JOURNAL 



OP 



THE ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



JSfo. 59.— November, 1836. 



I. — Notice of the Vallabhi' dynasty of Saurashtra ; extracted from 

 the Buddhist records of the Chinese. By M. Eugene Jacquet, 

 Member of the As. Soc. of Paris. 



A new source of information on the darkest period of Indian history 

 cannot hut be most acceptable to all who have perplexed themselves 

 in attempting to reconcile and connect the scattered and contradicto- 

 ry traditions of the Rajput bards with the inscriptions found in various 

 parts of western India ; and to assign specific dates even to sovereigns 

 whose names are most familiar and notorious. While Mr. Turnour 

 is throwing light upon the earlier periods of Buddhist rule, from the 

 authentic chronicles preserved among the Ceylonese priesthood, it 

 has been reserved for a distinguished orientalist at Paris to render 

 us an equally eminent service from an opposite and more remote 

 quarter of the globe ! M. Klaproth's tables of Buddhist chronolo- 

 gy, translated from the Chinese and Japanese authorities, had proved 

 the intimate connection that existed between India, Tibet, and China 

 for the first eight centuries of our era, and had encouraged the hope 

 of gleaning a few cursory notices of the state of the Buddhist por- 

 tion of the continent of India from the annals of some of their com- 

 mon patriarchs, whose head- quarters were variously located in Ma- 

 gadha, Capila-vastu, Cabul, and Ferghana, during that long period. 

 More than this is, however, likely to be realized : — the narrations of 

 Chinese pilgrims and travellers have been happily preserved, and, 

 more happily still, have found their way to Paris, where alone, perhaps, 

 exists the concurrence of talent and l-esearch capable of turning 

 these valuable records to their best purpose. The specimen we have 

 now the satisfaction of introducing to our readers has been elicited, 

 4 u 



