

leave

and girls

eat together in remiuiscence of the

when all the villagers ate a common meal. Among the Juangs, as Mr. Risley tells us in his “ Tribes and Castes

days

of Bengal,”

the

the

Dhumkuria

boys’

residence,

or Bachelors’ hall,

called is

by

the

Ooraons

also the place

where

strangers visiting the village are entertained.

The custom

of regarding each village as the family

of united sisters

and brothers

is

also preserved in the

home Gond

conception of the cultivated land as the boundary snake.

This belief, which I have described on letter, is

p.

634 of

my

jtrevious

preserved in the ritual of eating the sacred snake

in all boundary disputes in Chuttisgurh. The village boundary guardian, the Gorait, priest of the Gond boundary god Goraya, who is chosen by lot to mark the boundary, 1

Muhabharata Sabha (Digvijaya) Parva, sxxi.

THE PRE-ARYAN COMMUNAL VILLAGE

340

solemnly eats before be starts on bis journey a piece of the earth of the boundary, calling it * the sacred snake/ and

when thus inspired by the god, begins his task of walking round the true boundary. That this belief in the boundary snake is not confined to the Gond lands of Chuttisgurh, but extended

to the old

Gond kingdom

North-East India,

of

is

proved by the following story taken from a cutting from Allen

Indian Mail, No. 2,005, of the last week of December,

s

1896, given

me by

a friend.

It

a note of a recent meeting of the Society.

It tells

how

is

said to be taken

Bombay

from

Anthropological

a boundary dispute arose between

the villages Shuknara and Pipra, in Pergunnah Pachlakh the Sarun district, belonging to the Majhowli Raja of

in

Ghorakpur.

The two

villages

possession of the disputed

were about to fight for the

land,

when

the

serpent

sacred

appeared in a dream to the headmen of both villages on the night before the intended to fight,

He

battle.

them not boundary. The

and he would mark out the true

told

next morning the snake came out of a Pakur-tree (Ficus injecttoria) close to

the Shuknara Masjid, and drew

its

length

over the right boundary.

The

Pakur mother

tree close

to the village temple as the sacred tree of the Niiga

boundary

snake

selection in this story of the

is

also significant, as the

Pakur

is

the sacred fig-tree

still worshipped at Pureag, the meeting-place of the Jumna and Ganges. This is consecrated as the place where the union between the immigrant Turanian tribes coming down the Jumna and the earlier dwellers in India was consummated, and where the union of the Kushika Niigas who founded the sacred city of Kashi (Benares) was formed. The historical stage indicated by the reverence for the Pakur or Plaksha is also distinctly shown in the Soma ritual, where in the form of Soma worship succeeding that cele-

brated on the altar thatched with Kusha grass, the parent grass of the Kushikas, forming the ring

marriage of Kushika cultivating 1

jiote

tribes, 1

still

Hewitt, “Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times,” vol. 2 p. 280. ;

used in the

Plaksha branches i,

Essay

iii,

p.

175,

— AND EUROPE.

IX INDIA are ordered to be

used for animal

that

was in

placed as coverings on the altar above

Kusha

the thatching of

earlier

various

The

grass. sacrifices,

than that of the

altar thus covered

showing

Soma

altar,

that

the

was

ritual

where only milk

mixed

forms, barley, and running water were

Soma cup

in the

841

1 .

The national snake-god of the Gonds is the god Sek Nag, the rain-god whose image of a wooden snake is placed in his shrine under the national parent tree, the Saya Only men worship him, and his ( Terminalia tomentosa). worshippers must come to his shrine perfectly naked. That he is a sea-god is shown by the offerings made to him seven cocoanuts which only bear fruit within the influence of

the

sea-breeze,

sacrifices

to the

the

seven

pieces

in

betel-nut,

of

but no animal victims.

flowers,

his ritual proves that his worship dates

and back

days of the tree mother and the father tree ape,

Gond god

whom

Maroti, to neither of

animal sacrifices introduced sons of animal totems.

by

are offered the

Northern immigrant

the

This god becomes, in the ritual of

the Takkas of the Panjab, Shesh Nag,

season of the year, the Spring and ruled

milk,

This absence of animal

who

rules the

Summer

by Takht Nag and Basuk Nag.

Winter

seasons being

These three Naga

gods form the prongs of the holy trident worshipped by the Takkas, and this trident trident of Pharsi

Pen

is

the descendant of the

or the female (pen) trident

(

Gond

pharsi ),

composed now of the iron rod and central prong called Pharsipot inserted into the female bamboo, while the two outer prongs are called Manko Rayetal and Jango Rayetal, his

two tiger wives.

Malli or

Mon

race,

These are the tiger mothers of the

who with

the Licchavis, the sons of

Akkadian lion or dog Lig, constitute the confederacy of the Yaggians (Sanskrit, Yyaghra Pali, Yyaggho), who ruled

the

;

North-Eastern India, the kingdom of the Gonds, in the lifetime of the Buddha. The name Pharsi Pen or the female trident given to this sacred sign of the year-god of 1

Eggeling’s Sat. Brail.,

pp. 120, 202, 203.

iii,

5.

1.

36;

iii,

p.

3,

10-12.

SBE.,

vol. xxvi,

THE PRE-ARYAN COMMUNAL TILLAGE

342

the matriarchal age,

the year of three seasons points to

when mother and not father gods were worshipped. The god Sek or Shesh Nag was the god who Mahabharata

said

is

have been placed by the god Yasu, the Takka Yasuk or Basuk Nag, below Mount Mandara, the central mountain of the Kushikas, as the ocean snake on which it rested. It was from this ocean that he made

in the

to

the holy ass Ucchai-shra-vas, the horse of Indra with the

long

ears, to

in their

emerge by making the mountain revolve, as under the guidance of

belief the earth revolved

the Pole Star.

This ass

is

the sun-god of

Summer

the

season of the

year of three seasons, called in the Bandahish, xix, 1-1 1, 1

He

the three-legged ass with three feet and six eyes.

is

the counterpart and successor of the snake Azi Dahaka,

the Yritra of the Rigveda, with three heads and six eyes. 2 It

is

he who helps Tishtriya

(Sirius) to

draw from the ocean

the rain which is to water the earth at the close of the burning Summer, and which falls in North India during the rainy season at the

This

ass,

who

Summer

solstice

ruled

by

Sirius.

succeeded the sacred Yritra or enclosing

snake of the Rigveda as the god slain by Indra,

totem god of the Ooraons, who are above,

closely

connected with

tribe of the Cheroos ruled

The god Yasu

is

the

also, as I

(vri)

is

the

have shown

Kharwars, the parent

by Yasu.

also said

in

the Mahabharata

3

to be

the god-king of the Puruvas, or eastern people, whom we have seen to be the sons of the tiger dwelling in the land of Chech, the land of the birds (Ched or Chir), the country

He is said to have set of the Cheroos rulers of Magadha. up on the Sakti mountains, the Kymore range forming south of Benares the southern boundary of the Gangetic Yalley, the bamboo pole, the female bamboo of the trident of Pharsi Pen, as the sign of the divinity.

This he crowned

West’s “ Bandahish ” : SEE., vol. v, pp. 67-69. SBE., vol. Davmesteter's “ Zeudavesta Aban Yasht,” ix, 34. Rg., x, 99. 6. J Mahabharata Adi (Adlvamavatarna) Parva, lxiii, pp. 169-171. 1

2

xxiii, p.

61.

)

IN INDIA AND EUROPE.

343

whom,

with the lotus garland of Indra, the rain-god, to

Sek or Sak Nag, the god of the Sakti mountains, no animal victims were ever offered. Ilis name, derived from the root indu, shows him to be the god Ind or Aind, the as to

water-snake, the totem of the Haihayas, or Ilaios, and also of the Kherias, Cheroos, Kharwars, Mundas, Rautia eel or

Kaurs, Asuras, Gualas, Pans, and Santals the ruling primitive tribes of Chutia

;

in short, of all

Nagpore and Western

who developed the mineral wealth of Chutia Nagpore, and made it the treasure-house of the early Naga kings. This eel was, us Herodotus tells us (ii, 72), worshipped by the Egyptians, who also adored the Naga snake of the Hindu Kushika, or Ivushites. It was Bengal, the mining races

the parent fish of the Sanskrit Matsya, sons of the fish from

whom

the royal races of India were descended.

his sister Satya-vatl, wife of

lie

and

Shantanu, and thus ancestress

Kauravyas and Pandavas, the conquering races of

of the

the Mahabharata, were born, as that ancient historical

from Yasu and his hawk

poem

She was the Hindu equivalent of the Greek goddess Circe or Kirke, from /ap/co?,

tells us,

*

the hawk,’ and the

root

kir

wife. 1

reappears in India as

the

In Egypt she was the hawk-headed goddess Hat-hor, whose son Horus always is depicted with a hawk’s head. Mr. Boscaweu tells us that the image of the sun-mother hawk is engraved as the sign of the guardian god on the walls of the oldest mines in Egypt. 2 The sons of the hawk, the Cheroos, were the successors of the trident-worshipping Takkas, and they are Chir or bird-mother of the Cheroos.

named

as

the second

country-born races races,

the Cholas

descended

of the

dasi/a ) (

or

Kolas,

from Agastya, the

mudra, the fox ( lopd-sha

Dri-dasyas, the three

in the

Madras

the

list

Cheroos,

star

(dri)

of the three

and Pandyas, and Lopa-

Canopus,

mother, the moon-goddess. 3

Sek or Shesh Nag, who was the god of the Spring season in the Takka triad, is

The

1

2 5

original fish or water-snake,

Mahabharata Adi (Adivansavatarna) Parva, lxiii, pp. 174, 175. Hewitt, “ Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times,” Prelace, pp. xxxvii, Mahabharata Tana (Tirtha-yatra) Parva, xcvi, xcvii, pp. 307 - 314 .

xxxviii.

)

THE P RE -ARYAN COMMUNAL VILLAGE

344

The mountain

the Vedic Suk-ra, another form of Indra.

Mandara, which forest-clad

hill

surrounded as the ocean-snake,

lie

the lord

called Paris-nath,

Hath (

is

of

the the

Burrakur in Chutia Nagpore. It is still one of the most sacred shrines of all the Jains of India, whose earliest shrines are in Khatiawar traders

in the are

(Panis

West

traders

the

The great majority

of India.

and

on

Panris)

or

and

bankers,

they,

of the Jains

according

to

the

genealogy of their Tirtha-karas, their twenty-four parent

from Rishabha, the bull ( rishabha ) of and the mountain ( maru ) goddess Maru-devi. The image of their mountain mother, encircled by the oceangods, are descended Ilosala

snake, reappears in the conception of the earth in the Edda,

where its centre is Mount Asgard, surrounded by the Midgard serpent, and crowned with the mother-tree, the sacred ash, Ygg-drasil.

These historical stories of Vasu, the sacred mountain, and Shesh Nag, filtered down into the theology of the Mahabharata and the Yedas, through Gond, Takka, and Cheroo

tribal

mythology

traditions,

to point to the

are r

j

all

by the three gods of the Takka mythology Vasu or Vasuk Nag

Summer

himself as ruler of

shown by

the

Takka

ear of three seasons indicated

to

trident. is

an

said

actual

But to

as in

this

have added

year formerly

Nag, the Spring and Summer, and Takt or Taksh Nag, the Winter season, it is clear that the year of Vasu was preceded by one reckoned bv two seasons. These are the two seasons of the year of the Munda sun-bird, the sacred jungle-fowl, which begins its annual circuit round the heavens with the Winter solstice, when the Sohrai Saturnalia of the Santals and the Pongol consisting of Shesh

or year festival of Madras is held. It makes its journey from the south to the north during the six months called in Hindu ritual the Devayana. At the Summer solstice it

turns back again from the north to the south, during the six

months season

of

course in the south,

This

is

the Pitri-yana, and ends

its

with the sun at the Winter

yearly solstice.

the sun-course represented in the two Sii-astikas,

)

345

IN INDIA AND EUROPE.

and

female

called

the

male,

Jain traders of Western

India;

going widershins, or from right

as

representing

,

from north to south the

is

holy circuit,

Padakkhino, of latter in the

of

the

to

left,

of the sun

and the male

southern or deasil course

its

from

or

to

left

Sanskrit

the

the

all

the female Su-astika, or

marking the northerly course

Sii-v-astika, pjJ,

Su-astika, LCj

signs

sacred

This

right.

last

Pradakshina, the

Brahmans and

Buddhists,

Pali

and

the

Buddhist books are represented as thus going

round the Buddha with their right sides towards him.

male SO-astika

is

also depicted on the feet of the

This

Buddha.

The earlier mother sun-bird, "who began her course at the Winter solstice, is the Shyena or frost ( shyd ) bird of Rg., iv, 27, who was wounded by the arrow of Krishanu, the rainbow-god, the drawer

(

karsh

god who brings the Winter her feathers the as

Winter

we

the heavenly bow, the

of

rains.

With her

blood one of

fell to earth,

and grew in the Spring following

solstice into

the Palasha-tree

are told in the

Brahmanas.

(

Bitten frondosa),

This Palasha-tree, called

1

Shyena-hrita, or the tree sacred to the Shyena bird, 2

is

the

most ancient of the sacred trees of which the sap supplied the holy

Mundas.

Soma

juice,

and

it

is

also the sacred tree of the

The arrow with which

it

was

slain

represents,

according to the Brahmanas, 3 the year of the three seasons

Upasads succeeding that of two, its feather being Summer, and its barb the Winter, and the whole story of the arrow and the bird tells of the coming of a northern race, who used the bow instead of the

the Spring, its shaft the

of the Dravidian

boomerang.

But the year of the sun-bird of the Eastern Mundas, Santals, and Madras Bravidians, which became the orthodox Brahminical year, the year of the Vedic god Tvashtar, or the most complete two, was not the earliest year of the founders of the Indian

1

communal

3

from

Eggeling’s Sat. Brah., i, 7. 1. 1. SBE. vol. xii, p. 183. Eggeling’s Sat. Brah., iv, 5. 20. 2-4. SBE., vol. xxvi, pp. 421, 422. Ait. Brah., 1. 25 Eggeling’s Sat. Brah. SBE., vol. xxvi, p. 108, note 2. ,

2

village carved

;

THE PRE -ARYAN COMMUNAL TILLAGE

346

the primaeval forest.

This

India, beginning with the

last

was the year of Western of Khartik (October-

new moon

November), the month of the Kiittakas or Pleiades. This is the year observed by all traders in Western India, who close their books on the 26th of October, to prepare for the Pewali or Dlbali festival, held at the beginning of November. This November feast of lamps is still celebrated in Japan, and was also held in Egypt in connection with the yearly burying of Osiris, the star Orion, the god of the old year at the same season in Egypt. 1

This

ancestors of the

races of

forest

India,

the

first

is

who

year of the people of the Southern Hemisphere,

the as

founders

of villages, were led by the exigencies of agriculture, which

rendered a knowledge of the times and seasons a necessary part

farmer’s

a

of

education, to

They

measuring annual time.

in the course of the sun, their

crops

rain,

but

like

the

unless

the

in

sun.

Their

which marked the Spring. noted,

stars,

1st

for

a

method of

the evil spirit which burnt up

was tempered

heat

its

seek

did not seek this knowledge

which

by constant and set

culminated,

rose,

was to find a constellation of November, the beginning of their object

This they found in the Pleiades, which, as they set

immediately

after

November, and continued the beginning of April, in the night sky.

to

the

sun

set later

on

Thus

1st

when they were no longer

They reappeared again

in

before the sun, and this they continued to do

of October.

the

than the sun up

their year

of six months each, from

May, till

of to

visible

to set

the end

was divided into two seasons to May, and May to

November

November, the first year of the parent year gods called the two (Iva), who became, when this year was succeeded by the Munda sun-year, the Tvashtar or superlative two This Pleiades year begins everywhere lligveda. throughout the Southern Hemisphere with a three days’ of the

feast to the dead. Brugsch, “ Religion und Mythologie der alter Aegypter,” pp. 303, 346, Hewitt, “Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times,” vol. i, Essay ii, pp. 124- 1 *6. 1

617.

II.

A

347

AND EUROPE.

IN INDIA

story was invented to explain the motions of the stars

most picturesque form

headed by the Pleiades, and

its

that surviving in Australia.

According

to this,

is

Queen

the

of the Pleiades found a tree-grub in a forest-tree and took

became the giant star Canopus and ran away is to say, dragged her and her attendant This became among the Dravidians stars round the heavens. the story which represented the giant ape, the Gond tree ape god Maroti, as sitting on the top of the central tree of the world’s village grove and dragging the stars round This survives in Egyptian astronomy, in which the Pole. the stars of the Great Bear are called the Thigh of Set, and Set, whose name according to Brugsch means the vanquished ( st ) god, is the god originally called Hapi in Egyptian form of the Tamil Kapi the ape. In the llamilyana this story appears as that of the marriage of Su-griva, the ape king, with Tara the Pole Star, and it is Su-griva who, with Ilanuman, the Gond tree ape god, Maroti helps Rama, the ploughing ox-god, to visit Sita, the furrow, in the island of Lauka (Ceylon) by means of the bridge formed of 360,000 apes, that is to say, by the 360 days of the year. Tara, again, is the Buddhist mother goddess worshipped at Budh-Gaya and in Thibet, the goddess Tara Pennu or the it

It

out.

with

her,

female

that

(pen) Tilra of the

Khonds and other ruling

races

of the earliest northern immigrations to Orissa and Chutia

Nagpore.

This ape star god, the star Canopus of Southern

astronomy, called Agastiya in the Rigveda and Mahabharata, the father god of all Southern Iudia, who was, as we have seen, by Lopamudra his wife, mentioned with him in is

Rg.,

i,

179, father of the Dri-dasyas, the Cholas, Cheroos,

and Pandyas. The fingers of this ape god, with which he dragged the Pleiades round the Pole, appear in the reckoning of the early Pleiades year as the five days of the weeks into of

which

five

it

was divided.

days each,

the

'five

There were seventy-two weeks fingers of his mighty hand,

Thus each of its two seasons of six months contained thirty-six weeks, the thirty-six steps of reckoned in this year.

Vishnu, the year-god of Hindu mythology.

This

is

the

)

THE PRE-ARYAN COMMUNAL TILLAGE

348

week

Shans of North Burraah, who

the

of

hold

their

was also the week of the people of the Gangetic Doab, called in the Mahabharata the Panchalas or men of five ( panch claws (ala), also called, markets at intervals of

five days.

It

both in this poem and the Rigveda, the Srinjayas, or of the sickle their

sun-year,

first

men

This was the week they reckoned in

srini ). (

by months, the

reckoned

eighteen

months’ year represented in the ritual of the Ashvamedha recorded

sacrifice

set

up

the

in

Mahabharata, by the

eighteen

then erected in place of the eleven hitherto

sacrificial stakes

to represent the year of

that of eleven lunar months

gestation of the sun-horse,

was also the week of the Punchak fartum, represented in the seventy-two threads of the Zend girdle, which, like the three knots of the Brahmin’s girdle, tied to represent the three Zends,

1

.

It

the

called

seasons of the year, recalled the five

days’ week.

was

It

memory

of the primaeval

also the Fimt, the

name

the

of

week of the Scandinavians. have now shown in this sketch of the development and

five days’

I

extension

matriarchal

the

of

accompaniment

of

village

communal tenure

a

customs,

with

the

land,

that

this

of

primaeval system originating in the south, was gradually spread by

the northern

advance of

The evidence

races all over India.

customs were in part

southern forest

the also

shows that these

taken over by the

northern

first

immigrants, the Mundas and Turanian Gonds, and that

among

these

into Parhas

founders of

early

or Provinces, the

the North-West, the

primitive

divided

states,

Pergunnahs of Bengal and

first villages

each contained

its

central

Sarna or sacred village grove, and its Akra or dancingground, where the matriarchal unions of the sexes were

consummated

at

the seasonal dances.

Also that the

northern immigrants from the south brought their year, reckoned

beginning with

its

with

by the movements of the

first

them

Pleiades,

three days’ feast to the dead, and this

1 For the full proof of this see ray “History of the Sun-God as the Great Physician,” Westminster Review, April, 1896, pp. 363, 364; and ray “History of the Week,” Westminster Review, July, 1897, p. 966.

;

Mundas

year was by the

replaced by their solsticial year

the suu-bird, also divided like the

of

feast

to

November

dead beginning the

the

year into

Pleiades

For the original three

seventy-two wrneks of five days each. days’

349

AND EUROPE.

IX INDIA

year,

by the corn-growing Syrian immigrants from the north, who instituted the year measured there was substituted

equinoxes

by

well

as

as

solstices,

the

Hindu

present

Shraddba held in Bhadon, at the autumnal equinox. This was the time when the original Syrian and Macedonian solar year, the year still used

But the Indian evidence

as

by the Jews, began. to

the matriarchal, social,

and territorial customs of the earliest founders of villages is

not the only evidence adducible on the subject, for, as

now proceed to show, we find in Europe and SouthWestern Asia evidence proving the existence there of the Indian matriarchal system, and thus corroborating that Also this evidence gives I have shown to exist in India. I shall

us

as

the

to

certain

details,

ancient custom

of

especially

common

those

connected with

meals, more exact

than that can be gathered from India, w'here almost everywhere

destroyed

it

proof

has been

by the caste system, which

again originated from the earlier division of the country

where the inhabitants fed together, and from trade guilds introduced by the Kushika, under which, as in Europe, the guildsmen dined together 1

into villages,

the

system of

.

These early village founders, in making their way through the country to seek

new

sites

for the settlements of

the

growing population, used the natural high roads supplied by the rivers and the sea. It was on the river banks and the western sea-coasts of India, covered with forests

down

to

the water’s edge, that they learned the arts of boat-building

and navigation.

who

first

the

coast

As

the possessors of these arts,

it

was they

introduced maritime trade and civilization into

lands of the Indian Ocean, for, except on the Malabar coast of India and those of the islands of the Archipelago, no ship-building timber is found elsewhere 1 Hewitt, “ Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times,” vol. Essays ii and iii, pp. 87, 310, 311.

i,

Preface, pp.

Iviii, lix

THE PRE-ARYAN COMMUNAL VILLAGE

350

near the sea over

it3

whole extent. 1

of these coasting voyages to seek

new

It

than those situated far from the rivers woods, that they gradually

made

was in the course

lands more accessible

their

among way to

the tangled the Persian

Gulf in the boats which were henceforth used throughout Assyria and Egypt to represent the dwelling-places of these national gods, the arks in which they were carried in

all

There they found good arable land, hut the sandy soil was not well suited to their rice, and hence, as they in India had grown rice from the wild grass, religious processions.

still

hung up

India,

as

in

the

August

in the houses of all ryots in Central

parent rice

plant,

so

their descendants

in

Mesopotamia found the wild grasses, whence, as all botanists now agree, our European barley and wheat were origiually produced. These people came to Asia Minor at the close of the Palaeolithic Age, the age of the Glacial epochs, when cultivation in Europe was all but impossible, and united with the hunting races, the cave-dwellers, who were the It was sole inhabitants of the country during the Ice Age. there that they substituted Orion, the hunting star, for

Canopus as the leader of the Pleiades and their attendant round the Pole, for Canopus in Argo ceased to be visible north of the Isthmus of Suez, and it was thence that they spread themselves all over Europe as the dwellers In these, as Lubbock and Boyd in the Neolithic villages. Dawkins have shown, all the crops grown and all the beasts domesticated owed their origin to Asia Minor and SouthWestern Asia. These people took with them their reverence for the village grove, and the village tree, preserved in the temple groves and the temple Temenos forming the Akropolis or centre of all towns and villages. The seasonal stars

dances were reproduced in

the

dances to Istar, Mylitta,

Cybele, Aphrodite, and Venus, and the matriarchal national

customs produced the Amazonian rule of women along the The coasts of the Mediterranean and in Ancient Greece. consecrated maidens of Istar of

1

a later age represent the

Hewitt, “ Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times,” vol.

i,

Essay

iii,

pp. 280

ff.

AND EUROPE.

IX INDIA

women

village

of the matriarchal epoch,

351

and the Babylonian

customs of the worship of Mylitta, which obliged all women to appear at her temple before their marriage and there unite themselves with the

male worshipper who chose

first

them, show clearly their derivation from matriarchal village

The custom

unions.

of

common

meals was preserved by

the Cretans, Spartans, the Oenotrians and Sikels of South Italy

and

Arcadians

the

Sicily,

of

and the

Phygalia,

was observed at Megara in the days of Theognis, and was said to have been introduced into Corinth by Periander, and Aristotle in his Politics tells us that these meals were taken from the common granaries The primaeval custom of common meals was (€K kolvov)}

Argives.

It

universally preserved in Italy

and Greece by the common

ceremonies performed in each city at

its

public festivals.

These were always, as Mons. Fustel de Coulanges has shown his graphic work “ La Cite Antique,” accompanied by

in

common meals partaken

by

all

the inhabitants

We

2 .

reminiscence of these

common

meals in the feast held by Samuel as

national

have also in the sacrificial

of

Bible

a

prophet at Rarnah, where the sacrificed victims were eaten,

and the thigh, the part of the victim assigned to the

was this

feast

guild

a

Saul as the national priest and king

set before

was,

feast

the

as

of

the

number priestly

of

guild

guests

was

priest, 3

But

.

restricted,

which succeeded the

village festivals.

The Indian with

division of

the

country into Parhas, each

central village, the residence of

its

the Manki, was

reproduced in the divisions of Palestine recorded in Joshua,

where each province with central city.

its

villages is

named

an exactly similar manner, only that in these

in

after its

Also the Nornes of Egypt were constituted

Nomes

the

totem system of descent was preserved more clearly than India, for the villages

in

1

5

capital city of

each .Nome

Dorier,” Bk. iii, p. 199; Bk. iv, chap, iii, p. 269. iii, chap, xxii, p. 672. Fustel de Coulanges, “ La Cite Antique,” livre iii, chap. xvi. 1 Samuel, ix ; Levit., Yii, 32.

Miiller,

“ History 2

“Die

and

of Greece,” toI.

Grote,

THE PRE -ARYAN COMMUNAL VILLAGE

352

were consecrated

to a special

with

central grove

its

temple

to the

now

is

In Abyssinia,

animal totem.

whence the Kusbite kings came

to

still exists,

Egypt, the Indian village

and

grove dedicated

this

the site of the village church. 1

Also

the village groves were a most prominent feature in the national the

religion

of

Gemeinde Haus

of Flanders, of the

is

The Germany and

Palestine.

of

surviving relic of

a

which

matriarchists,

communal tenure

of

exists

village

Town

Hall,

the

Gemeente Haus

the

Bachelor’s

Hall

everywhere where the

The annual

land prevails.

or less

frequent redistribution of land at the close of a series of

marked the communal tenure

years which

villages also survived in the villages of

of the Indian

South-Western Asia

and Europe. The Rev. a

,

] A^L'*

Uc),

+ 30 + 5 + 1 + 40 + 6

HamduTlah Mustawfl

The name

is

in

generally ex-

the tw o old histories r

now under

meaning “the Eagle’s Nest” (a)LaT

but I think there can be no

doubt that

413

YET MORE LIGHT OX ‘UMAR-I-KHAYYAM. Ibnu’l

Athlr

de

l*

Iran

extrait

,

saying

right in

is

et des

Histoire des Seldjoukides

No. 5 de Vannee 1848 da Journal

meaning in the Eagle’s Teaching ” or

Asiatique, p. 116, n. 2) that

Daylainl

dialect

“ Showing ”

is

2),

while

real

its

“ the

aluh

for

(i

Noldeke’s Geschichte n.

Defremery’s

(cf.

Ismaeliens on Assassins

amut

d.

is

—

eagle

Artakhshir-i-Papakan,

p.

(cf.

59,

merely the dialectical form of

amukht, this dropping of the quiescent

£

after a long

vowel being of constant occurrence in the dialects.] a.h. 485.

Amir Arslan Tash

sent to attack Alamfit

is

by

Malikshah, the Nidhamu’l-Mulk having resolved to

The

extirpate the Assassins.

and the Nidhamu’l-Mulk of a.h.

Ramadan

487 Death

in this

year

(

=

Oct. 14, a.d. 1092).

=

(10th of Dhu’l-Hijja

Mustansir,

of

siege is unsuccessful,

assassinated on the 10th

is

Dec. 21, a.d.

eighth

the

Fatimid

1094). Caliph,

and disputed succession after a reign of 60 years between his sons Musta‘11 (who actually succeeded ;

him) and Nizilr (whose cause was espoused by Persian Isma'IlIs, but

who was bricked up

all

alive

the

by

his brother).

a.h. 493.

Propaganda in favour

of Nizar inaugurated at

Isfahan, and alarm of Barkivaruq the Seljuq. a.h. 495. a.h.

I

Assassination of Musta‘11.

518 (Wed., the 6th of Rabi‘ 11 Death of Hasan-i-Sabbah.

now propose

to

= May 23,

a.d. 1124).

examine the dates which Mr. Beveridge

attempts to establish, and to show that some at least of

them are untenable,

if

that be admitted which appears an

obvious canon of historical criticism, viz. that caeteris paribus the older account of any transaction

is

entitled to

credence than the more modern, especially

when

greater

can be back to a writer of repute and intelligence who was contemporary, or almost contemporary, with the it

definitely traced

events he describes, or

unusual authority.

who had

at his disposal sources of

Thus, NidhamI-i-‘ArudI of Samarqand,

414

YET MORE LIGHT ON ‘UMAR-I-EHAYYAM.

the author of the Chahar Maqala, was personally acquainted

with ‘Umar-i-Khayyam, and therefore correct information about

him than

is

more

late

likely to give

writers

such

as

by Mr. Beveridge, and this writer (of whose Chahar Maqala I have made a complete translation, which will, I hope, appear in the next two numbers of the Journal) relates two anecdotes concerning ‘Umar in the those cited

chapter consecrated to Astrologers.

The

of these (Tihran lith. of a.h. 1305, pp. 130-131) ‘Umar’s prognostication, made in a.h. 506 (a.d. 1112-1113) at Balkh, in the Street of the Slave-sellers, in first

relates to

Amir Abu

the house of

Sa‘d, in the presence of

Khwaja

MudhafFar-i-Isfizari and the author, that the trees should shed their blossoms (not roses, as the “ Omarites ” do falsely

means not only the rose, but and the sequel shows that the blossoms whereby the prognostication was fulfilled were those of pear-trees and suppose

any

;

for gul in Persian

flower,

peach-trees

— amrud

u zarddlu )

on his grave.

This story

shows clearly that ‘Umar was alive at least a year after the date (a.h. 505) in which Mr. Beveridge would like to place his death, and probably several years later, for the

writer continues:

— “When

I arrived at Nishaplir in

the

(= a.d. 1135-1136), it being then some years great man [i.e. ‘Umar] had veiled his countenance

year a.h. 530 since that

in the dust,

....

I

went

to visit his grave.”

The second anecdote (Tihran lith., pp. 131-133) relates to an astrological prediction made by ‘Umar “in the winter of the year a.h. 508” (a.d. 1114-1115), three years after the date assigned to his decease by Mr. Beveridge. latter,

therefore,

cannot, in

my

The

opinion, be defended, and

there seems to be no reason for abandoning the date (a.h.

517

:

see Rieu’s Persian Catalogue, p. 546) hitherto generally

accepted.

As

regards Hasan-i-Sabbah, the date a.h. 518

as that of his death, not only also

is

given

by the Jdmi'n’t- Tawarikh, but

by Ibnu'l-Athir and the author of the Tdrikh-i-Ouztda. regards the Nidhamu’l-Mulk, the date of so important

As

an event as his assassination was not likely to be forgotten,

— YET MORE LIGHT ON ‘UMAR-I-KUAYYAM. and we

415

find, in point of fact, all reputable authorities at

in placing states, in

it

in

Ramadan, a

one

Ibnu’l-Athlr definitely

h. 485.

recounting his death, that he was born in a.h. 408;

while his age

by the Jdmi'u't-Tawdrlkh

stated

is

to

have

been at the time of his death not, as Mr. Beveridge asserts “ about seventy-five,” but (on what authority I know not), “ over eighty,”

which agrees very well with Ibnu’l-Athir.

we may

I think, therefore, that

(1)

(2)

take

for

it

granted

That the NidhamuT-Mulk was born in a.h. 408 (=a.d. 1017), or thereabouts, at the very latest. That it is exceedingly improbable that ‘Umar-iKhayyam and Ilasan-i-Sabbah, both of whom died natural deaths in the years a.h. 517-518 (== a.d. 1123-1124), were more than a hundred years old at the time of their decease.

(3)

That even

if

we assume both ‘Umar and Hasan

to

have been# centenarians, and consequently place their births about a.d. 1023, they would still have been six years younger than the NidharauT-Mulk, and the three could hardly have been together, as (4)

is

That the story absolutely

implied in the is

‘

boys

’

or

‘

children

’

Jdmi‘u’t- Tauarikh.

exceedingly improbable, though not

impossible,

and,

did

it

rest

merely on

books like the spurious Wasaya, the Dabistdn,

etc.,

would scarcely merit serious consideration but that the testimony of the Jdm'u’t - Tauarikh, both on account of its early date, and the repute of its author ;

as a historian,

cannot be dismissed so lightly.

mind that no great lapse growth even of legends of a far more surprising character. The spurious Autobiography of Nasir-i-Khusraw, regarded by Ethe as “ a fabrication of the ninth or tenth century of the hijra, unworthy of serious It must, however, be borne in

of time is

attention,”

needed

is

for the

hardly richer

in

marvels than the notice

given by Qazwlni. in his Atharu' l-Bilad pp.

328-9,

s.v.

jjbUj), written

in

the

(ed.

Wiistenfeld,

first

half of the

— YET MORE LIGHT ON ‘uMAR-I-KHAYYaM.

416

seventh century of the

make

to

not more

hijra,

than 200 years

It would, I believe, be worth while

after the poet’s death.

a careful examination and analysis of the spurious

Autobiography, with a view

to

determining which portions

were, or might be, genuinely historical,

w hich were r

and which could be traced

fictitious,

am

I

identities.

to

a

absolutely

confusion

of

almost convinced, for example, that that

portion of the narrative which deals with the adventures of Nasir

amongst the Malahida

(‘

Heretics,’ a term especially

used to denote the Assassins, who, of course, did not exist at this epoch, since their power in the Caspian provinces began with the seizure of Alamfit by Hasan-i-Sabbah in a. h. 483, and he himself, their founder, was, as we have already seen at p. 412 supra, converted to the Isma'IlI doctrines by Nasir- i-Khusraw’s successor, Amir Darrab) arose from a confusion of him with the celebrated philosopher NasIr-i-TOsi (d. a.h. 655), who actually did compose the first edition of his well-known Akhlaq-i-Nasiri for the Isma'Ili governor of Quhistan, Nasiru’d-Din ‘Abdu’r-Rahim

Abl Mansfir. (See Rieu’s Persian Catalogue, pp. 441-2.) is also worth noticing that the anecdote given in the spurious Autobiography, and translated at pp. 479-480 of

b.

It

my

Year amongst one

of

pieces

Nishapur,

is

the Persians,

Nasir’s

of

concerning the rending

disciples

also given in the short notice of

prefixed to the selections from his

MS.

No. 132 (Selections

a.h. 714),

As

I

by the

and

is

from

poems

orthodox

in at

Nasir’s life

in the India Office

six old Persiau poets, dated

therefore of considerable antiquity.

have had occasion

I should like to declare

my

to

mention Nasir- i-Khusraw,

complete agreement with the

view held by Dr. Ethe and the late M. Schefer as to the The case for the dual identity of the poet and the traveller. theory p.

is

most clearly stated by Professor Rieu

380), but nearly

all

poet with the traveller can be met

(1)

(

Pers

.

Cat.,

his objections to the identity of the ;

for

have read carefully through the whole Diican of the poet (Tabriz lith. of a.h. 1280) and find no single

I

—

—

—

;

YET MORE LIGHT ON ‘lTMAR-1-KH AYYAM.

417

many to Khurasan, amongst which the following clearly shows that it was the poet’s birthplace (p. 241) allusion to Isfahan, but a great

:

‘

*->r* i

csf * )

\r* ^

“ Although

my

origin

is

ship, authority,

Love for

me (2)

from Khurasan,

after spiritual leader-

and supremacy

man

The chronological

presented by the dates

difficulty

found in some copies of the Rawshana'i overcome, as of these

a.h. 343,

;

dates as clerical

errors

maintain

for

;

hitherto

ventured to

Nasir

Khusraw and the R. H.

- i -

authors,

As

Nama

Leyden MS.) maintained by Ethe, only by a

MS.

420, Gotha

(3)

J

Family and House of the Prophet have made of Yumgan and Mdzandardn.”

the

a

i«

1

that

is

(a.h. to

be

rejection

no one has

the

Diwan

of

are by different

and

pointed out by Ethe, the author of the Diudn

explicitly states

(Tabriz

lith.,

p.

110) that he was

born in a.h. 394, and that, after spending the part

began

to

and

first

he “ seek after wisdom ” at the age of 42

of his

life

in worldliness

(elsewhere, speaking

in

dissipation,

round numbers, he speaks

of his age at this turning-point in his life as 40, e.g.,

(4)

Tabriz

lith., p.

217),

i.e.

about a.h. 436.

In the Safar-nama (ed. Scbefer, p. r), in relating the dream which caused him to set out on his travels to search for Truth, he says that he had “awakened from a sleep of forty years ” and, a few lines lower down, he gives the date of bis departure on his ;

journey as Thursday, 6th of Jumada II, a.h. 437 all

of

which very

closely

and strikingly corresponds

with the above deductions concerning the author of the Diudn. j.k.a.s. 1899.

27

— YET MORE LIGHT OX

418

follows

:

jxSAJ

ilytjSLxsl

j

,

"

-xZ-

UJIAR-I-KHAYYAM.

In the Jdmi‘u't - Tawarikh (British Museum MS., Add. 7,628), besides the reference to Nasir-i-Khusraw a (f. 290 as the head of the Israa'ili propaganda iu ) Khurasan, lie is again mentioned on f. 286 b as

(5)

L

£

A

AA

2

Ij

j

k^- 4

^

Aj

^ 4-

A— *1

A**?

*•

?

1

AuC

i

^

-

'

^

l)

^

t

C——

?

\

^UA-0 j\s£^

c)iLj

IJLJjClS

L*

•

A3 LiJ Irs^M

CJ LlLJy£.£

,

“ the Prophets of the human race have said.”

2

Qur’in, xxviii, 88. 3 This is the lowest or innermost of the nine celestial spheres which environ Concerning the Muslim Cosmogony, see Dieterici’s Makrokotmoe, the earth. p. 178 et seqq. 4 This outermost, or ninth, celestial sphere is the Primiim mobile of the Ptolemaic system, the Falaku' l - Atlas or Falaku'l - flak of the Muslim

A

philosophers.

chahXr maqXla.

Now when God

— EXCURSUS

Almighty, by

Ilis

G25

II.

Wisdom,

effective

produce in this world minerals, plants, animals, and men, He created the stars, and in particular the sun and moon, whereon he made the growth and decay of And the special property of the sun is these to depend. desired to

this,

that by

its

reflection

it

warms

all

things

when

it

with heat, and draws them up

by

its

juxtaposition,

it

— that

warmed

is,

stands

medium

over agaiust them, and supplies them through a

attracts them.

the water

So,

and by means

;

warmth, attracted it until, in a long while, it laid bare one quarter or more of the earth’s surface, by reason of the much vapour which ascended and rose up therefrom. of the

Now

;

the nature of the water

stone, as

it

is

well

known

to

that

this,

is

can become

it

do in certain places, as

may

So mountains were produced from and hereby the the water and the shining of the sun earth became somewhat raised from what it was, while be actually witnessed

1

.

;

sank and dried up, according

the water

which

Quarter

Uncovered is

also called

‘

to

This portion, therefore,

witnessed.

is

for the

,’

*

fashion

called

above stated

reason

the Inhabited Quarter

that is

the

‘

and

;

it

because animals dwell

therein.

Excursus

When

II.

had acted on the back from the midst of the earth and water, from that imaginary point [mentioned above], by the aid of the fire and wind, whole of

the influences of

2

these

these stars

elements, they were reflected

and the phenomena of the inorganic world were produced, such as mountains and mines, clouds, lightning, thunder, thunderbolts, halos, 1

shooting

comets,

earthquakes,

conflagrations,

The author

stars,

alludes either to petrifaction

3

meteors,

and

all

.

.

.

.

manner

and the formation of

,

of

stalactites, or

to ice. *

A., B.,

,Uajl

jj, “on

[all]

parts.”

L. has Ia*yj ,, which seems to

me

to be nonsense. 3

A., B., L. add

meaning.

>

a

word of which

I

have been unable to ascertain the

,

chahXr

626

has been

fountains, as

of the

EXCURSUS

maqjCla. fully

II.

explained in works treating

effects of the celestial bodies,

hut for the explanation

and discussion of which there is no room in this brief manual. But when time began, and the cycles of heaven became continuous, and the composition of this lower world became matured, and the time was come for the fertilization of that interspace which lay between the water and the air, the vegetable world was manifested. Then God, blessed and exalted is He, created for that substance whereby the plants were made manifest four subservient forces and three faculties. Of these four subservient forces, one was that which kept drawing to it whatever was suitable for its purpose, and this is called ‘Attraction’ Jddhiba ). Another keeps what the first may have attracted, and this is called ‘Fixation’ ( Masika ). The third is that which assimilates what has been attracted, and transmutes it from its former state until it becomes like unto itself, and this is called ‘Assimilation’ ( Radima ). The fourth is that which rejects what is not appropriate, and is called ‘Excretion’ ( Dafi‘a ). And of the three faculties, one is that which increaseth it by diffusing throughout it nutritious matters with a suitable and equal diffusion. The second is that which accompanies The third this nutriment until it reaches the extremities. (

is

that which,

and begins

to

when

germs, in order that, this

world,

sentative, so

the organism has attained perfection

tend towards defect, appears and produces

these

if

destruction overtake the parent in

may become

its

substitute

and repre-

may

be guarded

that the order of the world

from detriment, and the species

may

called the ‘Reproductive Faculty’

Qnwtcat-i-Mwrallida ). (

not cease.

This

is

So this kingdom rose superior to the mineral and vegetable kingdoms in these several ways which have been mentioned; and the far-reaching Wisdom of the Creator so ordained, that these kingdoms should be connected successively and continuously, so that in the mineral kingdom the first thing which attained completeness and underwent the process of evolution became higher in organization until it grew to coral ( marjdn i.e. bussad), which is the ultimate term of

chahXr maqXla. the

mineral world

stage of plant

kingdom

1 ,

until it

life.

And

— EXCURSUS

was connected with the

the

first tiling

in

has been assimilated to the animal kingdom, since the male to fertilize

it

so that

may

it

another [member of this kingdom] the vine flees from the

‘

ashaqa

twists round the vine, causes

3 ,

vegetable kingdom, therefore, there

from

is

shrivel

it

needs

2

while

;

its

plant which,

to

it

bear fruit

flees

a

first

the vegetable

date-palm, which

the thorn, and the last the

is

627

III.

up.

foe,

for

when

it

In the

nothing higher than

the date-palm and the vine, inasmuch as they are connected

with the superior kingdom, and have outstepped the limits of their

own

world, and have evolved themselves in a higher

direction.

Excursus

Now when

III.

kingdom had attained

and the had worked on the ‘Mothers 4 below, and these had assumed a finer temper, and the interspace between the air and the fire became involved, and a finer offspring resulted, the manithis

perfection,

influence of the ‘Fathers’ of the upper world ’

festation of the

animal world took place.

the faculties possessed

thereunto two others, is

called the

‘

This took

to itself

by the vegetable kingdom, and added one the faculty of discovery, which

Perceptive Faculty

animal discerns things

;

’

(Mudrika), whereb)" the

the second the power of voluntary

movement, by the help of which the animal moves automatically, approaching that which is agreeable to it and retreating from that which called the

Now

‘

is

offensive to

it

;

and this

is

Motor Faculty’ ( Mnharrika ).

the Perceptive Faculty

is

subdivided into ten branches,

which are called the External Senses and five the Internal Senses. The former are Touch, Taste, Hearing Sight, five of

,

1 The Pearl, however, seems generally to be placed higher. See Dieterici’s Mikrokosmos, p. 11. 2 See Dieterici’s Mikrokosmos, p. 25. 5 A species of Dolichos. See Lane’s Arabic Lexicon, s.v. * Bv the ‘ Seven Fathers above’ and the Four Mothers below’ the seven planets and the four elements are intended. ‘

chahXr maqXla.

628

Now

and Smell.

Touch

EXCURSUS

III.

a sense distributed throughout

is

the flesh and skin of the animal, so that the nerves perceive

and discern anything which touches it, such as dryness and moisture, heat and cold, roughness and smoothness, harshness and softness. Taste is a sense located in that nerve which is distributed over the surface of the tongue, which apprehends tastes and dissolved flavours from those bodies which come in contact with it and it is this sense which discriminates between sweet and bitter, sharp and sour, Hearing is a sense located in the and the like of these. nerve which is distributed about the auditory meatus, so that it detects any sound which is discharged against it by ;

undulations of the air compressed between two impinging

two bodies brought into contact with air is thrown into waves and becomes the cause of sound, inasmuch as it acts upon the air which i9 stationary in the auditory meatus,

bodies, that is to say,

one another, by the impact of which the

comes into contact with

it,

reaches this nerve, and gives

rise to the sensation of hearing.

Sight

is

a faculty located

in two nerve-bulbs, which discerns images projected on the crystalline humour, whether of figures or solid bodies, variously coloured by the medium of a translucent substance which subsists between it and the surfaces of reflecting

Smell

bodies.

is

a faculty located in a protuberance situated

in the fore part of the brain

and resembling the nipple of

the female breast, which apprehends what the air inhaled

brings to

of odours

it

air-currents, or

what

is

mingled with the vapours wafted by impressed upon it by diffusion from

the odorific body.

The Five Internal Senses. 1 Now as to the Internal Senses, some are such as perceive sense-impressions, while others The first is the * Composite are such as apprehend ideas. Sense

’

(

Hiss-i-mushtarika ), which

the anterior ventricles of itself

of

the

is

brain,

a

faculty located

and

receptive

in

into

any image apprehended by the external senses, upon them for communication to it, such

or impressed

1

Soc

my

Year amongst the Persians, pp. 144, 145.

THE INTERNAL SENSES. apprehended only when received by

perception being

The second

is

second convolution of the

which preserves what the Composite Sense has appre-

hended from the external after the subsidence of

the

is

‘Imaginative Faculty’

(

in

The

Mutakhayyila ),

‘

is

remains

senses, so that this

the sense-impressions.

when animals are under discussion, but, in human soul, named the Cogitative Faculty This

it.

Khayal ), a faculty located (

the Imagination

in the posterior ventricles of the

brain,

629

it

third

thus called

the case of the ’

(

Mutafakkira ).

a faculty located in the middle ventricle of the brain,

whose fuuction to preserve,

it

is

to

co-ordinate with one another, and

those particular percepts which are stored in

the Imagination, and to keep them distinct from one another by the control of thought. The fourth is the ‘ Apprehensive Faculty’ (Wahi/na), which is a faculty located in the

extremity of the middle ventricle of the brain. is

Its function

to discover the supra-sensual ideas existing in particular

By it the kid distinguishes between its dam and aud the child between a piece of rope and a serpent.

percepts.

a wolf,

The the

fifth is ‘

the

Memory

’

‘

Retentive Faculty

(Dhdkira), which

is

posterior ventricle of the brain.

sensual

ideas

which and

discovei-ed

by

the

’

(

Ildfidha ), also called

a faculty located in the

It

preserves those supra-

Apprehension

;

between

the same between the and the Composite Sense, though the latter preserves forms and the former ideas. Now all these are the servants of the Animal Soul, a substance having its well-spring in the heart, which, when it acts in the heart, is called the Animal Spirit, but when in the brain, the Psychic Spirit, and when in the liver, the Natural Spirit. It is a subtle vapour which rises from the blood, diffuses itself to the remotest arteries, and resembles the sun in luminosity. Every animal which possesses these Perceptive and Motor faculties, and these ten subordinate itself

relation subsists as

Imagination

animal but any faculty is lacking in it, defective. Thus the snake has no ears, the ant no eyes, and these two are called deaf and blind but none is more defective than the maggot. faculties derived therefrom, is called a perfect

;

if

;

j.r.a.s.

1899.

41

;

630 which

EXCURSUS

worm found

mud

a red

is

gil-khwdra

therefore

2

Za‘ak-kirma highest

chahXr maqXla.

the

is

mud-eater

(‘

This

(?).

in the

of streams, 1 called

but

’),

III.

Transoxania

in

while

the lowest animal,

is

the

namas ), 3 a creature inhabiting the (

satyr

plains of Turkistan, of erect carriage, of vertical stature,

with wide

wherever

them carries

him

off;

;

nay,

as

in

several

in its erect stature

and

even said that

is

it

This, after mankind,

from him.

men

on their path and examines and when it finds a solitary man, it

sees them, it halts

attentively

inasmuch

It cherishes a great affection for

flat nails. it

is

respects

it

will conceive

the highest of animals,

man

resembles

it

secondly, in the breadth of

;

first,

;

nails

its

in the hair of its head.

Anecdote

i.

Abu Rida

I heard as follows from

‘Abdu’s-Salam of

b.

Nishapur, in the Great Mosque at Nishapur, in the year

—

510 ( — a.d. 1116-1117): “We were travelling towards Tamghaj, 4 and in our caravan were several thousand camels. One day, when we were marching in the midday heat, a.h.

we saw on

a

hillock

woman, bare-headed, extremely

a

beautiful in form, with a figure like a cypress, a face like

the moon, and long Although I spoke to

standing and looking at

hair,

her, she

made no reply

us.

and when

;

I approached her, she fled, running so swiftly in her flight

that no horse could overtake her. 1

Cf. Dieterici’s Mikrokosmos, p. 43.

2

A. reads

3

The term nasnds

J,

,

,

Our

cAflcj

B.

,

guides, 5

who were

£ C/lcj

L. -

i.e.,

“Tit

for tat,

and the aggressor

is

:

CHAH^R MAQALA.

636

— FIRST

DISCOURSE.

correspondence, and unsuitable in epistolary communications.

In such

cases

it

is

permitted and allowed to the Scribe to

take up bis pen, set his best foot forward, and in this pass

go to the extreme limit and utmost bound, for they say u Haughtiness toicards the haughty is a good work ” 1 But

no case must he

in

any dust from the atmosphere

suffer

of conflict in this arena of correspondence to alight on the skirt of his master’s honour and in the setting forth of his message he must adopt that method which the orators of ;

the Arabs have thus described which

is

brief

and

:

“ The

best

speech

and not wearisome.”

significant,

2

is

that

For

if

the ideas accord not with the words, the discussion will be protracted, and the Scribe will be stigmatized as prolix, and “ He who is prolix is a babbler.” 3 Now the words of the Scribe will not attain to this elevation until he becomes familiar with every science, obtains some hint from every master, hears some aphorism from every philosopher, and borrows some elegance from every man of letters. Therefore he must accustom himself to peruse the Scripture of the Lord of Gloi'y, the Traditions of Muhammad the Chosen One (on whom, and on whose family, be God’s blessing and peace), the Memoirs of the Companions, the proverbial sayings of the Arabs, and the and to read the books of wise words of the Persians the ancients, and to study the writings of their successors, such as the Correspondence of the Sahib Isma'il ibn ‘Abbad 4 and Sabi the Qdbiis-ndma 5 the compositions of Ilamadi, 6 the Gests of Badi‘u’z-Zarndn Laqani, and Ibn Qudama ;

;

;

;

1

‘

JLii

ju£

•

3 .

De Slanc’i See the Yatimatu' d-Dahr (ed. Damascus), vol. iii, pp. 31-112 ” Ibn KaUikdn, vol. i, pp. 212-217. L. omits “ and Skbi. 5 Composed by Kayka’ds b. Iskandar b. Qhbfis b. 'W'ashmgir in a.k. 475 ‘

;

(a.d. 1082-3). 6

See Pertscb’s Cat. of Berlin Persian MSS., pp. 302-3.

See Von Kremer’s Culturgcsch.,

i,

pp. 269, 270.

;

637

THE SECRETARIAL FUNCTION. al-Hamad&m

the Rescripts and al-Hamidi 2 of al-Bal'ami Ahmad-i-Hasan 4 and Abu Nasr Kunduri 5 the Letters of Muhammad ‘Abd, ‘Abdu’l-Hamid, and the ', 1

al-Hariri ,

1

;

3

,

Sayyidu’r-Ru’asd

Ibn ‘Abbadl

7 ,

;

,

,

and Ibnu’n-Nassaba, the descendant of ‘All

and, of the poetical works of the Arabs, the Diicans

Mutanabbi

8 ,

6

Muhammad-i-Mansur

Seances of

the

;

Abiwardi

9 ,

and Ghazzi

Persian poets, the poems of

10 ;

of

and, amongst the

Hakim Rudagi

11

the Epic of and the panegyrics of ‘Unsun since each one of these works which we have enumerated was, after its kind, the incomparable and unique product of its time and every scribe who hath these books, and stimulates his mind,

Firdawsi

12

,

13

,

;

;

polishes his wit, and enkindles his fancy will ever raise the level of

his diction,

by their perusal, whereby a scribe

becomes famous. Now if he be well acquainted with the Qur’an, with one verse therefrom he may discharge his obligation to a whole realm, as did Iskaft

’

See

Arab.

Von Kremer’s

Lift., pp.

14 .

Culturgesch.,

ii,

pp. 470-476; Brockelmann’s Gesch. d.

93-94 and 276-278.

2 See Rieu’s Persian Catalogue, vol. ii, pp. 747-8, where a very fine old MS. of the Maqdmat-i- Ha midi written in the thirteenth century of our era, is described. ,

Muhammad

3

Abu

1

The Ghaznavid

‘Ali

al-Bal‘am'i (d. a.h. 386).

Minister,

Ahmad

b.

Hasan

of

Mavmand

(d.

a.h. 424),

is

probably meant.

De

5

See

8

Muhammad b. Mansur al-Haddad. See II. Kh., No. 1,729. Abu ‘Asirn Muhammad b. Ahmad al-‘Abbadi (see Rieu’s Arabic Suppl.,

7

Slane’s Ibn KhalliJcan, vol.

iii,

pp. 290-295.

Probably

who died a.h. 458, is probably intended. See Von Kremer’s Culturgeseh., ii, pp. 380, 381

p. 755), 8

;

Brockelmann’s Arab. Lilt.,

pp. 86-89. 9

See Brockelmann’s Arab. Lett., p. 253 and the Fatima, vol. is made of two Abiwardis. ;

iv,

pp. 25 and

62-64, where mention 10

Brockelmann, op.

cit., p.

253.

A., however, reads

r

.

11

See Ethe’s monograph, and also his article on Rudagi in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. 12

See especially Xoeldeke’s D. Iranische Nationalepos in vol. Kuhn’s Grundriss d. Iranischen Philologie. See Ethe in the same Grundriss, pp. 224, 225.

ii

(pp.

130-211)

of Geiger and 13

14 iii,

Abu 1-Qasim 4.

‘All b.

Muhammad

al-Iskafi.

See Fatima, vol.

iv,

pp. 29-33

;

s

CHAHXr MAQXLA.

638

FIRST DISCOURSE.

Anecdote

ii.

Iskafi was one of the secretaries of the House of Sam&n,. and knew his craft right well, so that lie could cunningly traverse all obstacles, and emerge triumphant from the most difficult passes.

He

properly

discharged

Nuh

the Chancellery of

tlie

recognize his worth,

He

Alptagin at Herat.

to

they did

or bestow on

adequate to his pre-eminence.

Bukhara

duties of secretary in

Mansur, 1 but

b.

therefore

Alptagin,

not

him favours from

fled

a Turk, wise

and discerning, made much of him, and confided to bim the Chanceller}', so that at length he became one of his ministers. Now because there had sprung up at the court a

new

nobility

who made

light

of the old nobles,

while

Alptagin patiently bore their presumption, matters at

last

culminated in rebellion, by reason of some slight put upon

Then Amir Nuh, incited by a party of the new from Bukhara to Zabulistan that Sabuktagin should come with that army, and the sons of Simjiir 2 with their army from Nishapur, and should make war on him.

nobles, wrote

Alptagin.

And

this

war

is

very celebrated, and the event

most notorious. So when these armies reached Herat, the Amir ‘All b. 3 sent Kisa’i, 4 who was the Chief Chamberlain (Sahib id l- Bab), to Alptagin, with a letter like fire and water blended together, containing threats and menaces which

Muhtaj

no room for peace and no way for conciliation, such as angry an master might write in his absence to his disobedient

left

1 This seems to be an error (though it stands thus in all three copies) for Manjtir b. N61j (Manstir I), who reigned a.h. 350-366; for N6h b. ManjGr Con(Ntih II) reigned a.h. 366-387, and Alptagin died in a.h. 352 or 354. cerning the Ditvanu' r-Rasd'il, see Yon Kremer’s Culturgeschicht. d. Arab., i, pp. 174, 200; and A. de B. Kazimirski’s Menoutchehri, pp. 36 and 43. According to IbnuT-Athir (Bulaq ed. of a.h. 1303, vol. viii, p. 179), Alptagin' revolt took place in a.h. 351. 3 See Defremery’s Hist, des Sama aides, pp. 260, 261. 3 Concerning this general, see Defremery’s Hist, des Samanides, p. 248.

4

both here and in

A. has

place adds ‘Alt

b.

Muhtaj

after

1.

4 of the next page, and in the second

Abu' l- Hasan.

—

:

THE SECRETARIAL FUNCTION.

639

servants, the whole letter filled with such expressions as “ I will come,” “ I will take,” “ T will bind,” “ I will

“ I

strike,”

Hasan

will

When

slay.”

submitted

Kisa’i

this

Chamberlain Abu’l-

the

and

letter

message, not withholding aught, Alptagin,

delivered

who was

the

already

vexed, grew more vexed, and broke out in anger, saying “ I was his father’s servant, but when my master passed

from

this transitory to that eternal abode,

to me, I

me

not

should obey him,

you examine seeing that I first

am

it

is

fact quite otherwise, for

in

matter,

this

he entrusted him

Although, to outward seeming,

to him.

contrary conclusion

a

when

results,

and he in the Those who have impelled him to act

in the last stages of old age,

stages of youth.

thus are destroyers of this Dynasty, not counsellors, and are

overthrowers of this house, not supporters.”

Then he asked letter?” first

Iskafi,

of

How

wilt thou

answer this

on the spur of the moment, wrote the

draft of the answer as follows:

“ In the

Name

of God, the Merciful, the Clement.

thou hast contended with us us.

“

Iskafi,

and made great

0

Null,

the contention with

Produce, then, that wherewith thou threatenest us, if thou

art of those

When

who speak truly.”

1

Mansur, the Amir of it, and was astonished and all the gentlemen of the court were filled with amaze, and the this

letter

reached Niih

b.

Khurasan, he read

;

scribes bit their fingers in

wonder.

And when

the affair

was disposed of, Iskafi fled away privily, for he was fearful and terrified until suddenly Nuh sent a messenger to him to summon him to his presence, and conferred on him the post of Secretary. So his affairs prospered, and he became conspicuous and famous amongst of Alptagin

;

the votaries of the Pen.

Had

lie

he would not

not

known

the Qur’an,

thus have distinguished himself on this would his position have risen from the station he occupied to this high degree. occasion, nor

1

Qur’an,

si, 34.

CHAHlB MAQAlA.

€40

—FIRST

Anecdote

DISCOURSE.

iii.

When Iskafi’s affairs waxed thus prosperous, and he became established in the service of Nuh b. Mansur, Makan tbe son of Kaki 1 rebelled at Ray and in Kuhistan, withdrew his neck from tbe yoke of obedience, sent bis agents to Khwar, Samnan and Simnak, captured several of the towns of Kumisb 2 and paid no beed to the Samanids. Nuh b. Mansur was afraid, because this was a formidable and able man, and set himself to deal with this matter. He therefore ordered Tash, the commander-in-chief, to march against ,

him with seven thousand horsemen, suppress this sedition, and put an end to this grave incident in whatever way he deemed most expedient.

Now Tash

was very wise and

clear in judgement,

emerging and he was also victorious in warfare, and had never turned back in defeat from any one of the countless battles he had waged, nor come forth worsted from any campaign. While he lived, the dominion and authority of the House of Saman enjoyed the greatest brilliancy and prosperity. On this occasion, then, the Amir, being much preoccupied and distressed, sent a messenger to summon Iskafi, and held a private interview with him. “I am greatly troubled,” swiftly

and

skilfully^

from the

straitest passes

;

occurrence; for Makan is a brave man, and hath, in addition to his bravery and courage, administrative capacity and generosity, so that there have been few like him amongst the Daylamis. You said he,

“by

and an

able,

this

must co-operate with Tash, and whatever he lacks for the raising of an army at this juncture, you must supply.

The

chronological difficulties involved in these two stories are considerable, Makan b. Kfiki occurred in a.h. 329, towards the end of the Ahmad, i.e. long before the rebellion of Alptagiu (see n. 1 on See Defrcmery’s Santa aides, pp. 248 and 263-4. p. 638, supra). J Better known as Qumis, the Arabicized form of the name. See B. de For the Meynard’s Diet. Oeogr., Ilistor., ct Lift, de la 1’erse, pp. 464-5. three other towns mentioned, see the same work, pp. 213, 317, and 318. 1

for the rebellion of reign of Nasr II b.

TIIE

641

SECRETARIAL FUNCTION.

And I will establish myself at Nishapur, so that the army may be supported from the base, and the foeman discouraged. Every day u

mo

swift

messenger

come from you

must

to

with dispatches, wherein you must set forth the pith

what may have happened, so that my anxieties may be Iskafi bowed and said, “ I will obey.” So next day Tash unfurled his standard, sounded his drums, and set out for the front from Bukhara, crossing while the Amir the Oxus with seven thousand horsemen followed him with the remainder of the army to Nishapur. There he invested Tash and the army with robes of honour; of

assuaged.”

;

and Tash, raising his standard, marched into Bayhaq, whence he marched forwards into Kumish to confront the enemy, with fixed purpose and in the best of spirits. Meanwhile Makan, with ten thousand mailed men, was

Ray, where he had taken up his Tash arrived, passed by the city, and encamped position. Then messengers passed to and fro over against him. between them, but no settlement was effected, for Makan

encamped

at the gates of

was puffed up with pride on account of that formidable army which he had gathered together from every quarter.

was therefore decided that they should join battle. Tash was an aged warrior, who for forty years had held the position of commander-in-chief, and had witnessed

It

Now

and he so manoeuvred that when the two armies met, and the doughty warriors and champions of Transoxania and Khurasan moved forward from the

many such engagements

;

Makan’s army was engaged, while the Makan was slain, and Tash, when he had ceased from taking and binding and slaying, turned to Iskafi and said, “A carrier-pigeon must be sent in but all the main advance, to be followed later by a courier features of the battle must be summed up in one sentence, centre, only half of rest

were not fighting.

:

which exceed

shall

indicate

all

the circumstances,

what a pigeon can carry,

and

j'et

shall

shall

not

adequately

express our meaning.”

Then

Iskafi took

cover and wrote

:

so

— “ In

much paper the

Name

of

as

two fingers would

God

,

the Merciful, the

: ;

CHAHAR MAQALA.

642

FIRST DISCOURSE.

Clement. As for 2Iukdn, he hath become as his name ” 1 “ He hath not been ” in Arabic]. [J/a kan By this “ ma” he intended the negative, and by “kan,” the verb substantive, so that the Persian of it would be, “ Makan

=

hath become like his name,” that

is

become

say, hath

to

nothing.

When

the carrier-pigeon reached the

Amir Huh, be was

not more delighted at the victory than at this dispatch,

and he ordered Iskaf'i’s salary “ Such a person must maintain

to

be

from care

order to attain to such delicacies of expression.”

Anecdote

saying

increased,

a heart free

in

2

iv.

One who pursues any

craft which depends on reflection from care and anxiety, for if it be otherwise, the arrows of his thought will fly wide and will not hit

ought

to be free

the target of achievement, since only by a tranquil mind

can one arrive at such words. It is related

that

a certain Secretary of

Caliphs was writing a letter to

the

the ‘Abbasid

governor of Egypt

and, his mind being tranquil and himself submerged in the ocean of reflection, was forming sentences precious as pearls of great price

and fluent

as

running water.

his maidservant entered, saying, “

The

scribe

was

so

There

is

Suddenly

no flour

left.”

put out and disturbed in mind that he

the thread of his diction, and was so affected that he wrote in the letter “ There is no flour left.” When he lost

had

finished

it,

he sent

it

to the Caliph,

having no know-

ledge of these words which he had written.

When saw

the letter reached the Caliph, and he read

this sentence,

account for

to

a messenger to 1

so

it, and he was greatly astonished, being unable

strange

summon

an

occurrence.

So

he

sent

the scribe, and inquired of him

( .

2

of this anecdote is given in the Tdrikh-i-Guzida, and by Dcfremery at pp. 247-8 of his Ilistoire del Samanidtt (Paris, 1845).

The substance

is cited

643

THE SECRETARIAL FUNCTION. concerning

The

this.

scribe vvas covered with shame,

and

gave the true explanation of the matter. The Caliph was “The beginning of this letter mightily astonished and said :

by

excels the latter part

much

as

as the sura

‘

Say, lie

is

The hands of Abu Lahab shall perish,' 2 and it is a pity to surrender the minds of eloquent men like you into the hands of the struggle for Then he ordered him to be given the necessaries of life.” God, the One

means

’

1

the sura

excels

sufficiently

ample

to

‘

prevent such an announcement

from ever entering his ears again. Naturally it then happened that he could compress into two sentences the ideas of two worlds. as this

Anecdote

The Sahib

v.

ibn ‘Abbad, 3 entitled al-Kdfi (“ the

Isma‘11

Competent”), of Ray, 4 was minister to the Shahanshah. He was most perfect in his accomplishments, of which fact his correspondence and his poetry are two sufficient witnesses and unimpeachable arbiters.

Now wont

the Sahib

to be

duties,

was

man

a

of just dealings, and such are

extremely pious and scrupulous in their religious

not holding

it

right

that a

true

believer

should

by reason of a grain of [righteous] servants and retainers and agents for the

abide eternally in hell

enmity

;

and

his

most part followed his example. there was at Qum a judge appointed by the Sahib whose godliness and piety he had the firmest belief, though there were some who asserted the contrary, and brought information against him, which, however, left the

Now

in

Sahib unconvinced, until certain

Qum, whose statements commanded 1

2 s

De

of

credence, declared that

Qur’an, cxii. Qur’hn, cxi. For an account of this great minister and generous patron of literature, see Slane’s translation of Ibn Khallikdn, vol. i, pp. 212-217, and n. 4 on p. 636,

supra. 4

trustworthy persons

So B.

Both A. and L. have

.

— CHAH^R MACULA.

644

—FIRST

DISCOURSE.

in a certain suit between So-and-so and Such-an-one this judge had accepted a bribe of five hundred tumans. This was mightily displeasing to the Sahib for two reasons, first on account of the greatness of the bribe, and secondly on

account of

He of

the shameless unscrupulousness of the judge.

at once took

“ In the

Name

Qum !

We

up

his

pen and wrote

God

of

,

:

0 Judge

the Merciful, the Clement.

dismiss you, so

Come ! ”

1

Scholars and rhetoricians will notice and appreciate the high merit of this sentence in respect of its brevity, concision, and clearness, and naturally from that time forth rhetoricians and stylists have inscribed this epigram on their

and repeat

hearts,

it

to the people of the world.

Anecdote

Lamghan

2

is

vi.

a city in the district of Sind, one of the

dependencies of Grhazna

and

;

time naught

at this present

but one range of mountains separates

inhabitants from

its

the heathen, so that they live in constant dread of the

and raids of the unbelievers. Yet the men of are of good courage, sharp and frugal, and combining with their sharpness no small rascality, 3 to such attacks

Lamghan

a degree that they think nothing of lodging a complaint against a tax-gatherer on account of a

a single egg

;

maund

of chaff or

while for even less than this they were ready

come to Ghazna to complain of exactions, and would remain there one or two months, and then return without having accomplished their object. In short, they are wonderful hands at patience, and are most stiffnecked in to

importunity. 1

Ai

jji

‘

I

pb

\$\

‘

^)\

.

have endeavoured to preserve, feebly enough, the word-play

2 Or Li'imaghan. See B. do Meynard’s Diet. Geogr. dc Rivet de Courteille’s Man. dc Baber, ii, pp. 120, 121. 3

i

s

The

texts differ considerably in this sentence.

—r*-

A_i

bj

^

y

aL>-

j

AU—

j

1_j

1

'

in the original. la

I follow A., ^

0 •

•

--

503

p.

which has A

-U—< •

rerse,

’

;

:

b*

This sentence

Joo»-

not quite clear.

is

It runs

A., B. have

£>»*•

[A., B. ora. Jo j]

:

^

P

X

[L. om. Jj_j] s

•

3

3 ,

of these fabrics I have been unable to ascertain.

‘

3

saw

ob jJ

IX'

ySJL**

,

.

L. reads

:

[A. Aas-] *- «

.

:

CHAHXE MAQXlA.

648

—FIRST

:

DISCOURSE.

strewn with perfumes of China, fairer than the East at the time of sunrise, and sweeter than a garden in the

He

season of the rose.

saw, moreover, cast

down and spread

out at the entrance of the house, mats of cloth of gold

1 ,

and in and turquoises was which cushions placed thereon, on seated a beauteous damsel sweeter than existence and life, and pleasanter than health and youth in stature such embroidered with rubies,

like

manner

pearls,

;

six

;

would have subscribed itself her servant with cheeks which the brightest sun would have acknowledged as suzerain with hair which was the envy of musk and ambergris and with eyes after the likeness of the onyx and the narcissus 2 She, rising to her feet, advanced towards Ma’mun, with a profound obeisance and that the noble cypress ;

;

;

.

him forward and seated him in him in service. Ma’mun bade her be seated, whereupon she seated herself on her knees 3 hanging her head and looking down at the carpet. Thereupon Ma’mun was overcome with love he had already lost his heart, and now he would have added earnest apologies, brought

the chief seat, and stood before

,

:

He

thereunto his very soul.

drew

stretched out his hand and

from the pocket of his coat eighteen

forth

pearls,

each one as large as a sparrow’s egg, brighter than the

more lustrous than the teeth of the fair, These rolled on the surface of the carpet, and, by reason of its smoothness and their roundness, continued in motion, there being no cause for their quiescence. But the girl paid no stars of heaven,

rounder, nay, more luminous, than Jupiter or Saturn.

heed to the

nor so

pearls,

much

as raised her head.

Thereat

was Ma’mun’s passion further increased, and he extended

1

This sentence, again, •

2

3

A.,

i.e.,

B

: :

wV

not clear. v

X

i

is

jj >

£/r

in the Persian fashion,

.vA

It runs

J

y>

3

See

f.

U

/3

and y of Ursa Minor.

^

Jlks

Mirkhwand’s

History

of the

Professor Ross has pointed out to

me

Seljtiqs,

that

ed.

GOr Khan

Yullers, is

History of the Moghuls of Central Asia, hy Elias and Ross, See also Schefer’s Chrestomathie Fersane, vol. *

So L., agreeing with Schefer,

date of this event. 4

L. has

identify the

p.

(uncertain),

176-180.

title.

287

p.

See

et seqq.

31 et seqq.

where a.h. 536

For Alptagin A. and R. read A.

name.

i,

op. cit., p. 29,

pp.

a generic

is

given as the

throughout. B.

,

but I cauuot

— 1

651

THE SECRETARIAL FUNCTION. to the

Imam Ahmad

of Bukhara, and

who was

‘Abdu’l-'Aziz,

b.

man

the leading

of

the

his time ,

Imam that

so

whatever he did he might do by his advice, and that he Then should not take any step without his instructions.

Gur Khan turned back and

the

Now

retired to Bars-jan

3 .

his justice had no bounds, nor was there any limit

commands, and, indeed, in these But when Alptagin saw a clear field, he turned his hand to oppression, and began to levy contributions on Bukhara. So several of the people of Bukhara went as an embassy to the Gur Khan 3 to seek redress. The Gur Khan, after the way of good Muslims, wrote a letter in Persian to Alptagin as to the effectiveness of his

two things

follows

the essence of kingship.

lies

:

“ In the

Name

Alptagin know

of

that,

God

,

Merciful,

the

although wide distance separates us, our

Let Alptagin

approval and displeasure are near at hand.

do that which

Ahmad commands, and Ahmad

Muhammad commands. on

Let

Clement.

the

that which

Farewell.”

Again and again we have considered this and reflected it. A thousand volumes or even more might be written

to enlarge

on

and

needing no explanation.

clear,

anything

like

this letter, yet its purport

is

extremely plain

Seldom have I seen

it.

Anecdote x.

The extreme eloquence of words

of the Qur’an is in its concision and marvellous presentation of ideas imitation ;

thereof results but in citation, to such a degree that a sense

1

For

A. and B. have

,

,

“and

the son of

Burhan.” 2

Name

(jlsry s

uncertain.

L.

has

(not clearly legible)

A. has, instead of

Zanjan, ;

which

B.,

Sfi

is

quite

unsuitable;

A.,

;

B.,

.

(L.’s

reading),

CHAHXr MACULA.

652

awe

of

FIRST DISCOURSE.

produced, and the wise and understanding

is

And

converted from his state [of doubt].

is

proof and trenchant argument to establish

Word

this

mouth

did not proceed from the

being, nor issue from any

the stamp of Eternity

is

human

man

this is a clear

the fact

that

any created

of

lips or tongue, but that

the stigma of

prescriptions and

its

sentences. It

is

1

0

up

related that one

Walid

before

b.

day one of the Muslims was reciting

Mughira

this verse

:

—“ And

Earth, gulp down thy waters, and ’

and

:

And

it

God,”

said

the

Ark ]

Walid

b.

rested

beast in

When

fur}',

and

its

the

matter

upon Mount Judi .”

Mughira, “verily

sweetness, and verily at

was

it

highest

at its lowest

is

it

said,

Heaven, draw them

Thus was

water abated.

the

[i.e.

0

it is

effected.

“By

1

hath beauty and

terrible as a wild

mine ”

as the deepest

2

!

even enemies reached such a level of enthusiasm,

by reason of the eloquence of the Qur’an and parable height in the domain of religion and what degree must friends attain ?

Anecdote

In former times tyrants of

it

its

incom-

equity, to

xi.

was customary with the kings and

the world, such as the Pishdadi, Kayani, and

Sasanian monarchs and the Caliphs,

to

vaunt themselves

and compete with one another in justice and accomplishments, and with every ambassador whom they despatched they used to send wise sayings, riddles, and enigmatical So the king, under these circumstances, stood in need of persons of intelligence and discrimination, and men of judgement and statesmanship; and several councils

questions.

1

2

Qur’&n,

xi, 46. 1

In the margin

L. ka9

stands as a variant on

.

A. and B. have

and

for

C53

THE SECRETARIAL FUNCTION.

would be held aud adjourned, until they were unanimous as to their answers, and when the inner meanings of these problems and enigmas were plain and apparent, then they would despatch the ambassador. This practice was maintained until the time of Mahmud b. Sabuktagin Yaminu’d-Dawla (may God have mercy upon

him

One day he despatched an ambassador

!).

Khan

drafted

occurred

this

in

:

—

Verily the most honourable of you in God’s sight

‘

Bughra

to

the letter which had been “ God Almighty saith, passage

and

in Transoxania,

is

he icho

most pious of you.' 1 The acute and critical are agreed that here he [i.e. the Prophet] guards himself from is

ignorance

;

for the souls of

grievous defect than this, nor fault of

folly.

To the

men is

[Goo? will raise up

those of

whom knowledge hath Therefore we desire

more

truth of this proposition and the

Word

soundness of this assertion God’s ‘

are subject to no

there aught lower thau the

been

that

also bears witness:

and

you who

believe ]

given

[superior]

to

Imams

the

of

the

those

to

degrees .’

land

2

of

Transoxania aud the doctors of the East and scholars of the

Khaqan’s Court should give so much information touching essentials as to state what the Prophetic Office is, what Saintship, what Religion, what Islam, what Faith, what

what Godliness, what the Approbation of what the Prohibition of Wrong, what the Path, what the Balance, what Justice, and what Pity.” When this letter reached the Court of Bughra Khan 3 and he had acquainted himself with its purport and contents, he summoned the Imams of Transoxania from the different towns and districts, informed them of the matter, and requested them to answer these words, bidding each one compose a treatise on this subject, and introduce in the course of their dissertation and argument a reply to these Well-doing,

Right,

,

1

Qur’an, xlix, 13.

’

Qur’an,

1

Here A. has

and below.

lviii,

12. 1

and B.

,

though they agree with L. above

chahIr

054

maqjCla.

—SECOND

They craved a delay of

interrogations.

period dragged on with

all

discourse. four months

sorts of detriments,

;

which

the least

of which was the disbursements from the treasury for the salaries of the ambassadors and the maintenance of the Imams, until at length Muhammad b. ‘Abdu’llah the scribe, who was Bughra Khan’s private secretary, and was deeply versed in learning and highly distinguished in scholarship, besides being one of the most eloquent stylists amongst the Muslims both in prose and verse, said “ I will answer these questions in two words, in such wise that when the greatest scholars and most conspicuous men of al-Islam shall see my answer, it shall command their approval and admiration.” So he took up his pen and wrote under the questions, after :

the

fashion

of

Apostle (upon

Family),

1

legal

a

whom

decision

(

failed)

:

be the Blessing of God,

command and

Reverence for God’s

toivards God’s people.’”

All the

Imams

“ Saith

and

also

God’s

on his

loving-kindness

of Transoxania bit

amazement and expressed their admiration, Here indeed is an answer which is perfect, and an And the Khaqan utterance which is comprehensive ” was mightily pleased because the difficulty had been overcome by a scribe and not left to the divines. And when their fingers in

saying, “

!

the answer reached Ghazna,

all

applauded

it.

from these premises that an intelligent and accomplished Secretary is a great ornament to the It therefore results

And with this anecdote we And from God cometh assistance.

brilliancy of a King’s Court.

conclude this chapter.

Second Discourse.

On

the

Nature of Poetry, and

Poetry

is

the Utility of the Skilful Poet.

that art whereby the poet arranges imaginary

and adapts the deductions, with the result that little thiug appear great and a great thiog small, or cause good to appear in the garb of evil and By acting on the imagination, evil in the garb of good.

propositions,

he can make a

— 655

THE POETIC ART.

he excites the faculties of anger and concupiscence in such

way

a

that by his suggestion men’s temperaments become

affected with exultation or depression

;

whereby he conduces

accomplishment of great things

to the

in the

order of the

world.

Anecdote

Thus they

relate that

Ahmad

xii.

b.

‘Abdu’llah al-Khujistani

1

“ IIow didst thou, who wert originally an become Amir of Khurasan ? ” He replied “ One day I was reading the Divan of Handhala of Badghis 2 in Badghis of Khujistan, when I chanced on these two

was

asked,

ass-herd,

:

,

couplets

:

J ‘

If

lordship

Go, risk

it,

lies

jA* J

V.

An

impulse

stirred within

content with

I therefore sold

my

my

me that

asses,

that time the fortune of its

prosperity.

^Sjf

V.

desire,

ease.’

such that I could in

no

condition wherein I was.

bought a horse, and, quitting of ‘Arar b. Layth 3 At

country, entered the service

zenith of

i

those dread portals seize

rank and lasting

riches, greatness,

wise remain

jb

I

within the lion’s jaws,

and front

Such straight-confronting death as men

Or

>

(

Cj'y* Vi-OL^.

‘

Vi

eli

\

the SafFaris

.

still

floated at the

Of the three brothers, ‘Adi was the ‘Amr had precedence over him.

youugest, and Ya'qub and

“ Khujistan.

—

In the mountains near Herat. From this country issued ‘Abdu’llah al-Khujistani, who revolted at Kishapur and died in (Barbier de Meynard’s Diet. Geogr., tJistor., et Lift, de la Perse, The learned editor points out, however, that, according to Ibnu’lp. 197.) Athir, Ahmad was assassinated in the month of Shawwal, a.h. 268, after having reigned at Nishapur for six years. See the Journal Asiatique for 1845, p. 345 et seqq. of the second half. 3 See Ethe’s RudagV s Vorliiufer and Zeitgenossen, pp. 38-40, where these verses, and others by the same poet, are cited. 3 Brother of Ya'qub b. Layth, the founder of the short-lived Saffari dynasty. ‘Amr reigned from a.h. 265 to a.h. 287. 1

Ahmad

b.

a.h. 264.”

CHAHAR MAQALA.

656

When

SECOND DISCOt'RSE.

Ya'qub came from Khuras&n to Ghazna over the b. Layth sent me back from Ribat-i-Sangin

mountains, ‘Ali

(“the Stone Rest-house”) to act as his agent to his feudal Khurasan. I had collected an army of a hundred

estates in

on the road, and had with me besides some twenty horsemen of my own. Now of the estates held in fief by ‘All b.

Layth one was Karukh of Herat, a second Khan-i-Nishapur. When I reached Karukh, I produced my warrant, and what was paid to me I divided amongst the army and gave to the soldiers. My horsemen now numbered three hundred. When I reached Khwaf, 2 and again produced my warrant, the burghers of Khwaf contested it, saying, Do we want a magistrate with [a bodyguard of only] ten men ? 3 1

‘

’

thereupon decided

I

renounce

to

my

allegiance

the

to

Khwaf, proceeded to the village of Yashb, 4 and came to Bayhaq, where two 5 thousand horsemen joined I advanced and took Nishapur, and my affairs me. prospered and improved until all Khurasan lay open to Of all this, me, and I took possession of it for myself. these two verses of poetry were the cause.” Safians, looted

Salami

6

relates in his history that the affairs of

Nishapur he distributed

in

head of horses, and 1,000 1

“

of

suits of clothes,

et

Ibid., pp. 213, 214.

2

The

text and sense are both very doubtful.

Lift, de la Terse, p. 487.

A.

(f.

*

iJ

‘C.-s**’

l)

and to-day he

Merv.”

2

*

300,000 dinars, 500

largesse

See Bnrbier de Meynard’s Diet. Geogr ., Hist.,

B. and L. have

,

126)

while the lithograph has djs-Lri-

has

^

The

MSS.

lithograph has

have

^aA

* _vA

plainly

> -'

‘ ,

1

•

J,L* A ^

AjI) A) J ,

I

Ai.Jub

,b« 1

4

Ahmad

one night at

‘Abdu’llah prospered so greatly that in

b.

b

while the

cannot, however, find mention of

.

the village.

“ a thousand.”

5

The lithograph

6

Concerning Ibn Sal&m, the author of

846-6), footnote.

who

is

reads

probably intended,

see

a

Tabaqatu' sh-Shn'ard

J.R.A.S.

for

January,

1899,

(d.

p.

a.d. 48,

— 657

THE POETIC ART.

stands in history as one of the victorious monarchs, all of which was brought about by these two couplets of poetry. Many similar instances are to be found amongst both the

Arabs and the Persians, but we have restricted ourselves So a king cannot dispense to the mention of this one. with a good poet, who shall conduce to the immortality of his name, and shall record his fame in divans and hooks. For when the king receives that command which none can escape no trace will remain of his army, his treasure, and his store but his name will endure for ever by reason 1

,

;

of the poet’s verse, as Sharif-i-Mujallidi of

jT }

‘

“

JT j\

Ai

Gurgan

U tZ

says

J

2 :

c?

$

From all the treasures hoarded by the Houses Of Susan and of Sdindti, in our days Nothing survives except the song of Bdrbad, Nothing

The names

save Rudayi's sweet lays.”

is left

the monarchs of the age and the princes

of

of the time are perpetuated bv the

admirable verse and

widely-eurrent poems of this guild

as,

names

the House of

of

Ja'far b.

Muhammad

5

1

-

,

i.e.,

when he comes

B

1

al-‘Awfi’s Lubdb, part

4

Ibid.,

I

name

omits the poet’s

No.

8,

ii,

and Horn’s

and A.

(f.

s

Ibid.,

6

Ibid.,

b.

‘Abbas 4

Abu Ishaq Juvbari

6 ,

Tahawi, and Khabbazi 8 of al-Kisa’i 9 and the names of ;

7

The lithograph omits ,

L. has ilajdi.

altogether.

No.

7.

ed. of the

124)

No. 25, and Asadi, No. 10.

suppose for

Abu’l-‘Abbas

the

‘Abdi’llah

to die.

7

L. has

3 ,

al-Bukhari,

Hasan al-‘Aji 7 and Nishapur, and Abu’l-Hasan

Abu’l

for instance,

Saman by Ustad Abu

ar-Rudaki

az-Zanji, Abu’l-Mathal

;

Lughat-i- Asadi,

p. 24, first

paragraph.

.

p. 28.

this

name and

the next;

“enfant nourri d’un

lait

•

8

‘Awfi, No. 29.

9

See Ethe’s monograph, Die Lieder dee Eitd'i.

A.

(f.

etranger

13a) has

”

;

while

,

B.

has

CHAHAR

658

SECOND DISCOURSE.

MAQXl.A.

the kings of the House of Nasiru’d-D!n

men

by such

navids]

Bahrami Manshuri

as

‘Unsun,

Zaynati , 3

2

[i.e.

the Ghaz-

Farrukhi

‘Asjadi,

1 ,

Buzurjmihr of Qa’in 4 Mudhaffar 5 Manuchihri 7 Mas'udi 8 Qasarami 9 Abu Hanifa Iskaf (“the Cobbler ”), 10 Rasliidi, Abu’l-Faraj of Runa 11 Mas‘ud-i-Sa‘d-i-Salman 12 Muhammad Abu Nasr 13 Shah Abu Rija 14 Ahmad Khalaf, ‘Uthman Mukhtari 15 and •Sana’i 16 and the names of the House of Kb&qan through Lulu’i, Gulahi, Najibi 17 Farkhari 18 ‘Am'aq of Bukhara 19 Rashidi of Samarqand 20 Najjar (“the Carpenter ”) 21 -i,

,

,

6

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

;

,

,

,

,

Sagharji,

‘All

Panidi

22 ,

the

son

of

Darghush

23 ,

Well-known contemporaries of Firdawsi. Mention is made of the (of whose poems lithographed editions have been published at

1

last

‘All

and

first

Tihrfin)

further on. 2

Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali of Sarakhs. See Majnta‘u' l-Fnsaha, vol. i, p. 173. Zaynati-i-‘Alavi-i-Mahmudi-i-Khurasani. See .1f.F., vol. i, p. 241. Qasim b. Ibrahim b. Mansur. See .1 f.F., vol. i, p. 66. Or Mudhaffari, of Panj-dih. See M.F., vol. i, p. 505. Abu Sa‘id Ahmad b. Muhammad of Samarqand. See .1/. F., vol. i, p. 506. See the edition of his Divan by A. de Biberstein Kazimirski. Mas‘udi of Ray (see H.F., i, p. 503), another Ghaznavid poet, is apparently

3 4

5 6 I

8

intended. 9

For Qasarami see Horn’s Asadi, p. 27. L. substitutes Ghadii’iri. See ‘Awfi’s Lnlxib, ch. x, No. 21, and Jf.F., vol. i, Of Merv or Ghazua. pp. 83-85. II See JIFF., i, pp. 70-78. 12 Abu’l-Fakhr Mas‘ud b. Sa‘d b. Salmon of Ghazna (died a.h. 515 or 525). See Horn’s Lughat-i- Furs of Asadi, p. 28, and M.F., i, p. 514. 15 L. has Majd-i-Nasir. I can find no particulars concerning him. 14 He was of Ghazna, and also bore the laqab of See M.F., i, pp. 68-70. Shihabu’d-D'm. 15 See Dawlatshah’s Tadhlcira (pp. 93, 94 of my forthcoming edition), 10

Tabaqa

ii,

No.

8.

“ Majdud.” for adds “Mawjud,” an error See Dawlatshih 31. F., i, pp. 254-274. (pp. 95-99), Tabaqa ii, No. 9 11 Najibu’d-Din Jurbadhakani (i.e. of L. omits this name and the next. Gulpavagan) is meant. See M.F., i. pp. 634, 635. 18 See Dawlatshah (pp. 69, 70), Tabaqa i, No. 18. 19 See Dawlatshah (pp. 64-67), Tabaqa i, No. 15; 31. F., i, pp. 345-350. 20 See Horn’s Asadi, p. 18. 21 See Anecdote xix, infra; and Horn’s Asadi, p. 31. 18

A.

;

The second word

22

3 Vj

;

,

23

...

B.,

or

L. omits.

t ,

very uncertain.

is

but lower

;

jujb

),

which

MarghiA.

;

p. 171.

,

A.,

,

A. has

or

(i.e.

be the correct form.

In both MSS. the

which may stand for i,

(Anecdote xix),

I take to

B. has

See 31. F.,

L. has

first

word

or possibly the correct reading

is

is

written

Baththdr-i

F

;

THE POETIC ART.

659

Sipihn', 1 Jawhari, 2 Sa'di, the son of Tisha, 3

and ‘All Shatranji and the names of the House of Seljiiq by Farrukhl, Karkhanl, Lami‘1 of Dahistan, 5 Ja'far of Ilamadan, Firuzi-i-Fakhri, 6 Burh&ni, 7 Amir Mu'izzl, Chess-player ”)

(“ the

4

;

Abu’l-Ma'all of Ray, 8 ‘Amid Kamall, 9 and Shihabl

10

and names of the rulers of Tabaristan through Qumrl of Gurgan, 11 RAfi‘1 of Nlshapur, 12 Kafayatl 13 of Ganja, Kusa Fall, and Burkala 14 and the names of the kings of Ghur, the House of Shansab (may God cause their rule to endure for ever!), through Abu’l-Qasirn Rafl‘1, Abu Bakr Jawhari, this least of mankind Nidhami-i-‘Arudi, and ‘All Sufi. The ;

the

;

of

d'ncdna

poets are

these

eloquent as to the excellence,

comeliness, munitions and forces [of war], justice, bount)’,

worth, nobility, doughty deeds, judgement, statecraft, heavensent success

and influence of these former kings,

of

whom

to-day no trace remains, nor of their hosts and retinues

How many who enjoyed the

any survivor. dynasties

nobles there were under these favours of kings, and dispensed

and conferred on them of income, of whom to-day no trace remains though many were the painted palaces and charming gardens which they created and embellished, but which to-day are untold

largesses

these

to

poets,

sources

1

is

See ‘Awfi’s Lubdb, ch.

2

Xo. 30

M.

;

“the goldsmith” (Zargar).

Called

Tabaqa,

ii,

.

Xo.

i,

,

pp. 244, 245

;

but the identity

See

3

Very doubtful.

Xoticed in ch. x of ‘Awfi’s Zubcib; M.F., i,

L. omits.

Both MSS. have

7

The

6

M.F.,

9 10

(pp.

118-121),

A. has

, i,

;

B.,

, ,

pp. 344, 345.

pp. 494-501.

6

,

.

Both are mentioned

father of Mu'izzi. i,

Dawlatshah

18.

*

5

i,

viii,

uncertain.

in

Anecdote xvi, infra.

pp. 79, 80.

Kamalu’d-Din ‘Amid

of Bukhara.

Ahmad

Shihabu’d-Din

b.

See 31. F.,

Mu’ayyad

pp. 310, 311. 11

M.F.,

12

3T.F.,

13

L. has

14

L. has Qh’ini for Fall, and omits BCtrkala.

i,

pp. 477, 478.

i,

pp. 220, 221.

i,

of Xasaf,

,

pp. 486, 487.

near

Samarqand.

M.F.,

— CHAHXr MAQXLA.

660 levelled

with

and ravines

the

— SECOND

—

DISCOURSE.

ground and uniform with the deserts

Says the author

!

—

j

i

:

— .—

\

Ij

iijS

,

tS

j\

^ c/j

1

L-

~ A_J

“

How many At

whose

a palace did great

tall

towers the

Mahmud

Moon

raise ,

did stand at gaze,

Whereof one brick remaineth not in place, Though still re-echo Unsuri's sweet lays.” ‘

When

the

wa’d-Din Abu

Monarch ‘All

of the

al-Husayn

the Prince of Believers

(may

World Sultan

‘Ala’u’dunya.

al-Husayn, the Choice of

b.

his

life

and the

be long,

umbrella of his dynasty victorious!) marched on Grhazna to avenge those two martyred kings and laudable monarchs, 1

whom

Sultan Bahrarashah bad previously put to death after

the fashion of

common

them with every

thieves, treating

indignity, and speaking lightly

of them, 2 he sacked

Ghazna, by Mahmud, Mas'ud, and and Ibrahim, but he bought with gold the poems written in In that army their praise, and placed them in his library. and in that city none dared call them king, yet he himself would read that Shahnama wherein Firdawsi says destroyed the buildings raised

:

1 Qutbu’d-D'm Muhammad and Sayfu’d-Din Siiri, both killed by Bahramsh&h From the Ghaznavid, towards the middle of the sixth century of the Flight. his devastation of Ghazna (a.h. 550, a.d. 1155-6) ‘Alh'u’d-Din llusayn the GhCirid received the title of Jahan-suz (“ the World-consumer ”). 2 This sentence is obscure in the first portion. It runs as follows in A. :

ii_ijb

•

[A. jl] Siijz Vf

•

•

•

j

^-1

1

— 1\ [A. 4^] j SjjJi

a/

1

\

,•«>

>\j jii j

jib

[

L

i

' -

_j]

kAz

IfiljJ

i

jJwy

THE POETIC APT.

6G1

1

tAr*

}

0,1

V

*

-V^-sr*

iL-li

^1 jjlf^-

“

0/ Me c/