236 



ON THE WEAFONS USED 



(or the good and bad spirits) for the space of one hundred 

 years." 128 



And again we read in page 53 of the same work : " The 

 Magistrate shall not make war with any deceitful machine, 

 or with poisoned weapons, or with cannon and guns, or any 

 other kind of firearms ; nor shall he slay in war a person 

 born an eunuch, or any person who putting his hands 

 together supplicates for quarter, nor any person who has no 

 means of escape, nor any man who is sitting down, nor any 

 person who says, ' I am become of your party,' nor any 

 man who is asleep, nor any man who is naked, nor any 

 person who is not employed in war, nor any person who is 

 come to see the battle, nor any person who is fighting with 

 another, nor any person whose weapons are broken, nor any 

 person who is wounded, nor any person who is fearful of 

 the fight, nor any person who runs away from the battle." 



As these passages are so often quoted without their origin 

 being stated, it may at once be remarked that the prescription 

 about the use of arms and the treatment of persons is a free 

 translation from the seventh book of the institutes of Manu, 

 vv. 90-93. 



The important question at issue is, does this passage in 

 Manu refer to firearms or not ? In our opinion it certainly 

 alludes to them, but still others prefer to apply it strictly to 

 darts blazing with fire. The original words in Manu are : 



Na kutair ayudkair hanyat yudhyamano rane riptin 

 na karnibhir napi digdhair nagnijvalitatejanaih. 



" No one should strike in a combat his enemy with concealed 

 weapons, nor with barbed arrows, nor with poisoned arrows, 

 nor with darts kindled by fire." Kullukabhatta, the latest 



128 See A Code of Gentoo Laws, or Ordinances of the Pundits, from a Persian 

 translation, made from the original, written in the Shanscrit Language 

 (by Nathaniel Brassey Halhed), London 1770, pp. L1I, LIII, and 53. 



