No. 44.— 1893.] 



CHILAPPATIKARAM. 



originated only in the fifth century. Prom Buddhist writings, for 

 instance in Sutta Nipdta, he found that there were Jains in the time 

 of Buddha. Two philosophers were said to have had some discussion 

 with him, and among them were Majjali G-osala and Nighanta Nata- 

 putta. The first was an Ajibaka and the second was a Nighanta 

 It was a well-known fact that those two sects were admittedly Jains. 

 The As oka inscription, about 250 B.C., made mention of Jains ; and the 

 Mahdwansa said that Abhaya, king of Ceylon, in the fifth century B.C., 

 built a temple to Ajibaka, and that a Nighanta ascetic called Giri lived 

 at Anuradhapura. From these facts it was evident that Jainism had 

 its origin, not in the fifth century of Christ, but that it existed even 

 in the fifth century before Christ, in Ceylon. The chronology based 

 by Dr. Caldwell on that authority was, therefore, valueless for historical 

 purposes. 



As regarded the age (or date) of the poem Chilappatikdram, the 

 fact that it made mention of Gaja Bahu, king of Ceylon, was, he 

 thought, important. This Gaja Bahu appeared to have been a 

 contemporary author, and a younger brother of the then reigning 

 Chera king. Now, there were only two Gaja Bahus in the history of 

 Ceylon — one who reigned in the second century of our era and the 

 other in the twelfth. The one referred to in the poem could not 

 possibly be the second Gaja Bahu, and for this reason: from an 

 inscription given in Wilson's Mackenzie Manuscripts, the Chera king- 

 dom was conquered by the Cholas under their king Aditya Varma in 

 894 a.d,, and was absorbed in the Chola kingdom and passed into the 

 hands of another dynasty of Mysore, called Hoysala Ballalla, in the 

 tenth century of our era. The Chera kingdom was, therefore, practically 

 extinct from 894 a.d. If the author of Chilappatikdram was the 

 brother of the reigning king of Chera, he could not have lived after 

 894 a.d. Before that period there was only one Gaja Bahu, arid 

 that was Gaja Bahu I. Again, the Mahdwansa said that Gaja Bahu I. 

 invaded the Chola kingdom. It was perhaps on that occasion that 

 Gaja Bahu visited the Chera king, who possibly might have been 

 an ally in the war against the Cholas. Again, from an inscription 

 given in the Indian Antiquary, he found that Vira Rajendra Chola, 

 otherwise called Kolatunga Chola, was crowned king in 1079 a.d. 

 They ail knew that Kolatunga Chola was associated in Tamil literature 

 with the names of Kamban and other poets. Dr. Burnell thought that 

 Viracholiyam a grammatical treatise in Tamil, composed by a Buddhist 

 called Buddha Mittra, was completed in the reign of Yi'ra Rajendra 

 Chola. In a commentary to that work, written by the author himself, 

 he quotes Chilappatikdram as an authority. It was clear, therefore, 

 that Chilappatikdram must have been composed before the eleventh 

 century. As there was only one Gaja Bahu before that period, they 

 could not but come to the conclusion that the Gaja Bahu referred to 

 in the poem must be Gaja Bahu I. Again, Chilappatikdram made 

 mention of Kolkai as one of the capitals of the Pandiyas. They 



