84 HISTORY OF CASHMIR. 



dian origin for this religion :* its predominance in Cashmir was of short 

 duration, as although not extirpated, it speedily and finally gave way be- 

 fore the preponderance of the Brahmanical faith. If any conclusion might 

 be drawn from such imperfect premises, it might be supposed, that the inha- 

 bitants of Cashmir originally followed an idolatrous system of their own, 

 to which they superadded a few ill denned Gods and ceremonies, borrow- 

 ed from the Brahmans of the plains ; that whilst they were yet open to con- 

 version, an attempt was made from the other aide, or from Tartary, to intro- 

 duce Buddhaism amongst them, which was combated and finally frustrate 

 ed by southern assistance : the national faith of Cashmir has ever since 

 continued Hindu, and the almost exclusive form of adoration has been that 

 addressed to Siva and his Sacti. 



The chronology of the Raj a Taringiriiis not without its interest. The dates 

 are regular, and for a long time both probable and consistent, and as they 

 may enable us to determine the dates of persons and events, in other parts 

 of India ; as well as in Cashmir, a short review of them may not be wholly 

 unprofitable. 



• The more recent the period, the more likely it is that its chronology will 

 foe correct \ and it will be therefore advisable to commence with the most 



* Sir William Jones alludes to the white and ruddy complexion of Buddha as calculated to con- 

 vince Mons. Bailly of the Tartar origin of this legislator. Mons. Remusat (in the Journal Des 

 Savans, Octre. 1819,) commenting on some of the epithets descriptive of Buddha, contained in a Polyglot 

 Bauddha vocabulary compiled in China (or rather translated from some Indian work, one of the lan- 

 guages being Sanscrit,) notices this epithet Suvemachhavi [■Hs^ l^f^: ) the golden hued, but with- 

 out being inclined to draw such a conclusion from it as Mons. Bailly might have drawn. The descrip- 

 tion of this Buddha however, as contained in the Vocabulary described by Mons. Remusat, Mines de 

 U Orient, vol. iv. connected with the circumstances we have had occasion to notice in the text, tends 

 very much to confirm the idea of the original Bauddha schism having been imported from Tartary. The 

 name of this legislator, Sacya, is further evidence to the c ;ame effect : its Sanscritetymoloeies are very 

 unsatisfactory, and it was not improbably connected with the national name Sacx by which the East- 

 ern Scythians or Tartars were formerly known both in Europe and India. The distinction between 

 the dillerent Buddhas of whom Gautama, prince of j?e/t«r,was one, must always be borne ia mind» 



