14, Dates of the Votive Inscriptions on the Stiipas at 
Satichi. 
By R. C. Masumpar, Dacca. 
The chronological classification of the ancient monuments 
of India has of late engaged the attention of oriental scholars. 
Sir John Marshall who has gone into this branch of study 
somewhat deeply has arrived at more or less definite conclu- 
sions regarding the dates of various monuments and “ traced 
the history of early Indian art step by step through the first 
four centuries of its evolution.” His the eory is based on ‘a 
serious critical analysis of the sculptures carved upon these 
monuments ” and he has “ used their style and technique as 
criteria to determine their date.’ It appears Sir John Mar- 
shall did not rest satisfied with this line of evidence alone but 
realised ‘: the necessity of working out the dates of the ancient 
monuments of India also from. palaeographic indications ”’ 
With this object in view he initiated an enquiry into the 
subject and evidently chose Mr. Rama Prasad Chanda, B.A., 
to undertake the work. It may be at once said that the 
realisation of the importance of an enquiry on the above line 
the selection of the scholar to undertake the work alike 
reflect Le credit upon the scholarship of Sir John Marshall. 
. Chanda undertook the work in right earnest and the 
np achieved by him are embodied in a beautiful pad 
published as the first number of the ‘‘ Memoirs of the Archzo- 
logical Survey of India”’ The net conclusions arrived Tae by 
Mr. Chanda, so far as we are Lconeemee with them here, may 
be presented in his own wor 
To sum up, the Br che nine toe from the third 
century B.C. to the second century A.D., may be chrono- 
logically arranged in the following order :— 
Edicts of Asoka. 
2. Nagarjuni Hill cave inscriptions of Asoka’s grand- 
son Dasaratha. 
3. Besnagar Garuda pillar inscriptions. r | 
4. (a) insaeipeant on the railings of Stupa I at 
8. 
an 
(b) Inserption on the railings of Stipa II at 
fichi. 
(c) seams railing inscriptions. 
(d) Inseriptions on the remnants of the old Bodh- 
Gaya railing. 
5. (a) -eicces Garuda pillar inscription of the year 12 
