1883.] P. N. Bose—JVote on Mdhishmati. 129 



Mahesvara was anciently known as Mahiahmafci after Mahishmat, 

 seventh in descent from Yadu.* The city is called by this hitter name in 

 inscriptions dated so late as the time of the Emperor Akbar. A small 

 river which joins the Narmada east of it is still known as Mahishrnati. 



Mahishmati was visited by Sahadeva during his campaign of con- 

 quest.f It is also noticed in the Mahabharata, TIdyogaparva,X as well as 

 in the A'di-, Vana-, and Anusdsana-parvas, chiefly in connection with the 

 thousand armed Kartaviryarjuna. In the last named parva he is described 

 as " lord of this whole world, living in Mahishmati. This Haihaya of 

 unquestioned valour ruled over the whole sea-girt earth with its ocean and 

 continents." § 



Ravana, the king of Lanka, is mentioned in the Vishnu Parana || as 

 having been taken prisoner at Mahishmati by Kartavirya and kept con- 

 fined like a wild beast in a corner of the city. 



When Kartavirya lived it is impossible to tell. He seems to have been 

 the contemporary of Ravana and Parasurama, and so many anecdotes of 

 supernatural strength have gathered round his name that he appears to us 

 almost as a mythical personage. Nevertheless, it is surprising how numer- 

 ous are the traditions still preserved of him at Mahesvara. There is a well- 

 known fall, a little below the city, which is called Sahasradhara after the 

 thousand-armed king. And what concerns us more closely, the ruins at 

 Manddl kJio are still held to be those of his capital — the ancient Mahish- 

 mati or, as it is popularly known, the Sihasra-hdhu-hi-hasti. 



Col. Wilford identifies Mahishmati as Choli-Mahesvara,^ which is 

 identical with our Mahesvara, Choli being a small town four miles to the 

 north of it. Fitz-Edward Hall who paid a visit to the place confirms this 

 identification** and Col. Todff also mentions Mahesvara as " Sahasra- 

 vahuka basti." 



5. Are there Tenses in Arabic ? — By George Hughes, C. S., late Demy 

 of Magdalen College, Oxford. 



By tenses are understood determinations oi the verb to time past, 

 present, or future, by modifications of the verb itself. The European 



* Wilson's Vishnu Purana, Vol. IV, p. 54, (Book IV, Ch. XI). 



f Mahabharata, S abhdparvan, verses 1124, 1130, &c. 



J See Wilson's Vishnu Furdna^ Vol. II, pp. 166-67. 



§ See Muir's Sanskrit Texts, I. pp. 448, ff. 



II Op. cit. IV. 11, 3. The Bhagavat Purana relates the same story. See Muir, 

 op. cit. Vol. I, p. 478. 



If As. Res. IX, p. 105. 



** Wilson's " Vishnu Purana," Vol. II, p. 167. 



ft " Antiquities of Rajasthan" (Vol. I, p. 39, note) quoted by F. Hall, Vishnu 

 Purana, IV, p. 59. 



