42 ORIGIN AND DECLINE OF THE 



his head, which he fluno; into the middle of the 

 City or Ujjayini, though at an immense distance. 

 In the mean time Vicrama'ditya's army fell back 

 toward Ujjayini, pursued by 'Sa'liva'hana's forces, 

 and in their way crossed the Narmadd. There the 

 army of Sa'liva'hana, consisting of soldiers of mere 

 clay, was suddenly dissolved, and disappeared in the 

 waters of the river. After this, we hear no more of 

 'Sa'liva'hana, except that he disappeared in the 

 79th year of the Christian Era^ which is the first, of 

 his period. His name is not even mentioned in the 

 lists, either of the Emperors of India, or of the Kings 

 of Ujjain. Immediately after the death of Vicra- 

 ma'ditya, his wife was delivered of a son, whom 

 they wanted to crown Emperor of India^ in the same 

 manner as if 'Sa'liva'hana had never existed : but, 

 being a posthumous child, he could not succeed to 

 the empire ; he was, however, perfectly eligible to 

 the throne of the kingdom of i1/«/«'iy« ; , and was of 

 course immediately crowned at Ujjain. 



This took place, according to the Cumdricd-^ 

 c^ hand' a, in the first year of the Christian Era^ 

 when Sa'liva'hana was in his-fifth year; and it is 

 remarkable, that our Saviour was equally in his fifth 

 year at that time. The principal circumstances of 

 this legend are taken from the Apocryphal Gospel of 

 the infancy of Jesus, written in Greek in the third 

 century ; of which an Arabic translation, made at a 

 very early period, is still extant. Henry Syke has 

 given a translation of it in Latin, with some frag- 

 ments still remaining of the Greek original. In 

 these fragments it is declared, that the infant Jesus, 

 when five years of age, amused himself with making 

 figures of clay, which he endued with life. This 

 idle story is mentioned also in the Kordn^ and is well 



