12 HISTORY OF CASHMIR. 



Curu the progenitor of the Caurava and Pandava races is placed by the 

 Pauranic writers in a more central part of India, and made king of llasti- 

 napur : the five suppositious sons of Pdridu were however according to the 

 same authorities actually born in the Himalaya mountains,* whither Pan- 

 du with his wife Cunti had accompanied the Rishis, and where the Gods de- 

 scended to rear posterity for the prince : there can be little doubt therefore, 

 that either the original Caurava family, or a very important branch of it* 

 came from the northwest and mountainous parts of India.f 



To return however to the series of princes enumerated by Bedia Ad-din ; 

 we have 



5. Ladi-khan, son of Pandu-rhan. 



6. Ledder-khan, his son. 



7. Sunder-khan in whose reign the idolatry of the Hindu worship again 

 made its appearance : the prince was slain in endeavouring to obstruct its 

 progress, and was succeeded by 



8= Cunder-khan his son, who reigned thirty -five years. 



Mahdbhdrat Adi Parva (2. 64.) " Thus the five God-given sons of Pandu grew up in the ho- 

 ly mountain of Himdvat, endowed with divine force, with the strength, the gait and prowess of lions, 

 expert archers, lovely as the moon, and graced with every auspicious mark, renowned through the 

 World, and honouring the race of Curu." In the first or Anucramanie portion of the Mahdbhdrat a 

 curious passage occurs relative to the spurious descent of the Pdnd'dvas, for when the boys are 

 brought to Hastindpur by the Rishis, their preceptors, some of the citizens say, they cannot be the 

 sons of Paridu,iox he has long been dead ; IT2£T f^T^^^T^ ^l^fcl^J'^ 'cTHT^' I the 

 passage is not the less remarkable from its being singular, that is to say, it is not adverted to in 

 the subsequent part of the poem which details the event at length. The Anucramanicd is a sum- 

 mary of the whole work, and not impossibly the original, the bulk of the poem being merely a re- 

 petition and expansion of the brief narration, which it contains. 



f As one additional argument, the complexion of PAndu may be mentioned ; it is said in 

 the Maha'bharat that he was named Pdridu, pale, from the paleness of his colour. Vya'sa 

 saystothe younger widow of his l.te brother ^^^^^^^^ , ^ 



F* SW <* *TFf ^ ^*tf?T I ^ ^x t^i 4 -qfoflu g^T„ MaM , j d , P , 



