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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
and satisfaction. Every point made, every deci sion arrived at, is marked by a spirit of caution and an appreciation of evidential values, which the author doubtless owes to his legal training and intellectual experience, and which embodies a lesson for some of those more imaginative writers who have sought to re-construct the social and political features of the Vodic age on what are apt to prove inadequate or fallacious foundations. In Appendix G, for example, he exposes the hollowness of the theory of "diffusion" preached by Messrs. Elliot Smith and Perry.
The second volume contains eight Appendices, which deal severally with the age of the Avesta and Rigveda, the sacrifice of Puruşa and the origin of the world, the Aryan conception of the heaven, the drink of immortality, the Indo-European firecult, cremation and burial, the Dravidian element in Indian thought, and Pythagoras and Parmenides, No one, we imagine, will dissent from the view that Dr. Keith's work, which forms part of the Harvard Oriental Series, constitutes the most important contribution to our knowledge of Vedic culture that has appeared in recent times, and that its value as an authoritative exposition of Indo-Aryan religious be lief and ritual in all its phases is likely to increase, rather than diminish, in future years. The book should be read by every Sanskritist and every student of Hindu Philosophy.
[ JUNE, 1927
preliminary labours are described by M. Godard in this little pamphlet published by the Musée Guimet.
S. M. EDWARDES. EXPOSITION DE RÉCENTES DÉCOUVERTES ET DE RÉCENTS TRAVAUX ARCHÉOLOGIQUES EN AFGHANISTAN ET EN CHINE. Musée Guimet. March, 1925.
In 1922 M. Foucher, a professor at the Sorbonne and author of the Graco Buddhist Art of Gandhara chanced to be on a mission of research in India. The French envoy in Persia, M. Bouin, having informed the French Government that the Afghans were prepared to authoriso the French to conduct Archæological: researches within their territorios.. M. Foucher journeyed to Persia and thence to Afghanistan by the Herat route. He was received at the Afghan frontier with every mark of respect as the first official envoy of the French Government, and was the guest of the Amir for several months at Kabul. During his stay he made certain researches, and eventually sigued a convention with the Afghan government, which enables the French to prosecute excavation in Afghanistan for a period of thirty years. This permission secured, M. Foucher asked for the services of an architect, and M. André Godard was accordingly appointed and joined him at Jalalabad in February 1923. The two antiquaries commenced their work with a preliminary reconnaissance, which would enable them to prepare a chart of ancient sites in Afghenistan suitable for excavation. The results of these
The pamphlet opens with general remarks on the archæological value of Afghanistan, and then describes the relics, remains and survivals discovered at Jalalabad, Hadda, Kabul, Bamiyan, and Ghazni. In the last-named area they discovered the tomb of Sabuktigin, and a fine mausoleum, locally supposed to be that of Masud, son of Mahmud, as well as many beautifully decorated marbles, ornamented with arabesque designs, animals, historical inscriptions, and quotations from the Koran, which had been built into the façade of Ghaznivid buildings. "They enable us" remarks M. Godard, "to give an outline of the history of this Ghaznivid art, which originated in the reign of Mahmud, was carried to India by his successors, and ultimately gave birth to that Indo-Musalman art which produced the marvellous architectural masterpieces of Agra, Delhi, Lahore and other cities of India."
The latter half of the pamphlet consists of two papers by MM. Sirén and Lartigue on archeological discoveries in China. Modest as it is in size and scope, the pamphlet is a record of valuable and painstaking antiquarian work, and so far as concerns the possessions of the Amir, is of first-class importance.
S M. EDWARDES, FURTHER DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA, translated from the Pali of the Majjhima Nikaya, by LORD CHALMERS, G.C.B. Two volumes. Vol. I, Oxford University Press, 1926.
The Majjhima Nikaya is one of the most important and fundamental Buddhist scriptures, as it enshrines the principal tenets of early Buddhism : and the present English translation by a scholar who has devoted a large part of an active life to the study of the religion preached by Gautama forms a worthy pendant to the well-known translation of the Digha Nikaya by Professor and Mrs. Rhys Davids. The actual translation is likely to meet with the approval of Pali scholars, as the English is well-chosen and aptly portrays the succinct and popular style of the original, while at the same time preserving its meaning and gist. The author also provides a brief and useful introduction in which the main features of Indian thought in Gautama's age are explained, and stress is laid on the practical sagacity of the Buddha in adapting to his own doctrines the expressions and nomenclature of his forerunners. He borrowed a good deal from Brahmanism, for example; but "in each instance he altered the connotation of the familiar terms which he retained from the past, while importing into them his own novel content of meaning. The old labels were reassuring, even though the wine was a new brand." 8. M. EDWARDES.
