As an account of the tenures in the Dekkan involves the consideration of certain ancient Hindú offices, I beg to offer some preliminary observations which may possibly assist in throwing light on the former state of the country now called Mahárashtra, and its institutions. The Mahrattas do not pretend to be the aborigines; they have a tradition that they came from the north, and that they are of Rájpút origin.

When the Asiatic Society was first founded in Bengal, the purposes of its institution were stated in these memorable words by Sir William Jones: “The bounds of its investigation will be the geographical limits of Asia; and within these limits its inquiries will be extended to whatever is performed by man, or produced by nature.” The announcement was hailed with enthusiasm, not only by the ardent scholars who began to explore the untrodden fields of Indian literature, but by their distant countrymen, anxious to learn the result of their investigations. Asia has ever engaged the sympathies of Christian Europe; it was the cradle of our race, the birth-place of our faith, the first great source of our civilisation. We can read no history, investigate no antiquarian problem, nor examine any philological research, without having our attention more or less directed towards those vast plateaux whence our forefathers descended into the western world. Every new fact communicated respecting them interests us like intelligence of our family; every fresh monument of antiquity discovered in these regions claims the same respect that we accord to the tombs of our ancestors.

From the year 1661 to the present day, the Syrian Christians of Malabar have remained a divided people. The churches which have maintained their independence of the Roman pontiff are in number fifty-seven; their number of officiating priests, commonly called catanárs, is one hundred and forty-four; and the families belonging to their churches, at the lowest computation, are reckoned at thirteen thousand five hundred, or about seventy thousand souls. They consider themselves as the true descendants of the flock established by Saint Thomas, and acknowledge the ecclesiastical authority of the patriarch of Antioch, or Mosul, from whence they continued, after their separation from the Roman Catholics, till the year 1751, to receive their metropolitan. But that ancient patriarchal authority having become nearly extinct, and incompetent to the appointment of learned men, their metropolitans have, since that period, been elected and consecrated from amongst themselves.

“Aer quoque ipse, qui purus sacram vitæ flammam alit, impurus factus, eandem statim extinguere potest, vel multis vaporibus onustus, aut novicis quibusdam effiuviis corruptus, ingentem morborum cohortem inducere.”— Medicinœ Gregorii Conspectus.

“To understand man, therefore, we must know wherefore it is that air is needful for his support: so to understand air, we must trace its relations to human life.”—Pascal.

The following abstract is taken from Captain Low's history of the provinces wrested from the Burmese during the late war, which, through his friend in this country, was presented to the Royal Asiatic Society. Several portions of it have already been read at the general meetings of the society, and it is intended to continue to give abstracts from it in the successive numbers of this journal, in the confident hope that the British public will speedily call for the entire publication of a work containing the most authentic information respecting a country, our relations with which are daily increasing in value and importance.

The following description of the appearance and customs of the Battas in the island of Pulo Percha, or Sumatra, has been drawn from authentic sources, and may perhaps prove acceptable to the Society.

The features of the Batta tribes are particularized by an uncommonly straight mouth. They are not very regular, but their expression is rather pleasing than otherwise. This last may gain too in the contrast it presents to the idea previously formed in the mind of an observer, of a savage—a devourer of his own species.

After the suppression of the Jesuits, the followers of Alexander, who had assumed the designation of Syro-Roman Catholics, or old Christians, did not continue many years a united church. Alexander died a.d. 1676, and was succeeded by a Portuguese priest, Don Diego De Annunciacio, who was nominated by the King of Portugal, Don Pedro the Second, archbishop of Kranganór.

The vessel on the opposite page, including the cover, measured in height, twelve Chinese inches and four-tenths; its containing depth, seven inches and five-tenths; the length of the neck, four inches and eight-tenths; that of the body, eight inches and six-tenths; and the circumference, seven inches and two-tenths. It weighed nine Chinese pounds and twelve ounces. The inscription, which was engraved on the cover, and on the vessel, is, by the moderns written Sun, tsŏ tsoo yĭh paou tsun e, “The descendants make this beautiful or valuable vessel in veneration of their ancestor Tsoo-Yĭh.” From the form of the first ancient character, a hand grasping a missile weapon, this vessel has been denominated the Chetaou, or grasping a missile vase. The emperor Tsoo-Yĭh reigned 1496 b.c., and was the son of Ho-tan-Keă; who, owing to great inundations, removed his court to Ho-chung-foo, in Honan province. The compiler here remarks, that the ancient forms of Sun almost invariably represent it as grasping a weapon; and that its meaning should then be restricted to that of a son, not grandson. It is also stated, that their ancient emperors, to encourage agriculture, set their subjects an example by annually taking hold of the plough. When sacrificing, the monarch was required to take hold of the He vessel; when preparing for the sacred feast, to take hold of the Lwan-knife; and, after feasting, when the sacred dance commenced, to raise the Kan-tsŭh banner, for it was considered indispensable that all the rites of sacrifice should be performed with dignity and promptitude; hence, all who assisted at the sacrifice had with them a knife. This is assigned as a reason why the first character is holding up a knife, or other weapon. It is said in the ancient work Le-ke, that the “usages require that the arm, while dividing the sacrifice, should be bared.” From the relief and form of the characters, there can be no doubt, say the compilers, but that the vessel is very ancient, and was the first of this kind of vessels.

Whether the feelings which these lamentations express have existence in all cases in the hearts of the mourners, or otherwise, is not at present the consideration. The observance implies that such feelings are held in high estimation; and the striking resemblance which these lamentations bear to those in Scripture, and in particular to that over Saul, appealing to the common sympathies which the occasion naturally calls forth, and uttered in short, emphatic, and unconnected sentences, renders them not the less worthy of observation.

Several distinguished Orientalists having, whilst they applauded the novelty and importance of the information conveyed by the Sketch of Buddhism, called upon me for proofs, I have been induced to prepare for publication the following translation of significant passages from the ancient books of the Saugatas, which are still extant in Nepál in the original Sanskrit. These extracts were made for me (whilst I was collecting the works in question) some years ago by Amrita Nanda Bandya, the most learned Buddhist then, or now, living in this country; they formed the materials from which chiefly I drew my sketch, and they would have been long since communicated to the public had the translator felt sufficiently confident of his powers, or sufficiently assured that enlightened Europeans could be brought to tolerate the rudis indigestaque moles of these original authorities, which, however, in the present instance, are original in a far higher and better sense than those of Csoma De Körös, or of Upham.

Some hasty observations, collected during a rapid march that I made in 1824, between Punah and Kittor, gave rise to this memoir, which, though brief and imperfect, may not altogether be devoid of interest, since the geology and statistics of few countries are less known than those of India. Connected as this portion of the globe now is with the political and commercial prosperity of Great Britain, the resources of the country, the mineral treasures of its rocks, the capabilities and productions of its soil, the condition of the inhabitants, and their prospect and means of attaining a higher scale of civilisation, deserve the attention of the legislator, merchant, philanthropist, and man of science. Its statistics and geology are yet desiderata: and though the portion of information here communicated be but a speck on the ocean that lies before us, it will perhaps contribute something towards a clearer view and more accurate chart of the whole, which may be brought, I hope, to perfection in the course of time.

My first paper being descriptive of the various vessels of India, on the coasts of Malabar and Ceylon, I shall now proceed to describe the sea-ports, and the resources of the forests, on the coast of Malabar; and also, the facilities for building vessels of different descriptions, particularly at the port of Cochin, and those places which I have visited during my residence of five years in the country.

The Muhammedan law is divisible into two parts perfectly distinct— the religious and the municipal. On the first numerous works have been written, and it must therefore seem singular that the latter has never, as far as I am aware, attracted attention; for the real nature of the state of society, and of the government in Muhammedan countries, can never be clearly understood, unless both the religious and the municipal law are taken into consideration. To supply, therefore, this defect, is the intention of the following pages; and sensible as I am of the very imperfect manner in which it has been executed, I can only trust, that any information on a subject not before discussed will prove acceptable to the Society.

The object in collecting and translating the many inscriptions to be met with in India, is, as Mr. Wathen very justly observes in his letter to the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, to elucidate the history of India previous to the Muhammedan conquest. Of that history, but little is yet known: that little to the few only who have devoted the greater part of their lives to this research, and each of those few possessing perhaps a part only of that information which, if combined and moulded into a whole, might, at no distant day, supply this desideratum in our knowledge of the East, without which no accurate notion can be formed of the true character of ancient India, as to its modes of government, laws, and usages

This vessel measured, in height, five Chinese inches and seven-tenths; its containing depth, four inches and five-tenths; its circumference, at the top, seven inches and two-tenths. It weighed five Chinese pounds and fourteen ounces. It had two handles, or ears, as the Chinese term them, for ornament. This vessel is considered very plain, but was used for sacred purposes. The handle is said to be formed of the head of an animal known for its greedy appetite: hence its admonitory design. The vessel had no inscription.

On visiting Mhurr, in the year 1328, I was desirous of learning some particulars of the customs and history of the Kaprías; a sect so called from worshipping Párvatí, one of whose names, taken by her on a particular occasion, is “Kala Purí,” or “Káya Puri.”In Cutch she is known under the name of “Ásá Purá,”and “Mátá.”The temple dedicated to her in this town is of great celebrity uod antiquity, and endowed with many honors by the Raos of Cutch. It boasts of no external beauty, is clumsily stuccoed over, and surrounded by buildings belonging to the Kaprías. These people superintend all affairs connected with the sacred establishment in the immediate neighbourhood, as well as those of several villages granted by the Ráos to the goddess.

After the numerous and brilliant exploits which had brought them peace and prosperity, the warriors of the tribe of Abs, assembled by the invitation of their King Zeer, near the source of a bubbling fountain in a verdant valley. When, after their splendid repast, the slaves sent round cups filled with wine, whilst the young damsels danced on the green sod to the sound of timbrels and the song of their mothers.