222 ESSAY ON 



oifsprhig of Saca or 'Sa'liva'hana. All the mem- 

 bers of this tribe insist, that their chief is really an 

 incarnation of Vishnu, in the character of 'Saca 

 or 'Sa'liva'hana, regenerated like the presidents 

 and chiefs of the Manicheans. This the chief, with 

 affected modesty, seems rather unwiliing to acknow- 

 ledge; but in despite of his affected endeavours to 

 conceal his divine origin, peculiar circumstances will 

 betray him, and which are related, in numerous 

 and fulsome legends, current through the whole 

 tribe, and which I shall pass over. There are also, 

 in the Peninsula, ^Saca-vansas or 'Saca-Raja-vansas, 

 which signify, and are understood in that country, 

 to signify, the offspring of Saca, or king 'Saca or 

 Saliva'hana ; and in the east, and also in the west, 

 the followers of a deity, or some legislator and in- 

 stitutor, are often called his offspring *. It is but 

 lately that I have been acquainted with this singular 

 tribe of Raja-Cumaras, who do not differ from 

 other Hindus of the same class, and have now lost 

 every vestige of their ancient religion, except the 

 name of their institutor. 



Asiatic Researches, Vol. 8. p. SOf, 



