ii/O AN ESSAY OX THE 



The VrViat-Cafhd is a collection of historical 

 anecdotes, sometimes very interesting, and consists 

 of 22000 slocas. 



In the spoken dialects, there is the romance of 

 Prithu-ra'ya, containing an account of his wars 

 with Sultan Guori ; part of it is in my possession. 

 It is exactly in the style of our old romances in 

 Europe, with nearly the same proportion of histo- 

 rical truth. 



In several of the Purcoias there is an account of 

 the principal events, which were to take place dur- 

 ing the Cali-yug *. These come down as late as 

 the eighth and ninth centuries, except in the Agni 

 and the Bhavishya Puranas, in which there is an 

 account written, as usual, in a prophetical style, of 

 the principal events, which were to take place, as 

 late as the twelfth century. In the time of Acbar, 

 a supplement was added, down to HuMAvyN, as 

 is obvious from the lists of the kings of Mdlwa in 

 the second volume of the Ayin-Acberi. Since that 

 time another supplement has been added, down to 

 the beginning of the eighteenth century. 



It is universally acknowledged, that the court of 

 the kings o^ Magad'ha, now the province of Bakaj\ 

 was once, one of the most brilliant that ever existed, 

 and that learning was promoted there, through its 

 various branches. Their vernacular language was 

 cultivated, and many valuable treatises were writ- 

 ten in it, in order to diffuse knowledge among all 

 classes of men. This, I am informed, was carried 

 so far as to incur the resentment of the whole sa- 

 cerdotal class, who unanimously declared) that 

 ' ' 



* The Brahmdnda, Bhuc^avat, Vishiiu^ aud Vdyu Purun^s. 

 Sections on Fuluuty. 



