1893.] H. M. Vidyabhushan — Study of Sanskrit in Ceylon. 
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Study of Sanskrit in Ceylon— By Pandit Hari Mohan Vidyabhijshan. 
The island of Ceylon lias been known to us from very early times : 
first, as a fabulous country inhabited by a class of men called Rakshasas, 
who, though civilised in arts and sciences, were yet rude in their habits 
of life; secondly, as a country of precious stones during the Buddhistic 
period ; and lastly as a country occupied by a large colony from the 
city of Sinihapura in Western Bengal, then called Radha. But after 
the Arabs, the Portuguese and the Dutch came to trade in the Bast, 
and became the lords of the Indian Seas, the Bengalese who used to go 
to Ceylon, embarking at the ancient port of Tamralipti, the modern 
Tamluk, ceased to make sea-voyages. 
It is owing to this fact, that, at present, communication between 
Ceylon and Bengal has become a thing of the past. With the exception 
of a few natives of India who happen to visit Colombo on their way 
to Europe, the people of this country know very little of Ceylon. 
At a time when the spirit of adventure awakened the dormant 
energy of the Indian people to action, and when the barriers raised by 
Hinduism against sea-voyages were removed by the enlightened 
spirit of Buddhism, thousands of barks used to sail from Tamralipti 
to the shores of Ceylon, (i. e. t Tamraparni or Tamraveni of the ancients). 
It was through the efforts of those merchants that the fame of the 
mineral wealth of Ceylon became known to the Romans and the Greeks, 
who had intercourse with the empire of Magadha. More than two 
centuries before Alexander’s conquests in the Bast, Indian merchants 
from STavasti, the ancient capital of Oudh, used to visit Ceylon, evidence 
of which is now coming to light from the sacred books of the Buddhists, 
preserved in the Archives of the Dalai Rama at Lhasa. 
Besides what can be gathered from Tibetan sources, something 
can be gleauod from the Kalpalata, the Ratnamala, and other Sanskrit 
works lately recovered from Tibet by Babu Sarat Chandra Das. 
The story of Muktalata, which has been published in the Biblio- 
theca Indica Series contains the following : — 
ffrr: I 
# * # * * 
rl^WTi II 
i. e., “ Some time afterwards native merchants from STavasti crossed 
