1S37.J Chinese Account of India. 67 



He dresses his hair on the top of his head* (like the Chinese women), 

 and the rest of the hair he cuts, to make it short. Married men also cut 

 their hair, and pierce their ears, to hang valuable rings in them. The 

 general practice is to walk on foot. The color of their dress is mostly 

 white. The Indians are timid in battle ; their weapons are the bow and 

 arrows, and shield ; they have also (like the Chinese) flying or winged 

 ladders f"; and, according as the ground will permit, they follow the rules 

 of the wooden oxen and rolling horses^- They have a written character 

 and a literature, and they are well versed in astronomy or the science of 

 the heavens, in that of numbers, and in astrology. All the men study the 

 instructive books denominated Selhthan, written on the leaves of the tree 

 pei-to, intended to preserve a record of things§. 



Yang-te, of the Suy dynasty (A. D. 605 to 616), wishing to know the 

 western countries (Se-yu), sent Pei-too to endeavour to determine the 

 boundaries of the kingdoms of Se-fan (ancient Tibet). This envoy tra- 

 versed many countries, but did not penetrate to India, believing that the 

 emperor had some animosity against the king of this country, whose 

 family was of the race of Ke-le-he, or Cha-le|| : at this period there 

 were no troubles, no revolts in his kingdom. 



The grain sowed in the marshy soils ripens four times a yearlT. The 

 barley, which grows the highest, exceeds the height of a camel. The 

 women wear ornaments of gold and silver on their head, and necklaces of 

 pearls. The dead are burnt, and the ashes of their bodies are collected 

 and deposited in a place set apart; or they throw them into a waste spot, 

 and sometimes cast them into a river : in this manner, funeral ceremonies 

 with cakes of flesh of birds, wild animals, fish and tortoises, are dispensed 

 with. 



Those who exeite revolts and foment rebellions are punished with 

 death ; slight crimes are expiated by money. A person who has no filial 

 duty (or fails in duty towards his parents), suffers mutilation of hands, 

 feet, nose, ears, and is exiled beyond the frontiers. There is a written 

 character and a literature (in this country) ; the study of astronomical 

 sciences has made great progress there; there are astronomical books in 



* To form the gjrf f jath. See the laws of Mfnu, book ii. v. 219, &c. 



f Fe-te ; this is a scaling-ladder, of which a representation may he seen in th« 

 Art Militaire Chinois, figs. 48 and 49. 



J M&h-meaou, and lew-ma. These are machines of war, of which we know not 

 the form. 



§ The following is the Chinese text of this important passage : — 



The two Chinese characters (2nd and 3rd of 2nd line) selhthan are a transcription of the 

 Sanscrit worj f%^ry«rT Siddhanta, which signifies ' established truth,' 'demonstrable 



conclusion,' and which forms the titles of many scientific books, as the S'urya-Sid- 

 dhanta, a celebrated treatise on astronomy ; the Brahma Siddhanta ; the Siddhanta 

 Kaumudi, &c. The leaves of trees, pei-to, (7, 8, of line 2) are the olas, on which most 

 of the Sanscrit MSS. are written, especially those in Telinga characters which come 

 from Southern India. Pei-to may be the transcription of Tf[fT pita, ' yellow,' or 

 TpffT^f pifaka, the Sanscrit name of the aloe, the leaves of which are well adapted 

 to the purpose indicated by the Chinese author, especially for writing traced with a 

 style. 



|| That is, the royal and military caste of Kshatriyas ; Tjfi^ErsnfTr Kshattritjajati. 



f Taou, ' grain that is planted amongst water ; the paddy of the southern re- 

 gions.' — MorrisoJi's Diet. 



K 2 



