________________
98
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[APRIL, 1893.
First as to dates. That of the deed of arbitration (taking the Chaitrádi expired year) is equivalent to Sunday, September 27, 1612 A. D.
There is now no doubt about the identity of the Țôdar Mall referred to. The arbitration deed is now in possession of the Maharaja of Benares. Inquiry from him, and from the present possessor of the shrine originally owned by Tul'si Das, shows that it was Pratipal Singh, the eleventh in descent from Akbar's great minister, who gave it to the then Maharaja. (9) Date of Tul'si Das's death according to an old rhyme,
Sambata sôraha sai asi
Asi Ganga ké tira Sawana sukala saptami
Tulasí tajeu sarira 11 "On the 7th of the light half of Srávána, Sainbat 1680, Tal'si left his body, at Asi, on the bank of the Ganges."
Here we are given no week-day by which to control our calculations, but, assuming that the Chaitrdili expired year is meant, it is equivalent to Thursday, July 24th, 1623 A. D.
To sum up. The following are the dates at which we have arrived :
(a) Date of commencement of composition of the Ruim-charit-mánas. Tuesday, March 30, 1574 A. D.
(b) Date of composition of the Ram Sat'szi. Thursday, April 9th, 1584 A. D. This is very doubtful.
(c) Date of composition of the Párbati Mangal. Thursday, 2nd February, 1586 A. D. (d) Date of composition (or ? copying) of the Rámágyá. Sunday, June 4th, 1598 A. D. (e) Date of composition of the Kabitta Ráindyan between the years 1612 and 1614 A. D. () Date of the deed of arbitration. Sunday, September 27, 1612 A. D. (9) Date of Tul'si Das's death. Thursday, July 24th, 1623 A. D.
Of these (a) depends on the supposition that the poet dated from the running and not from the expired tithi. All the dates depend upon expired Chaitrádi Sambat years, except (b) which depends on a current Chaitrádi Sambat year, a most improbable assumption.
In concluding this portion of my notes on Tulsi Das I must again acknowledge my obligations to the brilliant mathematician whose name has so often occurred in them, Mahåmahpadhyâya Pandit Sudhakara Dvivêdi. The fortunate circum stance of his profound knowledge, at the same time of Hindu astronomy and of old Hindi poetry, has greatly facilitated my researches, and the ungrudging way in which has placed his time at my disposal puts me in his debt to an amount which I can scarcely repay.
(To be continued.)
FOLKTALES OF ARAKAN. BY BERNARD HOUGHTON, C.S.
No. 1.-The Snake Prince. A certain fairy called Sakkaru, having lived a thousand lives in the Tawatinsa fairy-land, it became his turn to be born again in the world of men. Accordingly King Sakra, who by
1 Translated from a Burmese MS. furnished by Maung Tha Bwin, Myôôk of Sandoway.
9 The Indian names and the allusion to Sakr (Indra) are, together with one or two allusions to Buddhist ideas, doubtless tacked on to the original story to bring it into line with the orthodox Buddhist Wate.
