An Essay on Early Relations 



[No. 37, 



4 Chatur-balayanam and other ritual ceremonies ; in consequence of 



* which he became greatly incensed, and captured Kolur, Indra-giri, 



* NUa giri durga, and other places. As the entire strength of that 

 ' king failed, he embarked on board ship, and fled into an island in 

 < the midst of the sea.' 



This extract does not amount to evidence that he fled either to 

 Java or Sumatra, though it is possible he may have done so. 

 The Kerala king at that period probably was a Bauddhist. I take 

 occasion to note, by the way, that in the Mackenzie Manuscripts, re- 

 lating to the Malayalam country, there are apparent fac-similes of 

 characters, of which two Malayalam Brahmans, one of them terming 

 himself* a Pandit, could make nothing : yet those characters possess- 

 ed a strong resemblance to some of the cruder specimens of inscrip- 

 tions in Raffles' Java. The occurrence of Indra-giri in the above 

 extract, and its frequent occurrence in Marsden's book, may be also 

 noted. 



Among the Manuscript books in the Mackenzie Collection thera 

 was one, which from its number, may have been obtained at an early- 

 period. According to that book the present mouth (or embouchure) 

 of the Caveri river, is not the ancient one. The document states 

 that there was a town at the old embouchure named Caveri-pum-pat- 

 nam a place of great commerce ; but subsequently submerged in the 

 sea. From that town fleets of trading vessels used to sail periodi- 

 cally ; setting out with the N. E. monsoon and returning with the 

 South- West one. The voyage occupied five or six weeks. The ob- 

 ject could not be Ceylon ; and it does not seem likely that it would 

 be the Malayalam coast ; because there was an inland track, across 

 the country, and through the modern Palghat pass, by which the 

 Pandiya-desa carried on trade with the West, and with Europe. 

 At the time I read over the Manuscript it seemed to me, that Java, 

 or Sumatra, best agreed with the description ; for the vessels went 

 and returned with a side wind, or in nautical phrase " a quarter- 

 breeze." In the aforesaid town there was a merchant specially ce- 

 lebrated on account of the wealth acquired by him, in the said com- 



* I have learned from another source that on the Maldive islands there was three classes 

 of characters ; the most ancient, the ancient, and the modern. A like difference may have 

 obtained on the continent. 



