30 



Report on the Mackenzie Manuscripts. 



[July 



spot where treasure was concealed. On making enquiry, the piisari 

 was told that a Sanniyasi had dug up treasure there, and taken it away. 

 He was shewn a large hole; and, on wishing to examine it,was fright^ 

 ened by the ill omen of a cat crossing his path ; on which account, 

 being apprehensive for of his life, he desisted. 



There is an old place in the said village where, by common report, 

 treasure is buried. The writer states, that an order to the Collector 

 of the district to give authority to consult the copper-plate inscription, 

 and make a search, is all that is required. 



NoTE.~The government may follow the indication given, if judged 

 to he of any importance. No mere native will think of examining 

 such places, without first offering a human sacrifice to Call ; and the 

 time for such kind of sacrifices, in this part of the country, is gone by. 

 This paper was copied merely to complete the restoration of the book, 

 which is damaged by insects, has loose sheets, and was in some places, 

 scarcely legible. 



Gkneral Remark. -From the account of each of these feudal chief- 

 tains there is something to be gleaned ; but that of /^ppaiya Nayak^ 

 and that of Rama-Bhadra, are of special importance. Having trans- 

 lated and printed portions of the former account, I judged it expedient 

 here to give the connexion in the early part in the present abstract, 

 The account of Rama-Bhadra throws great light on the transfer of the 

 Pandiyan kingdom to the northern dynasty ; and it affords an instance 

 of the way in which such local records may clear up difficulties. In 

 the numerous documents, on the above-mentioned transfer, which have 

 passed under my view, it is uniformly stated, that the five Pandavas of 

 jfifayrt/Za^wr were illegitimate sons of the (or a) Pandiyan'kmg; while 

 other documents asserted that Chandra Sec^hara had no offspring, and 

 in consequence thereof adopted Visvanatha Nayak ; and others, that 

 these were his sons. I could not reconcile the discordancy ; but by 

 the account of Bhadra-vayakt the matter is made plain. The " five 

 Pandavas^' of Kayattatur, were sons of a Pandiyan king; but that king 

 was the grandfather of Chandra Sec'hara. All on that point is now 

 clear. And, when the transfer of a large kingdom is in question, the 

 incident is of some consequence. Let me again add, that it is by 

 patient investigation, and careful research, that we must work our way 

 in developing Hindu history; not by crude conjectures, or hasty 

 assumptions. 



