858 Account of the Tooth relic of Ceylon. [Oct. 



ing to establish the identity of the events contained in these inscrip- 

 tions, with those illustrated in the Buddhistical annals to which I 

 allude. Had these monuments become defaced and illegible since 

 the facsimiles were copied, with all my aversion to hypothesis and 

 conjecture, I should have felt little hesitation in advocating that 

 identity. But " litera scripta manet" and the question admits, there- 

 fore, of final and unimpeachable decision, by the simple process of 

 a re-examination of these ancient monuments*. 



In the sanguine expectation, however, of my reading still proving 

 correct ; and as the notes taken by me in the course of my investi- 

 gation of this interesting passage of Indian history, would form an 

 article in itself, not devoid of interest, independent of its connection 

 with the inscriptions, I shall proceed to its explanation, reserving 

 my remarks on the inscriptions to the last. 



In Pali annals, among the various terms by which the tooth 

 relic of Buddho is designated, " Dasanan" and " Ddthddhdtu" are 

 those the most frequently used. The particular tooth relic, now in 

 question, was brought to Ceylon in the 9th year of the reign of the 

 monarch Sirime'ghawanno, whose reign extended from A. D. 302 

 to 330, in the charge of He'ma'mala, the daughter of Gu'hasi'wo 

 raja of Rdlinga, whose capital was Dantapura, and of her husband 

 Danta-kumaro, a prince of the Ujje'ri royal family. From these 

 personages, the previous history of the relic is stated to have been 

 obtained, at the time of their arrival; and the Daladdwansa was 

 composed in the kdwi form in Elu, which is the ancient classical 

 version of Singhalese. 



While there is no circumstance discernible, as far at least as my 

 investigation has extended, of external or internal evidence, which 

 creates the slightest doubt as to this Elu work, called the Daladd- 

 wansa, having been compiled in the manner above mentioned, about 

 the year A. D. 310, there is positive proof of its being extant, at least 

 between A. D. 459 and 477. For Mahanamo the author of the 

 first part of the Mahawanso, who flourished in that interval, in 

 giving the history of Sirime'ghawanno's reign, in the portion of his 

 work denominated the Chulawanso, thus expresses himself in regard 

 to the arrival of this relic in Ceylon. 



* We leave this assumption for argument's sake, but the original reading can- 

 not possibly be so changed; we have now before us an impression of the passage 

 from the Allahabad pillar, which entirely confirms it as Hidatap&late DusampatU 

 pddaye .- see note at the end. — Ed. 



