83 ESSAY ON THE 



King BhojAj a vassal of Jara-Sandha, Invited tliera into Ms own coun-^ 

 try, called Curuca-desa^ sontfi of the Ganges^ the name of which still 

 remains in that of the small distridl called Curruckpoor, They accepted 

 of his invitatioo i he gave them landsj and they married into his family % 

 to one of them he gave his ©wa daughter; and on that account^ thej 

 are called Bhojacas. 



The country was called, from them, Magai'ha : its proper name Is • 

 Cicala ; and Curucd is part of ito Some of them went toward the eastj 

 and settled in Aracan, and adjacent countries, where the sacerdotal trib© 

 goes still by the name of Maga^ according to CoL Symes, who calls them 

 Mogos, which sounds exactly like Magas, m Sanscrit. From them the 

 whole nation is known in Bengal, under the name of Magas or MugSo 

 This denomination is very ancient, in that part of India^ for they are 

 mentioned by Pliny under the name of Macco-Calingce, or the Magas 

 lining on the sea shores of Chittagong &c. These Magas must have de- 

 generated, as they are now considered as heretics, being followers of 

 BuDD*HA, The Brdhmens from '"Sdcam, are certainly considered, in India^ 

 as a respe6lable tribe: yet a little jealousy, and reciprocal animosity, seems 

 toprevaiL In the first place it is forbidden, in the Dharma-Sdstra, to 

 holy and pious men^ to dwell in Magad'ha, and even to go into that coun- 

 try, under pain of losing the fruit of their good works, and their stock 

 of righteousness « Four places of worship are excepted, Gdya, the river 

 Pompon (Ptmyapiinya), the hermitage of Chyavana, and Rdjagriha, in the 

 hills oi South Bahar, where Jara'sand'ha resided occasionally, and where 

 he was born. The Brdhnens of Magad'ha answer, that the prohibition is 

 by no means on their account; and as it is their own country, they are not 

 defiled by living in it, no more than the Brdhmens, who live on the banks 



