JOURNAL 



OP 



THE ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



Wo. 67.— -July, 1837. 



It — An Examination 0/ the Pali Buddhistical Annals. By the Hon' hie 

 George Turnour, Esq. of the Ceylon Civil Service. 



At a period when there is a concurrence of evidence, adduced from 

 various quarters, all tending to establish the historical authenticity 

 of that portion of the Buddhistical annals which is subsequent to the 

 advent of Sakya, or Gotamo Bubdho, an attempt to fix the date at 

 which, and to ascertain the parties by whom, some of the most im- 

 portant of those annals were compiled, cannot be considered ill-timed ; 

 and in reference to the character of the notices that have recently 

 appeared in the Bengal Asiatic Journal, I would wish to believe that 

 discussions in its pages, having for their object the establishment of 

 those points, would not be deemed out of place. 



As far as our information extends at present, supported by an obvi- 

 ous probability arising out of the sacred character, and the design of 

 those works, which renders the inference almost a matter of certainty, 

 the most valuable and authentic, as well as the jKiost ancient, Buddhis- 

 tical records extant are those which may be termed the Buddhisti- 

 cal scriptures and their ancient commentaries, called, respectively, in 

 the Pdli or Mdghada language, the Pitakattayan and the Attha- 

 katha". 



To Mr. Hoogson, the resident in Nepal, the merit is due of hav- 

 ing brought into notice, and under direct European cognizance, the 

 Sanskrit and Tibetan versions of these voluminous works. To this 

 important service he has superadded further claims on the gratitude 

 of the literary world, by the publication of various essays, illustrative 

 of the scope and tendency of the creed, of which Sa'kya was the au- 

 3 T 



