60 
V. A. Smith— On the Civilization of Ancient India . [No. 1, 
Apisali, one of the teachers cited by Panini, speaks of the formation 
of the compound £ Kshaudraka—Malava ’ ( scil . 1 sen a), ‘ the army of the 
Kshaudrakas and Malagas,’ the ’O^rSpaKot and MdAAot of the Greek his¬ 
torians. Inasmuch as we are told by them that these two peoples were at 
bitter enmity with one another, and only combined from fear of Alexander, 
it is possible that the grammarian may have had in his mind the invasion 
of Alexander. If this supposition is correct, both Apisali and his dis¬ 
ciple Panini must belong to a period later than that of Alexander. 
The Sauvira city Dattamitri seems to be Demetrias ; and the Sau- 
vira names Phantahriti, Mimata, and Jamunda mentioned by Panini 
(4, 1, 148, 150) and his scholiast, suggest the Greek names Pantarchos, 
Mimas, and Diomedes. 
The Greek name Ptolemaios or Ptolemy appears in Asoka’s edict 
under the easily recognized form Turamaya, but it seems also to have 
been adopted by Hindu literature and mythology under the form Asura 
Maya, and with a double signification. In the second book of the Malia- 
bharata Asura Maya, the architect of the Asuras, appears as the friend, 
of king Yudhishtliira, and builds for him a palace, the marvels of which 
excite general wonder and astonishment. This Asura Ma}^a seems to 
me to be an appropriation by means of a popular etymology of the name 
Turamaya, and his skill as an architect appears to refer to the buildings 
of the Ptolemies, or even to the wonderful buildings of ancient Egypt. 
Another circumstance lends support to this supposition. A second 
application of the name Asura Maya is that which occurs in the extant, 
though certainly secondary, text of the Surya-Siddhanta (1, 2), where 
he appears as the father of Indian astronomy. In this case, of course, 
there is no reference to king Ptolemy, but the person meant is the 
astronomer of the same name who flourished in the first half of the 
second century of our era. 
It is to be observed that on both occasions the name entered India 
through the medium of the same mythical personality. 
In the Jnanabhaskara, the astronomer Asura Maya is placed in 
connexion with Romakapura, which must mean either Alexandria or 
Byzantium, or, more generally, the lands of the barbarians ( mlechchha ). 
The eighth book of the Kathasaritsagara tells of the conquest of the 
gods under the command of Indra by the Asuras under the leadership 
of Maya. The terms Danava and Asura must often be understood to 
mean foreign peoples. 
[It may be remembered that I have suggested (page 133 of my 
former essay ) that the whole conception of the Asuras and their con¬ 
flicts with the gods was borrowed from the Greek legends of the Gigan- 
tomachia. The myths above referred to seem to give support to my 
conjecture. V. A. $.] 
