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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MAY, 1887.
immigration of the Brahmanical missionaries from the north. In that case the Tolkdpptyam, and other contemporary archaic writings, would furnish & valuable mine of classical and ethno- logical lore. And my purpose in this communi. cation is to express & hope that some of the alumni of the Madras University may be induced to explore its recesses, in the hope of throwing light on the normal literature, manners, customs, dic., of their own land; following the example of their distinguished countrymen in Bombay and Bengal.
Attention is not now called to this object for the first time. Fifteen years ago Mr. Gover, supported by the authority of several competent judges, pointed out how great is the mass of early Dravidian, especially Tamil, literature upon which " total neglect has fallen. Overborne by Brahmanic legend, hated by the Brahmans, it has not had a chance of obtaining the notiee it 80 much deserves." ... "To raise these books in public estimation, to exhibit the true products of the Dravidian mind, would be a task worthy of the ripest scholar and the most enlightened Government. I would especially draw attention to the eighteen books that are said to have received the sanction of the Madura College, and are among the oldest. specimens of Dravidian literature. Any student of Dravidian writings would be able to add a score of equally valuable books. If these were carefully edited they would form a body of Dravidian' classics of the highest value."
W. ELLIOT, F.R.B. Wolfelee, 8th January 1887. The Readers of this Journal will, ere now, have heard, with sorrow, of the recent death of Sir Walter Elliot. In publishing, with but melan- choly pleasure, this his last contribution to these pages, the Editors wish to express their extreme regret at being no longer able to count him among their contributors, and their gratitude for the valuable papers sent by him from time to time, despite his great age and the physical infir. mities which latterly were almost overwhelming.
J. F. FLEET. R. C. TEMPLE.
the tradition prevalent in the "gracious teacher's" native land favours Mr. K. B. Pathak's date for Bankaracharya (A.D. 788-820) rather than that proposed by Messrs. K. T. Telang and Fleet (c. A. D. 590-655).
"At the time of this successful war," so runs the Kérasótpatti," there was born as the son or incarnation) of Mahadeva (Śiva) a celebrated genius. It was he whu was afterwards known as Samkaracharya."
The Ktrafótpatti is full of glaring anachronisme, like, almost without exception, all' native histories; and the Perumal in whose reign this successful war" is said to have taken place is said to have been appointed ruler of Kerala by Anakundi-Krishnaraya in A.D. 427.”
Moreover, this same Chéraman-Perumal is recorded, in the Keralotpatti, to have embraced Islam, and set out for Mecca !!
Kere the confusion seems to be worse confound. ed; and a puppet Vijayanagar king of the sixteenth century A.D. is mixed up in the work with a king who set ont for Mecca, and who is said to have landed at that place and had an interview with the Prophet himself on the very first day of the first year of the Hijra !!
But, though it at first sight appears hopeless to get at the truth, the tradition of the king setting out for Mecca does appear to rest on a historical basis. Arabs may generally be trusted to state facts; and it is important in the first place to notice that the author of the Tahafat-ulMujahidin (written in the latter half of the sixteenth century) notices this tradition, only to discredit the date assigned in it. He says:" Touching the exact time when this event occurred, there is no certain information : but there appears good ground for the supposition that it happened about two hundred years after the flight of the Prophet." And he continues :-" It is a fact, moreover, now well known to all, that the king was buried at Zapbar, instead of on the Arábian Coast of the Red Set, at which place his tomb can be seen by every one, and is indeed now flocked to on account of its virtues." And the king of whom this tale is told, is styled by the people of that part of the world As-Bamiri; whilst the tradition of his disappearance is very common throughout the population generally of Malabar, whether Moslems or Pagans; although the latter would believe that he has been taken
THE DATE OF SAMKARACHARYA. Referring to Mr. Fleet's note on this subject at page 41 f. above, it is of interest to note that
Caldwell's Comp. Gram., Intro., p. 127; Inter. Num. Or. Vol. III. p. 1, and note 1, p. 2. According to Dr. Caldwell the derivation is Tam. tol,' ancient,' and Sons. kdvya, a poem;' but a compound word, the constituents of which belong to languages so totally distinct, is hardly admissible. . Folk Songs of Southern India, Pp.xix, n. Madrak, 1871.
I do not class the Kongadsia-Rajakal with these; for it has always struok me that that work must
have been cumpiled either by. European, or by a Native 1. under European superintendence. Have the Editora any information on this point
Rowlandeon's translation, London, 1883.
