1837.] Historical Sketch of the Kingdom of Pandya. 143 



turn receive the assurance that, on this ground, I very readily coincide in 

 the propriety of his laying his hand a little heavily upon me, at the 

 close of his note, to which in due order I purpose to add some further 

 explanation. 



I would now briefly notice in the same order the topics adverted to by- 

 Professor Wilson. The Madura St'hala Purana, of my Translations' 

 and the Madura Purana of his documents are the same work. The 

 " Pandion Chronicle," of my work, a name given by myself for distinc- 

 tion sake, is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, not to be found 

 among the Mackenzie MSS. any more than the original of the " History 

 of Karnata Governors but of this last the translation by Mr. Wheat- 

 ley indicated No. 23 in the list at the end of article ix, is no doubt from 

 that original. I have by me a rough translation on country paper of 

 that MS. in Mr. Wheatley's own hand-writing, and, from respect to his 

 memory, I went so far as to have a fair copy made from it, for the use 

 of the press ; until, in the actual comparison of the original and trans- 

 lation, I found the latter too paraphrastic to represent the original on 

 my plan of proceeding, which was to give the original and translation 

 on parallel pages, and to annotate or paraphrase afterwards : a mode 

 of proceeding which I still decidedly prefer ; because the errors of an 

 annotator, if he fall into such, can be corrected, but a verbose, or para- 

 phrastic, or indeed any thing except a close and literal, translation 

 corrupts the springs of knowledge at their source, and introduces error 

 in its most specious, and with difficulty to be distinguished, form. I 

 have the most perfect respect for Mr. Wheatley's talents and fidelity 

 in saying so — for it was only in the just principles of translation that 

 he erred ; nor have I a particle less of entire respect for Professor 

 Wilson in saying, that he has been susceptible of error, and in some 

 instances I think has been mistaken from this source of erroneous de- 

 duction. 



Adverting to the comparative antiquity or otherwise of " the chrono- 

 logy of Pandyan history," I now very readily state, as the result of 

 more extensive enquiries, since I published the two volumes of trans- 

 lations, that I am prepared to yield considerably in the claims of anti- 

 quity which I had assigned to some events in the Pandya history . 

 Something must turn on the question, whether the foundation of Madura 

 w r as antecedent to the visit of Rama of Ayodhya to Ramesuram as the 

 Madura Purana asserts, or whether it was posterior, as Professor Wil- 

 son, guided by a translation from one manuscript, had stated. I would 

 however just in this place, leave the matter as Mr. Wilson has left it : 

 remarking only that a single inscription of any grant by Kuna-Pan- 

 diyan with a distinct date, should we be able to meet with such a thing, 

 would do more towards settling the question than a volume of mere 

 dissertation. 



