The Brāhmanas may be generally described as occupying an intermediate position, both as regards chronology, character, language, and mythology, between the Vedic hymns, and the Indian epic poems and Purānas. They are liturgical works, connected with the different Sanhitās, or collections of hymns, and having it for their object to explain the application of those hymns to the different parts of the Brahmanical ritual, as practised at the period when they were compiled. In these works we encounter a great many legends of greater or less extent, which are introduced with the view of showing the occasion on which some particular hymn was first uttered, or of accounting for the origin, and enforcing the efficacy, of some particular ceremony, or for some other such purpose. Many of these stories have their germ in some brief notice or allusion in the hymns of the Rig Veda, while they occur in a greatly developed form in the epic poems and Purānas. The shape in which these legends occur in the Brāhmanas is thus an intermediate one between that in which they appear in the hymns, and that which they subsequently assume in mythological works of a later date. Of this description is the story of Śunahśepha in the Aitareya Brāhmana, which appeared about the same time in the 1st and 2nd vols. of Weber's “Indische Studien”, in the German translation of Professor R. Roth, and in the Journal of this Society, vol. xiii., pp. 96 ff., translated into English by the late Professor Wilson, and which has subsequently been given by Professor Max Müller, in his “History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature”, pp. 408 ff. In this story the author of the Brāhmana quotes various hymns from the first Mandala of the Rig Veda, which he considers to have been uttered by Śunahśepha, at the time when he was in danger of being immolated. The legend was, at a later period, introduced into the Rāmāyana, Book i., sections 61, 62.

The subject of this manuscript is the War of the celebrated prince Mangku Nagárá against the Dutch and their allies, which began in the latter half of the 17th century. The language is the modern Javanese, with here and there a word or two in Kavi, the ancient poetical idiom of Java, and in one passage wholly in Kavi. The composition is metrical; the metre is that which is usually employed in works of this nature, and the style is somewhat monotonous. The MS. is dated in the Javanese year 1724 (A.D. 1798), and the owner, and perhaps author of the work, is stated at the end to be Rader Fumenggung Suma diningrat.

In 1839 the British Government committed itself to an undertaking which practically amounted to the conquest, military occupation, and civil administration of a remote mountain land, inhabited by a savage and warlike race, animated by the strongest feelings of nationality. Yet it was all but wholly unprovided with the means of acquiring or imparting a knowledge of the difficult and peculiar language in which that nationality found its strongest expression and support. Such knowledge, indeed, was not absolutely indispensable for the purposes of official or social intercourse and correspondence. The requirements of current business were sufficiently met by the employment of Persian, generally known among the educated classes of Afghans, and strictly vernacular with that large population of Afghanistan which is Persian in its origin and Shiah by religion. But the inner life and distinctive character of the Afghans remained a sealed book for want of a knowledge of Pushtu. A vocabulary inserted at the end of Mounstuart Elphinstone's travels, a translation of the New Testament into Pushtu, and a brief grammatical sketch and vocabulary by Major Leach, constituted at that time the whole of the materials accessible to the English or Anglo-Indian student desirous of making himself acquainted with this language. These were scanty in amount, of little use for practical purposes, and of not much intrinsic value. The translation of the Testament was executed with haste and carelessness; and, though every allowance must be made for the zeal of the translators and the difficulties of a little-known, and, to them, uncultivated language, with the literature of which they were evidently unacquainted, such an error as the often-quoted rendering of “Judge not, that ye be not judged”, by words meaning “Do not practice equity, lest equity be practised towards yoū”, was more than mere inaccuracy in Pushtu, as it indicates fundamental ignorance of the real meaning of insāf, a word universal and of quite common and vernacular use in every language spoken by Mahometans. Leach's grammatical sketch goes a very little way in facilitating the student's progress, being slight, imperfect, and not always accurate or consistent in rendering Afghan sounds into Roman letters; but his dialogues are original, animated, and apparently idiomatic. An ode of Rahman, subjoined to his sketch, is so disfigured with bad misprints that it is of no use to any one who is not proficient enough to restore the text by means of the translation at the side: in other words, it is useless to a learner. As this work bears the official countersign of Mr. Torrens, certifying it to be a “true copy”, the responsibility of these misprints must be borne at least as much by the censor as by the author. The late Dr. Leyden appears at one time to have turned his attention to Pushtu, and to have succeeded in adding some knowledge of that language to his other great and varied accomplishments. A memoir by him on the Roshenian sect, in the 11th volume of the Asiatic Researches, contains some extracts from the Makhzan i Pushtu, the earliest extant work in the language, and the main authority for his subject. This, however, was not philology, and he added nothing to our knowledge of the language. A gallant and distinguished officer, Lieutenant Loveday, whose barbarous murder, at the instigation of the dispossessed Khan of Khelat, caused a deep and painful sensation in England at the time, is understood to have contemplated a systematic study of Pushtu, with a view to publishing the result; a project which was abruptly stopped by his untimely death.

During our travels in India and High Asia, a careful collection of geographical names in the native spelling, and, if possible, with an interpretation added, became necessary for guiding us in transcribing those names in European characters. We soon observed that a considerable part of such information presented novel, unexpected, and well defined details, particularly for the countries beyond India. We directed our attention to it, therefore, with the greater zeal, as it gave us the idea of incorporating into our publications also a selection of geographical and ethnographical names.

The subjoined paper was commenced, with a view to its insertion in this Journal, more than two years ago; circumstances, over which I have had no control, haye delayed and still obstruct its completion; nor would it now appear, in its imperfect and unfinished state, were it not that the illustrative plates, prepared for the occasion, await an accompanying notice.

There is no life of Gótama Buddha, by any native author, yet discovered, that is free from the extravagant pretensions with which his history has been so largely invested; from which we may infer that the records now in existence were all prepared long after his appearance in this world. The Chinese work, of which the following is a translation, was written about the middle of the seventh century after Christ. We learn from “The History of the Sung Dynasty” that there was constant intercourse between China and Ceylon at this time, as well as in much earlier periods. The pilgrims from China were accustomed to take from the island relics, extracts from the sacred books, and models of the most celebrated images of Buddha. We are, therefore, prepared to discover a similarity between the mythical records of India and China, but could scarcely have expected that it would be so complete as is now proved by recent researches. The popular worship of the Queen of Heaven is one of the most striking innovations. Neither in the legends, nor hi the philosophical disquisitions of the Chinese, are there evidences of much originality, so far as their translated works on Buddhism enable us to judge. They seem here to be the same unimaginative copyists that they are in works of art and manufacture.

In January, 1862, Mr. A. A. Roberts, of the Bengal Civil Service, presented to the Society two copper plates inscribed with Bactrian Pali characters, said to have been found at Hussun Abdal, near Rawal Pindee, in the Punjab. These plates were submitted to the examination of Mr. Norris, and that gentleman at once picked out the names of Takhaśila nagara (Taxila) and Śákyamuni, proving the inscription to be one of more than ordinary importance. Having made a transcript of the document, he wrote a few notes upon it which were read at one of the Society's meetings, and he then suggested that the plates should be sent to me. The interest I had taken in these Bactrian inscriptions from the time of our joint labours on the Kapur di Giri edicts was well known to him, and was sufficient to ensure a careful if unsuccessful consideration of the newly-discovered inscription. In this recommendation the Society acquiesced and placed the plates at my disposal for examination and report. I now propose to state the results of my investigation.

After the fall of Palmyra and the many disasters which about this time overwhelmed Alexandria, the far East ceased to occupy the Roman mind or much place in Roman literature. India and the name of Buddha are however to be met with in Christian controversial writings of the third and fourth centuries directed against the Manichæan heresy. They occur, in Archelaus' account of his disputation with the hæresiarch Manes held at Charra in Mesopotamia (A.D. 275–9), in the Catacheses of Cyril of Jerusalem (A.D. 361), and in the Heresies of Epiphanius (A.D. 375), which all trace back the Manichæan doctrine to one Scythianus and his disciple Terebinthus, whom they connect with India in this wise. Scythianus, of Scythian descent, though by birth a Saracen of the Saracens of Palestine and thus familiar with the Greek language and literature, was a contemporary of the Apostles, and a merchant engaged in the India trade. In the course of his business he had several times visited India; and while there, being a man of an inquiring mind and great natural parts, had made himself acquainted with the Indian philosophy. In his maturer years, having now amassed great wealth, while returning homeward through the Thebais, he fell in, at Hypsele, with an Egyptian slave girl, whom he bought and married, and who persuaded him to settle in Alexandria. Here he applied himself to the study of and mastered the Egyptian learning, and here formed those peculiar opinions which, with the assistance of his one disciple and slave Terebinthus, he embodied in four books, the source of all Manichæan doctrine.

The importance of the relation of the ancient Egyptian language to the Semitic group will be acknowledged, if it is remembered that the late Baron Bunsen based upon this relation his theory of the derivation of the latter from the former or a closely-similar variety of speech.

In the year 1857 Sir Charles Nicholson returned to London after a visit to Upper Egypt, where he had made a large collection of objects of antiquarian interest, including several stelae, sepulchral inscriptions, papyri, and inscribed linen cloth. Amongst the latter was one containing, in hieroglyphic writing, a part of the 129th chapter of the Book of the Dead. The document is itself of no particular interest. It presents a few new homophons. From the style of writing it is of an early date, and is probably of a period contemporaneous with the XVIIIth dynasty.

The following notes, very nearly as they stand, were forwarded in July, 1861, by post to the late Colonel Baird Smith, for communication to the Eoyal Asiatic Society. The address got defaced in the mail-bags; and the parcel, after lying for several months in the Dead Letter Office, found its way back to Eoorkee. My observations have thus forfeited the advantage of correction and criticism from one so experienced in the subject to which they relate. Meanwhile, I have had some hurried opportunities of seeing and hearing more, and can thus make some alterations and additions.— H. B. M.

Some years ago it was suggested to me to undertake an edition and translation of the Súrya Siddhánta; but a long and careful study of the work convinced me that it would be impossible satisfactorily to accomplish the object without more assistance than was to be found in Europe. The MSS. were few and insufficient in accuracy; the lexicon was deficient in most of the technical terms; and the only works that threw any light upon the subject were those of Colebrooke, invaluable as far as they went, and the Abbé Guérin's Astronomie Indienne. The other writers who had touched upon the subject merely reproduced what was to be found in Colebrooke.

There are few names in the history of Indian science which have acquired a celebrity equalling that of Áryabhaṭṭa. He is—to use the words of Colebrooke—“the earliest author known to have treated of Algebra among the Hindus, and likely to be, if not the inventor, the improver, of that analysis; by whom, too, it was pushed nearly to the whole degree of excellence which it is found to have attained among them.” But, notwithstanding the renown of the Indian algebraist and astronomer, not only among his countrymen, but also among the Arabian scholars, his works seemed to be lost. Neither was Colebrooke successful, nor was Davis more so, in their endeavours to find any work of his. What was known about his doctrine, which in many points deviated from the prevailing opinions among Indian astronomers, was derived from quotations occurring in various mathematical and astronomical writings. Now, it is deserving of notice, that in Southern India there are copies extant of works that most unequivocally lay claim to being the genuine productions of Áryabhaṭṭa. The late Mr. Whish knew an Áryabhaṭṭíyam, a treatise on arithmetic and mathematics, to which I shall have to revert in the course of this paper. Prof. Lassen says, in his Indische Alterthumskunde, that he has received from Southern India copies of two works ascribed to Áryabhaṭṭa, viz., of the above-mentioned Áryabhaṭṭíyam and of the Daṣagítakasútra. In an article on the Ārya-siddhánta in the 6th volume of the Journal of the American Oriental Society, Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall has verified an Ārya-siddhánta, of which he possessed two imperfect copies, by extracts occurring in the writings of various commentators.

In compliance with your request that I should furnish a few particulars on the botanical features of the country we passed through, on our way to Antananarivo, I will reduce my journal, and give as many salient points of the road as I can remember, begging you to have in mind that, in so hurried a journey, it is impossible to do justice to the materials supplied, and that our visit having been made in the winter season, a just appreciation of the country could not be formed. From specimens of timber sub-sequently obtained from a part of the island, remote from that of our road to the capital, I am able to aver that no opinion of the size or value of the woods can be formed from any seen on our journey.

It is now an admitted truth, which is passing into the stage of a truism, that the most effectual means of “developing the resources of India, augmenting its value as a national possession, and promoting the prosperity of its inhabitants, are to be found in the general establishment of internal communications, and more especially in the construction of railroads. It will therefore be interesting to the members of this Committee to pass in brief review the exertions which have been made in the last ten years to establish a system of railways in India, together with the measures now under discussion to give full efficiency to it.

It is well known that the ordinary theory of the Indian books, from the Institutes of Manu downwards, is, that the inhabitants of Hindūstan were originally divided into four castes, Brahmans, Kshattriyas, Vaiśyas, and Sūdras, who are asserted to have sprung respectively from the mouth, arms, thighs, and feet, of the Creator. It is true that in these books this theory is not consistently maintained, as we sometimes find a different origin assigned to the four classes. In one passage, the Mahā-Bhārata (xii, 6939) even goes the length of denying that there was at first any distinction of castes, and of affirming that all the world was formed of Brahma, and that, at a period subsequent to their creation, men became divided into classes according to their different occupations. In another part of the same great poem (i, 3138 f.) it is declared that the “descendants of Manu became known as Mānavas (or men); that men, Brahmans, Kshattriyas, and the rest, were sprung from this Manu.” These declarations are clearly inconsistent with the myth of the four castes having issued separately from the Creator's body.

In the spring of 1861 I passed through the town of Ma'lula, on my way from Ba'labakk (Baalbek) to Damascus. Ma'lula is one of the most curious towns not only in Syria, but in the world. It hangs in an apparently unsafe manner on the side of a perpendicular rock of very great height. The houses are partly excavated from the rock, and partly built upon one another. The streets are so steep that men have to walk on all fours and mules on two legs. The dogs, which in other eastern cities manage their affairs among themselves without belonging to any master, or seeming to notice any passer by, are here of an exceptional temper. They bark at travellers, and especially at the skirts of European coats, in a most threatening manner, so that one has to look after his legs, beside trying to keep his equilibrium. Ma'lula is full of antiquities, the study of which would abundantly repay the sojourn of an antiquarian for a whole summer. They consist chiefly of innumerable caves and tombs cut in the rock, wondrous carved figures of priests and kings, &c. The top of the mountain is a plateau, fertilized by a very large stream, the waters of which, divided into two mighty torrents, encircle the town, and loose themselves in a thousand rivulets under the walnut, mulberry, and pomegranate trees of the oasis below.

We learn from the ancient legends, that in the very earliest periods of Buddhism relics and images of Buddha were highly honoured. The religious works recommend their worship, as also that of the monuments in which the relics are deposited; and we find it mentioned that the images sent to royal personages at their desire were previously inscribed with the sacred dogma, “Ye Dharma,” &c., and similar formulas, in order to make those personages acquainted with the Bhuddist doctrines. Such were the first objects of worship. In the seventh century A.D., however, this adoration and worship had already been considerably increased; for Thien Thsang, the Chinese pilgrim, mentions, that all the principal disciples of Sákyamuni were then addressed, as also the Bodhisattwas who had excelled in virtue and the sciences, as Manjusrí. “The Maháyána schools,” he says, “have adored even all Bódhisattwas without any further distinction.”

The first portion of the volume of Cuneiform Inscriptions, recently published by the British Museum, contains an important series of legends of the early Babylonian kings. These are written in the Proto-Chaldæan language, which as yet is little understood. I therefore heard with great interest that the Paris Museum possesses an inscription of one of these kings, Khammurabi, written in the Babylonian language, and that Messrs. Oppert and Ménant had presented a copy of it, together with a translation, to the British Museum. The accession of so ingenious a scholar as M. Ménant to the small band of Assyrian interpreters, is a subject of much congratulation, and in this instance he has certainly presented the world of letters with a valuable gift. I am indebted to my friend, W. H. Coxe, Esq., of the British Museum, for an accurate copy of this important document, and from it I have made the translation which I now beg leave to offer to the Society. It will be seen, that though agreeing with M. Ménant in many things, I differ from him considerably in some parts of the second column.