________________
CORRESPONDENCE AND MISCELLANEA.
FEBRUARY, 1885.]
Palmer's book on the ruins of the fame of mine.
I shall be sorry if my refutation of his calumny in any way redounds against Professor Palmer's work, which, though not devoid of errors and inaccuracies, and lacking information on important points, still has, in my opinion, sufficient merit of its own to need no such doubtful aid as Mr. LeStrange has given it. S. B. DOCTOR.
ORIGIN OF THE SRIVAISHNAVAS. To the Editor of the Indian Antiquary. SIR,-In the September Number of your Journal, in an Article on the Origin of the Srivaishnavas of Southern India, the following occurs:-" A stanza was read in which the face of Vishnu was represented to be as red as the lotus. The Sankaracharya at once exclaimed that it was a luptépami, or defective comparison, as there were objects surpassing the lotus in their redness, which might have been used for the simile." Might I ask the writer whether there is any authority at all for this explanation of the term luptopamd? The word is translated in the usual way, but instead of meaning 'a simile in which one term of comparison is wanting' it is explained as meaning a feeble comparison. The story is stated to be improbable for two reasons, but no reference is made to this explanation of luptópamd, whereas unless such an explanation can be substantiated the foundation of the story goes. Yours faithfully, J. A. VANES.
Bangalore, November 22nd.
A SINGHALESE PRINCE IN EGYPT,
I am not sure whether the following passage from Maqrizi has been made generally accessible to Indian students:-"On the 14th of Muharram 682 (14th April 1283) envoys arrived in Egypt from the ruler of Ceylon, which is a part of India. This prince was called Abu Nekbah Lebadahs. They took with them a golden casket half an ell long, and three fingers in breadth. Inside it was a substance of a green colour which looked like palm leaves, and which bore characters that no one at Cairo could read. The envoys were examined, and from their report it would appear the letter contained formulae of salutation and friendship. The prince declared that he had broken off his alliance with the ruler of Yaman in order that he might enter into closer ties with the Sultan (i.e. the Sultan of Egypt). He announced that he possessed a great quantity of riches, of which he gave a list, such as elephants, precious stones, and costly goods of all kinds, and that he had sent a present to the Sultan. The kingdom of Ceylon contained 27 fortresses and also possessed
61
mines of rubies and other precious stones, and the Royal treasure beamed with precious stones." Magriz, ed. Quatremère, II. part i., 59 and 60.
HENRY H. HOWORTH.
CHANDRAGUPTA AND VIKRAMADITYA. (ante Vol. XIII. p. 185).
"
With reference to Mr. Fleet's inscription No. CXLVI. in which Vikramaditya is placed after Chandragupta, I would call attention to one of the Mackenzie palm-leaf Telugu MSS. at Madras, described by the Rev. W. Taylor,-the Kaliyugarája-Charitra, which states that Chandragupta reigned 210 years, and his son" Vikramaditya reigned 2000 years, till the year 3044 of the Kaliyuga (Mad. Jour. Lit. Soc., Vol. VII. p. 351). May not this have been what was in the mind of the person who, in the 11th century, had the inscription referred to engraved? In that case it must be Chandragupta the Maurya who is referred JAS. BURGESS.
to.
9th December 1884.
NOTES ON THE JATTS.
The Jatts appear to have spread rapidly from centres over the plains of the Panjab. The great families are often represented by colonies, both Cis-Satluj and Trans-Satluj. It is common to hear them say, "We are so many villages (khera) here and so many in Malw&." The number of villages in a colony is sometimes very large, several hundred.
The practice of karewá, or re-marriage of a widow to one of her deceased husband's family, is almost universal among the Jaṭṭs, but some tribes do not practise it; for instance, a large section of the Bains Jatts of Mahalpur, in the Hoshiarpur district.
The Emperor Akbar married a Jattni, a relative of one Mehr Mittha in the Manjha. To the celebration of this marriage 35 Jatt villages and 35 Rajpat villages of the Jalandhar and Bårt Do&bs were summoned. These villages enjoy a preeminence in the country side, and are collectively termed "the Darbar."
In olden times the Jatts of the Malwa used to be deemed so poor, and so likely to be driven by a season of drought out of their villages, that the Manjha tribes would 'not give their daughters to them in marriage. Now, say the people at Firoz. pûr, it is the other way: the Malwa tribes will not give their daughters to the men of the Manjha, as they have got so far ahead of their Manjha brethren by the great stimulus to agriculture which roads and railways and the development of trade have given.
