was the next-door neighbour to Ceylon; either the Pandyas also built elephant-ships or they took them from the Ceylonese. The "Elephant-ships" were a familiar sight in Kalinga, but the gift or trophies from the Pandya king in the twelfth year of Khāravela were "extraordinary and wonderful."

For bhringāra (ante page 445) reference be made to the basrelief on the Bharhat railings representing the scene of the gift of the Jetavana to the Buddha's Sangha. It is reproduced in Rhys Davids' Buddhist India at page 99. The donor Anātha-piṇḍika is pouring water from a jug, a ceremonial necessary to complete the gift. The vessel is named in the Buddhist canon. In the Vinaya, M. 1-22-18, King Bimbisāra is related to have held the bhringara in his hand (to pour water from) when he made a gift of the Veluvana garden to the Buddha's order.

The Bharhat sculpture, which belongs according to the style of the script it bears, to the period of the Hathigumpha inscription, may be taken to represent the bhringāra style of the time of Kharavela.

The ceremonial bhringāra was of gold. The Vinaya text referred to above describes it as made of gold, and Amara says that bhringāra is a gold vessel. Its modern representation is the upcountry pretty Jhāri or Gāru made of silver, used for pouring water on the hand of the bridegroom in Hindu marriage.

"NISIDIYA."

This word, which occurrs in lines 14 and 15 of the inscription, comes also in the inscriptions of Asoka (Pillar Edicts, VII) and his grandson Dasaratha (Nāgārjuni Hill cave inscription), as nimsiḍhiya and nishidhiyá in the sense of a resting-place. The Jains, however, employ nisidhi and nishidhi to denote ornamental tombs of their saints (figurative use for restingplace). It is difficult to say whether Khāravela uses it in the

1 F. I., II., 274; I. A., XII. 99.

former sense or the latter when he mentions the arhat-nísídiyā. If it denotes a memorial tomb, it must have been something like the tombs on the Parasnath Hill, and would suggest a widespread practice of raising such monuments.

The existence of a nisidiya in the "Habitation of Arhat (or Arhats)", and the proximity of the record to the Maurya inscriptions in age, make me incline to take the Arhat-Nísídiyá of Khāravela as an actual resting-place for the Arhats or advanced saints of Jainism.

III.-A Note on the " Cheta Dynasty" of the Hathi-gumpha Inscription.

By J. N. Sikdar, M.A.

"

The Hathi-gumpha inscription of which Mr. Jayaswal has published a very illuminating reading in the last issue of this Journal, contains a statement that king Khara-vela belonged to the Cheta-Vamsa, which is equivalent to the Sanskrit ChaitraVamsa. In the Devî-mahatmya of the Markaṇḍeya Purāṇa there is mention of a Kshatriya King Suratha, who flourished in the “ Chaitra-Vamsa ” and ruled over an empire justly. In course of time, — the destroyers of the Kolás ' (or Cholas कोलाविध्वं सिनः) became his enemies, at whose hands, powerful though he was (व्यतिप्रबलदखिन), he suffered defeat and lost his foreign provinces. For some time he could maintain his rule over the home province (निन्नद शाधिपोऽभवत् ), but there also he was attacked by the same enemies who finally deprived him of his kingdom. Having thus lost all, the king had to repair to the forest, where he took shelter in the hermitage of the Sage Medhasa. There is no clear indication that he gained back his kingdom and most likely the dynasty ended with him. †

,

+ खारोचिषे ऽन्तरे पूर्व चैत्रव॑शसमुद्भवः ।

रथो नाम राजाऽभूत समस्ते चितिमण् डब्बे ॥ ३ ॥
तस्य पालयतः सम्यक् प्रजाः पुत्रनिवौरमान |
बभव : शत्रवो भूपाः कोलाविध्वंसिनस्तथा ॥ ४ ॥
तस्य तैरभवद्य मतिप्रबलदगि डनः ।
न्यनैरपि स तैर्युद्ध कोलाविध्व ंसिभिर्जितः ॥ ५ ॥
ततः स्वप्रमायातो निज देशाधिपोऽभवत् ।
व्याक्रान्तः स महाभागस्तु स्तदा प्रबलारिभिः ॥ ६ ॥
श्रमात्म्यै र्बलिभि हुए हु र्बलस्य दुरात्मभिः ।
कोंघी बलञ्चापहृत तत्रापि खपुरे ततः ॥ ७ ॥
ततो म्टगया थार्जन हृतस्वाम्यः सभूपतिः ।
एकाकी हयमारुह्य जगाम गहनं बनम् ॥ ८ ॥

(Markandeya Purana, Jibananda cd, ch. 81. )

According to the Markandeya the Chaitra-vamsa was founded by King Chaitra, "son" of Svarochisha (:), one of the Manus of the Solar race. The name is, however, not found in the early Solar list. (See J.R.A.S., 1910, p. 26-29). It may therefore be presumed that King Chaitra is to be regarded as a remote descendant of the said Manu of the Solar race and not a direct Suta.1 The Chaitra of the Mārkaṇḍeya must therefore be a Chaitra of the Kali age. It thus becomes highly probable that the dynasty to which Khāra-vela belonged is identical with the dynasty founded by Chaitra of the Markandeya. The identity is further supported by the use of the epithet "Aira" before Khāravela's name in the inscription which Mr. Jayaswal has already pointed out as representing the Aila or Manu dynasty. The neighbourhood of the Kolās or Cholas, the Tamil people, implied in the Markandeya data, also points to the proposed identity of the Chaitra of the Purana with the Chaitra of the Orissa inscription.

As there is no indication of any reverses sustained by a predecessor of Khāra-vela in his inscription, it is reasonable to assign the date of Suratha to the time after Khara-vela. It is quite possible that the Sātavāhanas (Andhras) who subjugated at least a part of the Tamil country and to whom Khara-vela was inimical, destroyed the empire of the Chaitra dynasty. They grew very powerful within a century after the death of Khara-vela. In the Markaṇḍeya (Ch. 67) it is stated that the predecessor of Chaitra had seven sons or descendants, who were all rulers of the land (fdufeu). Most likely, King Suratha was the seventh and the last. The mention in the Markaṇḍeya is casual. It is in connection with the worship of the goddess Chandî. He is claimed by the Chandî cult to have been a fellow of Chandî.

In the Sanskrit Suta can denote both a son and a descendant.

B

NOTES OF THE QUARTER.

I.—Minutes of the Annual General Meeting, held on the 16th February 1918, at the Council Chamber of Government House, Patna.

His Honour Sir Edward Gait, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., President, in the Chair.

1. The Annual Report of the Council, printed copies of which were distributed among members, was taken as read.

2. His Honour the President said that owing to press of work, which has been exceptionally heavy of late, he has been unable himself to prepare the usual review of the activities of the Society during the year. The Hon'ble Mr. Walsh, the VicePresident, however, had kindly undertaken the task, and His Honour now called on him to deliver the annual address. the Hon'ble Mr. Walsh proceeded to do.

This

3. His Honour then called upon Mahāmahopadhyāya Paṇḍit Hara Prasad Shastri to read his paper, and the Mahamahopădhyāya read a paper on "Sanskrit Gazetteers of Vidyapati, Jagmohan Pandit, and Raṇakavi of Sikharbhum.

After the Mahamahopādhyāya had read the paper His Honour thanked him on behalf of the meeting. His Honour said that ever since the Bihar and Orissa Research Society was founded Pandit Hara Prasad Shastri had helped in many ways with advice and numerous papers. He has supervised the work of the Pandit who is engaged in cataloguing manuscripts in the Puri district, and he has promised to give similar assistance when the work of cataloguing manuscripts in Tirhut is taken up. The paper which the Paṇḍit had just read was very interesting and