HISTORY OF THE EARLY LIFE OF HIUEN-TSIANG
INTRODUCTION. 1. THE present volume is intended to supplement the "History of the Travels of Hiuen-Tsiang" (Si-yu-ki), already published by Messrs. Trubner in two volumes, and entitled "Buddhist Records of the Western World."
The original from which the translation is made is styled "History of the Master of the Law of the three Pitakas of the 'Great Loving-Kindness' Temple." It was written, probably in five chapters, in the first instance by Hwui-li, one of Hiuen-Tsiang's disciples, and afterwards enlarged and completed in ten chapters by Yen-thsong, another of his followers.1 [Julien, Preface to the Life of Hiouen-Tsiang, p. lxxix.] Yen-thsong was selected by the disciples of Hwui-li to re-arrange and correct the leaves which their master had written and hidden in a cave.[???] He added an introduction and five supplementary chapters. The five chapters added by Yen-thsong are probably those which follow the account of Hiuen-Tsiang's return from India, and relate to his work of translation in China. I have not thought it necessary to reproduce this part of the original; my object has been simply to complete the "Records" already published relating to India.
2. It will be found that Hwui-li's history often explains or elucidates the travels of Hiuen-Tsiang. Yen-thsong evidently consulted other texts or authorities. This is especially the case in reference to the history of the Temple of Nalanda, in the third chapter of the book, compared with the ninth book of the "Records."1 [With respect to Tathagata-Raja, e.g., the phrase used in the original does not mean "his son," but "his direct descendant," and this goes far to reconcile this account with that found in the Si-yu-ki. Again, with reference to the remark of Hwui-li found on page 112 infra, that the Nalanda monastery was founded 700 years before the time of Hiuen-Tsiang, this, as I have observed (in the note), clears up the date of Sakraditya, who is described as a former king of the country, living after the Nirvana of Buddha; the expression "not long after,'' found in the Si-yu-ki, must be accepted loosely. The foundation of the convent would be about 80 B.C.] Kumaragupta I (r. c. 415–455 CE) was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India....
Kumaragupta performed an
Ashvamedha sacrifice, which was usually performed to prove imperial sovereignty, although
no concrete information is available about his military achievements. Based on the epigraphic and numismatic evidence, some modern historians have theorized that he may have subdued the Aulikaras of central India and the Traikutakas of western India....
Kumaragupta was a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and queen Dhruvadevi.[3] Chandragupta's last inscription is dated c. 412 CE, while Kumaragupta's earliest inscription is dated c. 415 CE (year 96 of the Gupta era). Therefore, Kumaragupta must have ascended the throne in or shortly before 415 CE.
Kumaragupta bore the titles Maharajadhiraja, Parama-bhattaraka, and Paramadvaita. He also adopted the title Mahendraditya, and his coins call him by several variants of this name, including Shri-Mahendra, Mahendra-simha, and Ashvamedha-Mahendra.
Shakraditya, the name of a king mentioned in Buddhist texts, may also have been a title of Kumaragupta.-- Kumaragupta I, by Wikipedia
According to Taranatha, Asoka, the great Mauryan emperor of the third century BC, gave offerings to the chaitya of Sariputra that existed at Nalanda and erected a temple here; Ashoka must therefore be regarded as the founder of the Nalanda-vihara....
But it may be clearly emphasised that the excavations have not revealed anything which suggests the occupation of the site before the Guptas, the earliest datable finds being a (forged) copper plate of Samudra-gupta and a coin of Kumaragupta. This is fully confirmed by the statement of Hiuen-Tsang that ‘a former king of the country named Sakraditya built here a monastery and that his successors, Buddha-gupta, Tathagatagupta, Baladitya and Vajra built some monasteries nearby’. As some of these names were borne by the Gupta emperors, it has been held that all of them refer to the Imperial Guptas of the fifth and sixth century AD.-- Nalanda Mahavihara: Victim of a Myth regarding its Decline and Destruction, by O.P. Jaiswal
3. I may also notice the interesting statement found in the fourth book, referring to King Sadvaha (So-to-po-ho), and the rock temple he excavated for Nagarjuna.2 [I think it is abundantly clear from the evidence of Chinese traditions that the Patriarch Nagarjuna and the Bhikshu Nagasena (who disputed with Menander) are distinct persons. The first (as I have shown in some papers written for the Indian Antiquary) was an innovator, and more or less given to magical practices; the latter was a learned Bhikshu engrossed in metaphysical studies.]
Nagarjuna is now believed to have flourished as late as 100 years after Kanishka,3 [So says Taou-Sun in his history of the Sakya family.] i.e., towards the end of the second century A.D. This would also be the date of Sadvaha. Who this king was is not certain. He is said to have reigned over Shing-tu, which may simply mean India. He was surnamed Shi-yen-to-kia (Sindhuka?). He probably had resided on the Indus, and by conquest had got possession of the Southern Kosala. Was he a Pallava? and was Alamana, where Nagarjuna knew him, the same as Aramana on the Coromandel Coast, between Chola and Kalinga?4 [For some remarks on this point, vide Indian Antiquary, May 1888, p. 126, c. i. Cf. also Schiefner's Taranatha, p. 303.] Be that as it may, we know that was so closely acquainted with the king that he sent him a friendly letter exhorting him to morality of life and religious conduct. The king in return prepared the cave-dwelling for him of which we have the history in the tenth book of the "Records." This cave-dwelling was hewn in a mountain called Po-lo-mo-lo-ki-li, i.e., Bhramaragiri, the mountain of the Black bee (Durga).1 [M. Julien restores these symbols to baramoulagiri, and accepts the interpretation given by Hiuen-Tsiang, viz., "the black peak." Before I had been able to consult any parallel record I was satisfied that this restoration was wrong, and in a paper read before the Royal Asiatic Society, J. R. A. S., vol. xv. part 3, I ventured to assert that the Chinese character "fung," "a peak," was a mistake for "fung," "a bee," and that the name of the hill was Bhramaragiri, i.e., the hill of the "Black-bee" or of Durga. I was gratified some months afterwards to find in Taou-Siin a complete confirmation of my opinion, as he in his account of this district speaks of the Black-bee Mountain, using the symbol "fung," "a bee," for "fung," "a peak."]
Dr. Burgess has identified this mountain with the celebrated Sri Sailas, bordering on the river Kistna, called by Schiefner Cri-Parvata. Doubtless it is the same as that described by Fa-Hian in the 35th chapter of his travels. He calls it the Po-lo-yue Temple, which he explains as "the Pigeon" (Paravat) monastery. But a more probable restoration of the Chinese symbols would be the Parvati, or the Parvata, monastery. The symbol yue in Chinese Buddhist translations is equivalent to va (or vat).2 [Thus in Fa-hian's account of the five-yearly religious assembly (Panchavassa-parishad), the Chinese symbols are pan-cha-yue-sse (hwui), where yue evidently corresponds to va. Again, " throughout Taou-Sun's work on the history of the Sakyas, the symbols for Chakkavat are cha-ka-yue, where again yue is equivalent to vat. And so again, when Taou-Sun describes the inhabitants of Vaisali in the time of Buddha, he always calls them yue-chi, i.e., Vajjis or Vatis (the symbol chi is used for ti, as 'in Kiu-chi for Koti).]
We may therefore assume that the Po-lo-yue monastery of Fa-hian was the Durga monastery of Hiuen-Tsiang, otherwise called Sri-parvata. This supposition is confirmed by the actual history of the place; for Hiuen-Tsiang tells us that after the Buddhists had established themselves in the monastery, the Brahmans by a stratagem took possession of it. Doubtless, when in possession, they would give it a distinctive name acceptable to themselves; hence the terms Bhramara or Bhramaramba.
4. With respect to Fa-hian's restoration of Po-lo-yue to Paravata, "a pigeon," there need be no difficulty. It may have been called the "Pigeon monastery" in pre-Brahman times. The highest storey was probably decorated with pigeon-emblems,1 [I cannot suppose that he meant to say that the different storeys were constructed in the shape of the animals denoted, but that they were decorated by emblems of these animals.] or, like the top beams of the gateways at Sanchi, adorned with the trisul emblem. This emblem, in all probability, originally denoted the three rays of the rising sun.2 [Cf. the figure of Mithra in Dr. Bruce's Itinerariun Septentrionale, and also "Abstract of Four Lectures," p. 159.] These three rays, by the addition of a simple stroke at the base, were converted into a representation of a descending pigeon or dove. This would be sufficient to account for the name the Pigeon monastery. But there is no need to press this matter; for whether the symbol yue be equal to va or vat, in this particular case, there can be no doubt as to its true restoration.
5. This remark leads me to allude briefly to the people named Yue-chi or Yue-ti in Chinese Buddhist literature. There is frequent mention made of the Yue-chi in Chinese books previous to the Turushka invasion of North-West India by the predecessors of Kanishka. The inhabitants of Vaisali are, e.g., in Buddha's lifetime, called Yue-chi.3 [Viz., in many passages in the works of Sang-yui and Taou-Sun.]
These people we know were Vajjis or Vatis;4 [The symbol chi is convertible with ti (as before noticed).] they are represented as a proud and arrogant race, and remarkable for personal display and the equipment of their chariots.5 [I have called attention to the equipment, &c., of the Licchavis in vol. xix., Sawed Books of the East, p. 257, n. 2.] I should argue then that as the Amardi are called Mardi, and the Aparni are called Parni, so the Vatis were the same as the Avatis. But in the Scythic portion of the Behistun inscription we have distinct mention of the Afartis or Avartis as the people who inhabited the high lands bordering on Media and the south shores of the Caspian. Were the Vajjis or Vatis, then, a people allied to these Medes or Scyths, who at an early date had invaded India? The question at any rate is worth consideration.1 [In confirmation, I would again refer to the testimony of the sculptures at Sanchi; vide my short and uncorrected paper, J. R. A. S., January 1882.]
6. Arising from this is a still more interesting inquiry, although perhaps more speculative, touching the origin of the name "Licchavis," given to the inhabitants of Vaisali. Mr. Hodgson speaks of these people as Scyths;2 [Collected Essays, Trubner's edition, p. 17.] and if we remember that the Vajjians, otherwise Licchavis, were a foreign people, and throughout their history regarded as unbelievers, having chaityas consecrated to Yakshas, &c., it will not be unreasonable to derive their name from the Scythic race known as Kavis or Kabis, by whose aid Feridun was placed on the throne of Persia.3 [Cf. Sir H. Rawlinson, J. R. A. S., xv. p. 258.] These Kavis or Kabis were unbelievers,4 ["Blind heretics;" vide Zendavesta by Darmesteter and Mills, pass.] and their blacksmith's flag,5 [Derefsh-i-Kavani.] which was adopted by the Persians as their national banner, was finally taken and perhaps destroyed by the Arabs. Is the flag (Plate xxviii. fig. 1, Tree and Serpent Worship) this flag of the Kavis?
There is another scene in which a similar flag may be observed (surmounted, as the former, by a trisul), I mean in Plate xxxviii.
If this Plate represents the siege of Kusinagara by the Vajjis, to recover a portion of the relics of Buddha, then the procession on the left, in which the relic-casket is carried off in triumph, accompanied by the flag, is probably intended to represent the Vajjians proceeding to Vaisali for the purpose of enshrining the relics, as already noticed and represented in Plate xxviii.
7. But again, the followers of the Turushka invaders under Kanishka and his predecessors were deeply imbued with Zoroastrian conceptions, as is evident from their coins,6 [Vide paper by M. Aurel Stein, Ind. Antiq., April 1888.] and these too were Yue-chi or Vatis. They must have derived their Zoroastrian proclivities from residence among, or connection with, people professing this religion; and so again
we argue that these Yue-chi or Kushans1 [The Kushans are constantly mentioned by Ferdusi as the aboriginal race of Media. J. R. A. S., xv. p. 205; vide p. 46, infra, n. 5.] were a Northern people from the borders of the Caspian. The entire argument appears to be confirmed by the fact that Hiuen-Tsiang2 [ Records, vol. i. p. 35.] places a district called Vati in this very neighbourhood, where also dwelt the Mardi, a term equivalent to Afarti or Avati, as already shown by Norris.
8. This leads me to observe, lastly, that the plates in "Tree and Serpent Worship," in which Nagas and their female attendants are represented as worshipping the various thrones or seats on which was supposed to reside the spiritual presence of Buddha, do in fact denote the effect of the preaching of the Master on these emigrant Medes or Afartis. The Medes, as is well known, were called Mars, i.e., Snakes; and in the Vendidad, Ajis Dahaka, "the biting snake," is the personification of Media. When, therefore, Buddha converted the people of Vaisali and the Mallas of Kusinagara (who were Kushans),3 [It is curious that the Mallas are called in Chinese Lih-sse, i.e., Strong-lords. But does the symbol lih correspond with the Accadian lik or lig, a lion? In this case we should gather that the Licchuvis were lik + Kavis, i.e., powerful, or lion, Kavis.] the success of his teaching was denoted in these sculptures by representing the Nagas (remarkable for their beauty, as were the Medes) in the act of paying worship before him, as he was supposed to be spiritually present on the seats or thrones in places he had occupied during his career in the world.
It will be sufficient for my purpose if these remarks lead to a consideration of the point as to the probability of an early migration (or, perhaps, deportation) of a northern people allied to the Medes into India, who made Vaisali their capital.
9. There is an interesting point to be noticed respecting the council of Patna under Asoka. On page 102 of the translation following, it will be observed that Asoka is said to have convened 1000 priests in the Kukkutarama, i.e., the "Garden of the cock." By comparing this passage with
Dipavamsa, vii. 57, 58, 59, it will be plain that this convent is the same as the Asokarama, and that the allusion in my text is to the third council at Patna. But it appears from the corresponding account in the Si-yu-ki1 [Records, &c., vol. ii. p. 96. The expression chief-priests, on the page referred to, is equal to Sthaviras.] that the members of this council were all Sthaviras or Theras, and therefore that it did not include any members of the other schools. We may hence understand why this council takes such a leading place in the records of the Ceylonese Buddhist Church, but is almost entirely ignored in the Northern books.
II. I come now to notice very briefly the records left us by I-tsing respecting other pilgrims after Hiuen-Tsiang, who, leaving China or neighbouring places, visited sacred spots in India consecrated by association with Buddha's presence or connected with his history.
1. It will be remembered that Hiuen-Tsiang returned to China after his sojourn in India in the year 645 A.D., and that he died in the year 664 A.D. It was just after this event, viz., in the year 671 or 672, that I-tsing [I-tsing/I-ching/Yijing, 635–713 CE], then a mere stripling [672-635 = 37 years old], resolved, with thirty-seven (37) [???] other disciples of Buddha, to visit the Western world to pay reverence to the sacred vestiges of their religion. Taking ship at Canton, he found himself deserted by his companions, and so proceeded alone by what is known as the southern sea-route to India. This route, as we shall notice hereafter, was by way of Condore2 [It is curious to find that the inhabitants of the Condore Islands at this time were of the Negro type, with thick woolly hair, and that their language was used in all the neighbouring districts. I-tsing speaks of himself as interpreting this language at Sribhoja [Srivijaya]. We learn too from other sources that these Condore negroes were largely used as servants or slaves at Canton and Southern China about this time.] to
Sribhoja [Srivijaya] (Palembang, in Sumatra),
Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Southeast Asia. It was the capital of Srivijaya, a Buddhist kingdom that ruled much of the western Indonesian Archipelago and controlled many maritime trade routes, including the Strait of Malacca. A Chinese monk, Yijing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in the year 671 for 6 months.
-- Palembang, by Wikipedia
and thence to Quedah; then to Nagapatam and Ceylon, or by way of Arakan and the coast of Burmah to Tamralipti (Tatta), where stood a famous temple called Varaha (the wild boar), in which most of the pilgrims stopped awhile to study Sanskrit. It was in this temple that I-tsing translated the "friendly letter" which Nagarjuna had composed and sent to his patron King Sadvaha. He dwelt here for three years.
After visiting more than thirty countries, I-tsing returned to Sribhoja, from which place, having accidentally missed his passage in a homeward-bound ship, he sent one of his treatises, viz., his "History of the Southern Sea Religious (Law) Practices," in four chapters, to China (the inner land), and himself remained for some time longer at Sribhoja. Finally, he returned to Honan towards the close of the seventh century A.D. (viz., 693-694 A.D.), bringing with him nearly 400 distinct volumes of original copies of the Sutras and the Vinaya and Abhidharma Scriptures.
He translated during the years 700-703 A.D. twenty volumes, and afterwards in 705 A.D. four other works, Altogether, between the years 700-712 A.D. he translated (with others) fifty-six distinct works in 250 chapters. Of these, the Kau-fa-kao-sang-chuen (in two parts) is an account of fifty-six priests or Buddhist converts who visited India and the neighbourhood from China and bordering districts during the latter half of the seventh century A.D. A part of these pilgrims proceeded by the southern sea-route, and a part across the deserts and mountains by the northern route to India. With respect to the former, I will call attention to the incident recorded on p. 188 of the present work, from which we gather that this route was known and used at any rate as early as Hiuen-Tsiang's time. And it would appear that Bhaskaravarman, the king of Kamarupa, and probably former kings of that kingdom, had this sea-route to China under their special protection. In fact, so early as the time of Fa-hian it appears to have been well established, as he returned from Ceylon to China by sea.
We learn from I-tsing's account that in his time there was a flourishing mercantile and religious establishment on the coast of Sumatra, probably on the site of the present Palembang (as before suggested), where the merchants were accustomed to find shelter and ship their spices for Canton. I have alluded to this point in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, October 1881, and also in Trubner's Record; there is no need therefore to repeat the arguments in this place. But I will place down here a brief resume of I-tsing's notices concerning some of these pilgrims, in the order of his book, referred to above.
KAU-FA-KAO-SANG-CHUEN.
(Nanj. Cat. 1491.) III. The author in the preface having alluded to the journeys of Fa-hian and Hiuen-Tsiang, who proceeded to the western countries to procure books and pay reverence to the sacred relics, passes on to notice the hardships and dangers of the route, and the difficulty of finding shelter or entertainment in the different countries visited by their successors, pilgrims to the same spots, and that in consequence of there being no temples (monasteries) set apart for Chinese priests. He then goes on to enumerate the names of the pilgrims referred to in his memoirs.
1. The Shaman Hiuen-Chiu, master of the law, a native of Sin-chang, in Ta-chau. His Indian name was Prakasamati. At a very early age he became a disciple of Buddha, and when arrived at manhood, he purposed in his mind to set out to worship the sacred traces of his religion. Accordingly, in the course of the Cheng-Kwan period (627-650 A.D.), taking up his residence in the capital, he first applied himself to the acquisition of the Sanskrit (Fan) language. Then, staff in hand, travelling westward, he got beyond Kin-fu, and passing across the desert of drifting sands, he arrived by way of the Iron Gates,1 [Vide Buddhist Records, &c. p. 36 n. 119.] over the Snowy Peak, through Tukhara and Tibet into North India, and finally reached the Jalandhar country, having narrowly escaped death at the hands of robbers. He remained in Jalandhar four years. The king of the Mung2 [There is much mention of the Mung king in I-tsing; is he the same as the Bala-rai who seems to have succeeded the last Siladitya? Vide Records, p. 176 n,, and p. 242.] country caused him to be detained, and gave him all necessary entertainment. Having gained proficiency in Sanskrit literature, after a little delay, he gradually went southward and reached the Mahabodhi (convent). There he remained four years. After this he went on to Nalanda, where he remained three years. After this he followed the Ganges' northern course, and received the religious offerings of the king of the country. He remained here in the Sin-che and other temples, then, after three years, he returned to Loyang by way of Nepal and Tibet, after a journey of some 10,000 li.
Hiuen-Chiu after this, in the year 664 A.D., returned to Kasmir, where he found an aged Brahman called Lokayata, with whom he returned to Loyang. And now being pressed to set out again, he passed by way of the piled-up rocks (asmakuta) along the steep and craggy road that leads across rope-bridges into Tibet. Having escaped with his life from a band of robbers, he arrived at the borders of North India. Here he met with the Chinese envoy,3 [This is probably the envoy who was sent from China, and arrived in India after the death of Siladitya.] who accompanied him and Lokayata to the Maratha country in Western India. Here he met the Mung king, and, in obedience to his instruction, remained there for four years. Proceeding to South India, he purposed to return to Tangut, taking with him various sorts of medicines. He reached the Vajrasana, and passed on to Nalanda, where I-tsing met him. And now, having fulfilled the purpose of his life, he found the way through Nepal blocked by Tibetan hordes, and the road through Kapisa in the hands of the Arabs. Then he returned to the Grihdrakuta peak and the Bamboo garden, but could find no solution of his doubts; so retiring to the Amravat country in Mid-India, he died there, aged sixty odd years.1 [With respect to the other priests named by I-tsing, we can only here give an abstract of his notices. For the Amaravati country vide Records, ii. 209, n. 70.]
2. Taou-hi, a doctor of the law, of the district of Lih-Shing, the department Tsa'i-chau. He was called by the Sanskrit name Srideva. He went by the northern route through Tibet towards India, visited the Mahabodhi, and paid respect to the sacred traces, and during some years dwelt in the Nalanda monastery and in the Kusi country. The Mung king of Amravat paid him great respect. Whilst in the Nalanda monastery he studied books of the Great Vehicle; whilst in the Chu-po- pun-na (Davavana) temple (the temple of the cremation) he studied the Vinaya pitaka, and practised himself in the Sabdavidya, a synopsis of which he drew up in the square and grass characters. Whilst in the Mahabodhi temple he engraved one tablet in Chinese, giving an account of things new and old in China. He also wrote (copied?) some four hundred chapters of sutras and sastras whilst at Nalanda. I-tsing, although in the west, did not see him, but whilst dwelling in the Amravat country, he sickened and died, aged fifty years.
3. Sse-pin, a doctor of the law, a man of Ts'ai-chau, well versed in the Sanskrit forms of magic incantation. He accompanied Hiuen-chiu from North India to Western India. Arrived at Amarakova(?), he dwelt in the Royal Temple, where he met with Taou-Hi; they remained here for one year together, when Sse-pin sickened and died, aged thirty-five years.
4. Aryavarman, a man of Sin-lo (Corea), left Chang'an A.D. 638. He set out with a view to recover the true teaching and to adore the sacred relics. He dwelt in the Nalanda Temple, copying out many Sutras. He had left the eastern borders of Corea, and now bathed in the Dragon pool of Nalanda. Here he died, aged seventy odd years.
5. Hwui-nieh, a Corean, set out for India 638 A.D., arrived at the Nalanda Temple, and there studied the sacred books and reverenced the holy traces. I-tsing found some writing he had left in the temple, where also he had left his Sanskrit MSS. The priests said he died the same year, about sixty years of age.
6. Hiuen-Ta!i, a doctor of the law, a Corean, called by the Sanskrit name of Sarvajnanadeva. In the year Yung-hwei (650 A.D.) he went by the Tibetan road through Nepal to Mid-India; he there worshipped the relics at the Bodhi Tree. Afterwards going to the Tukhara country, he met Taou-hi, with whom he returned to the Ta-hsio Temple (Mahabodhi). Afterwards he returned to China, and was not heard of again.
7. Hiuen-hau, a doctor of the law, a Corean, went with Hiuen-chiu, in the middle of the Cheng-kwan period, to India, and reaching the Ta-hsio Temple, he died there.
8. Two priests of Corea, names unknown, started from Chang'an by the southern sea-route and came to Sribhoja. They died in the country of Po-lu-sse, to the westward (the western portion of Sumatra).
9. Buddhadharma, a man of To-ho-shi-li (Tushara or Turkhara), of great size and strength. He became a priest, and being of a gentle disposition, he wandered through the nine provinces of China, and was everywhere received. Afterwards he went to the west to worship the sacred traces. I-tsing saw him at Nalanda; afterwards he went to the north when about fifty years old.
10. Taou-fang, a doctor of the law, of Ping-chau, went by way of the Sandy Desert and the Tsih rock to Nepal, and afterwards came to the Ta-hsio Temple, where he remained several years; he then returned to Nepal, where he still is.
11. Taou-sing, a doctor of the law, of Ping-chau, called in Sanskrit Chandradeva, in the last year of the Cheng- kwan period (649 A.D.) went by the Tu-fan (Tibetan) road to Mid-India; he arrived at the Bodhi Temple, where he worshipped the chaityas; afterwards he went to Nalanda. After that, going twelve stages to the eastward, he came to the King's Temple, where they study only the Little Vehicle. He remained here many years, learning the books of the Tripitaka according to the Hinayana. Returning to China through Nepal, he died.
12. Shang-tih, a contemplative priest, of Ping-chau. He longed for the joys of the Western Paradise, and, with the view of being born there, he devoted himself to a life of purity and religion (reciting the name of Buddha). He vowed to write out the whole of the Prajna-Sutra, occupying 10,000 chapters. Desiring to worship the sacred vestiges, and so by this to secure for himself the greater merit, with a view to a birth in that heaven, he travelled through the nine provinces (of China), desiring wherever he went to labour in the conversion of men and to write the sacred books. Coming to the coast, he embarked in a ship for Kalinga.1 [The coast of Annam.] Thence he proceeded by sea to the Malaya country, and thence wishing to go to Mid-India, he embarked in a merchant-ship for that purpose. Being taken in a storm, the ship began to founder, and the sailors and merchants were all struggling with one another to get aboard a little boat that was near. The captain of the ship being a believer, and anxious to save the priest, called out to him with a loud voice to come aboard the boat, but Shang-tih replied, "I will not come; save the other people." And so he remained silently absorbed, as if a brief term of life were agreeable to one possessed of the heart of Bodhi. Having refused all help, he clasped his hands in adoration, and looking towards the west, he repeated the sacred name of Amita, and when the ship went down these were his last words. He was about fifty years of age. He had a follower unknown to me, who also perished with his master, also calling on the name of Amita Buddha.
13. 'Matisimha, a man of the capital, his common name being Wong-po. This man accompanied the priest Sse-pin, and arriving at the Middle Land, dwelt in the Sin-che Temple. Finding his progress little in the Sanskrit language, he returned homewards by way of Nepal, and died on the way there, aet. 40.
14. Yuan-hwui, a doctor of the law, according to report offspring of the commander-in-chief Ngan. Leaving North India, he dwelt in Kasmir, and took charge of the royal elephants. The king of this country delighted day by day in going to the different temples, the Dragon-Lake Mountain Temple, the Kung Yang Temple. This is where the 500 Rahats received charity. Here also the venerable Madyantika, the disciple of Ananda, converted the Dragon King. Having remained here some years, he went southwards and came to the great Bodhi Temple, where he worshipped the Bodhi Tree, beheld the Lake of "Mu-chin " (Muchhalinda), ascended the Vulture Peak, &c. After this he went back to Nepal and died there.
15. Again, there was a man who accompanied the envoy by the northern route to the Baktra country, and lodged in the Nava-vihara in Balkh. In this establishment the principles of the Little Vehicle were taught. Having become a priest, he took the name of Chittavarma. Having received the precepts, he declined to eat the three pure things, on which the master of the convent said, "Tathagata, our Great Master, permitted five things (as food); why do you object to them?" He answered, "All the books of the Great Vehicle forbid them; this is what I formerly practised; I cannot now bring myself to change." The superior answered, "I have established a practice here in agreement with the three sacred collections, and you follow your own interpretation, which is contrary to mine. I cannot permit this difference of opinion; I cease to be your master." Chittavarma was thus reluctantly obliged to yield. Then having learned a little Sanskrit, he returned by the northern route. I know no more about him.
16. Again, there were two men who lived in Nepal; they were the children of the wet-nurse of the Duke-Prince of Tibet (Tufan). They both were ordained, but one went back to lay life. They lived in the Temple of the Heavenly Kings. They spoke Sanskrit well and understood Sanskrit books.
17. Lung, a doctor of the law; I know not whence he came. In the Cheng Kwan period (627-650 A.D.) he went by the northern route to North India, wishing to visit the sacred spots. In Mid-India he got a Sanskrit copy of the Fa-hwa (Lotus of the Good Law), and having gone to Gandhara, he died there.
18. Ming-Yuen, a man of Yih-chau, a doctor of the law, whose Sanskrit name was Chinta-deva. He embarked in a ship of Cochin-China, and came to the Kalinga country, and thence to Ceylon.
19. I-long, a priest of Yih-chau, well versed in the Vinaya Pitaka, and in the interpretation of the Yoga, set forth from Chang'an with a priest, Chi-ngan, of his own province, and an eminent man called I-hiuen, and after travelling through the southern provinces came to Niau-Lui, and there embarked on board a merchant-ship. Having arrived at Langkia (Kamalanka?), Chi-ngan died. I-long, with his other companion, went on to Ceylon, where they worshipped the Tooth, and having obtained various books, returned through Western India. It is not known where he is now residing. He has not been heard of in Mid-India.
20. I-tsing next refers to a priest of Yih-chau named Huining. He left China by sea for the south in the year 665 A.D., and passed three years in the country called Ho-ling.1 [ ]
21. The next notice is of the life of a priest called Wan-ki of Kiau-chau, who spent ten years in the Southern Sea, and was very learned in the language of Kun-lun (Condore), and partly acquainted with Sanskrit. He afterwards retired to a lay life and resided at Shi-lo-fo-shi (Sribhoja).
22. Another priest called Mocha-Deva, a Cochin-Chinese, went to India by the southern sea-route, and having visited all the countries of that part, arrived at the Mahabodhi Temple, where he adored the sacred relics, and died aet. 24.
23. Kwei-chung (the disciple of Miny-yuen, No. 18), another priest of Cochin-China, went by the Southern Sea with his master, Ming-yuen, to Ceylon; afterwards in company with him proceeded to the Bodhi Tree, and afterwards to Rajagriha, and being taken sick in the Bamboo garden (Veluvana), he died there, aged thirty years.
24. Hwui Yen, a doctor of the law, of Kwai-chau, was a pupil of Hing-Kung; he went to Sinhala, and remained there. Whether he is dead or alive I know not.
25. Sin-chiu, a doctor of the law, his country not known. His Sanskrit name Charita-varma. Taking the northern route, he arrived in the Western country, and after the customary reverence, he lived in the Sin-che Temple. In an upper room of this temple he constructed a sick chamber, and left it for ever for the use of sick brothers. He himself died here. Some days before his death, in the middle of the night, he suddenly exclaimed, "There is Bodhisattva, with outstretched hand, beckoning me to his lovely abode;" and then, closing his hands, with a long sigh he expired, aet. thirty-five.
26. Chi Hing, a doctor of the law, of Ngai-Chau, his Sanskrit name Prajna-Deva, went to the Western region, and afterwards dwelt in the Sin-che Temple, north of the river Ganges, and died there, aged about fifty years.
27. We next read of a priest of the Mahayana school called Tang, or "the lamp" (dipa), who went with his parents when young to the land of Dvarapati (Sandoway in Burmah), and there became a priest. He returned with the Chinese envoy to the capital. Afterwards he went by the southern sea-route to Ceylon, where he worshipped the Tooth; and then proceeding through South India and crossing into Eastern India, arriving at Tamralipti: being attacked by robbers at the mouth of the river, he barely escaped with his life; he resided at Tamralipti for twelve years, having perfected himself in Sanskrit; he then proceeded to Nalanda and Buddha Gaya, then to Vaisali and the Kusi country, and finally died at Kusinagara, in the Pari-Nirvana Temple.
28. Sanghavarma, a man of Samarkand, when young crossed the Sandy Desert and came to China. Afterwards, in company with the envoy, he came to the Great Bodhi Temple and the Vajrasana, where he burnt lamps in worship for seven days and seven nights continuously. Moreover, in the Bodhi Hall, under the Tree of Asoka, he carved a figure of Buddha and of Kwan-tseu-tsai Bodhisattva. He then returned to China. Afterwards, being sent to Kwai-chau (Cochin-China), there was great scarcity of food there. He daily distributed food, and was so affected by the sorrows of the fatherless and bereaved orphans, that he was moved to tears as he visited them. He was on this account named the weeping Bodhisattva. He died shortly afterwards from infection caught there, which soon terminated fatally, aet. about sixty.
29. Two priests of Kao-chang went to Mid-India, and died on the voyage. Their Chinese books are at Sribhoja.
30. Wan-yun, a doctor of the law, of Loyang, travelling through the southern parts of China, came to Cochin-China, thence went by ship to Kalinga, where he died.
31. I-hwui, a man of Loyang, of eminent ability, set out for India to recover some copies of Sanskrit (Fan) books. He died aet. 30.
32. Three priests set out by the northern route for Udyana, and also for the place of Buddha's skull-bone. They are said to have died there.
33. Hwui Lun, a Corean, otherwise called Prajnavarma, came by sea from his own country to Fuchau, and proceeded thence to Chang'an. Following after the priest Hiuen-chiu (No. 1, p. xiii.), he reached the West, and during ten years dwelt in the Amravat country and in the Sin-che Temple (north of the Ganges). Passing through the eastern frontiers, and thence proceeding northward, he came to the Tu-ho-lo (Tukhara) Temple. This temple was originally built by the Tukhara people for their own priests. The establishment is called Gandharasanda. To the west is the Kapisa Temple. The priests of this establishment study the Little Vehicle. Priests from the north also dwell here. The temple is called Gunacharita.
Two stages to the east of the Mahabhodi1 [It is doubtful whether the Mahabodhi named here does not refer to the Tu-ho-lo Temple mentioned above.???]] is a temple called Kiu-lu-kia.2 [This maybe restored to Kuruka, and may possibly refer to the Kuru country.] It was built long ago by a king of the Kiu-lu-ka country, a southern kingdom (Kurukshetra?). Although poor, this establishment is strict in its teaching. Recently, a king called Sun-Army (Adityasena), built by the side of the old temple another, which is now newly finished. Priests from the south occupy this temple.
About forty stages east of this, following the course of the Ganges, is the Deer Temple, and not far from this is a ruined establishment, with only its foundations remaining, called the Tchina (or China) Temple. Tradition says that formerly a Maharaja called Srigupta built this temple for the use of Chinese priests. He was prompted to do so by the arrival of about twenty priests of that country who had travelled from Sz'chuen to the Mahabodhi Temple to pay their worship.[???] Being impressed by their pious demeanour, he gave them the land and the revenues of about twenty villages as an endowment. This occurred some 500 years ago. The land has now reverted to the king of Eastern India, whose name is Devavarma, but he is said to be willing to give back the temple-land and the endowment in case any priests come from China.[???] The Mahabhodi Temple, near the Diamond Throne (i.e., at Gaya), was built by a king of Ceylon for the use of priests of that country. The Nalanda Temple, which is seven stages north-east of the Mahabodhi, was built by an old king, Sri-Sakraditya, for a Bhikshu of North India called Raja-Bhaja. After beginning it he was much obstructed, but his descendants finished it, and made it the most magnificent establishment in Jambudvipa. This building of Nalanda stands four-square, like a city precinct. The gates (porches) have overlapping eaves covered by tiles. The buildings (gates?) are of three storeys, each storey about twelve feet in height.
Outside the western gate of the great hall of the temple is a large stupa and various chaityas, each erected over different sacred vestiges, and adorned with every kind of precious substance.
The superior is a very old man; the Karmadana or Viharaswami or Viharapala is the chief officer after the superior, and to him the utmost deference is paid.
This is the only temple in which, by imperial order, a water-clock is kept to determine the right time. The night is divided into three watches, during the first and last of which there are religious services; in the middle watch, as the priests may desire, they can watch or repose. The method in which this clock determines the time is fully described in the "Ki-kwci-ch'uen."
The temple is called Sri Nalanda Vihara, after the name of the Naga called Nanda.
The great temple opens to the west. Going about twenty paces from the gate, there is a stupa about 100 feet high. This is where the Lord of the World (Lokanatha) kept Wass (the season of the rains) for three months; the Sanskrit name is Mulagandhakoti. Northwards fifty paces is a great stupa, even higher than the other; this was built by Baladitya very much reverenced in it is a figure of Buddha turning the wheel of the law. South-west is a little chaitya about ten feet high. This commemorates the place where the Brahman, with the bird in his hand, asked questions; the Chinese expression Su-li fau-to means just the same as this.
To the west of the Mulagandha Hall is the tooth-brush tree of Buddha.
On a raised space is the ground where Buddha walked. It is about two cubits wide, fourteen or fifteen long, and two high. There are lotus flowers carved out of the stone, a foot high, fourteen or fifteen in number, to denote his steps.
Going from the temple south to Rajagriha is thirty li. The Vulture Peak and the Bambu Garden are close to this city. Going S.W. to the Mahabodhi is seven stages (yojanas). To Vaisali is twenty-five stages north. To the Deer Park twenty or so stages west. East to Tamralipti is sixty or seventy stages. This is the place for embarking for China from Eastern India and close to the sea. There are about 3500 priests in the temple at Nalanda, which is supported by revenues derived from land (villages) given by a succession of kings to the monastery.
34. Taou-lin, a priest of King-chan (in Hupeh), whose Sanskrit name was Silaprabha, embarked in a foreign ship, and passing the copper-pillars, stretched away to Lanka (Kamalanka); after passing along the Kalinga coast he came to the country of the naked men. He then proceeded to Tamralipti, where he passed three years learning the Sanskrit language. After visiting the Vajrasana and worshipping the Bodhi Tree, he passed to Nalanda, where he studied the Kosha, and after a year or two went to the Vulture Peak, near Rajagriha, and finally proceeded to South India.
35. Tan-Kwong, a priest of the same district in China, went to India by the southern sea-route, and having arrived at A-li-ki-lo (Arakan?), he was reported to have found much favour with the king of that country, and to have got a temple built and books and images; in the end, as was supposed, he died there.
36. Hwui-ming, another priest from the same district, set out to go to India by the southern sea-route, but the ship being baffled by contrary winds, put in at Tung-chu (copper pillars), erected by Ma-yuen, and after stopping at Shang-king, returned to China.
37. Hiuen-ta, a priest of Kung-chow and the district of Kiang Ning, was a man of high family. He appears to have accompanied an envoy in a Persian ship to the southern seas. Having arrived at Fo-shai (Sribhoja), he remained there six months studying the Sabdavidya; the king was highly courteous, and on the occasion of his sending a present to the country of Mo-lo-yu (Malaya), Hiuen-ta proceeded there, and remained two months. He then went on to Quedah, and then at the end of winter went in the royal ship towards Eastern India. Going north from Quedah, after ten days or so they came to the country of the naked men. For two or three lis along the eastern shore there were nothing but cocoa-nut trees and forests of betel-vines. The people, when they saw the ship, came alongside in little boats with the greatest clamour; there were upwards of one hundred such boats filled with cocoa-nuts and plantains; they had also baskets, &c., made of rattan; they desired to exchange these things for whatever we had that they fancied, but they liked nothing so much as bits of iron. A piece of this metal two fingers' length in size would buy as many as five or ten cocoa-nuts. The men here are all naked, the women wear a girdle of leaves; the sailors in joke offered them clothes, but they made signs that they did not want any such articles. This country, according to report, is south-west of Sz'-ch'uan. The country produces no iron and very little gold and silver; the people live on cocoa-nuts and some esculent roots, but have very little rice or cereals. Iron is very valuable; they call it Lu-a. The men are not quite black, of middling height, they use poisoned arrows, one of which is fatal. Going for half a month in a north-west direction, we come to Tamralipti, which is the southern district of East India. This place is some sixty stages or more from Nalanda and the Bodhi Tree. Meeting the priest called "Lamp of the Great Vehicle" (Mahayana dipa) in this place, they remained together there one year, learning Sanskrit and practising themselves in the Sabda-sastra. They then went on with some hundred or so merchantmen towards Central India. When about ten days' journey from the Mahabodhi, in a narrow pass, the road being bad and slippery, Hiuen-ta was left behind and attacked by robbers, who stripped him and left him half dead. At sundown some villagers rescued him and gave him a garment. Going on north, he came to Nalanda, and after visiting all the sacred spots in the neighbourhood, he remained at Nalanda ten years, and then going back to Tamralipti, he returned to Quedali, and with all his books and translations, amounting in all to 500,000 Slokas, enough to fill a thousand volumes, he remained at Sribhoja.[???]
38. Shen-hing, a priest of Sin-Chow, also went to Sribhoja, where he died.
39. The priest Ling-wan, having gone through Annam, came to India, and erected under the Bodhi Tree a figure of Maitreya Bodhisattva one cubit in height, and of exquisite character.
40. Seng-chi, a priest and companion of the former, went to India by the southern sea-route, and arrived at Samotata. The king of that country, named Rajabhata (or patu), a Upasaka, greatly reverenced the three objects of worship, and devoted himself to his religious duties.
41. A priest, Chi-sz, is mentioned, who went to the south and resided at Shang-king, near Cochin-China. He then went south to Sribhoja, and afterwards proceeded to India.
42. A priest, Wou Hing (Prajnadeva), in company with the last, left Hainan with an easterly wind; after a month he arrived at Sribhoja. He then went in the royal ship for fifteen days to Malaya, in another fifteen days to Quedah, then waiting till the end of winter, going west for thirty days he arrived at Naga-vadana (Nagapatam?), whence after two days' sea-voyage he came to Simhapura (Ceylon). He there worshipped the sacred tooth, and then going N.E. for a month, arrived at the country of O-li-ki-lo. This is the eastern limit of East India, It is a part of Jambudvipa. After this he proceeded to the Mahabodhi Temple. Having rested here, he returned to Nalanda and studied the Yoga, Kosha, and other works. Moved with a desire to find copies of the Vinaya, he repaired to the Tiladaka Temple. In the end he died at Nalanda.
43. Fa-shin also started by the southern route, and after passing Shang-king (Saigon), Ku-long, Kaling, and Quedah, he died.
***
Putting together these notices, we may conclude that the sea-route between China and India in the early years of the Tang dynasty was by way of Java, Sumatra, the Straits of Malacca, the coast of Burma and Arakan, to Tamralipti, or else by the more adventurous way of Ceylon from Quedah. It seems that the Condore Islands were a centre of trade, and that the language of the natives of these islands was used generally through the Southern Seas; at least I-tsing speaks of himself as interpreting the language at Sribhoja (vide p. xv. n.).
We have one or two points of some certainty in the itinerary of these pilgrims. For instance, in the Si-yu-ki, Hiuen-Tsiang (Records, ii. 200) says that to the N.E. of Samotata is the country called Srikshetra, to the S.E. of this is Kamalangka, to the east of this is Darapati (read Dvarapati). This country has been identified by Captain St. John (Phoenix, May 1872) with old Tung-oo and Sandoway in Burma, lat. 18 20' N. long. 94 20' E.; it is, in fact the "door land" between Burma and Siam; this latter being called Champa or Lin-I. Hiuen-Tsiang remarks that to the S.W. of Lin-I, or Siam, is the country of the Yavanas, or, as they are called in his text, the Yen-mo-na. We do not read of this country in I-tsing; it may perhaps represent Cambodia.
IV. Another work of some importance written by I-tsing is the following:
NAN-HAE-KI-KWEI-NIU-FA-CH'UEN.
(Nanj. Cat. 1492.) This work, in four chapters, was compiled by I-tsing, and forwarded to China "by one returning to the inner land,"[???] to be arranged and published. It relates to matters connected with the religious customs of India and some other districts (Southern Sea islands) visited by I-tsing, or gathered from others who had visited these places, during the time of his absence on foreign travel.
Passing by the introduction, which refers to the origin of the world and its orderly arrangement,
I-tsing (or his editor[???]) next alludes to the number of the Buddhist schools (Nikayas), and the various countries in which they flourished. The chief schools of independent origin but depending on distinct tradition he names, are these:
1. The Aryamahasanghiti, divided into seven branches.
2. The Aryasthaviras, divided into three branches, the Tripitaka more or less like the former.
3. Aryamulasarvastatavadins, divided into four branches, the Tripitaka more or less like the former.
4. The Aryasammatiyas, divided into four branches. The Tripitaka differs in its number of stanzas from the former, and the school has other divergences.
These schools, with their sub-branches, compose the eighteen sects into which Buddhism was divided at an early date (the century following the Nirvana).
In the country of Magadha, he observes, each of the four schools is in a flourishing condition. In the Maratha country and in Sindh the Sammatiya school is chiefly followed. In the north the Sarvastavadins and Mahasanghikas are met with; in the southern borders the Mahasthaviras are principally found. The others are little known. On the eastern outskirting countries the four schools are intermingled. [From Nalanda, five hundred stages east, is the frontier land referred to. For these countries vide Records, ii. 200.]
In Ceylon the Sthavira school alone nourishes; the Mahasanghikas are expelled.
With respect to the ten countries known as the Southern Sea islands,1 [Reckoning from the west, the names of the islands are, Po-lu-sse, Molo-yau (the same as Shi-li-fo-yau), Mo-ho-siu, Ho-ling, Tan-Tan, Pw'an-pw'an, Po-li, Kiu-lun, Fo-shi-po-lo, Hoshen. Mo-kia-man, and other little islands not catalogued.] the Mulasarvastavadins and the Sammattyas are principally found; the other two schools at the present time are seldom met with. The teaching of the Little Vehicle is principally affected; in Mo-lo-yau, however, the Great Vehicle is studied also. Some of these islands may be perhaps 100 li in circuit, others several hundred li, and some 100 stages round. It is difficult to calculate distances on the great ocean, but the best skilled merchantmen know that they first arrive at Kiu-lun (called by the Cochin-China ambassadors Kwan-lun).2 [The people of this country alone have woolly hair and black skins. With this exception, the people of all the other countries are like those of China. -- Ch. Ed.]
In Champa (otherwise called Lin-I), the Sammatiya school is chiefly found, with a few Sarvastavadins. A month's voyage south-west is Annam. Formerly the people sacrificed to Heaven, but afterwards the law of Buddha flourished; now a wicked king has destroyed the priests, and all the heretics live mixed together. This is the southern point of Jambudvipa.
Speaking generally, the Great Vehicle prevails in the north, the teaching of the Little Vehicle in the south. In some parts of China the Great Vehicle is in favour, but with these exceptions the Great and Little Vehicle are intermingled without distinction. In both cases the rules of moral conduct and the four truths are taught, but in the Great Vehicle they worship the Bodhisattvas, but not in the teaching of the Little Vehicle.
With respect to the Great Vehicle, there are only two branches, viz., (1) the Chung-kwan (Madyamikas?); (2) the Yoga system. The Madyamikas regard all outward phenomena as empty and substantially unreal. The Yogas regard outward things as nothing, inward things as everything. Things are just what they appear to cognition. And so with respect to the sacred doctrine, it is true to one and false to another; there is no positive certainty for all. The great aim is to reach that shore,1 [That shore, i.e., the other side of the stream of transmigration.] and to stem the tide of life.
After some further remarks, I-tsing proceeds to say that his records are framed on the teaching of the Mulasarvastavadin school, divided into three branches: 1. The Dharmaguptas; 2. the Mahisasakas; 3. the Kasyapiyas.
In Udyana, Karashar, and Khotan there is a mixture of doctrine.
We will now pass on to give the headings of the chapters in the work under notice:
THE NAMES OF THE FORTY CHAPTERS OF THE NAN-HAE-KI-KWEI-NIU. 1. The evil of disregarding the observation of the season of rest (Vass).
2. Right decorum in the presence of the honoured one (images or paintings of the honoured one or ones).
3. The diminutive seats to be used whilst eating or reposing.
4. On the necessary cleansing of food vessels and personal preparation.
5. On cleansing after meals.
6. On the two sorts of water-pitchers.
7. On the early inspection with regard to insects.
8. On the early tooth-cleansing wood (brush).
9. Rules on undertaking religious fasts.
10. On special requirements as to raiment and food.
11. As to the different kinds of vestments.
12. On special rules as to female clothing.
13. Rules as to sacred (pure) enclosures.
14. The resting-time of the community (the five grades).
15. The period called Pravarana (relaxation after Vass).
16. On the mode of eating food (with chop-sticks).
17. On proper rules as to the seasons or hours of religious worship.
18. On articles of private property.
19. Rules and regulations for ordination.
20. The proper occasions for ablutions.
21. On seats used, and personal accommodation whilst seated.
22. On rules concerning apartments for sleeping and resting.
23. On the advantage of proper exercise to health.
24. Worship not mutually dependent.
25. On the way of personal behaviour to a teacher.
26. On the way of conduct towards strangers (priests).
27. On symptoms of bodily illness.
28. On medical rules.
29. On exceptional medical treatment (for offensive ailments).
30. On turning to the right in worship. 31. On rules of decorum in cleansing the sacred objects of worship.
32. On chanting in worship.
33. On reverence to sacred objects.
34. On rules for learning in the West.
35. On the propriety of long hair.
36. On disposing of the property of a deceased monk.
37. On property allowed to the fraternity.
38. On cremation.
39. On charges brought by low or depraved men.
40. The unselfish character of the old worthies.
So far the headings of the chapters of this most important but obscure work. It is to be hoped that the promised translation by a Japanese scholar may soon appear; the contents of the various chapters, as I have summarised them for my own reference, show me that the book, when clearly translated, will shed an unexpected light on many dark passages of Indian history.
The entire number of books translated by I-Tsing, as we have before remarked, amounted to fifty-six. I need allude to none of these on the present occasion, except to say that their names may be found in Mr. Nanjio's Catalogue of the Buddhist Tripitaka (Appendix II., p. 441). With respect, however, to the small tract numbered 1441 in the Catalogue, I may add that I am now printing the original text, which 1 hope to publish shortly with an English translation and notes.
In commending the present rather laborious work to the notice of the public, I must regret its many defects, and at the same time apologise both to the Publishers and my Readers for the long delay in completing the task I undertook. Responsibilities which have increased with increasing years, and flagging energies, the result of long sickness, must be my excuse.
But I may not conclude without sincerely thanking those who have supported me in my labours, and especially his Lordship the Secretary of State for India and his Grace the Duke of Northumberland, from both of whom I have received material assistance. GREENS NORTON RECTORY.