JOURNAL 



ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



No. III. 1859. 



Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa in January 1859. — 

 By the Rev. J. Long. 



1. Orissa now and formerly, Orissa is so cut off from other 

 parts of India through the want of easy and cheap communication 

 that little is known about it, — though whether we consider its fa- 

 mous temple, the stronghold of Hinduism, or its ancient history 

 when Buddhism was in the ascendant, — there is very much to inter- 

 est the philanthropist and the antiquarian. The paucity of ruins in 

 Orissa is no criterion of its past condition, as for example, — the 

 Nepal Terai, now a deadly jungle, was 3000 years ago the abode of 

 a powerful race, and Janak, Eam's father-in-law, held his Court 

 there ; — the Suuderbuns a few centuries ago could boast of a 

 flourishing population and of five cities, — and in Purulia, now an 

 Ultima Thule, the ruins of a large city may be found. Though in 

 Orissa there are few monuments of antiquity to throw light on the 

 past yet we can grope in MSS., traditions and customs. 



2. Inference as to its future prospects. There is a cry raised 

 now that investigations into the past condition of India are of 

 no practical use, and that Indian experience is of no value, — 

 but the fact is overlooked that the past is mother of the future, 

 and that the former social condition of a people has an important 

 bearing on prospective measures for their enlightenment. Antiqua- 

 rian enquiries in Nepal, Ceylon and China show that Buddhism, so 

 noted in its regard for enlightening the masses and opposing caste, 



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