£SS ON THE CHRONOLOGY 



$eleucus annually with fifty 1 elephants ; for we read of 

 Au'locims the Great going to India, to renew the al- 

 liance with king Sophagafeinus, and of his receiving 

 fifty elephants from him. Sop'hagqfemus, I conceive, 

 to be a corruption of Shiva ca-Sina, the grandion ot 

 Chandra -Gupta. In the purdnas this grandion is called 

 Afeca yJ-cihana or full of mercy, a word of nearly the 

 fame import as Afeca-feria or Shivaca-fena ; the latter 

 nifying //£ whofe armies are merciful do not ravage 

 f ;,A/ plunder the country. 



The fon of Chandra-Gupta is called AUitrochates 

 and Amitrocates by the Greek hiitorian. Seleucus 

 lent an ambafiador to him ; and after his death the 

 fame good intelligence was maintained by Antiochus 

 the Ion or the grandfon of Seleucus. Tins ion of 

 ihdra-tGupta is called J arifara in the purdnas ; ac- 

 cording to Parafara, his namp was Dafaratha ; but 

 neither the one nor the other bear any affinity to 

 Amitrocates : this name appears, however, to be de- 

 rived from the Sanlcrit Mitra-Gupta, which ligni 

 faved by Mitra or the Sun, and therefore probably was 

 only a furname. 



It may be objected to the foregoing account, the 

 improbaoility or a Hindu marrying the daughter of 

 a Yavana, or, indeed, of amy foreigner. On this 

 (difficulty I confulted the Pundits of Benares, and they 

 all gave me the fame arifwer ; namely, that in the 

 time of Chandra-Gupta the Yavanas were much 

 refpedled., and were even confidered as a fort of Hin- 

 dus though they afterwards brought upon themfelves 

 the hatred of that nation by their cruelty, avarice, 

 rapacity, and treachery in every tranfaclion while 

 they ruled over the wefrern parts of India ; but 

 that at any rate the objection did not apply to 

 the cafe, as Chandra^Gupta himfelf was a iS //- 

 dra, that is to lay, of the loweft clafs. In the 



Vijlnnc- 



