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



tion ; that he made great efforts for the promulgation of 

 Buddhism, which reached as far as Ceylon — in these main 

 points the edicts bear out the chronicle. That in his time 

 a council or assembly of Buddhist monks for settling the text 

 of the sacred books was held, this the edicts do not say ; but there 

 is much in them, in particular the king's increasingly definite 

 acquaintance with the technicalities of Buddhism and with 

 definite books, and his respectful relations with the monks 

 of Magadha — there is much, I say, that is more than compa- 

 tible with such a council. 



But the veracity of the Mahdwansa in a particular detail 

 has been confirmed from another source, which may well be 

 reckoned with the edicts of Asoka, namely, the relic-box found 

 by General Cunningham in the dagaba at Sanchi. This box 

 must date not much later than 200 B.C., and it bears the name 

 of " Majjhima, the teacher of the Himavat." Now the Mahd- 

 wansa enumerates the persons who were sent in Asoka's time 

 by Moggali, the chief of the Buddhist community, to different 

 countries, and among them specifies Majjhima as having been 

 sent to the Himavat. 



This is alone enough to prove that the writer of the Mahd- 

 wansa had access to detailed and reliable history of the latter 

 part of the third century. It bears out the statement of his 

 preface and commentaries that he drew his materials from the 

 archives of the monks of the "Great Vihara" in Anuradha- 

 pura; and renders it, I think, impossible to suppose him 

 mistaken when he attributes the foundation of that monastery 

 to Mahinda, the son of Asoka. 



At the same time it will be seen that this striking verifica- 

 tion, concerned as it is entirely with Mahinda, Asoka, and 

 Asoka's ancestry in India, does not afford any presumption 

 whatever that there were records kept in Ceylon before 

 Mahinda came or the Mahd-vihdra was established. 



Compared with this the verification supplied by Fa Hian, 

 the Chinese traveller, is slight ; and what is more, it is not 

 much needed, because the date of his visit was very near to — 

 a little previous to — that of the publication of the Mahdwansa 



