482 Account of two ancient [Sept. 



It is a singular circumstance connected with the destruction of 

 Valabhipura , that it would appear to have been conquered by a 

 Mhlechha, or Bactro-Indian army, which, it may be presumed, came 

 from a Bactrian kingdom then existing, in which were probably com- 

 prised the present Miillun, Sindk, Cachha, and perhaps many other 

 provinces ; whether this state became subsequently divided into 

 several petty principalities, one of which held the southern part of 

 Sindh and Cachha, is a query which remains to be solved ; the south- 

 ern part of Sindh, however, has been known from the most ancient 

 times, by the appellation of Lar, which would be in Sanscrit Larica : 

 now the kingdom of Larike is mentioned expressly by Ptolemy, but 

 is made to comprise the coast of Gvjerdt, which might have been 

 conquered by it ; the strongest fact in support of this theory is, that 

 many Bactro-Indian* coins, with the head of the prince, evidently of 

 inferior Greek workmanship, something similar to those found at the 

 Manikyala Tope, &c. have been found in great numbers in Cachha, and 

 in parts of Saurdshtra\. 



It may be here mentioned, that it is from this very family of Vala- 

 bhipura, that the legends of the present Ranas of Udayapur (Oodipoor) 

 deduce their descent. 



After reigning some years in the north of Gujerdt, the power of 

 the dynasty was destroyed, its kingdom dismembered, and the city 

 of Anhalwara Pattan became the capital, under the succeeding dynas- 

 ties of the Chawura and Chalukia (vulgo Solanki) races. 



Both of these grants convey fields to brahmans as religious gifts. 

 The lands granted in the second inscription are stated to be situated 

 in Saurdshtra, and the donees are said to have come from Girinagara, 

 (Junagur or Girnal,) and to have settled at Sidhapura. 



Two facts, proving the great antiquity of these grants, are, — first, 

 the measure of land being square paces ; and the other, the existence 

 of the worship of the sun : one of the princes is named as being of 

 that sect. 



In the course of antiquarian researches in India, we cannot but 

 remark the very opposite course pursued by the Jainas, and the Brah- 

 mans, in regard to the preservation of historical legends ; the Brah- 

 mans are accused by the Jainas of having destroyed, wherever thev 



* These are probably the Greek coins Arrian mentions as current at Barigaza 

 or Broach. [We shall, I trust, hear more of these coins from Col. Pottinger 

 or Capt. Burnes. It is essential to know to which of our new series they 

 belong. — Ed.] 



f Saur&shtra, or the region of the worshippers of the sun, comprised the whole 

 of the peninsula at present called Kathiawar. 



