Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus c4.24

c4.24

to the Christian æra, and their celebrity to have attracted the notice of Ptolemy. The few facts, it is true, that have been recorded of these dynasties, or preserved by tradition, are unfortunately inadequate to the formation of a connected sketch of their history, or to trace their chronology with precision; but the various accounts which are obtainable of these ancient monarchies, though they usually commence with the earliest ages, and are blended with marvellous and extravagant fictions, would still afford ample historical proofs of the establishment of these principalities at an earlier period than what has been hitherto assigned them by western antiquarians. And as the *Mahábhárat*, which is believed to have been composed by *Vyása*, in the beginning of the *Caliyug*, makes mention of the *Pándya* and *Chóla* governments, we must give them credit for a higher antiquity.