No. 11.— 1858-9.] jStagarjtjna and nagasena. 347 



Hindu Chronology, and with the Attakathd of the Pitakattya, 

 an d Mdh aw a n s a 



First. As to the evidence supposed to be furnished in 

 favour of this hypothesis by the Bactrian coin described in the 

 Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal, vol. II. p. 311, &c, I am 

 willing to abide by the opinion subsequently expressed by 

 Mr. Prinsep, in the following note to Mr. Tumour's observa- 

 tions on the subject. 



" Most of our readers are aware that the date assigned in 

 our notice of Lieutenant Burnes' coin, was afterwards in a 

 measure abandoned, on the ground of its being found in as- 

 sociation with Sassanian coins of much later period. The 

 reading of the letter P in KANHPKOM was also confirmed by 

 a multitude of specimens. No argument, therefore, can safely 

 be built on the evidence of this coin as to the period of Na- 

 garjiina's mission, but there remains ample authority without 

 it, in the written history of the Buddhist Church." * 



Abandoning therefore this item of evidence, I shall proceed 

 to a consideration of the second. 



Second, I have already examined the text with reference 

 to the alteration suggested by Mr. Tumour upon this head ; 

 and the correctness of shardan-varsha-satan, "one century 

 and a half," as given in the Nagara version, is attested by the 

 general scope of Kashmirian history, which, brings down 

 the fifty-one reigns, including those of Turushka princes and 

 of Abhimanya (in whose reign, as well as afterwards, the 

 Buddhists cherisedby the learned Bodhisatwa Nagarjuna, main- 

 tained the ascendancy!), to only B. C. 1182. It would thus 

 seem that the criticism offered is inadmissible, not only upon 

 the supposition of an " inaccuracy of some transcriber of the 

 work," but upon every other conceivable ground, except that 

 of an error, as hinted by Mr. Tumour himself, of " Kalhana 

 Pandit's having misunderstood the Bucldhistical writers from 

 whom his authority was derived." Indeed, it would be im- 



* See Bengal Asiatic Journal V. p. 535. 

 t Asiatic Kesearches, xv. pp. 113, 114. 



