1836.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society . 831 



coincides with that of Western Asia and Europe, from which in every other point 

 (before the Mahometan conquest) it is so remarkably and totally separate. 



The great value of these works, as containing correct chronological history, is 

 well established from this unerring test by Mr. Turnour. And he most 

 ably vindicates the Buddhist authors of Veylon at least, from the general censure 

 passed on them by Professor Horace Wilson, — in reviewing the Tibet docu- 

 ments of M. Csoma Korosi, — of being, if pussible, more regardless of chro- 

 nology than even the Br&hmans. The degree of accuracy, indeed, with which, in 

 the midst of this long series of kings, the age of Chandra-Gupta Maurya is 

 marked, — even admitting an error of sixty years from his proper age, as a con- 

 temporary of Alexander and Seleucus, — is yet most wonderful, when com- 

 pared with the only other chronological Indian history yet produced — the his- 

 tory of Cashmir, called the Raja Tarangini, (which we owe to the eminently 

 learned orientalist just named,) whose lists would go to antedate that celebrated 

 king by nearly twelve centuries. — On all these points, Mr. Turnour's observa- 

 tions are very valuable : and even when they may fail to produce conviction (as 

 in some parts of the dissertation inserted in the Journal As. Soc. of September 

 last), the learning and candour with which he prosecutes the inquiry, and the 

 absence of all undue prepossession in favor of those authors with whom he is 

 necessarily most conversant, ever entitle them to the utmost consideration. 



It would be undervaluing these works to suppose them to be merely a dry 

 chronological catalogue of sovereigns and dynasties : though this is frequently 

 all that an inquirer into ancient India is able to meet with ; where, between fable 

 on the one hand, and the strong national tendency to abstract speculation on the 

 other, the literature of the country has so little to aid a historical student. These 

 works apparently contain much that may well be deemed valuable by a philoso- 

 phical inquirer into history : and the details, in particular, of the contest be- 

 tween the antagonist principles of Brahmanism and Buddhism, are often curiously 

 illustrative of the genius of these two systems, which have held, and still hold, 

 such sway over large portions of mankind. 



W. H. Mill. 



Minute by the Secretary. 



Fully subscribing to the eulogy recorded by our Vice-President on Mr. Tmu 

 nour's labours, which all who have read his specimen-volume and prelimL 

 nary treatise will acknowledge to be most just and well deserved, I have merely 

 to notice, that the typographical execution of his Pali text in Roman character 

 has been examined by a competent native scholar residing in Calcutta, and 

 found to contain but a trifling list of errors, and those chiefly of the accented 

 letters. There are blanks in the manuscript which it might be possible to re- 

 store by collation with the copies of the Mahavansi in the Burmese character, 

 easily procurable at Ava. I have sent the specimen to Colonel H. Burney, 

 who will, doubtless, be happy to contribute his collateral aid to this meritori- 

 ous undertaking. 



An opportunity has lately fallen in my way of verifying a portion not of the 

 great Pali History, but of its Singhalese continuation translated in Mr. Tur- 

 nour's Tabular Epitome of Ceylon Dynasties. Captain Ord having lately 



