4 On the Code and Historical MSS. of the Siamese, [July 



chapter of regulations against sorcery, witchcraft, administering love 

 philtres and potions, to cause madness or abortion, and against impro- 

 per exposure of corpses. The leading feature in the land regulations 

 is the right of the sovereign to all land j a law which appears to pre- 

 vail almost universally both in the Malay peninsula and Indian Archi- 

 pelago. In fact there appears to be a family resemblance in all these 

 codes; which it Would not be devoid of interest to trace to its source. 



I shall endeavour to procure a copy of the more ancient records of 

 Siam ; which, it may be reasonably surmised, will throw much addition- 

 al light on the obscurity that shrouds the origin of this singular 

 nation, and on the introduction of the religion of Buddha into Siam ; 

 the history of which is intimately connected with that of almost every 

 nation from the mouth of the Indus to the eastern confines of Asia. 

 The Buddhism of Siam is said to resemble the form prevailing in Cey- 

 lon, more than the Buddhism of China, Tartary, Hindustan and Japan : 

 but this point requires more careful consideration and analysis. It 

 appears to be certain that both the Burmese and Siamese acknowledge 

 to have received their religion from Ceylon, though it is probable the 

 former received it through the ancient Magas or Mughs of Aracan. 

 Buddha it is well known is supposed to have been born at Cicatd, a place 

 said by the learned author of the Bhagawatomarita to have been a wood 

 near Gaya, an ancient city of south Bahor or Magadha the kingdom of 

 Bali, through which flows the river Fu/go* supposed by Major Wil- 

 ford to be the Caenihia of Arrian. The date of his birth or incarnation 

 is fixed by Sir W. Jones at about 1,000 yearsf before Christ. Major 

 Wilford informs^ us that the ancient and most extensive empire 

 Magadha was named from the families descended from the sage 

 Maga, the offspring of the Sun and the grandson of the venerable 

 Twashtah in the west, and who came into India in the time of Krishna, 

 from these are sprung the Magas (or Mughs) of Bengai and Arracan. 

 The old kings of Magadha gave great encouragement to learning, 

 and it is said there were elaborate treatises on religion and almost 

 every science in the Magadhi Bali or Pali dialects. Major "Wilford 

 it appears was not successful in his researches to obtain copies, which 

 he supposes, if they do exist, are to be found among the follow- 

 ers of Jaina. The high degree of civilization and commercial influence 

 of the empire of Magadha and the city of Pali Puira, the supposed 

 Palibothra of Ptolemy, said by Diodorus Siculus to have been built by 

 the Indian Hercules Bala f is attested by Arrian in his Periplus, and in the 

 Pentingerian tables. Major Wilford mentions having seen an inscrip-. 

 tion in Pali, found in Bahar, written in the Burmah character, which 



* As. Res. XX. page 33 4 + As. Res. II. page 135. * As. Res, ft. page 74. 



