134 An Essay on Early Relations [No. 37, 



vasion ; and notices as certain, that from the time indicated, the 

 Hindu religion, institutions, literature, and ornaments, were very ge- 

 nerally diffused ; and at this period he fixes the commencement 

 of certain history ; which thenceforward becomes local in its cha- 

 racter. 



Without following out the more modern period, we have still 

 another account to advert to in the Sejara Malaya or Malay annals ; 

 as the Malays endeavour to trace their descent from the Macedoni- 

 * P 108 an k ei ° Alexander tne Great.* According to 



those annals, written in 1021, of the Hejirat 

 Raja Seckander (Alexander) the son of Raja Dara of Roum {Bar a 

 or Darius of Persia ?) wished to see the rising of the sun ; and on 

 that account invaded India ; where he fought with, and subdued the 

 powerful emperor of that country, and afterwards married his daugh- 

 ter, who within some short time returned to her father, being preg- 



_ _ nant, and gave birth to a son who is here call- 



* P. 108, note. 



ed Aristan-mah* Before we proceed it may 

 be observed, that facts so far are stated, in the general outline ; 

 and that Alexander married one of the daughters of Porus is proba- 

 ble, at least from analogy. Be this as it may, the Malay annals trace 

 downwards a list of princes descendants of Alexander, by the above 

 marriage, to Raja Tarsia Rurdaras. who married, the daughter of 

 Raja Sulan of Amdam N agar a. " This raja Sulan 1 ' it is added 

 " w r as the mightiest prince of the land of Hind." Let us pause here. 

 If these Malayan annals are entitled to a particle of credit, they may 

 give us assistance ir. an obscure point of Indian History. With some 

 improbabilities on the particular reigns, the sum of all the reigns 

 from x^ristan-shah to the Son-in-law of Raja Sulan is 475 years. 

 Reckoning from A. C. 320 the date of Alexander's invasion of In- 

 dia ; we should thus come down to A. D. 155, but since extreme 

 accuracy is not in question, and some allowance for exaggeration in 

 some reigns and omissions in others must be made, we may perhaps 

 be allowed to conclude, that we are brought sufficiently near to the 

 great era of Salivdhana to consider Raja Sulan to be none other than 

 he ; and if so, then Amdam Nagara, may, and very probably does, 

 designate the town ( Nagar ) of Mundoo ( Mandu ), for Arabic ortho- 

 graphy is never nice in its treatment of fo- 

 * Langlois. . - 



reign* words, whence oalivanana came, and 



