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MAY, 1893.]
mentioned that he had shown it to the ablest native astronomer (K. Krishna Josiyâr) in Southern India, and that in two days he received from him the calculation worked out, proving that the year of the date was A. D. 774, and that this was the only possible year. Now I am sure that the calculation which Dr. Burnell received from the native astronomer was correct, though Dr. Burnell, instead of saying A. D. 774, should have said A. D. 774-775; but A. D. 774-775 is not the only possible year. For I can myself point out two days either of which would suit the astronomical requirements of the date,-Saturday, the and Jupiter was in the sign Makara which it had
Again, in Kaliyuga 3875 expired the Minasamkranti took place, and the solar Chaitra began, 4 h. 53 m. after mean sunrise of the 19th February A. D. 775, and, accordingly, the 21st day of the month of Mina (or Chaitra) was Saturday. the 11th March A. D. 775. On that day the moon was in Rohini for about 17 h. after mean sunrise,
entered on the 17th October A. D. 774.
16th March A. D. 680, and Saturday, the 11th March A. D. 775.
BOOK NOTICE.
In Kaliyuga 3780 expired the Mina-sam kranti took place, and the solar Chaitra began, 14 h. 55 m. after mean sunrise of the 18th February, A. D. 680; and, accordingly, the 21st day of the month of Mina (or Chaitra) was Saturday, the 10th March A. D. 680. On that day the moon. BOOK KALHANA'S RAJATARANGINI, or Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir, edited by M. A. STEIN, Ph.D., Principal, Oriental College, Lahore, Vol. I. Sanskrit text with critical notes.
The two great Asiatic nations, with a very ancient but isolated civilization, afford a striking contrast in their treatment of history. The Chinese possess not only authentic chronicles, going back year by year to the eighth century B. C., but also historical accounts of their royal dynasties, beginning from a period considerably earlier than 2000 B. C. India, on the other hand, did not produce any work of even a quasi-historieal character till more than a thousand years after the commencement of our era. That a people so intellectually gifted as the Indians, who reached an advanced stage in philosophical speculation. and showed great accuracy of observation in linguistic investigations several centuries before Christ, should have entirely lacked the historical sense. is certainly a remarkable phenomenon. The explanation is probably to be found in the fact that when the Aryan conquerors had overspread the plains of Hindustan, the Indian mind, influenced by the climate, turned more and more away from the realities of active life towards speculation, arriving as early as the sixth century B. C. at the conclusion that action is a positive evil. Hence it is not till the twelfth century of our era that the first Indian work was written which at all deserves the name of a history, viz., Kalhana's Chronicle of the Kings of Kasmir. Yet even in that author, as Prof. Weber says, the poet predominates over the historian.
The Rajatarangini first became known through Horace Hayman Wilson's essay on the Hindu
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entered Rohini about 6 h. after mean sunrise, and on the same day Jupiter was in the sign Makara, which it had entered on the 26th November A. D. 679.
Perhaps there may be other days which also would suit the date. But even if this should not be the case, I know too little of the history of Southern India to be able to say, which of the two possible equivalents of the date, given above, would be preferable.
F. KIELHORN.
Göttingen. NOTICE.
History of Kasmir, published in 1825. Ten years later the editio princeps appeared under the patronage of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. This edition is based mainly on a Devanagari transcript from a Sârada MS., which has now been proved to be the original of all known MSS. of the Rujatarangini. Its value is not great, owing to the numerous mistakes made in the course of the transcription, and to liberties taken with the text through ignorance of the topography of Kasmir on the part of the Pandits who undertook to edit the work.
Troyer's edition, published at Paris in 1840, and comprising only the first six cantos, was based on the same materials. Though an improvement on its predecessor, it is still very defective, and proved of but little use to General Cunningham in his chronological researches.
No further progress in our knowledge of the Rajataranging was made till 1875, when Prof. Büller undertook his tour in search of Sanakrit MSS. in Kasmir. This scholar, whose researches have thrown more light on the ancient history of India than those of perhaps any other living Sanskritist, then discovered the codex archetypes of all existing copies of the Rajatarangini It was fortunate that Dr. Stein, a pupil of Prof. Bübler, was enabled to visit the Valley of Kasmir in 1888 and the following years, one of his objects being to obtain possession of this valuable MS. with a view to editing it. Though he found it to he still more difficult of access than it had been during the lifetime of its former owner, on whose death it had to be divided among the heirs, Dr. Stein's persevering efforts were at last, crowned with success in 1889.
