20 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



are most easily rendered through the Basque. All other European 

 Hittites have been linguistically submerged. 



The Hittite, or, as it may be termed, Etruscan, speech long 

 survived in Italy. Many Hittite states were established in 

 Southern Gaul, from the Maritime Alps to the Atlantic coast. In 

 Spain there were several confederations of Hittite and Celto-Hittite 

 cities, for the conquest of which the Carthaginians and Romans 

 contended from the year 235 B.C. The name given to the Spanish 

 Hittites is Iberians, and in other parts of Europe they were 

 known as Rigantes. The British Islands have been largely occu- 

 pied by Hittites ; that the Picts were Iberians has long been 

 suspected, and the same origin has been assigned to the Silures of 

 South Wales. Of the European Hittites who retained their ancient 

 speech the Basque form one division, and the Ugrians the other. 

 The Basque language has aided materially the interpretation of 

 Hittite inscriptions. Although most of the Hittites have been 

 linguistically submerged, the Basque language is fairly preserved in 

 the Caucasus. 



Far back in the time of the old Median Empire circumstances 

 occurred which led to Hittite migrations from the Persian Empire 

 into India, although Cushite and Shemite migrations took place 

 there long before ; but an historic kingdom only began when the 

 Hittites and their Japhetic companions made it their home. 

 Monuments inscribed with strange characters exist showing a 

 relationship to those of Parthia, Asia Minor, and Etruria. The 

 work of deciphering these inscriptions has only just begun. 



The kings who have left their inscriptions in India frequently 

 called themselves kings of the Kita. The oldest inscription which 

 has been deciphered is 403 B.C. It simply states that Kita chose 

 Nebutaki for their king ; twenty years later, Tsumaki of the Sakis 

 proclaims his accession to the throne; twenty years after that, 

 Kabutaku declares that in his person a rival line was superseded 

 by that of the Sakis. The inscriptions suffice to indicate that 

 Hittite rule began in India in the seventh century B.C., and down 

 to the Christian era. When the monarchy was still Hittite, 



