________________ Dr. Vincent A. Smith an Vaisali 363 II In the Indian Antiquary of 1903 (pp.233-36). Dr. V. A. Smith wrote a short paper entitled "Tibetan Affinities of the Licchavis." He found similarties between the customs of the Tibetans and those of the Licchavis in the practice of the exposure of the dead and also in judicial procedure. And hence he came to the conclusion that the Licchavis, the ruling tribe or clan in the Vrijji country of which Vaisali was the capital, was really a Tibetan tribe which settled in the plains during the prehistoric times. This paper aroused considerable interest among the learned men and many scholars later on wrote on the origin of the Licchavis of Vaigali Cf. "The Persian Affinities of the Licchavis" in ihe Indian Antiquary for 1908 by Dr. Satis Chandra Vidyabbusbana also cf. Dr. K. P. Jayaswal's views on this in his Hindu Polity (Calcutta, 1924), pp. 172-189. .? In Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics Vol. XII, pp. 567-568 (New York, 1921) the article on "Vaikali" has been written by Dr. V. A. Smith Although the article is small, it very clearly indicates the significance of the place in Indian history and culture. Some important portions of the article are reproduced below for the sake of our readers : "The ancient city of Vaidalt was equally sacred to the Jains and the Buddhists long ago. It is now represented unquestionably by the village named Basar or Basalh (Dot Besarh or Basarh as in nearly all books), situated in the Hajipur subdivision of the Muzaffarpur District of the Bibar and Orissa Province, in 250 55' N. and 85deg 8' E. "The site of the city occupies a space about ten miles in circuit, which includes several villages besides Basash and many ruined mounds. The identity of Vaisali with the group of remains associated with the village of Basalh is conclusively proved : (i) by the survival of the ancient dame with only slight modifications: Wi . . . (ii) by geographical bearings taken from Patna and other places; (iii) by geographical bearings as compared with the description recorded by Hiuen Tsiang (Yuan Chwang), the Chinese Pilgrim in the 7th century; and . (iv) by the finding on the spot of sealings of letters inscribed with the name Vaisali. The documents, which were addressed to
