24 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XXI. 



one may then safely state it to be later than the time of the 

 Bharata war. We are also in possession of a few data that 

 enable us to fix more definitely the chronological limits of 

 this event. As already mentioned, the bard Kapilar, in the ode 

 of his addressed to the Vel chief Irung Ko Vel, refers to him 

 as the forty-ninth in descent from his ancestor who last ruled 

 at Dwaraka. This is, evidently, what was generally known 

 concerning the ancestry and origin of the Vel chief in the learned 

 circles of the time of this poet. Now, by allowing a reasonable 

 average length of time for each of the forty-nine ancestors of 

 the Vel, it will not be difficult to calculate the approximate 

 date on which his first ancestor set foot on the soil of the Tamil 

 country. According to Vishnu and Matsya Puranas, thirty- 

 three kings of the line of Pali-Puchchaka ruled over Aryavarta 

 for 486 years, and ten kings of the Maury a line for 137 years. 

 This yields an average of fifteen years for the kings of the 

 former line and fourteen years for those of the second. 

 Turning our attention to the ruling dynasties of other countries, 

 say to the royal family, for instance, of Japan, which is, at 

 this moment, the cynosure of the whole civilized world, we 

 find that her present absolute ruler, Mutsuhito, is the 123rd 

 in regular descent and succession from Jimmu Tenno, the 

 first absolute monarch of the line, who flourished, according to 

 the historical records of Japan, about 2,500 years ago. Now, 

 by dividing 2,500 years amongst 123 rulers, an average of 

 25 years is obtained for each of the past kings of Japan. In 

 the case, likewise, of the ruling houses of Europe, the cold 

 climate of which is conducive to longevity, the average length 

 of reign is found to be 23 years for the British kings, 24 years 

 for the French, 23 years for the German, and 19 years for 

 the Russian sovereigns. 1 Of these averages, taking that 

 obtained for the rulers of Japan, where the conditions of life 

 are almost the same as in India, as a suitable basis of cal- 

 culation in the case of the forty-nine Vel rulers above referred 

 to, the date of emigration of the first Vel chief to Dravida is 

 ascertained to be about 1,029 years anterior to the time of 



1 "The Chronology of Ancient India," by Velandai Gopalalyer, B.A., 

 p. 65. 



