1847.] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, fyc. 1 1 



tract of hilly country in the Morung, to the west of Sikhira, and situated 

 between Nepal and Bhotan, appear to be the descendants of the ancient 

 Kiratas. Like almost all the. aboriginal hill tribes of Eastern India, 

 the Kiratas have the Mongolian features ascribed to the Kirrhadae : 

 they are described as a brave and warlike race, and are said to have 

 been an independent and a powerful people in former times. One of 

 the ancient dynasties of Rajahs that governed Nepal, belonged to the 

 " Kirrat tribe of Eastern mountaineers.' ' It comprised twenty-seven 

 princes, the first of whom reigned B. C. 640.* The founders of this 

 dynasty were probably Hindus, viz., the Kiratas classed by Menu 

 among the tribes who were expelled from the caste of Kshatriyas. 

 That the Kirrhadae of the Sequel are identical with the Kiratas of the 

 Puranas, or Kiratas of the Morung, is further probable from the 

 circumstance of the Bargoosi being associated with them — the lat- 

 ter tribe being the Bhargas mentioned in the Vishnu Puranas, 

 as ueighbours of the Kiratas. f Arrian has erred in placing the 

 Kirrhadae on the coast and on the western side of the Ganges. 

 Ptolemy, with greater accuracy, has assigned to them an inland 

 position eastward of that river. He describes their country as one 

 of India extra Ga.ngem, situated higher up than, or north-west 

 of, a range of mountains called Mceandrus, — in the vicinity of which, 

 there was a tribe or people named Pladae, or Besadae. Mceandrus is 

 the Garo range of hills to the east of Sylhet and Mymensing — the posi 

 tion assigned to it by D'Anville ; while Kirrhadia, from the relative 

 situation given to it by Ptolemy, may be regarded as the country of the 

 Kiratas in the Morung. The Besadae, like their neighbours the Kir- 

 rhadae, are described as flat-nosed, broad-faced, of a white colour (that 

 is of a fair complexion when compared with the people of the plains) 

 and of a short stature, which are characteristic features of most of the 

 hill tribes on the eastern frontier of Bengal. The country of the 

 Kirrhadae, according to Ptolemy, was celebrated for its malabathrum ; 

 and on the supposition that this article is betel, Vincent refers the 

 Kirrhadae to Arracan and the country about the mouth of the Megna, 

 where betelnut is extensively cultivated. Malabathrum, however, is 

 not betel, but a species of Cinnamomum albiflorum which abounds in 



* Prinsep's Genealogical Tables. 



f Wilson's Translation of the Vishnu Purana, page 190. 



c 2 



