1901.] General Meeting for December, \ 90]. 75 



plete MSS. have been obtained written in difPerent parts of Burdwan, 

 one in 1707 A.D., the year of Aurangzebe's death, and the other in 

 1198 of the Bengali era. 



The book was composed in 1432 by Anaiida Bhatta, a descendant 

 of Aiianta Bhatta, whom Ballal Sen settled in East Bengal by a grant 

 of land. It was written at tlie court of Buddhimanta Khan, the Raja 

 of Navadvipa, a great admirer of Caitanya, who flourished about this 

 time. 



Ananda Bhatta's book is based on three previous works by three 

 writers, contemporaries of Ballala Sen, viz., (1) the Vyasa Puiana by 

 Siinha Giri, a f^^iva monk from Vadarika9rama in the Himalayas, who 

 converted Ballal into the Qaiva faith ; (2) Ballala Carita by Carana 

 Datta, one of the great poets under the same dynasty ; (3) Jayamar)- 

 gala Gatha by Kalidasa Nandi, mentioned in Batu Dasa's Anthology, 

 compiled in 1205 A.D. The information given in Ananda Bhatta's 

 ■work asjrees, to a great extent, with the results of modern historical 

 researches, and so it can be accepted as an authentic record of Ballala's 

 reign. 



The present paper ends with the prooFs of the authenticity of the 

 work, and in the next paper will be given the caste precedents in 

 Bengal as settled by Ballala, 



6. A Note on the existence of the Magi, the Median Priesthood in 

 India, at the present day. — By Mahamahopadhyata Haraprasad Shastri. 



(Abstract). 

 At the end of the enumeration of the subdivisions of the Brahmana 

 caste in India in the 16th chapter of the Ballala Carita there occurs 

 a curious verse which translated into English would run thus: — 



" The Magas, i.e., Magi, too, are Brahmanas, who issuing from the 

 disc of the Sun and shining like the blazing Sun, dropped in the 

 ^akadvipa" ? 



There are throughout India Brahmanas known as Qaka-dvipi or 

 ^akala-dvipi, who like the Magi generally devote themselves to Astro- 

 logy, Divination, Propitiation of Planetary Deities, and similar subjects. 

 When engaged in their proper work they are respected as Brahmanas, 

 but when not so engaged they are not so regarded. 



It is not difficult, therefore, to identify these paka-dvipi Brahmanas 

 as the Magi of old, and we have the high authority of Simha Giri. the 

 Guru of Ballala, in our support. 



Now the question is, when did the Magi come into India, and who 

 they were ? They are said to have been Zoroastrian priests, but this 

 statement is to be taken with reservation. In the Gathas of the Avesta 



