[683] Essay on the Sah Kings of Saurastra, ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. xii. p. 16; and ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. xxiv. p. 503; see also Thomas’s ‘Prinsep,’ vol. ii. p. 95.
[684] Thomas’s edition of ‘Prinsep,’ vol. i. p. 242, et seqq.; see also p. 365, et seqq.
[685] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vii. p. 634.
[686] The Vishnu Purana has Maunas, the Vayu and Matsya, Hunas. Wilson’s ‘Vishnu Purana,’ vol. iv. p. 209.
[687] Wilson’s ‘Vishnu Purana,’ vol. iv. pp. 201-218.
[688] I need hardly say that this is not universally admitted by Indian archæologists. Some indeed of the most eminent among them place the Guptas considerably earlier. My conviction, however, is that they never would have done so, had it not been that they place a mistaken confidence on a passage in a foreign author of the 11th century, translated by Rémusat to the following effect: “Quant au Goupta Kala (ère des Gouptas), on entend par le mot Goupta des gens qui, dit-on, étaient méchants et puissants, et l’ère qui porte leur nom est l’époque de leur extermination. Apparemment Ballabha suivit immédiatement les Gouptas, car l’ère des Gouptas commence aussi l’an 241 de l’ère de Saca.” (‘Journal Asiatique,’ 4me série, tom. iv. p. 286.)
Albiruni, from whom this passage is taken, lived at the court of Mahmúd of Ghazni, in the 11th century, and was learned beyond his compeers in the learning of the Hindus. He collected facts and dates with industry, and recorded them faithfully. But he would have been a magician if he could have unravelled the tangled meshes with which the Hindus had purposely obscured their chronology, and could have seen through all the falsifications invented six centuries earlier. We could not do so now without the aid of coins, dated inscriptions, and buildings. None of these were available in his day, and without their aid, the wonder is, not that he blundered in his inductions, but that he went so near the truth as he did. His facts and figures are valuable, and may generally be relied upon. His mode of putting them together and his inductions are, as generally, worthless—not from any fault of his, but because they had been purposely falsified by those who presented them to him.
[689] ‘Indian Antiquary,’ vol. ii. p. 312.
[690] ‘Journal Asiatique,’ series iv. vol. iv. p. 285.
[691] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vii. p. 634.