CHRONOLOGY. 209 



conquerors and rulers. But there exist no materials suited 

 to the accomplishment of such a purpose. Amid the volu- 

 minous writings of the Hindoos, we find the most lamentable 

 deficiency of historical records. Previous to the establish- 

 ment of Moslem dominion, these appear only through the 

 vail of a mythology at once poetical and extravagant. The 

 theology, history, poetry, literature, and social condition 

 of this remarkable people are all so closely interwoven, as 

 to make it impossible satisfactorily to consider any one, 

 unless in connexion with all the rest. 



The Hindoos, it must be admitted, possess ancient works, 

 which are generally believed 10 present somewhat of an 

 historical character. Such are a great part of the Puranas, 

 and the singular compositions termed the Mahabarat and 

 the Ramayana. Yet these are religious poems, exhibiting 

 the actions of gods, not of men, and leading the reader 

 through a maze of wonder and mystery. The deities and 

 heroes whose exploits they celebrate appear indeed to have 

 been ancient monarchs who held sway over India ; but the 

 details are so palpably fabulous, and at the same time so 

 childishly absurd, as to be unfit for any of the objects of 

 genuine history. They convey no idea of the character of the 

 actors, the manners of the age, or the train of human events. 



The system of Indian chronology, though it bears a 

 character equally extravagant, has yet, from its apparent 

 research and imposing aspect, excited much attention among 

 the sages of Europe. The reader will learn from Professor 

 Wallace's treatise in the third volume, their measurement 

 of time by astronomical epochs, manwantaras, days of Bra- 

 ma, and years of the gods. It is enough to remark in this 

 place, that the Maha Yug, or great divine age, through 

 which mankind are now passing, consists of four human ages, 

 the last and worst of which is at present revolving. These 

 ages, of unequal and continually decreasing length, are the 



Sat ya Yug, which lasted 1,728,000 years. 



Treia Yug 1,20(5,000 



I) wapar Yug 801.000 



Cali Yug, which is to last 432,000 



Of the dark era in which we live, only about five thousand 

 years have yet elapsed. Of the satya yug, the golden age 

 of innocence, there remains only a dim and pleasing tradi- 

 tion ; the great 8ood, said to have arrived at its close, having 



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