1868.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Societt/. 13 



known oriental scholar and Palaeographer, on the derivation of the 

 Arian Alphabet, in which his object was to shew that the Sanskrit 

 Alphabet was of Dravidian origin, having been adopted by the Arian 

 invaders from the subjugated Dravidians. The combination and 

 nature of certain letters was adduced in support of this theory ; 

 but it was opposed, in the discussion that followed, by Babu Rajen- 

 dra-lala Mittra, who considered that the Dravidian races were far too 

 low in the scale of human advancement to have furnished an alphabet 

 to the more enlightened Arians who had overrun their country. He 

 maintained that the Arian races did not all set forth at one period 

 from their original abode in Central Asia, but that at different stages 

 of their development, they started on their migrations, and that they 

 probably originated the system of alphabetic writing themselves ; and 

 that indeed it was only too probable that no Dravidian writing 

 existed at that period at all. The Babu said that Mr. Thomas 

 assumed that the Brahmanic Arians first constructed an Alphabet in 

 the Arianian provinces out of an Archaic type of Phoenecian, which 

 they continued to use till they discovered the- superior fitness and capabi- 

 lities of the local Pali ; but this is doubtful, and even the Pali is a 

 vernacular form of Sanscrit, the first stage in its transition into 

 Prakrit ; and the Alphabet used to write it down may more reasonably 

 be taken to be its legitimate vehicle, and not that of the Dravidian, of 

 which no inscription either old or new has yet been discovered in the 

 Pali character. Indeed he could see no connexion whatever between the 

 Dravidian languages and the Pali character, nor did he think that the use 

 of cerebral letters, another argument brought forward in favour of the 

 Tamulean orgin of the Sanscrit, was tenable. The Babu finished a 

 long and learned commentary on Mr. Thomas' paper, in which, though 

 he dissented from his propositions, he paid a compliment to the author's 

 learning. Further remarks by other members of the Society especially 

 by Mr. E. C. Bayley followed, in which the argument for and against 

 Mr. Thomas' views were discussed ; and after much valuable information 

 had thus been communicated, a paper from Col. Phayre, was read on 

 some points of interest in the Mon or Talain language of Burma. 

 Upon this, Mr. Gr. Campbell made some remarks, which tended to 

 shew that he agreed with Col. Dalton, in that some of the dark tribes 

 of the extreme East of India have probably an affinity to the aborigi- 



