The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c29.185

c29.185

¹ Hiuen Tsang, in Beal, *Records*, vol. i, pp. 165–72; Watters, I, i, 288. It is not easy to explain why the pilgrim alleges (p. 167) that Mihiragula lived 'some centuries' before his time. The Chinese words, *sho-pih-nien-tsin*, are said not to be capable of any other interpretation (Beal, *Ind. Ant.*, xv, 345). Watters is inclined to think that the tale told by Hiuen Tsang refers to a Mihiragula of much earlier date. Fleet suggests that there may be an error in the Chinese text. K. B. Pathak in 'New Light on Gupta Era and Mihirakula' (*Ind. Ant.*, xlvii, 1918) shows good reasons for discarding the pilgrim's statement as baseless, basing his view upon the evidence of Jain chronicles, supported by certain inscriptions and coins. He appears to me to be correct. Hiuen Tsang's travels extended from 629 to 645. For the Kashmir legends see Stein, transl. *Rājat.*, Bk. i, pp. 289–325.