The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.149

v2.c17.s1.149

**History of the tooth-relic.** The oldest known authority on the tooth-relic is the *Mahāvaṃsa*, but the published portion of it does not contain anything of importance about it. The leading Sinhalese authority on the subjcet is the *Daladāvaṃsa*, which 'was composed in the *Kawi* form in *Elu*, which is the ancient classical version of Sinhalese'. Adverting to it, Mr. Turnour says, 'while there is no circumstance discernible, as far at least as my investigation has extended, of external or internal evidence, which creates the slightest doubt as to the *Elu* work called *Daladāvaṃsa*, having been compiled in the manner above mentioned about the year A.D. 310, there is positive proof of its being extant, at least between A.D. 459 and 477'¹⁰. The work, however, is scarce, and not so often referred to as its Pali version, the *Dāṭhavaṃsa*, an abstract of which was sometime ago published by Mr.