LITERATURE OF THE BURMAS. l65 



posecl by them to have been the first inhabitants of 

 the earth*. That this must be the meaning of the 

 history of Cashmere, seems plain : as we are told, 

 Rajah jENNEHthe forty-lifth prince, and who, ac- 

 cording to my theory, must have lived about the 

 year of Christ 20'2, " established in his reign the 

 Brahmenif rites." His successor Jelowk, the most 

 pov/erful of the princes of Cashmere, ' ' tolerated the 

 doctrine of Bowdh:" and in that delightful valley 

 it was not till the reign of Nerkh, the fifty-ninth 

 prince, A. D. 342, " \h7itt\\Q Brahme7is got the bet- 

 ter of the followers of Bowdh, and burned down 

 their temples." 



To such as have an opportunity, I would beg to 

 recommend an enquiry into the religion of Nepal. 

 In the account given of that country by father 

 GiusEPPE-j", it is stated, that there are in it two 

 religions. The most ancient, professed by a sect 

 who call themselves Barjjesii, and v/ho, from se- 

 veral circumstances mentioned by the father, seem 

 to be worshippers of Bouddha. The other religion, 

 now the more common, is that of the Brahmens of 

 Hindustan. 



" Iisr Narhoara, the residence of rhekingof kings, 

 " or oi' Gtizerat, even after the Mahonuneclan hwd.-- 

 " sion in the eleventh century of our a^ra, wc find it 

 " mentioned in Edrisi, that the people continued 

 *' to worship Bodda'J:. " 



If the conjectures of Sir Vv^illtam Joxes, rela- 

 tive to the inscriptions found at JMoiigheer, and on 

 the pillar at jB^^r/z/r//]!, be M-ell founded, then the go- 

 verning power on tlie banks of the Qanges, as late 

 as about the time of the birth of Christ, was of the 

 sect of Bouddha. The Bralnnens indeed had tlien 

 introduced themselves into Hindustan, and had ob- 

 tained lands, and even the rank of prime minister 

 to the great Rajah : but they had not persuaded him to 

 change his religion; a change v/iiich when accom- 



L 3 piished, 



* Page 24S of this volume.- + Ai'wUck Researches, II, SOQ. 



X Rennell's Memoir, p. 229, \ Jiiaiid RacixixhcSil, 142, 



