■MM 



266 



On Ancient Indian Weights. 



[No. 3> 



their then imperfect alphabet, 42 adopted Dravidian words till lately 

 classed as Aryan, 43 and as we have seen, by the inherent evidence of the 

 Bactrian character, appropriated a very large amount of Indian Pali 

 design in the mechanical construction of the vocalic and other portions 

 of their needfully amplified Semitic writing. 44 



I had written thus far, with growing doubts about the universality 

 of the Indo-Germanic speech in India, when it occurred to me to in- 

 quire if Dravidian roots might not throw light upon the clearly 

 misunderstood meaning of the passage in Manu, defining the value of 

 a copper hdrshapana. The result has more than answered my expect- 

 ations, as I find the Tamil Msu, 45 corruptly " cash" described as 

 " coin, money in general," and among the details it is mentioned that 

 ponakdsu, vennikdsu, and pettalaikdsu still exist as the vernacular 

 terms severally for gold, silver, and copper coins, while the corre- 

 sponding verb hlisadihha primarily means " to coin." With these 

 hints a new and intelligible translation of the verse ^rpSnnr^Fr f?tjsf- 

 Wfw* 3TTfw; iRU? ma y be proposed, to the effect that a " MrsM* 

 panais to be understood (to be) a coined copper pana" If this in- 

 terpretation will stand criticism, we have indeed the new phase of the 

 Indian monetary system, that the earliest Sanskrit authority on such 

 subjects extant, dating between 1280 and 880 B.C., recognises as an 

 ordinary fact the institution of coined money, while the context proves 

 how much of 'Dravidian civilisation still remained in the Upper Pro- 

 vinces, and how little competent subsequent Sanskrit commentators 

 on Manu's text were to appreciate anything beyond their own con- 

 fined views and conventional teachings. 



42. Norris, E. A. S., xv. p. 19. " The Seythie Version of the Behisfcm In- 

 scription of Darius," Caldwell, " Dravidian Grammar," pp. 43, 107, HI j Prin- 

 sep's " Essays," ii. 151, J ! ' 



43. Caldwell, p. 438 j Mnir, " Sanskrit Texts," ii. p. 440. 



44. Num. Chron., 1863, p. 232; Prinsep's "Essays," ii. 146. 



45. Wilson, " Glossary of Indian Terms," sub voce. 



