[25] See above page [160]. [↑]
[26] With this silence compare the absence (Reinaud’s Mémoire Sur l’Inde, 67) of any reference either in Sanskrit or in Buddhist books to the victories, even to the name, of Alexander the Great. Also in modern times the ignoring of British rule in the many inscriptions of Jain repairers of temples on Śatruñjaya hill who belong to British territory. The only foreign reference is by one merchant of Daman who acknowledges the protection of the Phirangi játi Puratakála Pátasahi the king of the Firangis of Portugal. Bühler in Epigraphia Indica, II. 36. [↑]
[27] Elliot and Dowson, II. 468ff. Sir H. M. Elliot gives extracts for this expedition from the Tárikh-i-Alfi, Tabakát-i-Akbari, Tabakát-i-Násiri, and Rauzatu-s-safá. [↑]
[28] Since the earliest times Hindus have held eclipse days sacred. According to the Mahábhárata the Yádavas of Dwárká came to Somanátha for an eclipse fair. Great fairs are still held at Somanátha on the Kártika and Chaitra (December and April) fullmoons. [↑]
[29] This old Indian idea is expressed in a verse in an inscription in Somanátha Pátan itself. [↑]
[30] Ten thousand must be taken vaguely. [↑]
[31] Compare Sachau’s Alberuni, II. 104. Every day they brought Somanátha a jug of Ganges water and a basket of Kashmir flowers. Somanátha they believed cured every inveterate sickness and healed every desperate and incurable disease. The reason why Somanátha became so famous was that it was a harbour for those who went to and fro from Sofala in Zanzibar to China. It is still the practice to carry Ganges water to bathe distant gods. [↑]
[32] These must be the local Sompura Bráhmans who still number more than five hundred souls in Somanátha Patan. [↑]
[33] Shaving is the first rite performed by pilgrims. [↑]
[34] Dancers are now chiefly found in the temples of Southern India. [↑]