

Vol. IV, No. 1.] Sinhalese Historical Documents, ete. 9 
[N.S ‘J 
The other verses may come from the old Sinhalese Atthakatha 
Mahavathsa, which is the source of our Pali authorities, the 
Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa and Buddhaghosa. Verse 9 is interest- 

L Chronological note-—One cannot help feeling that if the 256 of the 
R.S.B. edict is a date, and if 214 or thereabout be taken as the date of 
i ro t 
apparently conflicting and yet authoritative sources for knowledge of 
Indian history. It it noteworthy that the Dipavamsa begins its cl sess 
the Sambodhi of the Tathagata. On the other hand Vijaya, the first king 
of Ceylon, landed in Laika in the year of the Parinibbana. Could this have 
given rise to a confusion of epochs? The difference between 256 and 214 
is 42 years. Most of our accounts give 45 as the number of years between 
Nibbana and Parinibbina. But the learned Haraprasad SAstr, in a letter to 
Mr. Venis, which the latter has been so kind as to allow me to use, says that 

' speaks of a Canton, which 
fixes Buddha’s death in 486. 486+41=527 527—256=271, while 486—214 
gives 272. Is all this mere fortuitous coincideuce ? 
