1836.] Memoir of a Hindu Colony in Ancient Armenia. 331 



II. — Memoir of a Hindu Colony in Ancient Armenia. By Johannes 

 Avdall, Esq., M. A. S. 



A singular account of a certain colony of Hindus, that emigrated from 

 India into Armenia, is recorded in the historical work of Zenobius, 

 a Syrian Bishop and primate of the convent called Innaknian*, who 

 flourished in Armenia in the beginning of the third century. The 

 narrative was evidently written in Syriac, and intended for the Syrian 

 nation, though the writer seems to have subsequently re-written the 

 same in the Armenian language, but with Syrian characters ; the letters 

 of our alphabet having been invented a century posterior to that 

 period. By a very long residence in Armenia, Zenobius was success- 

 fully enabled to acquire a perfect knowledge of the Armenian language, 

 in which his history has been handed down to us. This interesting 

 work was published in Venice, in the year 1832, being carefully collat- 

 ed with five manuscript copies, written in different periods. 



I shall, in the present memoir, first give a description of this 

 Hindu colony from the narrative of Zenobius, and then an account 

 of the religious wars waged between them and the first propagators 

 of Christianity in Armenia. 



" This people had a most extraordinary appearance. They were 

 black, long-haired, ugly and unpleasant to the sight. They claimed their 

 origin from the Hindus. The story of the idols, worshipped by them 

 in this place, is simply this : Demetb/j- and KeisaneyJ were brothers, 

 and both Indian princes. They were found guilty of a plot formed 

 against their king, Dinaskey§, who sent troops after them, with 

 instructions either to put them to death or to banish them from the 

 country. The felons, having narrowly escaped the pursuit, took a 

 shelter in the dominions of the king Valarsaces, who bestowed on 

 them the principality of the country of Taron. Here a city was 

 founded by the emigrants, who called it Vishap or Dragon. Having 



* bVbU-ll'bb'lL'b rnnaknim > literally meaning, nine springs or fountains, 

 which existed in the place. 



t fuuipjjon Demetr is a Greek name, prohahlyhor rowed hy the Hindus from 

 the Bactrians or the descendants of the troops of Alexander the Great. 



X QibTJIl *! t* Keisaney is derived from C|_»|-»fj _j^ Keis, which both, in 

 Armenian and Persian, signifies a ringlet or a curling forelock. Thus we have 

 in Richardson ' y^} f \yc l_c **»' $ locks fragrant as amber. 



§ ruk*; n |]vRV> Dineskey is the name of the Indian king mentioned in the 

 Armenian text, for which I have in vain searched in all old historical records 

 and chronological tables of the dynasties of ancient India. 

 2 u 2 



