1882.] H- L. Mitra— Corns of tie Shah Kings. 43 



lower ends in some cases projecting below the angle, thus ^. It is gener- 

 ally found in the same form in the word mahd, but in some cases thus V. 

 In unquestionable test words such as putrasa or prathama the p never 

 assumes this form in any of the 62 specimens now before me, nor in some 

 50 specimens that I had seen before, nor also in the various plates published 

 by Wilson, Prinsep, Thomas and Newton. Mr. Newton had between five and 

 six hundred specimens before him, and was, therefore, in a much better posi- 

 tion to pronounce authoritatively on the subject than I am ; the evidence 

 at hand would suggest the idea that there is room yet to raise the question 

 as to whether the word should be read hritrima or hshatrapa ; but, bear- 

 ing in mind the fact that the evidence of the coins is doubtful and unsatis- 

 factory while that of the inscription is unquestionable, adherence must be 

 given to the latter. 



The next point is as to whether the word dama should be read with 

 two long vowels, or with the first vowel long and the second short. The 

 original form of the word in the Sanskrit language is daman, a " garland,^' 

 and that this is the word used in the coin is evident from the possessive 

 form in which it is used being ddmna. In the nominative singular daman 

 becomes ddmd, but when it is a member of a compound term, as in Vira- 

 dama, the last vowel should be short, and the word declined as a theme 

 ending in a and not n. The writers of the legends, however, seem to have 

 been unmindful of this grammatical distinction. In the coin of Rudra- 

 dama, the possessive is as it should be Rudradamasa, but in those of Atri- 

 dama and Asadama the corrupt forma of Atridamna and Asadamna have 

 been used. 



The last point to which I wish to refer is as to the religion of the 

 Sah kings. According to Prinsep it was Buddhism. He said — " It is 

 remarkable that, in the long string of epithets applied even to Eudra 

 Dama, the chosen Satrap, there is none which bears the slightest allusion 

 to Hindu mythology ; while, on the other hand, the coins of the whole 

 dynasty bear an emblem we have hitherto considered either of Mithraic or 

 of Buddhist import. The name of Jina Dama (' Wearing Buddha as a 

 necklace') is decidedly Buddhistic ; and the epithet applied in the inscrip- 

 tion to Rudra Dama — who from right persuasion never put any living crea- 

 ture to death — proves that Rudra's opinions were at any^vate influenced by 

 "the proximity of the important Buddhist establishment at Girnar." Mr. 

 Thomas demurs to this. He says, " As it is not proposed to show that the 

 Sahs were Brahmanical Hindus, the first point requires neither comment 

 nor answer ; in respect to the second, as the word Jina can now be proved 

 to have been incorrectly read in the place of Jiwa the argument founded 

 on the previous interpretation at once falls to the ground ; and for the third 

 position, it also is equally based on error, arising from an inaccurate render- 



