898 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



of the right «irm of Vena, father 

 of Prithu or Noah. Bards, in this 

 part of India, being without em- 

 ploy, are become a most despicable 

 race of men. Thty are more re- 

 spected in the Deccau, according 

 to major Mackenzie, who says, 

 that they are generally called Ca- 

 visars, from CavyCswaras, or the 

 Lords of the Drama. 



The merchants of Majjad'ha 

 formed not only a peculiar class, 

 but also a particular tribe, called 

 the Magad'hi tribe. It seems, that 

 they were bold, enterprising, and 

 at the same time cautious and cir- 

 cumspect ; hence they are said to 

 be merchants by the father's, and 

 warriors by the mother's side, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Colebrooke's ac- 

 count of the Hindu classes. Ac- 

 cording to the Vishnu-purkn'a, the 

 kings of Majiid'ha originally re- 

 sided at a place called Giri-Vraja, 

 or Giri-Braja. Vraja is sj-nony- 

 mous with Ghosha, a Iierdsman, 

 also the abode of a herdsman ; 

 and being situated in the hills, it 

 was called Giri-vraja. From that 

 circumstance, the kings of Ma- 

 gad"ha were, till a very late period, 

 called Vraja-halas, or rather, in 

 the spoken dialects, Vraja-walas, 

 or Braja-walas, distorted after- 

 wards by Musulman writers, into 

 Birdaoval according to Herbelot, 

 and Birdawal according to Abul- 

 feda ; who says it was also the 

 name of their metropolis. Giri- 

 Biaja was situated in the province 

 of South Bahar, among the moun- 

 tains of Sivira, now called the 

 BSja-gir, or the royal mountains ; 

 but more probably the real name 

 was Rajagriha, from a place of 

 that name, implying the roj'al 

 abode. It is erroneously written, 

 in major Rencel's Atlas, Rargiara. 



This is acknowledged to havebeet? 

 one of their places of abode ; for 

 they say, that the royal throne 

 was at a place called Asana, above 

 Gaya, on the river Balga, now 

 Fulgo, called Cacuthis by Arrian. 

 Asana signifies a royal seat, or 

 throne; and Ptolemy mentions, 

 also, a place of that name, Asana 

 Mara, or the destroyed throne. 

 It is called Pracjyotisha in the Pu- 

 ran'as, and its remains are near 

 Go-hati, on the frontiers of As- 

 sam. 



There, among the Raja-gritha 

 mountains, the unfortunate .Jara- 

 sand'ha had a palace, near some 

 hot springs, where he generally 

 resided ; some remains of it are to 

 be seen to this da)', and it is con- 

 sidered as a place of worship. The 

 Pfija is there performed, first in 

 honour of Crishna and the five 

 Pandavas ; then with flowers in 

 honour of old Sand'ha, and his son 

 Sahadeva. There, in memory of 

 this unfortunate hero, martial 

 games are annually exhibited. 

 They are performed with clubs, 

 whilst drums are constantly beat- 

 ing. I am informed, that there is 

 a statue of him, of an ordinary 

 size, and seemingly of great anti- 

 quity. He is represented naked, 

 with a club in his hand. Formerly 

 the same games were exhibited, in 

 his honour also, opposite to Patna, 

 in a small island, called, from that 

 circumstance, Sam-Mallaca, and 

 Sambalaca by I*lolemy. They 

 were then celebrated with great 

 solemnity ; people came from dis- 

 tant parts, and, during the time 

 they lasted, a fair was held there. 

 The games, the fair, and the place 

 where it was held, were famous all 

 over India, and the name of Sam- 

 Mallaca became synonymous with 

 Patali-putra. 



