318 



THE SINGHALESE CHRONICLES. 



[PART III. 



fore Christ. Along with a multitude of facts relating to 

 Ceylon, the Mahawanso contains a chronologically con- 

 nected history of Buddhism in India from B.C. 590 to B.C. 

 307, a period signalised in classical story by the Indian 

 expedition of Alexander the Great, and by the Embassy 

 of Megasthenes to Palibothra, events which in their 

 results form the great link connecting the histories of 

 the West and East, but which have been omitted or 

 perverted in the scanty and perplexed annals of the 

 Hindus, because they tended to the exaltation of Bud- 

 dhism, a religion loathed by the Brahrnans. 



The Prasii, or people of Magadha, occupy a promi- 

 nent place in the history of Ceylon, inasmuch as 

 Gotama Buddha, the great founder of the faith of its 

 people, was a prince of that country, and Mahindo, 

 who finally established the Buddhist religion amongst 

 them, was the great-grandson of Chandagutto, a prince 

 whose name thus recorded in the Mahawanso 1 (not- 

 withstanding a chronological discrepancy of about sixty 

 years, which Turnour has shown that there are reason- 

 able grounds to account for 2 ), may with little difficulty be 

 identified with the" Chandragupta" of the Hindu Purana, 

 and the " Sandracottus" of Megasthenes. 



This is one out of the many coincidences which demon- 

 strate the authenticity of the ancient annals of Ceylon ; 

 and from sources so venerable, and materials so abun- 

 dant, I propose to select a few of the leading events, 

 sufficient to illustrate the origin, and explain the in- 

 fluence of institutions and customs which exist at the 

 present day in Ceylon, and which, from time imme- 

 morial, have characterised the island. 



1 Mahawanso, ch. v. p. 21. See also 

 WILSON'S Notes to the Vishnu Purdna, 

 p. 408. 



2 Introd. Mahawanso, p.li. See post, 

 p. 329, note 3 . 



