1835.] on Indo-Scythic and Hindu Coins. 625 



to the serai-circular sculpture near the .Bo-tree at Anitrudhapura in 

 Ceylon, depicted in the 3rd volume of the Royal Asiatic Society's 

 Transactions ; but, in that, the ring of animals consists of elephants, 

 horses, tigers, and bulls, alternately* ; four animals, which have a 

 place in the Bauddha mythology ; whereas I am not aware that the 

 lizard is regarded in any degree of reverence by the Buddhists. 



Fig. 3, an old ring of copper. This, like the more ornamental ring 

 of Plate XVIII., volume 3rd, may in some respects be looked upon as 

 a Bauddha relic ; for in its metal it accords well with an extract from 

 the Dulva in M. Csoma Korosi's Analysis of the Tibetan Scriptures, 

 containing Shdkya's injunctions that his priests should only wear 

 seal-rings of the baser metals. " Priests are prohibited from wearing 

 rings, and from having seal-rings of gold, silver, or precious stones ; 

 butthey may have seals made of copper, brass, bell-metal, ivory, horn. 

 A man of the religious order must have on his seal or stamp a circle 

 with two deer on opposite sides ; and below, the name of the founder 

 of the Vihara. A layman may have a full length figure, or a head, 

 cut on his signet." — Leaf 11, 12, volume X. of the Dulva — Asiatic 

 Researches, xix. 86. 



The circular devices of some of the coins (23 of this Plate, 31 and 

 32, of the following,) may perhaps also be explained by the rule 

 of this teacher cited in the same extract, that the priests should 

 use no other impress than that of the circle ; and it is remarkable, 

 that the deer is the very animal found on the most prominent silver 

 coins of the group, such as fig. 16 of the present plate, and 48 of 

 Plate XXXV., (see also volume iii. pp. 227 and 434.) 



Fig. 4. A small image of baked clay ; is more like a plaything for 

 children than an object of worship. 



Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, are varieties of the peculiar coins of the 

 Behat series already noticed in Plate XVII. of volume iii. 



The characters in many are tolerably distinct, and are clearly 

 allied to, if not identical with, those of fig. 22 — a true descendant of 

 the Kanerkos series, as will be presently shewn in my Indo-Scythic 

 Plate, LI., figs. 16, 17, (q, v.) The emblems also on many, ahull 



* " At the foot of the steps to this second building, and let into the ground, 

 is a very remarkable slab of hard blue granite : it is semi-circular, and sculptured 

 in rings or bands of different widths. Some of the patterns are scrolls, equal in 

 beauty to any thing Grecian ; one consists of the Hansa or Brahmana duck, 

 bearing the root of the Lotus in its bill ; and the most curious has figures of 

 the elephant, the horse, the lion, and the cow, which are repeated in the same 

 order, and sculptured with great spirit and accuracy of outline." — Roy. As, 

 Soc. Trans. III. 467. 



