Buddhists, had become obsolete in Bengal, clearly shows that they were Hindus, and there is nothing to give rise to suspicion in the matter. In no part of the world could two such near neighbours as the Pálas and the Senas, professing such antagonistic faiths as Buddhism and Hinduism, co-exist without coming into hostile contact; and in Bengal there is no reason to suppose that the case was otherwise than what has been elsewhere invariably the result of such neighbourhood. Even chiefs professing the same faith have not been noted for their amity to rivals, and we may therefore take it for granted that the Pálas and the Senas frequently fell out with each other, until one expelled the other from the country. When this expulsion took place, it is at present impossible to determine with absolute precision. But materials are not wanting to show that this happened about the middle of the 11th century. It has been already shown that to the time of Mahi-pála, northern Bengal belonged to the Pálas, and the Tarpandighi plate of Lakshmana Sena, and the prevalence of that sovereign's era in Tirhut to this day, incontestably prove that northern Bengal had come into the possession of the Senas before the commencement of the 12th century. Ballála, the father of Lakshmana, had the title of "King of Gauḍa," and that takes us to the 7th decade of the 11th century; and in the Bhágulpur stone there is a verse which says "Vijaya overthrew the king of Gauḍa." The verse is somewhat involved in its construction, but the most obvious meaning appears to be the following: “Thou hast no hero to conquer,' said the bards. On hearing it, through a misconception (the words being susceptible of the meaning. 'thou hast conquered no hero') the king overthrew the king of Gauḍa, subjugated the hero of Kamrúpa and quickly conquered him of Kalinga."* At an average reign of 18 years Vijaya must have commenced his reign in 1018. At an average of 20 years the date would be 1046, the overthrow therefore must have taken place between 1016 and 1055. As it is not likely that Mahi-pála's reign had extended beyond 1040, the event must have taken place when Naya-pála, his successor, was the sovereign of Gauda. The Pálas then receded from northern Bengal, and reigned for some time in the western districts of the kingdom, making Magadha or Mungher their capital. The result of these remarks may be thus tabulated : Vaidyas as they are supposed to In my first paper on the subject I started the opinion that the Senas were Kshatriyas of the lunar race, and not have been by the people of the present day. the positive declaration of two inscriptions, and that of a work, the Dána-ságara, written by Ballála himself. It has now the support of another inscription. In the Tarpandighi plate there occurs a verse which Mr. Westmacott thus renders into English : "The kings of the race of Aushadhinátha (moon) neutralize the sharp fever-poison of their enemies by the lustre of the nails of their feet, as with the juice of the creepers nurtured (as plants with water) by the lustre of the diadems of numbers of kings, prostrate in homage."* Exception, however, has been taken to the deduction by some of my countrymen, mostly Vaidyas of the Sena family, who claim themselves to be of the royal race, and several Bengali books have been written to prove my error. My critics all labour under the mistake that I wanted to make the Sena kings members of the Kayastha caste, in order to glorify that caste, and enjoy the advantage of a ray of that glory, being myself a Káyastha; but as I have nowhere said anything of the kind, I cannot but leave this part of their criticisms unnoticed. They have created their own Frankenstein, and I leave them to lay it in the best way they can. The chief arguments which they urge to controvert the statements of the inscriptions are-1st, that the statements may be due to poetical license, or a desire to eulogize the kings in an exaggerated style; 2nd, that the reference to the moon, who is, according to the Puráņic mythology, the lord of medicines, may be due to a desire to make an indirect allusion to the profession of the Vaidya caste; 3rd, that others than Kshatriyas could call themselves descendants of the lunar race; 4th, that Adisura, who is described as a descendant * Ante, XLIV, pt. I, p. 13. of the lunar race cannot be the same with Vira Sena, for none would employ a synonym to indicate a proper name, and so the epithet of the former cannot apply to the latter. Little need be said in reply to these arguments. The first is a mere assumption, and not by any means a permissible one. Exaggerations and hyperboles are the chief aliments on which poets most do thrive; but there is not a single authentic instance in which poetical license has been, in India, permitted to invade the domains of caste. The Puránas have made mortals conquer the immortal gods, endowed them with the most transcendental attributes, called them gods, but never changed their castes; nor have they ever attempted to disown cross sinisters from the escutcheon of the greatest of their kings. And what is true of these Puráņas, is equally so of later writings, when tenacity for caste distinctions had grown much stronger. It is observable also, that no spirit of poetical hyperbole can be predicated of Ballála Sena describing his own caste in a law treatise by himself. The second argument is ingenious; but it is, like the first, a mere assumption. I have no hesitation in saying, that in the whole range of Sanskrit literature, there is not an instance in which the caste of the Vaidyas has been indirectly referred to by allusion to the moon. At best it is an attempt to give preeminence to a possible metaphorical interpretation, in preference to an obvious literal meaning. The third is incorrect. None but a Kshetríya could call himself a member of the lunar or the solar race, and members of those races, when degraded or outcasted, could not retain their claim to the honor of membership under them. The instances cited of Yayátí's children becoming members of different castes refer to the earliest stage of Hindu society, when caste distinctions probably did not exist, or at any rate were not very strictly observed; and even then there is no proof to show that those who were degraded were in the habit of calling themselves members of the solar race. Within the last two thousand years, a Bráhman or a Kshetríya, condemned to be a Chanḍála, has never been permitted to call himself a Bráhman or a Kshetríya Chanḍála. The idea is simply ridiculous. The fourth argument has already been answered by the parallel case of Go-pála appearing also under the names of Bhu-pála and Lokapála. Were it otherwise, the argument would not advance in the least, for my antagonists admit that Vira Sena was the great-grandson of Adisura by the daughter's side, and if so, the son-in-law of Bhúsura and his son-in-law could not be of other than the caste of Adisura. On the whole the arguments are based on a series of suppositions, in order to support a modern tradition against the avowed declarations of authentic contemporary records. I deny the accuracy of the tradition, and my antagonists beg the question at issue, by saying that the tradition must be correct, and the records must be made to conform to it by a number of suppositions. Truth can never be elicited by such a course of reasoning, and it would be a mere waste of time to enter into a disputation with persons who attach greater importance to traditions than to authentic contemporary records. Transcript of a Copper-plate from Bhagalpur. १ | स्वस्ति | मैत्रीङ्कारुण्यरत्नप्रमुदितहृदयः ३। लक्षालित ( ज्ञानपङ्कः । जित्वा यः काम ४। कारिप्रभवमभिभवं शाश्वतीं वा * * * यशोऽब्धिं म श्रीमान् लोकनाथेो जय ५ । ति दशबलेोऽन्यस्व गोपालदेवः ॥ लाभरं पचच्छेदभयादु लक्ष्मीजन्मनिकेतवंस (श) मकरोद् वोढुं क्षमः ् । पस्थितवतामेकाश्रयो भूभृतां । मर्यादापरिपालनैकनिरतः शैौर्य्यालयोऽस्मादभूदु दुग्धाम्भोधिविलास ० । हासिमहिमा श्रीधर्म्मपाला न्टपः ॥ जिवेन्द्रराज प्रभ्टतीन रातीनुपार्ज्जिता येन महादयश्रीः । दत्ता पुनः ८ । सा बलिनार्थपित्रे चक्रायुधायानति वामनाय ॥ रामस्येव ग्टहीतसत्यतपसस्तस्यानु रूपो गुणैः मौमिचेरुदया ९। दितुल्यमहिमा वाक् पालनामानुजः । यः श्रीमान्नयविक्रमैकवसतिभ्रातुः स्थितः सने शून्याः शत्रुपताकिनी १० । भिरकरोदेकातपचा दिएः ॥ तस्मादुपेन्द्रचरितैर्जगतीम्पुनानः पुत्रो बभूव विजयी जयपालनामा | धर्माद्वि ११ । षां शमयिता युधि देवपाले यः पूर्व्वजे भुवनराज्यसुखान्यनैषीत् ॥ यस्मिन् भ्रातुर्नि देशाद्वलवति परितः प्रस्थिते १२ । जेतुमाशाः सीदन्नाम्नैव दूरान्निजपुरमजचादुत्कलानामधीशः । यासाञ्चक्रे चिराय प्रणयिपरितो विभ्रदु १२ । चेन मूनी राजा प्राग्ज्योतिषाणामुपश मित्तसमित् स (श) कन्या यस्य चाज्ञां ॥ श्रीमान् विग्रहपालस्तत्स्तूनुरजातशत्रुरि १४ । व । जातः शत्रुवनिताप्रसाधन विलोपिविमलासिजलधारः ॥ रिपवो येन गुर्वीणां विपदामास्पदीकृताः । पुरुषायु १५ । षदीर्घाणां सुहृदः सम्पदामपि ॥ लज्जेति तस्य जलधेरिव जन्हुकन्या पत्नी बभूव कृतहैहयवंशभूषा । यस्याः शची १६ । नि चरितानि पितुख वंशे पत्युश्च पावनविधिः परमो बभूव ॥ दिक्पालैः चिति पालनाय दधतं देदे विभक्ताः १७ | धियः श्रीनारायणपालदेवमसृजत्तस्यां स पुण्योत्तरं । यः क्षौणीपतिभिः शिरोमणि १८ । रुचा लिटा जिपीठोपलं न्यायोपा त्तमलञ्चकार चरितैः खैरेव धम्मासनं ॥ यतः पुराणलैङ्गानि चतुर्व्वर्ग विधीनि च । वारिसन्ते यवस्थानि चरितानि महीम्टतः ॥ १९ । स्वीकृतः सुजनमनोभिः सत्यायितः सहवाहनैः स्वीयैः । त्यागे न यो न्यधत्ताश्शु देख मेऽङ्ग राजन् कथां ॥ भयादरातिभिर्यस्य रण २० । ं मूर्धनि विस्फुरन् । असिरिन्दीवरश्यामो ददृशे पीतलोहितः ॥ यः प्रज्ञया च धनुषा च जगद्विनीय नित्यं न्यवीविशद २१। नाकुलमात्मघम्नैः। यस्थार्थिनः सविधमेत्य भ्भृशं कृतार्थ नैवार्थितां प्रति पुनर्विदधुमनीषां ॥ श्रीपतिरकृष्टकम विद्या २२ । धरनायको महाभोगी । अनलसदृशेऽपि धाम्ना पवित्रन्नलसमश्चरितैः ॥ व्याप्तैर्यस्य त्रिजगति शरच्चन्द्रगै । रेशो A २३ । भिर्म्मन्ये शोभान्न खलु विभरामास रुद्राट्टहासः । सिद्धबीणामपि शिर सिजेष्वर्णिताः केतकीनां पत्रापीड़ाः सुचिरम भवन् भ्टङ्गशब्दानुमेयाः ॥ तपो ममास्तु राज्यन्ते द्वाभ्यामुक्तमिदं द्वयोः । यस्मिन् विग्रहपालेन सगरेण भगीरथे ॥ + स खलु भा २५ । गीरथीपथप्रवर्त्तमाननानाविधनावाटसम्पादितसेतुबन्धविहित शैलशिखर श्रेणीविभ्रमात् निरतिशयघनघनाघनघट्टा २६ | श्यामायमानवासरलक्ष्मीसमारब्धसन्नतजलद समयसन्देहात् उदीचीनानेकनरपतिप्राभृतीकृताप्रमेययवाहिनीखर २७। खुरोत्खातधूलीधूसरित दिगन्तरालात् परमेश्वर सेवासमायाताशेषजम्बुद्वीपभूपालानन्तपादात् भरनमदवनेः श्रीम् २८ | गगिरिसमावासितश्रीमज्जयस्कन्धावारात् परमसैौगतो महाराजाधिराजश्रीविग्रहपालदेवपादानुध्यातः परमेश्वरः पर २९ । मभट्टारको महाराजाधिराजः श्रीमान्नारायण पालदेवः कुशली । तीरभक्तकक्षवैषयिक सुसम्बद्धाविच्छिन्नत लो ३० । पेतमकुतिकाग्रामे समुपगताशेषराजपुरुषान्। राजरा ३१ । ३२ । नक | राजपुत्र । राजामात्य | महासान्धिविग्रहिक | महाक्षपटलिक । म- ३४ | दाणिक | दाण्डपाशिक । शैौल्किक । गौल्मिक | क्षेत्रप | प्रान्तपाल | कोषपाल | ३५ । श्वाष्ट्र नोबलव्याटतक । किशोर | बड़वा । गोमहिष्यजाविकाध्यक्ष | द्रुतपेषणिक | गमागमिक । श्रभित्वमान । विषयपति । ३६ । ग्रामपति । तरिक | गोद | मालव । खश । हुण | कुलिक | कल्लाट । लाट । चाट | भट | सेवकादीन । अन्यांखाकी र्त्तितान । |