Indian Antiquary Vol 58

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 216

200
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[OCTOBER, 1929
of Kautilya, ruinister of Candragupta, and that it should no longer be used as a prima facie authority for the period 300 B.C. Professor Winternitz, in another article, makes an impartial and very useful contribution to what he regards as the essential preliminary work of minutely examining and comparing the drtha-setra matter in the Maha. bharata and the references to Artha-tustra matter in the Dharma-sútras, supplementing Professor Jolly's comparative synopsis of the legal matter. From the comparison thus made by him under certain specific heads he has drawn the preliminary conclu. sion that in most cases of parallelism it seems more probable that the Vişnt-onsti, Manu-smrti and Yajnavalkya-scistra go back to some other Artha. dastra, and not to that of Kautilya. The date of Kalidasa foring the subject of a paper by Professor D. R. Bhandarkar, who seaks to establish that Kalidasa must have flourished in the second and third quarters of the 6th century, thus support. ing in a measure the views of Hornle and MM. Haraprasad astri. In another paper, however on Vikramaditya, Professor S.K. Aiyangar evidently scoepts the opinion of many eininent authorities that Kalidasa lived in the time of the Imperial Gupta king Candragupta II.
Dr. P. K. Acharya, whose valuable researches in the domain of Indian architectural science are well known, gives an interesting comparison of the architectural details in the Manaadra with those found in certain of the Puranas, the Brhat samhita, Kamikagama and Suprabhedágama. Dr. Balkrishna, in his article on "Interest and Usury", has collated the principal rules contained in the law books and other texts as governing the relations between lenders and borrowers. Mr. K. G. Sankara enters the arena of debate on the ascription of the Trivan. drum plays to Bhâsa, and makes some novel suggestions,
Enough has been said perhaps to show that Professor Samaddar had succeeded in collecting many valuable papers for this memorial volume, which will be read with interest by all scholars engaged in Oriental research.
C.E.A. W. OLDHAM.
highly prized produce of pepper, cardamums and ginger, not to mention the beryls from the mines at Padyûr and near Kittûr, which were probably exported from its harbours. Moreover, owing to the protection afforded by the Western Ghat mountains from invading armies that so often overran and devastated the more accessible lands of Chola and Påndye, and to its closer contact with seafaring peoples from the west, we must expect to find cultures differing in many respects from those of the Tamil and southern Telugu provinces.
Pending the regular issue of a Journal, to which we shall look forward, the Society has made a start by publishing a collection of papers in the form before us. The first article is by Mr. Rajaraja Varma Raja, giving an account of 16 old palm leaf documents that contain valuable historical information regarding the chronology of the kings of Tra. vancore between 1544 and 1677 A.D., which will enable corrections to be made in the hitherto accepted lists of these kings. The paper has been appropriately supplemented by Mr.T. K. Joseph with copies of the records in the vernacular, a summary of the contents in English, & glossary and notes on the places mentioned. Mr. K. G. Sesha Aiyar deals with the vexed question of the date of Kulasekhara Alvår, and comes to the conclusion that his birth may be tentatively assigned to the year 528 A.D. Dr. Burkitt sends an account of the Syriac MSS. collected by Claudius Buchanan in southern India and presented to the Cambridge University library : while Mr. Joseph, the energetic sectional secretary, adds notes on a cave temple recently discovered by the side of the Bhadrakali falls of the Kodayar river and on some cists and other antiquarian remains at Pulimattu village, about 21 miles north of Trivandrum. All these papers conform to the objects of the Society, to which we wish & very successful career.
C. E. A. W. OLDHAM.
KERALA SOCIETY PAPER8, published by the Kerala
Society ; 104 x 8 in. ; pp. 68. Trivandrum, 1928.
The Kerala Society was founded towards the end of 1927, with head-quarters at Trivandrum, for the purpose of promoting research and advancing the study of the history and archæology, anthropology and folklore, art, language and literature of Kerala (Malabar). We welcome the establishment of a society to deal with an area of such ancient tradi. tions and so rich in historical and ethnological asso. ciations. From the earliest times Kerala, which may, roughly, be described as the area in which the people now speak Malayalam, possessed a special importance among the countries of the peninsula owing to its geographical position and its many seaports on the old trade route from west to east, as well as to its
THE PILGRIMAGE OF BUDDHA, by J. B. PRATT, London, 1928.
I wish to draw attention to this remarkable book which will repay the labour of anyone who masters it. Especially would I call the readers' attention to the following passage in the preface :
"There is one notable omission which will strike the reader of this book. I have said nothing what. ever of the Buddhism of Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia. This has but been due to lack of space, but to deliberate intention. The form of religion which prevails in these lands is so mixed with non-Buddhist elemente, that I hesitate to call it Buddhism at all. At any rate if I was to give a unified notion of Buddhism, it seemed to me necessary to confine myself to the Hinayana and the Mahayana."
This statement does not at all need an apology. Lately I had to review a "distributionist " book, which seemed to me to look on Asokan and Tibetan Buddhism as of the same kind, date and authority,
R. C. TEMPLE