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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
from India, and its votaries found a refuge in the neighbouring countries, namely, Tibet, China, the Malay Archipelago, Indo-China, and Ceylon. To this fact may, perhaps, be attributed the religious and architectural activity manifested at Pagan at the beginning of the eleventh century, and the preparedness of the Burmans to assimilate the civilization of the Talaings transplanted through Anòrat'â's conquest.
However, it has hitherto been the fashion" to represent Anòrat'a as the leader of a barbarian horde, who swept down upon Thatôn, and from thence carried away captive its king, Manuhâ, together with "five elephant-loads of Buddhist Scriptures and five hundred Buddhist priests; " and that it was during his reign that the Burmans received their religion, letters, and other elements of civilization from the Talaings. Such statements do not appear to be warranted by the evidence afforded by the following considerations relating to this period:
(a) The tract of country extending from Toungoo to Mandalay was colonised under feudal tenure in order to prevent the recurrence of the constant raids from the neighbouring Shân hills; and, with a view to attract population, the irriga. tion-works, which have been a source of wealth and prosperity to later generations, were constructed. A similar cordon of towns and villages was also formed on the Northern frontier to safeguard against aggressions from the Shân Kingdom of Pông. Coupled with these facts was that of the subjection of the Talaings to Burmese rule for over two centuries. These circumstances appear to indicate that the Burmans of that period were possessed of the elements of civilization and were acquainted with statesmanship, the methods of good government, and the arts of settled life.
(b) A debased form of Buddhism, which was probably introduced from Northern India, existed at Pagàn. Its teachers, called Aris, were not strict observers of their vow of celibacy; and it is expressly recorded in Native histories that they had written records of their doctrines, the basis of which was that sin could be expiated by the recitation of certain hymns.
7 Compare Forchhammer's Jardine Prize Essay, p. 4:"We shall in vain explore the reputed sites of ancient Burmese capitals for any architectural remains, antedating the rise of Anawrahta, which can be traced to Burmans. The conquest of Anawrahta inaugurated the career of the Mranmas or Burmans as a historical nation.
"Nor did they, prior to this event, possess an alphabet, much less a literature. Their most ancient inscrip
[SEPTEMBER, 1894.
The sacred language of Buddhism at the time of its introduction was Sanskrit, and not Pali. This is abundantly clear from the terra-cotta tablets bearing Sanskrit legends found at Tagaung, Pagàn, and Prome, from the preference shewn for the Sanskritic form of certain words, as noticed by Fausböll and Trenckner, in the Buddhistic books of Burma, and from the existence in the Burmese language of words importing terms in religion, mythology, science, and social life, which are derived directly from Sanskrit.s
(e) It is expressly recorded in the Mahayazawin that Anòrat'â and Manuhâ had inscriptions erected at the pagodas built by them, and that the Buddhist scriptures, which were in the Mun or Talaing character, were, by Anòrat'â's command, transcribed in the Burmese character at Pagàn. Inscriptions of the 11th and 12th centuries have been found at Pagàn, whose paleographical development is clearly traceable to the Indo-Pali alphabet of Kanishka (vide Cunningham's Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Plate XXVII.), and not to the SouthIndian alphabet of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty of Kalinga (vide Burnell's Elements of SouthIndian Paleography, Plate IV.) from which the Talaing alphabet was undoubtedly derived.
(d) The Shwêzîgôn and several other pagodas were built by Anòratâ, who enshrined in them the relics obtained by demolishing certain religious edifices in Arakan, Prome, and Hànbawadi. The sudden outburst of architectural energy, which followed Anòrat'â's conquest of Thatôn, and which covered the Upper Valley of the Irâwad with pagodas and other religious buildings, could not have been possible unless the Burmans of that period had reached a certain stage in the scale of civilization.
It is to be hoped that further researches, both historical and antiquarian, will bring to light the social, intellectual, moral, and religious condition of the Burmans on the eve of their conquest of Thatôn in the 11th century. For the present, however, the available materials are either scanty or unreliable.
According to the Kalyani Inscriptions, the period extending from the establishment of tions are not older than six centuries and display the art of writing in its infancy." [This last statement is at any rate wrong. Vide ante, p. 167, footnote 7: Cunningham's Mahabodhi, p. 75. - ED.]
* See the discussion on Sanskrit words in the Burmese Language ending with Mr. Houghton's "Rejoinder," ante, p. 165ff. Pace Mr. Houghton, I still hold to my original opinion.
