X. 



REMARKS 



ON THE PORTION OF 



THE DIONYSIACS OF NONNUS 



RELATING TO THE INDIANS. 



By H. H. WILSON, Esq. 



Secretary A. S. 



In the Ninth volume (page 93) of the Researches, the late Colonel Wil- 

 ford, quoting the Dionysiacs of Nonnus, asserts that they are really the 

 history of the Mahd Bhdrata, or Great War. A certain Dionysius, he 

 continues, "wrote also a history of the Mahdbharata in Greek, which is 

 lost ; but from the few fragments remaining, it appears that it was nearly 

 the same with that of Nonnus, and he entitled his work Bassarica." The 

 Dionysiacs, he states, supply deficiencies in the Mahdbharata in Sanscrit, 

 such as some emigrations from India, which it is highly probable took 

 place in consequence of this bloody war. 



Sir William Jones had a different notion of the Dionysiacs, although 

 he also was disposed to draw a parallel between them and a Hindu Poem, 

 the Rdmdyana. He expresses himself confident that an accurate compa- 

 rison of the two Poems would establish the identity of Dionysos and the 

 elder Rama. 



