)-'
TJIE LIBRARY
,1 YOUNG UNI
PROVO, UT\H
^.aOHAM VOCNG UNIVEMm
THE
LOST TEIBES
AND
THE SAXONS OF THE EAST AND
OF THE WEST,
WITH
NE^W VIE^^TS OF BUDDHISM,
AND
f nitslati0iis 0f |lotk-|lei:0rh m |iiMa-
BY
GEORGE MOORE, M.D.,
HEHBEB OF THB BOTAIi COLLEOB 09 ]^HTSICIAIfS, LONDON, ETC.
Not dull or barren are the winding ways
Of hoar antiquity ; but strewn with flowers.
Babtoit.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS.
MDCCCLXI.
[The right of translation is reserved.}
Those wild tribes [the Gothic'] were bringing with them into the magic
circle of the Western Churches influence the very materials which she re-
quired for the building up of a future Christendom. The new invaders
divided Europe among themselves^ — Charles Kingslet.
HAROLD B. LEE LIBRARY
BRiGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
PROVO. UTAH
THE LIBRARY
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
PROVO, UTAH
^-'>''
PREFACE.
The inquiry pursued in this volume was undertaken
as an occasional diversion from the pressure of severer
demands upon the mind, and formed only an inci-
dental part of a larger investigation concerning the
ethnology of the East. Though the several subjects
considered in this inquiry may for the most part be
unpromising to the multitude of readers who make
a pastime of books, and to interest whom would re-
quire a very different treatment, yet it is hoped that
the appearance of this work before the public will be
justified by proving worthy of the attention of those
numerous intelligent persons who look for meaning
in the distribution of mankind.
1 have thankfully to acknowledge the kindness of
Mr. Norris, through whom I have been permitted to
copy and to publish anything contained in the publi-
cations of the Eoyal Asiatic Society. In recording
kindness, I cannot but mingle deep regret with sin-
cere gratitude in recalling the great obligation I am
under to the late very learned Professor of Sanscrit
at Oxford, H. H. Wilson, who first directed my atten-
tion to Buddhism, and indicated the books best suited
IV PREFACE.
to assist my Inquiry. I have infringed upon a right
in copying an engraving from a work by Lieut. -Colonel
Cunningham, on " The Bhilsa Topes," but I believe
he will forgive the liberty in consideration of the fact
that I would have sought his permission, but found
he was engaged in his important duties in India. He
will not be displeased if this volume in any degree
promote the fuller knowledge of those interesting
antiquities which he has so admirably laboured to
discover and elucidate.
I would only add that, should it be my privilege
to have readers capable of correcting any errors con-
cerning matters of fact referred to in this volume,
or of throwing any light on the inquiry itself, I shall
be thankful to receive any communication to that
effect.
Since the completion of this work, I have dis-
covered a Hebraic inscription, which, graven in
ancient Pali characters, stands mysteriously manifest
on the wall of a rock-temple in Kanari, about twenty
miles from Bombay. As this remarkable record may
afford a clue to the meaning of certain obscure pas
sages in other inscriptions given in the latter chapters
of this work, a literal translation may be properly
admitted in this place, the full vindication of the
rendering being reserved for a more convenient
occasion. Hitherto the original seems to have
remained without any attempt at interpretation. A
PREFACE. V
fac-simile, taken by James Bird, Esq., Secretary of
the Bombay Asiatic Society, will be found in his
interesting volume entitled " Historical Researches
on the Origin and Principles of the Bauddha and
Jaina Religions."*
The numbers merely indicate the lines of the
original.
(1) The soft flowing f of the winepress from the white gushing fruit is
as that which sets me at rest ; my drink, the refining of the fruit, (2) is the
very grace of his mouth. Behold what thou possessest, yea, even theglad-
soraeness in it that is ministered to thee. (3) Lo, the worship [or blood]
of Saka is the fruit of my lip ; his garden \_paradise\ which Cyrus laid
low was glowing red; behold it is blachened. (4) His people being
aroused would have their rights, for they were cast down at the cry of the
parting of Dan, (5) who being delivered was perfectly free. . . every
one grew mighty ; your religion had saved (6) even him from uncleanness.
And his \_Salca's] mouth, enkindling them, brought the Serim J together
from the race of Harari.^ (7) My mouth also hastened the rupture, and
as one obeying my hand thou didst sing praise. unclean one, his reli-
gious decree is his bow. (8) He who complains of the presence of the
inflicted equality turns aside. My gift is freedom to him who is fettered,
the freedom of the polluted is penitence. (9) As to Dan his unloosing was
destruction, oppression and strife; he stoutly turned away, he departed
twice. (10) The predetermined thought is a hand prepared. The re-
deemed of Kasha wandered about like the [flock] over driven. (11) The
prepared was the ready, yea, Gotha, that watched for the presence of Dan,
aiforded concealment to the exile whose vexations became his triumphs ;
and Saka also, being reinvigorated by the Calamity, purified the East, the
vices of which he branded.
* Plate 44. 14.
t Rakak — rakt, applied to the refining of wine, &c. Letters, as if by
another hand, stand above, in the original, which give the sense of perfect
emptiness of fruit.
J Serim — Seres (free, or princes [?]). A people called Seres have been
the cause of much doubtful discussion. See Latham's Ethnological Essays.
§ People of the hill-country of Ephraim are so called — 2 Sam. xxiii. 11, 33,
VI PKEFACE.
Assuming the correctness of this rendering, it pre-
sents a singular and most suggestive corroboration of
the conclusions arrived at in this volume, as to the
connexion and origin of the Danes, the Goths, and
the Saxons f"* since we here find a people or tribe
named Dan distinctly associated with the Goths and
the people of Saka, while Cyrus, who can only be the
well-known king of Persia, is poetically referred to as
the desolator of the teacher of Buddhism, Saka, who
was certainly the same as Godama^ the king of Kasha;
and therefore it may not unfairly be inferred that the
destruction of Kasha, mentioned in other inscriptions
n this volume, was caused by Cyrus, whose con-
quests extended over Northern India, as well as
Bactria and the country of the Massagetae, amongst
whom, as Herodotus relates, he met his death. In
considering the relation of the tribe of Dan with the
Goths, whom I have endeavoured to identify with
the Gittites (p. 149, n.), it may be interesting to re-
member that in the distribution of the Israelitish
tribes that of Dan embraced the country of the Gittites
or people of Gath.
G. M.
Hastings :
Dec, 15, 1860.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
paob
THE HEBBEW BOOK A.ND THE HEBEEW PEOPLE ... 1
CHAPTER I.
EZEKIEL'S TISION — THE LIGHT I:N^ THE CLOUD . . .17
CHAPTER II.
Israel's perveesion, waexing, a;n^d eecovert . . 47
CHAPTER III.
HOW AND WHERE DID THET GO ? 67
CHAPTER IV.
THE HEBEEW INFLUENCE AND THE SAXON EACE . . 80
CHAPTER V.
Israel's new names . . ~ 105
CHAPTER VI.
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES 123
CHAPTER VII.
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES .... 143
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI 161
Vlii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
THE DOCTEINES OP SAZTA-BTJDDHA 180
CHAPTER X.
BUDDHISTIC SYMBOLS I THEIE OBIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE . 206
CHAPTER XI.
BUDDHISTIC CAYES AND INSCEIPTIONS .... 227
CHAPTER XII.
THE INSCBIPTIONS AT GIENAE AND DELHI .... 265
CHAPTER XIII.
SEPULCHEAL INSCEIPTIONS IN AEIAN CHAEACTEES . . 288
CHAPTER XIV.
INSCEIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI 301
CHAPTER XV.
THE INSCEIPTION ON FEEOZ's PILLAB .... 320
CHAPTER XVI.
THE EELATION OF THE INSCEIPTIONS TO PEOPHECY . . 332
CHAPTER XVII.
THE SAXON DEEIVATION AND DESTINY .... 349
^ CHAPTER XVIII.
THE KABENS AND THEIE TEADITIONS 359
APPENDIX 381
INDEX ... 409
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Plate of Coins to face page 156
A Bas-relief at Sakchi 171
Illustrations from a Buddhist Medal 196
Symbols from Bas-reliefs 215
Alphabets 232
Inscriptions from " Joonur" 233
Illustrations from Cave-temple at "Joonur" 243
Inscription from Btrath 251
Fag-simile of the Girnar Inscription 269
Sepulchral Inscriptions and Coins from Jelalabad and
Maniktala 293
Delhi Inscriptions: —
North Compartment 303
West Compartment 306
South Compartment . . .- 309
East Compartment 312
THE LOST TEIBES AND THE SAXONS OF THE
EAST AND OF THE WEST.
INTRODUCTION.
THE HEBREW BOOK AND THE HEBREW PEOPLE.
The history of the world predicts the consummation
of all history in a higher standing of our common
humanity. The darkness of the past is to become
the enlightenment of the future. Hence with every
prophecy, of good or of evil, we find a picture
of the moral condition on which that prophecy is
grounded ; and the general upshot of all foreseeing
is a vision that reveals the dominion of knowledge
over ignorance, and of light over darkness. There
are, however, specific predictions in that marvellous
Book on which Christians found their faith, and the
fulfilment of such predictions has hitherto sustained
the authority of that Book, not only as a record, but
as a means of throwing light into the dark passages
of current history, onwards to the end. It is with a
feeling that the truth of that Book will, in some
slight degree, be elucidated by this volume, that the
attention of the general reader is solicited to the
subject of it, which, though interesting in itself to in-
B
2 INTRODUCTION.
quisitive minds, Is doubly so to Biblical students.
The Bible first gave Englishmen an interest in the
East, and now by its demands upon their hearts,
binds them to concern themselves about all that is
transpiring there. But to understand the present, it
is necessary to see its connexion with the past and
the future.
A portentous cloud has long hung over all that is
Oriental, and that cloud spreads, with the elements
of a terrible conflict in its bosom. A mighty, and
perhaps final struggle is coming amongst the leading
tribes of men in defence of their traditional creeds
and superstitions, against the faiths that are based
upon positive intelligence, the knowledge of what the
Divine Mind has actually done, and is doing. The
religions that are respectively symbolized by the
Lotus, the Crescent, and the Cross, are energising
their votaries afresh. The Crescent, the emblem of a
dimly reflected and changeful light, symbolises the
religion inculcated by the sword-bearer, Mahomet.
It comes between the highest form of traditional
heathenism, that feeling after God, whose purest em-
blem is the water-born Lotus, and the Cross, which
is the sign of the divine self-sacrifice that destroys sin
and death. To the Crescent, as partaking of the
ignorant presumption of a deistic paganism with its
lunar archaism, belonged the power of beating do^vn
idolatry; but it also held sword to sword against that
form of the Cross which was borne as a banner
before such Christian conquerors as Constantine and
THE HEBREW BOOK AND THE HEBREW PEOPLE. 3
Charlemagne. When such conquerors cease, when
Greek Church and Roman Church, East and West,
find no defence in emperors with great guns and
plausibilities, the Crescent will wane into the morning
starlight of a better promise, and Turks and Arabs
will listen to the Word that speaks of eternal peace.
If Christian nations, so called, wield the sword with
greater force than other nations, it is not because
their power is in armaments alone, but because there
is an energy belonging to their belief which enables
them to discern where all strength lies, and which,
while conferring validity on their social and civil or-
ganizations, inspires them with an irrepressible love
of general intelligence and freedom. The idea
represented by the Cross is divine, and therefore
gives a sense of authority to those who receive and
obey it. As a faith pertaining to the individual,
it subdues the man ; as a faith only so far received as
to modify the theory of government and policy, it
tends to render a nation determined and ready to
subjugate other people to its own laws. Commer-
cially speaking, the Cross represents the Hebrew
element as well as the Christian, and so it would
conquer only to tax and supply trade, but, religiously
speaking, the Cross represents the missionary spirit.
In both respects the Cross is necessarily aggressive.
It converts the peoples that have no previous religious
literature, no Koran, no Shasters, no Vedas, but it
wars with those that have. Mere idolaters are to
bow down to the physical power and scientific skill
b2
4 INTRODUCTION.
possessed, as a matter of course, by the nations that
worship the Author of law and creation ; but those
who are spiritually ruled by a written creed which
assumes a divine authority will oppose Christianity or
the Cross with the obstinacy of mental conviction.
Hence the difficulty of dealing with the people sym-
bolized by the Crescent and the Lotus. As the
Crescent took the sword, it will perish by the sword.
But the Lotus represents another principle, which
logically brings it into contact with Christianity as a
rival appealing to the minds of men on the grounds
of conscience and truth. A quarter of mankind are
Buddhists, of whom the Lotus is the symbol. It will
probably assist us to understand the relations of
Buddhism to the earlier states of society and to other
creeds, if we trace the origin of that symbol. In the
first place, we find that the Lotus was a sacred
symbol with the ancient Egyptians, and thus this
beautiful symbol, like very much of the mythology of
India, connects it with Egypt ; a circumstance, ethno-
logically considered, of much interest and importance.
The Lotus, as a sacred symbol, assumes this conven-
tional form amongst the hieroglyphics.
T'^ The normal number of the petals of
\[ the lotus is twelve. Here we see six
of them in profile, divided by the calyx
into threes, thus presenting a triple triplet ; which, in-
terpreted Buddhistically, as well as after the manner
of the Egyptians, would probably signify perfect
potentiality, that is to say, existence sustained by
THE HEBREW BOOK AND THE HEBREW PEOPLE. 5
Omnipotence.* Now, it is interesting to observe that
from a very early period the Israelites used the
symbol of the lily. It may be disputed whether the
lily introduced by Solomon amongst the sacred sym-
bols of the temple was the lotus (1 Kings vii. 26);
but there is reason to think that it was, and that
it was the accepted symbol representing the twelve
tribes of Israel. If so, it had probably been their
symbol from the time of their sojourn in Egypt,
where Moses acquired that learning, so much of which
appears in his writings. That the common lily of
Palestine might afterwards supersede it is likely, be-
cause the lotus was not there indigenous. The lotus,
however, might well S3^mbolise the tribes by the
twelve overlapping petal-leaves, seemingly divided,
as Moses divided them, into four bands, consisting of
three tribes in each. The Jews retain this significance
of the lily to this day. In their service on the day of
atonement they use these words : " Thou, who hast
chosen this day in the year, and appointed it as a
balm and cure for the nation likened unto the lily,
when thy temple existed aforetime in Jerusalem. "f
( The Jew^ by Myer, p. 390.) Whether the lotus was a
symbol of Israel or not, its use as a symbol by the
Buddhists is Avell known, and if we succeed, as we
* " The lotus leaves and flowers are supported upon stalks about a yard
long. The calyx is divided into four, embracing the flower, resembling a
gigantic magnolia flower, the ideal of elegant cups, a foot in diameter, oi' a
rosy colour, very brilliant towards the edges. These rosy petals, or leaves
of the corolla, are normally a dozen, and overlap each other like tiles upon
a rool"."— ♦' Household Words," Sept. 5, 1857, p. 230.
f " Israel shall grow as the lily." — Hos. xiv. 5.
6 INTRODUCTION.
hope, In tracing Buddhism to an Israelitish origin, the
force of what has been stated concerning the lotus
will be more evident.
But, for the present, let us turn away from this
symbol to our own ; it is the Cross that is conquering
the enemies of civilization, and, with the open Bible,
gives especial energy to the Saxon race. Though
reason and the teaching of history would convince us
that heathendom must perish, yet it is from other
pages than those of history that we gather the in-
telligence that associates the downfal of heathendom
with the diffusion of Israelitish ideas. The burdens
of the prophets are heavy with predictions, pointing
to two grand events — the dispersion and the restora-
tion of the Hebrew people. These things are trifles
only to triflers. That people are the proof that their
prophets spoke the truth, and the Western world
feels much of their significance. There is a Hand
ever amongst them pointing to their past and to their
future. This we see only in relation to the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin. Where are the other tribes?
Emphatically lost, and yet there must be a spirit
stirring amongst them that stirs the world. Can
they ever be found ? Perchance not ; but that their
influence, position, and transformations may be indi-
cated, though, as a nation, they may be no more
distinguished, will be shown in this volume.
The way of the kings of the East, or rather the
kings that come from the sunrising, is to be prepared
by the drying-up of the Euphrates. Whatever that
THE HEBREW BQOK AND THE HEBREW PEOPLE. 7
may mean, it is generally understood that the people
referred to are Hebrew, and, if so, they must be of
the Lost Tribes, Israelites, Beni-Israel, since the Jews
have never been hidden, and their seat is not the far
East. Our research may throw some light on this
question; but, as the mode and manner of it may
present some new ideas, like images seen in obscurity,
the reader will kindly refrain from hasty conclusions,
and consent to feel his way along with the ^vriter.
The interest of the subject is not small, for the nature
of the inquiry involves the consideration of some of
the greatest problems of man's history.
Could the Ten Tribes be traced, we should find a
key to much that is hidden in the history of the
world and in the Bible, our understanding would
be enlarged, and our faith confirmed. By fixing
attention in the right direction we should see the
face of Time more clearly through the veil thrown
over it, and obtain a fuller insisrht of tlie wisdom and
the providence concerned in the distribution of the
human races, for the higher development of man's
intellect and energies in the commerce and the war-
fares of the world.
Traces of the Lost Tribes have been supposed to
be found in Mexico* and in Malabar,f in England J
and in Japan. § The Afghans claim to be the very
* See Simon's work on Israel in America.
t C. Buchanan on the Hebrews in Malabar. — " Christian Researches.'
J Wilson on our Israelitish origin.
§ Dr. Bettelheim on Loochoo and Japan.
8 INTRODUCTION.
people, and their claims are sustained by many intelli-
gent witnesses. Abyssinia is also said to possess
some of them, and even Central Africa is not without
evidence of their presence.* In short, the learned
have discovered Israelitish influence in every land,
" from China to Peru." What is our inference? Why,
that there is truth in that prophecy which said that
Israel should be sown among the nations, swallowed
up, and yet not lost. (Hos. viii. 8.)
Amongst the most civilized nations the Hebrew
influence is known and acknowledged; but this, as
already observed, is due to the Book which we have
derived from the Hebrew nation, and to the disper-
sion of the Jews, who are popularly supposed to
include the whole house of Israel; but the Jews
themselves very properly regard themselves as dis-
tinct from the Ten Tribes who revolted from the
throne of David. We perceive that prophecy is ful-
filled in relation to the Jews as dispersed; but we
* There are multitudes of Jews, in every variety of condition, in the
north of Africa ; but there are probably more of the Hebrew race far within
the interior, about Timbuctoo and the Lake Tsad, and still further to the
south. To the latter we should look for traces of their connexion with the
Lost Tribes. It is well known that the Gha and other Negro tribes have
numerous well-marked Jewish characters in their religious observances.
A paper by Mr. Hanson, a native preacher, read before the British Associa-
tion of Science, at Swansea, 1848, leaves no doubt of the fact. Now, unless
we suppose that the Hebrews were derived from the interior of Africa, we
must suppose that the Hebrews have penetrated there, and thence diffused
the elements of civilization, and prepared the centre of the land of Ham for
the blessings of Christianity and the new order of universal government to
be at last established. Christian and scientific missionaries will probably
soon afford us more light on the subject. — See Latham's ** Varieties of
Man," p. 476.
THE HEBREW BOOK AND THE HEBREW PEOPLE. 9
require larger views, both of nations and of prophecy,
in order to discover the influence of the Ten Tribes.
The dispersion of the Jews is a testimony to those
nations who have received Christianity ; but, viewing
the principle on which prophecy is constructed, we
should expect to find the history of other nations
illustrated by the prophecies that refer to the disper-
sion and influence of the Ten Tribes. The following
pages are intended to point attention to them, with
a view to trace their connexion with the nations of
India, and with all the civilized kindreds of the
earth. As the Bible will be quoted as authoritative
testimony, it may be well to state the writer's views
with regard to the character and scope of that testi-
mony. The Book assumes to be the record of the
direct and divine teaching which its writers enjoyed,
and it appeals to two especial modes of proof
in respect to the truth of its pretensions — first, the
adaptation of its doctrines to the spiritual wants of
man; and, secondly, the fulfilment of its predictions
in human history and in individual experience. The
first proof is the pleading of the Inspirer of the Book,
through the words contained in it, with a man's own
soul; the second is a demonstration to those who are
sufficiently instructed to observe the coincidence
between the events foretold and the real history of
Divine Providence amongst mankind. The appeal is
that of the Perfect Being to man as an intelligent
being, capable of understanding that worlds and
souls are governed on the principles of righteousness
10 INTRODUCTIOK.
and love. We are called on to observe the connexion
and relation between the moral and religious condi-
tion of man and the history of his race. As humanity
is one in nature, so is providence. There is a unity
of working towards man in the revelations of that
Being who made man. The Creative Spirit who
made the worlds, moulded man of dust, and inspired
the breathing soul with self-consciousness and will, is
represented as of course concerned, that a being
whom He has so endowed should apprehend the prin-
ciple on which He necessarily acts towards man from
first to last. If this be true, then every glimpse of
the connexion between prophecy and history will
help us to connect the beginning of man with the end
of man, the design of his creation with its fulfilment.
In short, research of any kind is only so far really
interesting and important as it enables us to perceive
new evidence of the fact that the Maker of man is
ordering man's circumstances with respect to a foreseen
and predicted end, in which the moral relation of
man to his Creator shall be demonstrated. That is
to say, all knowledge is perverted that does not
increase our faith in the perfection of the superin-
tending Intelligence, by proving to us that justice,
love, wisdom, and omnipotence are one, and presiding
alike over all the outo-oino-s of existence. To know
anything truly is to know the will of God in that
thing, whether in relation to history, creation, or
individual experience. That the Divine Mind is
expressed in man's united history is the doctrine of
THE HEBREW BOOK AND THE HEBREW PEOPLE. 11
the Bible ; and it is only in that Book that we find a
bond of connexion between man and man through
all his kindreds, from the beginning to the present,
and to the end. Without that Book each man has a
tendency to isolation, limited only by the interests of
his immediate relationships; but with that Book we
become conscious of our relation to all that can be
known and all that can be felt by any people in any
period of the world. These observations bear largely
on our subject, for we propose seeking after the
remnants and ramifications of that peculiar people
who were selected, trained and judged, and scattered
for the very purpose, as the prophets inform us, that
mankind in general might learn more concerning the
methods of the divine government, as that of a just
God and a Saviour.
Our inquiry instructs us as to the value of an
authentic, inspired, and well-preserved book of doc-
trine. Without a Bible every man who could might
write his own Bible, and constitute his doctrines and
his decaloo^ue accordinof to his own desires, and as far
as other men would let him, act accordingly. We
cannot find a man who needs no record of divine
deeds, no divine doctrines, no history, no prophecy to
instruct him, and to keep him up to the height of his
own capacity for improvement ; and where there are
none of those things the mind dwindles down to a
state of spiritual inanition, or lapses into barbarism
and savageness. Man must believe in moral prin-
ciples evinced in deeds and doctrines above his own
12 INTRODUCTION.
impulses in order to his elevation. " Unless a man
erect himself above himself, how poor a thing is
man!" He must have faith in God as revealing
Himself, that is, His will, through some medium, as
the Author and Finisher of all that pertains to the
well-being of man, before he can be improved. As a
man cannot intend to act if he believes he cannot, so
neither can he aim at a higher position morally and
intellectually without evidence that man may attain
it. He must see a human example of the fact, and
know how it may become his. Divine teaching
implies communication in words as to what is desir-
able and possible, and it further implies its commu-
nication as felt truth from one human mind to
another. Hence revelation has always taken two
chief forms, alike interesting to thinking men — first,
prophesying as foreshowing the working out of
divine moral government in relation to human his-
tory; and, secondly, the mode and medium of wor-
shipping God as evinced in doctrines and taught by
divine deeds in the past history or experience of men.
Hence, the book containing a record of such deeds is
essential to the perpetuation of pure religion; and
hence, too, the necessity for the general diffusion of
the instruction contained in that book.
Men everywhere believe that there has been or that
there still is a revelation. All men believe in the
best book, morally speaking, of which they know;
hence, every people that has a literature has its
authoritative book or books, and every nation respects
THE HEBREW BOOK AND THE HEBREW PEOPLE. 13
other nations just according to that nation's estimate
of the written religious code belonging to those
nations. Is not the government of India in English
hands partially paralysed, notwithstanding our con-
quests, because, though professing to be Christian, it
has yet been afraid, from the first, to set the Bible
open before those whom it would govern? The
Mahomedans in India have been truer to their Pro-
phet than Englishmen have been to their God; and
therefore, though they would compel idolaters to
submit to the Koran, yet the Hindoos were ready
rather to band themselves with* those consistent alike
in their creed and their cruelty, than submit to milder
masters whose faith seemed to be only a compromise,
if it were not the mere worship of Mammon. The
Indian government have charged the preachers of
the Cross with worse than foolishness, and yet the
seed sown by those very preachers has saved that
land. Our Bible is our only credential, and woe be
unto us if we are ever ashamed of it !
Common sense in every country having a book,
believes in the need of a permanent word, or written
revelation; and hence the multitude of false Bibles
in the world. The necessity of a moral law is felt ;
but that law is really found written out plainly in no
book, and in no heart, but as it is transcribed from the
volume of the Hebrews ; and yet it is from the history
of Israel that we derive the deepest insight of the
consequences of breaking the laws of worship and
sociality. It was a speculative idolatry which led to
14 INTRODUCTION.
the deportation and final dispersion of the Ten Tribes ;
for that idolatry, produced by the most degrading
conceptions of the Divine attributes, gendered a wor-
ship of symbols that at once blinded the common
mind, and hindered the people^s reception of God's
teaching in their history and by their inspired pro-
phets, while it also brought down their morality to
the low level of the heathen. The Holy Land rejected
them. It will be no vain pursuit if we endeavour to
trace some of the results in the dispersion of Israel.
Since Rome with iron rule subjugated the nations
and trampled down the Holy City, where the Son of
God taught the words of life to those who crucified
Him, the scattering of the Jews amongst the peoples
has been everywhere recognised as the judgment of
God for their rejection of his mercy. The trampling
down of the Holy Land by the worst of the Gentiles
(Ezek. vii. 24), and its division by the Turks, has
been so visibly the fulfilment of prophecy, that, even
according to the creed of Mahomet, the Turks do not
own it, but only hold it in keeping tiU God requires
it for some purpose still in reserve, or till the punish-
ment of the Jews is complete, when they are again
to possess it. The Jews themselves wait for their
restoration, and expect it soon. But still the scattered
families of Judah, as a wonder, a sign, and a witness,
stand apart, belonging to no nation, though ruling
the money-markets of the world. At least seven
millions of such witnesses testify to the people of
Christendom that prophecy is the light of God to
THE HEBREW BOOK AND THE HEBREW PEOPLE. 15
man. There is warning and promise, as well as pro-
phecy, to the whole civilized world, in the present
state and known history of those scattered Jews.
But there are other Hebrews besides these who are
telling upon the world. There are those tribes that
never returned from beyond the Euphrates to the Land
of Promise. Their history, too, will indicate the
wisdom, power, and love of Him who scattered them.
They are representatives of Joseph and Ephraim and
Manasseh; and the blessings that fell from the pro-
phetic mouth of the aged Isaac, in whom all the
families of the earth are to be blessed, are not void to
the Lost Tribes. The Hand that rules the waves and
directs the streams of life is upon them ; though they
seemed but as a wild herd choosing their own way in
the desert, yet they are really led as if by a shepherd
amongst the mountains. Now that the winding up
of the world's history is at hand, some sudden light
is likely to fall upon their history which shall show
that the Author of prophecy is the God of providence.
The direct descendants of those who crucified their
King are seen in every Christian land with the veil
upon their heart, but still reading the holy books
and observing the traditions of their fathers, and
proving to us the truth of prophecy in a manner
scarcely less than miraculous. What the Jews are
to Christendom, the other outcasts of Israel, " the
remnant left from Assyria," will be to the heathen
in the East. We seem to hear the voices of the dead
in the significant language put by the prophet into
16 INTRODUCTION.
the mouth of that outcast Israel, " After two days he
will revive us^ in the third day he will raise us up, and
we shall live in his sight.^^ (Hos. vi. 1, 2 ) This life,
then, is in faith, faith in their king Iinmanuel, " de-
clared to be the Son of God with power, by the
resurrection of the dead." We are in the midst of
the third day from the date of IsraePs captivity if,
according to St. Peter's call to remembrance, we are
to regard a day as literally a thousand years ; and a
Jew would scarcely understand the idea of an indefi-
nite period. But, not to discuss such points here, we
will now pass on in search, first, of prophetic indi-
cations, and then of facts, concerning the dispersion
of the Ten Tribes and their influence on the world.
When we have followed some of the traces of their
I dispersion, we shall be prepared to consider what con-
/ iiexion can be discovered between that event, the
religious system of Buddhism, and the formation of
the Saxon and Gothic nations.
THE TEEE OF BUDDHA.
17
CHAPTER L
EZEKIEL'S VISION — THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD.
As the prophet Ezekiel addressed the words of
Jehovah to the captives of Israel, and was himself
one amongst them, we turn to his prophecies as the
most likely to contain those guiding indications of
which we are now in search. The prophet witnessed
the varied and degrading idolatries into which the
professed people of God had fallen. Instead of testi-
fying against the heinous sins connected with the
worship of idols and deified ideas, those who possessed
the holy oracles had mingled the words of God with
the ritual of idols, confounded the doctrines of Heaven
with those of Hell, and, no longer seeking forgiveness
of sin by the appointed sacrifices, and at the mercy-
seat beneath the wings of the golden cherubim, they
had profaned the holy place and the holy Name ; and,
no longer looking for the Shechinah of Jehovah's
presence, they gloried in painted and gilded gods of
their own making, and sought no honour but such as
accorded with the obscenities, cruelties, and blasphe-
mies of their own abominable habits. The prophet
witnessed this and was astonished. He foresaw the
obstinate adherence of this people to their adopted
idolatries; and, the Holy Spirit stirring his heart
18 ezekiel's vision —
with holy indignation and abhorrence, caused the
words of burning truth to burst from his lips while
he denounced them as outcasts. But yet, in the
feeling of Jehovah's retributions, because of his
holiness, he felt, too, that the wisdom and the love of
the Almighty must still find utterance ; and therefore,
through the terrible array of wrath he saw, also, the
triumphs of mercy. Hence, in the prophecy spoken
against the rebellious house of Israel, the wondrous
course of a redeeming Providence is depicted upon
the cloud that bears the lightning and the thunder;
even the judgments that pursue the people in their
wanderings point ever to the eternal refuge.
The prophet opens his stupendous mission in awful
symbols, and in a manner worthy of the grand occa-
sion, his words and his thoughts being alike divinely
appropriate to the purpose. Like St. John the divine,
in the Spirit on the Lord's day, an exile, alone in
soul, but that angels came to him, the prophet seems
to look as if into the opened heavens, and, beholding
with the Spirit's eye future times and existences
unformed except in spirit, he foretells, with the dis-
tinctness of one describing what he sees, the destinies
of Israel, and the results of their dispersion in rela-
tion to the world.
Let us imagine ourselves amongst the rocks above
the green and flowery banks of the river Chebar,*
as it flows in silvery smoothness through the open
valley, fed by many a murmuring streamlet gushing
do^v^l from the brown hiUs and scattering the gleams
* " Per solitudines aboraeque aranis herbidas ripas," says Ammiauus of
the river Chebar. — M. 1. xW. c. iii.
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 19
of the declining sunshine like things of life rejoicing
in the light. A lonely man slowly paces the green-
sward ; now with fixed gaze he bows his face towards
the ground, intent on reverent thoughts, and now
with keen eye upraised to the cloudless heavens, as if
he would penetrate the profoundity of the Infinite,
and see God.
He stands Avith covered brow as he seems to con-
template some wondrous scene spreading out before
his eye on the wide plain towards the north. A
whirlwind is rolling on from thence with a vast cloud
upon its wings, turning rapidly upon its centre,
carrying fire in its bosom, and shedding an amber-
coloured radiance around its path. The appearance
of four living creatures proceeds from the whirling
cloud, and they look in the distance like human
beings. But each has four faces and four wings, and
their feet are like those of a young heifer, narrow
and sharp, and hollow-soled and cloven, and they
shine like burnished brass. On each of the four sides
of the advancing mystery there are faces and wings ;
and under the wings, human hands. Their wings
meet together above their heads, and they fly straight
forward in each direction, expanding as they fly, and
yet continuing united by their wings above. Each
of the living beings has the face of a man, with the
face of a lion on the right side. There are the faces
of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle appropriate to
each of the living beings. They have each four
wings and four faces. Two of the four wings of each
creature are stretched out above ; and these join the
wings, each of the other, on all sides, and with the
c 2
20 ezekiel's vision —
other two wings each creature covers its body.
Thus w^inged and protected they go straight forward
as the spirit in them wills to move ; they turn not a?
if to determine where to go, but they move straight
on to every quarter of the world. There is a bril-
liance about them as of burning coals or flaming
lamps, and a flashing as of lightning. Their whole
appearance is that of a fire of glowing coals, or of
torches in the wind flaring out sudden gleams of
brilliance, or, like the aurora-borealis^ with intercurrent
flashes of brightness, or, as we witness often in a
rising storm, the lightning plays, with continuous
flashes, amidst the dark, rolling clouds. The living
beings themselves seem to change places, and pass
and repass with the speed of lightning. See the
first chapter of Ezekiel.
The meaning of the wondrous symbols is not mani-
fest, and, alas, our commentators give us little learn-
ing, and less light on the subject. Will it not be
better to view the subject in the light of common
sense, and of scriptural, as well as of classical usage
in the emplojnnent of symbolical language? By this
means we may possibly obtain a clear meaning with-
out any display of particular research, and that, too,
without presumption. We must remember that the
prophet is standing on the banks of the river Chebar,
in Kurdistan, and looking towards the northern
heavens. From this quarter he beholds the whirling
fiery cloud advancing towards him, and then he
descries the wondrous appearances proceeding out of
it. Now, according to prophetic usage, a whirlwind,
a cloud, and a fire signify a multitude of people
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 21
scattered by some violence, and spreading mischief,
and therefore the first idea we derive from this de-
scription is that of an invading army from the north.
We need not stay to prove that the symbol of a
cloud signifies a multitude, and by implication a great
power of accomplishing either good or evil. This
figure is a natural one, and frequently used by poets ;
thus, in Homer (11. ver. 273), a cloud of foot is a
great company of foot soldiers. Jeremiah (iv. 13), in
announcing the approach of an invading army, em-
ploys several of the figures here introduced. " Be-
hold^ he shall come up as clouds^ and his chariots shall
be as a whirlwind ; his horses are swifter than eagles'''
Ezekiel, in describing the descent of Gog, uses
similar terms (xxxviii. 15, 16, and also 9, 10). A
cloud very aptly symbolizes a multitude in motion,
for in Eastern countries a cloud of dust from the dry
soil usually accompanies an army. Xenophon, in his
Anabasis^ finely notices this fact. When Cyrus was
approaching Artaxerxes, over a vast plain, like that
over which the prophet was looking when he saw the
future in his vision, the first indication of the
enemy ^s approach was " a white cloud seen in the
distant horizon, spreading far and wide. As the
cloud drew nearer, the bottom of it appeared dark
and solid. As it still advanced, it was observed in
various parts to gleam and glitter in the sun ; and
soon after, the ranks of horse and foot, and armed
chariots were distinctly seen."
As regards the symbolical meaning of winds we
may find sufficient evidence in the Holy Scriptures,
or we might refer to profane and classical writers.
22 ' EZEKIELS VISION —
In Jeremiah (xlix. 36, 37), the symbol is again em-
ployed, and again explained — " And . wpon Elam I
will bring the four winds from the four quarters of
heaven^ and I will scatter them towards all those winds;
and there shall he no nation whither the outcasts of Elam
shall not come. For 1 will cause Elam to be dismayed
before their enemies^ and I will send the sword after
them until I have consumed them,^^
The fire and the coloured brightness proceeding
from it are less familiar symbols. What does the
language of prophecy teach concerning fire? When
associated with other indications of evil, it denotes
sickness, affliction, torment, destruction, and purifica-
tion, as we find in such passages as the following :
''Therefore he hath poured ui)on him the fury of his
anger and the strength of the battle^ heJiath set him on
FIRE round about, and it bwMt^Thim^ yet he laid it not to
heart. For behold^ the Lord will come with fire, and
his chariots like a ichirlwind^ to render his anger with
fury^ and his rebuke like flames (?/fire." (Isai. Ixvi. 15.)
" Yea^ I will gather you and blow upon you in the fire
of my wrath^ and ye shall be melted in the midst,^^ " /
will bring the third part through the fire, and I will
refine themJ^ (Zech. xiii. 9.)
With the significance of colour the readers of the
Bible in general are, unfortunately, very little ac-
quainted, and hence they lose very much of the
beautiful truth so frequently expressed by it. The
symbolical meaning of colours and of their combina-
tions was comparatively well understood by the
ancients; and even in the Middle Ages this variety of
symbolism was in some degree preserved amongst us.
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 23
though now the cloud of the dark ages, without its
Iris, seems to have settled down on the colleges of
heraldry, and we look in vain to the learned in coats
of arms to tell us what they mean by the colours,
yet so religiously preserved in their distinctness by
the emblazoners of shields and crests. The spirit
and sense of religious truth was once expressed in
heraldry, but now, perhaps, more of the spirit of pride
and pretension. In our cathedral windows we may
see the Apostles and their Lord, robed in the hues of
light, as significant of the individual character attri-
buted to each of them by ancient artists, who painted
with conventional meaning in their colours. But we
know not where now to look for an interpretation of
their luminous language, though it appears that
modern artists, in reverent ignorance, perpetuate the
symbols, while they have lost their significance. If
we may receive the testimony of those who, like
Moses, were learned in Egyptian lore, or in that of
the Etruscans and the Hebrews, all the colours of
light were to them expressive of spiritual truths.
The Israelites seem clearly to have understood the
varied renderings of light on the gemmed breast-
plate of the high priest, and every tint, as well as
every form in the furniture, and the decorations of the
tabernacle and the temple, spake with intelligence to
the wise amongst them. This symbolism of colour
was calculated to become a universal language. Thus,
in India and China the characters of their deities and
their doctrines are expressed by colours understood
by the initiated. In Hue's translation of the Chinese
records of Christianity we read of the luminous
84 EZEKIEL^S VISION—
religion berng conveyed in the blue chariot, and its
doctrine being a blue cloud, because it is truth from
heaven. We read of the vermilion palace, and the
adornments of all colours^ and, as usual, we take what
we do not understand for mere poetry, instead of
perceiving what the fathers of the world intended to
tell us, namely, that they believed all moral and social
excellences to stand in relation, first, to the pure white
light of heaven, and then to the primitive colours
blue, yellow, and red, as expressive of faith, hope,
and love in their earthly manifestation. The days
of the week are beautifully, though, alas, now idola-
trously, associated with Divine qualities by the
Brahmins : thus, Sunday is pure sun-light; Monday
or Moonday, as its reflection is white, that is purity ;
Tuesday, flame-coloured coral, or love and hope in
action; Wednesday, the emerald, kindliness and ac-
commodation; Thursday, the topaz, holy knowledge;
Friday, the diamond, light embodied as in a teacher ;
Saturday, the sapphire, truth, slow and sure. Each
day of the week is thus connected with the mani-
festation of some deity, which is expressed by the
appropriate colour. The seven precious things
honoured by Buddhists, in China, and elsewhere, are
gems, or other substances of various colours. These
are used to express virtues, and are accordingly
found in the tombs of Buddhist notables in India.*
The science of colour as a symbol has been too much
neglected ; for, while the facts of material action and
phenomena have been sufficiently regarded, their
moral meaning has been overlooked, and is now
* See Mythology of India, and Major Ounningham's Bhilsa Topes.
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 25
almost lost to us. But, if we would apprehend the
sure word of prophecy, and throw its light into dark
places, we must give more heed to the language of
symbol, lest the Apocalypse of heaven should have
been written in vain for us.
The amber-coloured or golden brightness proceeding
out of the midst of the fire and cloud described by
the prophet would, to a learned Oriental, probably
signify love and mercy accompanying the infliction
of the wrath denounced against the people on whom
the invasion was to fall. It is not the colour of pure
unclouded light, but of light seen through a hazy
medium, a difi'used mixture of red and yellow, such
as we sometimes witness in a summer sunset or in
the glow of the rising day. Whether in the words of
prophecy, or in the sky, or in the hedgerow flower,
this colour always means the same thing. It means
that, whatever wrath may prevail, and whatever
clouds may surround us, hope and love still live,
and that the divine character is still written upon
nature with the same finger that moulded man and
put the bloom upon his cheek in token of love and
hope, as the natural expression of healthful Hfe.
God's own names of love and light are written
by the ancients in letters of gold and vermilion.
Though the accommodating glories of the Omnipotent
arise out of a profundity too deep, and therefore too
dark, for an angel's ken to penetrate, yet all above
us and around, says, " Look, man, to Him who made
you, and raise your eye towards heaven ; and, even
in the midnight you shall see the glories of His
wondrous hand more sweetly and yet more vastly
26 ezekiel's vision —
than in the meridian day. The light of eternity
beams forth in golden radiance from immeasurable
darkness, all space is full of eyes piercing with their
gentle brightness into your soul, man.^ if you will
but believe in it. The colours of all the stars are
those of truth and love."
Next to the whirlwind, and the cloud, and their
attendant glory, we have presented to us in the pro-
phet's vision the results of those phenomena. Out of
the cloud came, as it were, four living beings re-
sembling man (ver. 5). This scarcely needs expo-
sition, as life, or living being, is the ordinary Oriental
term for collective existence, especially in relation to
mankind as existing in connected societies. Hence,
from the general appearance of the whole vision, we
are taught that, out of this invasion from the north,
four varieties of human institutions should spread in
all directions in association with men having amongst
them the same elements and means of intelligence,
industry, endurance, and success.
Each division, having four faces and four wings,
intimates four modes of manifesting the mental
character under all circumstances, together with as
many modes of advancement and defence. All these
appearing under the form either of one cherub,
viewing their faces collectively, or as four cherubs,
viewed separately, signifies that the movements and
peculiarities of the collective bodies of living beings
are especially appointed, qualified, and directed by
Divine Power, with reference to the ultimate revela-
tion of wisdom, truth, justice, and mercy, as evinced in
all the ways of Providence, both in the physical and
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 27
spiritual history of the human race ; or, at least, of
that part of it here signified.
Layarcl, in his work on the Nimroud sculptures,
points out the resemblance between the symbolic
figures employed by the prophet Ezekiel in his
sublime vision, and the Assyrian religious emblems
supposed to be typical of divine attributes. Ezekiel,
no doubt, had seen those emblems ; but the figures of
a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, as emblematic of
Divine I^ower in relation to the chosen tribes were,
as we shall show, employed and understood by the
Israelites long before their captivity; and, therefore,
if the prophet meant to refer to Assyrian ideas at all,
which is very doubtful, he certainly would, by that
reference, teach the Israelites, to whom he addressed
his prophecies, how all the attributes of the true God,
Jehovah, and not a confusion of divinities, were con-
cerned in carrying out his purposes with regard to
his chosen people.
The feet of the living beings are first particularized
(ver. 7). The feet are the inferior extremities of
the body, and signify the lower form of what is
natural and necessary to the carrying out of any
physical efibrt or design. Thus our Lord, in washing
the feet of his disciples, taught them not only humi-
lity, but that even those parts of their nature most
exposed to defilement were perfectly cleansed by Him,
and if they walked together aright and according to
his Word, should be preserved pure. To sit at the
feet is to take the place of the humble scholar, and to
set foot on a place is to take bodily possession of it
and to rule there; as in Deut. i. 36, xi. 24; Rev.
S8 ezekiel's vision —
X. 2; Ps. xliv. 5, xci. 13; Isai. xxvi. 6; Dan. vii. 23;
Mai. iv. 3. Pharaoh is said to trouble the waters
with his feet (Ezek. xxxii. 2); which in the Targum
is interpreted to mean that his auxiliaries, or bor-
rowed soldiers, trampled down the people whom they
invaded like a river rushing over the ground. The
feet of the symbolic creatures are said to be straight
or narrow, and flat at the base like the feet of a calf;
probably to indicate the fitness of the power or people
typified to walk through difficulties, just as creatures
of the ox kind can pass over the most difficult and
miry places in conseqence of their feet expanding as
they descend into the mire, and, from their peculiar
construction, immediately contracting again when
drawn up; thus rendering it easy for them and
naturally agreeable to traverse those countries in
which other creatures would be lost, or find no foot-
ing and no food. Thus, the head of the ox, together
with the feet of the calf, indicates their fitness to
occupy the course of rivers, and reap advantage from
those lands which, from their abounding in water,
may,« by industry and proper natural appliances, be
rendered most productive of food for man and beast.
The colour of the feet, sparkling like burnished brass,
expresses a furbished firmness and preparedness, with
means of action and of progress, both strong and
bright. The Grecian empire is symbolized by brass
in Daniel. St. John, in the Apocalypse, saw Jesus
with feet like fine brass as if burning in a furnace
(Rev. i. 15), and, in Daniel's vision at Hiddekel, the
army and the mighty one whom he there saw, and
which mighty one predicted war and divisions,
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 29
appeared with feet, in colour, like polished brass, as
if to signify that the angel was commissioned to
employ natural means, as the minister of Jehovah, to
conquer and subdue, by power and violence, the
natural opposers of righteousness. (Dan. x. 6.)
Just as now, in China and in India, Jehovah is
at war with oppressors by means of those ap-
pointed.
''''The hands of a man were under their wings on their
four sides y This sentence expresses the fact that
human agency and skill were spontaneously, and as
if with perfect freewill, engaged in carrying out the
movements and desires of the living creatures, or
collective bodies of men. The hands are the instru-
ments of reason. Throughout the Holy Scriptures
the actions of the hands are employed to express
those of the heart and mind in the exercise of power.
Thus, to give the hand is a token of submission (as
in 2 Chron. xxx. 8; Ps. Ixviii. 31; Lam. v. 6).
Horace (Epod. xvii. ) uses the same expression. These
hands, or the peculiar human instruments of the in-
telligent will, were employed in all directions under
the united wings, or under the protection and sus-
taining power of an ever-connected and connecting
Providence. There is no break, no interruption to
God's purpose and proceedings ; and as the cherubim
over the mercy-seat in the Holy of Holies had their
wings joined above and below, so it is all through
nature and providence. The ministry of Jehovah's
messengers is unbroken and unceasing, and man's
agency and volition break not the chain of Divine
causations. Thus Solomon placed the two cherubim
30 ezekiel's vision —
within the oracle, with wings extended from wall to
wall. (1 Kings vi. 27.)
The Persians understood wings to symbolize power
and possession. Thus Cyrus, in his prognostic
vision, when sleeping in the country of the Massa-
getae, saw Darius, the eldest son of Hystaspes, with
wings on his shoulders, like a cherub, one of which
overshadowed Asia, and the other Europe; a vision
fulfilled in that Darius who befriended Daniel. " So
this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in
the reign of Cyrus the Persian." Dan. vi. 28. The
Hebrew word that signifies a wing also means a
covering. Eagles' wings are mentioned as symbols of
Divine protection and conveyance in Exodus xix. 4.
The phrase " the wind hath hound them up in her
wings^'' is used by Hosea (iv. 19) to denote the con-
dition of Ephraim, or the tribes of Israel, when torn
from their native land, and scattered by the Assyrian
conqueror, and afterwards to the four quarters of the
world, and never suffered to rest, but still, under
Divine protection, supplied with power and guidance.
The faces are the outward expressions of inward
characters, and these are symbolized by a union of
the human face with that of a lion on one side, and
that of an ox with that of an eagle on the other. To
explain this we must refer to the legionary standards
of the hosts of Israel, headed by Judah, Reuben,
Ephraim, and Dan. (Num. x.) Under each of these,
according to the Targum, marched three tribes.
Each standard was of three colours, like the precious
stones in the breast-plate of the high priest, on which
the names of the tribes were engraven. Now, be-
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 31
sides these appropriate colours, it is stated, by
Abenezra and others, that the banners had embla-
zoned on them the emblems of each tribe. That of
Reuben was the form of a man ; that of Judah, a
lion ; that of Ephraim, an ox ; that of Dan, an eagle.
Thus, we have ancient, and in this matter, good au-
thority, for believing that the Israelites understood
the emblems employed by the prophet Ezekiel to
mean their own tribes collectively.*
As in each of the four living beings the whole of
these emblems of the Israelitish tribes were united, as
if under one system of co-operation — and as these
fourfold manifestations of Divine order over-ruling
human effort issued from the whirlwind and the
cloud — it is reasonable to conclude that the wise
amongst the Israelites, to whom the prophecy was
addressed, understood it to signify that, under the
* The cherubim, or four living creatures of St. John's vision, are similar
to those of Ezekiel, and they are attended by similar evidences of the
dominion of God in their presence, as indicated by lightnings and thunder-
ings, and voices, and the seven lamps of burning fire, i.e., the seven spirits
of God. The character in which the power of Him who sits on the throne
is manifested amongst them is represented by the colours of the sardine
and jaspar being compared to his appearance, while the rainbow around his
throne is like an emerald. Eacli living creature has six wings, and is full
of eyes before and behind, and within. The glacial, sea-like crystal, too, is
there. All these things may be fairly understood to signify that it is the scat-
tered seed of Israel, far and near, who are to cry night and day, " Holy,
holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which was and is to come." The type is
carried on from the literal Israel to the Christian Church, so that our in-
terpretation of the cherubim or living creatures being symbols of the
Israelites is here confirmed. He who is the root of David, of Judah, the
lion tribe, is also the lamb in the midst of the throne, to whom ihefour
living creatures, namely, a lion, a calf, a man, and a flying eagle, symbo-
lizing the chosen tribes, sing " Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood." (Rev. iv. 4.) So that this triumphant song is that of Israel in
then* conversion, the future being realized as present to the Seer of
Patmos.
32 EZEKIEL*S VISION — 1
violent incursion of an army from the north, they
should be scattered, and that yet in that scattering
all the tribes should be involved and driven forth, as
if by the winds, towards the four quarters of the
heavens, and over all the earth. But yet, amidst the
seeming confusion, they were taught that an exact
providence should preside over them, and mercy be
visible in judgment ; for the purposes of Jehovah in
the separation of Israel from the nations should not
be frustrated, notwithstanding the entire failure of
the chosen tribes in the covenant made with them and
with their fathers. We may also learn from this
symbolic portraiture that in this fourfold, and yet
united system of living beings spreading their influ-
ence over all the earth, the characteristics of one
division were the characteristics of the whole.
1. There are the human faces and human hands,
with their power of expressing and evincing in-
tellect, afifection, and skill. 2. There is the face of
the lion, expressive of courage and daring. 3. There
is the face of the ox, speaking of patience, toil, and
plenty. 4. There is the imperial eagle-face of keen-
ness, far-seeing and decisive, and armed for rapine.
We might sustain our interpretation by quoting
authorities concerning the appropriateness of these
symbols ; but probably a reference to the benediction
and comprehensive prophecy of Moses will be suffi-
cient to indicate the propriety with which one of the
emblems is made to embrace three of the tribes. As
an example, we may observe that, though Judah was
designated by the dying Jacob as a lion's whelp, the
comparison of the lion is also applied to the tribes of
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 33
Dan and Gad by the dying Moses in his triumphant
blessings on Israel. (Deut. xxxiii.) The symbol of
a lion to convey the ideas of courage and strength is
too frequently used in the Bible and other books to
need explanation. That the ox was applied as the
symbol of the tribes descended from Joseph we learn
from the words of Moses : " His glory is like the
firstling of his bullock, his horns are like the horns of
unicorns ; with them shall he push the people together
to the ends of the earth. ^' (Deut. xxxiii. 17.) Here
industry is indicated as the source of wealth and
power, Avhich push aside all opposition. Wherever
agriculture has made any advancement, there the ox
is admitted to be the appropriate symbol of industry
and plenty and power.
With regard to the eagle it should be remarked
that the prophet seems to mention the eagle almost
in a parenthetical manner at the end of his descrip-
tion : " They four had also the face of an eagle^^^ as if
this symbol were especially required, above all, to
designate the tribes of Israel in their dispersion over
the earth. The prophet Ezekiel himself applies this
symbol to express an idea of kingly power. (Chap.
xvii. 3, 7, 12.) In Isaiah the eagle denotes Cyrus,
whose ensign was an eagle. JEschylus applies the
same symbol to Xerxes. (Cheoph. v. 245.) This
symbol may fairly be regarded as most remarkable
when applied to the scattered tribes, since it indicates
that, notwithstanding their dispersion, they should
acquire kingly authority. This symbol is the more
significant, since it is as kings from the East, or the
sun-rising, that the tribes are to be recognised, when
D
34 EZEKIEL^S VISION —
their way is prepared by the drying up of Euphrates.
It is then to be observed, " that they four ^''^ that is, all
the tribes, " had also the face of an eagle^^ as if to
show that each of the four divisions under which the
tribes were classed, should be possessed of regal
dignity, however disguised.
With regard to the symbol of a man, which, though
the first in order, we consider last, there is more to
be said than can here be conveniently admitted. But
that the idea intended to be conveyed is that of intel-
ligence and affection need hardly be observed. More,
far more, however, is probably designed to be taught
by the symbol, since, in several parts of the prophecy
of Ezekiel, the man is spoken of as especially in-
structing him in the purposes of God. The man who
measures the departments of the temple, and marks
out the localities for all the tribes is understood to be
Immanuel, and it is He who still accompanies the
dispersed and desolated people, bringing them by
ways they knew not at last to recognise Himself as
their Saviour and their King.
" Thy judgments are as the light^^^ says the prophet
Hosea to the Ten Tribes. The judgment sent upon
the tribes goes with them as a present, instructing
spirit, everywhere. The burning coals of purifying
afiliction or of destroying fire, and the flashing light
of severe instruction, accompany them, and going up
and down amongst them in all directions, shooting out
lightnings, not only enlightening, while discomfiting
themselves, but also all amidst whom they come.
They bear the lightning with them in all their
goings (ver. xiv.), they carry light or destruction to
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 35
their opposers, and become mighty by their trials.
This is the especial prediction concerning the descen-
dants of Isaac, known and unknown ; and we believe
that history confirms the prophecy in all its bearings.
Without further enlargement of the subject, at
present, we here obtain the idea of a vast commingling '
of Israel with some northern power, rushing in upon
the country over which the prophet is supposed to be
lookinof. He and his Israelitish brethren were then
exiles in the valleys and hills of Mesopotamia and
Media. The tribes were to be involved in this
northern cloud, and by it scattered to the four
winds. The wisdom and goodness of God are to be
seen in the providence which appoints and accom-
panies this wide and ultimate dispersion. The
spheres and regions of government under which the
outcasts shall be brought, are to illu state the might
and the mercy of the Omnipotent Ruler of all the
cycles of time, and all the revolutions alike of nations
and of worlds. The wheels within wheels, the
spheres within spheres, the cycles upon cycles, how-
ever vast and distant in the prospective, however
dreadful and unsearchable in their extent, are all
informed by an indwelling Intelligence. Like the
vault of heaven on a starry night, the terrible extent
and seeming depth of darkness is full of revolving
order, and there are eyes looking through it, and
pervading it; revolving bands of light are tying the
universe together; and, go where we may, we cannot
escape their influence, and their hold upon us. The f
Divine attention is on the multitudes of people in
their dispersions, and, however human energy may f
D 2
36 ezekiel's vision —
be called into action, and seemingly be causing and
determining consequences, yet all the evolutions of
humanity are but working out and fulfilling the
purposes of the Almighty, within the bounds first
appointed, as regards time as well as space, for He
lias fixed the laws of all iDeing. The angels of God
are as his eyes, searching into all things pertaining
to our nature, and going up and down, so to say,
amongst the branches of the two olive trees that
stand before the Lord of the whole earth. (Zech. iv. 3 ;
Rev. xi. 4.) The spirit of the living beings, that is,
life itself, with human will, intelligence, and activity,
is in the movements everywhere. Through all re-
gions, and in every cycle. Providence overrules and
regulates the movements of the vast host passing
along on wings, with the noise of many waters, like
the voice of the Almighty in the thunders of his
power, though still the articulate voice is that of man,
speaking alike in reason and affection (ver. 24).
The firmament is stretched over them from the re-
gions of the terrible crystal,* or the icy boundaries
of the frozen north, even to the burning south : that
firmament is like a sapphire throne of truth and
justice, above which sits a man having the amber-
coloured glory around him from head to foot, as if
beaming forth from all his body in the purifying
brightness of commingled judgment and mercy. In
the end of Ezekiel's prophecy the man appears sur-
rounded by the sevenfold harmony of pure light, as
* As the word here translated crystal is rendered ice (Job vi. 16) and
/ro5^ (Gen. xxxi. 40), we should be quite justified in rendering it ice or
frost in this place instead of crystal.
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 37
seen by the beloved and loving disciple in the rain-
bow around the throne. That is, the very glory of
the risen, reigning Lord, who occupies the throne as
a Larab slain, and who ultimately reveals Himself to
the whole worshipping universe, according to the
covenant made with Noah in behalf of all living
creatures,* when the rainbow was set in the clouds
of heaven as a sign of mercy for ever. (Gen. ix. 16.)
Thus, John saw the Lord Jesus enthroned amidst
the adorning hosts above, the centre and the glory
of all livinof beinofs, the source of life and W^ht to
all the systems of life in all worlds. As the Sun of
riofhteousness He shines forth in all the attributes of
beauty and of power, the centre and source of all
attractiveness, life, and blessing, penetrating and
possessing with the beams of his love all who are
willinor to receive and transmit the lio^ht of his
gloiy.
When the prophet was instructed to address the
captives of Israel, it was foreseen that they would not
receive his words (chap. ii. 7); audit was because
of their love of idolatry and will-worship that the
prophetic denunciations were heard amongst them.
In the spirit of prophecy, w4iich is the testimony of
Jesus, the prophet went to the rebellious house of his
brethren, declaring the woe that should come upon
them there ; but, nevertheless, as he went he heard, as
if behind him, in intimation of what should follow, a
voice of a great rushing, yet distinctly saying, ''Blessed
* The Hebrew word for living creature is the same as that of 9th of
Genesis, where the covenant with Xoah and everj/ living creature is re-
corded.
38 ezekiel's vision —
he the glory of the Lord frorii this 'placed (Chap,
iii. 12.)
In all the prophet^s progresses and visions and
prophetic missions the sight and the sound of the
living beings and of the wheels accompanied him, as
if to afford an ever-present sustentation to his spirit
under the trials of his commission; for he was to
utter words of fire against the impudence and hard-
heartedness of his kindred, who would scorn and
despise him and his godly messages. It is remark-
able that in each of the chief divisions of his pro-
phecies Ezekiel recurs to the vision which he saw
from the banks of the river Chebar, as if this vision
afforded a key in his own mind to the mystery of
God's providential proceeding in relation to his chosen,
but now outcast people. He still saw, wherever he
went, the golden glory beaming from the fiery cloud,
and the bi'ightness shining from the man whose body
was brilliant as burnished brass, or as the molten
metal pouring in a glowing stream from the opened
furnace. (Chap. iii. 13; iii. 23; viii. 12.) Thus,
when the elders of Judah sat with the prophet in his
own house (viii. 12), the vision of the cherubic pre-
sences, and of the glory of God in the plain, by the
river Chebar, recurs to him; but most particularly
when, in reference to the departure of the Shechinah
from the temple at Jerusalem, it was seen by him
that the sapphire throne, the seat of truth and of
righteousness, was still occupied, and the man in
linen, the interceding high priest, was directed to go
in between the wheels and the cherubim, or systems
of living beings, and seize the burning coals, and
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 39
scatter them over the city, as if to destroy its polity
for ever. And then a loud voice cried to the wheels
in the prophet^s hearing, " 0, wheel ! " as if to say in
one word, mighty in its meaning as the revolutions
of the universe, '' though there be wheels in wheels,
spheres in spheres, worlds in worlds, imperia in im-
perils^ still they are all turned by the Divine Hand,
and in that Hand they are one." The wheel seems to
be the symbol of the ongoings of the Almighty, as
seen in the Assyrian monuments, and amongst the
symbols of Buddha; but an earlier employment of
the symbol existed probably amongst the Hebrews.
At least the voice cried, " 0, wheel ! '^ to the pro-
phet's spirit, when in vision he saw the four
wheels with the face of a cherub, a man, a lion, and
an eagle (Zech. x. 13), just as they appeared in
that temple of Solomon called the house of the
Lord Jehovah, which was erected about 1004 B.C.
The whole of the tribes appeared to be symbolized by
the twelve oxen in the house of Solomon, and the
eao:le is wantino- because he himself was the eao^le.
CO o
It has been questioned what kind of wheel was
meant ; but we are told that " the work of the [sym-
bolic] wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel,''
having axletrees, naves, felloes, and spokes complete
in all parts. (1 Kings vii. 33.) That a wheel signi-
fies the proceeding superintendence of the Supreme
Power was understood by the Greeks and Persians,
as well as by the Hebrews, is sho^vn by the address
of Croesus the Lydian to Cyrus : '' There is a
wheel in human affairs, which, continually revolving,
does not suffer the same persons to be always success-
40 • ezekiel's vision —
fill." (Herod, i. 207.) It is remarkable, also, that in
the tenth chapter (verse 5), Avhere the prophet is re-^
ferring to God's providence in Jerusalem, the beings
having life, that is to say, the cherubim, are dif-
ferently distributed ; and, instead of the face of an
ox, there appears the face of a cherub, in the first
place. (Chap. x. 14.)
This vision, apparently, relates to the after capti-
vity and ultimate dispersion of Judah, for whom at
that time the symbolic cherubs still spread their
wings over the mercy-seat, and stood gazing on the
golden tablet, as if to read what the finger of God
would still in mercy write thereon for all Israel.
As was the life, so was the providence. It is still
with the use of Divine Power that the human will
is working. While free as the winds and the electric
forces that move the clouds and form them, yet, like
them, all wills are moving according to fixed laws,
by which the Divine Will subdues all things to eternal
purposes. The wheels moved as the spirit of the
living beings moved; and as the faces, or outward
characters of the divided hosts were determined, so
they went, that is to say, they went straightforward
to the end necessarily resulting from the disposition
manifested (ver. xv. 21). In this awful vision we
witness the potency of the human spirit for good or
for evil: good, in adapting itself to the gracious
leadings of God's providence, and to the laws of his
moral government, thus proceeding direct to the
difi'usion and maintenance of all natural and spiritual
blessings; while evil, on the other hand, consists in
resistance to the teachings of Heaven, and leads only
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 41
fo war and wasting, though, in these results, also, the
Divine character shall be glorified. According to
the state of man's will and intelligence collectively
and individually, will be the result nationally and
personally. Even when lifted up, or removed from
the sphere of earth, the spirit of the life remains in
the living beings ; and according to the ordinance of
Him who constituted both life and death, the sphere
in which we choose to move accompanies us, like the
atmosphere of our existence, in whatever worlds we
dwell, for it is the state of our wills with respect to
God's law that determines our position and consti-
tutes the essence of our being. We must not over-
look the important fact that when the glory of God,
the Shechinah, departed from the Lord's house at
Jerusalem, it stood over the cherubim which the
prophet saw by the river Chebar. He mentions the
cherubim in this new relation as only one living
creature (chap. x. 20), but as proceeding in a four-
fold manner from the east gate of the Lord's house
with the glory of the God of Israel over them above.
(Chap. X. 19.) " This is the living creature [or com-
pany of people] that I saw under the God of Israel
by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the
cherubim.''^ These went forth, and the sound of their
" wings teas heard^ even to the outer court [that is,
amongst the Gentiles], as the voice of the Almighty
God when He speaketh^ (Chap. x. 5.) From this
chapter we gather that, from the dispersion of Judah,
and from the casting out of Israel, Jehovah would
speak with power concerning his providence, right-
eousness, and mercy to the Gentiles, in all lands; but
42 ezekiel's vision —
that Israel, then in Assyria, should be mainly
scattered eastward, but not utterly destroyed; ''/<9r
thus saith the Lord God^ although I have cast them far
off among the heathen^ and although I have scattered
them among the countries^ yet will I be to them as a little
sanctuary in the countries where they shall come^
(Chap. xi. 16.) Thus we are again brought back to
the starting point, from the river Chebar ; from whence
we are to look for the fourfold outgoings of Israel,
as under the wings of God to every quarter of the
world; and by the judgments manifested in their
dispersion preparing the world for the final harvest,
when the angels from the four quarters of the
earth shall be sent forth with their sickles to
reap the ripened fields, and bring the wheat, that is
to say, all that is good, and with living power in
it, the true Jezreel^ the seed of God, unto the garner
of heaven.
In the vision the prophet was looking towards the
north ; but he describes what he sees thus : " As for
the likeness of their faces ^ they had the face of a man
and the face of a lion on the right side ; and they four
had the face of an ox on the left side ; they four^ alsOj
had the face of an eagle, ''^ " They turned not when they
went^ they went every one straight forward^ The right
side of the four divisions was towards the east, and
in the direction they faced they went. If then, the
Targum is correct in describing Judah's division as
symbolized by a lion and Reuben^s by a man, it fol-
lows that the dispersion of those classed under these
tribes, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and the one half
tribe of Benjamin; Reuben, Simeon, Gad was to-
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 43
wards the west; and, for the same reason, it also
follows that the four tribes symbolized by the ox,
Ephraim, Manasseh, and the other half tribe of Ben-
jamin, and those symbolized by the eagle, Dan, Asher,
Naphtali, took their direction to the east. It is
traditionally, and with good reason held that only
some of the tribe of Judah, and a part of the tribe
of Benjamin, were recognised as occupying Judea
after the Babylonish captivity. Hence, we may fairly
infer that the remnants of the other tribes who re-
mained beyond the Euphrates were involved in what-
ever influences led to the general dispersion of the
children of Israel as distinct from those who, from
dwelling in Judea, were afterwards called Jews ; so
that portions of all the tribes are not insignificantly
represented as symbolically appearing under the forms
of the four living creatures seen proceeding out of
the midst of the whirlwind, the cloud, the fire, and
the brightness of the prophet's visions at the river
Chebar.
It is important to observe that, though Ezekiel was
a prophet of Judah, he is expressly directed to " set
his face against the mountains of Israel and to pro-
phecy against them '' (vi. 2). He is consulted both
by the elders of Judah and the ancients of Israel.
Throughout his prophecies he keeps distinctly before
them the diflference in their condition and prospects.
To the elders of Judah he exhibits the cause of
Jerusalem's destruction (chaps, viii. ix. x. xi.); to
the elders of Israel, as distinct from Judah (chaps,
xiv.-xx.), he points out their iniquity, and says
that God will not be inquired of by them through the
44 ezekiel's vision —
prophets, but that God will answer the house of
Israel directly by Himself, without the intervention of
a prophet (xiv. 7; xx. 3). There is remarkable
stress laid on the peculiar abominations of the false
prophets of Israel, who seduced the people by divining
lies (»iii. 7), and promising peace concerning Jeru-
salem, as if all Israel might expect deliverance
because of the prosperity they foretold for the people
of Judah. The symbol these false prophets employed
to express their promises to the people was the
erection of a "slight wall" (xiii. 10), which others
" daubed with untempered mortar," as if to indicate
their hope of restoration and of being built up
together in their own land. But God, by the true
prophet, says of the wall, " I will rend it with a
stormy wind in my fury — an overflowing shower in
mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury "
(xiii. 13). This symbol of a slight wall of loose
stones daubed with clay, as expressing the hopes of
the false prophets, will throw some light upon usages
to which reference will be made in future chapters of
this volume. The contrast is between (Ezek. xiii. 10)
a mere stone hedge and the wall of a city (xiii. 12) ;
that is to be the defence of the rebellious Israel, this
of the restored to Jerusalem. There are clear inti-
mations throughout the prophecies of Ezekiel that
there would be a new writing or record of the
reunion of Israel as a whole; but the deceived of both
houses, Judah and Israel, would be excluded, " they
shall not be in the secret [assembly] of my people,
nor written in their writing [or register] of the house
of Israel, nor enter into the land of Israel" (xiii. 9).
THE LIGHT IN THE CLOUD. 45
Those who called themselves more especially Beni-
Tsrael, the house of Israel, the whole house of Israel,
those who were separated from Judah by the rebellion,
are most frequently styled by the prophet the re-
bellious house. He shows that a new Israel will be
formed out of the pious of both parties who should
be restored ultimately to the land of Israel. This
he symbolizes by the two sticks (xxxvii. 16-19),
one having written on it " For Judah, with his com-
panions of the children of Israel;" and, on the other,
'' For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the
house of Israel his companions." '' Thus saith the
Lord God, Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph,
which is in the hand of Ephraim, the tribes of Israel
his fellows, and will put them with him, even the
stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they
shall be one in my hand." This seems to have been
fulfilled in a measure by the restoration under Ezra
and Nehemiah and Zerubbabel, though an ultimate
greater restoration and reunion is still foretold. The
idolatrous people of both Judah and the rebellious
house of Israel called Joseph, Ephraim, and the tribes
remained in the countries beyond the Euphrates; the
rebels were purged out from those who were to enter
into the land of Israel (xx. 38). "As for you,
house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, Go ye, serve
ye every one his idol, if ye will not hearken unto me "
(xx. 39). The judgments that are to come upon the
rebels are summed up thus : " I will take the house of
Israel in their own heart;" " I, the Lord, will answer
every one by myself;" " I will set my face against
that man [the idolater], I will make him a sign and
46 ezekiel's vision, etc,
a proverb, and will cut him oif from the midst of my
people;" "If the prophet be deceived ( nriH)'' ) when
he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived
(■'JI^'JIB) that prophet; and I will stretch out my
hand upon him;" "The punishment of the prophet
shall be as the punishment of him who seeketh unto
him " (xiv. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10). We shall probably see
the force of these words as we proceed.
47
CHAPTER 11.
ISRAEL'S PERVERSION, AVARNING, AND RECOVERY.
We have seen the beams of glory bursting from the
cloud in the prophet^s vision; we have seen that
Jehovah, in human manifestation, sits on his sapphire
throne erected above the firmament of heaven and
above the cherubim ; we have seen the glory spread-
ing from the icy regions of the terrible crystal to the
torrid zone ; and we have seen that, however involved
the ways of God to man may seem to be, yet the
spheres and systems of all life, animal, human, or
angelic, still run onward, in a path prepared, to an
appointed end; and that, however devious from the
course directed by the law of God may be the chosen
determination of man's will, yet all the discordances
of man are harmonized by the Omnipotent, according
to the wisdom of his own will. The cycles of time,
the circuits alike of worlds and of ages, the move-
ments of all intelligences, become involved in the
universal Power in which all the agencies of heaven
and of earth are working out the development of
Divine order, and rolling on with all the worlds to
the eternal revelation, when God shall be kno^vn as
all in all, the Origin and the End of all existence. The
general idea of the prophet's vision seems to be, that
48 Israel's perversion,
the Spirit is everywhere, subduing the rebellious will
of man by sure methods, however slow, to the ac-
knowledgment of God's goodness and perfection, and
that to this end the watchfulness that never tires
would have us look, in all our attempts to under-
stand the mysteries of Providence ; but now especially
as revealed in the history of Israel and of Judah. If
we look a little into the details of EzekieFs addresses
to the exiles by the river Chebar, we shall be better
able to see where we should look for the outcast tribes
at this time, and probably be better qualified to un-
derstand other prophecies concerning them.
WeAi^tMnd that they would not listen to the pro-
phet ^^mTi), and then that he portrayed to them the
destruction of Jerusalem, as if to show them the
fruitlessness of hope from thence. After which, he
tells them they should be driven out amongst the
Gentiles to eat defiled bread, and that only a third
part of them should escape from the sword, |^^4?^5^k^^
lence, and the famine that should pursue theT^(v. 12) ; ^^
but that, after the nations had witnessed the Divine
judgments upon them, the remnant of them should
be signally blessed and made a further evidence of
the wisdom and goodness of the Divine government,
by their recovery from idolatry and pollution to true
faith and patience; and thus also become, by their
example and their teaching, a blessing to the nations
amongst whom they had been hidden and oppressed.
if(Ezek. vi. 9,f20, f40, /^44.) It may be questioned
whether the prophet spoke these things to the ba-
nished Israelites in general. In the 7th chapter of his
prophecy he seems to limit his threatening predic-
j6U
WARNING, AND RECOVERY. 49
tions to a certain class of his countrymen, namely,
the whole multitude of them who should not return
t (ver. 13) ; probably meaning those who should refuse,
or not be permitted, to avail themselves of the oppor-
tunities afforded to the Jews under Ezra and Nehe-
miah to repeople their own land, and again build the
walls of Jerusalem (ver.fl3]^icWhen Hosea prophe-
sied to the Israelites in Samaria, under the name of
Ephraim, he told them that they should go into
bondage similar to that their fathers experienced in
Egypt : " Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of
rebuke among the tribes of Israel : I have made known
that which shall surely J^""(ver. 9). They sought help
against Judah from the Assyrian king Jareb ; there-
fore that golden calf which the people of Israel wor-
shipped in Bethaven shall be a present to king
Jareb; and the king of Samaria ''shall be cut off as
foam upon the waters. ^^ " Ephraim," says God by
Hosea (xi. 12), " compasseth me about with lies, and
Israel with deceit; but Judah yet ruleth with God,
and is faithful with the saints." There is divine
tenderness in the upbraiding which the prophet ad-
dresses to the Israelites concerning their persistence
in the idblatry and great wickedness which necessitate
their utter removal from the Holy Land. ''When ^sm^
Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my '^Ajjj
son out of Egypt. I taught Ephraim to walk, taking
them by their arms. I drew them with cords of a
man, with bands of love. He [Ephraim] shall not
return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall
be his king, because they shall refuse to return T (Hos.^'
//i 1-5). This interchange of the singular and the plural
E
50 ISRAEL'S PERVERSION,
personal pronouns is common in speaking of a people as
personified in the name of an individual. The point
of the passage is this : those who boasted of being pecu-
liarly Israelites, descended from Ephraim, the most
highly blessed son of Joseph, might well be sent back
to Egypt as a punishment for their worship of Baalim ;
but, instead of that, th<^y should become and remain
subjects to the Assyrian, whose help they sought
against Judah, because, or when, they shall refuse
to return. Of those who escape from the sword, pes-
tilence, and famine, it is said, they shall escape to the
mountains like^dom^of the valleys^ out of place and in
sorrow. (O^^^Vir. 16-22.) In answer to the be-
wailing supplication of the prophet, Jehovah declares
that He will not make a full end of Israel as a nation,
notwithstanding their total removal. When the Assy-
rian took the inhabitants of Samaria captive, and led
the whole of Israel away into bondage beyond the
Euphrates, the Jews of Jerusalem, from whom they
had been so much and so long divided by their reli-
gious and political feuds, cried to them, upbraidingly,
" Get ye out far from the Lord^ unto us is this land
giveny (Chap. xi. IG?)'' The Jews were fearfully
tested afterwards, as to their fitness to possess
the Holy Land. When the Prince of Peace came
amongst them in the name of the Father, teach-
ing salvation by words and signs and wonders,
they saw about Him nothing of this world, the world
they loved, and they cried out, " His blood he upon us
and upon our children.''^ The dispersed, the out-
\^sts of Israel, had no voice in the rejection and cru-
cifixion of Jesus. His miracles they never witnessed, ,
WARNING, ANi/ RECOVERY. 51
of his resurrection they never heard; and they
resisted not the testimony of God against themselves
when the Holy Spirit, as the witness of Christ's as-
cension to the right hand of God, to reign in the
power of his risen life, was preached in many tongues
kindled into lustrous utterance as by fire from Heaven.
The Ten Tribes, though apostates, were not in a
position thus to deny their Lord and Saviour, as
Judah ultimately did ; so it appears from the prophecy
that the remnants of Israel shall be converted first ^ and
that they shall enjoy the blessings of the new cove-
nant, while yet the dispersed of Judah shall be availing
themselves of all the secular powers of the last days,
to re-establish themselves in the land from whence
their iniquities expelled them. It was when the
whole house of Israel were bowed down in the miseries
of banishment that the Jews taunted their brethren
in the words above quoted (xi. 15); and it was then
that the word of Jehovah came to Ezekiel, saying, " Al-"^ti/^
though I have cast them far off among the heathen, and
although I have scattered them among the countries,
yet will I be to tliem as a little sanctuary in the
countries where they shall come. Therefore say. Thus
saith the Lord God, I even gather you from the people,
and assemble you out of the countries where ye have
been scattered, and will give you the land of Israel.
And they shall come thither, and they shall take away
all the detestable things thereof, and all the abomina-
tions thereof, from thence. And I will give them one
heart, and I will put a new spirit in you^ and I will
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them
an heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes,
E 2
52 Israel's perversion,
and keep mine ordinances, and do them ; and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as
for them whose heart walketh after their detestable
things, and their abominations, I will recompense
their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God.
Then did the cherubim lift up their wings and the
wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of
Israel was over them above. And the glory of the
Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood
upon the mountain which is on the east side of the
city. Afterwards, the Spirit took me up and brought
me in vision, by the Spirit of God, into Chaldea, to
them of the captivity ; so the vision I had seen went up
from me. Then I spake unto them of the captivity
all the things that the Lord had shewed me " (ii.
16-25).
In order to understand these words we must re-
member that the prophet is addressing the people of
Judah and Jerusalem concerning themselves, as well
as the rebellious house of Israel ; hence the change of
person in the address : " I have cast them off, yet I
will be to them as a little sanctuary amongst the hea-
then, but I will re-assemble you after being scattered,
and bring you into the land of Israel." It was when
the prophet had heard these words that he saw the
cherubim lift up their wings, with the wheels beside
them (the mercy and providence of God), and the
glory of the God of Israel over them. Then the
glory went forth from the city of Jerusalem, and
stood on the mountain to the east of the city, that is,
the Mount of Olives, from whence the Lord Jesus
ascended into Heaven, and where the angels were
WARNING, AND RECOVERY. 53
heard by the disciples to say: ''''This same Jesus ivhich
is taken up into heaven^ shall so come in like manner
as ye have seen him go into heaven^ (Acts i. 11.)
May we not with propriety conclude that this refer-
ence to the Mount of Olives as the seat of the glory,
or the last place on which it was seen, is intended to
convey the idea that the Israelites should be truly
restored in heart and spirit, by faith in Him who is
the Resurrection and the Life ; and who "has ascended
up into heaven to receive gifts for men, for the re-
bellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among
them?"
Immediately after the vision the prophet went into
Chaldea, to tell the captives there also ail theyfetiings
that the Lord had shown him. (0^^x17^2-25.)
He informs us what he said and did amongst the pro-
phets, the princes, and the elders of Israel and Judah,
in the land of exile. The elders of Israel obeyed him
not, but preferred to worship Baal, the god of fire,
and the calf in high places. Though they still pre-
tended to reverence the name of Jehovah as the
Supreme God, to whom the gods of the heathen were
as servants, the place to which they desired to go was
Bamah, the high place. Probably mth a voluntary
humility, like other worshippers of angels, they
proudly professed to be too humble to address their
prayers and open their hearts at once to Jehovah,
though He had revealed Himself as the Father of all
that truly honoured Him. They could come to the
prophet indeed as to a mediator, or a medium of
access to God, Jehovah, still ; but that was not the
way that the Holy One required to be honoured.
34 Israel's perversion,
Obedience to his laws in life and practice, was the
only appointed mode of approaching Him, and obtain-
ing blessings. TWjelderg^f Israel still went up to
worship on high ^^es! ' Then said the prophet unto
them, when they, in mock humility, came to inquire
what they should do: ^^ Are ye polluted after the
manner of your fathers ? As Ilwe^atth the Lord God^
I will not be inquired of by you^^x' 30, 31]. Neither
shall it be as you think to be like the heathen^ to serve
wood and stone^ but as I live^ saith the Lord^ surely
with a mighty hand^ and with a stretched out arm^ and
icith fury "poured out^ will I rule over you. I will
bring you into the wilderness of the people; and
there will I plead with you^ face to face^ as I pleaded
with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of
Egypt, I will cause you to pass under the rod [like
counted sheep\ and I will bring you into the bond
of the covenant ^^ [xx. 29-39]. The address of Ezekiel
to the elders of Israel in this chapter (20th) is
a recapitulation of the mode of God's dealings in
grace and judgment with their fathers from the first.
They are upbraided with their idolatry, and told the
result. Their rebellion is charged upon them. The
Author of life is represented as pledging Himself by
his own life to accomplish his words, which are the
more forcible from the fact that the Israelites were
accustomed " to swear by the sin of Samaria, and say.
Thy God, Dan, liveth; and the manner of Beer-
sheba liveth." (Amos viii. 14.) As much as to say the
golden calf there worshipped is as much a living God
as Jehovah Himself. They are told that those who
are purged from their idolatry shall be restored to the
WARNING, AND RECOVERY. 55
Holy Land, and that the rebellious shall be cast out.
This separation of the Israelites into two classes, one
to return, and the other to be scattered, has been
overlooked. Hence the prophecy has appeared pecu-
liarly obscure, and even contradictory, since within a
few verses a return is promised, and yet a thorough
casting out and rejection is threatened. The point to
which the reader s particular attention is invited in
connexion with our inquiry is this — a certain class of
Israelites, and that a large one, is not to be restored to
Palestine, and yet they are as a body to be removed
from the place of their exile : " / will purge out from
among you the rebels^ and them that transgress against
me; I will bring them forth out of tjie country where-
they sojourn^ and [o;; J)ixt] ^i'^y^&Mf^^ enter into the
land of Israer (^fev/Zo), ' Notwithstanding this, >
mercy accompanies the rebels. A devouring fire, an
unquenchable flame, g^a^fopth to burn all faces from
the south to the north (v^: 47, 48). It is a purify-
ing flame, a flame of Divine vengeance, a convincing
process ; it is heavenly fire : " All flesh shall see that
I the Lord have kindled it ; it shall not be quenched^
Well might the prophet exclaim, at the end of his
address, " Ah^ Lord God I they say of me, Doth he not ^^^^''^
speak parables .^" The same will be said of any one ' ^^
who sees and announces the Divine judgment in a
Divine method.
Do not the preceding statements express with
sufiicient plainness the fact that, when the remnant
of Israel, scattered in lands but little known, the
wilderness of the people {Midbar Hdammim), shall
have lost sight of their original, the goodness of God
$6 Israel's perversion,
shall in grace be abundantly fulfilled to them by
their restoration through his correcting providence to
a right state of heart ? Daniel and Jeremiah appear
to have foretold the gospel dispensation as that of the
especial or holy covenant, and it is this into which
the outcasts are to be ultimately brought when, feeling
and acknowledging their evil dispositions, they re-
nounce their own pretensions, forsake all idols, and
from the heart obey the gospel.*
The prophets testify of the history of Israel. Each
prophet personifies God in relation to the peculiar
people. Deity humanizes Himself to reason with
them, to warn and to prognosticate. He puts Himself
into all the human relationships which can best illus-
trate His love for man as manifested through the
chosen people. Thus Hosea puts Divinity before us
as in his own person, and as acting the part of a
loving husband to a deceitful and abominable wife.
Israel is that wife; but the ^vife takes the name of
the husband, and the true Israel is really represented
by the prophet. Her proceedings and names symbo-
lically indicate the history of Israel both at home and
abroad, in Palestine and in other lands. The prophet
represents himself as married to Gomer, the daughter
of Diblaim (Hosea i. 3). Here, we conceive, Israel
in its northern, or Scythian connexion is alluded
to. It is the house of Israel as distinct from
Judah that is represented as the adulterous wife
by Hosea (i. 3). Why does he name her Gomer,
* See Dan. ix. 27; xi. 22, 28, 30, 32 ; Jer. xxxi. 31 ; xxxiv. 18 ; Heb.
viii. 8, 13; Ezek. xxxvii. 26; Heb. xiii. 20; Isai. xxx. 18, 19; xlviii.
xlix. The messenger of the covenant is the Messiah. (MaL iii. 1.)
WARNING, AND RECOVERY. 57
the daughter of Diblaim? It is an interesting fact
that Gomer, as a country, is identified with that
of the Scythians by the ancients.* May not the
representative marriage of Hosea with Gomer be
prophetic not only of the peculiar apostacy of the
house of Israel, but also of their association with the
Scythians in that apostacy? If so, we have this
additional ground for seeking Israel in Scythian con-
nexion. According to the figure of the prophet,
fulfilment of the holy bond is only on one side. Israel
is unfaithful to God, but the unselfish love, the
highest, the divine, the law-giving love, triumphs
over all the defects of its unfaithful object. Forgive-
ness, not indulgence, is the ground of the Divine
conquest of fallen humanity. Detesting and punish-
ing the wrong, the love goes on to evince its unfailing
nature until it begets love like itself, and the heart
of man and the heart of God beat, so to say, in
unison.
The whole scheme of the prophecy of Hosea is in
the first chapter. The result of this nominal marriage
with a people of false religions (whoredoms) is first
a son called Jezreel (the seed of God), to signify the
cessation of the kingdomj^L^^^J, but yet the pre-
servation of a godly race (ver. 4). Then a daughter
named Lo-ruhamah (not having obtained mercy) ^ is'^jsje^
said to be born, because, as it appears, the people Nf
of Israel in their exile did not trust to God like Judah
* Gomer signifies that which is fulfilled or thoroughly brought to pass.
It is also the name of the son of Japhet, from whom the Scythian nations
are descended. Diblaim is a dual word, and signifies two (people) brought
together by outward pressure ; it is a dual word, doubtless adopted by the
prophet to express the fact by a verbal symbol.
58 ISRAELIS PERVERSION, /
(ver. 7), but to armed power ^^^^refore, says God,
^'' I will utterly take them away (ver. 6). Afterwards
another offshoot arises, called Loammi (not my people),
no longer recognised as Israel. Yet Israel is in
number numberless, and where it was said, " Not my
people^ there they are called sons of the living GodJ^
To find Israel, the descendants of the rebel tribes,
the Lo-ammi, in the latter day, we must look for
the people which most readily and willingly received
the Gospel, or are most ready to receive it, when
properly presented to them.
We must not forget that the predictions concerning
the seed of Isaac, repeated and enlarged in the pro-
phecies concerning the offspring of Joseph, are not
fulfilled in anything that history has taught us in
relation to the dispersed of Judah. Notwithstanding
the direful defection of Israel, it is yet promised that
in them shall all the families of the earth be blessed,
that their seed shall yet be countless as the sea-side
sands, and that where it was said " Ye are not my
people^ THERE it shall be said^ Ye are the sons of the
living God,'''' (Hosea i. 10.) Their way is indeed
hedged up with thorns and enclosed as by a wall, but
that is to the end that they should not be able to
follow their own devices, but only the more remark-
ably manifest the marvels of Divine Providence,
When Jehovah reasons with them through the
prophet, he addresses them under the figure of a
faithless woman betrothed to him for ever, and yet
by their idolatries behaving faithlessly; to be re-
covered, however, at last, in righteousness and judg-
ment, and lovingkindness, and tender mercies, and
divine faithfulness, so that she should know and love
WARNING, AND RECOVERY. 59
her Lord without the possibility of defection ever-
more. (Hos. ii.)
But the most striking part of the figure thus em-
ployed by the prophet is most overlooked. In the
review of Hosea^s prophecy, which is peculiarly ap-
plied to Israel in distinction from Judah, it appears
that the whole earth is remarkably interested in the
recovery of the outcast people. Their perfect recovery
is, in fact, the harvest of the world : " I will sow her
unto me in the earth^^^ saith the prophet, in Jehovah's
name. Through the scattering of Israel, like wheat
broadcast from the sower's hand, the wide earth shall
yield her increase. The day of Jezreel^ the day of the
seed of God^ the day of judgment, the day of decision,
the day of love, the day of God's vengeance, that is
the day in which Israel and eludah, now divided as if
never more to meet, shall choos^pnp head, and be
indeed the visible sons of God. (Chap. i. 11.) Their
restoration is the establishment of the final kingdom,
an anastasis, as if of life from the dead, the actual
regeneration, when that adoption shall be manifest for
which the apostle of the Gentiles looked forward, " to
wit, the redemption of the body from the bondage of
corruption, the manifestation of the sons, or seed, of
God," the true Jezreel. (Rom. viii. 23.) Then these
words shall be fulfilled, " It shall come topass^ saith the
Lord^ that I will hear the heavens^ and the heavens shall
hear the earthy and the earth shall hear the corn^ and the
wine,, and the oil^ and they shall hear Jezreel,^^ the seed
or sons of God. (Chap. ii. 20.) All shall then visibly
operate after the Adamic order, the Divine plan of
government, in which God rested in love and in
blessing with man as the head of creation ; from the
60 Israel's perversion,
lowest ordinances of nature upwards to the highest
offices of intelligence, all shall hang in conscious
dependency on the Spirit, the Power, and the
Presence of the Supreme, the only Lord whose best
last name is Love, love manifested in perfect
humanity.
To quote all the passages in the Bible in which we
find, or fancy we find, predictions of blessing to all
the dwellers of earth through the literal descendants
of Abraham, would be to transfer a large part of that
wondrous book ; for all the prophecies relate more or
less to the history of that people, either in their dis-
persion, consequent on their unbelief, or in their re-
covery, through faith in their Redeemer. When God
called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans, he made
him the representative and federal head of a new dis-
pensation, in which separation in heart and mind from
all idolatries unto the worship of Jehovah, should
be always accompanied by Divine favour and blessing.
It was this going out from all the practices of idola-
trous heathenism to seek a heavenly rest, a land of
promise and immortality, in the devotion of his soul
to the God who by his word fabricated the heavens and
the earth, that distinguished Abraham, and, despite
his infirmities, caused him to be designated " the friend
of Gody Now it was to Abraham that the promise
was made that he should be the father of many
nations, and that in his seed all the families of the
earth should be blessed. (Gen. xvii. 19, 20; xxi. 10.)
It is to be observed that the promise was made under
very unpromising circumstances, or, as St. Paul
expresses it, a promise of life and blessing to proceed
WARNING, AND RECOVERY. 61
from one as good as dead. (Heb. xi. 11-16.) All
along, from the first to the last, from the time that
Abraham was a childless wanderer to our age of Mam-
monism, it has always appeared a most unlikely thing
that the whole world should be blessed through and
in the seed of Isaac, for, as Tacitus says, " The Jews
of all nations are held the vilest." (Book v. 8.) The
land of Canaan was the seat of the worst forms of
idolatry, and consequently of the most hideous vices.
This land was punished by Israel as the hand of
Jehovah, and occupied by the Hebrews in fulfilment
of the promise made to Abraham ; nevertheless, for
their idolatries, the chosen people were themselves
cast out. The land was given as an everlasting pos-
session on terms which they neglected. But the co-
venant of God still stands on His part sure, and the
central land shall be again and for ever the dwelling
of the faithful seed of Israel, whence the whole earth
shall be filled with praise.
But where is the select seed now ? Scattered we
know not where. And yet Jehovah said, " / will sow
them in the earth ;" the seed of Isaac shall spring up
countless as the sea-side sands. Has not the word of
prophecy been fulfilled ? Probably many will say that
the language of the prophecy is to be understood with
a large poetic licence, or in a spiritual manner. Pro-
phecy with a limitless licence might answer amongst
the believers in the Sibylline leaves, but it will not
serve the purpose of those who place their faith in a
positive, plain-speaking God. Believers in the Bible
take that book to be God's truth because it does not
allow us to exercise the craft and cunning of imagi-
62 Israel's perversion,
nation in the invention, or in the interpretation, of
either its facts or the doctrines connected with them.
What Jehovah means He says and does, and that
both as a Creator and a Saviour; and it is the coin-
cidence between the truths of creation and history,
with the truths of salvation, that renders the Bible, in
its old and new covenants, a trustworthy book. It
agrees alike with man and man's world. If, then,
the book is to be consistent in all respects, as it ap-
pears to be in so many, we may expect a literal ful-
filment of the prophecies concerning the seed of Isaac,
and the blessing of the world in his name. Does it
U/ appear that the Jews, as they now stand, in any
r degree represent a fulfilment of the promises? We
^mmm f trow not. Are they hereafter to possess and bless all
lands? If they do, surely it will not be as Jews,
unless Judaism is to supplant Christianity, and tram-
ple down the Saxon race, with their New Testament,
the Gospel and its comments, in the Epistles and the
Apocalypse.
Amongst the earliest prophecies there is one pre-
eminent, which perhaps may afford a clue to others.
When Jacob blessed his grandsons Ephraim and
Manasseh, he designedly and significantly crossed his
hands, so that, contrary to custom, the right hand
rested on the head of the younger, and the left on
that of the elder. Joseph would have corrected the
supposed mistake; but the devout and blind old
grandfather said : "/ know^ I know^ my son, Manasseh
shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be
greater. The angel which redeemed me from all evil
bless the lads I and let my name be named upon them,
WARNING, AND RECOVERY. 63
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac^ and.
let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earths
(Gen. xlviii. 16.) The promises of overflowing
blessings on the house of Joseph and his children
have not been fulfilled in anything that history has
yet brought to our knowledge concerning the Jews.
They have not become a multitude of nations yet,
nor are all lands blessed by them, nor are they blessed
themselves. If the prophecy be fulfilled, there must
be another people hidden, yet vastly diffused, in
whom it is fulfilled. Where is the tribe of Ephraim?
Certainly not known on the exchange by that name,
nor in the name of Jacob, nor of Abraham, nor of
Isaac, as far as we can ascertain. The prophecy was
not fulfilled in Palestine, nor is it now in the course
of fulfilment amongst the Jews; and yet, if the
times of the Gentiles are nearly completed, as all the
signs of the times distinctly indicate, then we must
believe the prophecy fulfilled in some manner yet
to be discovered. The vulo-ar starers after crlarino*
wonders will never see prophecy converted into fact ;
but those will who watch the Hand that works
silently. By the insertion of one seed vitalized by
His touch God filled the whole earth with the highest
forms of life and adoration. The word of God un-
folds itself like life, ever expanding and never seen
but by the seers of the Spirit as well as the letter.
Look at the Jews. The promises made to Isaac
indeed embraced the Jews, but the promises to the
children of Joseph^ extend beyond them. The tribe
of Ephraim belonged to that division of the Hebrew
people who remained amongst the idolaters when the
64 . Israel's perversion,
captivity was relaxed by the decree of Cyrus.
Ephraim is especially mentioned by the prophets, and
the words of Hosea are peculiarly strong concerning
the estrangement of this tribe : " Ephraim is joined
to idols; let him alone''^ (chap. iv. 15, 16, 17); and it
appears that Ephraim was so prominent a leader in
idolatrous innovations, as that the name stood in that
respect as the representative of the whole of the
house of Israel, as we find in that divinely tender
address: "0 Ephraim^ what shall I do unto thee?*^
(Chap. vi. 4.) '' There is idolatry in Ephraim — Israel
is defiled y
Observe the result. Ephraim is mixed with the
peoples (vii. 8). Because he made many altars to
sin, altars shall be to him to sin; and through his
idolatry Israel is swallowed up among the Gentiles as
a vessel in which is no pleasure (viii. 8) ; like an un-
clean and broken urn cast into the sea as worse than
useless. He forgot his Maker, and yet huilt temples.
In consequence of this attempt to do God service by
flattering their own vanity, the very people who
deemed themselves the peculiar inheritors of divine
blessings are now outcasts alike from their fatherland
and their fathers' hopes. They have forgotten all their
traditions of Jehovah's covenant with their fathers,
they are to know themselves as utterly desolate and
hopeless, incapable of recovery but through a mani-
festation of grace of which they have no record.
Speaking of Ephraim and Israel as one, the prophet
Hosea says : " My God shall cast them away, and
they shall wander among the nations." (Chap. ix. 17.)
Thus confirming and repeating the prophecy of
WARNING, AND RECOVERY. 65
Moses, who, foreseeing the disobedience of Israel, said
to them all : *' The Lord shall scatter thee among all
people from one end of the earth even unto the other, ''^
(Deut. xxviii. 64.) Nevertheless, the end of their
wanderings is this : " Ephrahn shall say, What have
I to do any wore with idols ? I have heard him and
observed him saying^ I am like a green fir-tree , From
me is thy fruit found. Who is wise^ and he shall
understand these things ? prudent, and he shall know
themV (Hos. xiv. 8, 9.) "'0 Israel^ thou hast destroyed
thyself: but in me is thine help. The iniquity of Ephraim
is bound up^ his sin is hid. I will ransom them from
the power of the grave ! I will redeem them from
death. death^ I will be thy plagues. grave^ I
will be thy destruction.''^ (Hos. xiii. 9-14.) We must
look then for the fulfilment of these prophecies among
a people not known as Israelites, and who can be
recovered from the degradation of their habits and
position only by that operation of the Holy Spirit
which causes a belief in . the resurrection, and raises
the soul from death by the word of Christ. We
must look for the descendants of the literal Israel
amongst those who now are, or are ready to become,
the spiritual Israel ; in short, among Christian nations,
and among those who are willing to receive the word
of God, the truth as it is in Jesus, as soon as they
shall have it fairly presented to them.
We will proceed in our endeavours to substantiate
this conclusion by examination of the history and the
existing facts of the world, as far as we can trace
their connexion with Israel. But there is one point
in the prophecy most striking in connexion with the
66 Israel's perversion, warning, and recovery.
grand revolution now proceeding in the East, the
greatest that ever happened. It is this: when
Ephraim, or the outcast house of Israel, is beginning
to be recovered, he awakes, so to say, with the ques-
tion, " What have I to do any more with idols V Thus
indicating that, up to the moment of the sudden
change, these hidden Israelites are idolaters, but
throw their idols off in haste and altogether, just as
the old races in China now do, and as those of India
will ere long. This is only an illustration, an argu-
ment, and an inference may be connected with the
fact by and bye — " A nation shall he horn in a day^
All times and all means spring from one source
and terminate in one end, the manifestation of the
Divine Beigg, the revelation of the Author and
Finisher of life. Such, at least, is one of the grand
lessons we shall learn by contemplating the facts to
which our inquiry now conducts us, and it is itself
worth our patience.
67
CHAPTER III.
HOW AND. WHERE DID THEY GO?
Having arrived at the conclusion that the prophet^s
symbohc vision signifies the scattering of the re-
beUious Israelites and Jews through the wide world,
ill proof alike of judgment and of mercy, we pro-
ceed to inquire by what instrumentality this was
effected. It has been intimated that they were to be
involved in the cloud and the whirlwind, and mixed
up with a vast multitude of people in the north ; from
Avhence they are to be borne, as on the wings of the
wind, unto every part of the habitable globe. How
they were thus involved and scattered we have no
certain evidence to inform us; but we shall discover
much reason for the inference that they voluntarily,
as a body, went forth from the place of their exile
into the land offering them the asylum and the
liberty they desired. They refused to listen to the
''prophet's warning; God rejected them, and we know
that they did not and could not return to Palestine.
They who were of the Ten Tribes had altogether
separated themselves from the Jews as a body by
apostacy and relentless warfare against the house of
David; and, had they desired again to occupy
Samaria, that land could not receive them — it was
f2
68 HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO?
filled by a people who had been placed there by the
Assyrian monarch in exchange for themselves. There
was, therefore, no room for them in their own former
country, had they been inclined or permitted to re-
turn. They were completely outcasts; they were
rejected alike of God and their country. An invasion
of the land of Media and Mesopotamia, through some
of the most fertile provinces of which they appear to
have been scattered, might indeed have facilitated
their escape. A foe to their oppressors would have
been a friend to them, and one mighty enough to
meditate and effect such an invasion would probably
have promoted their rebellion, encouraged their band-
ing together, and have hailed them as the best auxi-
liaries. But we find nothino^ distinct enouo^h in the
history of those countries and those times to afford
us any proof that they were drawn into the northern
whirlwind and the cloud by such means. It is at
least most probable that, if they left the place of their
exile at all, they went out in peace, still deceiving
themselves with hopes to which they had no title,
since they had forsaken the covenant with the house
of David, in which " the sure mercies " promised by
Jehovah were alone to be found. But, if they could
leave the place of their exile peaceably, it is evident
that the power of their oppressors must have been
previously subdued by some other power which
proved itself friendly to themselves. That power we
believe to have been Scythian, since this was the only
invading force of which we have any information that
could in any degree fulfil the requirements of the
vision of a whirlwind and a cloud coming from the
HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO? 69
north and involving the captives of Israel who so-
journed in Media and Mesopotamia, and bj the banks
of the Tigris and the Euphrates. We shall present
evidences of the connexion of the Israelites with this
northern power as we advance in our inquiry. But,
in order more fully to understand the condition of the
revolted tribes, and of such of the tribes of Judah
and Benjamin as were seduced by them after their
removal from the Assyrian and Persian dominion, we
must revert to the words of prophecy, which show
us that theirs was a condition resulting from their
wilfulness and obduracy of heart in choosing a reli-
gion for themselves in keeping with their temper of
mind. Instead of receiving and obeying the religious
ordinances which had been enjoined upon them, they
only ostensibly reverenced them as oracles to be in-
terpreted according to their liking and convenience,
just as the heathen interpreted the utterances of their
Sibvls.
In the second book of Esdras (chap, xiii.) it is said
that the Ten Tribes went forth under circumstances
peculiarly favourable. " The Most High showed
signs for them, and held still the flood until they
were passed over." It is stated that ^' they entered
into [passed?] Euphrates by the narrow passages of
the river." If we look into a map, we shall see that
such a course would lead them through Armenia,
northward, into the midst of nations of Scythian
origin. We may take this evidence as so far indi-
cating what Jews believed concerning the Ten Tribes
at a very early period. Since Esdras, however, is
apocryphal, we ask what other indication is there that
70 HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO?
the Ten Tribes ever had an opportunity of withdraw-
ing from the place of their exile? And, supposing
them to have thus withdrawn, where were they likely
to go? The record of the Scythian invasion of Media
and Mesopotamia will afford us the reply. The
Scythians once occupied those countries under cir-
cumstances in which the Israelites were very probably
greatly favoured. As alike enemies of Persia and
Assyria, it was natural for the Scythians and the
Israelites to seek to be on good terms with each
other. But the history of the Scythians is remark-
ably involved and obscure. It may be that this very
obscurity concerning a people with whom the
Israelites must have had association is one of the
peculiar providences by which the path of the wan-
dering tribes has been concealed. Notwithstanding
this obscurity, traces of the Ten Tribes are found
amongst the Scythians to the east of the Caspian Sea,
in Sogdiana, Bactriana, Independent Tartary, and
Bokhara, and, indeed, amongst all people sho^vn by
history or language ever to have had any connexion
with that part of the world. There was a bond of
sympathy between the Scythians and the Israelites.
Their foes were the same. Scythia was doubtless,
open to the sons of bondage whenever they could
avail themselves of an opportunity to escape. Why
should they not seek refuge in the land of freedom?
Jewish historians, perhaps confounding the captivity
with the after diffusion of the Jews, relate that the
Ten Tribes were carried not only into Media and
Persia, but also into countries north of the Bos-
phorus. Ortelius also speaks of them as being in
HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO? 71
Tartary. We may then deem it probable at least
that the Israelites in Media were in correspondence
with the Scythians, and this would go far to account
for the attack of those people upon Assyria, as well
as for the remarkable fact that, in their vast in-
cursion, they went to the borders of the Hebrew
country, but then turned aside, as if to avoid disturb-
ing the sacred land, at that time unprotected, except
by Providence. We have the evidence of Herodotus
as to the singular fact, that the Scythians were bent
upon invading Egypt, but were diverted from their
purpose by large presents from the Egyptian king
Psammetichus. They are said, however, to have
robbed the temple of Ascalon on their return, and to
have been afflicted with some strange malady in con-
sequence, (Clio. 104.)
But are there any people with a name in any
degree indicating the connexion of the house of
Israel with that of the Scythian ? Yes ; we find the
Sacce placed by Ptolemy beside the Massagetae, and
the very name Sacce suggests the possibility that the
sons of Isaac^ as the Israelites delighted to call them-
selves, became, in fact, the neighbours of those vic-
torious Scythians, the Massagetae, and blended with
them, or became allies, in their eventful wars with all
the nations around them. Nor is it without some
probability that the Scythians, who overran Asia for
twenty-eight years, were themselves led on by the
Israelites, if, indeed, the great body of them were not
of Hebrew origin. This would account for their
being first found in Media and Mesopotamia. These
very Scythians were afterwards all called Sacce by
72 HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO?
the Persians. Their incursion took place in the reign
of Cyaxares, son of Phraotes, king of Media. The
Nebuchadnezzar who took Jerusalem married the
daughter of this Cyaxares of Media.* When this
king Cyaxares was in revolt against Assyria, and
while in the very act of besieging Nineveh, with the
aid of the Babylonians, these so-called Scythians came
down upon these besiegers, overpowered them, and
seized the empire of Asia, which, as we have said,
they retained for twenty-eight years, (b.c. 641.) The
especial fact to be observed is this, the Scythians and
SacaB were afterwards confounded together.
These overpowering hosts came through Media and
Mesopotamia, where the vast multitudes of exiled
Israelites had been located, and growing into power
for more than a hundred years. The Asiatic domi-
nion was ultimately recovered for the Medes and
Persians under Cyrus the Great. Thus the way was
prepared for the restoration of the Jews, the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin, according to prophecy, while
we hear nothing of the house of Ephraim or Israel.
Where, then, were they? There is one great event in
the history of Cyrus that may throw some light on
the subject. This king was desirous of conquering
the Massagetae. He went into their country, and, while
there, dreamt that Darius had subdued Asia and
Europe. This occurred on the banks of the Araxes.
(Herod, i. 209.) Now we must remember that it
was to the borders of this river, which is the same as
Kir, that Tiglath-Pileser deported the people of Da-
mascus when he subdued Syria, (b.c. 740. — 2 Kings
* Dr. Angus's Chronology, Bible Hand-book, p. 536.
HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO? 73
xvi. 9.) These people, therefore, were amongst the
Massagetce who defeated Cyrus, and they had been
formerly friends and allies of the Israelites, and spake
the same or a similar language. It is probable, there-
fore, that the Ten Tribes afterwards passed into that
country, if in united bodies they went out from
Media and Mesopotamia. We shall find proof here-
after that the Israelites, the Sacae and the Getae, or
Gothi, are ultimately blended together in some of
their migrations.
Names, dates, and events are involved in too great
a confusion in the histories of those countries and
times to be now unravelled, so we must content our-
selves with the light we possess, and follow it to the
best of our ability as far as it will lead us. We only
gather up hints as we go on at present. We have
imagined some reasons for supposing the Scythian
Sacae to be connected with the house of Isaac ; but
we shall find other and stronger reasons as we pro-
ceed to investigate the subject in the higher and
clearer light of prophecy. In this place, however, a
sketch of the kings and chronology of Assyria, in
relation to the Israelites and the Jews, will aid us in
forming a clearer idea of the statements already
made.
Pul, or Phul, is the first Assyrian king mentioned
in Scripture. As he gave his kingdom to Tiglath-
Pileser, they are associated together. Pul made the
Israelites pay tribute to him in 769 B.C. He also
probably deported some of the people ; at least the
captivity of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of
Manasseh is attributed to him as well as to Tiglath-
74 HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO?
Pileser in 1 Chron. v. 26. These tribes were removed
to Halah, Habor, Hara, and Gozan.
Habor is supposed by some to be the same as
Chebar; Hara was the mountainous country of
Media, and Gozan probably the district now known
as Buhtan. If Habor be the same as Chebar, now
Khabur, we have the fact that some of the Israelites
deported by Pul were located where others of their
tribes were afterwards located by Tiglath-Pileser.
There Ezekiel the prophet addressed their elders and
beheld his vision. The people dwelling by the Chebar
are named Sucki (Soki or Saaki) in the Assyrian
records translated by Rawlinson.* This name might
well be applied to the Israelites, either by themselves
or their masters, whether we suppose the name de-
rived from 11:; or from ira. In the first case it
would mean a people poured from one place into
another; and in the second it would be but the
appropriate patronymic, in short, which Amos ap-
plies to them, namely, sons of Isaac — hence, perhaps,
Sakhi= Saxons.
Tiglath-Pileser was invited by Ahaz, king of
Judah, to assist him against Pekah, the king of
Israel, who, with the aid of the Syrians, endeavoured
to expel the descendants of David from the throne of
Jerusalem. f Tiglath-Pileser on this occasion sub-
dued Syria, and brought the whole of the country of
Gilead and Naphtali, east of the Jordan, under his
dominion, leaving only Samaria to the kingdom of
Israel. He sent his prisoners into Assyria, or, as
* See note to Herodotus.
1 2 Kings xvi. 7-9.
HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO? 75
some think, the country on the banks of the Kir, a
branch of the Araxes which flows into the Caspian
Sea, in lat. 39° N. This was about 740 B.C. This
king of Nineveh was master of Media, Armenia, Kur-
distan, Syria, and the northern parts of Palestine.
Amos foretold this captivity : " I will break also the
bar of Damascus, and the people of Syria shall go
into captivity into Kir, saith the Lord." (Amos
i. 5.)
Shalmaneser, named Shalman by Hosea, led an
army against the kingdom of Israel, which was now
confined to the narroAv limits of Samaria. He com-
pletely subdued the Ten Tribes, and removed
27,280* families from Samaria at once into Halah,
Habor, Gozan, and the cities of the Medes. It ap-
pears that his death for a short time suspended the
removal of the rest of the Israelites. This was about
725 B.C. We observe that the Israelites, on this
occasion, were exiled to the same parts of the empire
of Assyria as those transported by Pul and Tiglath-
Pileser; the cities of the Medes being also now
mentioned, though some authorities have it that, at
the time the Ten Tribes were carried to Assyria, the
Medes had revolted, and Babylonia was a separate
kingdom. But this occurred seven years from the
building of Rome, in the second year of the eighth
Olympiad, 748 B.c.f
Sennacherib, or Jareb,J succeeded Salmaneser B.C.
* See Eawlinson's translation of Assyrian records. ^Athenaeum, Aug.
23, 1851.
f Diod. Sic. lib. ii. Justin, lib. i. c. iii.
J Hosea x. 6. • .
76 HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO?
720. He completed the removal of the Israelites,
brought the whole of Galilee and Samaria under his
dominion, and then sent an army of 180,000 men
against Hezekiah, king of Judah. But, in consequence
of the faith and prayer of this king, this vast army
was utterly destroyed by the angel of God beneath
the walls of Jerusalem.* After this the Assyrian
empire began to decline and that of Babylon to in-
crease. Hence we learn, in the story of Tobit, who
resided in Nineveh, that the overthrow of Nineveh
was anticipated by the Israelites. He exhorts his son
to leave that place,f and to go into Media, where the
Israelites dwelt.
It was under Nebuchadnezzar (605 B.C.) that
Babylon dominated over all the East. During his
reign the Chaldeans marched upon Jerusalem and
carried away a large number of Jewish nobles into
Babylon ; among whom were Daniel and his friends. J
This deportation of Jews was very different from
that of the Israelites, and at least a hundred years
subsequent.
The return of the Jews took place after Cyrus had
united the kingdoms of Media, Persia, and Babylon,
and it is likely that he gave the Jews authority to
rebuild their temple in Jerusalem in consequence of
their aid in the conquest of Babylon.
In the restoration of the Jews as related by Ezra
and Nehemiah we hear nothing of the Ten Tribes ;
and the reason for this may be found in the entire
* 2 Kings xix. Herodotus, lib. i. 1.
t Tobit xiv. 4, 10-15, Rollin, lib. iii. c. ii.
J Jer. xxiv. 5 ; xxv. 12 ; Ezek. xii. 13 j Dan. i. 1, 2 ; Athenaeus, lib. xii.
HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO? 77
apostacy of Israel, and in the circumstance of their
separation from the Jews, and also in the events that
had occurred in the countries to which they were
banished. It was the chiefs of Judah and Benjamin
that promoted the return as stated by Ezra (i. 5).
These were assisted by the priests and Levites.
Some remnants of the house of Israel who were
willing to submit to the new order of things appear to
be named by Ezra (x. 25.) as all that were recog-
nised.
The circumstances that must have tended to pro-
duce a permanent separation between the Ten Tribes
and the Jews, or men of Judah and Benjamin, are
numerous; but perhaps the most remarkable are the
great changes that took place in the relations between
Media, Nineveh, Babylon, and Israel during the
interval between the reign of Sennacherib and that
of Nebuchadnezzar; in which period the Ten Tribes
must have been entirely dissociated from all their
brethren in Palestine, and liable to all the abuses
which opposing tyrannies could exercise over an op-
pressed, a captive, and a homeless people.
Esarhaddon, the third son of Sennacherib, took
Babylon, and reigned over it, together with Nineveh,
in 680 B.C. In this change the people of the tribes
must have been involved. From 667 B.C. Sardochus
reigned over Nineveh, Babylon, and Israel for twenty
years, and over Media also, until that country re-
volted, which happened in the thirteenth year of his
reign (654 B.C.). All these changes no doubt greatly
influenced the position of the Ten Tribes in Assyria
and Media. The revolt of Media was very likely
78 HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO?
indeed to have been much assisted by the presence in
its cities of multitudes of Israelites, men famous for
stratagem and the restlessness of tried bravery and
fanaticism. But the most marked change in the
position of these people, who, from their religious
prejudices, would still endeavour to keep themselves
distinct, probably occurred when the hardy Scythians
came down from the north and trampled under them
alike the despotisms of Media and Assyria (b.c. 633).
The Median empire at that time contained, besides
JVTedia-Magna and Media- Atropatene, Persia, Assyria,
Armenia, and Cappadocia.* They occupied Media,
Mesopotamia, and great part of Assyria immediately
after the revolt of Media, and while civil war was raging
between Nineveh and Babylon. The Scythians, occu-
pied, in fact, the very provinces in which the Ten Tribes
dwelt, and from whence they overran the whole of
Asia as far as Egypt on the south and the Indus on
the east. May we not, then, regard this incursion as
that predicted in the vision of Ezekiel under the
image of a whirlwind and a cloud from the north?
It alone, of all events in the history of those countries,
fulfils the requirements of the prophet's vision. This
vast and marvellous invasion of rugged hosts seems
to have as completely altered the aspect of central
Asia at that time as did that of a kindred people
under Alaric the Goth change the destinies of
Romanized Europe. The Hand Divine guided the
cloud; in all its seemingly lawless evolutions is seen
" the fire unfolding itself,'* and the self-moving Spirit
rules in all the rollings of the whirlwind.
* Eawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 373.
HOW AND WHERE DID THEY GO? 79
The facts about to be presented will probably
justify the inference that the overflowing of these
Scythians from the steppes of Tartary led to the ulti-
mate removal of the Israelites, as a body, from Media,
Mesopotamia, and Assyria into the land of the Tartars ;
and thence into all parts of the habitable globe, ac-
cording to the literal force of the prophecies ad-
dressed to Israel, and now proclaimed to the whole
world, that men may everywhere look for their fulfil-
ment, and understand that the destinies of nations
and of men are determined by their obedience to the
laws of uprightness, truth, and justice, or of the
charities of earthly life under the kindred but higher
charities revealed from heaven. Into the considera-
tion of this world-wide dispersion of Israel it is not
now my purpose to enter. Enough for my present
purpose will be found in a very limited department
of this inquiry, and I shall confine attention in
this work to such evidences as we may be able to
discover of the connexion of Israel, under another
name, alike with Scythia, India, and England.
80
CHAPTER IV.
THE HEBREW INFLUENCE AND THE SAXON RACE.
However infidels may cavil and sneer at the oldest
book in the world, they have the facts in connexion
with it to account for, which the truth of that book
alone explains. The people who wrote the Bible
and transmitted it to us have altered the whole aspect
of politics and religion; they have remodelled the
world, and that, without intending anything more
than to express their own convictions. Their faith
has cast mountains into the sea. The contemptible
people, as the Grecians and Eomans called the
Hebrews, have turned the pillared temples of Athens
and the Eternal City into dust, to be blown away into
oblivion by the breath of Time.
The names of old heroes once worshipped there,
now serve for little but to round the nonsense
verses of our schools ; the philosophers who haunted
the porticoes of temples and the groves of the aca-
demies in long garments, uttering their proud
attempts at wisdom with the gravity and mysterious-
ness of that miserable ignorance of God and of them-
selves which all their most oracular discourses
expressed ; — these, with all their honours, give place
in silence to the dauntless prophets of Jehovah and
HEBREW INFLUENCE AND THE SAXON RACE. 8 I
the ruder disciples of the holy Jesus. There is the
fact — philosophy without the Bible has done nothing
to improve the moral world as yet. The seed of
Abraham — the man who so long ago strangely sepa-
rated himself and his family from the pantheists of old
Asia in order to assert faith and to worship a personal
and a speaking God, the God manifest in humanity —
have by their books and their ideas altered the habits of
the whole civilized world, and now regulate, or will
soon regulate, the intercourse of nations in all that
relates alike to commerce, religion, and law. The man
who was called '' the Friend of God " is acknowledged
by Europe, Asia, and America, and by multitudes in
Africa also, as the father of the faithful, thus pro-
fessing to be the true seed of Abraham in spirit, just
so far as they obey the God who called him to seek
for a country beyond this world. What if those
Christian nations that profess the faith of Abraham as
the proper pattern of their own should not only be
spiritually his descendants by faith, so far as they
possess it, but be even bodily influenced by an infu-
sion of his blood throuo^h the scatterin^^ of his lineal
descendants, the tribes of Israel, lost amongst the
Gentiles? But, if not so, they have at least received
the Word of life from the children of Abraham, and
the people thus ostensibly his seed are the models of
humanity. In their records we possess the highest
examples of all that is most ennobling in our nature,
because there we see man influenced by the highest
motives, and enabled, by the apprehension of divine
relationship, in all their eflbrts to aim at the honour
G
82 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
of Him who is " glorious in holiness^ fearful in praises^
doing wonders^^
Disregrardino; for a moment the Jewish mission to
the Gentiles at all times of their history, but especially
the Apostolic ministry in all lands with the Gospel of
the crucified King of the Jews in their hands, the
presence of the dispersed of Judah among us is suffi-
cient to remind us of our indebtedness to them as
men teaching us a grand lesson of the deepest in-
terest. We see in their origin and history more of
the use of history than in that of all the world besides ;
for in that we see the direct connexion of national
and individual well-being with obedience to God's
laws. Here is the secret of Providence. To know
God in the abstract is impossible. He reveals Him-
self relatively, that is, in good and in evil. Man
must study these in relation to the outward worlds
of creation and history, and also in his own soul.
He is to distinguish good from evil, to feel the beauty
of holiness, and love that beauty. To appreciate the
character of the just God, and to imitate Him who is
manifested as the Saviour in whom righteousness and
love are united, are spiritual duties now. These are
* The literal Jews are a wonderful people, even in respect to their
physique. They resist the causes of disease and death better than most
people. According to the investigations of Dr. Gaiter, of Wieselburg, the
mean life of Jews is 45'5 years ; of Germans in general, 26"7 ; of Croats,
20'2. He ascribes the difference altogether to the influence of race. Out
of a thousand Christians at Frankfort, 39 reach 70 years, while of the same
number of Jews 73 attain that age. This is the more remarkable, since
Jews intermarry so much amongst themselves ; for Dr. S. M. Bemis shows
that, of 6321 marriages between cousins in Kentucky, 3677 produced in-
firm children — 1116 deaf and dumb, 468 born blind, 1854 idiots, and
239 scrofulous. — Ranking's Med. Obs., vol. xxix. arts. 6 and 7.
AND THE SAXON RACE. 83
the purposes of revelation and faith ; and all specula-
tion that takes the mind away from contemplating
these truths confounds, distresses, and destroys us.
With this form of revelation the whole course of
Providence coincides. But the plainest evidence
remaining for us of the connected history and in-
terests of human nature is found in the Bible and in
the history of the Israelites ; not only as recorded in
their books, but as now visible in the effects of their
dispersion and their presence in all civilized lands.
The Jews at least cannot but testify to their past
history; they cannot but point to Jerusalem; they
cannot but appeal to their laws; they cannot but
quote their prophets ; they cannot but sing the songs
of Zion ; they cannot but lament in the language of
Jeremiah ; they cannot but indicate their hopes, and,
while testifying alike of judgment and of mercy, they
cannot but thus direct the eyes of all thinking in-
quirers to the Jews* future as the only future fore-
told with any sign of promise worth having. The
Hebrews' past has involved the well-being of the
nations with whom they have mixed, and so will it
be with their future. How marvellous their story !
How blended with the destinies of empires ! Egypt
and Babylon, and Assyria and Rome have meddled
with them and come to ruin, because they dealt with
them unrighteously. And there is a controversy
still pending with the Russian, the Mahometan, and
Roman Catholic empires, as also with the Persian,
the Mogul, the Chinese, the Burmese, and the Indian
empires in connexion with their past conduct towards
the outcasts of Israel. The history of the world, as
G 2
84 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
God's and man's world, is the history of the Hebrews.
And if the British empire and the republics of the
Western hemisphere be not ruinously involved in the
approaching and universal struggle, it is because of
their better standing in relation to the Jews in con-
sequence of receiving the Word that went out from
Jerusalem. Those nations which submit by choice
to the Word that smote down with violence the re-
sisting Caesars now own the kindred of their Saviour,
and acknowledge their obligation to the Jews for
having conveyed to them the models of the wisest
constitutions, and taught them to look before and
after, to trace the meaning of God's handwriting con-
cerning the origin and ultimatum of our race. Thank
God, the influence of Jewish history and prophecy is
deeper in our literature and habits of thinking than
is the influence of Jewish Mammonism on our money
markets. The purpose of both these efifects is to be
seen yet, and that probably soon. If, without the
consent of Jews as money dealers, the nations cannot
fio^ht, so neither can those nations that adhere to the
Bible be much troubled by the contentions that arise
about the Greek, Armenian, and Romish churches as
represented at Jerusalem by idolatries that are there
the proper derision of the Moslems and the scandal
of true Christians, and an abomination in the eyes of
those very Jews who look upon the whole land in
which the objects of contention stand as their own
inheritance. Through the favour of the God whom
they still worship, and through whose interference
they rightfully expect to be ere long reinstated, they
still ply every art at their command to accomplish
AND THE SAXON RACE. 85
the end they desire, that is to say, the destruction of
all those powers who pretend to any authority in the
land of their fathers. The Holy Land is prepared to
receive them back. These points are full of interest
at the present turbulent and maturing and finishing
period of history; but the largest element in the
world's present condition is unknown, and therefore
it cannot be taken into the calculation concerning
comino^ events. We do not know how the ten out-
cast tribes of Israel, to whom so much of unfulfilled
prophecy belongs, now stand in relation to the other
peoples. They are only hidden, however, not lost.
Not a seed is to fall to the ground in the winnowing
process. And if it is difficult to find them as a
separate people, or to discover where they are, if
mixed up with others, yet it cannot remain for ever
impossible, since the world is to see the light that
shall arise upon them. (Isaiah Ix.)
We are already well informed by trustworthy his-
tory that only a portion of the Hebrews who were
carried captive into Assyria and its provinces returned
to Palestine. All attempts to account for the re-
mainder are unsatisfactory. Probably the most
plausible attempt to find their locality is that of Dr.
Grant, who, being a missionary among the Nestorian
Christians, occupying many of the hills of the country
over which the Israelites were probably dispersed by
their conquerors, has arrived at the conclusion that
these Nestorian Christians are the descendants of the
Ten Tribes, and that the Scriptures are fulfilled by
their discovery and conversion. But if Dr. Grant's
views do not come up to the terms of the prophecies
86 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
concerning Israel, to which we have in a former
chapter directed attention, it will be unnecessary to
follow his several arguments in order to expose their
fallacy. What Dr. Grant wished to prove, of course,
under the circumstances, became very evident to him-
self; but he has not shown that the Nestorians are
numerous, nor that they are " swallowed up as an
empty vessel amongst the nations.''^ (Hos. viii. 8.) The
Nestorians are very probably descendants of the few
Israelites who did not leave the land of their captivity ;
this small remnant were distinguished in the early
ages of Christianity, that is, the sixth and seventh
centuries, in a most marvellous manner, by their
sending out Christian missions to the east and the
north, the traces of which still remain to a remark-
able extent among the Chinese, the Tartars, and pro-
bably more southern nations in the Eastern hemi-
sphere. We have in general but a small conception of
the influence that early Christians, through converted
Israelites, exerted over the views of the heathen
world. It is at least a noteworthy fact that the early
Syrian churches have left visible evidence of their mis-
sionary zeal and power, both in China and in India.
Those early Syrian churches were Nestorians, and, in
as far as the modern Nestorians aflbrd strong evi-
dence of their Israelitish descent, as well as of their
actual connexion with the early Syrian churches, so
called, it is probable that their missionary efforts in
China and India originated in the fact that people of
their own kindred were known to be in those countries.
If we go back into the records of ancient history,
we find, as before observed, one marked period of
AND THE SAXON RACE. 87
great obscurity, especially in relation to the country to
which the Israelites were exiled. The wars of the
Medes and Persians, which desolated those parts of
Armenia, Media, and Assyria in which the captives
dwelt, are not so narrated by any historian as to give
the least clue to the relation in which the Israelites
stood to those people, either during their continuance
in their neighbourhood or afterwards. But there is
one remarkable people beginning, for the first time, to
take a name and a place in history. The Sacae are
now mentioned, but only incidentally, as a tribe of
Scythians, or indeed as being the ver}^ Scythians
themselves. It appears as if the existence of the
Saca3 could only be accounted for by the Greeks and
the Eomans by supposing them to have come from the
north. Nearly all that geographers and historians
have preserved or intimated concerning this people, in
respect to their early locale^ is succinctly stated bv
Turner in his History of the Anglo-Saxons.* " The
Saxons were a Gothic or Scythian tribe ; and, of the
various Scythian nations which have been recorded,
the Sakai, or Sacas, are the people from whom the
descent of the Saxons may be inferred with the least
violation of probability. Sakai-suna, or the sons of
the Sakai, abbreviated into Saksun, which is the same
sound as Saxon, seems a reasonable etymology of the
word Saxon. The Sakai, who in Latin are called
Sacae, were the most important branch of the Sc}i:hian
nation. They were so celebrated that, as already
observed, the Persians called all the Scythians by
* Vol. i. p. 100.
88 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
the name of Sacae; and Pliny, who mentions this,
remarks that they were among the most distinguished
people of Scythia.* Strabo places them eastward of
the Caspian, and states them to have made many in-
cursions on the Kimmerians and Treves, both far and
near. They seized Bactriana and the most fertile part
of Armenia, which from them derived the name Saka-
sina ; they defeated Cyrus, and they reached the Cap-
padoces on the Euxine.f This important fact of a part
of Armenia having been named Sakasina is mentioned
by Strabo in another place ; J this seems to give an
[early] geographical locality to our primeval ances-
tors, and to account for the Persian words which
occur in the Saxon language, as they must have
come into Armenia from the northern regions of
Persia.
"That some of the divisions at least of the
people were called Sakasuna, is obvious from Pliny ;
for he says that the Sakai who settled in Armenia
[implying that they had come from another country],
were named Sacassani,§ which is but Sakasuni, spelt
by a person unacquainted with the meaning of the
combined words. And the name Sacosena,|| which
they gave to the part of Armenia they occupied, is
' nearly the same sound as Saxonia. It is also im-
portant to remark, that Ptolemy mentions a Scythian
people, sprung from the Sakai, by the name of
* Pliny, lib. vi. c. 19. f Strabo, lib. xi. pp. 776, 788.
J Strabo, p. 124. Mr. Keppel, in his late travels, calls this " the beau-
tiful province of Karabaugh." In a letter to the Koyal Literary Society
he says, " I have traced 262 words in the Persian, Zend, and Pehloi lan-
guages like as many in the Anglo-Saxon."
§ Pliny, lib. vi. c. 11. || Strabo, lib. xi. pp. 776, 778.
AND THE SAXON KACE. 89
Saxones. If the Sakai who reached Armenia were
called Sacasani, they may have traversed Europe with
the same appellation ; which, being pronounced by
the Romans from them, and then reduced to writing
from their pronunciation, would have been spelt with
the X instead of the ks, and thus Saxones [or Saxons]
would not be a greater deviation from Sacosani or
Sacksuna, than we find between French, Fran9ois,
Franci, and their Greek name Phraggi ; or between
Spain, Espagne, and Hispania.'*
Saca-suni being the name of this people in Armenia,
is itself a clue to their origin ; for the word would
mean, in Hebrew, the changed Saks — •'^t^roii^ ; not
sons of Sak, but Saks that had altered their abode or
their character.
The Persians of old distinguished the Sacae into
those of Saka Huma-verga [Amyrgian], and those of
Saka Tigra-khuda^ that is to say, the Tribes seated
on the confines of India, and those scattered through
the Persian empire. The name Sacce was applied to /
them first as simply the Tribes^ perhaps adopted from
themselves ; but ultimately it came to signify bowmen,
because they, like the Ephraimites and the English,
were so famous for the use of the bow.*
The country called Sakai is one of those which were
subject to Darius, according to Norris's interpretation
of the Scythic Behistun in script ion. f The locality
of this country is not indicated except by its con-
nexion in the inscription; and from that we gather
that it was on the borders of Media to the north-east,
* See Rawllnson's Herodotus, note, vol. iv. p. 65.
t See Journal of Royal As. Soc. vol. xv. pp. 136-139.
/
90 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
the known seat of some of the Sakai after the Scythian
invasion of Armenia and Assyria.
Our Anglo-Saxon historian Turner points out the
probable manner in which this bold and enterprising
people were impelled westward until settled in our
own land. We will not follow him ; but from another
source we are interested to learn that the White
Island in the west (England?) was in India denomi-
nated Sacana, from the Sacas or Sacs, who conquered
that island, and settled there at a very early period,
as we find from the fact being mentioned in the
Pur&.nas named Varada and Matsya.* Captain Wilford
has shown from these Puranas that the British Isles
are to be understood by Sacam, as well as certain
adjacent parts of the Continent, such as Saxony.f
That these Sacas, or Sacs, were of a race iden-
tical with those that entered north-western India
and overran a great part of Asia, is either implied
or expressed by all historians who mention them,
whether in the East or the West. The fact, then, seems
pretty well established that the Saxon race sprung
from the East, and that these have opposed and super-
seded the dominion of old Rome wherever they have
reached in the West. The spreadings and doings of
the Saxon race constitute the chief parts of modern
history. There is no land where they are not, and
no people that has not been stirred up by them.
They now take the Bible with them wherever they
go, and found their commerce with the wide world
upon the rights and liberties which Christianity has
taught them to value as their lives. Here, then, as
* Asiatic Res. vol. ii. p. 61. f Asiatic Res. xi. p. 54
AND THE SAXON KACE. 91
far as the Western world is concerned, we discover a
people in whom are fulfilled most of the conditions v
of the prophecies concerning Ephraim, the son of
that Joseph who was sold by his brethren and hidden
in Egypt until the whole family of Jacob and the
famished nations needed his manifestation as a man
made wise and provident by wisdom from above.
Thus Ephraim, too, is hidden, and yet from him shall
flow the blessings of both earthly and heavenly
nature to enrich humanity in every clime.
The fact that we have six or seven hundred words
in our language of Persian origin agrees with our
own origin, amongst the Persians, but not of them.
Hebrew roots, too, are not few amongst our homeliest
words. If we are related to the Sacae, our stirring,
restless, conquering spirit is in keeping with that of our
forefathers, ever famous for the bow and the battle-
axe. A glance at the ancient Sacas in the East will
show the likeness. They had detached themselves
from Persia before Alexander's invasion. Indepen-
dently they fought, as allies of Darius, at Arbela.
They contended with Alexander's army without dis-
honour. A century later they established their rule
from the Aral lake to the mouths of the Indus.
They then invaded central India, but then fell under
the dominion of the Parthians, probably of the same
race, and finally were absorbed in the kingdom of the
Sassanidce^ also Saxon, pretty much as the Saxons of /
England have become blended with the Normans, or "^
Northmen, and the Danes, all traceable to the same
Saxon source.
The revolutionizing influence of the Saxons who.
92 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
in olden time, took possession of a great part of
India, was certainly no less marked than that of the
Saxons who emigrated westwards. So that, if it can
be shown that the Saxons had any connexion with
the descendants of Isaac, or were in their origin of
the same race, then it follows that we ought to find
indications of their dominance through their opinions
in the East as well as in the West, but more espe-
cially in India. And if we Englishmen are only a
branch of the same stock that at an early period re-
volutionized India, and still maintain the influence of
their religious ideas throughout the East, how won-
derful and interesting is the providential position of
England at present in respect to our Eastern do-
minion! If we could but clearly demonstrate our
unbroken descent as Englishmen from the house of
Isaac, and believe the prophets, with what interest
we should look upon the promises made to Israel, and
try to read our destiny in the Bible ! Now, whether
we succeed in this or not, it is plain that, the Hebrew
Bible being truly ours, we are involved, in respect to
ultimate results, in all that interests or ever did in-
terest, the Israelites. And we may be sure that, so
far as we too have a revelation, and that not merely
through men and angels, but by the direct teaching
and institutions of God through his Spirit in the
Church, as we Christians profess to believe, the con-
sequences of our neglecting rightly to employ our
means will be proportionately met by condemnation
and dismay. If Israel has suffered as an outcast,
and been lost as a distinct people, for worshipping
Baali instead of the Holy One, shall professed Chris-
AND THE SAXON RACE. 93
tians escape, who only worship Mammon, and make
a market of God's holy temple?
Spiritually, at least, and therefore, doubtless, in the
truest and highest sense, the prophecies concerning
the chosen tribes are fulfilled in us. We hold the
oracles of God, are blessed with the dews of heaven
and the fatness of the earth. Nations serve us, and
bow down to us, and are the better for it. We are
lords, yea, lords over our own brethren, and " cursed
is every one who curseth us, and blessed is every one
who blesseth us." (Gen. xxvii. 28, 29.) We Saxons
are heirs of the world, not by right, but by divine
favour and providential training. We are bringing
the ends of the world together and binding mankind
into one compact community, by the sacred ties of the
highest intelligence and religion, involving, of course,
all material blessings. This is as it should be, for
earth is one orb rolling round in eternal love, and em-
braced in the light of Divine benevolence. But the
true glory is not altogether an outward and visible
thing. There is a glory which the eye of the spirit
alone can see or endure, and that glory is the unfolding
of the divine government in the history of the human
race, and especially as manifested in the fulfilment of
those prophecies contained in the sacred book by
which God will demonstrate his attributes of fore-
knowledge and wisdom, and prove Himself to be, in
one word, the Omnipotent, that is. Good Will in infi-
nite operation. So says the true Christian.
We are involved in the fulfilment of the prophecies
inspired by Jehovah, but how and to what extent the
future must make known. If these Sacie can be con-
94 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
nected with the Israelites, we can see how the union
of Israel and Judah is to be effected. From Judah
sprung the human and Divine Saviour of men, and
Israel receiving his Word hails Him as their Salvation
and as the reigning Sovereign of a redeemed world.
Thus all nations shall be blessed by the faith that
unites Jews and Gentiles alike to Christ.
A work was published some time since (by Mr.
J. Wilson, of Brighton), entitled Our Israelitish
Origin. This was too much opposed to the views of
popular expositors to be received with the candour it
deserved; but it must be acknowledged that Mr.
Wilson in that work has done much more to meet
the requirements of prophecy than any that preceded
him ; and although we dare not follow him into all the
results to which he would lead us, still he has shown
a large amount of probability, and indeed very much
of the letter of Scripture, in favour of the opinion he
has advocated, namely, that the Saxons are the
descendants of Israelites as distinguished from the
Jews. It is not to the purpose, however, here to
follow in this track. Mr. Wilson has not advanced
any direct evidence of Saxon connexion with Israel
by descent, but he has indicated a great deal in the
Anoflo' Saxon character and customs which accords
better with the notion of our Israelitish origin than
with any other explanation of our peculiarities ; but
he lays most stress upon the circumstance that the
prophecies concerning the family of Joseph are not
fulfilled, unless in the Anglo-Saxons; a mode of
treating the subject in the highest degree question-
able, since it is necessary to the validity of such an
AND THE SAXON RACE. 95
argument, first to prove our Israelitish origin by de-
monstrating, not only that we are derived from the
Sac£e, but also that the Sacae were certainly Hebrews.
Could we but find the broken link in the chain by
which the Sakai or Sacae are supposed to have been
connected with the Israelites, we should be at no loss
to discover some of the modes in which the wondrous
prophecies, so apparently contradictory and para-
doxical, concerning the outcast tribes have been ful-
filled in their descendants; for here are we, the
Anglo-Saxons, with mind and heart imbued with the
history and hopes of Israel, elevated and enlarged
by the sublime doctrines and predictions of their
sacred seers, sages, kings, and prophets, singing the
songs of Zion in our temples, living in the noble
expectation of universal blessedness under the
glorious reign of the King of Salem, and desiring and
endeavouring to promote the coming of his kingdom
in all lands. The Saxons embrace the world, and
the devout amongst them realize in faith and spirit
the visions of all true prophets and seers that have
been since the world began, and now anticipate the
period when a King shall reign in righteousness, and
princes rule in judgment. (Isai. xxxii.) What could
converted Israelites do more?
But the Imk is broken — the connexion between the
Sakai and the house of Israel has not yet been found.
But we think we have found it at last, as we are
about to show something very like positive proof that
the Sacae and the Getae, who formerly invaded India,
sprang from the same source as the Saxons and
Goths of the West, and were directly connected with
96 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
Israelites, or with a people who employed their lan-
guage. This, however, will scarcely serve to prove
that the Gothic and Saxon races are the direct
descendants of Joseph, to whom were promised all
the blessings of increase and abundance. The facts
and arguments accumulated by several writers may
well suffice, however, to convince us that an Israelitish
influence has been infused into tlie people from whence
we sprung, and that the spirit of Israel's training, in
war, legislature, religion, and all outward endeavour,
has been operating amongst us to qualify our popula-
tions to colonize all countries ; and while preparing
the ground for the highest culture, penetrating the
everlasting hills for gold and treasure, traversing all
seas, building docks in every harbour, intersecting the
mountains and the valleys with roads of wrought
iron, riding on fiery chariots with the speed of tem-
pests, sending forth their thoughts and words on
lightning wings from land to land, and declaring
everywhere, this earthly earnestness notwithstanding,
that this world is not our rest. These, however, are
not the positive marks by which the offspring of the
escaped remnant is to be known at last.
Still these Sacce are too peculiar in their rise and
history not to be intended by Providence as one of
the grand way-marks by which the patient and
humble inquirer after evidences of Divine purpose in
the distributions of mankind may expect to be
directed in the right road to the end he seeks; for he
knows that all that stands prominently forwards in
the world's history is intended in a special manner to
elucidate some point in the prophetic Word. The
AND THE SAXON RACE. 97
ways of God to man, as verbally revealed on the prin-
ciples of moral law in the books and in the experiences
of the Hebrew people, are also revealed in the world's
history. There is indication that the Sacse, if they
took not their name from the house of Isaac, were at
least connected with Isaac's descendants. The word
Sacce or Sakai is remarkable in the history of lan-
guage, and the philologists have been unable satisfac-
torily to trace its origin. The word Isaac is equally
remarkable, but we are told its derivation in the
story of Isaac's parentage and home-life. (Gen.
xvii. 17.) It is from pTO, and means laughter,
either as expressive of derision, incredulity, or joy.
The initial I is not essential to it, and is perhaps
prefixed to make it a personal as well as prophetic
designation. Now, as we find this name adopted by
the house of Israel and applied to them by the pro-
phet Amos, who denounced them and their idolatries
in this name not long before their banishment, we
have only to discover reason and occasion for their
using this designation afterwards, to account at once
for the name Sacae and all that is connected with it.
In Amos (vii. 9) the word Isaac is employed as
synonymous with Israel. It was after the tribes of Israel
had separated themselves from Judah, and thus also
from the hopes and promises connected with the house
of David, that they acquired this name. After they had,
in their pride and independence, sought another king,
and one of their own, rather than accept any in the royal
line to which the prophecies had pointed for the
Messiah and the everlasting kingdom, the prophet
calls them the house of Isaac. This is memorable.
H
98 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
They did not think by this rejection of God's Anointed
to reject the hopes of Israel, but rather in their wil-
fulness appeared to fall back upon the anterior
promise, and to look for blessing and power in the
name of Isaac, the true seed of Abraham, in whom all
the nations of the earth should be blessed. They
arrogated the right of dominion in this name when
occupying the hills of Samaria; and it is therefore
highly probable that, when the conquering Assyrian
king drove all their families from their fatherland,
they still boasted of their descent from Isaac. They
preferred to mingle idol- worship on high places with
their traditional ritual, and thought, perhaps, with
the opinionated and Cainlike spirit of refiners of
God's ordinances, to honour Jehovah more by calling
Him Baal^ or Lord of all^ than by worshipping Him as
the God of their fathers and the chosen people only.
The origin of the name Sacce^ or SaJcai^ for the inha-
bitants of that part of Armenia which the Sac^
occupied after the expulsion of the Scythians, is
thus naturally accounted for. That they should be
confounded with the Scythians is equally natural,
especially as there is reason to suppose that they
afterwards colonized amongst that wide-spread race
of marauders, and gave their name to the country
they occupied beside the Massagetae. They attained
so conspicuous a position amongst the Scythian
nations, from superior arts, prowess, and industry, as
at length to give their royal name to the dominant
part of that race. It is at least remarkable that the
name Sacce is not applied by the classic historians
and geographers to any tribe of the Scythians until
AND THE SAXON RACE. 99
some time subsequent to the exile of the liouse of
Isaac,
History assures us that the Israelites were per-
mitted to exercise very remarkable influence dut-ing
their captivity. It was a family of the exiles named
Shambat that reigned in Armenia for a considerable
period, as it is said, contemporary with Nebuchad-
nezzar.* Then, again, Daniel and his compatriots of
the royal house of David were elevated to positions
of the highest influence during the reign of Darius,
and by the wonders that God wrought through the
holy name of Israel's Jehovah, became dreadful and
revered throughout and beyond the Persian dominion,
which extended from this side of the Euphrates to
the Indus, and from the Caspian to the Arabian Sea.
After the Persian empire came under the power
of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the name of
Daniel's God was known to many tongues ; and all
people, nations, and languages that could be reached
by the messengers of the mighty despot, now restored
to his reason, were exhorted by him to praise, extol,
and honour the King of Heaven — the self-existent
Deity of the Jews — " all whose works are truth, and
his ways judgment, and who abases all who walk in
pride." (Dan. iv. 37.) If that strangely beautiful
episode of history, the book of Esther, relates to the
condition of those Jews who remained in the land of
their exile after the return of their brethren to Jeru-
salem (b.c. 536), as it appears to do, we have evi-
dence that they were at that time very numerous and
influential. The events related in the story are said
* See Armenia, in Penny Encyclopedia.
h2
100 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
to have occurred in the reign of Ahasuerus, who is
supposed to be the same as Artaxerxes (b.c. 462).
It is stated that his dominion extended from India*
to Ethiopia, over a hundred and twenty-seven pro-
vinces. (Esther i. 1.) It must, therefore, have em-
braced all the countries into which the Ten Tribes
were deported by the Assyrians. If, therefore, the
Ten Tribes, as a body, were still in those countries in
the time of Esther, we might reasonably expect to
find something concerning them in this book ; but we
do not. Throughout, the Hebrews are named by the
designation invariably and distinctively applied only
to those attached to the house of Judah — Judeans or
Jews (DmiiTi). This is remarkable, as the circum-
stances related would necessarily have involved all
the Israelites then in those countries. Esther had
been providentially elevated to an influential partner-
ship in the throne of the splendid tyrant Ahasuerus.
Haman, one of his nobles, in envious and ignoble
pride, endeavoured to resist the encroachments of
Jewish influence ; and he contrived to obtain an edict
for the entire destruction of the Jews, on the ground
that the national and established religion was endan-
gered by them. (Esther iii. 8, 9.) A day was ap-
pointed for a general massacre of the ambitious
* India is here called 'lliT, or Hodhu. Is it not probable that this name
is from Aj^odhja (? HIVIDj now Gude, which, accordinof to the Raraa-
yana, once ruled over all India ? The first dynasty of Gude is said to have
been founded by Raraah, a sort of hero-divinity, who came from his holy
mountain west of Caubul, probably Indo-Koosh. Now Raamah is the son
of Gush, or Koosh, the grandson of Noah. (Gen. x. 7.) Indo-Koosh takes
its name from this Gush, the son of Ham. May not the hero Bamah be
the same as this Raamah ?
AND THE SAXON RACE. 101
exiles ; but in the meantime Haman's craft was de-
feated. The king's heart, strong in wilfulness, was
weaker than the voice of woman ; for it is ordained
that the eloquence of beauty, love, and faith shall
be always stronger than the changeless laws of the
Medes and Persians ; for such laws are made in the
strength of man, but nature is the strength of God.
The Jews were to be slaughtered ; the word had gone
forth, and could not be recalled ; their enemies were
armed, and animated with the hope of a rich and
easy spoil. (Esther ii. 16.) But a counter-edict gave
the Jews the right to defend themselves, and they
vindicated their right like men possessed of noble
hearts and trained to the high thoughts and deeds of
a patriotic and divine creed. '' They gathered them-
selves together in their cities throughout all the pro-
vinces of the king'' (ix. 2), and " slew seventy -five
thousand of their enemies," and " had the rule over
those that hated them," though " they took no prey "
(ix. 16). Now, in all this none of the Ten Tribes
were concerned, but only the Judeans; from which
we infer that the Israelites, who delighted to call
themselves Beni-Israel, had before that departed as
a body from Media and Persia. During the twenty-
eight years in which the Scythians kept the Medes,
Persians, and Assyrians in subjection, the Israelites
must have enjoyed ample opportunity to become
acquainted with them, and afterwards to join them,
if, as we have reason to believe, the Scythians were
friendly to them. And if they went, where were they
so likely to go as into the countries on the borders of
the Caspian Sea, where the Scythians predominated?
102 THE HEBREW INFLUENCE
We know that Ezekiel was consulted by the elders of
Israel when on the banks of Chebar, and when at Tel-
abib he visited his exiled brethren. This was about
594 B.C. He then told them of his vision, and they
appear to have spoken of their desire to go into some
country beyond ; probably some place that might be
known as the Highland, or high place, such as the
steppes of Tartary ; for he states, as if in reference
alike to their desires, their destiny, and their idolatry,
that he " then said unto them. What is the high place
whereunto ye go? the name thereof is even called
Bamah [a high-place] unto this day." This play
upon the words the high-place and a high place is
utterly unaccountable, except on the supposition of
their having mentioned their going collectively to
some land to which they gave the name of Habamah.
The places in which they were accustomed to conduct
their idolatrous worship were called high -places; but
it is evident such places were not here meant, for the
prophet, after telling them how God would judge and
scatter them and pour his fury on them, and purge
out the rebels and not let them enter the land of
Israel, adds," As for you, house of Israel, thus saith
the Lord God, Go ye, serve ye every one his idols,
and hereafter [also], if ye will not hearken unto me,
but pollute ye my holy name no more with your
gifts and your idols." (xx. 39.) God declares He
will "bring them out from the people and gather
them from the countries where they are to be scat-
tered;" "and will bring them forth out of the
country where tliey sojourn, but they shall not enter
into the land of Israel" (xx. 33-39). As heretofore,
AND THE SAXON RACE. 103
SO hereafter, they shall go and still serve idols. They
talk of going to some high place called the Bamah ;
were they not always going to Bamah, for is not that
the name of the places in which they were constantly
committing idolatry with steady devotion ? Go, says
the prophet, go to your desired Bamah ; serve your
idols, when there, as you do now; but know, God,
whose name you pollute, will judge you there. We
may possibly see more of the meaning of this Bamah
as we proceed. We must not here lose sight of the
significant fact that the prophet foretells that, though
these Israelites desired to be like the heathen, they
should not be so. " That which cometh into your
mind shall not be at all, that ye say, we will be as
the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve
wood and stone" (xx. 32). They are to be distinct
from ordinary idolaters in their idolatry, not actually
worshipping wood and stone as gods. According to
the best chronology we can get on the subject, it
appears that the prediction of their exodus from
Assyria was delivered about the year 594 B.C., or
seven years after the captivity of Jehoiachin (com-
pare Ezra i. 2 with xx. 1), two years after the vision
on the banks of the Chebar (now Khabur). The
Scythians had been expelled but a few years before,
for Cyaxares 1. reigned forty years (Herod, i. 106),
and died 600 B.C., soon after his conquest of Nineveh,
which he undertook immediately subsequent to their
expulsion. There was, doubtless, sympathy between
the Scythians and those Ephraimites who were given
up to idolatry and the worship of high places ; they
were alike prone to intoxication and famous for the
104 HEBREW INFLUENCE AND THE SAXON RACE.
use of the bow. In Persian, Sacai, that is, a Sacian, was
synonymous with glutton and drunkard,* which are
terms applied by the prophet to the house of Isaac ;
and, if historians may be trusted, the Saxon branch
of the Scythian family have always taken so very
kindly to their food and their drink as to worship their
gods with gluttony and drunkenness.
But where shall we find any record of the exodus
of the Ephraimites, the house of Israel, the house of
Isaac, the house of Joseph, the rebellious house ? By
all these names had the prophets addressed them;
but, after Ezekiel, no prophet mentions them. Daniel
ignores them ; Haggai has no message for them ; Ezra
and Nehemiah fail to account for them. Where are
they? We may better answer that question when
we have considered another, which shall form the
subject of a distinct chapter.
* An. Hist. Un. vol. xx. p. 15.
105
CHAPTER V.
Israel's new names.
Did the Israelites acquire other names during their
captivity ?
At the time that Ezekiel visited the captives by the
river Chebar, Nebuchadnezzar was ruler, not only over
the kingdom of Babylon, but also over the whole of
Assjnria, Nineveh having been taken and added to
Media, so that all the Hebrew captives were under
his dominion. The Israelites of the captivities under
Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser were in Media and
in the country about the Chebar. They had been
there nearly a hundred years, and were probably
very numerous at the time when Nebuchadnezzar
founded the Babylonian empire and conquered Judea.
We should therefore expect to discover some traces
of their existence in the profane historians of the
Babylonian and Median empires. It would be in
vain, however, to look for them under the name of
Israelites or Hebrews, seeing that as such they had
lost their nationality. We should therefore seek
them under some name expressive of their condition
at present, rather than as indicating their nation. I
think that those who dwelt in Assyria acquired the
name of Sacae, and that those in Media will be found
in the Budii (BovStot), said by Herodotus to be a
106 Israel's new names.
tribe of the Medes. (Herod, i. 101.) The Budii ap-
pear to be the same as the Putiya of the Persians,
and are supposed by Rawlinson to be the Budii of
the Babylonian inscriptions. This able writer also
regards these Budii as a Scythian people, and deems
it probable that they may be identified with the Phut
of Scripture; but I would accept the Persian name,
Putya or Puthya^ as a name likely enough to be ap-
plied to the Israelitish people by themselves — n''n9=
broken of God. That the Budii are mentioned by
Herodotus as a Scythian people, and also as a tribe of
the Medes, may be accounted for very easily, if it can
be shown that they were neither, but really Israelites
hidden under this name, both in Media and Scythia;
and, of course, on the same ground, their supposed
identification with Phut is at once disposed of. As,
however, the Budii will be fully considered in a suc-
ceeding chapter, I will leave them at present with
a simple assertion of their being most likely Israelites,
a people to whom the word Budii would very well
apply, seeing that, as a Hebrew word, it would signify
the separated people (''Hi). There is another people,
named SuJchi^ in the inscriptions deciphered by Raw-
linson. This people dwelt by the Chebar; probably on
the site of the modern Zacho or Sacho. These people
may possibly be identified with the Sacae, or Sakhai,
who afterwards get confounded with the Scythians, in
consequence of their being mixed with them. All
the reasons for this identification cannot be at present
stated ; but one strong reason appears in the fact that
they occupied the situation between the Tigris and
Euphrates by the Chebar, where Ezekiel met the
ISRAEL'S NEW NAMES. 107
Israelitish captives, whom I have endeavoured to
identify with the Sacae, on the supposition that they
adopted this name in remembrance of their descent
from Isaac; but the word itiot having come to us with
its original orthography, we reason on the subject with
the more difficulty. Could we find the word Sacae
spelt in characters equivalent to the three letters that
form the root of the word Isaac — pn^, the ques-
tion would be almost decided, for the word is too
peculiarly Hebrew in its form to have any other
derivation ^han that assigned to it in Holy Writ.
(Gen. xxi. d.)/;'Now, I think we have the word pre-
cisely in those equivalents in the Scythic version of
the Behistun inscription, so ably presented to us in the
memoir thereon by Mr. E. Norris.* This version may
or may not be Scythian ; it is enough for our purpose
that we find the word we want inscribed on a rock in
Persia about the time of Cyrus. The word consists
of three characters, which Mr. Norris renders Saakka,
but which in Hebrew equivalents would probably
stand as pra, the very word Isaac without the initial
yod^ which properly makes no part of the name. If
we suppose the name Sukhi to be derived from any
other Hebrew word common to the Chaldees also,
we may perhaps find it in ^^^ ; which would still
apply to the Israelites, for, as a name, it would mean
a people emptied from one place into another. We
have the same word in use amongst us, and to sack a
city is to empty it of treasure. We might imagine
several derivations of the word; but we need not
wander into further conjecture, as it is enough that •
* Journ. Eoj. As. Soc. vol. xv. art. 1, p. 206.
108 Israel's new names.
the country inhabited by the Israelites had a name
which so far connects them with the Sacae, or Sakhai,
for by and bye we shall discover this name in dis-
tinct connexion with a people that used the Hebrew
tongue. The only Hebrew equivalent for the name
of the people called by the Latins Sacae and the
Greeks Sakai (Sd/cat and SaVac) is that already given
as the equivalent of the Behistun inscription, and in
English the Sacs or Saxons. That the Sacae had
some remarkable bearing upon the Babylonians is
evident from a singular festival celebrated amongst
them called Sacca or Sacea. Athenaeus, after Be-
rosus, informs us that the festival was instituted
in consequence of a signal victory obtained by Croe-
sus, King of Lydia, over the Sacae, said by Athenaeus
to be a Scythian people. This took place about
562 B.C. The Babylonians were at that time the
allies of the King of Lydia ; but the circumstances of
the festival celebrated by the Babylonians in remem-
brance of that event are of too remarkable a character
to be explained by the mere fact of the alliance.
Five days every year were devoted to this festival
by the Babylonians; during which the slaves or
servants commanded their masters, one of them being
for the time constituted chief over the house, and
wearing a kind of royal robe, which they called
Zagana.* It would appear, therefore, that this
victory of Croesus over the Sacae in some way
related to the mastery of the Babylonians over
their slaves. Is it not, then, probable that these
Sacae were at one time in the position of slaves or
* Anc. Hist. Univ. vol. iv. p. 121.
ISRAELIS NEW NAMES. 109
captives to the Babylonians, and that they had es-
caped from their dominions, and for a time assumed
a royalty of their own, and possessed a power which
even Croesus might boast of having checked? That
the Babylonians had reason to rejoice in his victory
is evident ; and perhaps their rejoicing may be ex-
plained, if we suppose that the Sacoe and the Scythians
were encountered by Croesus when on their way to
invade the Babylonians, who would not only remem-
ber that the Scythians had not long before '' become
masters of all Asia'* (Herod.) for twenty-eight years,
but were the more to be dreaded now as led on by
the Sacae, who desired to avenge themselves upon
the tyrants who had enslaved them. Zagana was
probably the name of the robe worn by the chiefs or
prefects, D''^:iD, a title among the Babylonians and
Persians, and amongst the Jews also, after their
return from captivity. In the Behistun inscription
we find three classes of Sacae referred to (p. 150);
namely, the Sacae named next to India, the Sacae
who use arrows, and the Sacae who are said to be
beyond ( ?) the river. We therefore find them scat-
tered very ^videly, and no longer constituting one
people or nation, although evidently one race; which
is just the condition in which we should expect the
house of Isaac to be found at that time, under the
circumstances to which we know they must have
been exposed, first, from their separations in their
early captivity, and then from the wars and divisions
in the countries they occupied. The river referred
to must have been either the Tigris or the Euj)hrates.
The word rendered beyond {yittuvanna) would, I
110 Israel's new names.
conceive, be better rendered gone beyond, implying
their voluntary removal from their original seat (by
the Chebar) ; a fact which would fully accord with
the testimony of Esdras and the facts already stated.
The Ephraimites, or house of Isaac, were notable as
bowmen (see Ps. Ixxviii. 9) ; and here the use of the
arrow is given as characteristic of one division of the
Sacae, as it was of the Sacae that Cyrus and Alexander
the Great encountered to their cost ; and we know the
Saxons that fought their way to England were also
famous bowmen.
As one class of these SacaB, at the time of the
Behistun inscription, dwelt in the north about the Cas-
pian sea, and another at the north-west of India, we
may well imagine the third class, seemingly a peace-
able people, on the west of the rivers Tigris and
Euphrates, desirous of being united with their breth-
ren, whom they could have no hope of reaching
through Media and Persia, which were now the lands
of their foes; and therefore their course could only
be through the passes of the Massa, or Mount Mesha,
on the western side of the Caspian, through which
the Scythians are said by Herodotus to have entered
Armenia. The Massagetas and the Scythians were
probably ready to let them settle amongst them, or to
pass on ; and, in fact, the early history of the SacaB is
mixed with those nations, so nmch so, that they have
been confounded together. In looking over the his-
tory of Media we find that Ctesias* leaves the SacaB
and the Medes at peace with each other after a long
struggle together, the SacaB having been led on by a
* Diod. Sic. 1. ii. c. 3.
Israel's new names. Ill
wonderful heroine named Zamara.* This may be in
some measure fabulous as to date, but is likely to have
been asserted on other grounds than that of imagina-
tion. Such a statement points to some such reality.
Then, again, the Parthians are said to have revolted
from the Medes under the protection of the Sacae who
inhabited Mount Haemodus, which separates India from
Scythia. Thisagain points to the standing of these Sac^e
in relation to the Medes, and also indicates the direc-
tion in which we are to look for " the peculiar people.'*
There were no impediments in the way of their
colonization among the Scythians, and, in fact, the
existence of a new people under the name of Sakai,
or Sacae, about the east of the Caspian Sea and on the
northern side of the Imaum mountains, is proved by re-
ference to the historians already quoted in the extract
from Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, and also
by the name of the country being given in the Be-
histun inscription as under the protection of Darius,
the son of Hystaspes (b.c. 555). The Sacae, like
most of the tribes of Israel, who once inhabited the
mountains of Samaria, were a pastoral as well as a
warlike people, and the country into which we shall
trace the Sakai, or Sacae, was peculiarly adapted to
the wants and habits of such a people. That a large
body of Hebrews did proceed northward from Ar-
menia, and were resident in the neighbourhood of the
Caspian Sea, appears probable, as already stated, from
the circumstance that, after the Jews were permitted
to return to Palestine, Ezra sent to the chief of
the place, Casiphia (Ezra viii. 7), for ministers.
* Anc. Hist. vol. v. p. 25.
112 Israel's new names.
It is important to observe that the Caspians are
mentioned by Herodotus in connexion with the Sacae
as united tributaries to Darius, son of Hystaspes.
(Herod, iii. 93.) This Darius was king of Babylon,
Media, and Persia. (Dan.xi. 2). Here we again observe
also that the Babylonian title Sacae is not vernacu-
lar but foreign, and, as used by them, simply means
*' the tribes," corresponding to the Greek Haju^vAot.*
Ezra's message is remarkable, and proves that Hebrews
were not only dwelling near the Caspian, but ob-
serving Hebrew rites there, and were subsisting under
a government of their own. Ezra states : " I sent
them [the messengers] with commandment unto
Iddo, the chief of the place Casiphia, and I told them
what they should say unto Iddo and to his brethren
the Nethinims at the place Casiphia, that they should
bring unto us ministers for the house of God." We
have the authority of Dr. Henderson for interpreting
the word Casiphia as the name of a country border-
ing on the Caspian Sea.f Hebrew remnants of the
captivity are still resident on the eastern borders of
the Caucasus. But when we come to speak of the
Sacae in northern India we shall find distinct evidence
that the Nethinim were there also, and known by the
name of Botans. It is not unlikely that the people
called Isicki, who were for the first time allied with
Rome in the consulate of Nero, were Hebrews ; and
their name certainly associates them with the house
of Isaac. But Tacitus, in alluding to their usefulness
in the Roman invasion of Armenia under Tiridates,
* See note in H. C. Rawlinson's Herodotus — Cimmerians,
f Kussian Researches.
ISRAEL'S NEW NAMES. 113
implies that they so effectually aided Carbulo because
they were good horsemen and well acquainted with
Armenia; characteristics that would well accord with
remnants of the Sacae, who conquered that country,
according to Strabo, and whom we suppose to have
gone through that country in their passage to the
land of the Scythians.
We seem to get a glimpse of the Sacse again in the
mightiest dynasty of the Parthians. The Sassani, or
Saxani, threw off the authority of the Assyrian kings
and founded an independent kingdom, which subse-
quently extended from the Indus to the Euphrates, '^'^
and from the Oxus to the Persian Gulf. Were not
the Saxani, Saxons? The last of the Sassanide kings
was Yesdigird, who set himself to harass the Jews
in Persia (Heb. Liter, p. 217); but it is remarkable
that those who sided with the house of David, or the
so-called Davidic family, were all put to death. This
took place about a.d. 651, when the Chalif Omar's
all-subduing arms had made Persia desirous of the
triumph of the Crescent. This distinction between
Jews of the Davidic family and other Israelites in-
dicates that the majority of the great multitude of
Hebrews in that country, at that comparatively recent
period, were Beni-Israel, and that they ultimately sub-
mitted to Mahometan influence ; so that, if we are to
find any of their descendants there now, we are to
find them as Mahometans.
This dynasty, according to Justin, was called Par-
thian, from a Scythian word signifying the banished
or the exiles. Some say the Parthians were the
same as the Getse, Massagetae, or European Goths.
I
114 Israel's new names.
Strabo says that Arsaces, who founded the kingdom of
Parthia, was a Sacean or Saxon. But the fact seems
to be that the first Saxons who reigned in Parthia
took this name because they were Sacae from the pro-
vince Aran — hence Arsaces, This titular appellation
was first assumed by the princes of Parthia 254 B.C.
The first who took this name was a native of Balkh
in Bactria. He revolted from Antiochus Theus, slew
Agathocles, the governor of Parthia, and took the title
of Great King. The country of the Sacae, or Sachae (or
the tribes — Sanscrit), is called in the Puranas Saca-
dwipa^ a country among the fountains of the Oxus ;
and from this name, Saca-dwipa^ the Greeks composed
the word Scythia — ^KvBai* They are the same
people who destroyed Cyrus and his hosts (according
to Herodotus), who paid tribute to Darius, who as-
sisted Xerxes, and who overthrew the dominion of
the Seleucian dynasty in Bactria, about 130 B.C.
Parthians and Medes were amongst the devout Israel-
ites who were present on the day of Pentecost in
Jerusalem. Israelites must have been mixed with the
Parthians on any hypothesis; and if, as Josephus
asserts, the descendants of the captives of Assyria
were dwelling in countless numbers beyond the Eu-
phrates in his day, then there is nothing improbable
in the opinion that the Parthian dynasty of the
Sassani, if not Israelitish, was sustained at least by
Israelites. And if they were one with the Sacae and
Sassanes, we discern how, in the usual order of Provi-
dence, the people once oppressed by Assyrian tyrants
* So says Major Tod in his account of Greek and Parthian medals j but
we find the word Skuta for Scythia in the Babylonian and so-called Scythian
of the Behistun inscriptions as early as Cyrus.
ISRAELIS NEW NAMES. 115
should become the means of destroying their power,
so that Nineveh and Babylon and Persepolis should
perish and be interred under the wanderers' feet. We
at least discover in the changes in the country of
Israel's exile, subsequent, if not previous, to the Jews'
return from captivity, abundant opportunity for a
people so well trained to warfare and toil as these
Israelites were, to have proceeded into another country,
if they had desired it. They did desire it. It is
true we have found few traces at present, and we do
not expect to find positive proofs of the progresses of
the Beni-Israel until we have advanced further. It
appears to have been the purpose of Providence, in
connexion with the fulfilment of the Scriptures, to
conceal the paths of the outcast tribes until the final
winding up of history, when it shall be demonstrated
that the Spirit which inspired the prophets is the self-
same Spirit that set bounds to human revolutions, and
scattered the nations like seed from the sower's hand
into ground prepared to produce fruit for the garner
of God.
^ut did the Ten Tribes ever leave the land of their
captivity? If we had found it plainly written in the
j)ages of Herodotus that the Ten Tribes did desire to
l^ave that land, and did accomplish their desire, but
few among us would question the fact. Now, we
Jiave already appealed to historic evidence of a fact
guite as well preserved and quite as authentic as any^
in Herodotus, or Xenophon, or Pliny, and it is only
^called apocryphal, or doubtful, in comparison with ouj*
£anonical^ Scriptures. In the 2nd Esdras xiii. 39-46,
^re these words: ^^ And jvhereas thou sawe^st^ th at he,
116 ISRAEL'S NEW NAMES.
£2.^.3 the Son of God] gathered another peaceable
jjiultitude unto him ; those are the Ten Tribes which
^re carried away prisoners out of their own land in
^the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar, the King
iif ^ Assyria, led away captive, and he carried them
gyer the waters, so they came into another land.
VjBut they took thi*^ counsel among themselves, that
they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and
^0 forth into 2, further country, where never mankind
dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes,
which they never kept in their own land. And they
entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the
river [in Armenia]. For the Most High then showed
signs for them, and held still the flood till they were
passed over. For through that country there was^a
great way to go, namely, of a year and a half; and
the same region is called Arsareth. Then they dwelt
there until the latter time ; and now, when they shall
begin to come, the Highest will stay the springs of the
stream again, that they may come through ; therefore
sawest thou the multitude with peace." I presume
that the word rTlt:^lK (Arsareth) may be fairly and
properly rendered by its exact equivalent Oriens, th^
Orient, the land of the far East, the country always
called Oriental. Unfortunately we do not possess the
^ebrew word which would decide the point, as the
books of Esdras have reached us only in Greek. Let
us take this remarkable passage at its value as an
early historical evidence in proof of the fact that the
Ten Tribes left the place of their captivity for an
abode more to their minds in the East, while the
people that might otherwise have prevented it wei::^
Israel's new names. 117
^strained by the providence of God.* In chap. xx.
jof Ezekiel, verse 38, there is a strong confirmation of
this passage ; God says, " / will bring them forth out of
the country where they sojourn^ and they shall not enter
into the land of Israeli When denouncing the false
prophets of Israel the prophet Ezekiel also declares
that " They shall not be written in the writing of the
House of Israel^ neither shall they enter into the land of
IsraeV (xiii. 9). We must remember that EzekieJ
was himself at that time an exile, and amongst the
Jsraelites by the river Chebar. (Ezek. i. 1, 3.) Now,
Jf the captives are conducted forth from the land of
their captivity, and yet they do not return to Pales-
tine, where do they go? Hosea prophesied that they
would refuse to return after they had been sent into
Assyria (Hos. xi. 6) ; and Amos, in predicting the wan-
jderings of outcast Israel in search of divine direction,
^ays, " They shall wander frovfi sea to sea^ and erom the
NORTH even to THE EAST, and shall run to and fro to
seek the word of theLord^ and shall not find it,'''' (Amos
^viii. 12.) This prediction could not have been
J5^erified by any wandering to and fro in Palestine,
j£[)r the word of the Lord was always there. ^^ And
_ besides, from sea to sea, could not be from the north
to t he east in their own land. Other passages from the
jprophets concerning the same subject guide us to
the locality in which the peculiar and j)ure remnant
of Israel, escaped from Assyria, is to be found in the
^tter day; for when Judah and Ephraim are to be
X * When questioning the authority of Esdras, it will be right to remem-
ber that our Lord appears to quote that book. Compare Matt, xxiii. 34
with 2 Esdras i. 32, and Matt, xxiii. 37 with 2 Esdras i. 28-33.
118 Israel's new names.
called home together, it is to be from the West and
from the East.
Jeremiah, who prophesied to the Jews concerning
their captivity and restoration, while exulting in the
redemption of Judah, and anticipating the song
of joy on the height of Zion, when the Jews
should be ransomed from the hand of the strong, in-
troduces a beautiful episode in remembrance of the
Israelites who had long been banished. Personifying
the people under the name of their Kamah, he pre-
dicts comfort for the weeping Rachel. Then bursting
forth with Divine remonstrance and tenderness,
Ephraim is called to remembrance as a dear child.
But, as if this idea were not tender enough, the whole
people is called back as by a father's voice addressed
to a wandering daughter. The refusal of Israel to
look to Zion is foreseen, the outgoing of the nation
to a further country is foretold, and she is recalled.
'' Set thee up waymarhs^ and make thee high heaps ;
set thine heart towards the highway, the way thou
wentest; turn again, virgin of Israel, turn again to
these thy cities. How long wilt thou go about,
thou backsliding daughter?" (Jer. xxxi. 21, 22.)
I believe that the course which the Israelites took Z5
marked by those tumuli and high heaps which extend
from the north of the Caspian into Western India.
Writers whose theories concerning the Israelites
would be disturbed by the testimony of Esdras above
quoted, endeavour to dispose of it by a bold stroke.
Thus Dr. Grant, believing that the Israelites as a body
never left Assyria, but are now in Kurdistan, says that
Esdras, in the passage referred to, meant only to
Israel's new names. 119
describe the captivity by Shalmaneser (2 Kings x\di.
6), and adds, that as the Israelites on that occasion
crossedthe Euphrates, and thatas the Tigris unites vdih
that river, therefore it was probably included under
the same name, and the country of Arsareth may be
the same as Hattareh (i.e, Halah), or Ararat.* But
why assume that the distance between Palestine and
Armenia would require, in ordinary Oriental parlance,
a year and a half for a caravan to traverse? Then
too, it is evident that the writer of the second book
of Esdras speaks of himself as once among the cap-
tives, and therefore we may be well assured that,
when he spoke of their going forth into a further
country, he did not mean to say that they only went
from Samaria to Assyria ; for it is while in Assyria
they resolve to go into a further country, and that
country requiring a year and a half to reach.
A fatal objection to Dr. Asahel Grant's hypothesis
is the fact that the number of these remnants of
Israel is so small, being only about 200,000 as the
whole progeny of the Ten Tribes. It is calculated
that the Jews descended from Judah and Benjamin
alone, at the present time, amount to nearly nine mil-
lions. When we remember that it is to the tribes
descending direct from Joseph that the blessing of
increase is especially promised, it is evident that the
few Israelites remaining in Kurdistan cannot repre-
sent them : " I will be as the dew unto Israel ; he
shall grow as the lily and cast forth his roots as
Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty
shall be as the olive-tree. Ephraim shall say. What
* Murray's third edition of Grant's " Nestorians," p. 202.
120 ISRAELIS NEW NAMES.
have I to do any more with idols; I have heard him,
and observed him ; I am like a green fir-tree. From
me is thy fruit found." (Hos. xiv. 6-8.)
We will take it for granted, then, that the Ten
Tribes, that is, the rebel house of Israel or Isaac, did
leave the land of their captivity and pass into the
north, and that from thence they were dispersed in
various directions, but that the main body of them
ultimately settled in the East. Mr. Forster observes
that " there is great probability that the Arsareth, or
Hasarah [why drop the r?], to which the Israelites
went, is the very nation and country named by
Ptolemy Bar-Zaura, Bar meaning sons in Syriac.
The Hebrew definite article Aa, being prefixed to
Zaura, or Sara, would form the very word Hasarath,
for Sarath is but the fuller feminine form of Sarah.
Hence we obtain another indication of the Hebrew
or Syrian origin of the name of the people inhabiting
that country, according to Ptolemy; for, in fact, the
name he applies signifies the sons of Sarah, that is, of
Abraham's wife, the mother of the promised seed.*'
Hazara is the name still retained by that country, as
we find in Mr. Elphinstone's " Kingdom of Caubul "
(p. 669). It lies along the Helmund river, the largest
river of Khorasan. This country may have been oc-
cupied by Israelites, and I believe we shall, as we
proceed in our research, discover evidences that it was.
In the meantime, though it appears not improbable
that the Sacae really derived their name from Isaac,
and that they were, in fact, Israelites who had either
adopted that name, or had it imposed upon them by
way of distinction, yet we shall obtain evidence
Israel's new names; 121
that the name of Sacas might be associated with
Israelites from other circumstances. The harder
vowel of the patronymic being dropped, and the sibi-
lant softened, the sons of Isaac become the sons of
sackcloth ; it is literally but the change of a breathing.
The one name indeed signifies laughter, and the other
grief; but the transition is as easy and common in
fact as in sound, and surely the history of the Sacae
more than that of any other people proves that both
triumph and trial are providentially associated with
their name.
It is still the Saxon race of which we are in search.
If so, say our readers, why trouble yourself to go
beyond home? Is not Britain the abode of Saxons,
and is not the vast continent of Northern America
peopled by that energetic and subduing race? Yes;
doubtless we are Saxons. We have sprung from a
tribe of fierce barbarians cradled in the East, nur-
tured amongst the Heavenly, or Himalaya mountains,
trained to arms among the hordes of the Tartarian
steppes, forced to become marauders for a mainte-
nance, driven back again by Roman conquerors into
the frozen zone, and now, independent and robust,
from the necessities fixed upon us by a kind Provi-
dence, we Saxons dwell upon all the borders of the
world — the wonder of its peoples. But yet we are not
the pure descendants of the sons of Isaac, not pure
Saksuns ; but rather, perhaps, a balanced mixture of
extremes, the offspring of savages and wildmen, the
outcasts of the family of Japhet, united with a
Semitic race inured to the difficulties and dangers of
forest life, and contending for existence with beasts
122 Israel's new names.
of prey and fiercer beings. But we believe that the
savage worshipper of all the elements — most adored
when most in conflict — in thunder, tempest, and in
earthquake — has been tutored by admixture with
wanderers of that race whose faculties had been of
old most elevated by converse with divine and re-
vealed truth. The blood of Israel has mixed with
ours, and it may be that the admixture of eastern
and northern souls has made the Saxons the most
abstruse, the most metaphysical, the most tempted,
the most daring, the most practical, and the most
^ commanding people in the world. '"The savage Saxon,
indeed, confounded inspiration with inebriety, and
once, like the Ephraimites, made drunkenness a part
and proof of his devotion to his deities ; but now the
book of God is open among his children, and the Voice
that spake alike on Sinai and on the Mount of Olives
is heard with reverence and love. The contemplative
and devotional spirit of Isaac and his own true sons
is become apparent and predominant among us, and
the seed of heavenly truth is rooted and vigorously
blooming in our midst, and our right to the name of
Saxon is proved alike by our Oriental derivation, by
the character of our nation, and by the fulfilment of
the prophecies in our own persons. But still we are
but partakers of a larger portion of the incidental
blessings resulting from the wanderings of Israel, and
not the literal Israel ourselves. But higher far are
we, if indeed partakers of the heavenly calling.
123
CHAPTER VL
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAAIES.
From the antecedents of Israel, what is to be expected
from such a people when resolving to separate them-
selves from heathens and to set up an independent
kingdom, not in obedience to any divine command,
but in confident reliance on their own piety and pre-
tensions? In the land of their fathers they proved
themselves perversely devotional, zealous in altar-
building, worshipping the heavenly host in groves
and high places, addicted to necromancy and adora-
tion of the dead, reverencing every form of life, even
to the worship of creeping things, mixing the attri-
butes of Jehovah and every syllable of His holy Name
with idolatries of every kind. The sophistry of senti-
ment, as usual, turned them from the obedience of
faith to the delusions of fancy, and persuaded them
to believe that they honoured the Creator of all living
and moving beings by worshipping as they liked.
They were religious simpletons, and great perverts,
only because they did not learn God's law, and do it ;
and now left, so to say, to themselves, wherever they
go their characteristics will appear like the stamp of
a divine signet, a mark from the finger of God upon
them : " Ephraim is turned to idols, let him alone.''
124 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
They are still to be looked for as separatists, prose-
lytizers, and idolaters, and yet with high pretensions
to priestly purity ; having, as of old, colleges and con-
vents for unmarried prophets and prophetesses, monks
and nuns ; believing in a Messiah always present and
always coming; blending a theocracy with a kingly
power; neglecting all the institutions of God for for-
malities of their own ; and strong and wrong alike in
heart and head, madly deifying their own ideas, and
taking their dreams for oracles. In consequence of
not distinguishing the God of all the prophecies and
all the promises from such gods as Egypt and Assyria
honoured, they confound the Branch of renown, the
Branch of righteousness foretold by their true prophets,
with the fabulous traditions of heathendom. The
hopes of restoration from the Fall through the perfect
offshoot of the tree of life in Paradise, the holy
seed of the woman, are merged and lost in confusions
without record ; and so, in imitation of their Assyrian
captors, they hold up the branch to their nose before
a figurative god, in honour of their own conceits as a
people worthy of especial favour. Their habits of
idolatry are so ingrafted as to be rooted in their stock
and incorporated with all the outgrowths of their life.
It was always with them as it is with ourselves, all
promises of amendment were in vain, because made
in self-dependence and with neglect of the expressed
will and written word of God. Pride even took the
garb of Divine benevolence, and compassed sea and
land to proselytize the abject kindreds of humanity;
but, like the self-appointed mission of Satan into
Eden, it is only the propagandism of a restless spirit
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES. 125
that converts the weak, ignorant, naked, and sim-
ple dependents upon Providence and Mercy, into will-
worshippers endeavouring to reach up to Heaven
by the use of their own wits, unrestrained by the
dictations of the Wisdom that in love would rule
them by truth from His own lips. It is for such a
people we are to look, and we shall find traces of their
influence to the world^s end. But the prophets of
Jehovah, who warned them, and now warn us, have
afforded us light, by which we learn that the people
thus made outcasts of their own accord, while endea-
vouring to establish an all-embracing kingdom in the
name of the God of truth and love, only succeed in
establishing delusions in their progress, and in the
end are themselves lost altogether as a nation, never
to be recalled into existence, but as by the Voice
that awakens the dead, and says to the dry bones live,
and to the sleepers in the dust arise.
It is said of Israel (Hos. viii. 5, 9), '^ Thy calf^
Samaria^ hath cast thee off ; mine anger is kindled
against them;^how long will it be ere they attain inno-
cency ; for from Israel was it also ; the workman made
it ; therefore it is not God ; hut the calf of Samaria
shall be broken in pieces, 'For they have sown the
wind^ and they shall reap the whirlwind ; it hath no
stalk ; the bud shall yield no meal ; if so be it yield^ the
strangers shall swallow it up. ^Tsrael is swallowed up :
now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein
is no pleasure p for they are gone up to Assyria^ a ivild
ass alone [liu] by himself. I^p This state of loneliness
or, literally. Buddhism , is to be the characteristic of
Israel in Assyria. Here is an abrupt and inexplicable
126 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
reference to the bud of green corn which should be
unfruitful to them, and the product of which should
be devoured by strangers. They looked for fruitful-
ness in the development of their idolatry, but all they
gathered was to be consumed by the strangers,
amongst whom like a wild ass they should wander.
This appears to have been precisely the result of
Israel's separation. We have supposed them scat-
tered by the whirlwind, and now their own religion,
and chosen idols, cast them off; and while those
whom they indoctrinated seized the good and bad of
their instruction, they themselves sink into helpless-
ness and degradation, and wither away, becoming
no longer recognisable as a people called of God to do
wonders. The remainder of this volume will show
why especial emphasis is laid on the state of separa-
tion, and yet commingling absorption, in which these
people are to exist.
The Israelites practised idolatry in high places, and
associated the idea of Jehovah as the highest Being
with the idea of height in a literal sense ; and thus
thought to honour God by erecting altars on the
highest points they could reach, just as the Druids
and the old patriarchal worshippers appear to have
done before them. Hence their attachment to hills
and mountains. In their first revolt from the house
of David, when they cried, " What portion have we
in David? To your tents, Israel; now see to thine
own house, David," Jeroboam, in order to win them
back, met their general inclination to idolatry in high
places by building altars in high places for them.
In Bethel and Dan he placed golden calves, saying.
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES. 127
"Behold thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up
out of the land of Egypt." (1 Kings xii. 28.) Thus
we see that the worship in high places, and the idola-
try of the sacred calf or heifer, w hich both prevail in
Jjidi^? w.£r£ also the sins of revolt ed Israel. In this
form of veneration for high places and the sacred
heifer, they were in sympathy with many other
Oriental idolaters ; and it is not unlikely that this dis-
position to worship on eminences, or at least to vene-
rate lofty elevations, may have induced some of the
Israelites to hava xliDsejiulLe,. neighbourhood of the
Himalayas for their abod e, a^a \ f t,l)ns to see God on
His throne, and abide in the presence they adored.
T he very name Himalayas^ oi;, Heavenly mountainS t
indicates the fact that the Eastern nations associated
sacred ideas with the immaculate snows of those sub-
lime and inaccessible heights, bearing up as if upon
pillars of " terrible crystal" the very firmament of
heaven, on the starry floor of which the throne of the
Eternal for ever stood. Amongst these mountains
all the Eastern nations believe Paradise still stands.
Here is the home of their gods; here departed spirits
pass for retribution ; thence are sent the good and
evil genii that divide all the regions of the world
between them. Here, too, it is that the physio-phi-
losophers have supposed mankind to have originated
when the earth began to emerge from the fervid sea.
And here we shall find traces of the outcast tribes.
To these mountains, also, we trace home the streams
of jhe Gothic and Saxon jiations, who all call their
heaven by the Oriental name. Thus, in Maeso-Gothic
(4 00 A.D.) , Heaven is Eimji i ; in Alemannic (720),
128 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
nimele; in Frankic (900), Himile ; in Old German
(1300), Humele ; in recent German, HimmeL The
most remarkable word for Heaven, however, is that
of the Old Saxon (900 a.d.), namely, Himil-arikea^^
which is a combi natio n pf the Sanscrit word Himil^
Heaven^ wjth the H^l;)rew word signifying the ex-
pansp. (Gpti. i\J^ This One word, connected as it is
with many others of the same origin, will serve inci-
dentally to confirm the observations offered in our
fourth chapter.
It was said by the prophet Hosea concerning the
Israelites, " They shall go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him^^ (v. Q)^^^ti^
He also says that, as a result of their own counsels,
they should refuse to return from under the Assyrian
king. (Hos. xi. 6.) Though they were warriors, they
were also shepherds ; and, like the girdled Shepherd-
kings of Egypt, they took their flocks with them in
their wanderings, and their families were fed on
butter and milk from land to land. The neighbour-
hood of mountains was thus most favourable to their
progress, as affording shelter from foes in case of
need, being comparatively little inhabited, having
suflBicient grass, and where the streams, though more
numerous, were more easily fordable. The Saca^ ar e
l ocated on the north pf. tl^e Hin^alayas by Strabo and
Ptolem y ; hutjare ^aJl presently trace them also into
tllS^sputh. Where, also, Dionysius (Anc. Myth,
vol. iii. p. 226), as rendered by Bryant, says —
" Upon the banks of the great river Ind
The southern Saithae [or Sacae] dwell."
* See M. Mallet's Northern Antiquities (Bohn), p. 47.
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES. 129
In ideally looking over the localities associated with
the Israelitish people, two places of similar character
and name occur to memory : one the province called
Bhutan, in Koordistan, and through which a river
Chebar flows ; the other in India, at the further ex-
tremity of the Himalayas. This word Bhutan, or
Bhootan, is peculiar, and its derivation appears to be
very obscure. The inhabitants of Tibet Proper and
Tangut are all called Bhots, from their religion being
derived from Bhootan or But an. The names of places
serve as a clue to the people dwelling in them, exiles
and wanderers bearing with them thus a record of
their former home. Thus the Pilgrim Fathers took
with them the familiar names of places dear to them
in Old England, and thus throughout the new world
of America the names of cities, towns, and hamlets
famous or beloved in Europe are repeated, to remind
the growing nations of the lands of their fathers.
So, doubtless, was it with the wandering tribes of
Israel, and hence we may be able to associate this
name Bhotan with them. We will first endeavour to
account for the origin of the name in Koordistan, a
country so called after the Karduchi, who now in-
habit it. Koordistan is the name now given to the
country anciently known as Atyria, or Assyria. This
country, according to Ptolemy, Avas bounded on the
north by Armenia; on the west, by the Tigris; on
the south, by Susiana; and on the east, by Media
and the mountains of Choatra and Zagros. It was
probably into this country that the captive Israelites
for the most part were conducted by the kings of
Assyria. (1 Chron. v. 26.) On the first occasion the
K
130 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
Eeubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh
were thus exiled ; but afterwards the remainder of the
Ten Tribes were forced by the conqueror Shalmaneser
to follow their brethren. (2 Kings xvii. 6; xviii. 11.)
Now, if we compare the statements in the book of
Chronicles with that in the book of Kings, we shall
receive a clearer idea of the localities occupied by the
banished tribes. It is said that Tiglath-Pileser
''brought them into Halah, and Habor, and Hara,
and to the river Gozan" (1 Chron. v. 28); and that
Shalmaneser placed his captives in Halah and in
Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the
]\Iedes. (2 Kings xvii. 6; and xviii. 11.) By this
comparison we discover, as before stated, that the
captives were on each occasion conducted to the same
localities and became again as one people, after an
interval of twenty years from their separation in
Samaria. There is, however, a little difficulty in the
use of the word Hara, which occurs only in relation
to the first division of the captivity. The word is in
italics in our translation, as if it were expletive, and
it is generally understood to have been added as a
gloss to indicate that the part of the country in which
the exiles dwelt was the mountainous region about
the Habor. Gesenius renders the passage clearly and
literally thus : " He placed them in Halah and on the
Ghabor, a river of Gozan." In our authorized trans-
lation we should understand at first sight that
Gozan was a river. We, however, have a proof in
the 2nd book of Kings (xix. 12), and also in Isaiah
(xxxvii. 12), that it was a country and not a river;
for Sennacherib is represented as boasting that his
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES. 131
fathers had destroyed Gozan, which certainly could
not be said of a river. '* The country to which the
Ten Tribes were deported is one of the most moun-
tainous in the world," says Dr. Grant. " As the in-
habitants of Gozan and Haran had first been destroyed
or driven out, it is reasonable to infer that the Ten
Tribes had entire possession of this region. Its
natural strength would enable them to maintain their
position entirely distinct." It is the very country in
"^hkhjiifiJLOjOOO^GTe^ the greatest difficulties A
tgjgi^d^uTe injtheir_triumph and retreat. Gozan was
probably that part of Kurdistan now known by the
name of Buhtan, or Bhutan. This transformation
in the name probably occurred very early, and was,
it may be, introduced by the exiles themselves. Whe-
ther so or not, it is well known that the common
Aramean pronunciation of the letters G-o-z-a-n would
convert them into Bhutan; for, as Gesenius shows,
the Hebrew ^, or gh^ is most frequently interchanged
with its kindred palative 6, or bh^ and the z^ named
tsade, tsad, zad, or even dad, is interchanged with
any of the consonants included in its sound. Hence,
then, the conversion of the word Gozan into Bhotan.
We shall see the bearing of this derivation when we
come to inquire concerning the people named Botans.
There is a river, a branch of the Tigris, named Habor,
or Chabor, still running through the borders of that
province, and giving the name of Chabur to part of
the country through which it runs. Ammianus
mentions the Chebar under the name of Abor.* It
is curious to trace this name : in Isidorus it is
* Am. lib. xiv. c. iv., and note, edit. Lud. 1693.
k2
132 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
Hahouran ; in Strabo, Haborras ; in Zosimus, Haho-
ran ; in Procopius, Uaborrhas ; in Ptolemy, Chaboras ;
in Theopliylactus Simocatus, Habboras ; and, lastly,
the Turks call it Alchabur^ which is very nearly the
scriptural name, the al being the definite article.
The ancient geography of the Euphrates and the
Tigris is open to much dispute, but this is the fact to
our present purpose. There is an extensive district
called Bhutan, and a river named Chebur, Chebor, or
Abor, in the country where some at least of the Ten
Tribes once dwelt. This country of Bhutan is both
mountainous and pastoral, well watered, and abound-
ing in grass. Xenophon, in his retreat with the ten
thousand Greeks, passed over the Chebar, on his way
from Batrai to the plains of Zakko, or Sacho. It
must have been in these plains that the Israelites,
the sons of Isaac, mostly dwelt during their captivity.
It is here at least that Ezekiel conferred with their
elders. This name Sacho seems to be the same as
Sukhi and Saakka, as already indicated. If we would
discover relics of the exiled Israelites, we should,
therefore, dig among the ruins of the ancient Zacho,
the name of a town and a country on the banks of
this Chebur. The mounds and ruins of Bhutan are
numerous, and would, doubtless, repay a Layard for
any amount of exploration.
There is another Bhutan at the north-east of Hin-
dustan, and another Abor, or Chabor, immediately
adjacent; and these regions are in character very
similar to those of Kurdistan. This itself is re-
markable ; but it would be still more so, if we could
discover traces of the Israelites in this neighbourhood
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES. 133
also; and this we shall. But it will enlarge our view
of the marvellous proceedings of divine Providence,
if we endeavour to obtain some glimpses of their
transit to that land.
The only distinct intimation of the exodus of the
Israelites from Assyria which we possess, assures us
that they went out under the influence of religious
zeal, with the purpose of separating themselves from
heathenism. AVe suppose they attempted to efifect
this distinct standino^ under a name not recoo^nised
as connecting them with Jews, and that they jour-
neyed into the regions north-east of the Caspian,
hoping to establish themselves and their religion in
some land in that direction. They go forth in a vain
hope ; they depart further and further from the place
of God's manifestation to their fathers; they turn
away from Judea and Jerusalem, perhaps believing
that its walls will never again be erected, or that the
glory of Jehovah will never more appear there. The
temple was not dear to them when in their own land^
and in their rebellion against the seed of David they
rejected the hopes which the Spirit in the prophets
had associated with that royal line.* It was their
temper always to build temples at their own discre-
tion, and to erect altars to gods of their own choosing
upon high places and in groves. As Hosea, their
especial prophet, told them, '' Because Ephraim hath
made mayiy altars to sin^ altars shall be unto him to
sM' (viii. 11). The Israelites, that is, the Ten Tribes,
* " Howbeit the Lord will not destroy the liouse of David, because of the
covenant that he made with David, and as he promised to give light to him
and his sons for ever." (2 Chron. xxi. 2-4.)
134 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
seem to have revolted in their confidence of blessing
in connexion with Ephraim, hence their name,
Ephraimites. The birthright was Joseph's — Reuben's
birthright was given to Joseph. " Judah prevailed
above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler ;
but the birthright was Joseph's." (1 Chron. v. 1, 2.)
The Jews, or Judeans, are first named, as distinct
from the Beni-Israel, in 2 Kings xvi. 6. What could
these accomplish, except the establishment of some
new form of idolatry? We might probably, with
great propriety, adopt the description given of them
by Zechariah (v. 6), as especially applicable to this
people now. They hide the woman within an ephali
— they conceal true religion under a mysterious dis-
guise — they cover her down with a weight of lead.*
Being carried away, as on the wings of a stork, by
two false forms of religion, in which the natural afifec-
tions and the instincts alone lift the soul up between
heaven and earth — elevated by fancies, but without a
faith in which to rest — they hurry away from the Land
of Promise, burying the truth under a dull and heavy
and dead idolatry. They build temples to falsehood,
and attempt to honour God by disobedience to his law.
* The reference to wings reminds us of the Assyrian and Egyptian
emblem of power and protection. The wings of a stork are especially sig-
nificant, as that bird was celebrated by the ancients for its afiection to its
parents. The word translated stork means pious, confiding, kind, loving, in
the sense in which ^/w5 was used by the Latins. Hence the appropriateness
of applying it to that form of religion in which veneration and even adora-
tion of parents constitutes a remarkable feature, as amongst the Buddhists
of China and elsewhere, for they regard their departed parents as guardian
deities to whom they look for blessings. It is remarkable that the prophet
states that the ephah shall be borne into the land of Shinar, and built there
upon her own base (v. 11).
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES. 135
They felt that law too broad and embracing for their
libertine spirits, and then wrote statutes for them-
selves a thousand times broader, and as formal, as false,
and as useless as they were indefinite. (Zech. v. 6-11.)
This may be regarded as a description of the
religion founded by the grand prophet of the Sakai
race, who introduced Buddhism into India. This
religion is a mixture of the truths of the patriarchal
dispensation with the forms of heathenism, with which
they were familiar, and especially with the higher
idolatries of the Brahmins and of the worshippers of
the elements, making of the mixture that form of
Buddhism now prevalent in the East.
In the history or chronicles of Cashmir,* as recorded
by native authorities, we find that the Hindus date
the commencement of a remarkable era amongst them,
from the time when the prince Asoka abolished Brah-
minical rites, and substituted those of Jina Sassana,
Now we know that the new religion of Asoka was
that of the Sacas^ or Sacce; and here we find that
religion called Sassana ; so that we have evidence
from native authority that Sassana signifies what
pertains to the Sacce ^ and is in fact equivalent to our
word Saxon^ as we surmised when speaking of the
Parthian dynasty named the Sassani^ which extended
its power so widely over India. The Sacas^ then
known as Sassani^ or Saxons, conveyed their religion
into the country of Asoka. There is nothing insuper-
able to this opinion in the dates that have been
hitherto established. This Sakian era appears to have
commenced about 307 years before Christ. The
* Asiatic Researches, vol. xv. Paper by H. W. Wilson.
136 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
chronology of such records is, however, very un-
certain, and only to be verified by concurrent testi-
mony. This much is, however, certain — about that
time the Saca era began in India. During the reign of
Asoka that country was overrun by the Sacas, who,
according to the Ay in Acberi, were expellee! by his
successor Jaloca. We find that country afterwards
divided under three princes of Scythian extraction,
named in the Chronicle Hushca, Tushca, and Canishca,
who are stated to have reigned about 150 years after
the death of Sakya-sinha^ the founder of Buddhism
as at present existing. Thus we learn from the
chronicle two interesting facts ; first, that the Sacas
came into India and founded Buddhism; secondly,
that the Sacas were connected with Scythians, but
properly distinguished from them. As Professor
Wilson, in the article referred to, observes, " the
dates only corroborate the general fact, that at some
remote period the Scythians [or rather the Sacae] did
govern Cashmir, and gave their sanction to the reli-
gion of Buddhism." About the year 720 a.d. Lali-
tdditya. King of Cashmir, warred against his Bud-
dhist neighbours, and overran Nepal and Bhotan with
his conquering armies. These facts serve to connect
all those places with the Sakai race and the Sakai
religion.
Here we might recur to the traditions of Cashmir,
from which we learn that the people of that country
suppose themselves generally to be descended from a
race who came from Turkestan, and who taught them
their religion. With this relation, however, they
mix up the notion that Solomon, King of Israel,
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES. 137
visited them, and that Moses himself came amongst
them to teach them the worship of one God. All these
remarkable traditions are easily reconciled with the
fact that they were really instructed in certain ideas
peculiar to the religion and history of the Israelites,
and that the people that thus taught them were
known under the names of Sakai, and came from
Turkestan, the country of the Sac^e. It is clear from
records concerning the King Sagara, that he drove
the M'lech'chas and Sacas into Xepal, Assam, and
Bhutan, and endeavoured to re-establish the old
Brahminical religion. Now, it is worthy of especial
remark that this king, when he destroyed the insti-
tutes of the APlech^chas (foreigners) in his kingdom,
ordered the heads of the Sacas to be partly shaved,
while all the hair was ordered to be removed from
the heads of the Yavanas and the Camhogas^ while the
Paradas were compelled to wear beards. These were
all mixed up with the Sacas; and, though differing
somewhat in their forms of worship, they were all
Buddhists. If these Sacas or Sakai were Israelites,
here was a literal fulfilment of prophecy with respect
to them. Baldness and beardlessness were sio^ns of
mourning amongst the Hebrews; but the prophets
declare that, in their apostate state, to be bald and
shaven shall be the signs of their degradation. In-
stead of well-set hair, baldness. (Isai. iii. 24.) Bald-
ness shall be upon all their heads. (Ezek. vii. 18
and Amos viii. 10.) As these tyrannical orders were
endured and submitted to with a religious pride, and
as a proof of unflinching attachment to their own
faith by those subjected to them, we should naturally
138 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
expect these peculiarities, thus at first despotically
enforced by this bluif Harry of the East, to be after-
wards preserved amongst the marked tribes as
honourable badges of their faith; and this is precisely
what we find at the present day. The partial shaving
of the head is retained as a peculiar mark amongst
most of the Buddhists, while with many an entirely
naked head is more in honour. These peculiarities,
so tenaciously preserved, may hereafter aid us to
identify the existing races of the East with those
from whom they derived their religious peculiari-
ties.
Probably we shall not experience much difficulty
in identifying the Sacas here spoken of, seeing that
classic historians have taught us to associate the
name with that nation of so-called Scythians which
we have endeavoured to show are likely to have
sprung from the house of Isaac. And now this
chronicle of Cashmir, together with the traditions of
that country, enable us to connect the Sacas at once
with Hebraism and Buddhism, and to trace them
from the north. The Yavanas may at once receive our
attention, as they appear remarkably mixed with the
Sacas^ not only in Cashmir, but much further to the
south. Thus, in the early history of Orissa, the
records called the Panji assure us that a mighty man
name Salivahana Saca Hara^* or Saca Deo Baja,
came from the north with a large army and conquered
the country of Delhi, and fixed his empire there ; and
that from this period the era named Saca^bda^ or the
* Hara was the name of a province to which part of Israel was de-
ported. (1 Chron. v. 8.)
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES. 139
era of Saca, began.* It appears that some of these
Sacas became afterwards confounded or mixed up
with the Yavanas, and it is not unlikely that some of
the Sacas really accompanied the Yavanas in their
inroads on the south of India. There can be no
doubt that the term Yavanas was originally applied
to the troops of Alexander the Great, especially those
vetei^ns that he left to garrison the country on his
return to the west. '* The cavalry of this conqueror
were many of them Sacs." The historians of Orissa
state that in the reign of Bajranath Deo the Yavanas
invaded that country, and that they came from Babul
Des ; that is, the country of Babylon, from which
Alexander did come. With this is mixed up a strange
story of a large army from Himarut. These names
were probably obtained from the Yavanas themselves,
and they at once conduct us to the kingdom of Baby-
lon and the kingdom of Armenia, with which both
the Sacas and Yavanas were familiar. Throuo^h these
countries Alexander entered on his Eastern conquests.
The Yavanas reached Orissa through Cashmir and
Delhi. Now, on recurring to the history of Cashmir,
we find that the M^lech^chas^ of whom the Sacas
were one class, came to that country from Scythia,
and mingled with the Yavanas, Buchanan says f
that the Yavanas are understood to be Europeans.
The term Yavanas seems to have puzzled Oriental
scholars; but when we consider that the Yavanas
and Jabans are synonymous, we are at once conducted
to an explanation; and turn, as a matter of course, to
* Stirling's Account of Orissa, p. 21. Asiatic Researches, vol. xv.
t Buchanan's Res. vol. iii. chap. xv. p. 133.
140 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
the country of Javan or Jaban, which includes great
part of Asia Minor, the isles of Greece and all Ionia.
lonia^ in fact, is only another form of the name
Yavana; and thus Rawlinson, finding the word
Yavana in the arrow-headed inscriptions of Behistun,
does not scruple to translate it lonians. To associate
this name with the veterans of Alexander's army and
the Seleucidae is natural; and we have reason to be-
lieve, from the history of Alexander's invasion, that
troops of Sacas were in his pay and among the bravest
of his companions. In fact, the Sacce were so well
known in Alexander's time as brave cavalry and
bowmen, that the term seems to have been adopted to
designate the best mercenary forces. The dominion
of Seleucus Nicator, and Antiochus Soter, in Bactria,
extended over the Sacas at first, but was afterwards
destroyed by them and the Goths, who forthwith
unitedly ruled over the whole of the provinces ex-
tending from Bactria to the Indus. The mixtures of
Sacs with Javanas is then explained. Here we can-
not but observe the wonderful providence by which
it was so ordered that the descendants of Japhet,
brought ready-armed and trained by Alexander into
India, should there meet and sustain the Sacas and
MHecKchas from Scythia, and thus advance the ful-
filment of prophecy.
It is also interesting, and perhaps not without im-
portance, that the nations of India, at an early period
of their history, were accustomed to designate the
Western World by the name of Javan^ who was the
representative and grandson of Japhet, and the
founder of the race now most influential on the
CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES. 141
earth. It is not a slight privilege to be taught to
look for the fulfilment of Divine purpose and predic-
tions in all the ongoings of Providence in the form of
history; and happy is the man who sees and feels
that Wisdom is regulating the distribution of mankind
with regard to glorious spiritual results. It is the
bearing of the present on the coming world, in re-
ference to the ultimate elevation of the whole race of
mankind to a higher standing, that gives interest
alike to the records of man and the prophecies of
God. The prophecy of Noah will, we are convinced,
become distinctly legible as the light of ethnology and
of history falls on it. The merchant- princes of the
Saxon nations are the descendants both of Japhet and
of Shem, if, indeed, it be not found that a blending of
the blood of the whole family of man, in a new form,
as in England and America, be not necessary to the
production of the most energetic and the most
thoughtful, that is to say, the most inwardly devout,
people on the earth. If the views we herein advance
be correct, the descendants of Shem, religiously
trained in all the trials of faith as the true seed of
Abraham, have mingled with the hardiest and most
independent and self- relying of the ofi'spring of Japhet
to constitute the Anglo-Saxons; and it may be that
in our Western World beyond the wide Atlantic, now,
so to say, brought near to the Old World by steam and
electricity, the children of Ham have been with fraud
and force enslaved by their more daring brethren to
check the pride of Saxons, and with a burning re-
proach to stir them up to the greatest and noblest
of efi*orts, that thus they may practically declare, by
142 CHARACTERISTICS, TRACES, NAMES.
all the self-sacrifices involved in their declaration of
belief, that God has indeed made of one blood all
the nations of the earth, that they may dwell toge-
ther as brethren.
In this desultory chapter we have seen the Sacae,
whom we have assumed to be Israelites, coming from
Bhutan, or Gozan, in Kurdistan, into the north, and
then from the north into the south, exercising influ-
ence, religious and civil, in India, mingled with
lonians there, these Sacae being recognised as Bud-
dhists, and, then again scattered, some of them finding
refuge in another Bhutan. This will serve as an outline
now to be in part filled up.
143
CHAPTER VII.
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
We have endeavoured to find traces of the Tribes in
the course indicated by prophecy. We have con-
sidered their probable position in captivity, and their
possible connexion with the Sacae of history. We
have sought them under new names, and as professing
a new religion ; we now proceed, if possible, to dis-
cover evidences of their passage through the countries
they must have traversed, if our surmises are well
founded.
We are attracted at once to a country of vast im-
portance in the present aspect of the East, and the
more interesting to us, as we there find a people who
profess to be the Beni-Israel, or descendants of the
Ten Tribes, namely, Afghanistan and the adjacent
countries. The mountains of the Indian Caucasus,
the mountains of Cabul, are said to be visible, in clear
weather, from a distance of two hundred and fifty
miles ; lifting their hoar heads sublimely into the clear
calm heavens, they well represent "the terrible
crystal" of the prophet. Roving myriads of people
have been attracted by this sight, as if to travel
onwards and upwards, in imagination, along the
mountain pathway, to the realms of glory and of rest.
144 THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
The traditions of the whole world celebrate these
stupendous heights, many of whose light-crowned
pinnacles are supposed to stand more than twenty
thousand feet above the common level of this earth.
Their magnificence and their mystery have drawn
nations together in adoring wonder into the hills and
valleys, so fruitful and bounteous and beautiful,
around their feet. This region might well be thought
the seat of Paradise. There are found specimens of
nearly every form of living thing, whether animal or
vegetable, elsewhere found in any country of Europe
or of Asia; and there, too, almost every civilized
nation has its representative. The oldest nations
believe that thence mankind first sprang into exist-
ence, and that God even now there sits enthroned,
waiting to judge all the human souls which He has
made. Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Persians, the fol-
lowers of Buddha, of Brahma, of Mahomet, and even
believers in Jehovah, have looked up unto these awful
solitudes, and bowed in soul before their majesty,
thinking of God. Here was a high place (Bamah)*
for the worshippers of Bamah worthy of the name,
and here the wandering tribes might believe them-
selves in the especial presence of Him who made the
heavens and the earth. To the skirts of these moun-
tain fastnesses many of the outcast Israelites un-
doubtedly resorted after their escape from Assyrian
or Persian domination, and after their wanderings
in the north. Traces of their former possession of
this neighbourhood, as well as of Bactria and Bok-
* " Then, T said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go ? And
the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day." (Ezek. xx. 29.)
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES. 145
hara, are still extant, not only in existing monuments,
but also in the traditions of the power and majesty of a
national religion and polity once capable of awakening
the attention of all the East, but now lost in the mist of
ages. The prominent reasons for thinking that certain
classes of the people of Bokhara and Afghanistan
are of Israelitish origin are these : — 1st. Their per-
sonal resemblance to the Hebrew family. Thus Dr.
Wolff, the Jewish missionary, says : "I was wonder-
fully struck with the resemblance of the Youssouf-
szye [tribe of Joseph], and the Khybere, two of their
tribes, to the Jews." Moorcroft also says of the Khy-
beres, " They are tall, and of singularly Jewish cast
of features." 2nd. They have been named by them-
selves Beni-Israel, children of Israel, from time imme-
morial. 3rd. The names of their tribes are Israelitish,
especially that of Joseph, which includes Ephraim
and Manasseh. In the Book of Revelation the tribe
of Joseph stands for Ephraim. (Rev. vii. 6, 8.) In
Xumbers xxxvi. 5, Moses speaks of Manasseh as " the
tribe of the sons of Joseph;" so that it is clear that
both Manasseh and Ephraim were known by the
name of the tribe of Joseph. 4th. The Hebrew
names of places and persons in Afghanistan are of far
greater frequency than can be accounted for through
Mahometan association ; and, indeed, these names
existed before the Afghans became Mahometans.
5th. All accounts agree that they inhabited the
mountains of Ghore from a very remote antiquity.
It is certain that the princes of Ghore belonged to the
Afghan tribe of Sooree, and that their dynasty was
allowed to be of very great antiquity even in the
L
146 THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
eleventh century. " They seem early to have pos-
sessed the mountains of Soliniaun or Solomon,* com-
prehending all the southern mountains of Afghan-
istan." (Elphinstone.) 6th. Afghan is the name
given to their nation by others, the name they give
their nation is Pushtoon, and Drs. Carey and Marsh-
man assert that the Pushtoon language has more
Hebrew roots than any other. 7th. The Afghans
are also called Botans (or, by corruption, Patans).
They account for this name by stating that they lived
as Jews until the first century of Mahometism, when
Kaled the caliph summoned them to fight against
the infidels. Their leader, Kyse, on that occasion, was
styled Botan, or mast. This word is Arabic, and
signifies the possession of authority, and, indeed, the
staff held in the hand as a sign of authority, such as
the marshals staff, is so called by ourselves ; and the
term baton was derived, through the French, from
the East, during the Crusades. A staff was used as a
sign of authority by the ancient Israelites. This
name was adopted by all the Mahometan conquerors
of India, and the present Mahometan leaders of the
Indian rebellion are proud to be called Botans, or
Patans, meaning thereby that they are the first, or
hischest caste of men. Another derivation of the
name Botan has been already given, and the name
is shown to have existed in northern India before the
Mahometan incursion ; the modern use of the term is,
however, a consistent appropriation. The more ancient
name of Afghanistan was Cabul, and it still retains
* The fact that the highest peak of this range is called Solomon's throne
fixes the derivation of the name by which these mountains are known.
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES. 147
this name as a kingdom. Now it is very remarkable
that Ptolemy, in his geography of these parts, locates
the Aristophyli^ that is to say, " The Noble Tribes,''
in juxtaposition with the Caholitce ; a name which
probably also means the tribes, Cabail being the
Arabic for tribe. Cabul was the name applied
by Hiram to the land of Galilee, or that part of it
containing the cities which Solomon gave him.
(1 Kings ix. 13.) The Talmud tells us the word
signifies sandy ; and this term certainly would well
apply to much of Afghanistan.
The antiquity of the name of the country Cabul,
or Cabool, is then established; and it is also shown
that some peculiar people known as " The Tribes,''
and " The Noble Tribes," dwelt there at a very re-
mote period. There is, therefore, good evidence that
the present inhabitants of Cabul may be justified in
asserting that from the earliest period of history they
and their ancestors have occupied Cabul, and that
from time- immemorial they have been known as
" The Tribes." That is to say, Israelitish tribes,
such as they now assume themselves to be. It is no
mean argument in favour of their assumption that
their Mahometan conquerors assert by their histo-
rians, that the Afghans are Israelites, and that they
observed the Hebrew worship until the seventh
century, when they were converted by the sword of
the Arab to the profession of belief in the Prophet of
Mecca. According to Sir W. Jones, the best Persian
authorities agree with them in their account of their
origin ; and resident and competent authorities, such
as Sir John Malcolm, and the missionary Mr. Cham-
L 2
148 THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
berlain, after full investigation, assure us that "many
of the Afghans are undoubtedly of the seed of Abra-
ham." One tribe of the Afghans, now named Door-
anneds, rules the whole nation, and at one period of
their history this tribe exercised dominion from the
Caspian Sea to the Ganges, and even as far as the
capital of the Mahrattas, Poona.* Thus, then, we
succeed in connecting the Israelites — the Tribes —
with the Caspian Sea, and with India through Afghan-
istan. Now we require to proceed further, and
connect these tribes with the Sacae. This we do at
once by the fact well known that the so-called Tartar
tribes, the Chozars or Kosi, were the lords otcentral
Xindia from the sixth Jo Jlie_tenth_centurj^* KT hey
came from the borders of the Caspian Sea, the seat
of the Sacae. Gibbon states that their country was
known to the Greeks and the Arabians under the
name Kosa, that is, Cush. By this name they were
also known to the Chinese. Their alliance was
courted by the rival empires of Persia and Rome.
The Cush, or Cosa, known as Indu-Cush, belonged
to them, and probably gave rise to their name amongst
the Greeks and Arabians. The circumstance most
worthy of note concerning these Chozars, or Kusites,
as respects our inquiry, is the fact that, as early as
the tenth century we learn that their sovereigns had
from time immemorial been Hebrews. The Beni-
Israel of Malabar, also, have a history, clearly written,
well preserved and continued to the present time, in
which it is recorded that the Ten Tribes, with the
exception of colonies in Spain and India, migrated
* See Elphinstoue's Kingdom of Caboul.
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES. 149
towards the Caspian Sea, some on the borders of
Media and Persia, and others in the direction of
Chinese Tartary. The tribes of Simeon, Ephraim,
and Manasseh are represented to have settled on the
north-east of the Caspian Sea, the country of the
Chozar Tartars, in a region named in the record
Makhe.* Thus we have evidence sufficient to prove
that a people who were connected with the country of
the Sac£e and under Hebrew rulers, held dominion
over Central India and Afghanistan previous to the
Mahometan invasion. Mr. Forster points out, as a
curious confirmation of the Malabar record of the
Beni-Israel, that Ptolemy places the Tos Manassa
(^' The far-hanished ManasseK^) in the land of the
Chomari or Gomeri (the Gomer of the Bible), and to
the north of them a people called Macha-geni^ or
people of Macha. May it not be worthy of inquiry
whether Macha-geni, as the name of a people, is not
the same as Massa-geta6? And may not the country
named Mash in Genesis (x. 23) be that of the
Massa-getCB (the Goths of Masha), who dwelt about
the mouth of the Araxes or Kir, where we know
from Herodotus that Cyrus encountered them? And
may not the very name of these people (Getae) be
derived from that of the inhabitants of Gath ( Hebrew,
••n:) — Gete). Incidentally we remark that Hero-
dotus (iv. 94) says the Getas thought themselves
immortal; not dying, but going, at their decease, to
Zalmoxis^ which Herodotus supposes to be the name
of a god. Is not this a Greek mode of spelling the
Hebrew word Zalmoth, the shadow of death. (Psalm
* See Forster on Primeval Lanoruagre.
150 THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
xxiii. 4.) The Getse are mixed up with the Sacae as
the Gittites were with the Israelites, and by and bye
we shall see that they used the same language. The
M£eso-Gothic of Ulphilas's New Testament, written in
the fourth century, contains Hebrew, Greek, Sanscrit,
and Tartar words. There were Gittites (GetaB), men
of Gath, amongst the body-guard of David. It is
also worthy of note that, in the voyage of Eldad, the
seat of the three lost tribes of Simeon, Ephraim, and
Manasseh is said to be Macha ; a name agreeing per-
fectly with that given in the Malabar history as the
locality of those tribes. Whether, with Mr. Forster,
we can find Zebulun by the Helmund^ and Issachar
by the Isagurus near Cashgar, remains to be proved.
We agree with him in believing that " by every kind
of evidence it is ascertained, and by every class of
author admitted, that a large proportion of the Chozar
Tartars were Israelites professing the Jew's religion,
and practising the rite of circumcision."* There is
a curious Kabbinical tradition to the eiFect that
the Ten Tribes passed over the river Sambatioun,
which flows through the land of Gush. Now, what-
ever river may be meant by Sambatioun, we know
the Rabbins meant by Gush not Ethiopia or Libya,
as some Christian commentators have imagined, but
Indu-Cush, the country bordering on Bokhara and
Cabul. Herodotus distinguishes the Ethiopians,
the Cushites of the sun-rising, the eastern Ethio-
pians, from those of Libya; and says they differed
from the latter by their hair being straight instead of
curly, and that they did not at all differ in appearance
* Primeval Language, part iii. p. 312.
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES. 151
from other Indians. Mr. Forster, by limiting the
distribution of the Ten Tribes of Israel to Afghan-
istan, confirms prophecy but to falsify it ; for prophecy
declares that they " shall be swallowed up" amongst
all nations. Not lost, indeed, but hidden, like seed,
only to become more. '' I will not utterly destroy
the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For, lo, I will
command and will sift the house of Israel among all
nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not
the least grain fall upon the earth.'' (Amos \\\i, 7-9.)
" Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians [Cushites]
unto me, children of Israel? saith the Lord." (Amos
ix. 7.) This is said in relation to their position after
their captivity in Assyria, and we shall see in another
chapter that the religious head amongst the Sac£e
assumed the Ethiopian characteristics as emblems of
his dominion. We find in the heathen geographer
clear names of Israelite tribes, on the one hand, on the
borders of the Caspian Sea ; on the other hand, in the
mountains of Chinese Tartary. We find the Jewish
account quite independently bearing ^vitness to the
emigration and settlement of the very tribes named
by Ptolemy in those very parts. We find the national
character of those wandering Israelites correspond-
ingly delineated in the accounts of the Jews, and in
the history of the Chozars. And we find the very
national character of Israel, as there described, in its
restlessness, its turbulence, its roving propensities,
its insatiable appetite for war and plunder, re-appear
in all its life and reality in that of the whole Afghan
nation — a people naming themselves " Beni-Israel,"
and universally claiming to be the descendants of the
152 THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
Lost Tribes. The nomenclature of those tribes and
districts, both in ancient geography and at the present
day, confirms this universal national tradition. Lastly,
we have the route of the Israelites from Media to
Afghanistan and India marked out by a series of
intermediate stations bearing the names of several of
their tribes, and clearly indicating the stages of their
long and arduous journey. Sir William Jones in-
clines to the opinion that the Ten Tribes migrated to
India about Tibet and Cashmir; and that opinion
derives support from several circumstances. In the
year 1828 the following statement appeared in the
German papers : — it If
" Leipsig, June 30th.— After having seen for some
years past merchants from Tiflis, Persia, and Armenia
among the visitors at our fair, we have had, for the
first time, two traders from Bucharia with shawls,
which are there manufactured of the finest wool of
the goats of Tibet and Cashmire, by the Jewish
\_IsraelitisK\ families^ who form a third part of the
population. In Bucharia (formerly the capital of
Sogdiana) the Jews have been very numerous ever
since the Babylonian captivity, and are there as re-
markable for their industry and manufactures as they
are in England for their money transactions. It was
not till last year that the Russian government suc-
ceeded in extending its diplomatic missions far into
Bucharia. The above traders exchanged their shawls
for coarse and fine woollen cloths of such colours as
are most esteemed in the East.'*
The number of these Israelites must be very great,
if the account be at all correct, as to the proportion
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES. 153
which they bear to the whole population, this being
stated by the most accurately informed writers to be
from 15,000,000 to 18,000,000. But this information
is confirmed in a very satisfactory manner from
other sources. With regard to the country of Bok-
hara, it is worthy of remark that certain Jewish
writers have regarded it as the Hara into which some
of the Israelites were exiled by the King of Assyria.
This country appears to have been known in India at
an early period by the name of Hara; the addi-
tion Bok, or Buck, only distinguishes it from some
other notable Hara (mountain range). As Hara is
Hebrew, so is Bok, signifying mixed or confused.
At an early period of history the dominion of Bokhara
extended from the Caspian Sea into Khorasan ; and
when Seleucus, after Alexander's death, took posses-
sion of those regions, many Jews went there as colo-
nists, and their progeny have ever since continued
there, but kept distinct from the Beni-Israel, also
resident there in large numbers. Yahoodeyah^ in
Merv, was probably one of their early cities. It is
not unlikely that the seats of early Jewish coloniza-
tion amongst people to whom the name of the Beni-
Israel was familiar, were always known as Yahoode-
yah^ and this is precisely the name by which Oude
was first known. The Jews, both of Bokhara and
Afghanistan, are kept distinct from those who call
themselves Beni-Israel. When Sir Alexander Burnes
asked Dost Mahomed Khan as to the descent of the
Afghans from the Israelites, he replied that his people
had no doubt of that, though they repudiated the
idea of being Jews, whom they treat with hereditary
154 THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
contempt. They found their belief not merely on
tradition, but on an ancient record in their possession
named Mujnoo i unsab. The Urz Bede, of Hajee
Feroz, at Herat, possesses genealogies tracing their
descent from famous Israelites. True, the claim of
the Afghans is no proof of their right to the name of
Beni-Israel ; but their claim, so long maintained, proves
this much at least — the Ten Tribes must have been
famous in those parts at a very early period, or a
dominant people, despising the Jews, would not have
been proud of their assumed name for so long a period.
The incidental evidences in favour of the descent of
the Afghans from the Ten Tribes, or from some of
them, are : First. They are found where the Ten
Tribes were expected to be found. Second. Their
traditions and customs. Third. The agreement of
their traditions with those of other Mahometans, who
assert that the Israelites that came from the river
Khabor were called Khyberees, and that some of them
went to Afghanistan, or, as they more properly call
the country, Cabul, while others went into Arabia,
and that these acknowledge their relationship to the
Afghans.
These traditions of the Afghans fall in with the
history of the tribes who resisted the Greeks, and
took possession of Media and Persia, and constituted
a Parthian kingdom. When Arsaces the Second,
Artabanus, son of the First, fought against Antiochus,
he called in the aid of the Sacae ; and being then at the
head of 100,000 men, Antiochus was glad to make
peace with him, leaving him in possession of Parthia
and Hyrcania, in consideration of his aid in the war
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES. 155
against Bactria and Aria — that is to say, Bokhara
and Afghanistan; thence, however, the Sacse and
the Goths afterwards expelled the armies of the
Greeks. The Arsacian king, Mlthridates II., called
the Great, came to terms with the Sacae, who held
dominion in Cabul. The Saka-rauU became so power-
ful as to place a king on the Parthian throne called
king of kings. These Saka-rauli were probably Af-
ghans, having descended from the north-eastern
borders of Sogdiana, through Bactria, into the
country then known as Ariana, now Afghanistan.
These are the people, the Sacse, that Alexander could
not subdue, and therefore courted as friends. From
that period to that of the last of the numerous Greeks
who assumed sovereignty over Bactria and Cabulistan,
these people were in frequent conflict with the Greeks,
and as often nominally under their dominion, as we
find from their numerous coins discovered in Afghan-
istan (Cabulistan), on which both Greek and so-called
Arian inscriptions and devices appear.* Professor
Lassen quotes this passage from Strabo : " The Asii
or Asiani, and the Tochari and the Saca-rauli, took
Bactria from the Greeks." The Asiani were the
kings of the Tochari and the Saca-rauli. The Asiani
were Sacas. I regard these names as only different
classes of Saks recognisable in Hebrew as ''^T^^ nnn
and "h^;!^ ; that is, those who superintended, those
distinguished by their armour Kinn (Ex. xxviii.
32), and the javelin men or slingers.f Coins of the
Parthian " king of kings " have also been found in
* See Prinsep's Historical Kesults, deducible from Recent Discoveries in
Afghanistan. f See Prinsep, p. 82.
156 THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
Afghanistan. Professor Lassen confines the Asian
kings of the Getae to Upper Bactria and Sogdiana,
but regards the Sakas as occupying the Cabul valley
and the Punjab, having a king of their own towards
the end of the second century before Christ. This
serves as another link between the ancient Sakas and
the modern Afghans, and this is all we wish here to
establish, having already shown the probability that
the Afghans are of Hebrew descent.
For the purpose of showing the connexion of the
Greek power with the Saxon, the annexed engravings
of coins found in Afghanistan are worthy of note. No.
1 is that of Euthydemus— BA2IAEQ2 EYGYAHMOY.
(B.C. 220.) The wild horse on the obverse is perhaps
an emblem of Bactria, but also, certainly, of the
Saxon race. No. 2 is that of Antimachus Nike-
phorus. (155 B.C.) The figure on the obverse, with
the word Su^ will be illustrated in another chapter.
Su has very much puzzled the learned. No. 3
is another of the same king, with a Victory ( ?) on
one side; and the king seated on the horse on
the other, to indicate his conquest and power over
the nation symbolized by the horse. This king as-
sumed the title of Tlieus — God; and I would here
observe that probably the word Su^ or Zu^ is only
another form (Spartan) of the word Theus; adopted,
however, with particular reference to the people of
Afghanistan at the time, as will be indicated here-
after. Nikephorus is a title of Jupiter, but I believe
not so applied till subsequent to the conquest of
Porus, or Phorus, by Alexander in India. This word
is both Greek and Hebrew, and in both languages
would signify the smiting of Porus, this name Porus
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES. 157
being a title of distinction in Hebrew, signifpng
widely known; a title appropriate enough to the
Porus whom Alexander conquered on the banks of
the Jhilum (now Jelum), in July, 327 B.C.
On the coins found in Afghanistan, Greek legends
are continued from Seleucus Xicator (280 B.C.) to the
middle of the second century of our era.
Having been once established by a people so
superior in art and intelligence, the Greek character
seems to have been retained on the coinage, partly
as expressing the retention of the Greek power by
the successive kings, and partly because Greeks were
largely mixed as colonists with the nations over whom
they reigned. Thus we have first pure Greek coins,
next Arsacian, and then Sassanian, when the Greco-
Parthian dominion in Central Asia closed. There
was, during great part of this period, an Ario-Par-
thian dynasty reigning over Cabul and the Punjab;
but after a.d. 80 a new order of coins, bearing the
name of Kanerkes, with legends in corrupt Greek,
is found. These are ascribed to a new race of
Scythian kings who immediately succeeded those
named Kadphises, of which name three kings are
recognised by their coins. I here present one of
them (4 in plate) in evidence of the fact, that under
his dominion Buddhism was recognised as the State
religion.
The Greek leo^end is kino^ of kinoes, the orreat
saviour, Oomen Kadphises,* the letters being very
corrupt, and the z of the Lat inscriptions being
used for that of the Greek 2.
The legend on the obverse is in the so-called Arian,
* No. 10, plate ix. in Prinsep's Historical Results.
158 THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
which reads from right to left.* No satisfactory
translation has been offered; but I transliterate the
words into modern Hebrew letters, and thus find this
Hebrew sentence : —
i^b'? TTD niK TiD b:i d? Dibt:^ ninio
lb b^r2::li '2
which literally translated is, From my glory prosperity
extended to them alU light extended^ but only because his
recompense was with me.
It appears that, during the reign of Kadphises,
Buddhism was for a time suppressed by the Hindu
king Nikramaditya and his successors. It was pro-
bably then that Augustus Caesar received a letter in
Greek from a king of those parts, calling himself Porus,
praying for assistance. Whether this Porus received
any aid or not is not known ; but there is evidence
before us that Roman influence was extended to
the successors of Kadphises, namely, the Kanerki
kings, who established a new order, though retaining
Buddhism, as will be pointed out in another chapter.
All these kings employed the Arian language, that is,
the language of Afghanistan at that time. It appears,
then, that the religion of Buddha, or Godama, was
restored by the king whose remarkable effigies we
have before us. There is another Kadphises, on the
obverse of whose coins (5 in plate) is this remarkable
inscription in Arian letters :f Damma cacarata kiiju
lakasa saba saka Kadphises ; which, as Hebrew, I would
render, Kadphises worships according to the cutting off
[or covenant"] of the burning of Kash^ the seat of Saka.
* Plate xiii. p. 14, in Prinsep's Historical Results,
f Prinsep, idem, plate ix. p. 10.
THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES. l59
I \vill not here attempt an explanation of these words,
as their meaning will appear as we proceed. The
identification of the Szu Scythians with the Asii, and
these, again, with the Sacae, who took Bactria and
afterwards occupied Afghanistan, will account for
certain coins having the name of Azes and the title
" king of kings " upon them. This title associates
them with the kings who, up to the second century
of our era, used the same title, and held dominion
over the same country, and employed the same lan-
guage, at least on their coins, and, as we shall by and
bye see, also on their tombs. We hope to prove that this
language is Hebrew, and therefore that the people of
Afghanistan used Hebrew in the period extending from
the commencement of the Greco-Bactrian dominion to
the commencement of the third century of our era.
By way of introduction to the next chapter, a
few remarks on the coins before us will suffice.
First, the superscription — the great king of kings
— reminds us that Nebuchadnezzar, to whom
Daniel the Jew was prime minister, employed the
same title. (Dan. ii. 37; Ezra vii. 12; Ezek. xxvi. 7.)
This title was adopted by the kings who followed
Godama, or Saka, and adopted his doctrines. AVe
shall by and bye give evidence to indicate how the
monograms on, those coins came to denote the Bud-
dhist religion and dominion. One such is seen beside
the king, who is bearded and arrayed in true Saxon
style — long coat, boots, and cap; and he wears the
royal fillet. Like a true Hebrew, he stands with head
covered before the altar of incense — for such we sup-
pose the stones raised four deep to signify, after the
160 THE AFGHANS AND THEIR AFFINITIES.
Buddhist manner. He holds the trident, the Saxon
token, in his right hand. This was not borrowed
from Neptune — he borrowed it from the Saxons ; but
in either case it means the same thing — potentiality.
Below his left hand is an unknown emblem, regarded
by some as a club ; if so, an emblem of Hercules, the
destroyer of evil-doers and the righter of the wronged,
a figure of whom is seen on the Graeco-Arian coin
No. 4. Hence we infer that the Buddhist kings
adopted this emblem after the destruction of the
Greek power in North-western India. On the obverse,
in one case, we have Siva (ov Su) also holding the
emblem of Buddha's power, as indicated by the
monogram of Godama. Behind him stands the
sacred bull Nandi honouring Buddha. On the other
obverse we have what appears to be Hercules with his
club and lion's skin — the devices in each case being
expressive of the same power to set matters right
by main force.
Concerning one of the Kanerki kings we shall have
occasion to speak when examining the remains found
in his tomb. Enough has been said to indicate the
connexion of Afghanistan with the Greeks, the Sacae,
and the Buddhists, and we will now proceed to con-
sider the Sacae and the Buddhists more fully.
161
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
In a former chapter it was intimated that the Israelites
might have been classed by Herodotus amongst the
tribes of Media, under the name of Buddhi ; a name
that re-appears in his account of tribes of Scythia.
We now proceed to show that the SacaB were Bud-
dhists and Hebrews.
We have seen, from the facts already stated, that
a peculiar people, known as the Sacs, or Sakai and
Buddhii, arrived in India at a period about a hundred
years after the return of the Jews from Assyria to
Palestine. These people were mixed up with the
Yavanas, who have been identified ^vith the Greeks
left by Alexander to garrison the banks of the Indus,
and who long occupied a naval station at the mouth
of that river, called Pattala, supposed to be the pre-
sent Tatta. This took place about 325 years B.C.
We know that, by some untold circumstance, Alex-
ander was prevented from invading the Sacae, or at
least from prevailing over them, as he did over the
Bactrians. The Sacae were then a distinct people,
and their knowledge and influence appear to have been
employed by Alexander in his incursion into India.
It is said that certain Sacae, being famous for the use
of the bow, and also as skilful horsemen, were of great
M
162 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
use to his army. With these remarkable people a
new religion appears to have been introduced into
India. This religion has been ever since known as
Buddhism, said to be first taught, in its present form,
by Sahya, Now Buddha is said to have been born
B.C. 618.* It is remarkable that this Buddha is
called Maga (a Magian) by the Burmahs;f and, in
Burmah, Arracan, Ceylon, and Siam the sacred lan-
guage of Buddhism is called the language of the
Mags or Magi ; J and, indeed, the priests of the Per-
sians, Bactrians, Charasmians, Arians, and Sacae are
equally called Magi, and are described as so many
tribes descended from the Sacas.§ To connect the
Sacai of the East with those of the West, we observe
that the White Island England — Sacam or Saxum,
as pronounced by our Saxon ancestors — is stated in
the Purana named Varaha to have been in the
possession of the Sacs (or Sacae) at an early period. ||
From the origin of this religion of Buddha com-
menced a new era in the East, named the era of the
Sacas. Hence we infer that Sakya belonged to this
people. They proceeded from the north into Cashmir.
We have shown that a people of this name were
recognised by ancient geographers and historians as
a tribe of Scythians residing to the north of Cashmir,
and we have found some reasons to imagine that
these Sacas sprung from the house of Isaac ; a division
of the Israelites who did not return from Assyria to
Samaria. We now proceed, if possible, to discover
any additional reasons for supposing these people to
* Asiatic Researches, vol. ix. p. 90. f Idem, p. 75.
J As. Res. xi. 76. § As. Res. xi. SO. || As. Res. xi. 61.
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI. 163
be Israelites. The Sacas must have come into India
through Cabul; it is therefore probable that some
traces of their name may still be found amongst the
Afghans, a people who have retained their pecu-
liarities for many ages, and who, from their occupa-
tion of mountain fastnesses, and from their hardy,
independent, and warlike habits, engendered by their
position, have been able to preserve themselves from
foreign dominion. These people have many indi-
cations of a Hebrew origin, or, at least, the facts
advanced bv the Eio-ht Hon. Sir G. H. Rose and the
Rev. C. Foster, as already stated, together mth other
facts presented by preceding writers, such as Sir W.
Jones, certainly warrant the conclusion that an ex-
tensive Israelite influence must have been from a
very early period exerted amongst that people ; and it
is by no means improbable that the purer tribes
amongst them are really descendants of the Israelites,
as they believe themselves to be. What we seek,
however, is a connexion between the word Sacce^ or
Sakai, and the Israelites, and that, I think, we dis-
cover in certain tribes of the Afo^hans. The folio win o^
passage is from a letter* written by an officer on the
staff of the commander-in-chief in India. It is dated
from Head Quarters, Camp, Munikiala^ 20th January^
1852: — "Having just been through a part of
Afghanistan Proper, I cannot help writing to tell you
how I was struck mth the Jewishness of the people ;
and not only their appearance, but every possible
circumstance tends to convince one that they are the
descendants of the Ten Tribes. They call themselves
* Quoted by Sir G. H. Rose in his work ou the Afghans.
m2
164 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
Bunnie Israeel (Bunnie being exactly synonymous
with ' Mac * in Scotland, and ' Fitz ' in England),
and are proud of it ; whereas to all other Mahometans a
more severe term of abuse cannot be applied than
Yahoodee, or Jew. We may observe that these so-
called Benee-Israel despise the Jews almost as much
as any Mahometan people can. They pride them-
selves on being sons of Israel in contradistinction
from the people of Judah ; a strong presumptive evi-
dence that they are really derived from the Israelites,
especially as this distinction has been maintained
from time immemorial amongst them. One of the
tribes that at present are giving us a good deal of
trouble, is called ' Yousufzyes^^ or tribe of Joseph,
'zie' meaning 'tribe;' and next to them are the
Izahzie^ or tribe of Isaac.'' This is the point to be
observed, Joseph and Isaac are not properly names of
either of the tribes into which the Israelites were
divided by lot in their own land ; but the application
of those names affords proof that, if the Afghans are
descendants of Israelites, they adopted distinctive
appellations in those names, and it is therefore clear
that the name of Isaac was chosen as oi^e mark of
Israelitish descent. This is a point which we needed
to establish in order to sustain the opinion that the
SacaB, or Sakai, might have derived their name origi-
nally from Isaac. If the name be adopted to designate
one tribe, it might formerly more suitably have been
used to designate all the tribes, for every tribe was
equally interested in the name, the descent, and the
words of the covenant with Abraham: "i/z Isaac
shall thy seed he called,''^ (Gen. xxi. 12.) The fact is
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI. 165
evinced in the existence of an extensive tribe actuallv
using that name as professed Israelites from time
immemorial, and these are situated where we might
naturally have looked for them under the circum-
stances supposed. The Hebrews in Mowr, as well as
those in Bokhara, assured the Rev. J. Wolff that there
are many of the children of Israel of the tribes of
Naphtali and Zebulun, in the Hindu Cush, among the
Balkhwee, and that they lived by robbery, and knew
the excla^oation " Shama Yisrael !" — Hear, Israel.*
If the Sacas were of Israelitish oriofin, we miofht
naturally expect to find some wild remains of them
in the country through which we suppose them to
have passed ; and that they should retain the Israel-
itish passwords was likely in a country which was
probably colonized by Jews at a very early period.
These facts at least serve to connect the Sacas^ or
Sakai^ whom we find in Cashmir and Orissa, with the
Isalczie of Independent Tartary and Bokhara; these
countries being, in fact, precisely the seats of the
ancient Sacce^ or at least of the people so called by
the Persians in the time of Herodotus. (Zd^ai and
Za/cac.) 4Jt would be very strange if, having, from
other circumstances, been induced to believe that the
Ten Tribes went into those regions, we there found a
mffltitude of people who declared themselves to be the
descendants of these tribes, and yet that they should
not be so. We have supposed them to have been
named Sacre, or Sakai, after Isaac; and here, in the
very seat of the Sacas of old, we find large numbers
of people professing to be Israelites, calling themselves
* WolflTs Mission to Bokhara, vol. ii. p. 165.
166 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
Isakzle, a name readily converted into Sakai by the
Greeks, who habitually rendered the names of the
barbarians only into approximate sounds. Is it pos-
sible to account for these facts but on the supposition
that they are derived from the real Beni-Israel? Why
should these people thus name themselves, in spite of
the prejudice of all the nations around them against
everything Jewish? Had they not been accustomed
so to denominate themselves from a period when they
had reason, from their influence, to be proud of the
name, we can scarcely understand why they should
be proud of it now, when anything but high hopes or
noble aspirations is associated with it, even by them-
selves. Now, if the Sacas, or Sakai, of Independent
Tartary and Bokhara, were the predecessors of the
so-called Beni-Israel now resident in those countries,
and, if they were also called Isakzie after Isaac, then
it is fair to infer that the Sakai who came into India
through those countries were of the same origin.
Amongst the names of the six tribes into which
the inhabitants of Media are divided by Herodotus*
there ought, as already observed, to be one to repre-
sent the Israelites, who certainly occupied the country
in large numbers at the period referred to in his
history when writing of those inhabitants. This has
been a stumblingblock to some inquirers. But
should we not expect their Hebrew origin to be dis-
guised under some name adopted by themselves as
expressive of their condition? Whether so or not,
we find, in the enumeration of the tribes of Media
as given by Herodotus, the very name by which we
* 1. 101.
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI. 167
believe the Sakai designated themselves when intro-
ducing a new religion into India; that name is
Buddhii, or Buddhists (QH^); which, in Hebrew,
signifies the detached or separated people. There are
no direct evidences that the Israelites were ever
so called by their own people; but yet there is a
passage in itself remarkable, as prophetically applied
to the children of Israel under the name of Ephraim,
in which passage the word Baddhi refers to them in
some especial manner which our translators have
failed to understand. This misunderstanding is indi-
cated by the fact that the word is translated so
differently in those passages where it occurs, and as
if to make a sense not to be found by a literal ren-
dering, or by retaining the words as terms of deno-
mination. The word Baddhai occurs, with the same
pointing, both in Isai. xvi. 6, and in Hos. xi. 6 ; in
the former the word is rendered lies, and in the latter
branches, but both cannot be correct. It will throw
some light on our inquiry to reflect at full on both
those passages as denouncing a rebellious people:
*' We have heard of the pride of Moab : he is very
proud; even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and
his wrath; but his lies [Baddhai] shall not be so."
(Isai. xvi. 6.) In Hosea xi. 5, 6, it is said of
Ephraim : " He shall not return into the land of
Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because
they refused to return. And the sword shall abide
on his cities, and shall consume his branches ['^''7?
— Baddhai], and devour them [the Baddhai], because
of their own counsels." Now, comparing the word
Baddhai, or Budii, in these passages, it is clear that
168 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
the reference is to the separate parties or divisions of
the people in connexion with cities ; for, even if we
take the term in any case to mean branches, yet it
can only be branches of the people, for they are
represented as taking counsel. If so, then it is easy
to see that the term was familiar to the Israelites as
signifying certain collections of their own people, and
therefore it would probably be similarly employed by
them in Assyria and elsewhere; so that, speaking
of their different portions as pertaining to the dif-
ferent places or cities which, in Media and Assyria,
they inhabited, they would call them Baddhii, or the
separate parts as branches, and thus, at length, be
known as a body of people under this appellation,
that is to say, as Buddhists.
A people of the same name are also mentioned by
Herodotus as amongst the Scythians, and he repre-
sents them as a great and populous nation, who had
adopted Scythian customs, and amongst whom many
Greeks had settled at an early period.* We discover
indications of the presence of the Sacae and the
Buddhii, that is, the Saxons and the Buddhists, in
northern India, about sixty years after the Scythians
had overrun Media and Mesopotamia. Their incur-
sion occurred in the reign of Cyaxares, who succeeded
Phraortes, the first king of Independent Media, pro-
bably about 625 years B.C. The Israelites were
probably still dwelling for the most part in Media at
this period. The Scythians, who had mastered all
Asia,f were expelled about 598 B.C. J Their course
* iv. 108. t Herodotus, i. 104.
{ Volney, Chronologie d'Herodote.
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI. 169
is very remarkable ; they were driving the Cimme-
rians (or Gomeri) before them into Asia, when they
encountered the Medes at a place inhabited by the
Massa-Getce^ or Goths of Masha, on the right of
Mount Caucasus, between it and the Caspian Sea.
They subdued all before them until they reached
Palestine; and, as if their object were there accom-
plished, they then proceeded to prey upon Assyria
for twenty- eight years. But, like the Ephraimites, they
were given to drunkenness, and their chiefs being
invited to a feast by Cyaxares and the Medes, they
were intoxicated and put to death. After which, the
Medes recovered their dominion, and expelled the Scy-
thians. The Scythian invasion came in from the north ;
the direction whence the prophet Ezekiel, in a vision,
saw the advancing cloud, the whirlwind, and the fire
in which the Israelitish people seemed symbolically
involved. Now, supposing the prophecy fulfilled by
this incursion, we should expect to find traces of the
Israelites in the north and the east after the expul-
sion of the Scythians ; since we regard these people
as mingling with the Israelites and preparing a way
for their departure from Media and Mesopotamia.
Esdras says the Ten Tribes took counsel together
and went out peaceably, crossing over the narrow
passages of the river Euphrates. This would take
them in the course indicated, namely, through
Armenia, and between Mount Masha and the Caspian
Sea; the very course by which the Scythians had
come in. Now, we cannot discover any period, in
the history of Media and Mesopotamia, in Avhich the
great body of the Israelites could have so departed.
170 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
except that of the time when the Scythians held do-
minion over those countries, and were, as we supposed,
friendly to the Israelites. It is after this that the
Sacae begin to be confounded with the Scythians.
An interval of nearly sixty years passes between the
expulsion of the Scythians and the appearance of the
Sacae, the Getae, and the Buddhii in India. They
flow in through Bokhara and Afghanistan, where we
find remnants of people still dwelling, who claim to
be called children of Israel. The Sacaa and the
Buddhii took possession of Cashmir in the year 340
B.C., according to the history of that country.* We
now proceed further to show that the Buddhists, the
Sacas, and the Geti, or Goths, who spread over India
from Cabul and Cashmir, were connected with the
house of Isaac, both in name and in language; and
the evidence we offer is the record written on the
rock with a pen of iron.
There was, in the early part of our era, a large
Buddha establishment, and the capital of a kingdom,
named Sanchi^ on the banks of Betwa, and about
twenty miles to the north-east of Bhupal. It was
the centre of a kino-dom called Sanaka-nika. and be-
longed to the Sakya tribes, so famous for the use of
the bow, and their entire devotion to Buddha. This
kingdom was also called Sachi^ which would be the
same as Sakai, Here, then, we are at once con-
ducted to the Saxon tribes in India; and, looking
over the account of the topes of S4chi, which were
explored by Major Cunningham,f we find some in-
teresting particulars, and are presented with bas-reliefs
* As. Ees. vol. XV. p. 112. f Now Lieutenant- Colonel.
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THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI. 171
of the people themselves, in their various domestic
scenes and religious ceremonies. At the south gate
of the great tope of Sachi stands a pillar surmounted
with four lions, at the right of the entrance, and on
that pillar a bas relief, which is represented in the
accompanying engraving, copied from that of Major
Cunningham. Each gateway is formed of two
square pillars 2 feet 3 inches thick, and 13 feet 8
inches in height. The capitals of the pillars on the
western gate are four human dwarfs; those of the
southern gate four lions ; those of the other gateways
four elephants surmounted by their riders. The
total height of the gateway is 18 feet 2 inches, and
its breadth is 7 feet.* The inscription is conspicuous,
and exceedingly well preserved. Major Cunningham
says, " I cannot even make a guess at its meaning.'^
If, however, it be transliterated into modern Hebrew
characters,! its meaning becomes evident ; thus —
D^pniD n:in in ijidi :n^ '^wn mn
That is —
Sak, my glory, thine image [or assimilation]
shall he for a festival, a mountain of refuge
for those who came from afar, from MaJchath,
We shall find, from numerous other inscriptions, that
the person honoured by such celebrations under the
name oiSak is the same as Godama. Sakya seems to be
the Sanscrit name of this individual, and his history is ex-
tensively known in Buddhistic annals as the founder of
Buddhism in its recent forms. The Chinese Buddhists J
* From Major Cunningham's Bhilsa Topes, p. 189.
f The reason for doing this will be seen in the next chapters.
J Fo-kwe-ki, c. xvii. note 17.
172 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
say the name Saki signifies " repose or silence/' As
Hebrew it will admit of that meaning, but only in the
sense of ceasing to resist, as in Numbers xvii 5 :
'' I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the
children of Israel." It is especially interesting to
discover that the invocation of Sak was known in
Britain at a very early period, for this fact connects
the first arrival of the Saki, or Saxons, in Britain
with Buddhism as known by the Saki of India; thus
proving the similarity of their origin. My authority
for this statement is found in that singular and very
ancient Druidical hymn known as Gwawd Lludd y
Mawr, or the Praise of Lludd the Great. It is
quoted from Welsh Archaiology (p. 74), by the Rev.
E. Davies, in his work on the Mythology of the
British Druids (Appendix No. 12). Four short lines
are given in this poem as the prayer of five hundred
men who came in five ships. The words of this prayer
were suspected by Mr. Davies to be Hebrew, in con-
sequence of Taliesen the bard (600 a.d.) having
declared that his lore had been delivered to him in
Hebrew or Hebraic* Mr. Davies therefore tran-
scribed the passage in Hebrew letters thus : —
^;ir jnnn •'nnni O-BritU Brith oi
nn ^^ y;; i^ Nu oes nu edi
'':^^ nni ••Tinn Brithi Brith anhai
"!P1 in ^^r\ nn yD Sych edi edi eu roi.
He does not attempt to give the meaning ; but, after
familiarly puzzling out ancient Buddhistic inscrip-
tions, I venture to give this literal rendering : —
* His words are Yn Efrai, yni Efroeg Eilgweth ym rhithad. (Talieseu's
Angar Cyvyndavvd.)
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI. 173
And I have made a covenant — a Heap,
A home of wood is a home, my guide,
I have made a covenant, ship, —
Sah is my guide, my guide, he is my Friend.
The Being they worshipped is also called Adonai^
the Hebrew name of the Lord Almighty. The appeal
to the Heap is significant, as will fully appear in
another place; but even the tope or tumulus erected
over Sak at Sdchi will afford a clue to the secret ; since
such mounds were at first only heaps of stones, as wit-
nesses of devotion or of vows, or as memorials of the
venerated dead, and as signs of the course taken by
the Israelites, according to the prophet. (Jer. xxxi. 21.)
These uses of the heap are illustrated by many pas-
sages in the Hebrew Scripture. See, heap of witness,
Gen. xxxi. 52; Deut. xiii. 16; Josh. vii. 26; viii.
28; 2 Sam. xviii. 17.
There is an obscure passage in Job xxx. 24, which
these observations may illustrate. In this passage
the word translated " grave" in our version is heap in
the orio;inal : " Howbeit he will not stretch out his
hand to the grave [at the heap], though they cry in
his destruction." In Job xxi. 23 we have " Yet shall he
watch in the heap " (at the heap). The wanderings of
the sons of Isaac are to be traced, in fact, by their graves
being marked by peculiar heaps of ruin, and these are
erected in expression of a covenant with destruction.
The Jews are described as making a covenant with
death in Isaiah xxviii. 18. The only other word to
detain us over this inscription is the name of the place
from which the worshippers are said to have come.
174 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
namely, Makheih, This is confirmatory of the re-
cord preserved by the Malabar Hebrews, which states
that some of the scattered Israelites went to Makhe,
in Tartary, Makheth being only the full form of the
same word. Makha is named in the Behistun in-
scriptions. Was it Moecia? The connexion of the
Sakai, or Sachi, with Tartary will be show^n presently.
As to the mountain of refuge, it is to be observed
that a mountain amongst the Hebrews was under-
stood to be the proper place for a house of worship,
as in Isaiah ii. 3 : " The mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established in the top of the mountains."
The bas-relief over which the above inscription
stands represents the adoration of the relics of Sak-
YA SiNHA, the last of the mortal Buddhas, who at
death is supposed to have attained Nirvdn^ or free-
dom from transmigration. This word is peculiar to
Buddhism, and is variously explained; but may it not
be a Hebrew word signifying the state of being fully
satisfied — ]n')1^[?]. Major Cunningham names the
scene depicted in the engraving '' The Casket Scene
in the Palace. '^ " The king, with his family and mi-
nisters, seated in the foreground to the left. In the
centre a relic-casket, with two attendants holding the
chatta [umbrella] and chaori [mace] over it. To the
left a seated female is beating a drum, and a female
dancer naked to the waist, with the arms extended be-
fore her in a peculiar manner still practised in India.
In the background are two male figures, and one female
figure with a round cap, similar to those worn by
the Kashmir women of the present day. To the right
are numerous figures, all standing; two having their
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI. 175
hands joined in adoration appear to be the Raja
and his minister" (p. 213).
The figure of a head with a peculiar head-dress
lying near the relic-basket is overlooked by Major
Cunningham. The position of the head gives one
the idea that it was intended to represent the dead
person to whom the relics belonged. The whole
scene may be intended to represent the inauguration
of a statue of Sak^ for the statue erected at the
northern entrance of this tope is no doubt that of
the last Buddha. His assimilation to God is ex-
pressed by the erection of his likeness to be wor-
shipped. This idea would well agree with the fore-
going translation of the inscription. The head-dresses
of most of the figures remind us of the kerchiefs for
the head (Ezek. xiii. 18), which were charms. The
traditional head-dress of the Jewish women in the
East is called chalebi. and consists of balls of linen rao-s
tightly compressed, over which a shawl is carefully
wound, just as we see in the engraving.* The bracelets
and anklets of gold are precisely such as were found
in the tumuli on the north of the Caucasus described
by Dr. Clarke in his Travels, and thence we suppose
these people to have come. As all the faces but that
of the naked figure are carefully grouped and turned
towards the spectator, it would appear that they were
intended to be portraits. Our rough sketch in the
engraving is but a rude imitation of the original.
The figure, naked, as if by way of humiliation, is pro-
bably that of the king, whose face it would not be
lawful to represent.
* See Jews in the East, by Dr. Fraakl.
176 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
Some of the figures in other bas-reliefs are evi-
dently Scythian or Tartar, particularly the dancing
women. I regard the whole scene as representing
individuals of different nations under the dominion
of the Sakas.
In respect to the indirect evidence of Israelitish
origin presented by the Sakai as chiselled on the
pillars of these Sakai topes, or, as the natives in some
places call them, Buddha — hitha^ in this place I
would specify the dress of the soldiersf and the trial
of the bow. Major Cunningham was so struck with
the peculiar and picturesque manner in which the
quiver is fastened to the soldier's back, that he
was at once reminded of the Psalmist's words con-
cerning the children of Ephraim, who, being harnessed
and carrying hows^ turned back in the day of battle.
(Ps. Ixxviii. 10.) The whole costume resembles that
of the Scotch Highlanders, the kilt being the marked
part of their clothing. The ornament on the shields
of the cavalry and foot is a double cross, the St.
George's, or sometimes a crescent and two stars. See
symbols of Buddhism in Chap. X.
The trial of the supposed founder of Buddhism in
India, Sakya^ is represented as being a triumphant
shooting with a bow strung by himself, and which it
required a thousand persons to bend. The trial
begins with piercing a horse-hair by shooting at it
under the obscurity of dense clouds, which can only
signify subtlety in religious discussion; a relic of
which accomplishment we seem to have retained in
* Hebrew — house or temple.
t As described by Major Cunningham, from the bas-relief of a siege on
a pillar at Sanchi. (Bhilsa Topes, p. 215.)
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI. 177
our habits of hair-splitting. In the Sakian sense the
bow and arrow are persuasive teaching. The form
of the bow is precisely that of the Saxons of the
West. When Sakya's trial was accomplished, the
Sakya tribes sent their daughters superbly decorated
to the young prince, with forty thousand dancing and
singing girls. All this must be figurative of the con-
quest of Sakya over the opposers of his religion, for
it is said that, after having pierced seven iron targets
with his arrow, it reached the mountains of the iron
girdle and then pierced the earthy and caused a spring
of water to gush forth. The complete victory is fol-
lowed by beating of drums and instrumental music,
when he mounted his horse (his horses are always
supposed to be white), and returned to his palace.
The trial of skill is with his brothers Devadatta
and Nanda ; Nanda typifying Brahminism, or the
worship of the sacred bull ; and Devadatta^ Davidism
or Judaism : both which, there is reason to believe,
opposed the spread of Buddhism in Central India.
The drums ^ music^ and mounting the white horse
symbolize religious conquest, the religion itself being
symbolized by a spring of water supplying wells built
for the supply of travellers.*
It is quite a matter of dispute when the Saca era
began in India ; but the probability is that there was
more than one such era, the earliest being that of the
rise of Sakya's religion amongst the Sakya, or Saxon
tribes, in the sixth century B.C., and the last when
the Scythian Sakas, or SacaB, came again under the
* See Fo-kwe-ki, c. xxii. note 7, and Turnour in Prinsep's Journal, vii.
p. 804.
178 THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI.
dominion of a king of their own, who governed the
whole of Khorasan, Afghanistan, the Punjab, and
nearly all India, (b.c. 78.)
For the present it is enough to prove the existence
of a Saxon kingdom extending its dominion through
its religious teachers throughout the East and over
half mankind. We have sought a peculiar people of
Saxon name, and found them. We supposed these
people were known in Assyria and Media as Sakai
and Buddhii. We supposed them to have gone into
the north and mingled with the Scythian tribes ; and
here, in Central India, we find a people precisely of
the character we seek, under various designations,
but always bearing the same marks, being peculiar
alike in religious and secular habits. The Tribes is
their earliest name. Ptolemy calls them the Noble
Tribes ; the Buddhist annals acknowledge them as the
Sakya Tribes, their kingdom is Saka-nika^ and their
religious dominion is felt from Persia to China, and
from Ceylon to the centre of Mongolia. They seem
to belong to the same race as the various tribes of
Afghans, but are separated from them by the religious
creed and denomination known as that of the Buddhii
and the Pali, As Buddhii we looked for them, because
the term in their tongue we believed to indicate their
separation ; but the term Pali, as applied to this sepa-
rated people, is difficult to explain, until we remember
that in Hebrew the term exactly expresses the fact
which fixes it upon them ; for, as Buddhii means sepa-
rated^ so Pali means set apart and peculiar: both
terms alike indicating how completely these people
regarded themselves as the chosen. As Buddhii sig-
THE BUDDHISTS AND THE SAKAI. 179
nifies branches or separate divisions of people, the
term might at first have been equivalent to tribes ; and
possibly the term Pali^ or Phali^ was not adopted
by the Sacae until the Greeks came amongst them ; for
the Greeks would call the tribes Phyli; which word a
Hebrew people would adopt in their own sense of it
—set apart or distinguished — adding, it may be, some
ennobling designation; and hence perhaps the name
conferred by Ptolemy on the people who dwelt in or
near the region now spoken of — the Noble Tribes —
Aristophyli, Their central land was called Maqadha^
which, in Hebrew, means nohle. Their name as a
whole was Sacae, Sakai, Sassani, or Saxons; a name
more interesting to us, and the most aristocratic in
the world.
At a period perhaps 500 years before our era we
find these people represented in a bas-relief at the
entrance to a Biiddha-bitha^ a house of the holy one,
whose synonyme is Light.* They are here seen in a
place named after themselves, and in the act of wor-
shipping the relics of a prophet who came to them in
their own name ; and over their heads is inscribed
the record that they owned this man as their moun-
tain of refuo^e after their wanderinojs from afar, from
the place of affliction, that is, from Makhe ( HDD), and
gathered together to hold regular festivals in his
honour. We will now proceed to consider some of
the doctrines of Buddhism.
* A large tope at Sachi is dedicated to the Supreme Buddha as Light.
n2
180
CHAPTER IX.
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
It is related in the Buddhistic Scriptures of Tibet
that the doctrines of Adi-Buddha^ the Supreme God
(^Ad\on]i-Buddha ?), were adopted and taught by Sakya
in consequence of instructions he received from the
King of Sambhala^ a fabulous place on the north
of the Jaxartes,^ This king is said to have visited
Sakya at Cuttack, in Orissa. This tradition is pro-
bably founded on the fact that Sakya derived his doc-
trines from the Sacas ; some tribes of whom, at the
first promulgation of Sakya's Buddhism, certainly
dwelt in the neighbourhood of the Jaxartes, for that
river arises in the land of those Sacae who arrested
the progress of Alexander's army in that direction.
It appears that the future coming of the Lord of the
world, who, destroying the serpent, should bring peace,
and who should spring from the Sakian race, was the
doctrine especially connected with the name of Adi-
Buddha^ whom Buddhists now regard as the Intel-
lectual Being (or Essence) by whom all things were
created. This is but another form of the Hebrew
prophecy handed down from the first man, concern-
ing the coming of a Divine Man who should trample
on the serpent's head and restore man to his lost
* See Csoma de Koros' Tibetan Grammar.
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 181
Paradise. As this prophecy advanced towards fulfil-
ment the intimations concerning the Messiah's cha-
racter and advent became more and more distinct, as
portrayed in the language of inspiration; but the
very calling of Abraham as the father and founder
of the families and the hopes of Israel, was immedi-
ately connected with the promise of that Son of Man
of whom Isaac was the type ; and so from the day
that Abraham's faith foresaw the coming of Messiah
as the conqueror of Death, the word was spread
abroad by his people that the promised Saviour should
spring from the seed of Isaac. Here, then, we see the
connexion between the predicted Messiah and Sakya's
announcement of the future coming of the Lord of
the world, springing from the Sakian race and bearing
in his hand the symbol of his creative and protecting
power in the restoration of man to Paradise. The
unopened lotus, so frequently seen in Buddhistic
temples and even in the hand of Godama himself,
points to this final Buddha as foretold by Godama
the present one. As stated in our Introduction, the
lotus was held, even by the Egyptians, as an emblem
of the Divine power protecting man. Hence we see
that in the celebrated Zodiac on the ceiling of the
temple of Tentyris, the Virgin Mother appears sus-
tained by a lotus. The Buddhists of China have the
same symbol, and the title of the Queen of Heaven is
applied almost with as much devotion as if it were
adopted from the creed of Rome. The opening
flower, together with the fruit of the pomegranate,
like the knops and flowers in the tabernacle (Ex.
xxxvii. 19, &c.), and in the cedar mouldings of Solo-
182 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
mon's temple (1 Kings vi. 18), were symbols of the
nation in respect to the promises amongst the early-
Buddhists as amongst the Israelites. The moulding
of the fresco representing the Buddhas springing from
the lotus in the cave-temple of Ajanta, has precisely
this form of " knops and flowers,"
the flowers being lotuses, or lilies,*
thus. And, as if to show the all-
embracing and purifying brother-
hood of the Divine Man, the Ethiopian, or negro,
is also here seen standing on the lotus, and covered
with an ample white robe, and having a glory round
his woolly head ; a lesson which the Western Saxons
are but slowly learning.f Buddha himself is also fre-
quently represented as a negro.
"We must not forget the probability that Sakya
himself was of the Sacian, or Saxon race, though, per-
haps, he had been separated from his people, or per-
tained to a tribe that was the first to penetrate into
India, and encounter the pride and cruelty of caste
with ideas derived from the knowledge of a law that
declared all men equal in the sight of their Maker,
and required the neighbour to be loved as oneself.
The Sacian strangers that poured into Orissa from the
north and the west were sojourners with the Ethio-
pians of Indu-Cush, but they were no barbarians, for
they brought with them a religion vastly superior to
that prevailing through India. The doctrines of Sakya
were a refinement upon the worship of the elements,
Paramath, and the hosts of heaven, to which the
Persians and some of the corrupted Israelites are
* See Bird's Historical Researches, plate 20.
f Idem, plate 3.
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 183
known to have been addicted; neither did Sakya
honour the hereditary priesthood of the Brahmins,
who, as we learn from the Vedas, sacrificed animals in
a manner not unlike that of the Hebrews. Neither did
he sympathize with their opponents, the Swastikas^
who promised man nothing but annihilation at last.
But he blended the Brahminical notion of the trans-
migration of souls and ultimate immortality with the
idea that the spirit's return to Him who gave it, or
union with God, was the highest state of man. Thus
he reconciled the creed of the rationalistic fatalists,
who said "so be it," with a morality that forbade
atheistic indifi*erence, while it encouraged the sup-
pression of merely selfish desires as alike inconsistent
with the good of society and the souFs final emanci-
pation from sin and suflFering. I will not repeat
what, on doubtful authority and contradictory record,
has been stated concerning the faith of Sakya, as
I hope to quote his creed from the rock-records of the
period immediately succeeding that of his teaching.
It will be interesting to observe the similarity be-
tween some of the doctrines of Buddha and those of
Anaxagoras and Pythagoras; a similarity that has
been skilfully pointed out by Major Cunningham,*
and for which the intimacy of the Greeks with the
seat of Buddhism at an early period will sufficiently
account. The point of especial interest is the fact
that Sakya becomes a real anti-Christ, or substitute
for Christ, verily representing himself as God, and
continuing to sit permanently in God's temple as the
only object of worship.
* Bhilsa Topes, p. 33.
184 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
Of course, amidst so many elements of religious
discord as must have existed amongst converts from
all varieties of creed in India, dissension rapidly
sprung up after the decease of the authoritative
teacher whose inspiration was devoutly believed by
all his disciples. The man who, during forty years'
preaching, had overturned many tyrannies — inculcated
charity and chastity where both had been unknown —
declared perfect equality between high caste and low,
and founded hospitals for the halt, the blind, and the
destitute, placing a trained physician at stated inter-
vals, for the help of the afflicted, along the highways —
who had sent out his missionaries, fired with his own
zeal and enlightened by his intelligence, to teach
kindness everywhere, and the performance of a
thoughtful devotion as the means of delivering the
soul from evil — the man that had raised woman to her
right place, at the side and in the heart of man — the
man that had not only erected a new system of reli-
gion upon thought concerning the perishable and the
everlasting, but also thus promoted and enforced the
highest moral reform known in the world before
Christianity appeared — the man that had remodelled
the language as well as the ideas of the people over
whom he reigned by directing the compilation of
new Sanskrit and Pali grammars* — the man qualified
to accomplish such things was a man likely to be
missed ; and not one amongst his chief disciples was
likely to be better fitted to fill his throne than were
any of the Seleucidae to succeed Alexander the Great.
His doctrines were not, like Mahomet^s, to be carried
* Probably with a view to the incorporation of Hebrew in a Pali form.
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 185
out b}' presenting the sword in one hand and a Koran
in the other; but by inviting both man and woman
equally to consider the best use and highest end of
this life. His successors needed mind, and they had
it; but they also needed unity, and had it not. The
rule of many minds, instead of that of the one master
mind, soon followed; and by and bye sjmods were
invented as a substitute for the centralization of a
will and a purpose; but this invention was but a
feeble substitute. Three exti^ordinary assemblies of
this kind were summoned under the auspices of the
learned fraternities that continued heartily to propa-
gate the doctrines of Godama. We will not go into
the consideration of all their discussions about what
was allowable, or what not, but at once run on to
the year 270 B.C., when Asoka^ formerly surnamed
the Furious^ but, since conversion to Buddhism,
known as the Pious^ began to perceive the necessity
of clearing his country of heretical sects. Alas, eight
sects were found amongst the monkish priests alone,
and sixty thousand of them were stripped of their
gowns. Here, by way of note, it is worthy of remark
that this Asoka, King of Magadha, is said, in the
annals of Cashmir (of very early date), to have been
converted to the religion of the Sakai, or Saks; so
that it was then understood that the Sacas, who over-
ran the land, were all Buddhists. Asoka was assisted
by a thousand Arhats, or religious counsellors, who
assembled with him at Pataliputra; and who, when
they had disposed of the heretics, sat for nine months
rehearsing the doctrines and praises of Sakya-Godama ;
and then, at the conclusion of the synod, sent out
186 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA BUDDHA.
a number of authentic teachers to the folio win of
countries: — 1. Cashmir and Peshdwar. 2. The
country about the Narbada. 3. Mewar and Bundi.
4. Northern Sind.* 5. The Maharatta country. 6.
The Greek province of Cabul, Arachosia. 7. The
country of the Himdlayas. 8. Ava, or Siam — that
is, the golden land, Aurea Regio^ or the Aurea Cher-
sonesus, 9. Lanka^ or Ceylon. The narrative of
these missions is preserved entire in the Singalese
sacred books Dipawanso and Mahawanso, •
I have referred to these missions to show that
Cabul Proper, and that part of the Punjab which we
have supposed the Sacas to have occupied, had no
occasion for missionaries, being, as we may infer,
already Buddhists, and that because they were Sacae.
As we may have reason to recur to Asoka, some of
the incidents of his zeal may not be uninteresting in
this place, as elucidating the doctrines of Sakya and
their origin. When first Sakya introduced his
novelties of doctrine and modes of worship he was
stoutly resisted by the adherents to the old form of
things, and especially by the priests. But such a
man was not to be put down; he knew his mission.
What was it to him that the Dewadatha and his
kindred disapproved? In courtesy he acknowledged
their good intentions, but begged to convince them
that the claims of Heaven were superior to theirs.
Had he not seen angels, and talked with the dead,
who bade him remodel the world's ideas like a re-
former self-reformed? Had it not been written on
the tables of his heart that the scholar must sacrifice
* The missionary here was a G.-eek,
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 187
himself and expiate his errors with his bodily life?
He was ready to suffer anything in defence of the
faith he was called to preach, and so he defied all
opposers, and so he conquered them. Nevertheless,
there was division ; and Sakya, though he defied the
sorceries of the Turs and the fire-worshippers, could
not suppress the schisms amongst those who pro-
fessed to be his followers.* It is true he as-
sumed authority in consequence of direct inspi-
ration; for, as he told his disciples, a thousand
lights had been kindled by his angel upon his body
to purify him from his former sins, and the doctrines
of truth had been written on his own body with a
pen formed out of his own bones, and dipped in his
own blood instead of ink. They accepted all this,
and many volumes of experiences besides; but still
they held their own opinion about forms and cere-
monies, if not about faith and acceptance. It is
evident that they appealed to pre-existing usages and
written authorities preceding the new assumption,
and endeavoured to reconcile their belief in Sakya's
calling with the truth of former prophets. During
Sakya's life his authority checked divisions ; but after
his death disputes speedily spread discord in Magadha,
where the new Buddhism was first set up. The earlier
divisions were settled by synods, and within a century
after Sakya's death two remarkable synods were held, in
both of which the written laws in relation to religious
usages and assemblies were appealed to, and the
schismatics judged accordingly. The English reader
* The Turs, or Turi, were a sort of wandering friars, so called evidently
from ''"11/1, signifying those who go about to spy out a country.
188 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
would be struck with the resemblance which the
synod bears to that of a trial by jury, in which we
have the hearing of both parties in reply to questions,
the retirement of the jury to consider their verdict,
and the sentence of the judge according to law;* a
mode of proceeding vastly different from the usual
judicature of the East. On a future occasion, when
the dissentients became too numerous to be dealt
with by synod, a readier mode was adopted. Such
was the state of things in the commencement of the
reign of Asoha. (274 B.C.) He was surnamed the
Furious ; and when he was converted to Buddhism,
he carried his fury into his religion, and in four
years compelled "the whole of Northern India, from
the mountains of Kashmir to the banks of the
Narbadda, and from the mouths of the Indus to the
Bay of Bengal," to receive his own views. The
schism then seems to have been settled by the pre-
dominant party appealing to the king, who, of course,
employed his only authority, that of the sword, and,
as usual, effectually proved where the heresy lay, by
threatening, like other defenders of the faith, death
to all who did not believe as he did. The orthodox
receivers of the new religion were so strict in their
ideas that they contended that acceptable worship
could only be offered up by ordained men, or ap-
pointed priests, and that only in places especially
consecrated for the purpose. The higher order of
priests in the kingdom of Asoka were also so strict
that they deemed it a sin of the first magnitude to
worship in the company of any that did not submit
* See Major Cunningham's account, Bhilsa Topes, p. 77.
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 189
in all things to their orders. Hence it happened
that, since they could not obtain consecrated places,
nor contrive to exclude from their assemblies all
doubtful characters, they had resolved to confine all
the benefits of worship to themselves and the few
introduced to their private assemblies by the ob-
servance of especial and purifying rites. In this
exclusiveness they persisted for seven years, when
the king Asoha^ being scandalized that public wor-
ship should have been suppressed for so long a period
by these sanctimonious priests, resolved to put an
end to their exclusiveness, and sent his chief minister
to persuade them to submission as best he might.
This led to a fine scene. The heads of the establish-
ment, or monastery, a school of the prophets, in which
these rigid priests were congregated, refused to sub-
mit to the dictation of the king. They would not
come forth from their convent to conduct public
worship in places where heretics of all kinds were
admitted. Thereupon the king's minister ordered
several of them to be beheaded on the spot, in the
order in which they sat at worship. The king^s
brother was among the recusants, and he placed him-
self on the seat to which the executioner first came,
and held out his head for decapitation. This was a
martyrdom not expected and not to be desired. The
king was referred to; but, instead of following out his
own orders, he saw that he had proceeded already too
far; he therefore humbled himself, and begged ab-
solution from the holy brotherhood. Thereupon a
convocation was commanded, and the Buddhist
church was forthwith purified by the expulsion of
190 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
60,000 heretical priests ! So says the record ! Now,
what was their heresy? It appears that there were
adherents to the old written laws amongst them.
These appear to have been mixed with fire-wor>
shippers ; in short, the circumstances altogether seem
to indicate that they were Hebrews somewhat cor-
rupted by association with the Magi of Persia, and
willing to connive at certain accommodations to the
heathenish taste of those about them for the sake of
maintaining their influence. They were, however,
unwilling or unable to observe the severe discipline
which Sakya-Sinha, or -Godama, had imposed on
them, or perhaps they conscientiously adhered to
older ideas. But the main dispute was concerning
the propriety of continuing to sacrifice animals. The
Buddhic religion, as propounded by Sakya, forbade
the shedding of blood; but the religion of Sakya's
kinsmen, and, therefore, probably the religion whicli
Sakya himself professed before he became inspired
with his new ideas, required that clean animals
should be offered up as an atonement for sin. These
Turs also admitted outer-court worshippers. Another
point of contention was concerning vestments, as
we learn, from the annals of Buddhism, that the
priests that were expelled were clothed in white
garments, which were prescribed for sacrificing
priests under the Mosaic law. Whether these vest-
ments were adopted by themselves or forced upon
them amounts to the same thing, they were insisted
on as the proper habiliments of those who sacrificed
animal life.
The new doctrines of Buddha were evidently de-
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 191
livered as a refinement of the old system, whatever
that was. Sakya had declared that God did not
demand atonement by the shedding of blood as the
sign of yielding up of life to his service, but he
demanded self-dedication. Thus men addict them-
selves to conceits until no longer perceiving any truth
in the words of Heaven. The laws of their own folly
thus supersede the laws of eternal wisdom, and, in-
stead of a gospel, or God's news, concerning a salva-
tion perfected, they produce a prescription of rugged
incongruities by following which some sort of Heaven
may perchance be gained, if, indeed, it be worth the
trouble. Thus it was with the inventor of Buddhism.
He substituted his own ten laws for the ten laws of
Moses. He takes hold of all the first elements of
morality indeed, and therefore his commandments
are so far good ; that is, they are so far like God's laws.
He says: — 1. Do not kill. 2. Do not steal. 3. Do
not commit impurity. 4. Do not bear false witness.
5. Do not lie. 6. Do not swear. 7. Shun scandal.
8. Do not covet. 9. Seek not revenge. 10. Be not
bigoted. These laws are the foundation of the reli-
gion taught by the inventor of Buddhism,* and many
nominal Christians would be the better for observinsr
them. They commend themselves to the conscience,
but all reference to the love of God as the Creator is
avoided. Sakya, indeed, was not an idolater; he
worshipped one supreme God, and exhorted others to
do the same ; but his system necessarily led to idolatry
in consequence of the manner in which the attributes
of Divinity were figuratively associated by him with
* Klaproth's Leben des Buddha.
192 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
their manifestations in created things. The Divine
authority is overlooked, or only implied, and his own
authority, on the ground of a new revelation, is substi-
tuted and enforced. The devotion of the life to God,
as the Author of life, in gratitude, and the thorough
yielding of the mind, heart, and soul in love to Him
because of his infinite goodness, is not in his practice
overlooked ; but then the whole economy of salvation
from sin is founded on mercy alone, and yet, with an
inconsistency by no means uncommon, that mercy is
said to be secured by horrible penances and by re-
fusing to enjoy the riches of God's providence. In
the Pali work, styled Oossathaka Lankara, or Orna-
ment of the Devout, Gaudama, or Gotama, also called
Sakya, is represented as undergoing, for forty-nine
days, the impregnation that rendered him a Boodh,
each change, or advancement towards perfection, oc-
cupying seven ;* that is to say, he was engaged in his
spiritual struggle for regeneration during a week of
weeks — a very Hebraic mode of expressing the com-
pleteness of his endeavour after holiness. The cor-
ruption of human nature is implied in the fact that
Sakya, though tracing his origin to the kingdom of
God, owns that he derived a sinful disposition through
his birth from an earthly mother. After a long series
of trials, and after having sought diligently the means
of living in obedience to the laws of God, and in har-
mony with nature and mankind, he is enabled to
apprehend and appreciate the ten first laws of mo-
rality. He then perceives that the death due to
sinners is vaster than all the planetary worlds, and
* See Bengal As. Journal, vol. xiii. p. 573.
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 193
that sin is not to be atoned for by any abundance of
bloodshedding, even though it should fill the channels
of all the rivers and all the seas. Enlightened, as he
says, by the teaching Spirit, he informs us that he at
length obtained a knowledge of his wickedness, and
abhorred himself.* But, unhappily, together with
this awful Job-like apprehension of the heinousness of
sin, he does not, like Job, obtain a just conception of
the Divine character. He repents, indeed, in dust
and ashes ; but he seems never to get out of the dust
and ashes until his metamorphosis in death, the
death he sought being the annihilation of desires.
He entreats the instructing Spirit to submit him to
every proof by which the sincerity of his repentance
may be tested, he pleads his having forsaken his king-
dom and his throne in evidence of the strength of his
convictions; but, in order to avert the consequences of
his former sins, under a consciousness of which he
was labouring in despair, he begs to be tortured suffi-
ciently. Thus, on his entreaty, his teacher laid him
down and covered his body with lighted tapers.
This, however, he found was not sufficient for his
purification, and all he learnt from the process was,
he tells us, summed up in these four sentences ; —
" All treasures must be emptied.
All loftiness must fall.
All earthly union must be broken.
All that lives must die."
We cannot but perceive a profound idea in these
sentences. They seem to teach the insufficiency of
all sacrifice to make atonement for sin; and that,
* " UUigerim Dalai," quoted by Klaproth in Asia Poljglotta.
O
194 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
in order to be restored to purity and heaven, it is
first of all essential that a man should be emptied of
all self-reliance, all pride, all earthly attachment, all
love of this life merely for its own sake. It appears
that this degree of knowledge only augmented his
avidity for holy doctrine, so that, day and night, he
could not rest. He was saved from despair only by
understanding the necessity of renouncing all he
valued in this life for the sake of a higher life ; but
still he thought to expiate his offences by sufi'ering,
and therefore, in vision, he thought himself pierced
as by a thousand nails, under the hand of his angel
guide. The result of this process was a new amount
of conviction, expressed in these words : —
" The visible must perish,
And all things born must mourn.
Faith has a kingdom yet unseen;
The real is in the mind."
Still, not satisfied, he entreats for further light, and,
in order to this, it appears necessary that he should
be subjected to deeper sufi'ering still, and then, with
the poetry of a true seer, he seems to enter into a
heated furnace, the flames of which reach up to
heaven, but in which the angelic instructor still
attends to teach him wisdom, while, to soothe his
sufifering, the refreshing dew of flowers is shed over
him from the hands of a thousand angels. Hence he
learns these sentences : —
" The strength of mercy is firmer than a rock.
Faith in unbounded mercy is the rule.
The path to holiness, the way to heaven.*'
There is something beautiful in this, and, as a Chris-
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 195
tian sees, it is true. Truth and beauty are really
one, and hence " a thing of beauty is a joy for ever."
So Sakya says he was perfectly possessed by this idea
of infinite mercy, and that it filled him with unutter-
able joy. He went forth inspired by this thought,
and it is no wonder his eloquence prevailed with
kinoes and heroes and all that suflfered with a strong
will.
His lips were touched with holy fire, and at his
words Magi and Brahmins, and Shiva and the Sun-
gods began to disappear. He preached repentance,
pardon, self-negation, and regeneration ; in dark say-
ings truly, but with faith in the Spirit of Mercy ; and
hence, his doctrines meeting in some measure the
wants of man's soul, his disciples grew by millions.
Now, where can we discover any source from whence
such a conception of mercy as the essential perfection
of Divinity could be derived but in the Hebrew Bible ?
It was in reflection on the three epochs of religion
which had preceded him, and after he had meditated
on the ten commandments first given unto men, and
on the ways of God to man, that Sakya obtained his
doctrines. This is stated as his own account of the
matter. But when we add that Sakya's baptism of
sufi^ering was represented by himself very nearly in
the words of Isaiah, as the means by which he was
qualified to bear the sins and carry the sorrows of
others, so as to heal them by his stripes while he
bore the government on his shoulders, the source of
his ideas can scarcely be doubted. The ancient
Buddhistic creed is probably concealed in a great
degree by the comments and expositions of compara-
o2
196 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
tively modern Buddhistic writers ; but, if we carefully
examine the Buddhist coins and medals that have
been preserved, we shall, with the help of the learned
explanations afforded us by Palic scholars, discover
much of its mystery. Thus, with a drawing of a
Buddhist medal now before us (see plate), we may
learn several particulars of great interest. Fig. 1, «,
represents a tsedya, or small pagoda (tl'^n^ [?])>
in which are supposed to be deposited some
sacred relic, with the volumes of the sacred law
called " Tdra." This object is usually seen in Bud-
dhist coins. The rolls of the law were deposited, with
sacred relics also, in the ark of the Israelites. It
appears the more remarkable from the fact that the
sacred law is named " Tara," and that this law is
represented by ten upright glyphs, rolls, or pillars.
The law contained in the two tables of Moses has
also this name, in Hebrew, Torah ; and it also consists
of ten divisions, which some of the Rabbi regard
as consisting of three orders of commandments,
divided, as in this case, three, three, and four. On
either side of the recess, or ark, in which the law is
deposited, the head of a cobra capella erects itself.
Here we recognise the serpent as represented on
Egyptian monuments in connexion with the tree of
life. We know that all Semitic nations at least
associate the serpent with the introduction of sin.
Would not this signify that the temptation ever
stands beside the law, and that the law is given,
as St. Paul says, because of transgression, but that
the fulfilment of it is life. Above the law the sun
and moon are seen, representing the heavenly souroes
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THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 197
of light and intelligence ruling the day and the night.
On the left side of the law we have the triglyph, the
usual emblem of the Buddhist Triad, representing
the embodiment of the Divine nature in the Buddha;
that is to say, the manifestation of God in Buddha,
in the law, and in the congregation ; or, as we say,
the manifestation of God in Messiah, in the law, and
in the Church. When these are joined together to
represent the essential attributes in Trinity, called
Thdrdnd Goon^ the triglyph is united into the form of
a trident, the summit being crowned with the ancient
symbol of Deity, consisting of three yods^ and being
the letter T, J, or Y of the ancient Palic alphabet.
This, as before stated, was the emblem of the Supreme
amongst the ancient Hebrews, and is equivalent to
the same symbol in Hieratic Egyptian and Coptic,
implying potentiality. In Arabic, the word Allah^
God, is also expressed by three upright strokes united
at the base. At the lower part the united triglyph
rests upon a cross, or swastika. The cross is a
favourite device with the Buddhas, and, when stand-
ing alone, it resembles that of the Manicheans, and is
placed on a kind of Calvary, as among the Roman
Catholics. It simifies the tree of life and knowledofe,
putting forth leaves, flowers, and fruits, and, being
placed in the terrestrial Paradise, it is there productive
of all that is good and desirable.* Thus, the essential
attributes of the Trinity are represented in the form
of a trident, having the emblem of Deity on its summit
and the cross at its base ; the Divine Manhood, the
law, and the Church, being united into one between
* See As. Res. vol. x. p. 123.
198 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDiDHA.
the cross as the tree of life, and the Godhead above
all, and through all. The other parts of this emble-
matic medal are equally expressive. Thus we have on
the obverse (Fig. 2) the architectural symbols re-
presenting the handiwork of the Great Architect or
Geometrician of the universe. The two symbols
united represent the letters P and M, meaning their
law. They are surrounded by the twenty-eight cha-
racteristics of the Maha-gahba — the grand period
(Heb.), of which this present world (dispensation [?])
is the last number ; but the whole period is itself repre-
sented by the five Boodhs, or embodiments of Deity,
placed above these emblems of creative power. The
circumstances altogether clearly indicate the Israel-
itish origin of this earliest form of Buddhism. The
three epochs of religion are indicated in the Hebrew
Bible — the early patriarchal, the Abrahamic, the
Mosaic; and mercy was the essential quality of each
advance in revelation, from the first promise to the
penitents in Eden, until Moses summed up the law as
love to God and our neighbour — to God as Himself
the perfect One, and to man, as God's image; the
coming of the Saviour-God, born of woman, being
associated with all the epochs, as it was also with
those of Sakya.
It should be remembered that Buddhism as it now
exists in India, Ceylon, and the Indo-Chinese terri-
tories, does not fairly represent that form of it which
originated with Sakya. It has been corrupted by
various pagan additions, and has assumed shapes ac-
cording to the idolatries it has encountered, until at
length but little of the original creed appears in its
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 199
pure form. For instance, the celibacy of the priests
of Buddha is now universal, and yet, according to
their own records, it appears that Sakya himself was
married tmce, and that he gave his disciples precepts
concerning the qualities which should determine their
choice of a wife.* Most of the countries professing
Buddhism have corrupted the doctrines of Godama-
Buddha; but still the complete equality of men and
women has been produced by Buddhism in Burmah
and Siam ; and Father Bigaudetf says that " women
are in those countries really the companions, and not
the slaves of the men ; a high proof of its civilizing
tendency, notwithstanding its absurdities." Though
Burmah has been forced into war with us, yet the
priests protested against the war, as contrary to the
doctrines of Godama. The pure Buddhists repudiate
war and all bloodshed — their doctrine is non-resist-
ance and submission; they also declare against the
folly and pride of caste, and while preaching the ne-
cessity of yielding to law, assert the equality of all
mankind as subject alike to sin and ruin, and alike to
be elevated only by truth and benevolence.
It is curious that this new religion introduced from
the north-west into the furthest borders of India
should have led even the priests of the ghastly Jagan-
nath to put something like a spiritual construction
upon their hideous worship. They say, " Hear, now,
the truth of the Darn Avatdr. [An Avatar is a new
manifestation of the Deity.] What part of the uni-
verse does not the Divine Spirit pervade? He sports
* Vide Lalita Vistara, chap. xii.
t Quoted by Sir J. Bowring.
200 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
in different forms. In the heaven of Brahma he is
Brahma ; in the upper world he is Indra ; on earth he
is found in all the Khetris, here in one shape, there in
another/* The Brahmins say the Sri Yeo^ the Holy
Spirit, is worshipped by them at Arka, in Kanarah.*
They are very accommodating, and, like pantheists
everywhere, philosophically contrive to countenance
all forms of idolatry, by allowing every one to dress
up any deformity of his own mind and worship it at
his liking, provided he declares himself moved by a
Sri Yeo. This reference to a Darn Avatar reminds
us of the decree addressed by Nebuchadnezzar the
king unto all people, and nations, and languages
(Dan. iv.), and which for a time probably modified
and restrained idolatrous ideas in all the East, as far
as the Indus at least, and thus far fulfilled the pur-
pose for which that strange king was raised up by
Providence, namely, to tell all men that there is a
" Most High, a King of heaven, all whose works are
truth, and his ways judgment." (Dan. iv. 37.)
It may not be uninteresting, nor without advantage
to our argument, here to introduce a brief notice of
the oldest mythological compositions extant in India
— those marvellous poems, the Purdnds, the Mahaba-
rata and the Ramayana. From these works we
obtain the earliest notice to be found of the ancient
history of India, especially in relation to the
struggles of religious systems. The writers affect
to relate circumstances as occurring at immensely
ancient periods; but it is evident that this air of
extreme antiquity is only assumed for the sake of
* Asiat. Res. vol. xv. p. 318, &c.
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 201
adding a venerable mystery to the stirring incidents
and grandeur of the scenes depicted. The style of
composition proves these works to be of comparatively
modern production, and can scarcely be referred to
any period much anterior to the Christian era.
The Ramayana^ as shadowing forth the remotest
known conditions of the two typical stocks and
national religions of India, is most to our present
purpose. It is written after the Homeric manner,
and betrays many indications that mingled Greek and
Hebrew ideas pervaded the minds of the writers.
The subject is the hero divinity of the first dynasty
of the kings of Oude^ which arose before any other of
the sovereignties of India were conquered by the
bearded race. The countries and races with whom
this hero carried on a successful warfare are per-
sonified as giants. Rama is the name of this hero.
The point most worthy of remark is, that he is stated
to be the son of Buddha and the grandson of Meru.
Now, as the whole story personifies nations or people
as individuals, we must understand Rama to mean a
people — that is to say, an exalted nation. What, then,
is signified by this nation being the ofi*spring of
Buddha and Meru? Buddha means separated, and
Meru his rebellion, that is to say, that the nation
mentioned became exalted in consequence of a sepa-
ration that arose from rebellion. The original abode
of this Rama agrees well with this derivation, for it
is stated that he dwelt at first in the holy mountains
of the West. Another hero, or nation, is associated
with Rama^ denominated Bali-Rama (high lord), who
is represented as the oflFspring of Des-Aratha (the
202 THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA.
country of Armenia). This hero crosses the Indus
and Punjab with a large army, distinguished by the
names of wild beasts, probably their ensigns ; and he
founds a kingdom in AyodKya^ now known as Oude.
Ay'odh^ya, as Hebrew, would mean " the praising of
God." It would be highly interesting if it could be
shown that the people of Oude, with whom we have had
so deadly a quarrel, are of Jewish origin, inheriting
the treachery of Judah. This hero, Bali- Rama, with
his brother, Krisma, an Indian ally, vanquishes Java
Saudha^ King of Bahar, and afterwards goes forth to
conquer other countries, and wars with giants in
Ceylon. This war of races and religions is termi-
nated by the return of the conqueror to Ayodhya^
where he reigns in piety and peace. This country
was at one time the centre of Buddhism.
In the Mahaharata Ave find mythological circum-
stances parallel with those of Egypt, Greece, and
Rome, and the warfare is between the tribes who ad«
here to the Arkite lunar doctrine, and those who wor-
ship the sun. By the former, the moon is adored as
a representative of the ark, in which the parents of
a new world were preserved from the deluge. In
some of the mythical tales we find conflicts deli-
neated with the extravagance of Eastern romance, in
which the tribes of Yadhu (n"* his hand [ ?]) are broken
and scattered. They are described as departing with
Ardjoon ( ]V1'ltk fugitives — 1 Chron. viii. 3 ) to
unknown regions. In other descriptions the Ashurs
(people from Assyria [ ?] ) are spoken of as an eminently
religious and virtuous people until, being induced to
adopt the new tenets of Buddha, as more humane,
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 203
and forsaking those of their old books, they are said
to fall away from the true religion.
These Ashurs may be the same as the Hasaures^ or
Asii^ of Indo-German history ; and if so, they are pro-
bably identical with the Sacce. However that may
be, the period of their first appearance in India is
tolerably well marked, since they are said to have
adopted Buddhism in its earliest establishment. It
is worthy of remark that these Ashurs are described
as the sons or people of Kasyapa^ a name similar to
that of the country to which Ezra sent for ministers
for the house of God, on the return of the Jews to
Judea (Ezra viii. 17). Kasyapa is identified with
Cashmir by Orientalists. May not this name be traced
back to the Caucasus? Diodorus Siculus informs
us that the Scythians transplanted a Median colony
into Sarmatia ; this was in the seventh century B.C., ac-
cording to Klaproth. In the year 948 a.d. remains of
these Median colonists of Sarmatia lived on the nor-
thern side of the Caucasus and north of Kasachia'
These people called themselves As and Ashurs. They
are also associated with Kasog, Kasacks, or Cossacks
(all Sacae), in the Russian chronicles. The descend-
ants of those colonists now existing in the Caucasus
speak an Arian dialect, though surrounded by people
of a far different language.* Were not these Medians
Asheri, or people of the tribe of Asher, who accom-
panied the Scythians into the country of the Massa-
getae, when they were expelled from Media?
In addition to these observations on the doctrines
of Buddhism, we remark that indications of Hebrew
* See Miiller on the Languages, &c., p. 35.
204 THE DOCTRINES OP SAKYA-BUDDHA.
influence on India appear in the following circum-
stances: 1. The laws of Menu strikingly resemble
those of Moses. 2. When the people of Ceylon were
subdued by Buddhist invaders, they were forced, like
the Israelites, to make bricks for their masters. 3.
When the Great Dagoba, the Euanwelle^ at Anaraja-
poora^ was built ( B.C. 161), the materials were pre-
pared at a distance, as in the building of Solomon's
temple. (Mahawanso, xxvii.) 4. The parting of the
Red Sea has its counterpart in the exploit of the king
Gaja Bahu (a.d. 109); who, in bringing back the
Singalese from captivity in Sollee, smote the waters
of the sea, so that he and his army marched through
without wetting the soles of their feet. (Rajaratna-
cari^ p. 50.) 5. King Maba Sen (a.d. 275) received
his mantle from Heaven, and Buddha, in designating
his successor, is said to have transmitted his robe, as
Elijah did to Elisha. (Eajavali^ p. 238.) 6. When the
Singalese king was dying, a car, descending from the
sky, received his spirit; reminding us of Elijah's
translation. 7. Constant allusion is made to the
practice of kings washing the feet of priests and
anointing them with oil. {Mahawanso^ chap, xxv.-
XXX.) 8. In consonance with the Hebrew doctrine,
the sins of the fathers are said to have been visited
on their children. {Rajavali^ pp. 174-178). 9. The
story of Bel and the Dragon has a close resemblance
to that of King Batiya Tissa, who by a secret passage
entered the Ruanwelle Dagoba. 10. The inextin-
guishable fire on the altar of God (Lev. vi. 13) is
like the perpetually-burning lamp in honour of
Buddha. 11. The preparation of the high road for
THE DOCTRINES OF SAKYA-BUDDHA. 205
the procession of the Bo-tree, and the march of the
king, reminds us of Isai. xl. 3. 12. The prophecy of
the kingdom of peace by Isaiah, in which the dif-
ferent animals (peoples) repose together, resembles
the state of things predicted to arise under the
religion of Buddha. (Mahaicanso, v. 22.) 13. The
judgment of Solomon has its parallel in a story in
the PansyiapanaS'jataha,^
* See Tennent's Cejlon, vol. i. p. 525 ; and Roberts's Illustrations.
206
CHAPTER X.
BUDDHISTIC SYIVIBOLS: THEIH ORIGIN AND
SIGNIFICANCE.
A FEW observations on certain points in the rise of
the Sacian Buddhism, and on the nature of the sym-
bols most reverenced by the learned devotees of that
religion, will prepare us the better to interpret the
ancient Buddhistic inscriptions, and to demonstrate
their origin.
It is possible that, although Sakya, the supposed
founder of modern Buddhism, be a real personage,
yet the incidents of his early life might afford ground
for a mythical storj^, expressive of circumstances in
relation to the people whom he represented ; at least,
much that is written concerning him may be made to
resolve itself into a history of the rise and progress
of the Buddhistic religion, or of the people who pro-
fessed it. The name Sakya, or Sachia, is Hebrew
noti^, and it appears amongst the Benjamite " heads
of the fathers " in 1 Chron. viii. 10. Our lexicons
give it as if derived from a word that signifies '* to
wander;" but it may mean repose in the sense of ces-
sation, rest as arrest, and so may approximate closely
to the sense attributed by the Chinese traveller al-
ready mentioned to the name of the city or kingdom
BUDDHISTIC SYMBOLS. 207
Sachi. Sakya is said to be the son of Maya^ by
Suddhodana^ Raja of Kapila, Maya signifies delu-
sion in Sanscrit, but in Hebrew it means anything as
a judgment from God; but let us transliterate the
words thus, tib^2 yi T^TlM^ rT'D — we get the sentence,
" there were destruction and judgment from God : He
divided the government in two." Sakya's original
name is said to have been Siddharta^ which is a Chaldee
word signifying an effort made for oneself, or inde-
pendence. He is said to have descended on his
father's side from Iksliwdku^ of the Suryavansa race,
Nt:r:inm::r-iDnit:^p^ — " they were ensnared and smitten :
God became an enemy, and carried [them] away." At
the age of sixteen Sakya is said to have been united
to Yasodard, also called Subhaddachhdnd n"iT-(^)*);:;^
n^n 11 ti2W ; that is, "' her race was saved ; the afilicted,
repenting, found mercy." These words, no doubt, ap-
proximate in sound to Sanscrit, and may in that lan-
guage, or in Pali, have a meaning, on principles to be
shown in another chapter; but this hidden Hebrew
sense appears also to belong to them; and it is
so remarkably applicable to the people indoctrinated
ty Sakya, the last mortal Buddha, that, to suppose it
quite accidental, is to imagine it possible to form ex-
pressive sentences by a chance disposal of letters.
The origin of Sakya is almost expressed in the
legends concerning his contests with the e\dl beings
called Ashurs (Assyrians), whom he conquered by
the use of the bow when known under the name of
Sakko, This name, it will be remembered, is that by
which we concluded that the Sacae were known on
the banks of the Ghebar, in Assyria. It is curious
208 BUDDHISTIC symbols:
that the legend should add that Sakya had previously
driven out the Ashurs from the land of the Devadas,
the name by which I believe the Sacae designated
Palestine — the land of those who obeyed the successors
of David, and whose religion I suppose to have been
personified by the Sacae under the name Dewadatta^
or Davidism. The name of this great teacher is that
of one of " the heads of the fathers *' amongst the
Israelites — with whom, certainly, Divine judgment,
destruction, and a divided rule were no unknown
things ; and it is equally evident that the calamity of
Israel arose from an attempt at independency, and
that they were entrapped and smitten and forsaken
of God, and carried away, are historical facts. After
the alliance with another people, success and prosperity
follow ; and this prosperity we find attributed to the
use of the bow after the manner of the Sakai and
the Ephraimites. At twenty-nine years of age, after
an abundant experience of the joys and sorrows of
life, Sakya takes his standing as a teacher. He is re-
presented as being converted thus : he is proceeding,
as usual, to his pleasure-garden, drawn by his four
white steeds, when, encountering a decrepit old man,
he at once reflects upon decay.
Four months later he meets, under like circum-
stances, a squalid wretch afflicted with disease^ and
reflects on that.
Four months later he meets a corpse. He then
reflects on death.
Four months later he noticed a healthy, well-clad
person, wearing the robe of one devoted to religion,
and the prince resolves at once to secure health of
body and cheerfulness of mind by religion.
THEIR ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE. 209
Such are "the four predictive signs/' or marks,
which all who would be perfect in the worship of Bud-
dha must observe.
In short, the prevalence of decay^ disease^ and
death renders it essential that a people should secure
in religious faith and practice the expectation of a
deliverance from suffering, and of an entrance into
the joys of a higher life, when death liberates the
soul from the thraldom of the body ; and this is pre-
cisely what Sakya taught when preaching the eflScacy
of Damma as both faith and works, in charity,
abstinence, and reverence for life.* If it be ob-
jected that those words which I have pointed out
as possibly of Hebrew origin have also a Pali or
Sanscrit signification, I reply that, though in general
the words peculiarly related to Buddhism and its
founder have some sacred and secondary meaning
attached to them as Pali words, vet that meaninof is
always conventional ; and that in many instances the
meaning of such words is Avholly inexplicable and
unknown to the most learned amongst the Buddhists
of the present day ; and that many of those words are
explained on insufficient grounds from comparison
with Sanscrit words having only some approximate
similarity to them. Thus Sakya, in pursuing his
alms-pilgrimage, acquired from certain priests a
knowledge of Samdpatti. Now, this word is supposed
to be the same as the Sanscrit SamddhL meaninsr
silent abstraction. So, again, Padhan is supposed to
mean the same as Pradhdn^ nature or concrete
matter. But, if we remember that Samdpatti was a
* See Tumour's Mahaicanso, and extracts from the Attakatthaf.
P
210 BUDDHISTIC symbols:
mode of religious mortification by which he hoped in
vain to perfect himself, we may see the appropriate-
ness and force of the word as Hebrew — ^J13 HDt^
desolation is my foolishness or deception. He for-
sakes this starving, self-afflicting mode for the study
of Mahd padhan (pS) nriD, waiting for redemp-
tion), and ultimately he finds the way to perfection
in using proper food and proper exercise, while ob-
serving all that was essential to the propagation of
charity and religion. While under the Bodhi tree
it is said that he was assailed by the terrors or
demon of death, but he acquired calmness in
Damma and in hope of Nirvana,^ Now, the words
supposed to mean the Demon of Death are Namuchi-
Mara, which being Hebrew HID Trb^, mean rather
the removal or wiping away of bitterness. Of
Damma much will be said hereafter; but Nirvana is
clearly the Hebrew word njm")J, signifying to be
fully satisfied or prosperous. Bodhi means, in
Hebrew, solitary ; and in this state of solitary medita-
tion, under difi*erent trees, during a week of weeks, he
obtained the state called Bodhi-juydn, by which Bud-
dhists are said to understand supreme wisdom. The
werds in Hebrew may mean individual derivation,
Vi''-n2, as if to signify that the souVs rest was to
be found only in understanding its own nature.
This meaning of the word is quite in keeping with
the Buddhistic doctrine that a priestly assumption of
mediation between a man and his Maker is impious,
and that the soul's perfection is to be at one with
God, through Buddha. Sakya divided his doctrines
* Tumour's extracts inPrinsep's Journal, p. 811.
THEIR ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE. 211
into three classes adapted to the comprehension of
three kinds of hearers: 1, Bindya^ for the com-
monalty; 2, Sutra, or the principles of faith fitted
for peculiar intellects; and, 3, Abhi-damma, or the
supreme law of worship imparted only to Bodhi-
satwas. Now we can perceive the fitness of such
divisions when we find that these terms are Hebrew :
1, Bindya, the discerning of God; 2, Sutra, dis-
criminating, or severing asunder (int:^) ; 3, Ahhi-
damma (ddi Uh^), the father of worship, i.e., some
esoteric doctrine, fit only for the Bodhi-satwa,
7^^rWJ^11, he who drinks in the doctrine alone, as if
in the experience of solitary meditation — the actual
experimental religionist.
It is not intended to deny that such a religion was
propounded by an individual to whom the name of
Sakya was given, but only to show the probability of
his being himself one of the Sakian race, as well as
taught by Buddhists, who were also of that race, and
that this race was Israelitish. The father of Sakya
is said to have been Raja of Kapila. Now, this place
was situated between Oude and Gorakhpur, and the
Sdki dwelt there, and there they built a Buddha-
Bitha over the relics of Sakya immediately after
his death, said to have taken place 543 B.C.* If
Sakya derived his religion from an Israelitish source,
or was influenced by Hebrew ideas, we may ex-
pect to find the fact confirmed by the symbols of his
religion, as found in all Buddhist temples, but espe-
cially at the topes of Sachi, or Sanchi, dedicated to
Buddha, and described by Major Cunningham, whose
* See Tumour's extracts, Prinsep's Journal, vol. vii. p. 1013.
p2
212 BUDDHISTIC symbols:
antiquarian labours, both in his research and in his
writings, are worthy of the greatest praise.
The topes at Sachi are themselves Sakian works,
and symbols of the religion of the people of that
place as existing 300 years B.C. They are but slight
refinements upon the mounds of stones erected over
the remains of the remarkable dead amongst Bud-
dhists in other regions, and common in the early
ages of the Hebrew people of Palestine. Greek art
was evidently employed on the sculptured pillars by
these topes; but the topes themselves are the most
simple and unadorned structures imaginable, being
formed to represent a hemisphere. I will not now
dwell on these strange buildings, but come at once to
that most interesting symbol of Buddhism, the wheel.
As to the meaning of this symbol we need not go
beyond the traditions of the Buddhists ; but, in refer-
ence to an observation of Major Cunningham that it
symbolizes the sun-worship as well as that of Buddha,
or Buddha himself,* I would remark that the figure
of the wheels at Sachi is precisely that of the wheel
described in 1 Kings vii. 33 (1012 B.C.), which had
axletree, nave, felloe, and spokes just like a chariot
wheel, so that it would appear to symbolize the re-
volutions of Providence as a distributive power by
which all things are fitly framed together to proceed
in regular cycles. That such a meaning was asso-
ciated with the wheel by the Buddhists is evident;
for their traditions say that, after the revolution of
four thousand years of man, the King of the Golden
Wheel appears. This person is born in a royal
* * The Bhilsa Topes, p. 352.
THEIR ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE. 213
family, and attains supreme dignity on being baptized
in the water of the four oceans. But this is the part
of the tradition to which I would direct especial
attention : " If the king would proceed towards the
east, the wheel turns in that direction, and the
king, accompanied by his troops, follows. Before
the wheel are four spirits, who serve as guides.
Wherever it stops there does the king in like manner
stop. The same thing takes place in the direction of
the south, the west, and the north — wherever the
wheel leads, the king follows ; and where it halts, he
does the same. In the four continents he directs the
people to follow the ten right ways"* (that is, to
keep the ten commandments.) " He is called the
King of the Golden Wheel, or the Holy King turning
the golden wheel." '' The wheel turns and traverses
the universe, according to the thoughts of the king."
This is the symbol adopted by Sakya to represent to
his people the fact that God had illuminated and
directed him to go forth teaching and governing the
four quarters of the world. Therefore his people
must have been familiar with the symbol. It was
while amongst those people that the Chinese traveller
learnt this tradition of the Wheel King. Now, where
shall we turn to discover any possible origin of such
a wonderful symbol? The prophet whom the elders
of Israel consulted by the river Chebar, presented to
them precisely such a symbol in these words : " Now
as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel
upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four
faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work
* From Fo-kwe-ki, c. xviii. note 12, quoted in the " Bhilsa Topes," p. 309.
214 BUDDHISTIO SYMBOLS:
was like unto the colour of a beryl; and they four
had one likeness; and their appearance and their
work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
When they went, they went upon their four sides;
they turned not when they went. As for their
rings, they were so high that they were dreadful;
and their rings were full of eyes round about them
four. And when the living creatures went, the
wheels went by them ; and when the living creatures
were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted
up. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went,
thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were
lifted up over against them; for the spirit of the
living creatures was in the wheels. When they went,
^A^5^ went; and when those stood still, fAes^ stood;
and when those were lifted up from the earth, the
wheels were lifted up over against them; for the
spirit of the living creature was in the wheels."
(Ezek. i. 15-21.)
^'And the likeness of the firmament upon the
heads of the living creature was as the colour of the
terrible crystal . . . and under the firmament were
their wings straight, the one towards the other,
every one had two." {Ibid, vers. 22, 23.) It can
scarcely be necessary to prove that the resemblances
here cannot be merely the accidental result of two
minds thinking about a wheel ; and therefore, instead
of commenting on the remarkable and coincident
ideas contained in these two passages from such
widely different sources, I point the reader to the at-
tached engraving, which presents certain symbols of
Buddha as the Supreme Intelligence. They are taken
FROM BAS-RELIEFS AT SANCHI
THEIR ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE. 215
from Major Cunningham's interesting work on " the
Bhilsa Topes," and faithfully copied from the gates
of the square enclosures of those topes.
Figs. 1 and 2 present the wheel above four living
creatures, or, as the word is often translated, beasts.
These are supposed and understood by Buddhists to
signify people brought into obedience to the ten com-
mandments of Buddha ; the elephants are the people
of India, the lions are doubtful, but I believe they
here represent the tribes of Dan and Gad, according
to the prophecy and blessing of Moses: Gad — "he
dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the
crown of the head." "Dan is a lion's whelp." (Deut.
xxxiii. 20, 22.) Now, though but one wheel appears,
a wheel is understood to turn towards each quarter of
the heavens, as the living creatures stand. Figs. 3
and 4 represent the frequent form of this symbol of
Buddha; that is, wheels within wheels, united in a
fourfold manner by a cross, to signify their straight-
forward course towards each quarter of the heavens,
or, as the legend of the Golden Wheel renders it,
east, south, west, and north — that is, in the course
of the sun. There is no turning back; thus inti-
mating that the ways of God are in unerring wis-
dom. When Buddhists would speak of the Unerring
Intelligence ruling the universe, they name Buddha
as the Great King who hath turned the Golden Wheel,
and by the Great King they mean God as embodied
or manifested in Godama, or Sakya, the last Buddha.
Fig. 6 combines the name of Godama with the
wheel of the Great King and the open lotus, also
called the precious gem. The topes, or relic-tumuli,
216 BUDDHISTIC SYMBOLS:
are built in a perfectly circular form, circle within
circle at the base ; and in their elevation they contain
a sphere, in the centre of which the relics are laid, in
a chamber of a square form (fig. 5); that is to say,
pointing to the north, east, south, and west, precisely
in the directions of the four gates of the outside
enclosure, which is laid out in exact correspondence
with the four cardinal points. This union of four-
sided with circular figures is constantly repeated
in these and other Buddhistic symbols, reminding
us of the wheels and rings and the four faces,
four sides, and fourfold character of the symbols of
Ezekiel's vision. At the base of the pillar on which
the fourfold living creatures and the wheels are
" lifted up " we see a square enclosure, each side
having four divisions, and each division divided into
three parts. Here we have the four-square and the
twelve divisions, which to the Hebrew mind would
signify the Israelitish community and their perfect
equality. Thus the symbol is used in the book of
Revelation in relation to the heavenly Jerusalem.
The square railing around all the topes signifies the
equality of all men, according to Buddhistic doc-
trine. At each side of the base of the column, the
tail of the Tibetan yak, or bullock {Bos grunniens)^ is
seen bound together with three bands ; which I may
here incidentally state, I believe signifies the Scythian
nation subdued to Buddha. Two worshippers, male
and female, ascend the steps above this yak's tail, in
the act of perambulating around the object of wor-
ship, or going up the steps, and as if passing round
the tope to its summit. This is a proof of the re-
THEIR ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE. 217
verence in which the wheel symbol was held; but, as
the early Buddhists were forbidden to worship images,
we must understand the real object of worship to be
the Supreme Intelligence Himself as expressed by
the wheel of his providence. The female holds in her
hand an object which I take to be similar to the cone
which worshippers hold in their hands in the Nineveh
sculptures, a sign of w?2fruitfulness. She holds it
above her head. It may represent an unexpanded
lotus, or sacred lily, a symbol elsewhere considered,
in relation to Buddhism and Israel. A similar object
stands on either side of the capital, with what I sup-
pose to be the conventional representation of wings (or
wreaths), two on each side, depending from it, perhaps
meaning divine protection. These wings, two on each
side, form the canopy* above the wheel, with stars above,
enclosed in circles or wheels indicating the firmament
of heaven above, and the rule of the Supreme Intel-
lio^ence there in the other worlds of lio-ht. Around
the wheel appear objects which, as Buddhist symbols,
mean divine watchfulness and protection, for they
seem to be chattas and topes. The latter, when dedi-
cated to Buddha, are said to be inhabited by light, and
symbolically they are represented with eyes. The
sacred cliatta^ or umbrella, signifying protection, is
usually seen surmounting sacred Buddhist buildings.
These together, then, are equivalent to the eyes in the
wheels of the prophet's vision. f It is worthy of note
* This word canopy seems to be derived from the Hebrew word meaning
covering or wing.
t Dr. Adam Clarke says, the eyes are the nails that fasten the spokes of
the wheel.
218 BUDDHISTIC SYMBOLS:
that the capitals, or chapiters, are adorned with pahn
leaves, as in the Temple of Solomon, where also the
wreaths about the chapiters are especially marked.
These symbols, adopted by Sakya, together with what
is said of the Holy King of the Golden and other
wheels, aflford a demonstration that Buddhism is in-
debted to Ezekiel for some of its grandest ideas ; and
would suggest the possibility that the prophet of Bud-
dhism might even have conversed with the prophet of
Jehovah, whose glory he imitates and assumes. If
the date of Sakya's birth be correctly given (623
B.C.), he was contemporary with Ezekiel, and cer-
tainly was not beyond the reach of his prophecies.
According to our Bibles, his vision was imparted B.C.
595; but other chronologies place it considerably
earlier. The four thousand years of the legend of the
Golden Wheel are completed by the appearance of a
divine man. The completion of the four thousand
years from the origin of man corresponds with the
period when the Israelites and other nations were ex-
pecting the Messiah ; and it was then the Saviour
actually came. The golden wheel is first seen in the
East, and it advances to the place where the man
born of royal race who is to assume all power stands.
In the symbol, fig. 1, we find a star in the wheel in
the firmament. Would not this accord with the lan-
guage of the Magi who came to see Him who was
born King of the Jews, and to whom they ofi*ered
their precious things as unto God? Their reason for
going up to Jerusalem they stated to be — " We
have seen his star in the Easf^ Is not the sur-
mise expressed in a former chapter a reasonable
THEIR ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE. 219
surmise; namely, that those Magi were Israelites?
and is not the additional fact concerning the Golden
Wheel coming from the East, connected as the wheel
is, in Buddhist symbol, with a star, an indication
that the Magi who came to Jerusalem were Bud-
dhists, seeing also that they occupied so long as a
year and a half in coming? The advent oi Krishnu^
in India, which is generally supposed to be founded
on a rumour of Chrisfs mission, corresponds with the
time of that mission and that of the visit of the Magi ;
and we know from Indian history, that both Buddha
and Krishnu, though introduced by heretics, were
artfully adopted by the Brahmins to stand amongst
their gods, in conformity to a popular impulse, which
they could not otherwise resist or compromise.
The pillar inscription, when written in Hebrew
letters, reads —
nyi '»n-D "»:)m ••n3''V''n-D rhiys
T
That is, " And his passing away was as a lamentation,
and my beauty and my grace are as lamentation,
Judges."*
As in Ezekiel, so with the symbols around the tope
of Buddha, we find the figure of a man pre-eminent ;
as, for instance, that erected on the polished pillar on
the north of the grand tope at Sachi,
He stands above the remarkable symbol of the
twelve squares, which in this case is at the top of the
pillar instead of the base, as in that just now referred
to. The man, then, seems to be represented as ruling
over these twelve divisions. These square divisions
* This tope is dedicated to the four Buddhas, also called Judges, the
chief being Godama, whose departure is lamented.
220 BUDDHISTIC symbols:
remind us also of the breastplate of gems on the
breast of the high priest, which represented the whole
house of Israel. The man is girt about the loins with
linen, but otherwise naked, though a nimbus, or glory,
rays forth from his head. All these peculiarities
point to the Divine Man of the Buddhistic creed
as possessing characteristics prefigured in Ezekiel.
Unfortunately, whatever colours might originally
have been painted on these symbols are now lost, but
we find the limbs and face of Godama, or Sakya, the
mortal Buddha, always represented as bright as gold
laid upon vermilion can make them, and he is usually
seated on a throne ; therefore, so far, in keeping with
this description — " And above the firmament [ex-
panse] that was over their heads was the likeness of
a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire-stone ; and
upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as
the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw
as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire
round about within it, from the appearance of his
loins even upward, and from the appearance of his
loins even downward, I saw as it were the appear-
ance of fire, and it [he] had brightness [a nimbus]
round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in
the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of
the brightness [nimbus] round about. This was the
appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."
(Ezek. i. 26-28.)
In enumerating the symbols of Buddhism we must
not overlook the prominence given to the man, the
lion, and the ox, all of which are erected on pillars at
the topes of Sanchi and Sonari. These, together
THEIR ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE. 221
with the eagle, are mentioned by EzekieL The
eagle, however, seems to be wanting in the Buddhist
symbols; and, instead, we have, in some places, the
horse, and in others the elephant. The horse pro-
bably stood for the Gothic tribes, and the elephant
for those of India. The architraves over the chief
entrance of the Grand Tope at Sachi are surmounted
by winged lions, and the bell-shaped capitals of the
pillars of a palace represented in the bas-relief at the
eastern gateway are surmounted by recumbent winged
horses. Whatever these might symbolize, the fact of
their being winged conducts the mind to their com-
parison with the winged figures of the Nineveh and
other Assyrian sculptures, and also to the winged
living creatures (or beasts) of Ezekiel's vision; in
both which the straightforward progress or determi-
nate purpose of the powers signified appear to be
symbolized. (Ezek. i. 9.) That both winged lions
and winged horses are found together in so promi-
nent a situation, implies that the nations thus sym-
bolically represented were united in the worship of
Buddha. In the opening chapter of this volume
the lion, the ox, the man, and the eagle are ex-
plained as the standards and emblems of the leaders
of the hosts of Israel. We have, then, three of these
symbolized as in connexion with Buddha; the wheel,
the symbol of Buddha's supremacy, being lifted up
over them, in sign of their subjugation to his doc-
trines. In addition, we have the obedient tribes
of India symbolized by the elephartt, and those of
Gothland by the recumbent horse. The eagle, the
emblem of the leader Dan, and his three associate
222 BUDDHISTIC SYMBOLS:
tribes forming his host, is wanting ; but possibly the
wings themselves may be significant of the eagle-
power being incorporated with the lion and the horse ;
and, if I mistake not, the inscriptions to which atten-
tion will hereafter be directed, will show that the
dominant people of Saka in India were themselves
Danites or Danes ; so that the eagle symbol may be
superseded by that which represents potentiality,
which will be found united with the wheel and the
wings in the monogram of Godama^ to be explained
in a future chapter.
The two magnificent polished pillars reared before
the Great Tope of Buddha at Sanchi, remind us of
the two pillars erected by Solomon before the house
of the Lord. (2 Chron. iii. 15.) It is remarkable
that all the old Buddhist pillars were highly polished^
after the Hebrew manner. The pillars at Sanchi,
from the base to the crown of the capital, were forty-
five feet and a half high, and those of Solomon were
thirty- five cubits ; which, at fifteen inches the cubit, is
about the same. The shaft was in one piece, thirty-two
feet in height. The bell-shaped capital, adorned with
an imitation of palm leaves (as in plate), is also Jewish
(1 Kings vi. 29) ; and the two wreaths hanging over the
capital may, perhaps, give us some idea of the meaning
of the words, " And the two wreaths [were] to cover
the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the
pillars." (2 Chron. iv. 12.)
In further illustration of the Israelitish origin of
the wheels, oxen, and lions, in their fourfold con-
nexion, we may refer to 1 Kings vii., xx., xxxii.,
xxxvi., where they are all particularized: "And
THEIR ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE. 223
under the borders were four wheels; and the axle-
trees of the wheels were joined to the base," or, rather,
fixed together ; see figs. 3 and 4 of plate. The pecu-
liar significance of the four-square divisions enclosing
the base of the pillar, and always seen as the rail-
ing around ancient Buddhist topes and all sacred
objects, is intimated by the direction given by Solo-
mon, that the gravings around the borders were to
be "four-square, and not round" (ver. 31). The
height of the wheel was to be a cubit and a half.
The pillars on each of the gateways of the topes
resemble those at the gates of the Temple, which
Ezekiel describes as facing towards the cardinal points,
as in the Buddhist topes. (Ezek. xl.)
From coins discovered in those countries in which
Buddhism first prevailed, it appears that the Sakas
held dominion over the whole of Khorasan, Afofhan-
istan, Sindh, and the Punjab up to the year 80 B.C.
A few years later the Sakas seem to have been dis-
possessed of their conquests in Afghanistan and the
Western Punjab by the Yuchi or Tochaoi Scythians
(Goths [?] ). But the remarkable feature of this sup-
posed conquest is the fact that these conquering
Yuchi and their leader were at once converted to
Buddhism. Is it not more probable that these people
were incorporated with the Sakas in a friendly man-
ner as Buddhists, until the time of Vikramaditya^
surnamed Sdkdn^ the foe of the Sakas, who drove
them into Khorasan ; the south-west parts of which
were hence called Sdkdstan or Saea^tene^ now named
Sistan. But, as these points may incidentally be re-
considered, we hasten over them now, in order to
224 BUDDHISTIC symbols:
examine a few of the oldest Buddhistic inscriptions,
which may throw farther light on this mysterious re-
ligion and its originators. Yet we must first direct
attention especially to thdse symbols which, adopted
by the Sacee and the Buddhists, have been received
by ourselves, and remain with us as national em-
blems and marks of our origin from those Saxons of
the East. Amongst the emblems seen on the coins
of Buddhist kings the trident has been mentioned.
This is now peculiar to English coins; but the shield
of Britannia, and the lion at her feet, are also Bud-
dhist and ancient Saxon symbols (see plate at end of
this chapter). Our banner of union, with the cross
of St. George on it, may be seen engraved on the
gates of the large tope at Sanchi or Sachi ; it is re-
markable that the star banner is also there. The
lion and unicorn (or their prototypes) may be seen
crouching in peace at the feet of Buddha, as he sits
on his marble throne at the entrance of the vast
rock temple of Ajanta. The creature we vulgarly
call a unicorn is more naturally portrayed there ; for
the people who chiselled out that cavernous cathe-
dral knew its nature better than to present but one
horn, though they well knew, as we know from
Assyrian monuments, that it was often conventionally
so represented. Our unicorn is a strange anomaly, a
bizarre, un-English beast, and yet not a mere heraldic
invention — it combines somewhat of the figure of a
horse with the foot and leg of an antelope, and in fact,
it orio^inated in the desire to combine two creatures in
one, the antelope and the horse. These were both
emblems of the Saxon race, but are found separate in
THEIR ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE. 225
the Buddhistic monuments of India. The original
of the unicorn is probably the Hippelaphus of Aris-
totle, which is the Equicervus^ or Horse-stag^ of Cuvier.*
This creature being usually sculptured in profile on
the bas-reliefs, its two erect horns of course appear
as one. Ignorant sculptors would suppose this its
characteristic, and represent it in all positions as one-
horned. Hence the traditionary heraldic emblem —
a unicorn. There is, however, a large Tibetan goat
the horns of which grow so closely together as
to be almost united, and even recent travellers
in the neighbourhood of Tibet have assured us
that they have seen a live unicorn. In the woodcut
on the next pagef it will be observed that the ante-
lope has much of the outline of the horse. It is the
large antelope common in the former country of the
Sacae and in Tibet. It has been affirmed that
it is sometimes seen with but one horn, but this
arises from the two horns appearing as one when seen
in profile. This antelope is the emblem of a Bud-
dhist hero whose history is unknown ; but we are told
that it is the symbol of the tribes descended from
Joseph, who by the prophet is described as '' an
antelope at a spring, and his hinds go up towards
the ambuscade, and the archers harass him and shoot
at him." (Gen. xlix. 22; see Heb.)J However we
* Regne Animal, ii. 2, §§ 3, 4.
t The lion and the antelope are copied from Dr. Bird's Historical Re-
searches on the Buddha and Jain religions.
* The above seems to be the more correct translation of the passage.
There is a curious scene depicted in the frescoes of Ajanta (plate 22
of Bird's Researches), which seems like a picture of this prophecy concern-
ing Joseph. The antelope and his hinds are represented as surprised by a
226
BUDDHISTIC SYMBOLS.
may explain the symbol, we here see the origin of our
royal arms, together with the source of the flag
that for more than two thousand years has braved
the battle and the breeze, and which will brave them
still.
number of hunters, while the lion is seen roaring on a distant hill. If this
scene represents, as is supposed, some former transmigration of Buddha, it
is not unlikely that his transmigrations will be found very much to re-
semble the history of our Old Testament patriarchs.
227
CHAPTER XL
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
The mighty people who of old levied the pious sub-
sidies of kings to adorn the peaceful dominion of Bud-
dhism have left many stupendous monuments of their
influence throughout India, Ceylon, Burmah, China,
and Tibet. These people were Saxons and their con-
verts. Mountains have been chiselled into polished
temples at their bidding; temples which, for their
vastness and design, have been contemplated with ad-
miration by men who have gazed in awe upon the
gigantic ruins of Egypt. Thus men leave the im-
press of their creed alike upon their monuments and
upon the manners of the people that succeed them,
while their own history, and the origin of their ideas,
lie buried in their forgotten tombs. Yet, as to the
early Buddhists, the records of their devotion and
their polity seem to be written on the rocks; and
amidst the debris of cities vast as Nineveh fra^men-
tary inscriptions attest their aspirations after a me-
morial immortality and "their feeling after God."
Shall the mystic characters remain unread? No!
Though these people and their language be unknown,
and not a tradition of them remain amongst the
present dwellers amidst the ruins of their temples,
q2
228 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
they shall yet speak to men who desire devoutly to
trace the providence of God in the history of their
race. Let us look for meaning in all the records of
humanity, because we believe that He who scattered
man in various distinct great families through all
lands will yet demonstrate to coming generations that
He has seen the end from the beginning, and that the
distribution of the races has been no fortuitous oc-
currence, but that He who made them has marked
the bounds of their habitation, and caused them to
flow in different streams in fulfilment of his own
word ; or, to speak more definitely, I believe that the
nations which possess the Bible will be taught to see
the literal fulfilment of all the prophecies in relation
to all peoples, but especially as respects the connexion
of the heathen with the Hebrew tribes.
The monuments of Buddhism may be traced from
Bactria, close upon the eastern borders of the Cas-
pian Sea, through Mongolia and Tibet, to China ; and
through India to Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, and the
islands of Formosa and Japan. The earliest and
chief ancient seats of Buddhism appear to have been
Giyah and Buddha- Bamiy am. The latter was in
ancient Bactria. It was a city of temples cut out of
the solid rock of an insulated mountain, the remains
of which are still magnificent, though the sculptures
have been nearly destroyed by the Mohammedan
conquerors. Two colossal statues, however, at least
eighty feet high, still claim the attention of travellers.
These are supposed to represent Adam and Eve, the
spot on which they stand being traditionally regarded
as that on which the first man was created. Colonel
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 229
Wilford traces the origin of the chief deities of the
Hindus to this spot, and identifies them with the pro-
genitors of mankind. I refer to this place because
Buddhism seems to have extended its dominion from
this point into Xorth- western India, in connexion with
the entrance of the Saca? into that country, some time
before the conquests of Alexander the Great. I am
not, however, aware of any inscriptions having been
found either in Giyah or in Buddha-Bamiyam. It
is worthy of remark, however, in connexion with our
present inquiry, that Giyah ^ov Giah^ is also the name
of a place in Samaria. (2 Sam. ii. 24.) Buddha-
Bamiyam may be also Hebrew, and, if so, it would
mean the Buddha by the waters of the sea. As
this holy mountain, the chief seat of early Bud-
dhism, stands as an insulated mass of rock amidst a
wide plain, it is not unlikely that it was at one time
surrounded with water, as it is traditionally affirmed
to have been ; hence, possibly, the name.
Bactria was a district of Persia under Darius;*
and subsequently the Greeks, the Getae, and the Sacae
held dominion over it. A Bactrio-Saxon government
extended its influence over Xorth-western India imme-
diately before the time of the Seleucae. These facts
will serve to explain the existence of the coins al-
ready mentioned, which have been found so widely
scattered over those parts, bearing inscriptions both in
Greek and so-called Arian characters, while the sym-
bols and other figures upon them are evidently Bud-
dhistic. Now, if the Budii^ called by Herodotus a tribe
of the Medes, were the same as the Buddhists, and were
* Herod, iv. 204.
230 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
Hebrews, as surmised, then in the early inscrip-
tions on the rocks and cave-temples of North-western
India, which are known to be Buddhistic, and supposed
to have been engraved at or before the time of Alex-
ander, we ought to find indications of the existence of
Hebrew influence together with Buddhistic in those re-
gions. In short, as I suppose that the Budii of Hero-
dotus were Hebrews, and actually the first receivers
and earliest teachers of Buddhism, and were, under the
name of Sacae, mixed with the Getae, who also em-
ployed a similar language, though in a different cha-
racter, we ought to find that the inscriptions in the
so-called Bactrian, Arian, Scythian, or Buddhistic
character consist, for the most part, of Hebrew
words, and bear evidence of being addressed, in some
places at least, alike to Budii^ Getce^ and Sacce.
This might have been inferred from considerations
already presented, but now the proof will be found
in the inscriptions themselves. But first it should be
stated in what manner this discovery was made.
While engaged in comparing the various alphabets
employed in the East, with a view to trace them to
their sources, I met with the eighth number of the
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, in which there
are several curious inscriptions from the so-called
Budh caves near " Joonur," in the " Dukhun."
They were communicated by Colonel Sykes to Sir
John Malcolm, who forwarded them to the Journal
as remarkably well-preserved specimens of such in-
scriptions. He did not attempt any interpretation,
for indeed, at that time, the powers of the letters
were quite unknown. Colonel Sykes, however, drew a
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 231
conclusion which, as it accorded with my own obser-
vation, induced me more closely to examine the letters
and analyse the words of these records. He says that
"• Budh letters are prevalent in old Sanscrit inscrip-
tions in the ratio of the antiquity of the inscription."
" Can it be," asks the colonel, " that these letters are
a very ancient form of the Sanscrit alphabet, and
that the inscriptions are in the Sanscrit language?''
So far as the letters are concerned, those competent
to judge, such as Mr. James Prinsep and Professor
Wilson, agree in thinking that the ancient Budh al-
phabet is really the simpler and more elegant origin
of the refined Sanscrit alphabet ; as it is at least far
more probable that the more complicated arose from
the simpler forms than the reverse. As characters
of this form are found only in places known to have
been connected with Buddhistic worship, they have
been called Budh letters. Being found also on
pillars at Delhi, Allahabad, and elsewhere, they have
been named the Ldt (or pillar) character. They
are engraved also on many rocks, to some of which
reference will be made.
The powers of the letters are in general indubitable,
from the known fact that the Tibetan alphabet is
mainly derived from that of the country in which
these inscriptions are found. The Budh alphabet,
however, has several letters, the equivalents of which
do not appear in the Tibetan. Mr. James Prinsep
very skilfully traced their powers through several
channels ; but I conceive it will be shown that in seve-
ral instances he has mistaken them. I have appended
an alphabet of the Budh inscriptions with what I
232 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
consider, after a very diligent search, the equivalent
of each letter in the Hebrew alphabet; the three
letters, to which Mr. Prinsep gives other powers, are
marked with a X .
It was merely as consisting of specimens of very
ancient characters that the inscriptions referred to
first became interesting to me; but, in copying them,
with their equivalents in Hebrew letters, as they
stood in the few inscriptions found at Joonur, a new
interest was excited in my mind by the fact that the
words themselves appeared to be Hebrew. I there-
fore tested the matter with other inscriptions in the
same, or a similar character, and the result will be seen
in the following pages. (See plate and alphabets
attached).
Attention was first directed to the inscription No.
1. It was discovered over the doorway of a large
hall surrounded by small cells or dormitories, the
whole being excavated from the solid rock and ex-
ceedingly well preserved. The initial monogram
ofi'ered the only difficulty. It had long been deemed
an inexplicable symbol of Buddhism. On careful con-
sideration, the figure resolved itself into three Budh
letters, namely, */, or soft G^ with the vowel mark
known as in the Tibetan, below it, in conjunction
with H. The next letter is one precisely similar to
our own D turned the opposite way, and it is the
capital D of the Budh inscriptions ; the point within
it always stands for m. Now, it is understood that,
where no vowel mark is found, the consonant takes, or
may take, a after it; hence the word before us con-
stitutes the name of the supposed founder of Bud-
Modern
English. Hebrew. Budh or Lhat. Arian or Bactrian
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 233
dliism, Godama^ or, more exactly presenting the
equivalents of the letters in Hebrew characters, we
have the word r\tyin\ which at once suggests its
derivation and significance ; for, as a Hebrew word, it
means God-like,
The character surmounting the monogram resem-
bles the object that marks those spots where relics
of Godama are supposed to be deposited. When
surmounting any building in China and Tibet^ it is
regarded as a sign of dedication to Godama^ and is
supposed to possess the power of protecting the
neighbourhood in which it stands from the invasion
of evil agencies of all kinds. The power of the
figure, as a letter, is precisely that of the Hebrew
Yod. It will be observed that it consists of three
branches, and in this instance each branch is termi-
nated in a cross. The exact import of this peculiarity
is unknown ; but there is little doubt that it is
expressive of peculiar sacredness. Certain priests
of Buddha informed a friend of the writer that it
symbolizes the Eternal, whom they say they worship,
using words almost exactly equivalent to those of
Milton : '' Him first. Him last, Him midst and with-
out end." In short, like the Yod of the Hebrews,
it expresses the incommunicable name. It is a sym-
bolic letter, and in its form ( U) ) closely resembles the
Coptic letter t, , which also stands for Yod, and
signifies " potentiality," like the Hieratic Egyptian
#, which in Hieroglyphic is formed thus '■ j VI V l ; .
This would be an expressive Budh symbol, namely,
the indwelling Deity. Three Yods, with Kamats
underneath, according to the Chaldee paraphrases, ex-
234 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
press the Holy Name. Thus the high -priest amongst
the Jews, to signify that Name, was accustomed to
extend his three fingers thus M making a figure
similar to this Budh letter. The name Allah in
Arabic is written also with three upright strokes
joined at the base. Galatine* has proved that the
sacred Name was also indicated by three radii in
the fiDrm of a crown ^y . The head-phylacteries of
the Jews also consist of three radii ; but they now
place them together in the form of tt^, as the initial
letter of the incommunicable name Shaddai, The
relation of the initial letter in our first inscription
to the sacred Name is, therefore, very probable, irre-
spective of the evidence derived from the inscription
itself. We may infer that the whole monogram is
symbolic; the upper part, or covering, representing
the sacred name, the lower part the temple, and
the letter like a half-moon at its side symbolizing
the worshippers, according to the lunar doctrine, or
that supposed to be derived from the ark — pre-
served forefather of the world after the deluge ;
so that the name Godama hieroglyphically signi-
fies the Supreme, the Temple, and the worshippers;
while phonetically it means resemblance to God.
This very word God, as the name of the Su-
preme, is derived to us from the East through
a Saxon channel, and seems to be from the same
source as God'ama, the name of the founder or im-
prover of Buddhism. Godama is the word which
gives us our name for the Deity, and Wodensday as
• Lib. ii. cap. x. fol. 49 and 60.
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 235
his day, the word T\"oden being known in Saxon
first as Goadem, and then Goden, and ultimately
AVoden. The whole inscription Xo. 1, in Hebrew
letters, reads thus : —
Which, literally translated, is —
Godama ''or tTodaina^, King of Kash, founded these rocJc-
chambers for us, and, to him devoted, the jpenitent*
will worship in silence.
The terminal word is often seen in Buddhistic
inscriptions, both at the beginning and the end, as
in several now before us. The letters forming it
are combined in the form of a wheel-like cross. A
similar figure is found in certain tombs in the cata-
combs at Rome, and may possibly have had a similar
significance with some of the early Christians, instead
of being used as a sign of the cross, as asserted by
Dr. Wiseman. Or it may have indicated the country
from whence the martyr came, namely, the country
of Poonah, in India, to which the power of Rome
had at that time reached.
It is remarkable that the district or collectorate in
which these inscriptions are found is named Poonah^
or Pujiah, which is precisely the word here trans-
lated penitent. It signifies a turning away of the
mind from any evil; but possibly the word stands
for the country being personified in the Hebrew style
and addressed as representing the nation. Poonah
is a city in Aurungabad, formerly the capital of the
Western Mahrattas, and now gives name to a dis-
trict in the Presidency of Bombay. Lon. 74°-2 E.
Lat. 18°-!20 X.
* Or " he who turns away.**
236 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
That the Hebrew equivalents of the characters in
this inscription are correctly given will scarcely be
disputed by any competent person. We have then a
Hebrew inscription on a rock-temple in India, not
indeed in Hebrew characters as now known, but in a
variety of letters, which seems to have formed the
basis of the Sanscrit alphabet, the vehicle of the
sacred language of the Brahmins; a fact sufficiently
suggestive of thought to detain us here. We will,
however, only pause to remark that the Hebrew
character now in use was adopted after the Baby-
lonish captivity, and that the character previously
employed in writing Hebrew was, according to
Jerome, of a squarer form than that now employed
for the purpose. This so-called Budh character
might then have been the very character originally
used, for in its squareness it answers to the descrip-
tion, since all the letters consist of parts of a square;
at least, they do so in the oldest inscriptions dis-
covered, though in more recent inscriptions the
letters V and T are sometimes written round and
sometimes square. There is no violence, therefore,
in the supposition that the character before us may
have been the original Hebrew character, and the
children of Abraham by his concubines, who, as some
think, went into India,* may have conveyed it there ;
if, indeed, Abraham himself did not come from
Mheysh'Ur^ as Major William Stirling has laboured
to prove. f May not a confirmation of this idea be
yet found on the rocks of the Wady-en-Nehiyeh^ in
* He sent them away " eastward, unto the east country." (Gen. xiv. 6.)
t The Rivers of Paradise, chap. iii.
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 237
that part of Canaan where Abraham first abode after
his entrance on that land ? The Rev. H. Bonar
found inscriptions there, which, if we may judge from
the few specimens of the letters he has given us in
his book,* resemble those on the rocks in India.
The intercourse of Judea with India was very early,
and in the Maccabees we read of elephants being
employed in their war, with Indians to rule them.
(2 Maccabees vi. 37.) But, dismissing this consi-
deration, we have proof in these inscriptions that the
disciples of Godama and the people who worshipped
at Joonur at the time used Hebrew words. But,
before we proceed to the proof in other inscriptions,
let us inquire what country or place it was over
which Godama is said to be king. Kash, or Cash,
we know was anciently the name of the holy city
Benares and of the country around. But probably
the name extended to districts very wide apart ; and
certainly if Godama^ or Sakya^ the founder of modern
Buddhism, was acknowledged as prince where his
religious influence extended during his lifetime, it
must have been very wide indeed, since we find
Buddhistic remains similar to those of Benares in
Delhi, and elsewhere, even from the Oxus to the
mouth of the Indus. Cutha, Gotha^ Touran^ and
Kash-gar were probably included in the dominion of
Godama or his Buddhist successors. Kash was a
very ancient name — the Philistim came out of Kash-
lulim (Gen. x. 4) ; and it is worthy of remark that the
Philistim and the Hebrews spoke a similar language.
Probably Cush is a word of the same derivation as
* The Desert of Sinai, p. 309.
238 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
Cash^ or Kash. The country kno^vn as Indo-Cush is
the original Cush of Scripture, Oriental Ethiopia, the
land compassed by Gihon^ one of the rivers of Para-
dise. The grandson of Noah, and son of Ham, gave
name to this country. This Cush was the father of
Kimrod, the founder of Nineveh, some of the grand
remains of which we may see in the British Museum.
It is interesting to find that the traditions of the
Brahmins agree so well with the records of Holy
Writ as respects the sons of Noah. They say that
the ark-preserved saint, the seventh of the holy ones,
is the father of the race now inhabiting the earth,
and that the names of his sons were Char ma (Ham),
Shama (Shem), and Jyapeti (Japhet). The names
agree better with the Hebrew than the English, but
they are quite near enough to prove their derivation
from a similar source. Now, the tradition in India
further affirms that Cush^ the son of Charma^ or
Ham, gave his name to the country known as Indo-
Cush. From this land came the Palic people, who
overran Ethiopia Proper (outer Cush)^ and also gave
their name to Palestine. The Pali (so called by them-
selves) are numerous still in Matsyadesa^ a country
north-east of the junction of the Ganges with the
Kosi^ or Cushi, near RajinahaL The force of this
name Pali will appear in reference to some of the in-
scriptions to be considered in the succeeding chapters.
Our next step is to find some association between
Godama, King of Kash, and Sakya, Sak, or Saka,
other names applied to the founder of Buddhism.
The inscription, of which No. 2* is a facsimile^ will
* No. 13, in the work already mentioned.
I
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 239
furnish the intelligence we seek. Here we have a
ruder form of the monogram already explained. The
J, or soft G, surmounts the wing-like expansion which
is known to signify the same as the fuller form pre-
sented in the former inscription ; the upper parts of
the letter, equivalent to iii or ho^ being taken for the
whole, as in the Tibetan. Thus, room is made for the
D to be placed under with the point, meaning M, in it.
The D is observable from its rounder form, resemblin^r
the Budh letter, that is, like an 0, but which has the
sound of the Hebrew teth — T ; and thus also we
find in Buddhist writings the D and the T are apt
to be used interchangeably, at least in this sacred
name, as when transferred to Ceylon, Burmah, and
Siam, where it is as often Gotama as Godama,
This form of the monogram is seen in several coins
of ancient date discovered where Buddhism formerly
prevailed. An engraving of one 'will be found in
plate 9, No. 10, of Prinsep's Historical Eesults ;
and amongst the coins referred to in Chapter VII. of
this volume. Inscription No. 2 in Hebrew characters
would read thus : —
y:^ n:):"i> •':]^;; u^ nni •'SD-q n:**^^ niyv nt:^
Godama, this name is that of Sak, the shelter of him
who is penitent and ajffiicted ; let him worship the Lord
Almighty ; abiding beside the protection of the re-
nowned religious law, the poor shall sing of him who
made me.
The name Godama seems to have been given to
Sakya after his death, when, as Buddhists believe, he
became like God. The word translated Almighty
has a peculiar vowel-mark that occurs in no other
240 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
word found in the Budh inscriptions, and so far it
resembles the equivalent Hebrew word. This inscrip-
tion was found quite perfect, deeply engraved on the
side of the rock-chamber, being nearly the most
western of the caves in the picturesque hill about
two miles from " Joonur." All the inscriptions in
that hill are well preserved; a reddish, ochry, hard
cement having been laid over the smooth panels
chiselled in the rock, and the letters then having
been cut through this cement, so as to preserve the
fine edge of the stone from the action of air and
moisture. This method of preserving stone affords
a hint as to our Houses of Parliament, the fine
chiselling of which is already suffering from our
damp atmosphere.
The large temple of this rock monastery is very
imposing. The vast arched roof appears as if sup-
ported by stone ribs, that meet and rest on numerous
octagonal pillars, on each of the capitals of which
repose two elephants and two lions, probably signi-
fying the two nations united in worship at this place.
The whole is tasteful and grand. The people who
formed such a place must have been skilful and in
earnest. Near this temple, in the vestibule of which
the first inscription containing the name of Godama
was found, there is a chamber which seems to have
been a refectory. It is fifty-seven feet deep by fifty
in width. On each side runs a stone seat, and there
are eighteen cells opening into this supposed refec-
tory, with a stone bench in each. From the resem-
blance of the whole to other places now occupied
by Buddhist monks, there is great probability that
I
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 241
the ancient occupants of these chambers were also
Buddhist monks. An inscription (No. 3)* over the
door of the temple will illustrate in some degree the
Avorship there observed, as it conveys a sentiment
which we may suppose was held of importance, since
it occcupies so conspicuous and prominent a position.
Given in Hebrew characters it reads thus: —
HtDt:^ mi:^-^ '^v^ ji"is)-d ^:h int^ l^^ b'\D n:s3
O penitent, all is but as the early dawn to us ; as the
vermilion fruit-tree is to afield of thorn, so are the
six divisions [roots'] of my judgments. O devoted one,
let us cultivate the forest ; let the penitent worship
in silence.
Probably the vermilion fruit-bearer is the pome-
granate, which appears to have been the tree both of
life and of knowledge with the Egyptians, and no
doubt with the Israelites also. The fruitful tree is
the symbol of the family and of the blessing of
Joseph. (Gen. xlix. 22.) It seems in this place to
designate the people of Godama, and in the next
inscription the same word is distinctly used as the
name of a race, which suggests the possibility that
the Parthians (Prath) derived their name from the
same source. The following inscription (No. 4) is a
modification of the preceding one, and in Hebrew
characters reads thus : —
mni iw^i^ niH) ii^ pt^r.D ■]^^ b^:i n^S)
(? i^ni) n^s DDi'' mn mn t^p ^d^ ]di^d
penitent, all is but as sackcloth to the generation of
the vermilion fruit-tree ; and behold, as to be in want
is my renown, the praise of the devoted is Kash [or
endurance] ; let the penitent worship [or wait in
silence].
* No. 10 of Colonel Sykes'.
242 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
The final word, like the initial, forms a cross, but
of a shape somewhat dififerent, as if turned in the
opposite direction. As we must suppose this de-
signed, it probably stands for another word, which
seems to make in our Hebrew characters linn, the
wanderer^ or turner of the wheel ( ?) ; a name adopted
by the roaming priests of Buddha in Bhotan and
Tibet. These strange men ^travel about, turning
the wheel of prayer like a child's toy in their hands,
constantly muttering the mysterious words, Om mani
pad me hum. These words have received explana-
tions as mysterious as themselves. I obtained a copy
of the words from Darjeeling, which was written by
an intelligent Lama of Bhotan ; but his explanation
is none, except so far as he states that they are a
prayer for all living creatures, the words them-
selves being inexplicable. It is beautifully written in
Tibetan characters ; which, being exactly transliterated
into Hebrew letters, read thus Din-"'0 IS) ''^Q Din ; which,
literally translated, is trouble^ my portion redeem from
destruction.
The Tibetans say that the fair high-nosed people
who came from the West and taught them their
religion, were called SaM (or Sacce), This fact is
stated by Csoma Korosi, who resided amongst them
for three years. The heaps of ruin and rubbish
which they venerate and call mani (my portion [?])
are probably similar to the objects of worship which
formed part of the idolatry with which Isaiah up-
braids the Israelites (Ixv. 11). The name is lost
by translation — " that number" indeed, it conveys no
idea to us ; but the term in Hebrew is m'nz, a short
pronunciation of mani, my portion, that is, ruin.
r
Z
o
o
h
<
LiJ
_J
a.
ui
h
I
UJ
>
<
o
a:
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 243
But, to return to our inscription No. 4. The word
Sah here is evidently equivalent to sackcloth, and
suggests the probability that Sakya derives his name
from this sign of mourning. Kash, as a name, may
refer to the ruin of Benares by some catastrophe.
The inhabitants of that city, now partly rebuilt
amidst extensive ruins, are still called Kashi.
We have in inscription No. 4 the important fact
that the vermilion fruit-tree symbolized the generation
then existing. Inscription No. 5 reads thus : —
IT TIT /imn '^n^ >^ ')^^ •'t^n w^p
ITS) '♦Qi ti'n no '2'p 'b ^p n:^ ^b r\y osnn
Silently gather together, alas for me ! the calamity
of this injury is my renown, in the overturning of the
injury thereof the grievousness of my lamentation
was my hailing, the blood of his purifying was the
sprinkling of woe.
The inscription No. 6 was also found in the temple
under the fort at Joonur. In this temple there stands
one of those remarkable emblematic monuments which
the natives called dhagope^ supposed always to indi-
cate that some sacred relic of Godama is deposited
beneath.
The plate opposite presents a rough drawing of
this relic-chamber erected in a recess of the temple.
We here see probably the earliest specimens of Gothic
arches in existence, which, together with Fig. 2, be-
longing to the exterior of the same temple, indicate
pretty plainly that we Western Saxons derived our
Gothic architecture from the same source as our
ancient brethren the Saxons of the East. We had
imagined that the idea of the arch was borrowed
from the outstretched arms of forest trees, meetinor
e2
244 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
as if about to embrace ; but we find that the Saxon
Buddhists of the East meant to represent an inverted
ship by their Gothic arch, in reference to the salva-
tion of the righteous family from the Deluge by a
ship or ark; and the idea intended to be conveyed
was that of the protection Heaven affords to those
who fly for refuge to the Ark provided. An idea
surely as proper to our churches as to their dark
temples in the rock.
The ceiling of this temple is flat, chunamed, and
painted in small squares; each square having within
it concentric circles of white, orange, and brown.
These colours, squares, and circles have meaning
here, for the temples of the Buddhists, unlike our
own, admit not of ornament without significance.
Probably the three circles enclosed in a square repre-
sent Heaven, Earth, and Hades as existing under
one dominion, perfect and equal, like the vision of
the spiritual Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, which is
described as four-square. The colours would signify
purity, love, and humanity. The initial letter of
Inscription No. 6 is M, in the form of a votive
off*ering of fruit in a basket. Four pieces of fruit
stand at the top, either to signify four persons, or the
four divisions of the worshippers, and the dedication
of their works unto the divinity. We are reminded
by this symbol of the words of Amos addressed to
the Ten Tribes : " Thus hath the Lord showed unto
me^ and behold a basket of summer fruit. And he said,
Amos, what seest thou ? And I said, A basket of summer
fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon
my people Israel (Amos viii. 1, 2.) May not this
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 245
signify their adoption of Cain's offering of the fruits
of the ground, and their rejection of the prescribed
typical sacrifice of animal life as the medium of
atonement ? It is at least remarkable that the
founder of Buddhism thus expresses the fact of the
commencement of a new religious era, as we find
from the inscription No. 6, which, in our Hebrew
characters, reads thus : —
D^ ^:nt:r irr^HD o'r'Qti; i^nsB '•jj')");^^ vdih ddt
T/ie change of ITash* being effected, my doctrine was
extended that the people who worshipped-\ me might
moreover worship the Almighty. Sis inflictions
stripped me naked; he who is my hing, according to
his graciousness, made us fruitful ; the people dealt
bountifully with me.
Here we have further evidence that some cata-
strophe, in relation to the holy city Kash, over which
Godama was king, gave rise to a new order of
worship. In succeeding inscriptions it will be seen
in what the change consisted. We might speculate
concerning the nature of the catastrophe referred
to. Certain passages in the inscriptions mention fire,
while others frequently allude to water, as if both
fire and water had been engaged in the destruction.
Possibly some such cataclysm of the Indus then
occurred as happened at Ladak twenty years ago.
During December, 1840, and January, 1841, the
river was low. A orlacier had formed in the vallev
of Khunden, shutting up water enough to fill a lake
twelve miles in diameter and two hundred feet deep.
In the following June this weight of water suddenly
* Or, the grievous change.
t Or, submitted quietly to him.
246 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
burst its barrier, and rushed towards the sea in one
sublime irresistible wave, sweeping everything before
it from Ladak to the Indian Ocean ; a space seven-
teen hundred miles in length.
The origin of the Buddhist religion is hidden in the
mists of time ; but there is a tradition amongst the
Buddhists of Northern India, which, together with
the evidence here given, may throw some light on the
subject. The tradition is that their religion is the
primitive worship, as observed by the children of
Seth. Now, whence was this notion derived? Who
was Seth^ and what was his worship? He was the
fourth son of Adam. His name signifies set^ or ap-
pointed. His descendants appear to be the first who
used the name of Jehovah in their worship, for it is
said: '^ And to Seth also there was born a son; and
he called his name Enos; then began men to call
upon the name of Jehovah." (Gen. iv. 26. Heh.) In
keeping with this, the word Jehovah does not occur
in Genesis before this passage ; a reason rather un-
reasonably assigned by some persons for supposing
the former parts to have been written by a diiFerent
hand. The progenitor of the Hebrews, Eber, is
traced by the writer of Genesis through Shem in a
direct line from Seth. Now, let us imagine a de-
vout Israelite, who, like the Ephraimites, had already
repudiated the pretensions of the house of David,
being a leader of his people, and yet frustrated in his
endeavours rigidly to maintain the Israelitish worship,
or any other, by some sudden stroke of Providence
which rendered its observance impossible. He and
his nation being thus set free from the bonds of the
Hebrew, or adopted ritual, what can we imagine more
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 247
probable than that he should regard the force of cir-
cumstances as a proof that some other mode of worship
was demanded by the Almighty? And if so, what
more likely than that he should revert to what he
supposed to be the earlier patriarchal worship, which
appears to have commenced amongst the offspring of
Seth? Residing now with his brethren amongst a
people who reverenced the name of Seth, and called
themselves Sethites, and believing themselves, as the
people of Northern India still do, the direct descend-
ants of Adam's holy son, what more natural than
that he should claim kindred with them? He might,
indeed, represent himself and those with him as of
greater sanctity than others, seeing that they had
come into India from the country of the holy moun-
tain, where Adam was supposed to be interred, and
where the holiest Sethites dwelt.* We suppose
Godama endowed with enthusiasm, piety, and influ-
ence; no greater than is proved by all we know of
the history of Buddhism, if we suppose him to have
re-established what he believed to be the primitive
worship, only with the exception of animal sacrifice,
the suppression of which, circumstances imposed by
Providence had rendered necessary. The promise of
the incarnation of the Messiah he might believe to be
fulfilled in his own person, as the accepted Buddha ;
and think that all the blessings entailed on the seed
of Isaac pertained to him and his disciples. If we
mistake not, these rock-records contain appeals to
the name of Jehovah as the Disposer of all events,
and we know that Buddhism contains the sentiment
* See Universal History, vol. i., and Asiatic Res., vol. x. p. 136.
248 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
SO well expressed by Senault, and plagiarized by
Pope: " God applies Himself to all creatures in
their operations ; and, without dividing his unity or
weakening his power, He gives light with the sun, He
burneth with the fire. He refresheth with the water,
and He brings forth fruit with the trees/** Buddha
is so far like the Messiah that he is born of woman,
and in human form conquers sin. In his own person
he endures a baptism of suiferings, and teaches that
the true life is return to God in the negation and
death of self. The term Damma^ employed by Bud-
dhists to signify worship, designates also all that can
be conceived of virtue, reverence, holy mystery, and
conformity to Heaven. Regarding it as a Hebrew
word, it serves to express a silent waiting on the
object of reverence, and a process of thought by
which the meditative soul becomes like the object of
its worship, as by an actual reflection. An intelligent
Buddhist would regard devotion as an endeavour of
the soul to see itself in the Divine Mind as in a
mirror, just as the clear heavens appear at one with
the calm deep. Water permeated with light would
convey the Buddhistic idea of the soul's absorption
into Deity. The universal benevolence of early Bud-
dhism, the reverence for life, the adoration of one
God, the reunion with Deity through the observance
of every moral and religious law, would lead a serious
mind to hope and believe that all true followers of
Buddha would fully have believed in Christ our Lord,
had his character been fully known to them. And
* Use of the Passions, by J. F. Senault, pdt into English by Heury,
Earl of Monmouth, p. 11, 1649.
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 249
it is a happy thing to believe that the multitudes,
amountino: at one time to half the inhabitants of this
earth, were mostly converts to the benevolence of
Buddhist doctrines, and may be finally judged as in
a measure partakers of the spirit of Him who really
took away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
We will not, however, here enlarge on Buddhism,
but proceed, by other inscriptions, to show its con-
nexion with Israel. The following inscription (No. 7)
is imperfect, but the first two lines are complete; the
lacuncB in the other lines are indicated by dots. The
transcript, in Hebrew characters, reads thus : —
rMT\^ ]v^ ••n'' "»nn nin ny n: rwr^ i
')y)r:i'^iJD ^u;3: mn^ rvTi r^p' di in dsjd
^''irr\ "rn^ r\:h^ injii— • . 3 in'» • • • i?^ d^ rv^
r^nr^r^i • • • 4 anin inn '•ir niti^n • . • "-t^^p 1332
TTiV niD n^i^ a: an^s nm n^vr\ >T7
an^ r^'pyn 5 Dnnt^^n .13 ns'' ij^ mn r]w
'Tvz r\^'i Jinn hid n^-n ^m^^ i^mn oi ns
(1) strangers bore rule; their oppression, the calamity
of my chosen ones, was their rejoicing, their speech was
Pr'tha [Parthian (?)]. The bringing forth of Badh
was as the violent severance of the Remnant occupying
Kash, the abode of Jews, their own people. (2) We
were put to silence ; they decreed destruction to us ; a
strife of blood brought them to an end ; the Euler
obeyed. He whom my soul seeks, whom we worship,
is an overflowing sea, Jehovah is Light ... (3) his dis-
tinguishing religious ordinance produced union, and the
mere humiliation of the inhabitants of Kash . . . causing
equality became my splendour; for their calamity pro-
duced union. (4) . . . thou waitest in silence, sub-
250 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
missive one. The decree of their mouth was baldness ;
moreover, the bowing down extended my research, the
calamity was equality ; surely their setting at liberty
was here becoming. (5) Thou wast made comfortless ;
the infliction of our calamity, even the necessity of the
injury, became my fruit. The Feast of the Covenant
was neglected, my house had obeyed; the calamity
caused it to be neglected ; behold, there was great afflic-
tion within us.
If this bare rendering be correct, we have the
demonstration required to prove the Israelitish origin
of these strange inscriptions ; for here the Jews are
by the authors of the record acknowledged as their
own people, though opposed to them. The word
translated Jews is very distinct. The word given as
Jehovah is peculiarly pointed, and preceded by a sign
like a Yod, found in no other instance in the known
Budh inscriptions, and therefore of doubtful meaning.
The initial letter is J, the middle one o, with the i
point, and the third v or w^ also with the i point and
with an open base, giving the word altogether an
unique character, which reminds us of the Jewish
usage in pointing this unpronounceable Name, re-
quiring it to be read by the substitution of a less
sacred word. In pointing out the connexion of the
worship of Jehovah with the family of Seth, it was
indicated that this sacred word might be expected to
appear in Budh inscriptions, and I think it will be
found unmistakeably in some of them to which we
shall refer.
I am not aware of any previous attempt to trans-
late the preceding inscriptions. The transcription
was made from the Budh characters into those of
Hebrew \ at first without the slightest idea of making
o jO
a. '
-a
d
4i^
'-)
4)
-o
"^
1^
4^
r^
^J-^.
ffi
<
X
-<
"P
.J)
•-0
^
-D
^
OQ
-T^
rO
S
£
T_D
~P
cfc
<
r<
? r< -:? -f . -<
S ^ -^ -^ ^ ^ -^
"^ I ■>— I -n
-^ -P ,1 ^
S H -5 -^ 5
.: ^ r< ^ i
; d -3 ^ y ^ '^ ^ io
J DC , '^ -, -^ ^
>■ -'-P '-0 Mj ^ T-^ r<
'"^ P H^ '33 3> ^ H S3
^ -^ < ^ o ■+
ce
< ^
u.;
•« .-, 5 i-< p ,-f- 1: lO
"D ■ r-L -I— j U2L J
-^ .^ ^ ^-< ^ '^ -^ ^
f 3- ^ :2 < ^s ^ fa .
§ "^ ^-^ < "7 -? r-- ■•-< ^
CM
'o r^ 00
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 251
Hebrew words of them, but merely because Hebrew
letters are the oldest, except perhaps the Sanscrit, with
powers positively defined. Now, if, under these cir-
cumstances, we find the characters resolve themselves
into connected Hebrew words, there is an incalculable
probability that those words were intended to be ex-
pressed by them. Lest, however, this should only be
a wonderful coincidence, let us test the matter by
transcribing other inscriptions in the same character.
There was one found in a orood state of preservation
by Captain J. S. Burt, at By rath, near Bhabra, be-
tween Delhi and Jeypoor, which Captain M. Kittoe
endeavoured to translate according to the approxi-
mate resemblance of the words to Sanscrit or Pali,
as read by himself and corrected by Pundits. But
undoubtedly he has mistaken the powers of some of
the letters, and fused the words together in a manner
that a full analysis of those words will by no means
warrant. But, whatever their meaning may seem to
be by combining the words so as to form approxi-
mations to Sanscrit, the transliteration into Hebrew
presents a clear sense in keeping with the inscriptions
already given.
That such readers as may be qualified and disposed
may compare the original with the transcription in
Hebrew characters, d^ facsimile of the inscription is an-
nexed, as given in No. 202 of the Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal. The lines are numbered for more
convenient comparison. The commencement of the
first line seems to be wanting, the stone being broken
at that part. The inscribed stone is in the Calcutta
Museum. A corrected reading of the last four words
252 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
is given from the Asiatic Journal, 1855, No. IV.,
p. 324.
Inscription found at Byrath, transliterated into
modern Hebrew characters : —
"in ^i^ DHjinni u?^ d;; n^ Dn:)D ayb w t? i
r.Dn ^D\s riDi mnn ni 2 tjdj-i ^m w >n ^ori
roDn:) •'inD '•n:^n n^ n:ij< ^:t:; in"' '''?^^ 5 t:;p (t:::^ ^:i ^n:^
••n:'' n^ •'^3 D?::i nnn '':)J1^^ Ji'^tr^n ini njrn:)! >^>:)^^^
t:r^n HBi id:^; •'3'^ ninn Dinn 8 nirt^ >^^n m3i iv: w
(1) There was destruction for the people, the Magadhim,
the name of my father's nation ; but it decided their
cause, brother ; yea, Badh is thy perfection, a life of
calamity and pain is thy perfection ; (2) and that which
is the token of the high-place [hamatK], shall be thy
mark, even the wrath of Buddha. Damma is the
name I have devised for the revelation thereof; the
place of the spreading of thy hand is surely that of a
high-place. (3) At the elevation of Budhen, at the set-
ting-up of the alabaster [image] of Su [calamity], at it
there shall be the sign ; surely it is as a high-place.
My hotness [wrath] shall be that which is God [Jah],
whose worship [^damma] is the wall of defence ; (4) for
to him I have set up, I have set up what is strong ; the
God of my wrath is wise, mark the sign thereof. Why are
the portions [mani] of the high-place those of utter
destruction ? God, my ruin and lamentation are a
memorial of Kash. (5) The years of the suffering of
Gath, with the oppression of the times of Gomatta^
were mine [or are upon me] ; behold they are set up,
and the breaking of my speech is appropriate for the
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 253
going up, (6) as to the hand alike of Moses and your-
selves. I will greatly multiply you by the exaltation of
Budhen, by setting up the gifts of the high-place. The
worship is wonderful, God of my oppression ; these
are as the waters of (7) the affliction of thy proving ; the
ruin is a propitiation with me; thy ruin is become
my possession. my father, their lamentation is the
calamity the woe of which was thine, but the praise
of Jehovah redeemeth ; (8) he hath made known the
wall of defence, even the doctrine of thy Saha, even
the doctrine that is thine own ; the high-place is my
might. [Dan. vii. 7.] Why ? Because my sea is my
rock [or protection]. my father I have dismayed
them in the name appointed [or, I have made my nation
their dread].
[The last three words are nearly obliterated.]
We here find a people called Magadhim^ that is
to say, noble. (Heb.) This agrees with history, for
Magadha is stated in the Pali Buddhistic annals* to
be the kingdom whence Buddhism was introduced
into Ceylon. It also appears, from these annals, that
some of the sacred books of Buddhism, the Singhalese
Atthakatha^ were, according to certain peculiar rules
of grammar, translated by Buddhaghoso into the lan-
guage of the Magadhi, which is stated to be the root
of all languages. This is supposed to be Pali, or
more properly '' Pracrit, the dialect of Magadha,""
This word Pracrit rinDn"13 is, literally, the jfruit of
separation, and points at once to a Hebrew origin;
and the fact that the inscription just given was ad-
dressed to the people of Magadha^ affords a demon-
stration that Hebrew was their sacred lano^uao^e at
least ; so that we may fairly infer that the Magadhi
language, said to be the root of languages, was
* See An Examination of the Buddhistical Annals, by the Hon.
George Tumour. — Journal of Asiatic Society, No. 67.
254 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
Hebrew. May we not, then, suppose that the so-
called Pali is only the transfusion, for the most part,
of Hebrew roots into Palic Sanscrit, the aspirates
being softened down, just as those of Latin are in
Italian.
The kingdom of Magadha was in Anu-Gdngam^ a
province of South Bahar. It is said, in mistake, to be
so called from the Magi (wise men), who came from
the Saxon country, Dwipa-Saca^ and settled in the
country previously called Cicata^ from which its prin-
cipal river is named Cacuthis by Arrian. According
to Kemper, the Japanese have a tradition that Sakya,
the teacher of Buddhism, was born in Magatta, The
Chinese call it Mohiato and Mokito. The Arabian
and Persian writers convert the g into 6, and call it
Mabada,*
The inscription found at Byrath has the vowel
marks more clearly and neatly engraven than those
of " Joonur," in the '' Poonah ^' district, and the in-
formation it contains distinctly associates the names
Badh and Buddha with that of a people to whom the
lifting or going up of the hands of Moses was sig-
nificant of superiority over all adversaries. This
idea could only have arisen from a knowledge of the
circumstance recorded in Exodus (xvii. 11), where
it is stated that Israel prevailed over Amalek when
Moses held up his hands ; and when they sank down
from weariness, they were supported by stones placed
under his arms. This fact also seems to be here
alluded to. The name of Moses alone, however,
being unmistakeably found in this inscription (line 6),
* As. Res., vol. ix. p. 33.
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 255
is itself a proof that it was addressed to a people who '
revered this name. The association of water with a
rock also reminds us of the rock smitten by Moses.
The word Badh^ which we found in one of the in-
scriptions at Joonur, is here again presented (line 1).
We know that this word signifies the incarnation of
the Deity, according to the creed of the Buddhists,
Buddha being generally understood to be equivalent
in meaning, though admitting of application to
various persons attaining a peculiar degree of sanctity
by pious contemplations. The Hebrew meaning of
the word m, Badh, is perfectly in keeping with its
Buddhistic use, as it signifies a state of separation or
abstraction, a standing alone or apart. Our word
bud expresses the same idea as the Hebrew word ;
for we find it used to signify the shoot or branch of
a tree, and in the plural is applied even to princes.
A like word signifies anything having a new, distinct,
or original existence. Badh or Boodh is, then, the
peculiarly sacred person worshipped in the manner
indicated by the word Damma^ a name for the wor-
ship, which it appears was invented by the author of
the last inscription, a word sufficiently expressive of
dumb and inactive waiting, in consequence of some
terrible calamity beyond the help of man. The
Psalmist uses a form of the word when exhorting the
devout to wait on Jehovah. In this inscription the
word Bamath, occurs (line 2). This word is onlv
the fuller feminine form of the word Bamah, the
name applied by Ezekiel and other prophets to the
worship in high-places, of which the Israelites or
Ephraimites, as distinct from the Jews, who adhered
256 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
to the house of David, were gnilty. Buddhism cer-
tainly took this form of idolatry, and the word
Bamath very appropriately stands in this inscription
as applied either to the system of worship or to the
place of worship. According to some lexicographers,
the word is used to signify the high altar erected in the
place of worship. The word Yoovah is also distinct
in this inscription (line 7), and could be expressed
in Hebrew letters only by Jehovah, with a different
pointing. Gomatta is a name full of circumstance. Pro-
bably he was the Magian who pretended to be Bardes,
the son of Cyrus, whom Cambyses, his brother, had
secretly slain. His name and usurpation are men-
tioned in the Behistun inscriptions. He endeavoured
to destroy all the people who knew the real Bardes.
The Sacoe^ under his influence, revolted from Darius,
son of Hystaspes (Dan. ii. 2), while he was at Babylon
(522 B.C.) : so it can be well understood how troublous
were his times, since Darius mustered all his forces to
encounter him. As he was a Magian, and seems to
have been in the midst of the Sacce^ or at least arose
amongst the Arakadres {Ariaka-ana) mountains, the
Sacae must have been involved. These mountains are
close on Drap-Saca^ or Dwipa-Saca^ whence the Sacas
came into India, as already shown. Gomatta sub-
dued Persia, Media, and all the adjacent provinces.
He seems to be the same as Smerdis* There is
another word, namely, Mani (line 4), of peciiliar sig-
nificance. It is still applied in Northern India and
other countries where Buddhism prevails, especially
* See Behistun Inscription, Journal of Roy. As. Soc, vol. xv. p. 136,
and Herod., iii. § 70.
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 257
in Tibet and Bhotan, as the names of those mingled
heaps of broken things which are raised up in notable
places and hills, as objects of peculiar veneration, the
devout always muttering their prayers at approach-
ing them, and never passing them but on the right
hand. The Israelites, as already stated, worshipped
objects of a similar name, as we learn from Isaiah
Ixv. 11, where the word in our translation is ren-
dered " number^ Of these Mani further mention
will be made in another place.
Can we, with such evidence before us, doubt the
connexion of Buddhism with a Hebrew people, in
its earliest appearance in India? From Ezekiel we
learn that the Ten Tribes, to whom he addressed his
warning and denunciations, would go and serve their
idols (xx. 39), and yet he says, "That which cometh
into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, we
will be as the heathen." (xx. 32.) Thus intimating
that, though adopting a new mode of worship, they
should nevertheless be remarkably distinguished from
the heathen in general.
The people to whom our inscriptions pertain cer-
tainly established a mighty religious system, which
even now prevails over nearly a third of the inha-
bitants of the earth. The inhabitation of a divine
person in the form of Buddha seems like a fulfilment
of the Israelitish hope concerning the Messiah ; but
the remarkable declaration of Godama, as preserved
in the sacred books, should not be overlooked, for he
stated that the ultimate Buddha was yet to come,
namely, the Bagava-Metteyo. The meaning of those
words is not known, but the resemblance of Metteyo
258 BUDDIiiSTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
to Messiah is worthy of note, and certainly the term
is meant to desio^nate a divine messenger. The sound
of these words would be most nearly conveyed by
i;7[0D-niNj:i, signifying, In the excellency or victory of
his Branch or Plant, reminding us of the language ad-
dressed by Ezekiel to the elders of Israel, when, having
predicted their defections, he foretells the restoration of
blessings to the shattered flock: "They shall no more
be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beasts de-
vour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none
shall make them afraid. I will raise up a Plant of
renown [^tOD Metteyo (?)], and they shall no more
be consumed of hunger in the land, neither bear the
shame of the heathen any more." (Ezek. xxxiv. 29.)
A similar prediction is found in Isaiah xi. : " There
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
Branch out of his roots." Sakya planted a branch as
a symbol and a prophecy. This Godama, or Sakya, who
is the Buddha worshipped in Ceylon and Burmah, was
King of Kash, and the same Godama, or Jaudama, to
whom is attributed the founding of the rock chambers
of Jenoor (or Joonur), according to our first inscrip-
tion ; we, therefore, possess presumptive evidence that
he was a Hebrew. There is enough of the sublime
and beautiful in the doctrines of this Buddha to
account for their rapid diffusion amongst a people to
wdiom self-negation, equality, patience, benevolence,
and reverence for life came recommended by the high
pretensions to direct inspiration and the possession
of Divine virtues, by the contemplation of which
the human soul might be divested of all its earth-
liness and lose itself as if by absorption into the
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 259
Eternal. But still the highest teacher and most
glorious deliverer was yet to come in the Bagava-
Metteyo^ which, as Hebrew, means precisely what the
prophets of the Old Testament predicted in relation
to the Messiah. It is not improbable that the Bodht-
tree {hodhi^ branch [?]), under which Sakya is said
to have meditated, and also the branch planted by
the relic chambers and memorial tumuli of Buddha,
and sent from Central India to Ceylon on the esta-
blishment of Buddhism there, all had a prophetic sig-
nificance in reference to the incarnation of Divinity
yet to be expected. This Branch of renown in the
Buddhist soil, planted as if amidst the divisions of
the people, is associated with the one wheel, the
fourfold wheel, the wheel of teaching or penitence,
the monogram of Godama, signifying Godlikeness,
the fourfold sign of power around the wheel, the
sacred tau, the winged bull, and the sacred mount ; for
all these symbols are seen together in an ancient Bud-
dhist medal, and the Branch there, as seen at the end
of our introduction, takes the form of a mystic cross,
the most sacred of symbols amongst the Buddhists.
There is reason to believe that some great natural
calamity, as already shown, gave rise to the incul-
cation of the self-denying doctrines of Godama.
Probably some extensive natural phenomenon, such
as an earthquake or a vast inundation, producing a
necessary and immediate change in religious ob-
servances was taken advantage of to enforce the
doctrines promulgated by Godama. The reference
in the inscriptions, however, is always to fire and
burning. But, before we seek for further indications
s2
260 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
of the circumstances under which the existing form
of Buddhism arose, attention should be directed to a
country named Gath in the By rath inscription, line 5.
This must be the land of the Getoe^ or Geti^ a Gentile
name, precisely similar to the Gittite of the Bible.
(2 Sam. vi. 10, 11, 15, 18.) From this land, it ap-
pears, the author of the inscription came. Now, this
was the early seat of the Goths^ and in the immediate
neighbourhood of that of the Sacce, It is not impro-
bable, then, that the house and lineage of the modern
Saxon Gothas, with whom our interests as a nation
are so well allied, may be traced back to the land
from whence the metaphysical religionists and strong-
minded civilizers, both of the East and the West, have
sprung. In the Buddhistic inscriptions on the rocks
of India, at least, we shall find that the Goths and
Saxons were associated in the establishment of a
religious dominion extending from Bactria to all
parts of the East. Philologists have discovered
that both the eastern and western civilized nations
have derived words and thoughts from some common
source, called by them Indo-Germanic. What if this
source should prove to be mainly Israelitish? Would
not this prove the literal fulfilment of prophecy with
regard to the influence of the dispersion of the Ten
Tribes amongst all the nations? We, at least, find
an ancient Gothland^ as well as a Saxon race men-
tioned in the earliest records of Buddhism; and this
Buddhism is, I conceive, unmistakeably connected
with a people using the Hebrew language. The
name of Goth, as already surmised, was probably
transferred from Palestine to the neighbourhood of
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 261
the Caspian Sea, where the Getcs and the Saca^ the
Goths and Saxons, are historically found together.
If, as we suppose, the house of Isaac, as Hosea calls
the Ten Tribes, went into the country of the Getce,
they must, according to this hypothesis, have found
there multitudes descended from the people witli
whom their forefathers mino^led in Palestine. With
the Gathites their heroes did valiantly ; amongst them
Samson was born and trained; from them came the
giant whom David slew; and from them, also, David
afterwards obtained some of his faithful body-guard.
Theinhabitantsof the country of Gath, or Goth, spoke
the same lanOTaofe as the Israelites. There is another
people who formed a sect amongst the early Bud-
dhists, namely, the Jains, as they are now called.
They were distinct in origin from the Saca and the
Getcs^ and were probably Greeks, or Javans^ a desig-
nation well known in India, and probably corrupted
into Jains. In this origin we obtain an explanation
of their great excellence in architecture and sculp-
ture, as seen in their vast temple at Allora,* and also
of their worship of the fecundating Power which
was worshipped by the Grecians, or at least by the
Thracians and Phrygians, many of whom were left
in Western India by Alexander.
It is interesting to find that the Gothic and the
Saxon races are as well known in Asia and the far
East as in Europe and the far West. They over-
threw the Greek and Syrian dominion in Bactria and
India, and overran Asia in the vigour of their con-
* This temple, witli its splendid statuary and noble columns, is hewn
out of solid rock and polished in every part.
262 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
quests, as they did Europe in later times, infusing
new manhood into peoples become utterly effeminate
and corrupt.
The Saxons of the East became nominally Bud-
dhists, the Saxons of the West became nominally
Christians. In both directions they have been, and
are, the missionaries of thought and charity to the
world. If, as we believe, they were derived from the
apostate house of Israel, we see those prophecies
fulfilled concerning Israel, which, as to general import,
declare that, though absorbed amongst the nations,
and lost as to name, they are yet the seed preserved
of God, and by no means to remain unfruitful in the
earth, but rather, as having amongst them the bless-
ing of Joseph, are to realize a multitudinous increase
and prosperity.
The prophecy of promise said, " Israel shall blos-
som and bud, and fill the face of the world with
fruit." (Isaiah ii. 6.) And if that prophecy be ful-
filled or fulfilling in any people, it is the Saxon. In
the East they have not been unproductive of good
jruit, for they not only promulgated a creed that
promised life from death, but they infused an energy
of mind into their metaphysics only less refined than
that of Germany, and a working power into their
daily life only inferior to the practical industry of
England.
We believe that the earliest Buddhists of North-
western India were Saxons, sent forth into the Eastern
world to prepare the ground for the missionaries of
the West. We have proofs of their religious prowess
still extant in all Eastern Asia. The influence of
BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 263
their efforts two thousand years ago is still felt in India,
Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, and China. They broke down
caste and destroj^ed brute worship, by demanding
thought as the foundation of belief, and by teaching
equality and good- will as the ground of moral excel-
lence. Their disciples and descendants still profess
to be open to new truths, and they are expecting
another Messiah. They everywhere multiply books,
and teach their children to read. The ground they
occupy lies fallow, but ere long to be broken up to
receive the seed of a heavenly harvest. On the
vigorous oiFshoots from the same stock have been
grafted those buds of the tree of life which shall ex-
pand until they overshadow the whole world with
fruitful branches. The Saxon tribes, like those fore-
shadowed in the forms of life seen in Ezekiel's vision,
have mingled with the cloud of people from the
IS'orth, and imparted to races, otherwise too sensual to
be anything but slaves, an intellectual and character-
istic independency of spirit. They have gathered
spoils of language and thought from all the suc-
cessive races that have held dominion near them.
They have conquered all the conquerors. The kings
of Assyria, Media, and Persia subdued them only to
be supplanted by them. Grecian prowess and intel-
lect lived only till the Saxon energies were fully
kindled by contention with them; and now the
writings of their sages live but to illustrate the
Saxon Bible and discipline the Saxon intellect.
The study of the forces inherent in creation goes
along with the unshackled teaching of revealed doc-
trines, for these teach men understanding, and to seek
264 BUDDHISTIC CAVES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
the laws of God in the works of his hand, as well as
in the logos of reason addressed to their moral con-
sciousness. Hence the best believers are the best
explorers, expositors, and practical workers, for they
are working with knowledge of God's methods; so
true is it that " He hath showed his people the power
of his worJcs^ that he may give them the heritage of the
heathen" (Ps. iii. 6.)
Roman valour merely prepared the way for Saxon
advancement; and now, after twenty centuries of
social metempsychosis, the Saxon race, bearing phy-
sical and intellectual regeneration in the manliness
of their social institutions, scientific enlightenment,
and religious faith, under the guidance of an all-
wise Providence, hold dominion over those Indian
nations from whom their forefathers seem to have
obtained some of the germs of their civilization ; and
thus we believe is fulfilled the promise, that the scat-
tered seed should fill the world with fruit.
265
CHAPTER XII.
THE INSCRIPTIONS AT GIRNAR AND DELHI.
Before proceeding to other inscriptions which may
serve further to ilhistrate Buddhism, we may well
contemplate with interest what we have already seen.
First, we ask, what is meant by those vast mounds
and strange memorial heaps of ruin held sacred to
desolation and to Buddha? We shall find an answer
at full in the rock-records before us, and also in the
fact, that heaps were to be the signs of the progress
of the Ten Tribes in their wanderings, as intimated
by the prophet Jeremiah (xxxi. 21). Seeing that
from the earliest period of the Saxons they may be
traced by similar signs, as we discover in Moecia,
Scythia, Cabul, Western India, Saxony, and England,
can we avoid an inference that the Lost Tribes and
the Saxons were related, not only in those relics,
way marks, and tokens of their dispersion, but also in
their origin, as a distinct race? Such memorials have
always marked the Saxons, until the religion of the
Highest taught them to build churches. And now
those churches, in their arched and Gothic gloom,
remind us of the cavernous cathedrals of Kanari,
Karshi, Ajanta, and Junur. True, our churches are
illumined by a more radiant lamp of life than that of
266 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
Godama; but yet his prophetic branch, and budding
cross, and expanded lily, and perpetual light seem fa-
miliar to us ; and the orient wheel, chiselled in rnarble,
seems uplifted as a window, to receive the coloured
rays, in which the light of heaven is softened to our
vision, while still serving as a sign of the preserit
Spirit that rolls all the worlds along. We ask, w^hat
could induce those earnest Saxons of the East to
carve the mountains into temples, and immure them-
selves in gloom? They, too, felt '' the burden of the
mystery of all this unintelligible world." Perhaps,
Avith a terrible sense of the sinfulness of their hu-
manity, they felt after the Almighty Deliverer, and
yet, seemingly left only to the deluder, they, with
glimmering lamps, sought the Author of light and
heaven in caves and dens of the earth. They be-
lieved in the Everlasting as the Ever- changing, and
held their creed with the reprobate tenacity of des-
peration. To them the humanity of God was not
the charity that makes men's homes lovely, by making
worship consist in working together for each other's
happiness; and so they rested their souls in darkness,
expecting to become more Godlike by becoming in-
human. Their devotees taught social duties to all
but themselves. They must have once entertained
grand hopes of an especial favour in the sight of
Heaven, but found their aspirations met only by
calamity, and so they worshipped that. They adored
Ruin, and their holiness was the extinction of their
hearts. They found this life vanity, and sought their
perfection in abnegation. To them Omnipotence was
desolation, and the Immanuel they chose for them-
selves was a mad prophet, who taught them that
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 267
nakedness and suffering, emptiness and death, would
lead them to the possession of an eternal state of ab-
straction in perpetual fellowship with solitude. Thus
was fulfilled unto them the prophesied " days of visi-
tation," when " the prophet should be a fool, and the
spiritual man mad ; for the multitude of their iniquity
and the great hatred." (Amos ix. 7.) Still Godama
appears to have taught, with the shadow of an eternal
truth, that resignation to the will of Heaven would
secure victory over sin and death. According to the
Litany of the Tibetan Buddhists, Godama professed
to have taken upon himself the nature of man, in
order to suffer for the o:ood of all livin^: bein^i^s, and
that, when himself free from sin, he also desired to
free the world from sin.*
There are many points of resemblance to the
Psalms of David in the Psalms chanted by the Bud-
dhists of Tibet. The priest and congregation sing
alternate verses in honour of Godama, praising him
as the Saviour from sin ; thus imitating the character
in which the Messiah is predicted in the Psalms and
other parts of the Old Testament, as the following
words, taken at random from multitudes of others of
like kind, will show : — Priest : " The Illuminator of
the world has arisen; the world's protector; the
maker of light, who gives eyes to the world that is
blind, to cast away the burden of sin." Cong, :
'' Thou hast been victorious in the fight ; thy moral
excellence has accomplished thy aim ; thy virtues are
perfect; thou shalt satisfy men with good things."
Priest : " Godama is without sin ; he is out of the
* See Hymn translated b}- Csoma Korosi, Prinsep's Tibet, p. 153.
268 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
miry pit; he stands on dry ground." Cong. : " Yea,
he is out of the miry clay; he will save others."
These words seem like a response on behalf of Godama
to these of the prophetic Psalms : " In thy majesty
ride prosperously, because of truth, and meekness,
and righteousness." (Ps. xlv. 3.) "He brought me
up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and
set my feet upon a rock." (Ps. xl. 2.) Such coinci-
dence cannot be accidental, and can only point to a
common source.
Thus we have in Buddhism a mock Messiah, in
accommodation to the felt wants of men demanding a
really divine Saviour in their own nature. The
records of early Buddhism, the express teaching of
Sakya, and the symbols represented in the most
ancient memorials of his religion, prove, however,
that its first form was far higher in character and
purpose than at present appears amongst the wor-
shippers of Buddha, except, perhaps, in some parts of
Tibet, where, according to the Jesuit missionary Hue,
the doctrines of Christianity, as presented by him,
were recognised as precisely similar to the Buddhism
of their creed. But Godama, while presenting himself
as a Saviour from sin, too palpably manifested his
madness by insisting upon a multitude of meritorious
sacrifices in the form of an asceticism that unfitted a
man for all the holiest duties of life, and positively
made him incapable of obeying any of the known laws
of God in relation to his place, either in the family or
society in general ; for the very benevolence incul-
cated was only that of fellowship in a hopeless ruin,
from which there was no escape but in the entire loss
268 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
miry pit; he stands on dry ground." Cong, : " Yea,
he is out of the miry clay; he will save others."
These words seem like a response on behalf of Godama
to these of the prophetic Psalms : " In thy majesty
ride prosperously, because of truth, and meekness,
and righteousness." (Ps. xlv. 3.) "He brought me
up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and
set my feet upon a rock." (Ps. xl. 2.) Such coinci-
dence cannot be accidental, and can only point to a
common source.
Thus we have in Buddhism a mock Messiah, in
accommodation to the felt wants of men demanding a
really divine Saviour in their own nature. The
records of early Buddhism, the express teaching of
Sakya, and the symbols represented in the most
ancient memorials of his religion, prove, however,
that its first form was far higher in character and
purpose than at present appears amongst the wor-
shippers of Buddha, except, perhaps, in some parts of
Tibet, where, according to the Jesuit missionary Hue,
the doctrines of Christianity, as presented by him,
were recognised as precisely similar to the Buddhism
of their creed. But Godama, while presenting himself
as a Saviour from sin, too palpably manifested his
madness by insisting upon a multitude of meritorious
sacrifices in the form of an asceticism that unfitted a
man for all the holiest duties of life, and positively
made him incapable of obeying any of the known laws
of God in relation to his place, either in the family or
society in general ; for the very benevolence incul-
cated was only that of fellowship in a hopeless ruin,
from which there was no escape but in the entire loss
Aii;
-irfj
-~iJ.X"J
Ti^\J^ — ' — f.
tl-l:
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^M^^^ ^^;^AV.jUCt
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X^b*
v^A^c'
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CP-^.
- 1/ O 1! ''T-C r i. C l-"-, j^
FAC-SIMILE OF AN INSCRIPTION
ON A ROCK AT CIRNAR.
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^i'/^:^}xl^r
FAC-SIIVIILE OF AN IMSCRIPTION
ON A ROCK AT CIRNAR.
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 269
of individuality by return to God. This system of
religion was probably instituted in consequence of
some overwhelming catastrophe, whicli destroyed the
metropolis of Godara^'s kingdom, and rendered it
impossible to observe the ritual previously established.
He turned the desolation to account, and gave forth
Lis edicts for a new order of things. In evidence of
this, we will now examine the inscription found at
Girnar. It consists of about 100 lines, in two divi-
sions. The fourteen sections in the engraving repre-
sent only the junctions in the muslin on which the
impressions of the inscription were taken. On a rock
at Kapur-di-Giri there is nearly a verbatim repetition
of the Girnar inscription, and that inscription is in
the so-called Arian or Bactrian character, and reads
from right to left; the Girnar inscription, however,
reads from left to right, so that the direction of the
line seems to have differed even among people usino*
the same language.
The Hebrew transliteration is transferred to the
Appendix.
The translation is made as literal as possible, and
elegance has been altogether disregarded, the inten-
tion being to give the sense of the original in its own
idiom, not ours. That the ideas may stand out as
clearly as the literal rendering will allow, each senti-
ment is given in a sentence beginning with a capital,
like a line of verse, as by this means the parallelisms,
the peculiarity of Hebrew poetrj^, become more appa-
rent, and the force of the "refrain,'* with which,
indeed, the lament commences, and which is so fre-
quently repeated, becomes more manifest.
270 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
THE GIRNAR INSCRIPTION IN ENGLISH.
(1) TJte waters are my worship, my damma,* my doctrine !f
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their causey
Destruction hath become their enlightenment.
Go forth, diligently persuade them ;
Dan, arise for their overthrow j
My doctrine hath broken the Arab in pieces,
The day of affliction is become the season of life ;
He heareth the stroke of his ruin ;
Your trial shall be a life of fatness.
He heareth I make Destruction Life ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction hath become a friend.
His breaking to pieces I have made thy fruition.
He heareth the Almighty Lord of the dead j
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction hath become their enlightenment.
people, forget the fatted bull !
The mouth of Ruin hath decided theib cause
Whose Destruction hath become their enlightenment.
The endurance thereof shall be even renown ;
Their doctrine is established by that which dismayed me;
Calamity [/Sm] hath brought down the years of the Arab;
Calamity \_Su'] hath set up the mouth of uncleanness.
Desolation, bear witness, terrible is my worship ;
M}' doctrine is that of my shattering to pieces.
Behold, Arab, my doctrine is desirable !
The mountain set up is a law of uncleanness ;
See, their uncleanness is the longing of my lip ;
The mourning of the polluted is a sign of my breaking to pieces ;
Their doctrine, Arab, is a graven statue ;
(2) The name of the mountain is equity and a time of destruction.
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded theie cause.
Whose Destruction hath become their enlightenment.
Desire my doctrine, your doctrine is that of the dead.
Calamity \_Su'] hath rendered thee unclean,
* See damma-^ihe law of worship.
f Or mouth — the instrument of teaching put for the thing taught.
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 271
On it, on it, I establish my doctrine ;
Thou shalt be fair, the broken wall shall here
Become a chamber of perfection by my presence ;
My Truth shall be restored by Ruin,
A heap of ruin shall be my lamp ;
Yea, my Truth is a mouth of fire,
It shall smite the prey from their mouth,
My equity shall become their friend ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction hath become their enlightenment.
He smote that my burning might be the shattering of Manu,
That my burning might be as the turning away of Calamity [5w],
That my buniing might be as that of Calamity,
That my judgment might be as the ruin of Manu*
Be content, the affliction of Life shall be my festival;
Be content, affliction shall be a shining light.
It shall be, it shall be, the parching up of a burning equity.
The breaking inflicted shall heal the breakiug inflicted,
The infliction shall be as a circumcision,
The infliction shall be a setting-apart ;
It shall be, it shall be, the parching up of a burning equity,
The breaking inflicted shall heal the breaking inflicted.
He hath set up the Wrath that caused uncleanness ;
So thy mouth shall be my lamp.
My token shall be as the healing of the ruin of my burning.
Go to, the Calamity of Manu, their change, shall be my restoration ;
(3) The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction shall be a friend of desires, O brother beloved [Davd] ;
My state being equal shall become their hire, God.
What then ! is not my doctrine perfection ?
Their perfection shall be equality, even a ruin-heap.
That which oppresses shall be thy friend,
Severe as it may be, it shall be thine own.
Like the burning wrath [heat], like the Calamity \_Su'],
Even the Calamity which there they endured.
my posterity, you shall be a ruin,
Even I have been made unclean.
Why is our worship [_Damma~\ a thing of Ruin,
A thirsty waste that only renders unclean ?
B}' ruin the Lord of the dead shall kindle them.
There is nought but breaking to pieces, nought but Calamity,
The state of the Nethinim is a dreadful renown,
* Manu is said to be the author of certain Brahminical laws.
272 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
The fame of their offspring is in their destruction,
The Lord Almighty hath judged them ;
Exalted suffering is the law of their offspring, Lord ;
Be it so ; yet surely thou, God [Jav'], wilt be with them,
Thou, Lord Almighty, wilt be in their midst.
The fruit of my speech is Calamity ;
Is not my life a garden thereof?
sea, as in the day of thy trouble, thou breakest to pieces.
(4) The hidden treasure of exalted truth is with me.
By that which dismayed he has also established me,
The sacred decree is desired, their doctrine is exalted ;
Go to, even Life is but Sackcloth ^Sak'],
Botans, my endowment is Woe \_Su\ !
A fragment of my breaking shall be a sin-offering.
The fame of their offspring shall be in their destruction ;
A fragment, a fragment of wood, shall be a siu-offering,*
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction hath become their enlightenment.
posterity, your worship [damma'] is exalted ;
my chosen, perform it,
brother, perform worship ;
My doctrine shall be the manna of thy fatness,
The life I have established shall be thy fatness ;f
1 will myself confirm thyjudgment.
That, Greek \_Jaont], shall be the endurance of affliction,
And my presence shall be fatness.
The breaking of the meek shall be an inheritance.
And in the shattering of Life there shall be a sixfold Life ;
The heights here are my safeguard, desolation bearing witness ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction hath become their enlightenment.
Our worship is a dry waste, God, an exalted suffering !
Go to, the law of their offspring is a living desire ;
O Botans, Nethinim, my breaking is a pure name.
The fame of their offspring shall be in their destruction ;
My breaking to pieces shall be a pure renown.
How is the course of my mouth a course of renown ?
It setteth up that, which causeth uncleanness.
* A fragment of wood, or any broken thing, is now a sin-offering with
Buddhists, at least, in Siam. — See Sir J. Bowring's Embassy to Siain.
f This word refers to the ashes remaining after the consumption of the
burnt sacrifice ; the word is translated fatness in our Bible, but it seems to
signify prosperity.
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 273
Calamity is its spring ; the fire of thy suffering
Shall be the trial and the triumph of thy worship,
I make thy affliction the joy-song thereof and the sign ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause^
Destruction hath become a friend.
Thy worship shall be their joy-song. What then !
Thy nakedness shall beautify thee, my doctrine is thy beauty.
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction hath become their enlightenment.
And that is what I have accomplished,
Why then is thy worship their song of rejoicing ?
This equality is desirable, it averteth [evil],
Damma [worship] is that which obliterateth [sin],
For my blotting out is a complete extinction ;
Those who worship endure what I have done.
The dole of our worship is the bowing down that laid you waste ;
These changes are thy worship, the joy-song of my mouth ;
My heights are my fires for the bowing down thereof
How by blotting out am I rendered unclean ?
That which blotteth out shall cause thee to glory.
I will propitiate thee, Lord Almighty ;
Ruin shall be my token, I am rendered unclean.
What then ! Go forth, earnestly persuade them ;
Why ? because what made me unclean became a protection ;
Enough, they are His people whom He favoureth.
Glory thou in that which God [_Jav^ inflicteth, Beloved \_Davd'],
The equality of my state is what he hath appointed ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction hath become a friend of desires, brother ;
What then ! Go forth, earnestly persuade them ;
(5) The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction hath become a friend of desires, brother ;
Every one of them [desires] is thrust through,
The glory of them all is become as a ruin ;
Be content ! according to my conception they are slain,
God \Jal{\ hath made an end of them ;
He hath proved them all, their perfection is shattered to pieces ;
Thy nakedness shall be thy beauty,
Thy devotion to destruction he hath appointed.
Surely he hath raised up a sea, a desirable name.
And total failure becomes a covering, a protection,
The endurance thereof is my sacred decree.
Be at liberty, thou mayst be unclean ;
Be content ! Calamity [<Sw] is a treasure secured,
For I make the ruin thereof as prosperity j
T
274 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
I have made my doctrine a covering protection.
Be content ! Calamity is a treasure secured,
For I make calamity as the exaltation of life
For those who are covered, concealed.
The hidden treasure of lofty Truth is with me,
The heights [^Nebos] here are even those of the worship of Wrath,
The groans of the trouble that is equal in judgment;
The worship of Wrath is a beating to pieces that causeth equality,
As to Calamity, go to ! they are flourishing ;
God [«7aw] breaketh to pieces,* he maketh the woe a worship,
. . . The sackcloth of their ruin is worship [^damma].
Badh, confirm the generation of the enlightened ;
A dry waste, a rock, shall be my hire.
Ruin and a mouth of Truth are their possession,
The perfection of Rain, Calamity and Truth, is my diadem,
... he hath made it the ornament of the head.
God shall be my sufficiency.
The breaking to pieces of Bama-Dan-Budhen-\
Shall be both my purification and my judgment.
. . . The shattered heap before me is as the mount of Calamity,
Even the mountain of Calamity that causeth uncleanness !
But, Lord [Jav], the breaking to pieces shall be my purification,
Here the choicest part of thy Calamity is its oppressiveness.
. . . and I have made the Truth their doctrine,
For the equity of God [Jav] is the breaking to pieces of Ruin,
Terrible is my worship, my endowment is a thirsty waste,
. . . the worship of Wrath is a sign that I am unclean ;
Terrible is my worship [damma], my doctrine
Is my shattering to pieces.
(6) . . . My doctrine is a friend of desires, hrother^
The hidden treasure of exalted Truth is with me ;
The heights here . . . these are for your uncleanness,
And its purification is judgment,
Yea, the perfection of God \JaK\ is the crushing of desires.
The high assembly of the people is a vain thing !
Why ? hath he forgotten them ? Ah, the Judge hath conceived
The utter destruction of the pride of the stranger.
Whose utter destruction shall be like his destructiveness
In striving to accomplish thy utter destruction ;
And their god [?] Sw [or Sav\ shall be as my equity \8utk, or
SavatJi] ;
His purification shall be the affliction of my thirstfulness,
* Or persuadeth.
f The High One, the Judge, the Lonely One.
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 275
I will deem them unclean,
The tax of his purification shall be the shout of the unclean.*
The mortification of my equity shall be as a tax,
I will deem [him] unclean according to my conception ;
Who shall be smitten for them since thou wast mocked ?
Is not the mouth of God that of Su [Calamity] ?
The sea shall be your destruction.
And your life shall be equal,
And ruin and pining away shall remove the uncleanness of Su.
Surely there shall be, as I thought, a perfect doctrine,
I will deem the abode of desolation unclean.
And I will also establish my judgment.
And the hotness of my burning, that shall be a sea [to purify].
Thou shalt exalt those who endure suffering ;
His purification is a sacred decree, a sea of equity ;
The desired assembly is vain, an illusion ; is not my law perfect ?
The withering away of life, the putting to death of the lamb.
And the smoke of destruction I deem unclean,
What I have appointed is my song of rejoicing.
Even the day of the dead, the breaking to pieces ;
Their life is equal, thy boast shall be a perfect life.
Clothe in sackcloth, pine away, praise the fire of the dead ;
And as I deem their smoke unclean, I have appointed a joy-song,
According to the withering away of your life, the dead being ex-
alted.
Boast of my equality, as the life of one broken to pieces ;
He was smitten for them, therefore my fruit shall be as abundance
of brethren.
For when the Botanim, the Aanim, the Sanaim, were heathens.
How was he afilicted ! my posterity. Calamity \_Su\ was the hand
of God {JaK].
What is my fruit ? The oppressiveness of Calamity ;
Yea, I conceive that sea given as my sign that J am deemed
unclean.
Terrible is my damma, my doctrine. Go forth, diligently persuade
them.
For since my struggle became my exaltation.
What doth your uncleanness produce ?
Thy nakedness shall beautify thee, my doctrine shall be thy beauty
The suffering thereof is a high decree ;
Boast of equality ; Life is desolate, the slain are his ;
* " The leper shall cry unclean, unclean." — Lev. xiii. 45.
T 2
276 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
What then ! where is there a garden -chamber* of fruit so abun-
dant ?
(7) The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction hath become the friend of equity ;
Those whom Vanity [^Sav] afflicted shall prosper thereby,
And the sea of equity \_Savath'] shall be their sea,
Even as Calamity [_Su'] thereby defendeth thee.
Why have I raised up a heap of ruin ?
Behold it is even thy direction, the appointed guide,
Even thy direction, that is, the meditation of things equal ;
For surely what I have done shall cause prosperity,
Even according to what I have done ;
And the Intricacy thereof is a parable ;
Lo ! the sea is parched up whereby the Calamity came ;
As it is perfect [or ended], the sign is sufficient,
Behold, the sign is the submission of my house,
The injury, the affliction of the Baddhists.
(8) The hidden treasure of exalted Truth is with me,
Friend, lo even burning maketh perfect ;
Behold, God, the Calamity \_Su'] is [with] the Magian [fire- wor-
shipper],
God [Jav], he sufiereth affliction ;
Thou art my origin, my Father exalted \_Abii-ram],
My possessions are reeds, assuage the Calamity.
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction hath become an acceptable friend ;
And thou hast appointed my return.
Thou hast accomplished my aim, the fame of my separation ;
Thou, who didst produce their destruction,
Shalt be the sea of my dread :
The renown of their offspring shall be in their destruction,
That which caused affliction shall be thy prosperity,
That which caused uncleanness shall be their song of rejoicing,
Thy prosperity shall be an exalted life ;
Behold even that which afflicteth is my purification ;
humble one, buy sackcloth, humble one, that is their prosperity ;
Our worship [damma'] is that of an arid waste,
As is the blood of the fruit here so shall thine be.
Conduct thou the servicef of fire whereon I have laid my abode
[boothi^ J
* Or garden enclosure, a garner,
t Pojah, so Buddhists name their religious service ; perhaps from H^^Sj
to speak {Arabic), or perhaps n''")S)> God is here {Heb.).
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 277
The mouth of Euin hath pleaded their catLsCf
Destruction hath become their light, O house of Truth.
(9) The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction hath become a cJioice friend, O brother ;
I have made even these heaps thy direction.
Because the mounds thus afford a conception
Of the havoc the calamity produced.
And fitly they declare the violence of the calamity.
Even the spreading of the flame of the calamity.
Presenting alike a memorial of the destruction,
And also a token of the destruction ;
As it was not thy destruction,
These heaps become thy direction.
Because the mounds afford a conception,
A sign, of the consumption of life in the ruin,
The trial [or proof] is raiied up as a trial [or proof}.
And thy judgment shall be as a judgment,
Even the lamp of thy uucleannesses ;
Because the mouuds afford, as it were, a conception
Of the shattering to pieces of the day of his deadly destruction ;
Because the mounds are truly wonders in the midst thereof,
Bec-ause the mounds of ruin are the sign decreed.
TeiTible was the consumption of life, appalling ;
One shall worship from a mound, from a mound
Shall be rendered the thanksgiving of the Sabbath [rest],
As from the utter destruction of fertility [oil].
The fragments of the breaking to pieces amidst humiliations
Are truly the shatterings of the Lord Almighty.
Turn to Calamity, for that is the sea of the Lord Almight}' ;
The renown of their offspring is in their utter destruction ;
The Lord Almighty was their judge;
Thy suffering is thy sign, da mm a* is the sign decreed,
From the mounds their moaning betokens that day :
My doctrine [mouth] is here the sign appointed,
For therein is the sign of the calamity that smote my abode;
What then, Almighty, what then was the shattering of the day !
The mounds are tokens that I deem unclean
The years of the accomplishment of my mourning;
I make even what he hath done as my mouth.
The Lord Almighty is the judge [Dan'],
My mortification is his gift, the sign decreed j
I have established his judgment,
* Silent waiting as worship.
278 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
Endure the extension thereof;
He decrees the worship [^damma] of judgments,
And our worship is to extend the injury he inflicted.
Even the severe calamity of Kuin.
Behold me smitten of woe, bowed down of woe,
Alas, that is even the sacred decree of the day ;
my mouth, thou shalt destroy, thou shalt destroy their feasts.
What judgment is like your judgment !
What judgment was like the destruction of my dead !
Why was it mine, Sak !
[Or what was it besides sackcloth !]
Yea, Calamity I regard as the shout of his dead ;
Since such it is, what should there be besides affliction !
Thou shalt exalt God l_Jav'], he causeth uncleanness ;
Calamity, stranger, shall be my sufficiency.
(10) The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction hath become my friend.
Be still ! and both the affliction and its uncleanness
Shall be removed, and the burning wrath* shall not be.
The gift that destroys them is your knowledge, ye meek,
The worship of Calamity [_Su'\ shall be their Calamity ;
The Calamity, my calamity, is the perfection of worship and your
perfection ;
Yea, the endurance thereof maketh perfect in weakness ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction hath become my friend.
Be still, afflicted, even those I have afflicted.
His ruin shall be but for fruits of desire [longing] ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause;
Those who are equal destruction befriends;
My failure shall be my fruition,
My affliction being weighed [as a price].
Verily my fruits are vanity, I set them on fire,
And behold the fruits of my vanity are reeds.
Ye are as those who are thrust through in the midst.
Afflicted like ourselves, people of posterity, our kindred ;
Where is there a garden -chamber of fruits so abundant ?
Your fruit shall be equally a heap broken with violence.
And those are our kindred who are as those thrust through ."f*
(11) The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction hath become a pleasant friend, O brother.
* Or sun-worship — Jl^QH.
f Like those who are impaled.
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 279
A parching up is the sign decreed,*
God [Jah] hath decreed judgments,
The worship of judgments is a worship renowned [or the worship
of Shem],
He hath set up Avaf [ruin], even the worship renowned,
And therein is woe, even the worship renowned, by his hand con-
ferred [or given by his direction].
What then ! my rest [bootki] is that of a Sabbath as from fertility
[oil].
As to the breakings of my breaking to pieces,
Why is the course of my doctrine the course of the Almighty ?
Calamity, Calamity, that putteth to death,
That is the basis of these my possessions ;
The renown of their offspring is in their utter destruction ;
The Lord Almighty hath judged them ;
The doctrine of their offspring is great suffering, O Almighty.
As to the signs of the day, my doctrine is the sign here given.
And by that sign dying is the basis of these things that I possess.
Yea, rather his purification is a living ruin ;
The Lord Almighty hath judged them,
God [_Jav'], breaking to pieces, hath judged them.
Be content, thou mayest be unclean, he hath shattered them to
pieces ;
Go forth as a remnant guided by what I have done ;
Thy breaking to pieces is Truth, Soundness is Pining away :
Behold, posterity, he hath made worship \_damma] my rest.
(12) The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their causey
Destruction hath become a Jit companion ;
By the infliction of my law they flourish.
Even now the smiting of my city % l^^-th established it.
As to the infliction of the ruin of my overthrow,
That, Posterity, is become my hope.
Even the breaking that was inflicted on my people.
Behold the Calamity \_Su'] of my overthrow.
Was the cause of the uncleanness of the Danites,
Even the breaking to pieces of an entire overturning ;
* Perhaps referring to these words, " When the poor and needy seek
water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth [is parched] for thirst, I
the Lord will hear them. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, the
dry land springs of water." (Is. xli. 17.) The Buddhists call themselves
the poor and needy, and their worship a thirst in a dry land.
t nin in Keth, HT? Aja. (Job vi. 2; xxx. 13.)
J Or enemy [?].
280 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
The mouth of Huin hath pleaded their cause,
Because what was done occasioned uncleanness.
Be at liberty, ye contrite ones, my law is an equal fire,
The prudent shall prosper; be at liberty,
My doctrine is the end of trial and judgment ;
Thou shalt regard its accomplishment j what then !
Those who are circumcised shall be for my Goths,
Since I am persuaded they shall be prosperous ;
By the breaking of the burning overthrow they flourish.
Declare these things to the stranger, yea, to him.
Like the noise of the destruction of Lehi,* burnt of fire.
my mouth [or doctrine], thou shalt utterly destroy, destroy.
Like the noise of the breaking at the time of its ruin.
Or rather my doctrine shall become their prosperity,
Through the gift that my doctrine conferreth,
According to the joy-song [triumph] of desires shattered to pieces.
1 am persuaded they shall prosper; the blackness of burning is hope;
They shall flourish by Sak [or in sackcloth],
Even the doctrine according to my thought [or conception]
Behold, thou shalt be deemed unclean as thou wast conceived.
I am persuaded they shall flourish, as I behold fruit.
They shall flourish in sackcloth [or hy Sah], even my doctrine ;
According to my conception ruin shall be thy life ;
So therefore am I persuaded they shall flourish ;
The breaking to pieces of my overthrow shall be my fruit ;
And, stranger, my dread shall be equality.
I am persuaded they shall flourish in the house of God {Jahl,
Therefore I am persuaded they shall flourish amongst themselves j
The doctrine being a sea is my sufficiency.
man of sackcloth [*Sa^], repent [pine away],
Thou art unclean as thou wast conceived ;
1 am persuaded they shall flourish ; exalt thou JBadh,
And celebrate the doctrine of my graciousness,
And ruin shall become the desire of the field ;
For since by these things, by these things they become worshippers,
Calamity [<Sm], behold they are thy people ;
Calamity, Calamity, the emptying of desires is Life.
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded theib cause, who are despised.
For they equally flourish by the trial of Calamity,
His fire having oppressed every one of them.
* Lehi or Lecha (a jaw-bone). See Judges xv. 14, 15, where the burning
of Lehi and the deeds of Samson are described. This sustains the surmise
as to the origin of the Getce, here called Goths — Gathites — ''Jl^.
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 2 81
Moreover, as his fire was thy ruin [lamentation],
The groaning of the living creatures of God*
Is appointed to be their prosperity.
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Their judgment is the infliction of uncleanness ;
The breaking of the overthrow, because of what hath happened,
Causeth uncleanness ; therefore be at liberty j
My doctrine is a fire of equality ;
Those who are prudent shall prosper ;
The trial of burning shall be my token ;
God [Jav], I am unclean, dread is the worship of thy Wrath ;
Why doth thy wrath, even thine, cause only uncleanness ?
Therein who is like thee ? Am I not thine, God ?
TeiTible as is that which causeth my separation,
1 am persuaded they shall flourish thereby;
My doctrine shall be as my dread dismay.
The worship of Sak shall be my sufficiency ; be Thou gracious.
(13) . . . my speech is upright ; Thou, Trial, art the seal ;
Your tokens are the gift which the Lord [Adoni]
Hath poured out by the hand of Calamity ;
His breaking to pieces is worship and ruin.
. . . Their sickness shall be a song of rejoicing,
Yea, and the manifestation of meekness
Shall be the drink of his Baddhists [recluses].
The judge of thy dead is the guard of thy dead . . .
. . . Thou madest their calamity the explanation of Calamity ;
The mistakings of Calamity were their calamity,
I make the name the basis of my humiliation ;
Calamity, that smote what pertained to me, healeth . . .
... as to the things that pertain to me, years are as a day.
Here have I set my doctrine in a speech neglected.
And the outcry of my dread is my purification.
Through meditation of that which causeth equality.
. . . The years shall be the withering away of Manu,
But the era of destruction shall be their prosperity ;
By the destruction their offspring are living ;
The triumph of thy existence shall be afiliction . . ,
. . . Sak was, and his dying, God [Jah], and then my mouth,
even ruin ;
The mouth of Ruin pleaded their cause . . .
* The word translated " living creatures" is the same as that in the first
chapter of Ezekiel, where the living creatures seem to mean the tribes of
Israelites, as shown in our second chapter.
282 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
My doctrine was the ruin-heap of my destruction,
... I was equally broken to pieces, ye Botans,
Their day was grievous [kasK], according to the name [i. e. Kash\
. . . Thy exaltation shall be more than thy pollution.
God, we will deal evilly with the calves,
As he who made likewise broke to pieces the evil thing he con-
ceived.*
Behold it was thy ruin being an imposition ;
Thy possession shall be thy mourning.
. . . The triumph of my mouth shall be exalted,
The triumph of calamity shall be equality.
My mouth hath pleaded their cause,
Our worship [damma] shall be Zimf [a thirsting] ;
The endurance thereof is even the purpose of my parables.
... A heap of ruin is similar to the unclean, penitent.
Even my life was a heap of ruin ;
My life shall be a source of consolation.
What was my dismay shall be worship.
And a heap shall be my sea [to purify] . . .
What even now, to-day, is thy root, Desire,
From these things, even the ruin-heaps of thy shattering to pieces ?
. . . Why go for an expiation ... go for expiation ?
... Do thou equally, the life I set up is equal ;
Proceed, Calamity, take possession of their thoughts.
(14) Terrible is my worship \_damma], my doctrine ;
The mouth of Huin hath pleaded their causey
Destruction hath become their enlightenment;
Go forth, diligently persuade ;
1 have set up a desirable memorial,
For I have set up what he hath given,
I have set up the bitterness of trouble.
And the foundation of my offspring shall be as their equality.
To show forth the strength of piety .J
my doctrine, thy strength is even a perfect heap,
Trial shall be a weapon for the perfect ;
My rock shall be a memorial,
1 set up that which is erected as your sign ;
Pining away, pining away is even perfection ;
Thou shalt experience that I was rendered unclean,
My desolation is the astonishment of the age,
* See Exod. xxxii.
f Zim is said by Buddhists to be the principle of all things.
X Or to manifest that my strength is perfect.
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 283
The shattering to pieces of a heap of ruin.
Behold, thou shalt be rendered unclean,
The outcry of the unclean shall be purification,
My endowment is only that of the fire.
My integrity shall be for the perfect,
His prosperity [or his fatness] shall be a fire,
My fading away shall be as songs of rejoicing,
And I shall depart ; as to my breaking to pieces [or enlargement].
My doctrine shall be a feast of the fruits of his judgment.
Though there must necessarily be considerable
obscurity in a document intended to be understood
only by the initiated, yet we can so far discover the
meaning of this long rock-inscription as to see that
the sum and substance of the doctrine enjoined is to
turn evil to fin^l account by submitting to it in silent
reliance upon the Almighty. This is the doctrine
of SaJcya or Godama, The frequent reference to the
waters and the sea reminds us of their significance
in relation to purifying under the Jewish economy
and worship; but in the inscription as here inter-
preted, the calamity endured is represented as not
only causing impurity, but being the means of its
removal by the suffering endured. What was the
nature of the calamity giving origin to such a re-
markable exhortation we have no means of deter-
mining, but that burning and slaughter were connected
with it is evident. The probability is, that some violent
assault of enemies, combined in their attack, over-
threw the established polity and religion of the Bud-
dhists throughout the whole extent of their dominion ;
which, judging from the rock-records in the same
language at Delhi, Allahabad, Behar, Cuttack,
Guzerat, and Afghanistan, was very extensive indeed.
Of course it could only be the predominance of either
284 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
a conquering or a more doctrinally imposing race.
We have seen proof that the Sacce, being Buddhists,
really asserted their dominion in those parts, both as
teachers and as conquerors. We find the Arab men-
tioned in the first section. This name, however, was
applied by the Hebrews to any wandering and un-
civilized people, the term meaning a lier-in-wait or
bandit ; and therefore, probably, it here refers to the
aboriginal hill-tribes, who lived then, as they do now,
by depredation. The Greek is named in the fourth
section in such a manner as to imply that he had a
part in causing the calamity inflicted, and it is not
unlikely that other enemies took advantage of the
Greek invasion of North- Western India to overwhelm
the Sacae. Concerning the Goths^ so plainly named
in the twelfth section, the language there employed
sufficiently indicates that they were involved in the
same trouble, and are invited to receive the doctrines
inculcated on equal terms. It would appear from
this that the Goths were not the predominant party,
but the Sacoe. The period at which the Goths and
the Sacce coalesced in those countries was, as far as
we can gather from the very imperfect history of
those regions we possess, about the year 100 B.C.,
when the Parthians, with Scythian aid, restored their
dominion in Cabul and the Punjab, which had been
interrupted by the inroads of the Goths. It was then
that the Goths of those parts became Buddhists, and
henceforth co-operated with the Sacce^ they being
peoples, as we have seen, using the same language
and, as indicated in former chapters, being, from their
origin and in their dispersion, intiaiate with each other;
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 285
but from other circumstances it has been inferred
that these inscriptions are of an earlier period.
Perhaps the most remarkable word in these Bud-
dhistic inscriptions is Su or Skeo^ which we find
so frequently used in the Girnar inscription. This
word was cursorily considered in connexion with the
Byrath inscription, and its occurrence in all these
inscriptions confirms the propriety of the rendering
there given to it, as the impersonification of Cala-
mity, or the destroying or levelling power, the power
that brings all perishable things down to an equa-
lity. That the state of mind inculcated is in
keeping with this idea of necessary submission to
the destroying Power is expressed by the equality
amongst the materials of a heap of ruin. In the first
inscription from the " Joonur" cave-temples, given at
p. 235, Godama is stated to be King of Kasli ; and
in the Girnar inscription the destruction of Kash,
that is, Benares, is referred to as if it were the city
of the author of that inscription. Its restoration, or
at least the institution of a new polity, founded on
its very ruin, is implied in the commencement of the
12th section ; the completeness of the overthrow
beino^ the reason for the new order of thincrs, in
which the judgment inflicted becomes the ground of
worship. It would appear, then, that Godama him-
self was the author of the Girnar inscription, for he
mentions the time existing as that of the smiting of
his city; and that, according to the best computa-
tions, would conduct us back to a period preceding
543 B.C., as in that year Godama-Sahya died. We
might otherwise imagine that Su^ as the name of the
286 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT
destroying Power, was derived from the Greeks, with
a Hebrew adaptation, and that the authors of the
destruction so remarkably lamented, and yet turned
to religious account, were Greeks. It was shown
(p. 156) that the word Su stands on a coin of An-
timachus Nikephorus^ as if it were in some sense
equivalent to Nikephorus^ a title of Jupiter, as the
god of conquest; so that, whatever may have been
the source of the word as employed in the rock
inscriptions, we are at no loss to understand why
Antimachus adopted the word as appropriate to a
coin to be iised in a country he had conquered, when
he found that word employed there to designate a
Power to which the inhabitants were required to
submit on religious principle.*
By the play upon the words Sav^ Savath^ and Su^
in the 7th section, the derivation of the words is
shown to be from the same root, which in the Hebrew
is very evident. Hence the connexion between Vanity,
Equality, and Calamity, or Ruin. It is probable that
the worship of Siva^ or Shiva, the Hindoo god, is
indicated as equivalent to Sav, Vanity, in the passage
mentioned. The completeness of the Calamity is
represented as consisting in the completeness of the
uncleanness produced by it ; but, as it was unavoid-
* " The Greeks gave the most absurd derivation for their title of Deity —
Theos ; nor have we observed it and its kindred terms, though obvious, to
be anywhere clearl}' explained. Zeus is merely Deus contracted into one
syllable, as is seen by the genitive Dios. Theos, again, is Deus, the D
changed into Th by an aspirate. But if the Pelasgians called Jupiter Zeu,
then it is apparent that they are of the same race and the same tongue with
the Latins, who named the Deity Deus ; and the Greeks, who denominated
Him Theos; and the Spartans, who softened Zeu into Seu." — "Passing
Thoughts," p. 108, by James Douglas, of Cavers.
GIRNAR AND DELHI. 287
able, the patient endurance of the uncleanness is
declared to be its own cure ; a notion to be ac-
counted for only on the supposition of its Hebrew
origin. This inscription thus sufficiently expresses
what is meant by a covenant with a heap which
appears to have been part of the worship of the
Saxons, who at a very early period visited Britain,
as stated at p. 173. The idea is that all men were
to be deemed equal ; and that as a heap of ruin was
the end of all earthly possession, all difficulties were
to be endured bravely in sight of that end ; but still
that, according to the doctrine of Sak^ there was to
follow a redemption from destruction to those who
endured in submission to Adoni^ the Lord Almighty,
a name applied to the Deity by those early Saxons of
the West, by the author of the Girnar inscription
(Sect. 13), and by the Hebrew people; a coincidence
not easily accounted for but on the fact of their
common origin. In short, the belief in a final de-
liverance from the fallen state of man, and in a new
standing, after passing through trouble, death, and
destruction, by the favour of a Divine Man, who
himself had encountered and conquered them all, is
the belief that, however modified, alone constitutes
the inspiration of all true heroes, and that belief can
be traced to no other than the Hebrew source.
This inscription would admit of prolonged com-
ment, but the ingenious reader who may consider
the rendering, with all respect now submitted to his
judgment, in a spirit of appropriate patience and
intelligence, will find comment unnecessary.
288
CHAPTER XIII.
SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS IN ARIAN CHARACTERS.
Sepulchral inscriptions are found in the same
character as that of the Kapur-di-Giri inscription,
which is nearly a transliteration of the Girnar in-
scription, which I have again transliterated in modern
Hebrew characters and given in full. The Kapur-di-
Giri inscription is engraved on a rock on the side of
a rocky and abrupt hill near a village of that name
in the district inhabited by the Yusufzai^ the Afghan
tribe named after Joseph, and which has been men-
tioned in pp. 145 and 164 ante. This inscription,
like Hebrew, reads from right to left. A facsimile of
it was taken by C. Masson, Esq., on muslin prepared
for the purpose and applied to the face of the pre-
viously-blackened rock, and carefully pressed on it
with the hand, so that every point should be brought
out clearly. The narrative of Mr. Masson s excur-
sion for this purpose is interestingly told by himself
in No. XVI. of the Royal Asiatic Society's Journal ;
and in the same number a plate, representing the
engraved rock, is given, together with clear specimens
of the characters and an exposition of the alphabet,
INSCRIPTIONS IN ARIAN CHARACTERS. 289
by Mr. E. Norris, Secretary of the Royal Asiatic
Society. We are indebted to this gentleman's pa-
tience and ingenuity for the discovery of the means
of reading the Kapur-di-Giri inscription, and other
writings in the so-called Arian or Bactrian character
— a character in use for several centuries throughout
that extensive line of country over which the Seleu-
cidae and their successors held dominion ; that is to
say, from the Paropamisus, or Caucasus, to the upper
part of the Punjab, including all Bactria, Hindu-
Cush, and Afghanistan. It appears, then, that two
classes of people at least employed the language ex-
pressed in this character; one using this character,
and another using the character found on the Girnar
rock and in the pillar and cave-temple inscriptions.
In both cases the language is that of Buddhists only,
as far as can be ascertained from the coins and monu-
ments on which we discover it- As, then, it has been
shown in this volume that the teachers of Buddhism
were of Hebrew origin, we conclude that they were
instructors and rulers over two classes of people
using the same language, but in two different charac-
ters. The only two classes of people having such
distinctions and such similarities, to whom our
researches conduct us, are the Getae and Sacae — the
Goths and the Saxons — which we know were to-
gether scattered as conquerors over the countries in-
dicated. We cannot here stay to prove to which the
characters respectively belonged; but the evidence
already advanced, together with much which cannot
now be adduced, points to the probability that the
so-called Arian character was that employed by the
u
.200 SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS
Getce^ and that the so-called Lett character, of which
we have given so many specimens, was that of the
Sacce. In both cases the alphabets are very simple
and perfect — the Arian^ like Hebrew, has three sibil-
lants, if not four, the other has seemingly but one ; at
least, the inscriptions present no marked distinction
between s and sh, A curious circumstance, if this
alphabet be that of the Sacse, and the Sacae be, as we
suppose, descendants of the Ephraimites ; for the
inability to pronounce the 5/iibboleth was their pe-
culiarity in Samaria. It might be shown that the
characters of this alphabet more nearly resemble the
objects named in the names given to the letters
than the modern Hebrew letters do. The Avian is
constructed more on the principle of the Phoenician
or Punic. But these incidental remarks are rather
out of place here, except so far as they naturally arise
out of our observations on the Arian character in
which the inscriptions we will now examine are
written. We will confine attention to those found in
two only of the numerous topes that have been de-
spoiled and desecrated by Britons, namely, the tope
at Manihyala^ opened by General Court, and that at
Jelalahad^ opened by Mr. Masson. A full description
of both these explorations will be found in the ^'His-
torical Results ded icible from Recent Discoveries in
Afghanistan," an interesting and learned work by
H. T. Prinsep, Esq., and abundantly illustrated with
plates of coins, and also the relics and inscriptions
found in the topes just named.
Jelalabad lies in the Cabul valley ; there are very
many of those sepulchral topes there, and also at Da-
IN ARIAN CHARACTERS. 291
ranta and at Hidda, or Iddo* near Jelalahad. Mani-
kyala is situated not far from the city oi Jhelum^ which
lies on the banks of a river of the same name, known
to the Greeks as the Hydaspes. The tope of Manikyala^
which was "first opened by General Court, and after-
wards more deeply explored by General Yentura, is a
vast and massive dome-like building. It stands amidst
many lesser erections of the same kind on the site of
an ancient city of unknown origin; but, from the
extent of the ruins and the numerous coins there dis-
covered, it was probably the capital of the country
between the Indus and the Hydaspes at the time of
Alexander's conquest. f The village of Manikyala lies
on the high road from Attok to Lahore. The tope, or
tomb, is eio;htv feet hio^h, with a circumference of
three hundred and twenty feet. It is built of quar-
ried stones with lime-cement. General Ventura, pro-
ceedinof downwards from the summit, throu^^h laro^e
masses of masonry, found at different depths various
deposits. Thus, at ten feet he found detached coins
of comparatively modern date ; at the depth of twenty
feet he came on an urn, or covered box of copper,
havinof a small box of o^old within, which contained a
gold coin of the Kanerki type, several unstamped
coins, and also a gold seal-ring, with a sapphire set in
it. One Sassanian silver coin was also here disco-
* Mark the similarity of this name to that of the person to whom Ezra
sent for Nethinim to minister after the return from the captivity.
t See Prinsep's Hist. Results, p. 113. A great number of coins from
this region may he seen at the India House, showing a succession of king?
from the time when Nicanor, the lieutenant of Antigonus (305 B.C.), seized
the whole of Media, Parthia, Aria, and all the countries as far as the Indus.
Greek legends with Arian are found on nearly all these coins.
u 2
292 SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS
vered, having on its margin what Professor Wilson
read as the Mohammedan Bismillah, Carrying the
excavation to the depth of sixty-four feet, a large slab
was reached, on the removal of which a chamber was
laid open, having its sides parallel with the cardinal
points, according to the Buddhist custom. Here was
discovered a copper box filled with a semi-liquid
substance of an animal nature. In this box was
another of turned brass, on the cover of which an
Arian inscription was punctured, and within it five
coins of the Kanerki and Kenarano type, as also a
small gold cylinder containing fragments of amber or
crystal, a piece of string, a small gold coin of the
Koran OS, and a disc of silver with Arian words on
it. Another but rather smaller tope was opened
by General Court about a mile from the preceding.
Three feet from the top he found coins of the Kad-
phises and the Kanerkes. Then, cutting do\vn ten
feet through solid masonry, he opened a square cell
similar to that found in the above. This cell was
covered with an immense slab covered with inscrip-
tions, and within the cell were discovered a copper
urn closely wrapped in white linen, eight copper
coins of Kadphises and Kanerkis type, and seven
silver coins of the Caesars and the Triumvirate. In
the copper urn there was also a silver one, having
within it a brown pasty animal substance, a knotted
string, and also a small gold vessel, having in it four
golden coins, all Kanerkis, two precious stones, and
four decayed pearls.
With this introduction we shall the better un-
derstand the inscriptions found in those topes,
f^
bo u — >^
« ill. ^^^ C/v
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o
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On the lid. |
IN ARIAN CHARACTERS. 29 3
to the interpretation of which we will now pro-
ceed.
The inscription on the brass cylinder found in a
tope, or tumulus^ at Jelalabad, being transliterated
from the Arian character into that of modern Hebrew,
reads thus : —
ns)T an ^n^y hd -n:in nt^ b':hbi fy
an o ''HiH) b'l o t:^ip n^Q nn t:r>
X//?:e ^Ae generation of the deceased, Kadiphesh was
holy ; their race was that of the Pabadas, abiding in
the wheel of the Almighty. Why is the covering I
bestow on them that which destroyeth ? The mountain
of the dead [i.e. the Tumulus] shall be holy for the
poor, my Paeadas [scatteeed], even for them. Their
bows are their covering.^
The Kadiphesh here named may be the same as
the king called Kadphises^ on the coin represented in
fig. 5 of the plate at p. 156. He reigned over the
Arian regions, Afghanistan, and part of the Punjab,
about 50 B.C. The Arian sentence on the obverse of
his coinage, surrounding a figure which is probably
intended for Godama, will now be understood, since
sufiicient has been said to show why a king reigning
ov^er Buddhists might declare that he worshipped
according to the covenant of the burning of Kash,
the seat of Saka (see p. 158, ante).
It will be remembered that the Paradas are said
to be bearded (see p. J 37, ante)^ and the king, Kad-
jjhises^ or Kadiphesh^ is represented with a beard, as
are also the kings named Kanerkes, who succeeded
* The word rendered " covering " may mean, a treacherous concealment.
294 SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS
him, two of whose coins are seen in the annexed
plate, figs. 2 and 3. The king represented on these
coins is habited precisely like Kadphises^ except that
he has horns on his head, after the manner of some
Greek kings ; and he also carries a bow slung across
his shoulders, which affords an illustration of the
otherwise obscure words of the inscription just given,
where the bow is called a covering or garment.
While pointing to an altar with his right hand, he
holds a trident in his left hand, a symbol of his
power over the waters ; that is to say, peoples, trials,
and doctrines. The Greek words for king of kings,
standing before the name Kanerkes^ end in Leon^ and
this part of the word is so placed as to give the im-
pression that it is intended to be regarded as also
belonging to the name of the king, this double appli-
cation of words not being uncommon. In the one
coin, Leon is spelt with the short 6>, and in the other
with the long, showing that the Greek then and there
in use was not that of scholarly precision. The coins
of this king of kings, perhaps Leo Kanerkes^^ bear
two remarkable words, in the one case being
Nanajah^ and in the other Elias, These words stand
at the back of figures of Godama ; that the figures
are those of Godama we learn from the monogram
containing his name, as shown in a former chapter.
The words referred to are in Greek letters, but as
Greek they have no meaning; as Hebrew, however,
they are full of significance when applied to Godama :
for Nanajah signifies the offspring of God ; and Elias
is the Greek rendering for the Hebrew word Elijah^
* Kanerkes, as Hebrew, me-dXis. possessor of tceallh.
IN ARIAN CHARACTERS. 295
as we find in the New Testament, and in the version
of the Seventy, well known to the inquiring Greeks,
and probably to those numerous Greek colonists over
whom Godama^ at least through Kanerkes and Kad-
phises, reigned.
In remarking on coins having Nanajah or Nanaia
on them, Professor AVilson, in his " Antiqua Ariana^''^
traces the use of the term in a religious sense to
Armenia^ but he does not give us its meaning. The
apf>licability of the names Nanajah and Elias to
Godama will become apparent, when we remember
that Godama assumed the character of the Messiah,
or at least of his precursor. When our Lord pre-
sented himself as the Messiah to the Jews, even his
disciples were in doubt, because they understood
that ^/zas was first to come and restore all things;
that is to say, to instate the Hebrew people in their
prophesied dignity. The names Nanajah ( God's
offspring) and Elias (the restorer or possessor of
miraculous power) are especially significant when
applied to Godama ; for we know that he daringly
claimed to be what the Buddhists always acknowledge
him to be — a Divine Restorer^ the very son of God,
with power over the living and the dead. We observe
that in one coin he holds a sceptre, like an arm with
a hand opened, signifying his authority to teach and
do wonders ; while in the other coin his own hand is
raised as expressive of the same power. But the
most remarkable object is the wheel of glory round
his head, reminding us of the fact that Godama is
called the Lord of the Golden Wheelj thus illustratino^
the words of the foregoing inscription, which indicates
296 SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS '
that to abide in the wheel of the Almighty is to be
in some way the peculiarly protected ministers of
Providence. It is worthy of remark that the word
Shaddai^ in the original, is written or pointed in an
exceptionable manner, as the word is also by the
Hebrews. In this case, the letter standing for i is
turned upside down, and the letter preceding has the
mark signifying a pointing towards it.
We now turn to the inscriptions found in the prin-
cipal deposit in the tope at Manikyala, opened by
General Ventura. The inscription (4) on the brass
vessel in which the animal substance was contained
will demand attention. The precious things em-
bedded in that substance were gold, pearl, and crystal,
probably signifying the virtues of the deceased —
truth, purity, and perfection. In Hebrew characters
the words read thus : —
Wy^ Din DDSID
Thus was tJie exalted deceased also released ; raise v/p
your heart, the deceased, their healer reposes* in per-
fect happiness.
Here we find the mysterious word niran ; but it is
clearly the Chaldaic emphatic of nzV, light, and meta-
phorically signifies perfect well-being.
The sentence on the silver disc (fig. 5) is —
: 11") 11 l^D p
that is, A protection from the hand of Badh, even
Badh; from which it would appear that, like the
Greeks, the Buddhists of Kanerkes' day thought the
dead needed a passport to guard them on their pas-
* The word means " retiring to sleep."
IN ARIAN CHARACTERS.
297
sage to Hades — a kind of viaticum from the hand of
priestly authority. If Badh be the same as Buddha,
the said silver disc is a great curiosity, being at least
reputed to come from his own hand.
The next inscription is that on the stone which
covered all those relics. The characters are some-
what modified, and in parts are a little defective ; but
yet without much difficulty they resolve themselves
into the following sentences : —
o -r;;-) uni2 ns^ op □i"' ni cxx 21
bb^ D11 \)v " ^^^ p^ DJ ^jT't:*
]D mjran^i i:?> nDni nn ind n I'^nn Tnn ^'p^ai
p n'?'?ni pn am m'' t •»niD'?
T)*? n D"i mn D")nD p cd?^'^
Contrary [to custom], but unblamed, I caused a vessel of
blood* to be enclosed. Afire of wood consumed a hun-
dred and twenty [CXX.] in it; the dead body was
raised on high by them. Trembling because I also de-
posited the sackcloth of his mourning . . . sackcloth
and blood complete ; what was unintentionally wrong
therein that the exalted deceased exonerates; my trou-
ble was that of a leader when the heathen people of
liAM t smote Aphen [the wheel (?) ]; NAGO-Aifoii
, punished Ram; he smote their stores [baskets] with
want, and adjudged Tovan to pay a tax that was
* Literally " blood a vessel."
t Ram is worshipped by the Hindoos.
298 SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS
large for it and oppressive^ and their power \hand^
was certainly thus subverted.
My teaching shall smite, shall guide even them ; and
thus there shall he nothing hut praise ; the unclean-
ness of the rebellious is folly, yea even the love thereof,
for it shall smite, it shall smite them; let us abide
at peace, O people; my sacred ordinance ^Jiall be yours,
even smiting of hands; ^the damma \_worskip~\ of
Dan shall be as exalted,\ the love of Ram remaining
with it ; and the conqueror of M.A.GOGiiL[^Scythia (?)].
wy beloved, was like the pomegranate {or like RiM-
mon] that is cut off, even my beloved.
This inscription admits of much animadversion in
respect to the circumstances mentioned in it and the
names of persons and places referred to. Why the
inscriber should use the Roman numerals, and why
Roman coins were enclosed among the relics, we have
no means of knowing. It would appear that the
number applies to bodies that were burnt at the same
time. The inscription accounts for the finding of
moist animal substance in the vessel containing the
relics, and also for the coarse white linen in which the
vessel was wrapped, since it mentions the deposit both
of blood and sackcloth, the emblem of mourning. It
may be asked what was the use of an inscription buried
beneath such a mass of materials? We must remember
that the deceased was probably a Buddhist prince,
and that probably, until some succeeding prince had
his remains, after incremation, interred above, there
was some way of access to the first deposit ; for it was
the custom of the Buddhists to visit the topes at
regular festivals instituted on purpose to venerate
and to examine the remains last deposited in them ;
* The line here passes round to the right side of the inscription,
f Or, like that of Ram.
IN ARIAN CHARACTERS. 299
SO that the inscriptions themselves might be read,
and thus continue as records handed down from one
generation to another. The interest of those records
to us mainly consists in the fact herein, I hope, suffi-
ciently shown, that the so-called Arian inscriptions are
Hebrew, and that this language was employed with
some Greek in Cabul, Bamean^ the Huzdra country,
Lagman^ and in the Punjab^ where similar monu-
ments, relics, and coins are found. The Roman coins
discovered in the topes being those of the first Cassars
and the Triumvirate, prove that the date of the
inscriptions we have presented must be about the
beginning of our own era. The coins of the Kanerki
kings having only Greek letters on them, coins of the
Kadphises line and those oi Sassanian kings are found
mixed together in some topes that have been ex-
plored; and the facts altogether go to prove that the
Arian language, which we have shown to be Hebraic^
was in use as the vernacular language of the predomi-
nant people of the Paropamisan range^ Afghanistan;,
and part of the Punjab^ at least up to the third and
fourth century after Christ ; a conclusion that confirms
the statement as to the Hebrew orio;in of the Afo^hans
and the Sacae, who occupied those countries and ruled
over them until the Buddhist dominion was sup-
planted by Hindu power and Persian conquest.
Before proceeding to other inscriptions, we may
observe that the fact of Roman coins being found in
the tombs of those ancient Buddhist princes is
interesting in connexion with the circumstance that
ambassadors were received from this part of India in
the time of Trajan, whose conquests extended over
300 INSCRirTlONS IN ARIAN CHARACTERS.
Armenia, Assyria, Parthia, and probably even to the
banks of the Indus. Hence we see how those princes
might have become intimate with Rome, and used
Roman numerals, and placed Roman coins in their
tombs, *in evidence of their good understanding with
Rome. If, then, the Buddhist Magi knew Rome,
might they not also have known Jerusalem, and have
gone up under guidance of their star to worship the
newborn king ? The journey of the Magi of the East
who did come occupied a long time, and the treasures
they offered were such as India produced. The
Buddhists of North-western India expected the
guidance of a star to their king, as we learn from
Chinese Buddhistic authority. The Magi who came
to Jerusalem from the East inquired for the child
born King of the Jews, and therefore they were pro-
bably themselves of Hebrew descent, as we believe,
from the evidence before us, the Buddhists of Afghan-
istan and the Punjab were, and that their teachers
were also called Magi has been already shown.
301
CHAPTER XIV.
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
Having seen the Hebrew significance of inscriptions
in the so-called Arian character on the rock of Kapur-
di'Giri^ and in the tombs of Jelalabad and of Mani-
hyala^ three hundred miles apart, we again turn to
inscriptions in the other character, namely, that
known as the Ldt^ or early Pali ; though the letters
differ from the Arian, yet the language they express
is the same ; and it is surprising to find that this lan-
guage is inscribed on rocks more than a thousand
miles apart, as at Kapur-di-Giri in Afghanistan, and
at Cuttack, The inscriptions to which attention will
next be directed are found at an intermediate point,
namely, at Delhi, now so well known in connexion
with the glorious achievements of our own noble
Saxons in India. Those inscriptions are similar to
others found on pillars at Allahabad^ Betiah^ Mattiali^
and Eadhia,* That the reader may compare those
inscriptions with that inscribed on the rock at Girnar,
they are here presented in the plates annexed, being
faithfully copied from fac-similes taken from the pillar
* Different writers have a most puzzling variety in their spelling of the
same names, but I follow that of Professor Wilson.
302
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
on which they are engraved. This pillar is square, and
on each side, facing the cardinal points, appears a
framed inscription, as if complete in itself; but all
those separate inscriptions are repeated as one inscrip-
tion on the other pillars referred to. There is, how-
ever, another pillar near Delhi^ known as Feroz's pil-
lar, which has an inscription in a similar character,
the reading of which somewhat differs from that of the
others, and will therefore be given after the Delhi in-
scriptions. It will be observed that, though resem-
bling the Girnar inscription in general purport, thesein-
scriptions differ considerably in the structure of cer-
tain sentences ; thus serving to confirm the truth of
our interpretation, and also indicating that the people
who wrote and understood those inscriptions, being
so widely scattered, had yet essentially the same lan-
guage, though slightly modified by situation. The
Delhi inscription seems to have been directed to a more
refined people ; and as it was found in a temple, it was
probably there chanted as a hymn, for it is evidently
written with intervals, as if to indicate pauses, each
line being composed in a kind of rhythm. The reader
will scarcely fail to observe the elegance of the cha-
racter, and he will see, from the comparative length
of our literal translation, how very comprehensive
the original is, being in this respect precisely like the
Hebrew. In another place it will be shown how ad-
mirably this character is adapted for the expression
of any language in a brief and clear manner; and it
is indeed well calculated to form a universal mis-
sionary alphabet.
North. DELHI INSCRIPTIONS.
3. t.>AUA ^rULc^OX HlXHAXD-y+yAX
4 HAXLJiC HAX^^XX >!AXn'XX
5. HAXLrCxl i>/id"i-yw v^J^^G>x
G. D-y'Ll D-y+^AcT r^^SA^ldiK 6<l'^Xd4
7. U/rCCd'y L+rCcT A6Xcr yK'ycTHXcSdxX'
• I
a A;L(^C:3XXcf HJ-dUXy^^uXAi V\i5'H-A
9. WG-tfAC t>rlt.(5tJ Xvj:D-'yj,UI D^lc^Dl
:o. D^di^rVTXj: D"y^AXX 1^51 ex Cx^^Xxe
I XA-H[; D\;^D -HXdD-'yX ncXxi ^i^+xx
2.^x^1 xaxdx dn^XL'y ni^iD^x ^l>
3. d^U">rV LTiJdJ^ (^(5D'HHlAlr+< H-Cl
14. ?TXX HXlCd"Uai^X +Xll+e-i i>AX"«
HoX ■■■XDyj6j'TCA X6V^i,ULe-^ d'j-
cyA-FdXA.XX XdX6XL(:L^A.i! 'A.X+C+6vt!X
>61LX tX^X-J£-X6H(^ +X±^i">nX.X'b
a +X1+<A iy'i,LX">lX :X'yCX+-CX :X(5H-Xii
19. IbTA ^Ui1d"TI>X U6d7t>X"^7X :y"i
H^jiA^Jliy )Hod/x IqJx ^Dyi >^
. -Fjxiiu+ yuXlV^XAv X ^rLOd'^TX^x'y
tr>X-fx :xyi>^ c-oX+x
20
21
22.
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI. \303
r
THE DELHI INSCRIPTIONS.— NORTH COMPARTMENT.
n^ rrriDp-D,'::! n^ ^:^^^ n^D>^ '•n is ns ]::;T n^S) m^n
^pr^ 'D'^ ^Ti nniT in w in ji*^-d nn^p ;dd"t n^sn nD^n
••ji^^ m 1:^* i^n:: np'-i :in intr^i □d'^b::; >^s)
J1p^<1 ann in ^^3i not' d^sd D^i^ ^d "-n.^D^ ns ns a'l^
in ni i:^Di n:i^3 i:3,t2Qi d^ no n** ]l^ ^n t:^>^ >S) njir^n:^
ld:;) ^' 1^3 ^n ^3 D:iinn ^n^n n:n i^ddi ny "d v^ i:)QQn
]n n^ linn in: ::r> n^^^ ^n^Dnnb d^ o nt:^ dqi nm^ ninn
^37 n:n '•n nni ma Dn^3 n^n ^n p::;n p\i; n n^.n
]3>^ n^n:^ m i:i^ diii r^:^ b:^ 'b^ 03 r^ in mm
DM nn>^ "^nrnD ^:n:o ••mnn nD^3 '':: LD^^ ^nn: >Dn
ino;r3 "73 i:]X ninn nn3 HDb "^3 ^^ a::n D^an ^n nlD^*
wjvn 'PiV ^d;?3 13 a*^:^ mnnn •'n MMinnnn im^n-"Dro
MDini nn n:jo nn>^ ainn d;?^ t:^^ 1^3 m "•s D:jiin
DnD\'::n
mrn ci3n n3 Dn n-an mnin d::^3 i:d n:n mrnn lo
in: "'t:rKi D\'Dn
M nDih t:^i< n2n nb ainn nt:^^^ nnnnn ini3 3i m^n:
"JD Dn
]nDin r\Dn "-n •''? nto-: m ^n aDD^D^^ n:: >\d: in: '^i^
>n^ an
□n a'on ^n oin m ;:^^^ mot:; ^n"* t:>n ••^sd DDn in:: b^
MnD "•n'^3 Dn:n ZDrz't^n 'nn2 -ni^n
304 INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
NORTH COMPARTMENT OP THE DELHI INSCRIPTION.
(1) The mouth of JRuin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction is the wall of the nation, O brother.
My state and experience and that of my father shall be their hire,
The waters are my worship ; my doctrine ;
Continue diligently expounding the wondrous parable,
Ruin hath procured a pure prosperity.
God, I will meditate on [or mourn over] faithful matters,
1 will meditate, God, on the worship thou hast raised,
I will meditate, God, on the marvels of my hand,
I will meditate, God, on the woe that Ruin hath wrought,
I will meditate amidst the oppressiveness thereof,
I will meditate and the fire which smote shall be my grace,
Because its suffering, God, is that of my uncleanness ;
The worship thereof shall be its subversion.
The worship thou hast raised shall be as established.
The Calamity itself shall be even a sacred decree.
And that which I have set up shall be my hope.
Your language shall be my distinction,
But put away thy hardness and obey.
The suffering thereof shall be thy exaltation,
And ray sea shall be sufficient.
My sea hath procured a pure renown.
For unto them who are as those set apart
The desolation of my stroke is a sign of wrath and of truth ;
The defence of my doctrine* is living fire, even the judgment of God.
Whv is our worship a sea ? It is a separation j
Our worship is also a judgment;
Our worship is a calamity because it oppresseth.
Our worship is my affliction.
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction is the wall of the nation, O brother.
Worship the Almighty, for thus do I worship the sea,
The anger thereof is a lamentation ;
Behold God hath proved thee.
Behold the direction is sackcloth, the sackcloth of Ruin,
So judgment becometh their doctrine ;
Behold my sufficiency is trial and triumph ;
The stroke of his infliction is severe,
Calamity is my cruse, my all is Calamity,
* Or the zeal of my mouth.
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI. 305
Yea, even blood, its suffering being extended after tbis manner.
wheel ! O infliction of woe !
If, my offspring, your doctrine be that which dismayed me.
As it oppressed, so did it sprinkle me ;
Thou art the sea, Ruin, I am rendered unclean,
The waters are my worship, my doctrine.
Continue diligently expounding, declare its suffering,
For to them its purpose is purification ;
1 have deemed thee unclean according to my fears ;
Ruin shall be as a wall of renown ;
I made purification my object ;
As Calamity was determined so I confirmed it ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction is a wall to the nation, O Brother.
As they were oppressed I also was afilicted.
As their waters were their injury so I sprinkle them,
Thereby my affliction becomes their prosperity,
The doctrine turns their waters to my sprinkling;
The water shall be even the fire of lamentation ;
The groanings of the afflicted shall be his purifying ;
So the fire that affli(;teth shall be the defence ;
As the fire that afflicteth is the infliction of Ruin ;
These are my portion \mani\ the fires of woe are my treasures,
ye who are their offspring I regard you as unclean.
Ruin is mine, ruin is stretched over me.
The smitten, the broken, these are my offering j
all ye posterity, and ye that are wise,
From the setting apart that causeth shame,
1 have made the smiting of Ruin the fire* of Sadh.
These waters, like the ruin, are my parable.
Because these waters, like the ruin, are my Distinction.
* Fire meaning burnt sacrifice.
306 INSCKIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
WEST COMPARTMENT.
an ^n);b nns hd*? ••s) "^b am d'^dh djjih ^d'^ >2^i
••ni^ >n Di:^ run '•k ti^^ wn:^ ^\DJDll n^ nm ns w ina
nn^ai^ hqio ')t:^i^ id;^'? •'/id hthd onn'^n ••jis) ni^ nn ]l^ '^n
DJTinn 131 Dp it:^ i^^n-u^ "tb i:)d:i? ''u;:):ir rivn jt)3 •'^d op
i:)nn '•qqt •'riDti^ '':d:j^ aT '^'^d ii n:> >^d ^u} ii^n •'m '):^i
IDjn bn iDJi n ••n ••jip ms) i:i?D:ir d:);; ^jidi:^ m •'ni
Dn>3 •'^t:; >^3 dd iji ""^d ns) nn^n ^^3 o r));b >nvn i^j^
T •
inrn nbn DDit^ D:ir3 Dn>n;rD '♦/n n^i '^nnn aron it:^j«^
^rT'n^^ jii^ ^n •'n n^ it:^ rr-nt^ i3 m;r no id;; h^dd nr^Min
D:p id;;^ d:)Jik >nvn jtib •'^dd n:iro ^')^^ dji di:^ hdzo 1t:^^^
nt:^^^ ^n ^'^ nn ""D dh nrn^ •'n nn3 /ik nn p"^ bn >nK
^Dix DH yB nnn Mk inriDi:^! H ^n t:;^ injiDt:; ^n n^m
an'^^m n^^Ji d:i iji •'B ]2 n ri^'p^n DJitir >:)iq nnn'^'non
a:n "TT njn^v;r •'n^n ^n'> ^in^:) >:pi T-n:! p nrinn\i
''nr^p:^') am^^ aynbii •'Jidh n d:"t n/T* c^n^^i dji d::;:
••nvn i^j< Dn ^s w^'b yn t:^> -r"?: nDinn dh-'to dh
• T
Ti:; i:d;?
* Here the words DTn D''^V ^i^ occur on the Mathia pillar, which
otherwise is the same as at Delhi. See Bengal Journal, No. 67, 1837, p. 578.
West. DELHI INSCRIPTIONS.
4. :^:>^6 halXX'H+x +/!js+ h.-^oHoj'a
5. +y±L4AX^ £lrl.&±L>^ [^Aa^7LU>X(;?.
6. HI,AUl6(f rVTJ^^ ^TX±^_L.A.X D'>iXxXd
7. (^Xi^A^X eiiei^L;^' 4^J(t.>Ad uja- d
8 HODX^/ J^+Cj'l^X UO^Ajy Uj'rClC'W
9. ci)- >XXlC dJr{:X ACd+I(^Xi^rtA XIWJ^-F
) dU.XH^DXA6 MoC^ie c^xxdXx IXea.
1. Hr^^TDXA (^XADX dLuX"HLE- rH^^XXCrCJ
2. V6ytfX&^+£ ei,L>fLtrArV']-X XlOXHr/jC
3. HA^OrCA Hc^yl+yXLiAX^X t>Xl"80^+J:
4. Hr/C.06^^5 HALXX+r :<iA<^X t.t>rC-f^X
<^xuJ^yxdXx ii^riyxo Mi:xCd"yH<)X
D-DlDCX^XXr XJA^-rJ"! LA4[5l AX^AA:X"y
XI ft. lA-fi+j! iPiXuX ^(?xxx±
Irl;A6laj!.X ?±>uXljX+ Ll<?rt6+6X
a :iUy lxAlJDX(r-P jX CJAHXDX^X e.^A.d
20 AdAic^DDydJi rLx'y 5l^<^r/AX
On ine Mattia pillar these woras are inserted:
HI 1 6± '?lr-
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI. 307
WEST COMPARTMENT OF THE DELHI INSCRIPTION.
The mouth of Huin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction is the defence of the natioyi, O brother ;
My state and my experience and that of my father shall be their
hire,
The waters shall be my dam ma, ray doctrine.
Continue diligently persuading ; these things are for thy time;
Trial, Calamity, a parched mouth, the bowing down of that Cala-
mity,
Shall be my tax where there is the name of Ruin.
my father, sorrow even this of defilement,
With the breakings of their ruin after this manner,
Are my afflictions for thy people ; their fire* being unclean,
Thou desiredst the raising up of portions of the nakedness,
To be the tax of our people, that the life of Calamity might be re-
deemed ;
Arise and redeem their lives; they endure an extension of th}'
calamity ;
They bemoan the calamity of my burning,
My burning oppresses those who are with me.
1 have made my worship thy recompense.
Even that which I have also made a lamentation,
people, those who are humble are the redeemed.
The afflictions of life are your perfection, suffering is your per-
fection,
1 bring forth my experience, the wonders of my wrath are for your
time.
My perfect purity was a sign from the setting-apart of their doc-
trine ;
Arise, then, my posterity, my purification is perfect,
I have made my doctrine as my possession.
Even that which I also made a lamentation ;
The afflictions shall be for thy time ;
The society I produced is accordingly a sign
That I deem life as perpetually unclean,
And my sacred decree was ruin, the time thereof being ruin.
My dread shall be his fire who is rendered unclean.
And my decree is, according to their seasons, perpetual.
* Perhaps meaning that burnt sacrifice- was unclean, or it may refer to
the fixe which the Buddhists, like the ancient Isjca^lites,. preserve in their
temples to signify their life before God.
s:2
308 INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
Calamity is yours, painful is the vision thereof ;
After this manner the cutting oflf of thy people is a defence.
The life of calamity as a ruin redeemeth the humble,
Ruin is the token I have selected ;
A perfect name shall be his fire who is unclean,
Alas, a portion according to the portions of the nakedness I ex-
perienced !
I bestow them on his people for their possession.
my father, sorrow and this defilement.
With breaking of ruin after this manner.
Are theirs for signs that Life is a lamentation [or a ruin];
Fire of affliction and ruin was the pain that slew thee ;
Since mortification was thy doctrine,
One shall be judged by that which slew thee.
These are the tokens of Bamah-Dan-Budhen, the portions of
the years.
Consider [or build up] this threefold sign,* my doctrine is the sign
of the judges [or the Danites].
Thou shalt be removed and their years ; there shall be ruin enough ;
Behold I give thee my possession, my wrath shall be appeased,
The overturning of ruin shall be their recompense,
Their judgment shall be the breathing of perfection and repose.
That which was my wrath shall be your separation,
And they shall flourish even according to my earnest desire ;
They shall be according to their life ; my doctrine being produced
as a defence [or wall].
Thy life shall be as a marvel of perfection.
J have produced my experience, our people of Sak,
And behold [the Greeks (Jivanim) being indeed compelled] f
My ordinance shall be also the religion of all ;
That is the sea, the equal judgment, whereon I have meditated.
* Or TT'mitj—Teleth (?).
f This occurs only in the inscription on the pillar at Mathia or Mattiah ,
which in all other respects is similar to that at Delhi.
Soutk. DELHI INSCRIPTIONS.
1, '>6XUa. L.JL>rb -Je Ui-H Cr A^dSdjKbfl
3. rV+ rCJ-F >1JJL d+5+ UrL ±^5^"] AJ-C
4. 8^-FH•l:>+t^-F It' HXO+al i> 6Ju +
5. AAi^L^c^ ^-tfcbi +bCfi/vL+ u±^^Xb^]
6. rUiJ+ 1+LP UOrLA A.A+tX A« + LA
7. riidAU^ vLU(i.fA-it>A ±d7^JuX H£-FXJl
8. >/+d ^y^+-Jd Ar/X6tJoy'X6 H6DJI.LA+
9. Cd+1 Hri^^'rC^ 6D'+X< i+Cc^X AA^X^i
10. XrXA(^X ^iHXo-X.6 6CX.3u6 IKXAc^X
11. ^ix^j xi^r^Ac^x /Cx(rAyXx XXx.i^.xhr^x-
12. XI^6XX (f<)'P^ CXHX biUSX D6Xd'
13 MXX^O•«a)Hi[^X Xt(^+A(^J. WXX5^AXi
14. IA6XC ^6C.?aX XXHXIC ^6X+XI
15. XUAc^Xl Hoi^L^X d"4>XX bXHXX ' XXX
16. VIAXX A.d'AbrXxX ^A'iX AXXl^J7A(^X
17. He+ t>^X X+^ t>6CHX i^TXA XiOTA^X
18. J^XX t^X6l^X d"Ay^X aA:yXL7X H^XAXX
19. jqX XtCc^X XiX[:^c?xX6X Hr/XAX"y ^AX
20. haJ-^^x UXi'XA aDXV7X+eX
ADDED TO THE ALLAHABAD INSCRIPTION.
">5X CX Xi dXXXiAiUbA
4A(^X OXA ^XXX>^X?X
E CT6 / X(5 HXHi >XXOI>
-f^(^A±XAX "^AX XXXHi
>Axx i'ix aXa oy/. ^<5+x
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI. 309
SOUTH COMPARTMENT.
nrn r^b^n tid hd^ t:^Dn ijpD ]n ^^ n^^^t:^ imt:;
T'mn iHD i^HDiD i:i< ''21 i^"?? hdi D^^ iin;?
JiiisriD a:) nnsnD nnt^^n n::;'?^) nn nsD in 11 d::^
'22 i;r^^ ''n> n 13:1 ^tm^ n^n d:i nan nsj "'n ns3 no it^r
1J13'' n^>^ im •'D'' •'31 "'^u:) ybD nu;'^ ^2^?
in^;;-.u^::rn •'m nrna n:n ntn-nb ini it:;'' na nt:;?^ ^:p -|>3
^n >iji ein n:m •'n t:;*' '^n^^ ^n nazo n:i< n 'n ^^n ^1 n^r^
' T • • T ' X
'nw ]D'' nD DDD It:; '•n^n •'iJi t:^** nh ]n m*'^;; ]n in^^y
•'jiD*' t:;^ nD piS) D^ ^'>
1>n nn ^n niE) n3 Dt:/a p3 ]t:;n ^^p^ '^^m n:
^:n>* ''n ^in im •'B n:in >n mj^ ppt2 ddio Dt:; nsn •):]h^
"^^m m "-n
•»:); ^\y;^ y >h) ^:i: dj< ^t •'t:;:) nanr it:;> n:):!
^ntj; '»n>n nt:^n 1:3 n^ ]i^i ip >n na3 >d io>^ •»:); ••iji nn n:)n
in n:n ''n t;> 1 n it:; nmt:; t:;-* nD Dha it^^'-n in it:; 1: 13
' T
^n '•in '^^b ^^22
>n •'in ''d'? >i:n >ji> ^d'? >::in dk •'3 niN b^ n^ i^x ']yi^
nD3 t:;^ nD dijid >n t:;^ nD ana t:;n v in: 13 \n nt:;^n
nt:; pn-t:; it:;^^ ^n
••n nnN nn^jin t:;** •»ni^-t:;i >nnt:^i ••nat:; in'' mi nra n:n ]2b
••^no op nDn p^ ''nt:; >i: Dn >n ^a 'b nDi^
310 INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
SOUTH COMPARTMENT OF THE DELHI INSCRIPTION.
(1) The mouth of Huin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction is the defence of the people , O brother ;
My state and experience and that of my father shall be their hire.
These are my portion, people, these are ray hire ;
My injury is my strength ; as that which polluteth hath sprinkled me.
Your calamity shall be your rest ; God \_El\
Behold according to thy burning shall be the Wrath* of the years.
That which afflicteth, this is the revelation of thy times ;
If weeping be your distinction, meekly submit.
Who endureth my uncleanness as from Him, praiseth Him,
Yea, He only who smote shall be your purifier.
Who thus are His people, as He purifieth whom He afflicteth,
Lest he who is debased forget the name that is in thee.
Oh bow down, yield ; He maketh the prostratef as the excellent,
yea as the excellent.
Shatter Vanity, buy Ruin, even my purification;
Go to, behold thy affliction was also with me.
That shall be your wood [or tree], my posterity.
Your perfume, the setting of your weapon ;
Lamentation is my defence, my doctrine is woe.
Your beauty shall be destruction, your mouth shall be my possession.
What shall be your trespass-offering ? Even such a thing as this ;
Behold it shall be even a ruin like this ;
Thou shalt be regardless that it is a mere ruin-heap j
Behold what is frail is a token of ruin ;
Be polluted, endure the uncleanness of ruin,
For behold, even life is but a ruin.
And lo frailty is the token of ruin ;
Behold the heaps of it, behold the heaps of it,
Here are tokens of ruin, my calamity was as complete.
Why was my calamity a sea within ? What is the sea P
"Wandering to and fro and years of waiting for prosperity ;
By the name within, ruin, the pollution of your ruin procureth puri-
fication.
The suffering thereof beautifieth those whom wretchedness hath
polluted.
* Cham or Ham — wrath, hotness, blackness,
t One who wallows as in the dust.
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI. 311
Behold the strength of Ruin is my doctrine and yours j
Ruin was my token, Ruin was my endowment.
Both that and the years of music [?] shall be yours ;
And the extension of my Ruin shall be gold,
Though my doctrine, posterity, be a heap and the smiting of my
ruin.
Behold wrath [or heat] is the token of my ruin,
I was rendered unclean by the pouring out of ruin ;
Wait for the acceptance of God, the shame of ruin is within;
You shall disregard the ruin, lo calamity is here a pleasant abode ;
My calamity is as perfection ; why is their calamity a calamity ?
That which is even a ruin shall be a meditation ;
Lo, my posterity, the signs of ruin are yours ;
Your tree, your fruit, is the fulfilment of every desire of my mouth ;
If, my posterity, it be yours, posterity, the signs of ruin are for
you.
You shall forget the ruin, here calamity shall be a pleasant abode.
The ruin shall be as that which maketh perfect.
Why is ruin like perfection ? What is the pouring out of ruin ?
His fire is that of meditation which shall therefore be like this, even
ruin.
God, my state and experience and that of my father shall be their
hire;
Thou, Ruin, art Truth to me because thou art a ruin ;
1 have made wrath my habitation, O Budhen;
These are my possession according to my idolatry.*
* Or, as he hath sprinkled me.
312 INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
EAST COMPAKTMEKT.
"^^2 nn HHK HDinn aynb ^'^ i^s rvn "•s Q^nn
rwp iibn njiB hd^ ^s) ^^ ddi Dn:inn ^'^ •'n^^-t:r i
nsn ns) m ddt dji dd ntn ^^^^ Dn-t:^n ••nnj •)::; n"'n
ornin CDiDX ^hd:) inns ^nijm /inn nu^p nSn nDinm
tt:; DroHD «^^* nDinrr it:^ ]n a^'> ^ns nDinn it:; nvnj
Dnrr ^;!:n pi id^oji >n''Dn ')^^ Dp it:; '•^pDD o
nr\y J13 Dn^3 na di:;s) nit:; ^"TD^ inns it:; ^n ny^ r^w^
in d:i ^3 IDS n:nj^ a^on iDi< n> ay ns ••nii
D:ir)n t:;'' UK"t:;i ''nnt:;i ••nat:; jionDD^ nDt:;n
nj-)3 nD^ "^s "'^ D^i D^Dn
/ID ••n^^ \n nni^ noinn d;;^ t:;^ n^9 %n ^3 D^iin
n^n a:; D^'QtoD It:; ■'d nD nDinn nt:;n ]n D:i;n^ a"? jij^
n"» n iDDn n'^ns i^ i:i>< ]n d;; n^^n n^ nni n^ m ddi
nni< nDinn a^^nb t:;^ t3 ••n "'3 D^iin ar\i^ nnro m
Dt:;^
nzn ayb w •'D nD nDinn d*? d/ik idddd ''Jik no^ in
n:n d;; d^dzo d
n-'ns 1^ i:k n:n d;; nD:in •'nnnni n> n idd"t n>n3 ^b ^2i^
n> d;;3 n3 i:ik n:n d:i; it:; ]yvr\ nDi:^ m n^ n iddi
^:p It:; p ^Ji^ nn i n^ n iddt n^n3 ^b 1:^^ njjn ay nm o
ti;> T3 'n ^3 D:iin Dn^^ "n^ n iddi Dn \n nor n^
nDinn Dj/n*?
i^DDi •'D n''n3 nit:; >:: i^ ddi nDiD in nDt:;^ nni<
^^^Diot:;
]:iTK "'/It:; ^d;;3 ^ns i:i< ini^ mn d;; D/^^^ >nDt5r2; i^j<
••/It:; >D
East. DELHI INSCRIPTIONS.
2. Art Hr/r^AXly D-y-jXjJLA ^ + rL
6. 4y-f^^'|- H6C.VA AOdc^-^C.y' V66
9. ;L"y"« 1 «A r'oF'irLXirt Hr/ftA.L"y
10. ■jtD-yjL JtCa
11 ■';36±tX tJL>X X& "Ui . H-c xhX+a
12. HAJ- X£-l UrL Vi-.C^rV +0- £±
13. O-yAc^ul. i3X ±df-l H_L^GX D-«A<^X
14. i(^G> AA >5±CX Cxt>X X& VAHi; ^A.y
15. l/C> HX+Ad HAJ- XA- ■:cErV ^61+ 0-&1
16 H±JLX OWAc^X 6(^XA la&l HXJCX
17 ay6(^X Ado- X-f±^£-l Hi^LdL&X
18. ^u^ &1 Hj,^cxa-"WA<iXiaxX +±a^+I
19. H^ ^WXl^ D'HAc^XA AAl^AlCX tXiirtJ&U-
2a H-C Arl"H>o DW^All rCilXy" Dtf_L,rLG>l
21. yi±ii\/ i>A&i rVA. H_^La^^XH(I;■li/xA
1
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI. 313
EAST COMPARTMENT OF THE DELHI INSCRIPTION.
^ The mouth of JRuin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction is the defence of the people, brother,
A shameful defilement, even that, my father, shall be their hire.
Go on diligently expounding my damma [law of worship], ray doc-
trine,
Boast of its hardness, the life of Calamity is as a ruin ;
That is perfection, yea the vision is perfect ;
Perfect is the worship [damma'] that is alike the doctrine and the
defence.
Boast of its hardness, the dread and the affliction of his purifying
were my earnest desire ;
I was rendered unclean, the waters are the lamentations [JIVH^]
of calamity ;
My breaking shall be called the wall of defence ;
Lo the Calamity is the defence, even though Calamity cause un-
cleanness.
For the calamity arose from my possessions ;
Or rather my burning thou shalt deem thy uncleanness.
And then the hotness of the burning, and the equality of the ruin
inflicted,
The calamity, shall become its purification ;
As from the equality there shall be prosperity,
Through it the present breaking to pieces becomes their doctrine,
Yea and the breaking to pieces of the people of God shall be my
sufficiency.
Where shall I bestow the waters, that flow out of my mouth ?
Behold, even desolation shall be very desirable,
My state and experience and that of my father shall be their hire.
Go on, diligently pei'suade, the waters are my damma, my doctrine.
The mouth of Huin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction is the defence of the people, O brother,
Ruin is my sign, a shattered thing shall be a sign for them ;
For the people, behold silence shall be the wall of defence.
Why ? Because of the calamity, as the people are as those who are
deemed unclean.
Behold the worship is even that of God [JaA],for the hand of God
hath smitten the nation.
Behold the suffering thereof shall be their Pojah,*
* The religious service of the Buddhists is called Fojah [here God is (?) ].
314 INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
The worship \_damma] is even that of God [Jah~\,
Yea, even that which hath made you unclean.
The mouth of Huin hath pleaded their causey
Destruction is the defence of the people ^ O brother ,
The trespass-offering shall be the life of him who is unclean,
I [or my sign] will be as your security, I will make the wall of
defence complete for them.
Why ? Because of the calamity of the afflicted people,
The people are as those who are rendered unclean ;
Behold the suffering thereof shall be their Pojah ;
The worship [damma^ shall be even that of God,
Since the hand of my God hath smitten the people ;
Behold the suffering thereof shall be their Pojah ;
The worship is even that of God, even that which causeth unclean-
ness,
Which is certainly the calamity of the people ;
Behold the suffering thereof is the purification of him who cries out
unto God;
Because the people are withering away ;
Behold their suffering shall be their Pojah ;
The worship is even that of God, even the hand of my God ;
Surely calamity shall be my possession [or my establishment].
Attend, consider, the Ruin, the Burning, the worship also, are as to
you those of my God ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction is the defence of the people^ O brother ,
The trespass-offering shall be the life [or showing] of him who is
unclean ;
The worship is equal, my posterity, the mouth [doctrine] of my
sea is equal,
Our worship is that which hath made me unclean.
As to you, people, the suffering thereof that is my renown [or my
heaven].
Behold their calamity, I make the suffering thereof my purification
perpetually.
Attend unto what I have accomplished.
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI. 315
The inscription on the pillar at Allahabad is simi-
lar to the inscription at Delhi^ with the exception
that five short lines are added at the foot of the pillar.
These lines, when transliterated into modern Hebrew
characters, read as follows : —
nriDm nw r\^T^ iit^ r^^r\ ••s) nTnr\
\i ^:) iJiD"^") ''•'Jiri ^n •'nn n''r\'' •'•'m
The mouth of Huin hath pleaded their cause ;
Behold thy Vanity ; Equality and Wrath are alike God's signs ;
God's decree is ruin, my uncleanness is ruin,
In it hath he judged the people, their God is my hope.
Even the Judge of the mouth that is defiled.
Because that thou, Ruin, art become my garden ;
As to my defilement, God [Jah].
Those who are my posterity desire my ordinance,
The defilement of ruin shall be my endowment,
And for their dead is it appropriate because it is ruin.
Though these inscriptions express the same general
notions as to the instruction to be derived from the
contemplation of calamity and the destroying power,
as the inscription on the rock at Girnar, yet the Delhi
inscriptions contain no such direct allusion as the
Girnar inscription does to any catastrophe to the in-
fluence of which the Buddhistic doctrine of entire
submission to calamity and uncleanness may be traced.
We find, however, reference to the fact that the
father of the author of those Delhi inscriptions had
substituted the making of heaps of ruin by the
316 INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
people instead of offering sacrifice* in consequence of
the fire of sacrifice having itself become unclean;
which may be explained on the Hebrew prin-
ciple, that any fire but that which was derived
from the altar on which God Himself had kindled
it, was not to be employed in burnt offerings. It
was for despising this condition, and offering
" strange fire," that Nadab and Abiram were de-
voured by fire from heaven. The priests Avere to
take fire of burning coals from the altar, where it
always burnt before the Lord.f Circumstances had,
it appears, rendered it impossible for a proper sacri-
ficial offering to be made, and hence the institution
of presentations of broken things instead of burnt
offerings, which have continued amongst Buddhists,
in token of their humiliation, from that to the present
time. If, then, the Buddhistic doctrine and mode of
worship were devised by Godama or Sakya, he was
the father of him who promulgated the sentiments
expressed in the Delhi inscriptions, which therefore
must have been made public immediately after the
inscription at Girnar; which, from internal evidence,
appears to have been produced by Godama himself,
since it not only promulgates a new law and order of
things, but also gives the reason for this change in
the overwhelming calamity which it describes. In
the inscriptions both at Delhi and at Girnar the
mouth of Ruin is said to plead for the people ; but
in that of Girnar, Destruction is said to be their en-
lightenment; while in that of Delhi, Destruction is
* West compartment,
f Compare Lev. xvi. 12 ; Lev. ix. 24 ; Lev. x. 1 ; and Exod. xxx. 9.
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI. 317
declared to be their wall of defence: a difference
arising probably from the fact, that Ruin and De-
struction had not only raised the religious character
of the people, by the religious reflections which cala-
mity is always found to inspire, but that the state of
equality which general poverty produced had proved
advantageous to their peace and piety, and that their
destitution had really defended them from their foes.
" The mouth of Ruin " is an odd phrase, but it is
quite in keeping with the Hebrew mode of expression.
As used at Delhi, it probably had especial reference
to the law which required the idea of ruin to be as-
sociated with the decease of Sakya, whose relics had
probably at that time been distributed in topes or
sepulchral tumuli in the various districts where his
religious teaching had been adopted. It is remark-
able that those monuments are erected, for the most
part, amidst evidences of natural convulsion, where
rocks and ruins abound, as at Bhilsa, for instance.
The Delhi edict, or whatever it may be called, was
probably sent forth on the occasion when Ajatasatta,
twenty years after Sakya's death, re-collected the
fragments of his remains which had been distributed
in different districts, and erected over them a great
stupa or tope at Rajagriha, Sakya's body was burnt
in a metal oil vessel, and the remains, after being
worshipped by the people for seven days, were distri-
buted to eight provinces, which had sought the
honour of possessing some fragment over which to
build a tope, around which worshippers might as-
semble at stated festivals to venerate their emanci-
pated Buddha. But Ajatasatta^ being king of Ma-
318 INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI.
gadha^ was instigated by his priestly advisers, doubtless
with a view to centralization, to claim all the sacred
relics for his own, and to make them the treasure
of his OAvn land, with all the avidity which such
worshippers have always evinced for such remains.
It is not unlikely that this king of Magadha^ the
immediate successor of Sakya^ may have acquired
his surname Ajatasatta from the very zeal with which
he promoted the worship of those remains, for there-
by he aspired, doubtless, to honour himself in his
father's name as the setter up of Ruin ; for the cogno-
men Ajatasatta^ by which alone history has handed him
down to us, as Hebrew, signifies this. In assigning
the pillar inscriptions to Ajatasatta^ however, I must
acknowledge a difficulty, in consequence of reference
to the Greeks, who are not supposed to have had in-
timacy with India until long after his reign. Possi-
bly, however, Greeks may have been in India, as we
know they were in Scythia, before Alexander's inva-
sion ; or possibly reference to the Greeks may have
been inserted where it occurs after that period.
Certainly the circumstance that they are mentioned
as expelled, or compelled, in the Mattiah inscription,
is against this hypothesis, and would rather point to
Chandra- Gupta^ who founded the Maury an dynasty
of Magadha^ and established his sway throughout the
Punjab and from the Indus to the mouths of the
Ganges, after the complete expulsion of the Greek
troops of Alexander.* This was in 316 B.C. At
this period the capital of India was Palibothra^ which
Megasthenes informs us was nearly nine miles in
* " Auctor libertatis Sandrocottus fuerat." — Justin, xv. 4.
INSCRIPTIONS FOUND AT DELHI. 3 1 9
length, and two miles in breadth, being surrounded
with wooden walls pierced with loopholes for the dis-
charge of arrows.* This name Palihothra appears
to me to be an epithet rather than the real name of
the metropolitan city; for, as a Hebrew word, it means
''''the wonder of the separated [nation\''^ and might
apply to Magadha or to Kash (Benares); both of
which were worthy of the distinction, as successively
the centres of Buddhistic piety and power. As
Palihothra was the capital of Magadha^ it probably
took different names during the various dynasties
that governed that country. This, however, is the
striking point in relation to those names, Palihothra^
Kash^ and Magadha are all of Hebrew significance.
* Arrian, Indica, x. and Strabo, xv., both quoting Megasthenes,]
320
CHAPTER XV.
THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ'S PILLAR.
The pillar on which this inscription is engraved is
near Delhi, and is known by the name of Feroz's pillar
because it stands on the summit of a large building
supposed to have been erected by Feroz Sliah^ who
reigned in Delhi between 1351 and 1388 a.d.* That
part of the pillar which is seen above the building is
thirty-seven feet in height; but it is said to reach
the foundation, and that only one-third of the whole is
visible, the building having been raised around it as
it stood in its original site. Even if but thirty-seven
feet high, it is a marvellous relic of antiquity, and
affords an interesting proof of the skill of those who
formed and erected it there ; for it consists of a single
stone of the hardest kind chiselled into a round
column of the finest proportions, and polished as per-
fectly as any Egyptian obelisk. Its circumference
where it joins the building is ten feet and a half.
There is no doubt that it originally stood apart, like
the pillar bearing a similar inscription at Allahabad.
It seems to have been appropriated as a trophy of
victory by Feroz, and he built his menagerie around
it in contempt of the conquered people who vene-
rated it.
* Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. p. 180.
THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ's PILLAR. 321
We learn from Muhammed Amin^ the author of the
Haftaklim^ that in the time of Feroz " the most in-
telligent of all religions were unable to explain the
literal characters engraved on it." There was, how-
ever, an inscription in more modern character below
the more ancient. This has been satisfactorily inter-
preted, and proves to be a record in Sanscrit, to the
effect that the Raja Vigraha^ or Visala Deva^ had in
1169 A.D., caused this pillar to be inscribed afresh to
declare that the said Raja, who reigned over the
Sdcamhari^ had subdued all the regions of the lands
between Himavat and VincThya. He exhorts his de-
scendants to subdue all the rest of the world. This
Sanscrit inscription terminates with the sign so well
known by us, namely, the trident, which in this case
represents the power and right of Siva to reign as
the universal monarch ; proving that then and there
Brahminism was announced to be the dominant reli-
gion. Therefore it is to be inferred that the pillar
was of great antiquity in 1169, seeing that the power
of Buddhism had there passed away after a long
supremacy. Indeed, such pillars had been erected to
enjoin the doctrines of Buddhism on the commence-
ment of that religion in India ; so that we are carried
back to about 500 years B.C. as the probable period
when this pillar was first erected.
The Himavat^ above mentioned is the Emaus^
Imaus^ and Emodus of ancient geographers : that
is, the Himal of the Sanscrit and the Himin of the
* See Prinsep's Journal, No. Q7y p. 566.
t Probably pronounced Hemauth, and hence by the Greeks JEmaus
and the Romans Emod-us.
322 THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ'S PILLAR.
Moeso-gothic, the Hemel of the German and the Heven
of the Anglo-Saxon. The term Himavat seems to
have been applied more particularly to the western
portion of the Himalaya range, where it bifurcates
and embraces the land occupied by the Sacce in the
time of Alexander the Great. Vind'hya is the name
of that irregular line of hills which passes through
the provinces of Bahar and Benares.
The most interesting part of the inscription record-
ing the exploits of this Visala Deva^ at least as it
relates to our inquiry, is the name of the country
over which he reigned — Sdcambari. Now, if we look
over a map showing the extent and contacts of the
Roman power in the era of Augustus Caesar, we shall
light upon a name precisely similar on the north of
the Rhine, extending over a considerable area, namely,
SicamhWi ; it was the country of a Saxon race, and
was coterminous with that of the Mar-Sakii* and
probably the Saxons about the Elbe were only an-
other division of the same people, or in fact the very
same, having shifted their position according to their
habit, for the Saxons were on principle a roving race,
and took to the neighbourhood of navigable rivers
and the sea as if with a sense of inherent fitness for
efnterprise and with a love of the great waters. Sicam
is but Sdcam with a Latin spelling ; the word Bari^
or jBVz, is only an expletive appended, meaning
chosen or beloved,
Caesar found the SicawhWi more difficult to deal
with than any other of his foes on the banks of the
* Query ^ti^ HD = the rebel Sales 1
THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ'S PILLAR. 323
Rhine; and Tacitus says* that they could not be
brought into submission but by policy ; that is to
say, as allies rather than as enemies. Horace thought
it a compliment fit for Augustus, to say : —
Te ccede gaudentes Sicamhri
Compositis verier antur armis.f
Augustus, however, never conquered them; but,
according to the imperial maxim, he divided with the
hope of ruling them, and so induced many thousands
of them to separate from the rest and take up their
abode on the Gallic side of the Rhine, where he ex-
pected the better to manage them. After this, Tacitus
and other historians assert that they were extermi-
nated; a very unlikely end, seeing they possessed
multitudes of ships and boats, with which they in-
fested the broader parts and the mouth of the Rhine.
In fact, after they had received into their country the
defeated Tenchheri and Usipetes^ they crossed over
the Rhine with 2000 horse, pursuing the Romans
and despoiling them of very much booty, as Caesar
acknowledges. J A people that could do that and
retreat to the forests or the coasts, with all their
possessions, as the historian tells us, were not likely to
be exterminated by the colonization of a compara-
tively few of their people, who, after all, only obeyed
their own impulse in settling where they best found
means to live and enlarge themselves.
Now, when we remember that the coasts about the
* Book ii. chap. xxvi.
•f- The poetic allusion to their arms is a nice turn, for the Sicamhri in the
west as well as the east had emblems of their worship on all their armour,
X Com., bk. vi. chap, xxxvi.
y2
324 THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROz's PILLAR.
Elbe, and also the British isles, had the name Sdcam
applied to them at an early period in the Puranas^
or sacred records of India, and that because they
were inhabited by Sakas^ or Saxons^ can we avoid
concluding that the Sakii^ or Saks^ of Germany and
Saxony were akin to those known by the same name
in the East ? For the same reason that the country
of the Saks of the West was called Sacam, we may
reasonably conclude that the country inhabited more
or less by the Sakas of the East at the time of the
record was also called Sdcam. The territory over
which the Rajah above named held dominion extended
from Benares^ along North- Westenifindia, up through
Cahul as far as Bokhara^ ^iaw^s^xherefore known
as Sacam-hari during his reign. There were Sakas ^
or Saxons^ throughout his region, which was sub-
dued by Visala-Deva just when the Anglo-Saxons
were beginning to merge their distinctions under the
rule of another conqueror, who, like Visala^ belonged
to a more refined offshoot of a kindred race, for the
Normans also own a Saxon origin. The record above
referred to informs us that the people of Sdcambari^
the Sakas^ are the most eminent of the tribes that
sprang from the arms of Brahma ; which is only an
Oriental mode of saying that the Saxons are the
most energetic and intelligently-powerful people ever
created, a character from which the Saxdns of the
West have not yet declined, and to which we are not
willing to doubt their claim. As the Saxons of the
West '' know not when they are conquered," so those
of the East, mainly represented by the Afghans or
the Patans, possess a manliness that surmounts their
THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROz's PILLAR. 325
conquerors, and makes them more than a match on
the field for all but their Western kindred, who ought
rather to diplomatize than to fight with them.
But I am forgetting the most ancient inscription
on Feroz's pillar. As it presents in ideas and ex-
pression some variations that it may be useful for
our better understanding of Buddhism to observe,
I proceed to give a rendering which those who are
capable and inclined may themselves verify or dis-
prove, transliterating the original, which will be
found, as corrected by Mr. James Prinsep, in the
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (No. 67,
p. 600). My purpose here is not to discuss the
correctness of the version which Mr. James Prinsep
has there given, with many guesses at the possible
meaning of the possible Sanscrit words of which it is
supposed to consist. It is a well-known fact that
neither Brahminical nor Buddhist pundits understand
the literal language in which these pillar inscriptions
are composed ; for, as Mr. Prinsep himself says. " they
are neither Pali nor Sanscrit^ By way of showing
the similarity of some of the words to Saxon, I ap-
pend a transliteration into English letters, only ob-
servino; that where in the orio^inal I find what I deem
the equivalent of the Hebrew letter ^, the mark ^
stands over its English representative, and over that
of the i^, ~. I do not regard the A as a letter, and
therefore it appears only with c to mark/ the Hebrew
cheth. Neither do I distinguish between p and ph^
nor between s and 5 A, the object being not to show
the pronunciation but only the Hebrew root.
326 THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ's PILLAR.
INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ'S PILLAE IN ENGLISH
LETTERS.
(1) Dammo bi jak'bad o'di seti aita ayam at*ma
ay dam sav vanani sava pi tani dammanu s-toaini vi
vi dani an pi tani iza ipa pi b'chun an aam nesim aait
aat pali ajja odi samti pi chavi tala chamti pi laam
capi b'chunak su pa nesit ch'as su aaita at pi am an
pita achuma caach'va capali ajja oda-t'ma.
(2) anim damma jutam ad'vanam pi ay piid is
achuma aach aaitam cam anuav kama an dam t'ma
bani caizani damma mechamata caaza dam . . . lea
aza adVanam pi ay piid is laam achuma aacha mag
SU pi-am niaga chani al pa pitani caayapa gani chi
samti pasu m'mani sanim am bav bi iqaal pa pita ad
acasa janai piam udupi nani.
(3) cana pa pitani nimshi ... pa cacala pita
apa naniam b'chun qani tet tet cala pi tani pezii aba
gaay pasu muni sanim ... as pezii ab ag'nam vi vi
dajachi su cayana japuliam chi pi laamii chi mm-ja
kasu ca iai atalak amm c'dammanu pezii petii anu
pezii pamtuti at d' t'maam.
(4) as c-iza ad'vanam pi ay piid is achuma acha
damma-m'chamata pi amat b'chu vi ed su aat'ma su
anu gachi ak su vi japaza aspu amii tanam aqu
gichi t'manam c-sava pasem ab su piak vi japaza
as-sem at is piam c'aza anam vi japaza chacham-
titi cham vababan su aaii viak su piam c'aza
(5) amam vi japaza chachamtiti niga atma su piam
caaza amam vi japaza chachamti nana pasam ab su
piam caiza amam vi japaza chachamtiti pezi vi is
itma pezii vi is tma at su at su atet mechamta damma
THE INSCRIPTION ON TEROZ's PILLAR. 327
mechamta kam at su aqVa vi japaza sav suka amen
su pasam ab su ad' van am pi ay piid is laam
achavama acha (6) atka anka b'chu kam cadan saga
is vi japaza asamma aq'va ad'vanam casava is kam
au alia dan is at b'chu viadan el natani natitau t'ma
itnani pazit chi dacu di s-asuka dal qanam pikam
caaza am nanam caadavi co malanam amam dan vasaga
VI japaza apa chamtiti (7) damma padanu t'ma ay
dammanu pezi peti ay as chi damma padanu damma
pezii petika ja amim da-yada an saq asaqaav madav
s-adavaka allu kas achuma vidi setiti ad'vanam pi ay
piid is laam achuma acha janai chi qani ki mmi ja is
duni caazani tam alak anat pezii panan tamka anu vidi
imti atan viditaka (8) vidi samti qamta pitii su su su
sa aja gulu su su su sa aja viyam chal qanam anu pezii
pati ja baban sem an su capanu lak su auda sabaza
ca-su sem pezii pati ja ad'vanam pi ay piid is laam
achuma acha muni sanam c-ja amyam dam vidi vidita
davav chi ay va-acal chi dammani yam niga niriti ja
(9) c-tet CO b'chun as-dammani yam niriti iai u-bu ay
dammani yam cu aka as ayam amim ca-asa am mani
c-am mani am tani audi janai am nani pi c-b'chun
dammani jamini janiam c-azani niriti ja u-c-bu ay
muni sanim damma udi udita avi chim sa-ay botanim
(10) ana laba ay pananam as-ata ay at'ma ay amim
c-iza puta pi apatica qam dan m'su li iaiak achatati
tit'ma c-anu pezii pamtuti achuma chi anu pezii pani
tam at'ladat alad achiti s'tavi seti us abi is at'nam
amim damma libi li capa pitati at ad'vanam pi ay acha
amim (11) damma libi at at'ma is lat'ma bani va-is
ladal qani vatet caaza vijaana as ci lat'miti qasi ja.
328 THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ^S PILLAR.
A TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ'S
PILLAR.
{The numbers marh the lines of the inscription.)
(1 ) His worship, even that which I have set up, shall be glorious be-
fore me ;
Tliou who art the Sea, I am rendered unclean by calamity ;
[Or, thou art the sea, uncleanness of Calamity.],'
Blood is in vain, my posterity, the equality of my doctrine shall
be my hire ;
We worship Him who hath rendered me unclean, yea even my
Judge [Dani'].
The suffering of my doctrine is my hire. The doctrine of trial shall
sprinkle, shall beautify ;
Behold the bringing in of notable ruin* is my taxing,
Even that which I have imposed ;
My doctrine is the showing forth of the dew of my wrath ;
My doctrine shall be to the nation as the doctrine of thy trial,
calamity \^Su] ;
A parched mouth, a bowing-down, that is the calamity which shall
become their doctrine ;
Endure, persuade, the wall is as that declared,
According to the wonders of ruin, even that which hath caused un-
cleanness.
(2) ye humble ones, our worship \_damma] is perfect;
The mouth of Ituin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction is the wall of the nation, O brother;
It is to them, even to them who suffer it, a desirable thing ;
Behold, my son, the worship that causeth uncleanness
Is as that which sprinkleth me.
The worship of Wrath is as that which sprinkleth,
As it sprinkleth . . . blood.
TJie mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction is the wall of the people, O brother Magian;
We will meditate on calamity as their doctrine.
On the grace of the doctrine, the doctrine of my hire ;
So the garden of life I have set shall produce beauty,
For numbers of years shall they flourish
Since the mouth [or doctrincj that breaketh to pieces
* Literally, wonder of ruin ; the word is pali, signifying anything re-
markable or standing out in unusual distinctnesss. Hence pal means a
heap of stones in some of the Saxon dialects, and probably our own word
pile has the same derivation. The Saxons were also called Pali or Phali.
THB INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ's PILLAR. 329
Shall call them together within it by me ;
The smoke of the grievousuess of my oppression,
Even the de-troying stroke, shall be their doctrine, my offspring.
(3) Call the mouth that persuades me IS^imshi* . . .
As it is a mouth that completely persuadeth,
Surely their posterity approve my title,
The gift, the gift, hath fully persuaded me ;
Go to, my recovery shall be my purification,
The numbers [or portions] of the years do flourish . . .
My purification is that of fire ;
Go to, even that which maketh alive is their protection,
Calamity \_Su^ according to its oppressiveness
Shall cause them to be distinguished;
My doctrine is Life, Life from God for the nation ;
Thy calamity shall be thy exultation.
Tribulation shall be as our worship [^damma].
My purification was my breaking to pieces,
The sutFering thereof was my purification,
That which defileth them I have experienced,
[Or, my foot-prints are those of their uncleanness].
(4) As it sprinkleth fire, the mouth of Ruin pleadeth their cause.
Destruction is become a wall of defence, O brother ;
The worship of wrath is the doctrine of the dead.
The trial and the shout of calamity is the uncleanness of calamity,
The suffering thereof is thy extension, calamity.
But the speech [lip] of my people shall be purified ;
To wait the extension of their defilement shall be their hire.
According to the equality shall they prosper.
Go to, thy doctrine is Calamity ;
But he whose name is hidden shall purify it ;
Their doctrine shall be after this manner.
But the hotness of his wrath shall purify their trouble ;
Thereon, Calamity, build up thy wood and mine;
Atler this manner shall Calamity be their doctrine.
(5) The hotness of wrath shall purify even their trouble,
Calamitv shall be the extension of a shininsr lif'ht ;
After this manner shall Calamity be their doctrine,
My wrath shall even purify their trouble ;
Posterity shall prosper, Calamity being after this manner their
doctrine.
My wrath shall even purify their trouble ;
♦ Jehu was the son of Nlmshi (1 Kings xix. 16). Nim.shi means
rescued from danger, drawn out of the toater.
330 THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ's PILLAR.
My purif3nng shall be even that which causeth defilement ;
My purifying shall be even that which defileth them;
Calamity, calamity, the perfection of wrath.
The worship of wrath, is yours with calamity that burneth,
But the vanity of calamity shall purify it.
As calamity is Truth by calamity they flourish ;
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause.
Destruction is the wall of the nation, O brother.
(6) Thy sign is thy suffering; in thy wisdom there are judgment and
error,
Which shall also be purified by burning;
. According to your equality hath he adjudged them,
Alas, the judge is both the tempter [trier] and the judge.
God hath bestowed on me his gifts, uncleanness hath He given me ;
The purification of life is that of burning ;
That which is thy calamity is a door of possessions ;
Such is your doctrine ; if posterity be as the unclean so was it de-
creed them ;
The calamity is trouble, judgment, and error,
But the doctrine of the wrath inflicted shall purify it,
(7) The worship redeemeth the uncleanness of ruin,
Our worship is the purification of the breakings of ruin,
The worship that redeemeth is a living fire.
The worship is the purification of thy breaking, God.
Behold the waters which he hath cast forth ;
Drink of the overflowing thereof, the measure thereof is that of thy
uncleanness ;
Is not Kash [grievousness] the wall, even that which I have set up ?
The mouth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause,
Destruction is the wall of the nation, O brother j
The oppressiveness of life is my possession,
For ray judgment as that which sprinkleth me is from God.
Continue upright [perfect], the suffering of my purifying shall be
thy perfection within.
He hath made the suffering thereof, even my sea, sufficient.
And thy sacred ordinance shall be even that which I have established,
(8) As my doctrine is as that which putteth to death,
Calamity, calamity, calamity shall be in their midst,
Calamity, calamity, calamity there shall be.
And a sea of suffering shall be their possession,
The endurance thereof, the breaking of God, was my purification ;
Behold thereon calamity hath builded renown ;
Calamity' shall be a rock of habitation for thee ;
I will glory in that which is thy spoil, calamity ;
The breaking of God shall be the fame of my purifying,
THE INSCRIPTION ON FEROZ's PILLAR. 331
The mouth of JRuin hath pleaded their cause^
Destruction is the wall of the nation, brother ;
The numbers of their years shall be as God,
The waters are blood, and that which he also hath decreed
Is a living uncleauness, ruin and a devouring of life.
My worship, the sea of affliction, is my enlightenment, God.
(9) As is the gift so is the trial of my worship ; the sea shall be my
enlightenment,
Though Ruin was thereby, the sea is my worship ;
So likewise the sea shall be a tire [to purify],
The waters are as a sprinkling, thej^ are my portion [mani^y
As they are my portion, people, they are my hire.
Or rather my injury becomes my sufficiency ;
Since, my posterity, my doctrine is as a trial.
My worship is my right hand; these injuries are as that which
sprinkleth me ;
God is my enlightenment, as b}' him ruin becomes the portions of
years.
That is even the worship which also he decreed.
Alas, their life is that of ruin, Botanim,
(10) The anguish of the heart is a ruin within them.
What thou art is ruin, I was polluted, a ruin ;
The waters are as a sprinkling, nakedness shall be thy beauty.
Arise, be astonished, my calamity shall be thine.
Thou shalt thyself be rendered unclean by my terrors,
The suffering thereof was constantly my purification,
My endowment was a living wall of defence.
The suffering thereof was my purification, a perpetuity of perfection,
The birth that I have brought forth is my own dismay.
That have I made my sign and my experience shall be their hire ;
The worship of my heart is as the doctrine I have propounded
[or the rock I have broken to pieces]
That is The movth of Ruin hath pleaded their cause, brother.
(11) The waters are the worship of my heart, the sign that I am rendered
unclean,
They are for the unclean, my son,
They are for the poor of my establishment.
And they are bestowed as a sprinkling.
But one might endure fire for the removal of my hardness, God.
332
CHAPTER XVI.
THE RELATION OF THE INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY.
Does prophecy throw any light on these dark inscrip-
tions? If there be any truth resulting from our
inquiries into the character and position of the people
to whom they were addressed, it is that they were the
very people concerning whose dispersion so much is
written in that marvellous depository of marvellous
intelligence — the Bible. And I think that if we look
a little curiously into the dark sayings engraved on
the rocks and pillars amidst which we have been
mentally wandering,' we shall find very direct evi-
dence, that the people who inscribed and perused
them more than two thousand years ago, had them-
selves been previously described, and their peculiari-
ties of endurance predicted. As, for instance, in
Ezekiel. This prophet was sent to the captive and
rebellious Bern-Israel (Ezek. i. 1), and when he found
they were proof against his remonstrances, and re-
solved upon carrying out their own system of polity
and religion, he seems to rise into the region of the
spirit where the past and the future are equally
present to the eye of the God-moved soul, and he
exclaims, '' Behold, a hand was sent unto me : and lo,
a roll of a book was therein ; and he spread it before
me; and it was written within and without; and
RELATION OF THE INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY. 333
there was written therein lamentations and mourninof
and woe " (ii. 10). This was the substance of the
words to be delivered to the rebellious house of
Israel. In bitterness, in the heat of his spirit,
the prophet went to the captivity at Tel-abib^ by the
river Chebar^ and in testimony of his anguish of soul
at having such a message to deliver, he sat astonished
among them seven days,* and then uttered the warn-
ing from God with this express commission, " Give
them warning from m^." But this warning being
useless to the rebels, the sign in relation to them is
henceforth only silence. When he would have gone
in and out amongst them to expostulate, they even
restrained him with the strong hand ; and then God
spake to them by the dumbness of the prophet. Even
a reprover was denied them, and henceforth lamenta-
tion and mourning and woe remained upon them as
the mark of their rebellion.' Lamentation, mourning,
woe — ""^J '7-1'7t ^^""i?? these are the very words which,
peculiar and specific as they are, constitute the sub-
ject matter of all the foregoing inscriptions on rock
and pillar. Finding them anywhere, we could say
at once, they are the marks God set upon the rebel-
lious house of Israel. So marked are these words in
themselves, and in their union, that they do not again
occur together in the Old Testament, nor any one of
them in the same sense or pointing in any other pas-
sage in the Hebrew language, as far as we possess it ;
and the last word of the climax, standing for all that is
conceivable of woe, is found only in this denounce-
ment of the prophet as addressed to the rebellious
* Observe the seven days' mourning for Sakya also.
334 THE RELATION OF THE
house of Israel, the people who preferred to worship
in their high-place, bamaJi^ to anything he could
promise to the repentant. This, surely, is sufficiently
remarkable; and yet those very words, with precisely
the prophet^s meaning, are graven thickly in these
Buddhistic inscriptions, and the last and most em-
jjhatic word translated woe, forms the very burden
of them all. How can this be accounted for but on
the principle that the people to whom they were
addressed, had taken the impress and the stamp that
God^s own hand had sealed upon them? The very
words of those inscriptions seem to have been seen
by Ezekiel, in the roll written within and without,
which the spirit-hand held before his eyes.
The largeness of the meaning of the words ren-
dered in our authorized version lamentation, and
mourning, and woe, though doubtless perfectly cor-
rect, does not quite appear without an acquaintance
with the original Hebrew. Our inscriptions are like
a comment to exhibit their full force. The word
rendered lamentation is, in the singular, applied to
the lament for the dead, but it implies the very
possession of all that is deplorable. The word ren-
dered mourning, indicates a meditated deliberate
sorrow, a murmuring in self-isolation, just as it is
used with all the iteration of grief in the north com-
partment of the Delhi inscription. The word trans-
lated woe, sometimes with its feminine termination,
and sometimes without, is that which occurs most
frequently in our inscriptions, and always in con-
nexion with destruction, and calamity, and unclean -
ness. It is evidently the same in root and power as
INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY. 335
the word rendered calamity in Job vi. 2 ; and xxx.
13. In the inscriptions, it manifestly includes the
idea of Avoe, as necessarily resulting from what had
come to pass, namely, the calamitous destruction
which forms the substance of its parallel; and there-
fore Ruin can be its only equivalent, as I have
rendered it in all the passages in italics, for it indi-
cates that existence itself, under the circumstances,
was necessarily nothing but ruin and woe.
In the allusions to the overwhelming catastrophe so
emphatically repeated in the inscriptions quoted, we
have, so to say, proof that the people who read them
on the rocks, saw therein the fulfilment of denuncia-
tions with which they were familiar, and submitted
to them with a feeling that it was their destiny to
endure calamity, as the hand of God was upon them,
in consequence of the unfaithfulness of their fathers,
or of their own incapacity to observe the terms of the
covenant on the observance of which their prosperit}^
depended. In fact, what their prophets had foretold,
they prove to be fulfilled to the letter in their own
experience, and they have left us the record of its
truth engraven on the rocks. Thus always has it
happened that the scattered Israelites have borne
testimony to the fact that their prophets spoke the
words of God, who must ever remain true to the prin-
ciples on which His government of Israel was founded,
namely, that strict obedience to the Mosaic laws was
alone their safety, and that to follow their own
devices was to fall into calamity.
The prophets whose mission it was to Warn the
house of Israel, and to denounce those who heeded
336 THE RELATION OF THE
not the warning, in foreshadowing the doom of the
rebellious, appear to have perceived the natural
operation and result of their peculiar delusions and
predilections. While under the influence of that
Spirit which sees and can reveal what will be^ as
clearly as that which is^ or which has been^ those
prophets pictured the future of Israel in language
glowing with the light of the present time, for the
insight of the Spirit is that of mood, rather than of
tense. Bearing this in mind, it cannot but interest and
enlighten the inquiring reader to compare the words
of the prophets who predicted the judgments to come
upon apostate Israel, with what we know of those
who, under the name of Buddhists, have, as I judge,
been proved in this volume to belong to those for-
sakers of their God. A few passages from Amos,
the prophet especially directed to address the recu-
sants of Israel, immediately before their captivity,
will suffice to elucidate the coincidence between the
facts of Buddhism and the predictions of the prophet
in respect to them. In the inscriptions, the frequent
reference to jire^ as the expression of the judgment
endured, is very remarkable Now, Amos says, that
the rebellious Israelites shall be carried into captivity
''beyond Damascus," that is, into Assyria (ver. 27),
if they regard not his warning and repent. They
sought Life in some peculiar sense; Life was wor-
shipped by them at Dan and Beersheba. Hence the
force of the appeal to them — " Seek Jehovah^ and ye
shall live ; lest He break out like fire in the house of
Joseph^ and devour it^ and there be none to quench it in
Bethel'' (ver. 6). The idea is this: Seek Jehovah as
INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY. 337
the Life^ or He will be manifested to you as the Fire
unquenchable, fire that none can quench in Beth-el^
that is to say, even the house of God will be un-
availing then. Now, we see the idea of God Himself
being as a fire in the inscriptions, while the prosperity
sought is still supposed connected with the house of
God, as in the 12th section of the Girnar inscription.
It has been sufficiently evidenced in the early
chapters of this work, that the house of Joseph sig-
nifies all those Israelites who repudiated the house
of David, that is to say, the tribes of Ephraim and
Manasseh, all the Ten Tribes constituting the re-
bellious kingdom first established under Jeroboam
(b.c. 976). We shall presently see how the worship
which Jeroboam encourao^ed amon2:st the Ten Tribes
bears upon some of the ideas connected with Bud-
dhism as exhibited in the light of our inscriptions.
Another remarkable allusion in Amos is to the
circumstance that silence shall mark the necessity of
the time predicted — Therefore the prudent shall keep
SILENCE in THAT tivae^ for it shall be an evil time (v. 13).
The word in relation to silence is the same from which
we derive our word dumbj and the Buddhists that of
Damma. Another striking allusion in Amos is to the
Israelites^ worship of the seven stars and of Orion,
supposed by the Israelites to preside over the alterna-
tions of the seasons and the movements of the great
waters. This idolatry of the Israelites gives the
prophet's language a fine and peculiar significance
when he exhorts them to seek Him ''''who maketh
the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of
death into morning; and maketh the day dark with
z
338 THE RELATION OF THE
night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and
poureth them out upon the face of the earth " (v. 8).
Buddhistic coins show that the seven stars at least
had place in their devotional symbolism. The spe-
cific reference to the pouring out of the sea upon the
face of the earth cannot be, as commentators imply,
a mere poetic figure of speech — there is really nothing
strictly of that kind in the Bible ; what seems orna-
mental to truth is like the beauty of the flower, only
the perfection of its essential life and development ;
and so the simplest minds get the clearest ideas from
the word of true inspiration, because they take it to
mean what it says. The prophets appear rhetorical
only because their facts appear like figures to those
who do not understand what they refer to ; but we
can see how full of meaning are the prophet's words
concerning the subserviency of the waters to Jehovah's
mandate when we find these words addressed to a
people who, like the Buddhists, adored the waters.
Their records point to the fact that their very religion
as now known sprung from some overwhelming
calamity in which the fire and the flood played an
equal part, for both are acknowledged in their silent
worship as the expression of God's mouth. This
allusion to the waters is more fully carried out by
Amos in the 24th verse of the chapter already quoted,
where, after enumerating the woes and lamentations
of those there called the remnant of the house of Joseph^
he calls them to let judgment run down as waters^ thus
indicating that, if they did not learn righteousness, the
waters themselves would prove a judgment upon them.
The peculiar turns of thought throughout the pro-
INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY. 339
phet's warning expostulation point constantly to a
people whose worship, like that of the Buddhists, should
be nothino^ but a lamentation. " Wailino* shall be
heard in the streets, and they shall say in all high-
ways, Alas ! alas ! and they shall call the husbandman
to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation
to wailing." The final signs of their utter apostacy
are thus summed up — " The songs of the temple
shall be bowlings in that day" — '' There shall be many
dead bodies in every place ; and they shall cast them
forth with silence." " Shall not the land tremble
and every one mourn that dwelleth therein?" "It
shall rise up wholly as a flood, and it shall be cast
out and drowned as by the flood of Egypt " (ch. viii.
2-14). Now the land referred to was not Samaria,
and could only be the land to which they should be
led in that day, when their songs of worship should
be bowlings of woe, a prophecy fulfilled to the letter,
if, as we suppose, the early Buddhists were Israelites, /p ^
and their worship of Calamity and Ruin resulted from >^ /
some natural convulsion, in which their land was ^
inundated, leaving, as we have it in the Girnar inscrip-
tion, only a possession of reeds.
The prophet addresses the Israelites by their
adopted names "the house of Joseph" and " the house
of Isaac," and tells them that they should go to Calneh^
or the banks of the Tigris, to Hamath^ that is Ha-
madan or Acbatana^ and to Gath of the Philistines
(ch. vi.) and consider their borders, and not trust
to the mountain of Samaria. Is there not prophetic
meaning here? Is it not thus in fact intimated that
they should yet be brought into closer intimacy with
z2
340 THE RELATION OF THE
the people of those countries. That Hamath was
beyond the Euphrates is evident, from its being named
with Babylon and Ava as one of the places whence
the king of Assyria brought men to occupy Samarja
after the Israelites were taken captive. (2 Kings xvii.
24.)
The history of Buddhism is the only history that
illustrates the following prophetic denunciations from
the 8th chapter of Amos : —
It shall come to pass in that day,
Saith the Lord Jehovah,
That I will cause the sun to go down at noon,
And will darken the land in clear day.
I will turn yoxxT festivals into mourning,
And all your songs into lamentations ;
I will bring sackcloth upon all loins,
And baldness upon every head ;
I will make it as the mourning for an only one,
And the end of it a bitter day.
Behold the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah,
When I will send a famine into the land.
Not a famine of bread, not a thirst of water,
But of hearing the words of Jehovah ;
And men shall wander from sea to sea.
And shall run up and down, from the north even to the east,
Seeking the word of Jehovah,
And they shall not find it.
In that day the fair virgins shall faint.
And the young men also for thirst ;
That swear by the sin of Samaria,
And say By the life of thy God Dan I
And By the Life of the way of Beersheha !
They shall fall and rise no more.*
These words are represented as applying to the
people when they " shall be brought to an end " as
Israel, and are expressly limited to those who should
* Dr. Henderson's translation.
INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY. 341
" go captive with the first that go captive ;" that is
to say, those Israelites who occupied Samaria and
were banished thence and carried into Assyria by
Shalmaneser, as related in 2 Kings xvii. " The Lord
was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of
his sight; there was none [no tribe] left [complete]
but the tribe of Judah only." " The Lord rejected
all the seed of Israel and afflicted them, and delivered
them into the hand of spoilers." '' For he rent Israel
from the house of David."*
Now, in looking diligently into history since that
wonderful deportation, we can find no trace of the
Ten Tribes, here called Israel, beyond the place of their
exile; their actual entrance into the lands to which
prophecy predicted they should go is shown us by
Ezekiel, who ^'isited them ; and then their utter defec-
tion being stated, and their further scattering foretold,
we hear no more of them in the records of Holy Writ,
so completely is the word fulfilled in them which said
they should be brought to end as Israelites and
swallowed up amongst the nations. But yet the
truth of the description which the spirit of prophecy
gave as pertaining to them after their removal so
to sav out of God's sio-ht, as no lonsfer recoo'nised
Israelites, is to be indicated. We gather from the
* I would direct attention to the unusual frequency of the word Adoni
conjoined with Jehovah in Amos as one name — the Lord-Jehovah. The
word Adoni seems to have been more familiar with the tribe of Dan,
and the prophet seems to urge upon them the fact that Jehovah is tlie only
Adoni or Lord. Probably they referred this word in their worship as one
associated in their minds with Dan, their great forefather, as containing in
his name the root of the word Adoni. We find the word in the Girnar
inscription as evidently synonymous with Jehovah, and the use ot the word
by theeai'ly visitors to Britain, who invoked Sah^ was pointed out at p. 1/3.
-V
342 THE RELATION OF THE
general import of prophecy concerning them that
they are to become so marked by the Divine Hand,
before their final absorption, as to be distinguished
from all other nations; and then to be scattered
over the world to produce a seed that shall, together
with their fathers' energy and endurance, inherit the
blessings predicted for the offspring of Isaac and of
Joseph. But first we are to look for the signs by
which they are to be distinguished when about to be
lost as Israelites and yet to become notorious as a
people that shall, as Moses says of him whose symbol
is the unicorn^ push the people together to the ends of
the earth. (Deut. xxxiii. 17.)
And where can we discover a people in the world,
except the early Buddhists of Northern India, the
Sacce., to whom the words quoted from Amos in any
degree apply?
Observe the signs which mark them. There is an
order in them, as if the prophet, in his marvellous fore-
sight of their future, were describing from the life.
First, a certain day of desolation is seen coming like
a tempest passing over the face of the great deep, and
the things of life that proudly walked upon the waters
are seen no more — " The end is come upon them f
"they are swallowed up;" the sun is gone down, the
land is darkened ; and yet it is still noon, and the day
is clear. We know what that means — woe had fallen
on perverse spirits; the ordinances of Heaven were
useless to them ; their chosen path had brought them
to a land where God Himself seemed not to see them,
and yet they are not out of his sight ; no, the Hebrew
metaphysics is true, and literally as the prophet says,
INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY. 343
tliey are without sight of Him, they are not con-
scious of his presence, and in such a state the sun-
beams themselves are darkness.
What the prophet Amos predicted Ezekiel saw
commencing in the actuality of Israelis experience;
the day of darkness and the end foretold on Israel,
Ezekiel announces as at hand. His words are specific
and definite — "An end is come; the end is come; it
watcheth for thee; behold it is come." '^Behold the
day, behold it is come ; the warning is gone forth."
The whole of the 7th chapter of Ezekiel points in
each particular to the fulfilment of the woes which
the preceding prophets, sent especially to the Ten
Tribes, declared should come upon them. The very
forms of the trouble are specified in terms similar to
those in our inscriptions. The renunciation of all
property is thus described: ''Let not the buyer
rejoice, nor the seller mourn ; for wrath is upon all
the multitude thereof. For the seller shall not return
to that which is sold, although their life is yet among
the livinor; for the vision is touchino; the whole mul-
titude thereof, which shall not return." In short,
Ezekiel furnishes a complete exposition of the earlier
j3rophets in respect to the doom of the rebellious
Israelites ; but I would direct attention particularly
to the word used to designate their mourning ;* namely,
homoth^ the plural of the very word so peculiarly
sio^nificant amono; the Buddhists, that it is the
initial word of their perpetuated prayer, and without
which all their mantras and incantations would be
deemed unavailing. '' They shall gird themselves with
* Chap. vii. 16.
344 THE RELATION OF THE
SACKCLOTH, and HORROR shall cover them ; and
SHAME shall he upon all faces^ and baldness upon all
their heads'' " The king shall mourn^ and the princes
shall he clothed with desolation, and the hands of the
people of the land shall he trouhled.'' " And they shall
know that I am Jehovah [the Lord].'' '' My wrath
[or hurning] is upon all the multitude thereof"
Now, all these predictions are literally fulfilled in
those Israelites whom we have proved to have become
Buddhists, and who assumed desolation, death, un-
cleanness, and wrath as the very essentials of their
worship, which was but a dumb adoration of the
calamity that fell upon them, as the inscriptions so
abundantly exhibit. Are they not, then, the people of
whom Hosea said : '^ Rejoice not for joy as other people,"
" Their sacrifices shall he unto them as the hread of
mourners ; all that eat thereof shall he polluted !"
Recurring to the passage quoted from Amos, it
might be shown how closely the words describe the
worshippers of Buddha. Their festivals are mourning ;
their songs are lamentations; all who are devoted to
the service of Buddha adopt sackcloth as their clothing,
and baldness is on all their heads. The bald-headed
devotees of Buddha are sons of Sackcloth, and the
ordination of the priests is to this day a refinement
of austerity; since, according to the Karma Wdkya^ or
Book of Ritual, they are required to wear a robe of
filthy rags, and subject themselves to every form of
degradation. But I conceive that, in reference to the
sin of Samaria., and the oath connected with it, we
have a clue to the monastic institutions of Buddhism,
and to much that is obscure in its ritual and expres-
INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY. 345
sion. The language of the passage (Amos viii. 13,
14) is exceedingly remarkable, and commentators
are quite at a loss for an explanation of the terms
employed. Our knowledge of early Buddhism, as
presented in the inscriptions on the rock at Girnar
and the columns at old Delhi will perhaps throw some
light on them. It is evident, in the first place, that
the sin of Samaria pertained especially to some vow
binding on virgins and young men. Xow, what can
the fainting of " the fair virgins,^* and the failure of
the young men signify, but that the oath assumed by
them involved them in a surrender of their natural
hopes and endearments as men and women ? - What
could this sin be but a vow binding them to a course
of life inconsistent with God's natural laws ; in short,
a vow of celibacy? The literal formula of the oath
is, " Thy God, Dan, liveth," '' The way of Beer-sheba
liveth f or perhaps, rather, " Thy God, Dan, is Life,"
^' The way of Beer-sheba is Life." I conceive that the
formula is a declaration of their readiness to devote
their life to the idolatrous worship established at
Beersheba, which was probably similar to that which
Jeroboam set up in Bethel and in Dan ; when, having
made golden calves, he erected them in the high
places there, and said, " Behold thy gods, Israel,
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt."
( 1 Kings xii. 28.) In addition to his adoration of the
sacred heifer, the hosts of heaven were probably also
worshipped, and, together with a kind of nominal
acknowledgment of Jehovah, the peculiar rites of
Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, called the^
Uueen of Heaven by Jeremiah (xiv^iQ^i wer^lso"^ "^
346 THE RELATION OF THE
observed. This latter form of idolatry was intro-
duced by Solomon, but principally^ encouraged by
Jezebel. (2 Ki^i^^xiii. 13; J^Knws4vin^ That
the worship of the heavenlyiiosiA^^connfected with
this idolatry is evident from ancient coins, on which
the sun, moon, and seven stars, with thunderbolts,
are represented, together with Astarte as a robed
female bearing a double crescent on her head. Astarte
is probably the same as Astrea, the daughter of
eTupiter and Themis, the goddess of justice amongst
the Romans, now represented by Virgo in the Zodiac,
and known by the Buddhists in China and other
countries of the far East by the very name which
Jeremiah applies to her — the Queen of Heaven. In
certain Buddhistic coins we find the moon, the seven
stars, the thunderbolt, and the heifer depicted. But
the point of interest, in relation to the sin of Samaria,
which involved the especial service and suffering of
virgins and young men, is the fact that those devoted
to the Queen of Heaven, like those of Rome devoted
to the Virgin, were bound to celibacy. Now, that a
similar vow to a queen of heaven is conjoined with
the worship of Buddha in many parts of the East, is
well known ; indeed, in all countries professing Bud-
dhism, the priests are sworn to a life of celibacy, and
the number of nuns is enormous; so far, at least, ful-
filling the prediction concerning Israel in that day of
utter defection, that " the fair virgins do faint, and
the young men, also, for thirsty In respect to Bud-
dhism, as presented in our inscriptions, we see the
peculiar force of the word thirsty for the whole system
is described as a thirsty which I conceive throws con-
INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY. 347
siderable light on the fact that Amos hiys such
otherwise inexplicable emphasis on the word thirst
in connexion with the oath of devotedness to the life
of the way of Beersheba, the sin of Samaria. If we
consider that Astarte was a personification of justice,
the appropriateness of that worship to those who
boasted of their descent from Dan^ and probably
venerated and adored him as their God and their life,
will be evident ; for in that name Dan they included
the idea of the Great Judge, according to the signifi-
cance of the name, which we see also in Buddhism,
since Dan is one of the three names of Buddha given
in the inscriptions both at Girnar and at Delhi.* It
is worthy of observation, that Life is associated with
Dan in the inscriptions in a manner very similar to
that in which they are associated by Amos when
alluding to the oath of those who swore by the sin
of Samaria. There is evidently reference to some
custom, a knowledge of which is necessary to a full
understanding, or even a correct translation of the
passage quoted from Amos.
We might dwell on the casting forth of the dead
with silence, they being neither burned nor buried,
as a sign of the end on Israel foretold by the prophet
Amos, and point to that part of Tibet where Bud-
dhism earliest prevailed, and where the custom is re-
tained to this day. Indeed, very many particulars
of comparison between the remarkable predictions of
the prophets, and the equally remarkable religion,
polity, and social usages of the early Buddhists, might
be followed out with interest, and perhaps with in-
* See Girnar Inscriptions, sect. 9.
348 RELATION OF THE INSCRIPTIONS TO PROPHECY.
struction; but probably enough has been indicated
for the fulfilment of the purposes contemplated in the
present volume.
It is pleasanter to turn to the final end of the
scattered seed of Joseph,* for the Word which we hold
fast has said, " I will save the house of Joseph, and
will bring them again to place them; for I have
mercy upon them; and they shall be as though I had
not cast them off; for I am the Lord their God, and
will hear them. And they of Ephraim shall be like
a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through
wine; yea, their children shall see it and be glad;
their heart shall rejoice in the Lord." (Zech. x. 6, 7.)
Zephaniah, who addressed the Ten Tribes imme-
diately before their captivity, predicts a time of final
gathering after the consummation of judgments: the
assembling, however, is not to be in any particular
locality, but in the spirit of the new covenant. " For
then," says God by the prophet, " will I turn to the
nations a pure language, that they all may invoke
the name of Jehovah, that they may serve him with
one accord " (iii. $)9i'
* All the terms applied to the Ten Tribes by the prophets Amos and
Hosea are applied to themselves by the Afghans; namely, Beni-Israel,
the house of Isaac, the remnant of Joseph, the house of Joseph, they of
Ephraim, the remnant of Israel, &c.
349
CHAPTER XVII.
THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY.
The peculiar interest of the inquiry concerning the
origin of Buddhism and the dispersion of the Lost
Tribes arises from the circumstance that we can trace
our connexion with both; and that by the inquiry
those who belong to the Saxon family may be induced
to consider their own standing in relation to the pro-
phetic spirit, and to the predictions in which their
own history has been foreshadowed by the marvellous
images thrown upon the roll of inspiration from the
Divine all-seeing Mind, through the medium of minds
operating like our own, and employing written words
to convey to others a perception of their visions.
The demonstrated connexion of the Buddhists with
the Israelites and both with the Sacce^ and the Sacce
with the Saxons, brings home to ourselves the pro-
phecies that relate to the struggles, " the sufferings,
and the glory that should follow" the scattering of
the house of Israel, This is the term or title applied
to the Ten Tribes, who were to be sifted among all
nations (Amos ix. 9), and with whom a new cove-
nant is to be made ; but it is the house of Joseph to
which especial earthly blessings are to come, "the
precious things of the earth, and the fulness thereof;"
" the good-will of him that dwelt in the bush.'' It is
350 THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY.
to the descendants of Joseph that these words apply :
'' His horns are the horns of a unicorn ; with them
he shall push the people together to the ends of the
earth ;" that is to say, the descendants of Joseph shall
prevail over all opposition ; the horns are the emblems
of their power, for " they are the myriads of Ephraim
and the thousands of Manasseh." (Deut. xxxiii. 17.)
It would best become our Saxon temperament to
profess, like the Buddhists, to be ready for all kinds
of self-sacrifice and abnegation ; only, however, that
we should be special favourites of Heaven after all;
so that, if we are to deem ourselves descendants of
any part of the Israelitish family, we should doubtless
put in our claim for the inheritance of Joseph's bless-
ings ; and certainly, if we possess any indications of our
descent from such a lineage, it is in the heritage we
really hold by right divine, being blessed alike '' for
the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for
the deep that croucheth beneath;" ''for the chief
things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious
things of the lasting hills." And it is possible that
we may discover in our family armorial bearing, so
to say, together with the collateral evidences of our
pedigree, that we do belong to the family of him
whose "horns are the horns of an unicorn." This
expression is very striking and remarkable. Those
who are best acquainted with the Holy Scriptures of
the Hebrews are most thoroughly aware that they
are constructed on those strict principles that all
unmeaning use of terms is entirely excluded, and
that wherever any peculiar and specific language is
employed to describe a fact, whether historic or pro-
THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY. 351
phetic, there exists specific and peculiar reason for
its employment ; and, therefore, this unique mention
of the creature called a unicorn, must possess a
unique significance.
When we reflect that all the nations most promi-
nently presented in the Bible, in connexion with pro-
phecy, were symbolized by emblems derived from the
forms and habits of living creatures, such as those
applied to the successive empires by Daniel, and to
the Israelitish tribes by Moses and the other prophets,
we may not be presumptuous in believing that the
lion and the unicorn are not accidentally associated
with the ensign of the Saxon nation. It is true that
the horse was the ancient ensi^^n of an Enoflish or
Saxon clan, and is still borne in the arms of our
royal house, and the lion belonged to the Franks of
northern derivation, while the bear pertained to some
of the Goths, all alike from the East; yet the horse-
stag^ or large antelope, apparently combining in it
some of the attributes of the horse, was the oriofin of
the unicorn^ and so called of old; and this was the
symbol of one of the divisions of the Sacce in Northern
India more than two thousand years ago ; this also
was the emblem of the tribes descended from Joseph,
and this is our emblenu The young lion passant and
rampant is the symboUof Dan, with which the tribes
of Ephraim and Manasseh were associated ; and these
tribes, as the offspring of Joseph, are declared to be
symbolized by the unicorn. May not this heraldry
of ours, coming down as it does from an antiquity
beyond record, be in itself evidence of our derivation
from those united sources ? We cannot now enlaro-e
352 THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY.
upon the evidence which could be presented to show
that the Danes, who have blended with the Saxons
in our land, were really Danites, whose characteristic
of old was their maritime enterprise, for they occupied
the coast and " dwelt in ships." It is enough that
we have blended, and that in the East to which we
have traced our origin, we have also traced the em-
blematic living creatures upon our united national
standard. But, as collateral evidence in support of
the facts already offered of our descent from the
house of Joseph, our possession of the emblem of
that house as our ensign from time immemorial is no
mean argument in favour of our right to it, especially
as we find no people who ever so employed it but
the Sacae of the East, from whom we, as a branch of
the same great family of peoples, have derived it. If
we are not of the race signified by it, unique as it
is, our possession of it is most unaccountable. The
language of the Hebrew, in the text in which the
unicorn is mentioned, is so remarkable, that our
translators deemed it necessary to deviate from their
rule in rendering the passage ; and instead of abiding
by the literal sense of the original, altered its con-
struction, as if to make a better sense, for the original
seems to contain a contradiction in terms, but which,
indeed, only thereby becomes the more expressive.
The Hebrew reads, " His horns [Joseph's] are the
horns of an unicorn ;" but our authorized version is,
" His horns are like the horns of unicorns ;'' thus
altogether overlooking the idea conveyed in the con-
text, that the union of the powers of Ephraim and
Manasseh is expressed by the seeming union of two
THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY. 353
horns into one, as seen in the conventional represen-
tation of the antelope, meant by the word unicorn,
and which in ancient monuments always appears in
profile. The creature's name in Hebrew signifies
also high, precious, sublime; but, as the name of an
animal, it is doubtless correctly rendered in the
Septuagint version by monokeros — single-horned.
Bochart regards it as the oryx^ or long-horned ante-
lope; but, whatever its derivation, we Saxons, like
the SacaB of the East, have the unique symbol, together
with the lion; and the two together there, as here,
signified the united blessings similar to those uttered
in the names of Dan and of Joseph upon their de-
scendants, by the mouth of Moses, the seer of God.
The earliest period of the Saxons' appearance
in Britain is not known, but there are indications of
its being much earlier than authentic history affirms.
In the Sicambri of the Maine and the Rhine of the
Augustan age we found the name of a people con-
nected with the Saxons, and the same name also in
Northern India, which was associated with the Sacas ;
thus, with the aid of other incidental notices, sustain-
ing the conviction that the Sacae and the Saxons were
identical in their origin. So in the time of Caesar's
invasion of Britain we find a people bearing a name
precisely similar to that adopted by the Buddhists in
the most ancient period of Indian record, and even
now lingering among the higher class of religionists
in Northern India, and tenaciously held by them as
a peculiar mark of distinction. This name in the early
period of Sakian dominion in that land, pertained to
the people holding that dominion, and extended over
A A
354 THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY.
a very wide range of country, as we discover from the
circumstance that the name is employed as a distin-
guishing characteristic in the rock- records already so
largely quoted, and which present the name in the
same language in Afghanistan and in Cuttack ; that is
to say, from one side of Northern India to the other,
more than a thousand miles apart. The name is
Cassi or Kashi, The orthography and derivation of
the name is doubtful; but that in the East, if not
in the West, it belonged to a people who used the
Hebrew language or a Hebraic dialect, and who boasted
of their unyielding endurance under difficulties as
their distinction, it is very likely to have been de-
rived from the Hebrew word which meant hardihood.
However that may be, the name is sufficiently remark-
able to surprise us at its application to a people in
Britain when Caesar invaded it, did we not know
from Druidical record that a people using Hebraic
lano:uao:e did visit Britain when Druidism was the
dominant religion there, and prove their connexion
with the Sacae and the Buddhists of the East alike by
their language and their religion. That the Cassi
mentioned by Caesar* were not natives of Britain, but
warlike and powerful invaders, is indicated by him.
They were probably derived from the Chauci^ who
were also called Endia-bone in the German of the
middle ages. Endia is evidently India^ and bone^ a
Hebrew word, means sons. These were the earliest
German denominations of the people ultimately known
only by their generic title of Saxons, who always
boasted of their As-khan^ that is, Asian prince. An
* Com. bk. V. chap. 20.
i
THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY. 355
old MS. in the Vatican states that they came from
( 1) Esco or Yisico (Isaac?), (2) Armenius (Armenia?),
and (3) Ingo or India, The Cassiterides were probably
peopled by Cassi, Strabo describes the people of
those islands as wearing " long beards, black cloaks,
tunics reaching to their feet, and girt about the
breast," a very Israelitish style of habiliment. Some
of the " Eald Seaxam " were called Buri (the chosen),
a name conjoined with Sacam in the Sacam-huri.
Some were called Phali^ hence Westphalians and
Eastphalians, from whom came the Anglo-Saxons.
All these names were also applied to the Oriental
Sacse ; can we then doubt the origin of the Saxons,
seeing that they also worshipped Godam? *
We are anxious to discover every possible trace of
people having signs of connexion with the Sacce^ be-
cause they will again be connected together from one
end of the earth to the other, if, as we believe, they
are remnants of the Lost Tribes, for to them the pro-
mises of prophecy yet to be fulfilled in an especial
manner belong. They are to be brought into the
bonds of the new and everlasting covenant, and to
become the means of the regeneration of the world
under the operation of that faith which shall cause
them to co-operate with the Almighty in obedience
to his laws, both natural and spiritual. They are all
to become Christians, so far as to stand out in that
name distinct from all the other nations, with a
mutual understanding of their relationship to one
* See Mengel's History of Germany, aud Latham's Ethnology of the
British Islands.
aa2
S-P
356 THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY.
another, and with power to encompass the earth with
their influence.
Let us, therefore, see what signs at present exist of
this wonderful upspringing of the scattered seed
which, as the prophet affirms, has been '' sifted" over
the countries. We are to look for these people where
our own influence extends, and see who they are who
are most ready to be attracted to ourselves as bearers
of the glad tidings of good-will towards man and
glory to God in the highest, according to the angels'
carol at the birth of Him whose right it is to reign.
The Goths seem to be but a mixture of the refuse
of the SacaB with the old Pali or Philistines of the
East, and their mission is fulfilled in metaphysical
wranglings with wrong-headed heathenism and the
Roman and Greek admixture of mythology with the
Gospel. They are not distinguished but as a power
so far influenced by the old Saxon and Israelitish
temperament of indomitable obstinacy as to qualify
and subdue the Roman remnants of the old iron rule,
as to form new kingdoms called Gotho-Roman, but
which partake of the clay commingled with the iron
in the feet of the image in Daniel, and are therefore so
easily disposed to fall to pieces when smitten by the
stone cut out of the mountain — that is to say, the
Saxon race and the Saxon principle of free govern-
ment and worship. The Gothic races have been,
however, the providential allies of Saxons from time
immemorial, and will remain to the end their helpers
against the inroads of old despotisms, whether in the
form of priestly superstitions or of imperial assump-
tions. Space is not left us to adduce all the evidences
THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY. 357
of the truth of this assertion, and it must suffice to
appeal to facts now patent to the world in proof of
our standing in relation to our German cousins.
Without all controversy prophecy points to a period
which seems to be at hand when the race which drew
their life-blood and their beliefs from the grand patri-
archs of faith in God and patient endurance of His
^vill, which has been scattered over the earth as a
seed to fructify in blessings to all lands, shall again
stand out, after a long obscuration of their pedigree,
as the very people to whom the promise of a number-
less increase and a large prosperity under accumu-
lated troubles was given. They shall be taken one by
one into the new and everlasting covenant, and at last
unitedly appear in possession of a world-wide inheri-
tance, "' pushing the nations together to the ends of
the earth," and brino-ino; the blessino^s of the best
policy and the highest revelations to bear upon every
people. And now, if the occasion permitted, it might
be shown that the Saxon race who seized the word of
faith and reformation with a full recurrence to the
testimony of the Hebrew Bible and the Hebrew Chris-
tian Covenant, on which to stand and erect the rights
of man, are being separated from all other people by
the out-speaking freedom of their spirit, the liberality
of their institutions, and their indomitable protest
against all despotisms, whether secular or spiritual.
The hand of the Almighty, in shaking the founda-
tions of European kingdoms pertaining to the Greek
and Roman Churches, is bringing out the Saxon
element from its admixtures and vindicating the
Bible as the strength of those who make its doctrines
358 THE SAXON DERIVATION AND DESTINY.
" part and parcel of their laws.'^ And they will
gather to their own creed the remnants of the same
seed scattered over the far East, for they too will
receive the Bible, and that from the hand of their
brethren of the West, who are bringing the ends of
the earth together, and pushing the nations aside that
would obstruct them.
If we look into the East for traces of the people
akin to the Saxon, we shall find them by the same
signs by which we discover our own relation to the
early Buddhists and the Lost Tribes. Of the Afghans
enough has been said elsewhere and by abler writers ;
but I would conclude this long and yet too hurried
research by pointing the attention of the patient
reader to an obscure people who bear in their tradi-
tions, their appearance, their customs, their expecta-
tions, and their readiness to receive the Holy Scrip-
tures, plain indications of their descent from the
scattered and yet preserved seed of Israel. I mean
the Karens, some notices of whom will not inaptly
furnish us with opportunity to introduce allusions to
other people bearing interesting indications of the
like relationship.
I
359
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
Christian missionaries are not the less the lights of
the world because witlings and worldlings, overlooking
the power with which they work, are apt to deride
their seeming insignificance, suspect their sincerity,
or fancy their faith a mere fanaticism and their
simplicity but a foolishness, calculated only to disturb
the policy that would make a market of heathenism
and ignorance. These are the persons, however,
whose position and pursuits bring them directly in
contact with the souls of men, and from them we
gather all the particulars concerning the interesting
people of whom it is my purpose here to speak. Mr.
Mason, an American missionary, was the first to make
us intimately acquainted with the Karens, he having
laboured amongst them in Tavoy and neighbouring
parts in Tenasserim, which formerly belonged to Bir-
mah, but are now ceded to the British. Their habits
and peculiar readiness to listen to the Gospel strongly
excited Mr. Mason's curiosity to learn all he could of
their antecedents, and the result was the publication of
a little work concernino: them containin Of a laroe amount
of very interesting intelligence.* But before pro-
* The substance of the work referred to is found iu the Calcutta Christian
Observer, 1835, and from this inj quotations are taken.
360 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
ceeding to consider what Mr. Mason relates of the
Karens, a few observations or facts derived from
other sources may enable us the better to connect the
Karens with the Sacoe ; for, if this connexion can be
shown, the peculiarities of the Karens will in a great
measure be accounted for. First, it is evident that
the Karens are a conquered people. The inquiry
then arises, when were they conquered, and what was
their condition previous to that period ? The history
of Arracan, compiled by the Mughs or Magi of that
country, mentions an empire under Kowalea which
in 530 of our era extended over the whole of Ava,
Assam, Siam, and part of Bengal ;* and it is stated
that afterwards his dominion in Birmah was de-
stroyed by the Birmese,t and the inhabitants of that
country were either enslaved or driven into the moun-
tains and forests. The condition of the Karens is then
accounted for by the records of the land in which we
lind them. They are the remains of a nation once
possessors of Birmah. It is stated on the same
authority that two brothers, one named Antra The^
and the other Amra Kho^ came from the Kaladyne
hills and became mixed with the royal race of Arracan.
The people to which these brothers belonged were
known as Ehom or Ahom. Now, it is especially
worthy of remark that a people of the same name
once ruled in Assam, and that their religion was the
purest form of early Buddhism, as we learn from
the remains of their religious records known to the
* Vide a Sketch of Arracan, by T. Paten, Asiatic Res. vol. xvi. p. 353.
t The Birmese afford every evidence of their Malayan origin.
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 361
curiously-learned amongst Orientalists. Then, again,
the word Am7^a points to the fact that, instead of two
brothers being signified by The and Kho^ two tribes
or classes of people are meant, for Amra is an Arabic
if not a Hebrew word, and as now used in Arabia
signifies expressly The Tribes^ that is, the Hebrew
Tribes. The terms The, or Thai^ and Kho indicate
that one class was free or unrestricted, and the other
bound by vow — a mark of distinctions known alike to
the Israelites, the Buddhists, and the Karens. The
Shans (or Shyans)^ who occupy great part of Laos
and Siam, as well as the bordering districts of Bir-
mah, call themselves The or Thai, Now, in personal
appearance, customs, and language the Shans and the
Karens are shown to be but offshoots of the same
stock ; and here it is important to remark that the
Laos^ the Shans^ and the people called Ahom are,
or originally were the same, and once held Assam
and Bhotan under their dominion.
From the language of the Girnar inscription,
sect. 6 (p. 275 ante)^ we should infer that Bhotan,
Anam, and the island of Hainan were converted by
Godama. Laos and Ahom belong to Anam, that is,
Cochin China; and it appears that all those places
were formerly united under one Buddhist ical govern-
ment. Vhai is the native name of the Siamese, and
their chief divisions are Laos, Shyans (or Ahom),
and Khamti. Their general complexion is light
brown, their hair is black and abundant, the nose not
flattened. The original conquerors were Ahom^ the
alphabet Ahom^ the language Ahom, The literature
of this language, preserved in the books of the Assam
362 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
priesthood, is remarkable for the entire absence of
doctrines that are expressly either Buddhist or Brah-
minical ;* which may probably be accounted for by the
circumstance asserted in the Buddhistic annals, that
Godama or Sakya himself instructed the Bhots and
Assamese ; so that of course there would be no refer-
ence to himself as the Buddha to be worshipped — a
doctrine not inculcated until after his death. The
antiquities existing in Assam prove that it was for-
merly occupied by a people very superior to those
now holding it, who certainly are incapable of con-
structing works like the handsome bridges of stone
which with noble arches span some of the rivers, and
the erection of which the present inhabitants attri-
bute to the gods in an ancient period called by them
the time of the kings. f
Now, looking at the words Laos and Ahom as terms
applied to the same people, we obtain a very significant
y A^i;^ication ; for, supposing we wrote Laos in Greek
y'^^yvietters and Ahom in Hebrew, we get two words that
mean the same thing, namely, the people, or nation —
the term especially applied to the Hebrews by them-
selves. If we remember that the Sacce and the
Buddhists were driven from North-western India by
their Hindoo conquerors into Assam and Bhotan, and
Greek converts were known to be mixed with them,
two undefined names of people — Laos and J/i6>m — may
be easily accounted for; and their strange connexion
with the Karens, at least in the north of Birmah, is
explained, since the Ahom or Ehom was the designa-
* See Latham's Natural History of the Varieties of Man, pp. 21 and 22.
f American mission. — Maga.
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 863
tion of the races mixed with the royalty of Arracan,
and opposed to the pretensions of the King of Ava*
at a very early period of Birmese history.
I claim, then, for the Karens a right to Birmah as
the preoccupiers of the land, not as conquerors with
the sword, but with the doctrines of a people origin-
ally instructed by revelation ; and now I will proceed
to prove this by their own traditions. These people
are scattered over twelve degrees of latitude. On
the river Salwen they maintain a degree of indepen-
dence, but in all other parts of Birmah they are in
a most depressed condition. Besides the name of
Karens, they very tenaciously hold their right to a
name of sacred import to them, that is, P'lai, Now,
the similarity of this denomination to that of Pali^
which we know was the appellation of the early Bud-
dhists, whose capital was Pali-Bothra^ and that the
name with the Buddhists, the Karens, and the He-
brews signifies separated and distinguished, we can
scarcely avoid believing that it sprung from the same
origin. In Pegu they are called Kadwni, the He-
brew for ancients.
But the Israelitish characteristics are fully seen —
1st, in their domestic habits; 2ndly, in their per-
sonal appearance and dress ; and Brdly, in their reli-
gious traditions and expectations. Notwithstanding
that oppressors insist on their confining themselves
to the laborious cultivation of the land for the sake
of drawing taxes from them, they are really higher
in their domestic civilization than almost any people
* This name reminds us of the Hebrew word avaj and of the city and
district oi Aven in Samaria.
364 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
of the East, for their women hold the same position
among them as ours with us, and there too prove
themselves w^orthy by their virtue and intelligence.
This higher character of the women doubtless arises
from the nobler ideas of the men with respect to the
domestic relations. They regard polygamy as a sin,
and honour the wife and mother as entitled to rule
alone in her department of the household. Their
general morality is superior, except with one dire
exception, namely, their intemperance. This, how-
ever, is not as with our sots, the degradation of a
daily madness, but is only exhibited in honour of
visitors and in their festivals. Their hospitality to
strangers of every class is extremely generous.
Their houses are better arranged for preserving the
decencies of life than amongst our poor, for they
always contrive to have several apartments for cook-
ing and sleeping, while one more open and larger is
reserved for visitors, or, in their absence, is used for
spinning or other home-work.
Their industry is evinced in the fact that from the
soil they raise large supplies for themselves and for
the market. Their personal appearance and dress are
Jewish. Mr. Mason says their Jewish look cannot
fail to strike any one. They have a saying with regard
to the wearing the beard which sufficiently indicates
their distinction from the people of the same land —
••' A man with a beard belongs to the race of ancient
kings." No people ever honoured the beard more
than the Hebrews, but the Birmese pluck out their
beard.
Their dress, as Mr. Mason observes, may be de-
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 365
scribed in the words of Jahn concerning that of
ancient Hebrews. The tunic of the men is embroi-
dered in the weaving, but that of the women with
the needle, as it was with the Hebrews as far back as
the time of Moses. Their clothing is in all respects
dissimilar from that of the Birmese.
The derivation of their language is said to be un-
known, but I find from Mr. Brown^s vocabulary that
about a fourth of their words are Birmese, and the rest
mostly like the Singpo and Jili, which is just what
might have been expected from their associations,
in the absence of any literature among them. Yet
there is this remarkable peculiarity in their speech —
their words always terminate in a vowel, thus im-
parting a mellifluous tone to their words, greatly dis-
tinguishing it from those of other people of that
country. This, again, connects them with the Pali,
and also with the Bhotans and the Ahom, whose
language was likewise so distinguished; indeed, the
Karens have many words in common with those
people, especially in relation to religious ideas ; a cir-
cumstance that confirms the notion that they had a
common origin.
The most striking of their sacred words is their
name for the Deity, that is, Yoowah^ a word precisely
similar to that in the inscriptions of Girnar and
Delhi. The importance of this word may well de-
tain our attention awhile. Javo^ evidently a con-
traction of Jehovah, is the word signifying the
Supreme in Tibet and Bhotan. The singular term
Owah-n^chu is also used to designate the Deity amongst
the intelligent Lamas of Bhotan ; a term which, re-
3-66 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
garding Owah as equivalent to Jehovah, being indeed
the same word without the initial, in Hebrew means
the Lord is his guide. When a Lama of Bhotan was-
asked why he did not bow the head or even look at
an image, he replied, '' Owah is all around my head,
and it is not right to bow before images, as if he
were more before than behind me and everywhere."^
When we consider this reply in conjunction with the
fact that in Bhotan the image of Buddha is shut up
out of sight, within a tomb-like shrine built in the
form of a parallelogram, like the Hebrew temple, with
the sides opposite the cardinal points, we find a two-
fold indication that the worship taught of old in
that country repudiated idolatry and pointed to IJim
who fills all space. When God revealed Himself to
Moses He said, " This is my name [Jehovah^ for ever,
and my memorial to all generations." The presence
of this name in the worship of any people is, then, a
notable circumstance. We have traced it to the Sacse
and Buddhists of Northern India, Tibet, and Bhotan,
and also among the Karens. Are not these people,
then, interested in the promises connected with those
who revere that name? Wherever this name is re-
corded God says he will bless those who use it in
supplication. (Exod. xx. 24.) The triple blessing
on Israel is thus declared : '' And they shall put my
name on the chikjren of Israel, and I will bless them."
(Numbers vi. 2fe.) This name is to be dreadful
among the heathen. (Mai. i. 14.) In sanctifying
this name the seed of Jacob is to be preserved from
* Account of Bhotan, by Kishen Kant Bose, Asiatic Res. vol. xv. p. 128.
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 367
utter shame. (Isai. xxix. 23.) In this name those
who erred in spirit should come to understanding,
and the murraurers learn doctrine. (Isai. xxix. 24.)
In this name the wisdom of God's providence is to
be justified. (Isai. xli. 25.) The multitudes brought
through the fire calling on this name shall be
heard. (Zech. xiii. 9.)yiThis name, then, -will guide
us to the remnants of Israel.
Tlte traditions of the Karens are the most striking
indications of their Israelitish origin : but even their
corrupt usages indicate the same. Thus, although
acknowledging the Supreme, they, as the corrupt
Israelites did, propitiate evil spirits. They are divided
into two sects, one sacrificing hogs and fowls to evil
spirits ; but the other, called Purai^ will not sacrifice
to those beings, and regard hogs with detestation.
They say that formerly they ofi'ered oxen in sacrifice.
They account for their use of the bones of fowls for
divination in a singular manner, asserting that God
(Yoowah) in ancient tiui^^ g^Yii ihktm his word writte7i
on leather^ but that the family to whose custody it
was committed having laid it by on a shelf, a fowl
scratched it down, and it was destroyed by swine. This
gave rise to the employment of the bones of the fowl
for superstitious purposes. Compare with this the
sacrifice of fowls by the Yezidees of Koordistan, the
worship of the cock by the Assyrians, and the ofFerino-
of the fowl, male and female, as an atonement for
man and woman, by Jewish families in the East.*
Socrates, too, desired a cock to be sacrificed to the
* See Narrative of a Mission to the Jews from the Church of Scotland,
p. 405.
368 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
god of health, as if to express his hope of well-being
after death. This form of sacrifice amongst the
Karens connects them, therefore, with other people
than those who surround them, as does, also, their
employment of wizards or prophets to curse their
enemies, as Balak employed Balaam, though they
acknowledge a traditional law forbidding the practice,
and their saying is, '' Curse not, lest you curse your-
selves."
They praise their Maker in these words : —
" He was in the beginning of the world ;
God is endless and eternal ;
He was in the beginning of the world ;
God is unchangeable and eternal :
He existed in ancient time at the beginning. ^^
Now, remembering that they call the Creator
Yoowah^ or Yoovah, we cannot avoid connecting this
hymn in praise of his power with the words of the
seer, who, with the sublimity of simple truth, lays
the foundation of all faith in the grand words —
" In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth."
But the original of the Karen thought is more
plainly manifest in the following passages of tradition
obtained by Mr. Wade, a missionary, from a Moul-
main Karen, who had no knowledge beyond what he
acquired amongst his own people : —
" God created heaven and earth. The creation of
heaven and earth was finished.
" He created again, creating man. At first he
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 369
created earth, and then he created man. The
creation of man was finished.
" He created woman. He took a rib out of man,
and created again, creating woman. The
creation of woman was finished.
" He created again, creating life. Father God
said I love my son and my daughter, I will give
them my great life. He breathed a little of
his life into the nostrils of the two ; they came
to life, and became real human beings. The
creation of man was finished."
In similar language the creation of food and drink,
water and fire, quadrupeds and birds, is described as
finished. Comment is unnecessary.
They account for the origin of death thus : " In
the beginning God, to try man, created the tree of
death and the tree of life, saying of the tree of death.
Eat it not." " But man disobeyed and ate fruit
from the tree of death, and the tree of lite God hid,
and since that time men die."
They say that Satan introduced sin, which they
call adultery against God, as the Hebrew prophets
also do. They believe that Satan was once a holy
being, who for some sin was cast out of heaven, and
then he deceived the son and daughter of God. Satan
came into the garden and said to them : '' Why are
you here?" " Our Father God put us here." " What
do you eat?" " The fruit of many trees, but of one
tree God said. Eat not; if you eat, you will die." Then
said Satan, " The heart of your Father God is not
with you: this is the sweetest of all. Let each one
B B
370 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
eat a single fruit, then you will know." The man
replied, " Our Father God said. Eat not," and so
saying he went away; but the woman listened to
Satan, who said to her, " Now go give the fruit to
your husband." So she coaxed her husband, and
Satan laughed. On the following morning they were
silent before God, and God said, " You have ate the
fruit that is not good ; you shall die."
They look for a Saviour Avho is the Supreme God,
and yet a sufferer, for it is Yoowah who is to come to
suffer, that all men may be happy.
They speak of the dispersion in these words : —
" Men were all brethren ;
They had all the language of God,
But they disbelieved the language of God,
And became enemies to each other.
Because they disbelieved God,
Their language was divided."
Their moral code, which contains the substance of
every injunction in the decalogue, is the more re-
markable that in the midst of image worshippers it
forbids idolatry. They say, "We have no king,
because we feared not God," using the very word of
Hosea (x. 3). Though they deem themselves wan-
derers and outcasts, under a curse for their transgres-
sions, attributing the loss of their king and their
books to this cause, they yet assert that God loves
them above all other people, and will yet save them.
But the strangest point of their confidence in God
amidst persecution, is the expectation of being re-
stored to a royal state^ when they " shall dwell in the
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 371
city with the golden palace." They expect their
king and Saviour shortly to appear, and exhort each
other to pray for his coming in these words : —
'' Though the flowers fade, they bloom again.
At the appointed time our fathers' Jehovah
will return.
That Jehovah [YoowaK] may bring the moun-
tain height^
Let us pray both great and small,
That Jehovah may prepare the mountain height^
Friends and brethren, let us pray.''
Almost all that is past or promised of greatness in
Israel is connected with mountains, as if the Divine
majesty were, so to say, naturally associated with the
sublimer parts of the earth. But the language of
the poor Karen's prayer especially reminds us of
the words of Isaiah : " It shall come to pass in the last
days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established in the tops of the mountains . . . and all
nations shall flow unto it" (ii. 2). Ezekiel also
predicts a like exaltation : " This is the law of the
house upon the top of the mountain ; the whole limit
thereof round about shall be most holy" (xliii. 12).
In anticipating the results of the conquest of death
by Him who " led captivity captive," the Psalmist
exclaims, " Why leap ye, ye high hills [or literally
mountains of heights^ ? This is the mountain which
God desireth to dwell in, yea the Lord will dwell in
it for ever." (Ps. Ixviii. 16.) We know not whence
the Karens could have derived their ideas of the
mountain height as the peculiar abode of Jehovah but
bb2
372 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
from Hebrew tradition, unless, indeed, it came to
them from Tibet and Bhotan, where the same notions
prevail, being conveyed there by the teachers of
Buddhism, and, therefore, clearly from a Hebrew
source; thus accounting for the establishment of an
ancient mountain centre of religious dominion, both
in Bhotan and in Tibet, the Red or Golden Mountain,
near Lha-sha, being still the residence of the Grand
Lama^ the supposed incarnation of Deity.*
The coming of the Karen king, bringing the holy
mountain, is associated with the expectation of bless-
edness to all nations, as in Isaiah.
" When the Kareti king arrives
There will be but one monarch, —
There will be neither rich nor poor.
Everything will be happy;
The beasts will be happy,
Lions and leopards will lose their savageness."
That the Karens did not derive their ideas from a
Christian source is evident from the fact that they
are not trustino^ to a Saviour that has come, but that
is coming. Besides, neither the cross, nor baptism,
nor the Lord's supper, nor any circumstance con-
nected with Christ, not even the name, is mentioned
in their traditions. Nor do they trace their opinions
to any teacher, but always assert that what they
believe to be true was communicated to them by God
Himself, through men inspired, or rather through a
book which God Himself wrote. The phraseology of
* Csoma Korosi, Tibet Gram. p. 198.
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 373
their traditions is as Hebraic as their ideas. Their
poeras are arranged " in parallelisms with a certain
equality or resemblance between members of the
same period, so that in two lines or members of the
same period things shall for the most part answer
to things, and words to words, as if fitted to each
other by a kind of rule or measure." For instance,
" The judgment is a rope of seven coils,
The law is a rope of seven coils,
Freed from one, a coil remains, still another coil,
Delivered from one, a coil remains, still another
coil."
These verses are worthy of attention, not only for
their structure, but also as referring to the law in a
definite sense, and that also in connexion with its
perfection and comprehensiveness as expressed by
the number seven. This use of the number seven
is common among them. The Karens, like the
Hebrews, not only compose their songs in corre-
sponding parts, but also chant them, with the aid of
instrumental music, alternately by opposite choirs.
It would occupy too much time to enumerate all
the particulars in which the Karens indicate their
descent from Israelites ; and if we could, some would
say, they cannot belong to them, because the seal of
the covenant, circumcision, is wanting. But this
looking for the seal of the covenant in a people who
were cast out because they had forsaken the cove-
nant, seems somewhat absurd. How could they
have been lost with the seal upon them, for it could
be no seal or sign if not acknowledged by themselves,
374 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
or else the Turks are as good Israelites as any in
Palestine? If we are to abide by the words of pro-
phecy, let us abide by them ; but from them we learn
that the outcast Israelites despised the covenant
(Ezek. xvii. 15, 18, 19), and were recompensed ac-
cordingly; though, ultimately, anew and everlasting
covenant is to be established with them, not by
circumcision, but the law in their hearts.
The Karens are remarkably prepared for evangeli-
zation, for they expect white foreigners from the West
to be their enlighteners, and are, therefore, more
attentive to missionaries, and more rapidly receiving
Christian ideas than any other people in the world,
which I regard as itself a sign to which we do well to
give heed. They look for the restoration of their
God- written book, and in the Bible they recognise it.
One of their prophets composed some verses, which
are sung through many parts of their country, with
a firm belief in their speedy fulfilment.
" The clouds rise up in the dark dark heavens.
The end of the world draws near ;
The clouds rise up in the pale pale heavens ;
The end of the world has come.
The grand mother has finished weaving.
Happiness will return to the land, and peace like
a river.
*' The ten virtues, the nine virtues, the duties of
virtue,
All the virtues will return to us now;
With strong desire I thirst for mother^s milk,
Without partaking of which I cannot live.
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 375
" The time draws near,
Act with one accord together ; act virtuously.
The wooden staiF, the iron staff,
Is stretched forth; people are produced;
The wooden staff, the silver staff.
Is stretched forth, the town is obtained, the city
raised.
The harmonious people, the united.
Shall dwell in the new town, the new city.
Sing praise to God, sing pleasantly —
Worship as evening comes.
Praise God with one accord,
Worship at evening tide,
Unitedly praise God."
The ten virtues seem to refer to the ten laws, but
the distinction between the nine and the ten points to
the abstract and relative virtues of the Buddhistic
creed. The ancient Israelites called Jerusalem the
mother^ hence St. Paul calls the Church Jerusalem,
"the mother of us all." Mother's milk means the
food of the soul, true religion. The Karens, like the
Israelites of old, use staves or rods as emblems of
authority and power. Putting these ideas together,
with the mention of "peace as a river," we have
several of the most striking passages of prophecy
brought to mind. Isaiah, in describing the city of
God, represents Jehovah as saying, '' I will extend
peace to her like a river" (Ixvi. 12), having first
compared the satisfaction arising from the abundance
of her glory to drawing milk from breasts of consola-
tion. And Ezekiel says, " Thy mother is like a
376 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
vine planted by the waters . . . she had strong rods
[staves] for sceptres of them that bare rule" (xix.
10, 11).
The wail of the Karens over their dead affords us
a point of association with old Saxon superstitions.
The assembled company, in answer to one of their
number who six times exclaims, "What is the matter?'*
chant these words: 1. Ascending the trunk, 2. Taking
the fruit, 3. Descending the branch, 4. Descending
the trunk. 5. Depositing the fruit. This is repeated
in several languages, one of which is called the old
language^ but what that is has not been stated. The
gathering and depositing the fruit must signify the
fruit of life. Those who are conversant with northern
antiquities will be reminded of the Yggdrasil, or
tree emblematic of life, at the root of which vices
gnaw like snakes, but the soul that ultimately
climbs it gathers fruit, and rests amidst perennial
verdure.
When the body is buried, a bone is taken to repre-
sent the person,* and at a convenient season a feast
is made, booths are erected by some stream, and the
friends of the deceased assemble in the evening to
sing a long dirge around the bone. At the close of
the ceremony, a bangle is suspended by a string over
a cup of rice; the departed spirit is then called.
When the spirit answers the string trembles, the
bangle turns round, and the string snaps as if by
miracle. If no answer is returned, the spirit is sup-
posed to have gone to a bad place. We must leave
* The Hebrews use the term bone for person, and think there is one bone
that never decays.
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 377
those of our day who are themselves familiars, or at
least intimate with the legerdemain of spirits, to
account for the fact that any spirit ever answers in
so singular a manner.
The Karens are not a scanty and scattered people,
nor bound to a small tract of country as if the remains
of some ancient colony ; but they extend at intervals
over at least twelve degrees of latitude, and ten of
longitude, and are calculated by some authorities to
equal in number the inhabitants of England. The
white Miaou-tse^ a people occupying the hill country
of central China, present many points of resemblance
to the Karens. They are very brave and independent,
and at certain periods sacrifice an ox without blemish
to the Great Father, as Karens state they formerly
were accustomed to do. Were not this volume already
too large, it would be interesting to follow out the
points of similarity between these two remarkable
peoples, so completely standing apart from those
around them; but I refer to the Miaou-tse here only
to observe that it is amongst them that the Old Tes-
tament is said to have existed from time immemorial.
One of them among the insurgents at Chim-
Eiang-foo^ told Sir G. Bonham, in 1853, that the
sacred volume came to them from Heaven two thou-
sand years ago.*
The Karens have a singular custom of painting
two of the posts or pillars of their houses, the one
white and the other red^ in reference to their deliver-
ance from danger; which possibly may be derived
* The Times, Aug. 1853.
378 THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
from the smearing of blood on the door-posts of the
Hebrews at stated seasons as an ordinance for ever,
in remembrance of the Divine interposition on their
behalf when the destroying angel destroyed the first-
born of Egypt, and spared them on the appearance of
this sign. (Exod. xii. 22.)
The Karens walk round the dead to make, as they
say, a smooth or even path back to the starting point,
by which they appear to mean a complete religious
service. There is a curious coincidence between
this practice and that of the Bhotans, whose only
form of public worship used to be just such a proces-
sion around the shrine of Buddha. The Lamas of
Tibet deem it of the first importance that their cere-
monial circumambulations of holy places should be
performed in a smooth or even line, as the least devi-
ation would vitiate their devotion and destroy its
merit. The Hebrew priests were accustomed to walk
round the altar at the time of oblation (Ps. xxvi. 6),
and the Jews to this day walk seven times round the
coffins of their departed friends. These usages ex-
plain the frequent mention of treadings by the pro-
phets, as if they were appointed parts of worship.
Some of the offerings of the Karens resemble the
first-fruits presented by the Jews; others resemble
the peace-offerings, in which part of the sacrifice
belongs to the priest, while the remainder is partaken
of by the offerer and his friends. The hill tribes of
Assam, as well as the Karens, consider the touch of
a dead body a cause of pollution ; which, however,
may be removed either by sprinkling or washing
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS. 379
with water, as amongst the Hebrews : " Whosoever
toucheth the dead body of a man and purifieth not
himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord ; because
the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him,
he shall be unclean." (Num. xix. 13.)
I might revert to the strange position of our friends,
the Hebrews of Malabar, who call themselves Beni-
Israel ; and I mio^ht enlaro^e concernino; the Israelitish
people in the heart of China, and direct attention to the
Sikhs, who, in spite of their seeming recent rise as a
nation, offer many marks of Israelitish origin, but who,
like the Karens, are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder
with Britons to fight our enemies ; and much might
be said to strengthen the argument of this volume by
facts in relation to them all, both as fulfilling pro-
phecy and as showing signs of the linking together of
the remnants of the peculiar people for great purposes
speedily to be consummated in respect to the whole
earth ; but the field of inquiry is too extensive to be
now surveyed.
Having thus in some sort accomplished my endea-
vour to set before the reader a few of the more evi-
dent reasons for regarding the Saxons of the West as
the descendants of the Saca3 of the East, and shown
the connexion of these with the Buddhists and the
Buddhists with the children of Israel — having also
pointed to a remarkable but hitherto an obscure
people as exhibiting indications of the same deriva-
tion as our own — in conclusion I commend the subject
and its treatment to the generous consideration of the
reader, if only on ethnological grounds, though the
380
THE KARENS AND THEIR TRADITIONS.
writer cannot but believe that the facts presented
tend to indicate how a man
May find a stronger faith his own ;
For Power is with him in the night,
Which makes the darkness and the light.
And dwells not in the light alone,
But in the darkness and the cloud.
As over Sinai's peaks of old,
While Israel made their gods of gold,
Although the trumpet blew so loud."
APPENDIX.
Tlie Lotus (see p- 5).
It is evident that the lotus was not borrowed from India,
as it was the favourite plant of Egypt before the Hindoos had
established their religion there. The Npnphcea lotus grows in
ponds and small channels in the Delta during the inundation ;
but it is not found in the Nile itself. It is nearly the same as
our white water-lily. The remarkable circumstance connected
with the Buddhists' use of it is the name by which they espe-
cially distinguish it, at least in Tibet and the north of India,
where it is called nenupliar; a name so similar to that applied
to it in Arabic, nufdr, that it can scarcely have had a different
origin. The Egyptian god Nofr- Atmoo bore it on his head, and
the name nufar is probably related to nofr, signifying good.
See a note by Sir J. G. Wilkinson in Rawlinson's Herodotus,
vol. ii. p. 149.
Kings of the East (see p. 6, &c.).
The Kings of the East are supposed by some learned persons
to be found at present in our little island home and the India
House. But even if we were the dominant and king^-like
powers of the Orient hemisphere, we should not quite fulfil the
terms supposed to be conveyed in the passage of Scripture
which announces the drying up of the Euphrates in preparation
for the passage of those kings, as unfortunately the original
882 APPENDIX.
words do not mean kings of the East^ but Jrom the East.
(Rev. xii. 16.) I know not on what grounds it is understood
that those predicted kings are to be Israelites, unless it be such
passages as that of Isaiah, which declares that there shall be a
highway for the remnant of God's people, '^ which shall be
left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he
came up out of the land of Egypt." (Isai. xi. 16.) There are
other kings to come from the sun-rising, and they are coming
even now. The younger Sacs, the States' men, are going
forth from the Western hemisphere, with the authority of
might and knowledge, to claim kindredship with the Japanese,
or Jabans, in the furthest East ; but they will meet with Saxon
blood already there, and the eagle sign of royalty will be
found amongst the rulers of the eastern isles. There is
another mighty Saxon branch in China, too, who makes the
Tartars tremble. He calls himself King of the East Countrj^;
and, if we mistake not, there is Saxon blood in the grand rebel
who has turned the old '^celestial" empire upside down.
Capt. Eishbourne says that one of the insurgent chiefs whom
he saw ^^ sitting as a judge, was a fine handsome man, with a
long brilliantly-black beard, and rather a European counte-
nance, somewhat Jewish.""^ (See p. 377 supra.)
" An important element in the early success of this revolu-
tionary movement in China was the fact of its rising in the
vicinity of the mountains occupied by the Miou-tze, a race of
independent mountaineers, who never submitted to the Tartar,
nor, indeed, to any yoke, or adopted their badges of slavery
or any custom indicative of it. There must have been some
principles and some influences more than ordinary amongst
them to have kept them thus separate in the midst of a people
who seem to have had more than ordinary power to permeate
and pervade other races, showing them to possess an inde-
structibility of race li^e the JewsV-\
We may, then, look even to China for kings from the East,
* Fishbourne's Impressions of China, p. 152.
t Idem, p. 37.
APPENDIX. 383
who yet may gather from the Hebrew Scriptures, which they
have ah'eady adopted as their own, that there is some country
in the West to which prophecy points them as their rightful
possession and their home. The presence of a Hebrew people
in the heart of China who have preserved amongst them the
Hebrew worship from time immemorial is a remarkable fact,
and may yet be found to bear upon the pretensions of the
iconoclasts of the Flowery Empire.
But the revolutionists will meet the kindred blood of Saxons
from the West, and be persuaded into peace because they have
power. Alas ! they, too, like all Saxons, wield the sword in
the name of Jesus Christ ; but therein is prophecy fulfilled,
for the Lord and Prince of Peace has sent not peace, but a
sword amongst all who know Him not in spirit. The Saxons
of the faith from the West shall mingle with those from the
East, and shall persuade them, and that not with steel, but
with ideas, until there shall not be found a laud unopened to
the commerce and the Christianity of the Saxons, except,
perchance, where some Antichrist lifts up the crucifix to defy
the cross ; or, like the Moslems, appeal to a fading crescent
and a contradiction — as if the moon had not borrowed all her
light from the sun — as if Mohammedism had any good in it
not derived from Christ.
Tlie Word Saxon (see p. 89).
Of the fanciful derivations of the name Saxon, Higden, in
his Polf/cronicon (i. 26 ; quoted in Mallet^s " Northern An-
tiq2/.ities),a.&ovds an odd instance, for he derives the etymoloo-y
of the word by a mere play upon the Latin for a stone ; for,
quaintly says he, " Men of that countree ben more lyghter
and stronger on the sea than other scummers and thieves of
the sea, and pursue theyr enemyes full hard by water and by
londe, and ben called Saxones of Saxum, that .is a stone ; they
ben as harde as stones, and as uneasy to fore with." May
their enemies always find them so.
384 APPENDIX.
Weapons 'portrayed in Buddhistic Bas-reliefs
(see Chap. X. and p. 176).
The weapons represented in the bas-reliefs at Sanchi belong
to a period immediately preceding our era, and no doubt they
were the weapons of the people who are also represented
in those bas-reliefs. Those people we have shown to have been
worshippers of SaJc, to have been designated by a Hebrew
superscription as those who come from afar, and to have
been known as the Saks, A trident like that in the hand of
Britannia forms their flag-staff, and their banner, blue and
red, bears on it the cross of St. George. All their weapons
are ornamented with emblems of their religion, namely, that
of Sakya, and consist of bows and arrows, shields (with the
St. George^s cross), spears, and battle-axes. Their axes, how-
ever, are of two kinds, one of iron and the other evidently
of stone. This is a point worthy of especial observation. I
here present a copy of an axe as sculptured on a memorial
pillar at Sanchi (or Sachi), and which Major Cunningham"^
"^ calls a felling axe. Now, an
instrument of this construc-
tion can be no other than a
flint axe, the flint being fastened into the slit handle with a
moist thong, which becomes exceedingly firm when dry. It
is interesting to find that the early Saxons and Goths of the
West also employed similar instruments, in addition to those
formed of iron. In the late discussion on the flint instru-
ments found in the drift, it has been asserted that those who
used them must have been savages incapable of manufacturing
iron. This assertion is an error, for flint implements of the
same form are found, together with iron, in the tombs of
ancient Germans, according to Brotier ; and, indeed, we find,
from the Annals of Tacitus, bk. ii. s. 14, that iron being
scarce, was provided only for the foremost ranks amongst the
* Now Lieutenant-Colonel.
APPENDIX. 3S5
Germans in battle. The flint implements discovered in the
drift at Abbeville, Amiens, &c., a number of which I have
seen, in general form precisely resemble the drawing above
given. With respect to the flint implements found in the
drift, the antiquity of their deposit may be very fallaciously
exaggerated if we do not remember (1) that our Saxon fore-
fathers used exactly such weapons ; (2) that they are dis-
covered only in such drift as may have resulted from com-
paratively recent flood or upheaval ; and (3) that the strata
of such drift lie according to the specific gravity of their
materials — first mould, then clayey soil, then chalk debris, then
fine calcareous sand, wnth recent and comminuted shells, and
at bottom flinty gravel — flint with those flint implements,
and flinty fossils here and there. This is precisely the order in
which they would be deposited if now mixed all up together
with water, left at rest, and drained; and, indeed, if we ex-
amine similar deposits which we know to be recent, and where
similar materials abound, as in the borders of Romney Marsh
and Pevensey Level, a similar stratification will be found.
Those who claim a vast antiquity for those flint implements
found in the drift should consider more than they seem to
have done that gravitation is constantly at work with the help
of water on the loose materials of our earth, and arrano-ino*
them by imperceptible, but yet, in process of time, very measur-
able degrees into order according to their weight. This is said
with a strong feeling on the subject, but yet with the highest
respect for the very admirable geologists who, doubtless re-
specting only truth, have judged that the flints found in the
drift afford demonstration of vastly higher antiquity for the
human race than any other evidence will allow us to believe.
Tlie Doctrines of Buddha (see Chap. IX. p. 180).
Euddhism was introduced into China about the year 70
A.D., and from the literary character of the Chinese we may
expect to see the doctrines of Buddha well preserved in that
C C
386 APPENDIX.
country. Tliey are taught in colleges to the priests alone^
reminding us of the schools of the prophets among the
Israelites. In a work quoted by Mr. Medhurst,* the doc-
trines of Buddha are summed up in brief as an exhortation to
fix the mind on Buddha, and thus draw the soul to good
thoughts ; since, if men truly think of Buddha and pray men-
tally, they must necessarily become like him and ascend to
heaven, according to his oath, that if men faithfully repeated
his name they should attain life in his kingdom, in that
golden land where all beauty abounds, wisdom is perfect, and
no sorrow can come. This paradise is said to be in the West,
to which the faithful are to turn in their prayers, always re-
peating O-me-io-Fuh ; that is, Amitit Buddha, which is really
Hebrew, and means Buddha is his truth or faithfulness.
Believers are to act as always in the presence of Buddha and
of death, that heaven may rejoice with them. The Supreme is
represented, in a passage quoted by Hue from '^ the Forty-two
Points of Instruction,^' as uttering his commandments in the
formula of Moses, thus : — " The Supreme Being spake these
words and said: There are ten kinds of evil acts,'' &c. From
Csoma Korosi f we learn that Buddhism is compendated by
Tibetan Lamas in this 8loha : —
** No vice is to be committed,
Virtue must be perfectly practised,
Subdue your thoughts [lusts] entirely,
This is the doctrine of Buddha."
From the same authority we learn that Buddha is said to
have comprised all his commandments in these words : ^' What-
soever is unpleasing to yourself never do to another."
" Whatever happiness is in the world arises from a wish for
the welfare of others." Sentences so Christian in their spirit
appear as if borrowed from the New Testament. And that
Sakya founded his mission on the right principle is evident
from his saying, " As gold is tried by burning, cutting, and
filing, the learned must examine my doctrines and receive
* China, by W. H. Medhurst, p. 206. f Tibetan Diet. p. 168.
APPENDIX. 387
thein accordingly^ and not out of respect to me.""^ Whether
these sentences are really Sakya's or not, so far as the
Buddhists of China and Tibet adopt thera_, they are prepared
to repudiate mere dogmatism ; and this accords well with their
declared desire to seek truth through all channels ; and, there-
fore, when the Tartar rule of China over Tibet is brought to
an end, as it soon will be, a fine field for Christian effort will
be open, and many millions of readers be ready for the Bible.
On the Budh Alphabet (see p. 231).
The names of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet do not so
fully correspond with the forms of the Hebrew letters now in
use, as they do with the forms of the ancient Budh letters.
This is a fair aro^ument in favour of these beings the letters
originally designated in the Hebrew alphabet. The Aleph of
the present Hebrew is not nearly so like a bull's head (with
horns) as the equivalent letter of the Budh, which, seen as in
the direction it is supposed to stand to one going towards it,
really represents two horns. This \ / was its earliest form,
precisely resembling the Phoenician and ancient Hebrew. Its
position does not alter its character. In the Budh alphabet
the triangle below, or on the right side of the line, is some-
times used for A, and sometimes the other part of the letter
stands for it, as when pointed, but altogether it is essentially
the same as our capital A, only with a longer line across it.
The Budh letter B is square, so more like Beth, i.e., a house.
The Budh G is more like the head and neck of a camel than
the modern Gimel. The D is exactly a door c^ U which the
modern LaletJi is not. The modern He is not like an airhole,
the Budh letter is ". The modern Van is not a hook, but
the Budh V is. The Zain is less like a weapon than the
Budh equivalent, which resembles the Assyrian boomerang.
• Tibetan Diet. p. 168.
cc 2
388 APPENDIX.
The ClietTi is of doubtful meaning; but^ if it meant a fender, as
is probable, the Budh letter most resembles this in its earliest
forms. Teth signifies a serpent with its tail in its mouth, as
the ancients represented eternity ; the circle is the Budh Teth.
Yod means a hand ; the Budh Yod is a hand with the thumb
bent on the palm and either three or four fingers extended.
Caph is the closed hand, which we see in the Budh letter
more plainly than in the modern Hebrew. Mem is water in a
vessel which the Budh M represents. The Budh Nun is very
similar to that of the modern Hebrew ; how far it is like a
fish is a matter of fancy. Samech signifies an arm-chair or
support, which the Budh letter S resembles. The Budh
Ain represents the eyebrows -v^ , quasi eye, something like the
Greek Epsilon, of which it is the equivalent. Peh is a vessel
with its mouth uncovered, an open B, like the Budh P.
SaddS in the Budh is formed of S and D united, representing
a hook well fitted to seize anything, which the word Sadde
signifies. The Budh Koph j- is more like an axe than that of
the modern Hebrew. The Rabbinical Resh is like that of the
old Budh R, a curved line l = the back of the head. The
Budh Tau is precisely that of the Samaritan when unpointed,
like Y inverted, /, being part of the cross originally used as
a mark on cattle, as the name of the letter signifies. The
transition of form between the Budh letters and the modern
Hebrew is seen in the Cabul alphabet.
The vowel marks of Budh letters are very simple. As
may be seen thus : — |-^ ^
XL (T
The basis of the vowels is an upright line like the Arabic
Oliph ; on this the vowels form a regular scale from i the highest
vowel, down to u the lowest; the i being placed upright and
pointing upwards at the top, and the other vowels descending
at different tangents from the side of the upright line, accord-
ing to the depth of their sound, double vowels or diphthongs
f
APPENDIX. 389
being formed by two lines at different depths^ — a mode of
proceeding that gives a scientific simplicity and precision to
the writing of the language.
Naneh Ghat Inscription (p. 250).
There is one other inscription found at " Joonur/' on the
wall of a rock-chamber near the summit of Naneh Ghat. As
this inscription is in keeping with those on the Girnar rock
and the pillars at Delhi, I will append what appears to me its
correct rendering:. The characters indicate that it is one of
the most ancient of Buddhistic inscriptions : —
Jodama hath changed them,
Ha Saka-sinha hath prospered them ;
He hath made Calamity plead for them,
Even for the Gunites,* . . the Botans, and the Timnites ;+
The sea going forth set them apart,
The race and their offspring rejoicing obeyed,
Thus the bitterness and the prosperity thereof
Became that af my song.
The nation was set at liberty,
A mockery of Calamity and wrath became a rejoicing.
... A smiting of the thigh became my judgment,
The aflBiction thereof . . . was my possession ;
As to ray obedience, nought of value was mine,
So bitter was his ordinance,
So bitter was my liberation ;
My course resembled the calamity and burning.
The fame of his mouth [doctrine] was perfect.
His perfection was that of one purified.
Burning coals were the light of their fires [burnt-offerings],
The guilt- offering of those who were polluted.
He conceived a sea [for purification].
Behold, my house [or temple] was a ruin,
My generation was polluted, we were unclean j
The fire became a means of healing,
A root of exalted piety shot forth ;
The contempt of the affliction
* Oovanim, Gunites ("painted with colours"), Gen. xlvi. 24; Numb. xxvi.
48 ; Chron. v. 15.
+ Timnath was a city of the Philistines, Judges xiv.
390 APPENDIX.
Here produced our protection,
What was conceived was for their recovery.
. . . My poverty became a wall of defence,
The desolation of nakedness was propitious,
Even the endurance of our race . . .
The burning of uncleanness was the spreading of a sea ;
My faithfulness was my affliction,
His affliction was mine ;
Through the neglect of the descendants of the stranger,
And the poverty, uncleanness extended ;
But the calamitous change was the sea of the polluted,
The equity [or equality] of Badh was set up . . .
The poor were enlightened,
Calamity, overruled by Saka, became a triumph and delight,
His prosperous era was prolonged.
During those years I was enlarged.
Then was I delivered from the vanity of Menu,
According to his name [Menu, from him] ;
And my right hand held dominion,
The bowing down of the day.
Even the affliction of burning,
Became ray deliverance ;
The silence of my bitterness was exaltation,
And the richness of the sea was fulness of hands ;
Lo, their calamities became their majesty,
My impoverishment became my joy ;
That which caused error was my strife ;
Life, Life, is unclean . . .
But I will protect the manim [remains (?)] ;
Behold, their vexations shall be their fatness ;
Fornication [or idolatry] of the body is unclean, unclean —
My truth is even a fire ; behold the sea of my greatness ;
He shall judge our generation.
Mani and Rum-heaps (see p. 257).
Buddhism, like Judaism, expresses itself in symbol and
comparison. This principle is so fully carried out in Bud-
dhism, that the idea of Uuin and Destruction being a defence,
as expressed so fully in the Girnar and Delhi inscriptions, is
represented by an actual wall enclosing a ruin in some of the
mani, or venerated heaps of rubbish, at the sight of which
Buddhists, especially in Bhotan and Tibet, are accustomed to
APPENDIX. 391
utter their prayers. This is exemplified on a large scale in
certain parts of the Western Himalayas, as travellers'^ tell
us that they have seen inani more than half a mile long, con-
sisting of two parallel walls, fifteen feet apart and six feet
hisrh, the intervals of which were filled with stones and other
fragments ; the whole heing covered with a slanting roof
which rises at a gentle angle to the central ridge midwaj^ be-
tween the two walls. The words Om mani pada mi liom, the
permanent mantra, or prayer of Lamas, are carefully engraved
on slabs of marble, here and there, on this roof; thus evidently
making a superstitious use of a mere figure of speech, as in our
inscriptions, doubtless regarding the very presence of ruin
as an actual security against the inroads of evil agencies, ju^t
as Chinese Buddhists believe whole districts to be defended by
the presence of the symbols of Godama's name and power.
Buddhism was at a very early period introduced into Tibet
direct from the country of its origin, where the inscriptions
given in this volume are found, and of the significance of
which the Tibetan usages present so remarkable an illus-
tration.
The words of the perpetual Lama prayer, always found in
connexion with the mani, or memorial ruin heaps, are the more
worthy of our observation, since each one of them was in use
amongst our Saxon ancestors, and, with a somewhat different
sense, indeed, are retained even by ourselves. Thus, Om meant
with the Saxons, as it did with the Hebrews, the sound ex-
pressive of trouble, and hence also trouble itself, a crash of
destruction ; and as in the inscription, and in the prayers of
the Buddhists, it seems to be applied to Buddha himself, so
amongst our Saxon forefathers it was applied to Odin, also
called Godan, which name we have identified with that of
Godam, the last Buddha. The moon was called Mani, as if
from her broken look, and many only expresses the remains of
sundry parts severed from the whole ; that is to say, the pieces
or fragments of a portion referred to. The wovd. j^ad, ov joada, in
* Western Himalayas and Tibet; by Thomson, p. 184.
392 APPENDIX.
Hebrew meaning purchased^ becomes in Saxon 'English paid, re-
ferring always to a price delivered as an equivalent. Mi had, in
old Saxon, certainly often the meaning olfrom, in the sense of
keeping from ; and. Kum meant in Saxon, as in Hebrew DIH'
lilackj dark ; and hence extreme distress^ outer darkness,
burning wrath.
The Wonderful Tree (see p. 258).
The Buddhism of Tibet, like that of Northern India and
Ceylon, is connected with the veneration of an especial tree ;
but that of Tibet is even more marvellous than the veritable
branch which Buddha himself planted, and which the Brahmins
in vain attempted to destroy ; for, when it seemed to be torn to
pieces by them, it still sprung up in its pristine vigour. That
of Tibet, however, bears on every leaf a fresh evidence of
Godama's power ; if, indeed, the marvels related of it are in-
tended to confirm the authority of that Buddha^s teaching, and
not rather that of a certain reformer of the fourteenth century
named Tsong-kaba, who seems to have acquired some knowledge
of Christianity from a Catholic missionary, the tree, according to
the legend, having sprung from the reformer's hair. It is
thus described by M. Hue : " Our eyes were first directed
with earnest curiosity to the leaves, and we were filled with
an absolute consternation of astonishment at finding that, in
point of fact, there were upon each of the leaves well-formed
Tibetan characters, all of a green colour, some darker, some
lighter, than the leaf itself. Our first impression was a sus-
picion of fraud on the part of the Lamas ; but, after a minute
examination of every detail, we could not discover the least
deception. The characters all appeared to us portions of the leaf
itself, equally with its veins and nerves ; the position was not
the same in all — in one leaf they would be at the top of the
leaf, in another in the middle, in a third at the base or at the
side J the younger leaves represented the characters only in a
partial state of formation. The bark of the tree and its
APPENDIX. 39
branches, which resemble those of the plane-tree, are also
covered with these characters. When you remove a piece of
old bark, the young bark under exhibits the indistinct outlines
of characters in a germinating state ; and, what is very sin-
gular, these new characters are not unfrequently different from
those which they replace.^' "The perspiration absolutely
trickled down our faces under the influence of the sensations
which this most amazing spectacle created. Our readers may
possibly smile at our ignorance.^^^ The tree seemed of great age.
Three men with arms outstretched could scarcely embrace it.
The branches spread out in the shape of a plume of feathers,
and were extremely bushy. The leaves are always green, and the
wood, which is of a reddish tint, has an exquisite odour, some-
thing like that of cinnamon. The tree produces large red
flowers of an extremely beautiful character. The Lamas said
that another such tree nowhere exists, and that all attempts to
propagate it by seeds and cuttings have been fruitless. It is
a pity that the good travellers were not botanists enough to
inform us what class and order it belonged to, seeing their
knowledge was not sufficient to enable them to make sense
of the Tibetan reading: which the said lettered leaves afforded
them.
The Girnar Inscription in Modern Hebrew Characters
(see p. 269).
The Nos. in brackets are those of the Sections, the other numbers,
those of the corresponding lines in each Section of the Engraving.
n^n nv "^s nnz '•nns cvr ^"d'J cp ]i cnnn'^D r{':hii
no nc7 ^w "^mw ^-ixo nxo nw n:^ "^s "snn-n ^ crDi
* Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China in 1844-5-6, by M. Hue.
394 APPENDIX.
^^ iw >nr\^^ <b ^^ <b ddt d^s n^T^v Stt?n '^ ^^niz^
-in aa? >a-is ^pn nnsn ^'O '*\nc nw nani'i ^dhd ^^
nan >-iDn tt?'> tc-k? n-^n >c ddiih •'na n:?") nw ' ^^^
nnD*" ^nti? nn *^d nn hd n^to^ itz? no t^ '^o-d "i« ^
'•Di "^n "^3? •'-i3n ii>n Tip^ \'-ias "^^DDn ^ nn sn id bnon
•»'':: ^D 12?"^ 13!2 ^ nnD3 '»''D "^d^ -fin nDn'^^nn w^ i^^'w
''^n non id):^ •^an'*^ "^^t itr^ in n^D >>d >3 1^7 nsDD
nn^D nnn nniti? \nu:D n^ n*" nD*^: n^a non >n ^ n::^3
n** n** nD>3 nbo nD>3 nbiD ' n^^a nn^s ncn^ n^-^D
on ^ nD'^a nrf'D ns-r^ nD^'D nn^Q mn nm::? '^nt:?^
nnn •'-in nn^-s nsnn n^D ^in "^nrD ts hd na? n^rcn
nnw CIS VI w^ -r>D nNi ^d D3iin ^ ^^^ oaa? 13» il:?-^? "^m
*»ri niLy ^ nn "^d pw ]-r nD n^ D3nn d^ "^iitt; '^id m
•):s itt7-t:7i i:i7D WD cn-s i::?'* inD 'inrn -jn v C!:nn
''i^-^? i^Dtti n^na n!2 ^nnrosi "^n nns n^ "^a: '^n'' ^ cd
T
in'^Dtt? itr? pn no pn n^niti:; n^n^ cp-^tt?^ ^ nDs ct:}*'
•^Q C3"T '^im; D32n na? ^ nan nnn D3\nDn nnw rzw
nn> Dnn nnn nw nn** in*^ p)W nnn en nas '^'ntt? naan
nninnn d** maa \nc7 '^'•n ]s nnn^n ^^w "»-id ^ ^M'^
'*2^\nlD'w^ *'Dnnn q-i hds nn^ ^ns ^ ^^^ -fnnay dvd
\n3n n^amn (^pa?) ^rr >m nnn an nan •'D iw nnm
n\n5 >nD nti^s aaan am? nan nn:^ ^^^hd \no cLy« ^ i::?
]an on -[DDT ^ nan nan!, tt;^ ^^d"^? *'n •»d aann ys
^2Wi '^nw ^n "i^wi p ^^ nwvn dd-i nns nn?3;n '^^''^n
oar nns "^n*^ ]i:;-r ^aoi "^av ''T n^^a nas t^^ t:p\ns *
nns; stt^n >-inin id nina ^ ••n nww "^n nna ^7-i'>
Di nas n"' '»!>-:i7 laD^ai nan nan tt7> T^D-tr n'^n "^d nann
HDn ^\nD nD ca; □'^a^nan D^anin w^ ^n "^is oaan ^^d nzin ^
ntt? nw ^ nn ^d nn na "^^ns ns ca? naan nw nan
''n'»"i inni laan ^ddi ini inn ^as i:;s w ^w itrn cisn-^?
p nD cna-i ^qdi rn i:;"^ td ^ n'^n ^^d oann i^n ''n::?
nan nan tt7'« i^D"tt7 n^ >d aann ^ncn '•d innsn inio
''nn Dm nsD nt nii:; is cnai ^12^21 ]i nn \n12w ^nm ^
-t^n ••na? '° \nntt7 w^'w las nnm nnnnij >n^nnb w^
•jnDb ''^a^s "^nina . ^^ nai -]nm nau:; ::?> lanm n'^nn C3n::n
APPENDIX. 395
i^o ^>n *»D cDtnn ]nn w^ "^nw ''^w m in'» n^n nbbn '^
T'D n^n ^D D^-iin ^ ^^^ Dn^D n^bn p nn nan n: U7"»
mpiT non tr?'* nanbD ns "^n cnpi n:nbD nns dis v)
"^nn^n "iniD osn n^ nanbD ina n** nnn ^ ^nnnn::
nitron -ij:? "^m *ids n^D •'tdi c:r is' Dp n^ □'• inn "j^nn
non \"itt7 T]n '•d ]Ci7in ns inn^n ^nu: id dhd i^T' non
m^: * □-) n^s chd \ns nsn ^n q-td itt? ^nw ^d dhd itr?
• • • la-tr ni::? mc?-! nnn n^an ni^n: nnanD cdi ani id
n^?!7 •»! c!2i r\n^ in" 1^7 nn c::?2 nr^ nnnD nn^nxs c^di
"^2 ^'-la mi ns izn cp mn n^n ptt? n'» q!di • • • ^ ^m
^n** ^ • • • 1 1U7 '•n ana \n-i2s pw '•21 "^n D2p "^ann ?i3
• • • • ^^2l^ "^T2-iS7 ]iin-]i"njDn nnnD in> '^'•1 nnnncs
^b nTD nnn2 in^ i i::? nn n^t^m la? -inD ''n nnD '•v • • • ^
nniDD \n2n ]):2« on^si • • • ^ • • . -711^ nn^na inn id
□»2i ...'<' • • • 1 \nnn •^!i "^212^1 o^s n^n nnn^D in^
•,3 ... 1 (6) . . j-y^3 ^1^ >^2 >^ a^-j Q>j^ ^noiDS "^nns nn^ann
C3^t2sb • • • ID mna ^ • • • dt nas anD \nw nns ciw vi
cn^72 nD^ n!2in bnnp w ^ n^nj d'^is n^ cm nai inTDi on
1C7 ]nn''i "fn*: n^an * vnn^ vn^s n:i nnri •^na p nnn in
\n!2n ciD in inTD ^ w^v DnDians ^n"*:? nsi inTD ^nwj
n*" ^D ]^s ^ nnDi!2 ''D an "^d t ^^ "ninD orans tTD^D \ni::7
M** IS "^ ')w n!2iD nn:D ]1di '•m ns^n nitri dd^'Di d^ ^w "^:t2
c-a? inn nn!:ni ''\n''::7 >2inii ^nciis \nn ^ma cn'^s ninsD
cn'tD ]S n^D Dis bnnp irp nnii:? d> nin inTD nin d"3S ^
nDi •'nai \n^t:7 n!2r::s ^na ]tt7ri ^ nirn nn!:n "^n n^K73
bbn n!3 irs ]1d ptt7nn ^° on "n inbbn ^1^7 cn^n na 2V
inbbn ^md ^^ ni no c^^n ''ntt;:^ nn3i '•''n^ir' ctDSD D2ti73?i
D^Dnia \"iQ "^D D^ns \^nDnD ^id "^d en "^d t "'^"'^ n^nD
i::? iniD ^12 n> ^^dd itt? >3: nDi n^ ^^ d'^i:i D^n:n d^:s
n^bn >^D >b n^i d'^s ^^ \-t!:3tos ^nns r\^n n^'i nins
inDn nniD DDn!^:^ n\n n!2 ">n:^n \n!3n '•^ \na '•d nn^D
no in Dipii '•nn "^n inbbn nia? ni ni 13S ^* ^n^n ^d
vn tt?'' i^D n''n "^d c:iin * ^^^ pnD >id pn sn ]S p
m7inaD ^ cri''-tZ7 ma? n^'n^n inn ctt?D la? \nD an nitt?
D1L27 nmn-1 iipi nm cp iipi on mn "^r '^nr^p no i:n
396 APPENDIX.
\ns ^ ^^^ Dnn n3>D in \-q "n "in ]n dhd \n '^i itt? tnn
■ T ' T
n^**: n3S ^n^ nn nw *itt? n> p nrr^ nni nsn ^n m nr^s dhd
T'^D n'^n "^D DDnn non la? mns ••ap □-) >''3S ^ ^3tt7n nns
nann ^ niDn ctit? ^n^w hht^w nn^a? •»n'*tt7i n3tt?T rn w'>
DiDn IDT i3tr7i D23n nw n^n n^nn \"nnn d** ns nn'^ niw
uzwi w^v pw Ts Tinv 131*1 no n^n on ^n '^ i3C?i ddt
\nn> *)n i2?w n-'^D ninn ^ id iq *'-id did '*''!5 ti?'* i3»tt"T
D3i-Tn ^ ^^^ ps n^n n:n ^n^n a?^ Ts-a? >n >5d D^nn ^rr^n
nbnnD I'lpi n3n^3? n^tt?s nns q'iw 5?n tt?'» -t'^d n^n >q
nini itr? nnb ni3i ic? m '^'•in ^is") ^ itt? "^ins nnnnD
nmnD ob^QD -fipi n3n ^-r Tnn ]kd '•'♦hd nwi ^'nn aa?
Db3>3!3 i^ntD n^3i 113 1311 *innD op inn n^nn ^^n Din ns ^
l^^n ns * iin obo ?is nb^^n ini^n nv nD n3n'nnD
''nnD nna? nin nn b^riD qdt bn^sD bs •'n am n'^s nba^n
•»iitr c>-tt7 itt? n3nD ^ ^iia? \nD ?]S D3137 13 "^^ns \ns pa?
Db3Dn DDi itt?''! nns 13S -jns D3i >mw D33n 012? n3n nnn
71 n!3 >i3 in ^Q itt? mnnni inn id * in ^d dv nin ona
Dm >DD n^a7S ^712 nwv •^3127 ctDS-a? nis Db3!3tt cv n^
ctt?!"^ inn3 n3S i3i n'^w^ nw>n nns in3 ^n^n nsi "^irr ^
n3pn \n3n ^ rn in ^w^ )r\ "^a iin nin3 13^^11 t23i ddi
DDD 11 nD n3n ^iD ^Q "^non ^-n^n dv m^ in ni3 ''nna^i
ID >nn inin nnns 03 la? ^ pa? ''3^q na •^na la? 11 na
n^n "^D C3iin ^ ^^^^ ^n n3 ia? '^)Dto*' D^n in** n:i "^3'»a nn
nsi nn is n3n oni n^ts nno3i ^n^'Di non "^n w> tq
n^i on-a? '•la? la? w^ ma? la; n^i ^ n^v oD'^m nsn
non ri w> I'^o n'^n *'0 D3iin '^nD ns am ^11 13s i!3ni
i"^s n^-n ''O D3iin nn^D ^"id ^d "^d inn>n \no am \n''Di
ima?s a?s (s)ia? no ?is bDa? ^n:) "^nD \n-iD n^ia? nin a?^
13n nv 13D1D nns iin mpi * in nins a?"^ (s)i^ >iq
-fin ns ns •'r i">-)D ma? pnD ns pn sn is I3nn-a7i
nns D-^is vn w^ tq n^n >^ D3iin * ^"^ nipi iTn'a?i
nin na? ca? n?:3i D'^31 o^i na^'^n n** d^31 Da?n nns n^a?3
\mD 11 n!3 nn ^ in inn ca? D!31i nan nm Da? ddii
n^72W ia? ia? •'la? '•nn •^d ''"in no >^n^ ^n^ pa? ^ti^d nna?*!
D33n "n ^ D'^ai 11a? D33n oa? n3n nonn csp \n3n nina?
nina?-a? n^D innni inn. 15 in ^d dv nins 11a? nni n3S
APPENDIX. 397
in> n2 ]i en na? ]i nn >n >n W' *inn3 "is I2pn \n2n
cn!2 ps ins "^nir^n mrr nsa7"3 ibn cnn3 ctan non *
tt7'« TD n'^n >2 0211.-1 * ^'^^ '•D2n-i n^i ]nn >nu ]n ]*i3
D31 nrjt^ nin: ^ p \T'37 ns "^ar ns t"^"! ''"'P P^""t
B7N '»'»2i "la? \n*»D nnrD** nan n^ n>n "^d cDnn mm nsi
n!D ma? n:rn ^ • • • pi inn cin ''"ci "itt? can ctt?D ma?
la-n c^rs nn 13? ns-n ctt^o nss "nn "^d •'\n2 "^3 vn abia ]"t
^s m!Dn >nDn * ds niD "'nb ^n:^ n:-i-3 ?)« inn nan-nin
CIS n2D-)-D "^2 ]n^ ]nnn c^^r^s nn is inn-^n npn n2 nD-rn
\nmn-n '•m iTw^-n ct:72 nn \nn ip en 2^72 n^s □"nn
Dies ns >nn2n nnn en DlCs nss nnnnn-n nata ]n pn ^
>n"r nn en ctt^s nss '•n ^n n^n ^nnnn-n ^^ ""n pwn
nss \nQ ''n m \nn~n c*^s nss ma? ^ ''nn -121 on 0^72 nn
Dn nss nnnnn-n eian ]1d p::7n \n!2 2'»n '»d ''n en etr^o
]nDQ ^n^ \nD '•n ^ m::? is n^ni nwn *»n2n "Sj^ e-in -rn
>o eann ''n d'^in pn-a^n eitrr ')tt7 -far n:n la? uj^t^i'w
03 njnbn v^s in ^w inn nn 027D ma? >no ^n nno a?"
mn '•Q eann im nrn nna 0272 nn nnn i'«n ^ itt7S
a7S ''''21 -127 ''nn ''n noia'' nnanoo iy n2i ddi njsia nmn
e!2i nnn ^^^ noDS ^ "^nns mn inn 02n Dtt7D ma?
n"> TDn ]S nnn '•o in nni in^^na p^^n nn^sra no innono
nan '•n pa? coi \nnnn •^"2 in ca72 n2« ''bs-a; nsn o'^n
nnn no epn in ]inn enn nns ono w^ ^21:7 ni2 • • • ^ ^^^^
ennn • • • ^ n^n1 eoi in\n2 ao •'bn la? in-b ^anK nns
• . • in ino p ino ]i mam na7ar mnni ?isi ea-i
nina7 ca7 n^oa? cia7 127 "niaa? e''ia7 1^7 ^^in '^2 nnoa? • . • ^
e:a7 evn-n \n3n n^n • • • * • • • n2i 1^7 in \nan mna?
. . . n^w'w nnann ns ''nn nnrsi a7nn >2tr7n nw \n:n 12 ''S
• • • 0272 ''no -in IS eatz7 lao \nc7a nnn "n • • • ^
nn^v '•Q • . • >2 eann n>ni ts "21 m inn^oi pa7-n"a • • • ^
ion • . • etrn eo*- a7p \nns eann ma? • • • ^ • • • >nma7
no nin"' nan vn n-in nn2n ]nnn e-)2 37-ia n'^ • • • ^ • • • ino
"2 eann nia7 1^7 in on >2 in • • • ^ • • • laao lap ns inNn
nm7 n'^n '»3?i . • • ^^ • • • Mil "»d nnni las w^i^'w laooi w
^171 eoi ''nnn \n'"'n d'' nibtr na?-) ''n''''n nm ''ri ]12 noo
'»^i isJ 1^7-1^7 nan co 011 nrm no 2'' ti • • • ^^ • . • ^o''
398 APPENDIX.
• • • nsD >:: ^dbn • • • 15:: ''D "^dhn tid- -- '^^ • • . T\n:):: -n
c>K . . • ^ ^*^^ D3n-in np iir^ -^bn ''127 n^w ••n nnitt?ni • • • ^^
n^tt7w npn 0^7 •♦n'^ n^ ^"^ en >d ^bD ]inn en "'r'l ^d ibnn '
\np Mn >-n rifzw nr^^i^'W nwn am i^d ]*i5 * ODnwD
o "^b DHD trw n ■]« \'-in ^ ^-xstD nyd htd nrjisn n^n ^^v
nnD ''D "^b nriD ^bsi ^ Dnan ''D "^nnD w^ ]wiii tr?s an
lain ''-ID
0/z ^A^ Translation of the Girnar Inscription
(see pp. 231 and 269).
A few remarks on this translation will explain the prin-
ciple on which it has been made. Every word has been
taken apart, the frequency of its occurrence observed, and
its meaning tested by its collocation wherever it stood, so
as to determine its value as a Hebrew word before any render-
ino" of the sentences in their connexion was attempted, the
translation being made direct from the original, and not from
the transliteration.^ By this method all the supposed Pali words
resolved themselves into distinct Hebrew words. The Pali words,
in fact, are not found in the inscription except by running the
Hebrew words together with a large amount of acknowledged
licence as to orthography and grammar, by the help of which
indeed a curious approximation to Pali words and sentences
may be produced ; and on this principle Mr. J. Prinsep and
Professor Wilson have succeeded in giving us a very remark-
able rendering of the Girnar and some other inscriptions, to
which attention has been directed. We are indebted to the
learned and laborious ingenuity of Mr. J. Prinsep for the
knowledge of the powers of nearly all the characters found in
these inscriptions. For all that has been hitherto known con-
cerning them we are indebted to those admirable and most
* In another work I hope to publish a vocabulary, with renderings of all the
known ancient Buddhist inscriptions, and to show the connexion of their words
and meanings with the old Saxon language and literature.
APPENDIX. 399
patient scholars. In vol. xii. part 1^ of the Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society we have a revision of Mr. Prinsep's
translation by Professor Wilson_, in which it appears how
widely they differ in their interpretation, and how great was
the difficulty of making out the words and sentences accord-
ing to the grammar and orthography of either Sanscrit or
Pali. It is obvious that, if we are at liberty to supply what is
necessary to complete a resemblance in form or sound between
any words existing or producible by running words together
as existing in this inscription, in order to obtain Sanscrit or
Pali words, then the only limit to the power of translating
them as Pali or Sanscrit would be the ingenuity of the trans-
lator. Surely we have no right by any means to make up the
words to be translated, if they are not found in toto in the
original ; to imagine errors in that original, according to our
fanc}^, is in fact to falsify the record. We must take the words
as they stand, and if they do not so convey a meaning to us,
it is evident we do not understand them. Now, in res'ardino"
the inscriptions as Hebrew, we have had no occasion to imagine
anything, but have given every word and letter of the origi-
nals their full value.
Mr. Prinsep truly says, ^' The language [with all his licence]
differs from every existing written idiom of either Sanscrit or
Pali /^"^ a sufficient reason for doubting whether it can be
either of those languages, since, by no imagined similarity in
sound, with the aid of other spelling, can it be made to appear
like any written or known idiom either of Pali or Sanscrit.
Professor Wilson pointedly states that Mr. Prinsep trusted
to his pundit, who, ^^ by ingenious conjecture, made up the
deficiency of his knowledge and the imperfections of his
text.'^t There is no presumption, therefore, in questioning the
authority of the translation.
There is one sentence which occurs more than twenty times
in the Girnar inscription, namely, that which forms the first
* As. Journal, vol. xii. p. 237.
t Journ, of Roy. As. Soc. No. xvi. p. 313.
400 APPENDIX.
line of what I have called " the refrain/* or burthen of the
inscription. Professor Wilson, adopting Mr. Prinsep's idea,
writes it thus : Bevanam Tiyadasina Rana, and renders it.
The beloved of the gods, Baja Piyadasi, Here we see Raja put
for Rana, and Piyadasi for Piyadasinay and this merely on the
supposition that Mr. Prinsep was correct in believing there
was a prince named Piyadasi^ and that these were his edicts.
Here we have a slight specimen of the liberty taken with the
spelling of a name, which one would suppose would be most
faithfully preserved in the original, and which it would be
most desirable to render correctly, because on the letters of
this very name the inferred power of so many letters depends.
Professor Wilson may well ask, " Who was Piyadasi, the
beloved of the gods ?" and reply, " This question is not easily
answered. We have no such name in any of the Brahmanical
traditions, and find it only in the [Ceylon] Buddhist as indi-
cating a sovereign to whom it could not have been applied
consistently with chronological data.'* " A monarch to whom
all India, except the extreme south, was subject, must surely
have left some more positive trace of his existence than a mere
epithet complimentary to his good looks.**"^ Now, if we look
at this celebrated name as faithfully transliterated in Hebrew
characters, we see an evident meaning, as distinct Hebrew
words, the variations of which, in the different passages in
which they occur, serving to prove the correctness of our
interpretation ] while, on the supposition of the words forming
one name, the variations are utterly unaccountable.
Professor Wilson observes that his proposed translation '' is
subject to correction in every phrase.^f That is to say, he
was doubtful of every word of his rendering. This is not
surprising, seeing that the very first announcement states that
" the putting to death of animals is to be entirely discon-
tinued," and yet, that in " the great kitchen of Raja Priyadasi,
the beloved of the gods, every day himdreds of thousands of ani-
mals have been slaughtered for virtuous purposes," &c. Pro-
* Asiatic Journal, vol. xii. p. 249. t Ibid. p. 164.
APPENDIX. 401
fessor Wilson, after such an announcement, very naturally
questions whether such edicts were intended to disseminate
Buddhism.
Mr. Prinsep's error lies mainly in the manner in which,
judging from analogies, he assumed that, whether the vowel
mark stood before or after the consonant, it was always to be
read as if following. Thus, when finding one before and
another after, as very frequently occurs, he gives them a com-
pound sound without any sufficient reason for so doing but the
necessity of his theory, which thus destroys itself. No trans-
lation can carry any evidence of its faithfulness if grounded on
a supposed imperfection of the text to be amended by the
translator's ingenuity. TThere the word or letter is defective
in the inscription from the action of time or other accident, of
course the defect admits of surmise and comparison for its
correction.
Cardinal Points and Consecrated Places (see p. 216).
The selection and consecration of places of devotion amongst
the Buddhists reminds us of the encampment of the Israelites
described in the 2nd chapter of Numbers. In Bhotan, the
shrine of Buddha, the chief place of worship, presents four
sides facing the cardinal points, with twelve banners, three
erected on each side, as if in remembrance of the direction
given to Moses and Aaron, that " everi/ man of the children of
Israel shall pitch hy his own standard, with the ensign of his
father's house about the tahernacle^^ east, south, west, north.
This arrangement with respect to the cardinal jjoints was
observed by the Egyptians in erecting their pyramids and
temples ; but the careful manner in which the Buddhists
squared the chambers of their sepulchral ^^ topes" in respect to
those points, w^hich was observed also in consecrating a place
for public worship, in the absence of any edifice devoted to the
purpose, is especially Israelitish. According to their present
mode, a fast is appointed to be kept at each quarter of the
D D
402 APPENDIX.
moon, and a space is consecrated for the assembly of the
devout on those occasions in this manner.^ A spot being
determined on, the high priest says, '' What is the boundary
to the Ea3t T' Another priest replies, '^ A stone/' " What
to the West?'' " A stone/' " What to the North ?" "A
stone." ''What to the South?" "A stone." Then the
high priest says, '^ Within these boundaries the place for the
duties of worship is consecrated."
The use of stones for this purpose is significant. Twelve
stones were carried by the Israelites from the channel of
Jordan to Gilgal, and there set up as a memorial of their
entrance into the promised land at a time when the river was
miraculously dried up. (Joshua iv. 5.) And stones were also
set up as boundaries in the division of the lots of the tribes,
the borders of the divisions being thus marked with a stone,
in distinct reference to the cardinal points. (Joshua xviii. 11-
20.) The breast-plate of the high priest was formed of twelve
stones to represent the tribes of Israel, but its four-square
character is especially mentioned. (Ex. xxxix. 9.) Corner
stones are frequently named in the Bible ; but it appears from
the Hebrew word designating them, that they rather marked
the ^\(\q^ facing the four quarters of the heavens than as corner
stones in our sense of the words.
When we find that the Hebrews and the Buddhists had a
religions meaning in their reference to the cardinal points, and
that their most sacred buildings, erected to the honour of the
Supreme, were especially disposed with attention to these
points, we are led to conclude that the Egyptians, in always
erecting their oldest and grandest monuments, the pyramids,
with so exact a bearing north, east, south, and west, that the
compass may be corrected by them, had also a religious idea
and design in the four-square basis, and the perfect triangle of
those wondrous structures. That they are their oldest monu-
ments is proof of the fact that their civilization was, in reality,
loftiest at their earliest period, when their religious conceptions
* See the Ritual — Kannawa'kya.
APPENDIX. 403
were simplest and noblest, as if nearest to the source of the
intelligence derived direct from the Maker of man. We may
infer what their feeling was in placing a mountain of stone
over the dead body of their king — a mountain constructed on
the most perfect geometrical principle — when we consider that
they believed in the immortality of the soul, and that the dead
were judged by the God of eternal rectitude. It seems as if
this stupendous form of monument were intended by the
monarch who erected it for his own body, to signify that he
committed body and soul to Him to whom both belonged, and
whose perfections as the Great Geometrician of the universe,
qui omnia permeat, were founded on equity and truth. This
we know was the idea contained in the Buddhist topes
or stupas, dedicated to the dead and to the Supreme. The
sepulchral chambers in those monuments bear the same rela-
tion to the cardinal points as those in the pyramids ; and there
is abundant evidence to show that the Buddhists held many
notions in common with the Egyptians, and probably, there-
fore, in this particular also. The words in the Buddhistic
inscriptions which I have rendered equity and equality
evidently point to the same thing as the word used by
Aristotle to express the shadowing forth of Divine rectitude
in the symmetry of nature ; namely, [(joTrtQ, esotees, which
looks as if derived from the full form of the Hebrew, nmii^H
esotha — a term as applicable to the physical equity on which
creation is planned, as to the moral equity of God^s govern-
ment. That a similar idea is conveyed by that vast hiero-
glyphic, a pyramid, is at once seen if we ask ourselves the
meaning of its perfect geometric form when interpreted in a
religious sense, as the builder surely intended.
Tlie Name Birmali (see Chap. XVIII. ).
At the risk of appearing fanciful, I venture to suggest that
the name of the country Birmah, or Burmah, was given to it
by the ancient people, who were accustomed to name places
DD 2
404: APPENDIX.
on religious grounds like the early Buddhists and the Israelites.
There are strong indications in the traditions of the Karens
that Birmah was once wholly their own, and regarded by them
as the central seat of religious authority, and by them called
Bamah — that is, the especial high place. Their traditions con-
stantly point to the high place, the place of heights, to the
golden mountain and the golden palace of their king, who was
also the pontifex, the religious chief of all their tribes."^ As
with the Birmese, so with them, those phrases refer to their
country, their metropolis, and the ruler of their country as
well as their worship. Supposing that the Karens are truly
descendants of Israelites, we can understand why they should
have named the country in which they ultimately settled
Bamah, for indeed the very terms of prophecy as addressed to
the elders of Israel by Ezekiel seem to imply that the country
to which they should go would be so named by them. When
they pretended to consult the prophet for advice, he at once
pictured before them their present and future profanations of
the Holy Name, and charged them with making a mere pro-
vocation of an offering by burning ^^ things of sweet savour^f
(ch.xx. 28) on high places ; and then he abruptly exclaims.
What is the high-place to which you go ? The name thereof
is called Bamah unto this day (v. 29), or even more literally
still. What is the high-place to which {or where) you are going ?
the name thereof shall even he called Bamah when this day
shall he. And then he proceeds to specify what shall come to
pass during the especial period predicted. We must under-
stand that this day signifies a day foretold, or we cannot
understand the connexion ; and it is evident that Bamah must
refer to a place to be so called and to which they should go,
since it cannot mean simply a high-place, for that would be to
assert that a high-place shall be called a high-place, which
* The Karens are called Kadun or Kadumi in Pegu, and this name is Hebrew
or Chaldaic, signifying the ancient people. — Judges v. 21.
+ ** Offerings of fragrant substances are the chief of all sacrifices," is a
maxim of S.ikya, quoted by Csoma Korosi in his Tibetan Dictionary, p. 166.
APPENDIX. 405
would be nonsense. Our translators clearly understood it as
the name of a place or country, and therefore do not translate
the word. The prophet seems to see with the eye of the spirit,
before which there is neither time nor distance, that, in punish-
ment of their devotion to Bamahs or high-places, they should
go to a place called Bam ah, and there at length suffer as their
forefathers did in Egypt, as we find from the latter parts of
the chapter.
Now we do not find any country so called except Birmah.
It will be said that Birmah is not Bamah ; the high-land of
Tibet might rather be called Bamah, We shall see presently
that in Tibet the word Bamah is in use in a peculiar manner,
but first we may see that Bamah and Birmah are similar
names, when we reflect that the r in the latter word is a
cerebral vowel and not a consonant, and that an educated
Birmese pronounces the name very much as a Polish Jew
pronounces Bamah, without any Bur, but rather as if written
Byamah, This cerebral vowel r or ra is not only sounded like
ya by the Birmese, but ya and ra are interchangedly employed
one for the other by theni.^ Bamah and Birmah are then
essentially the same word in root and form, being expressed in
Pali as in Hebrew by equivalent letters, and in Tibetan
simply by h and m, both letters having the a inherent in their
sound, so as necessarily to be pronounced Bama or Bamah,
In relation to this name, it is interesting to find that Brimirf
is described in the ancient Saxon poem Vbluspd as one of the
places where righteous and right-minded men abide in bliss
with Odin, even after the dissolution of the universe. It is
coupled with the golden hall called Sindri, on the mountains
of Nida, in the region of Okolmi, all pointing to traditions
derived from the East. Odin is written by the Westphalian
Saxons as Godan, which is equivalent to Godama, " qui omnia
permeat,^' as Lucan says of Jupiter.
* See Mr. Hodgson's article thereon. — Asiat. Res. vol. xvi. p. 277.
t See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, by J. A. Black well, Esq., pp. 456
and 500.
406 APPENDIX.
The constant reference of the Chinese Buddhists^ and those
of Tibet also, to the Golden Land as that of the holiest and
happiest people, points to the same country as that Golden
Land which the Karens believed their own to have been pre-
vious to their conquest by the Birmese ; and this again reminds
us that Buddhism was established in Ava at the time of
Sakya's decease (see p. 1S6). Now Ava probably included
Birmah as well as Siam. Ava is now the name of the capital
of Birmah, but of old it seems to have applied to the whole of
the Aurea ChersonesuSj the Golden Begion of the old Greeks and
Romans ; a name probably applied to it by them only because
the inhabitants themselves so called their country ; and, if so,
we have a definite meaning in the frequent reference of the
Buddhists and the Karens to the Golden Begion, as that in
which the early doctrines of Godama were most happily
established, and which we suppose was also as a whole known
as BamaJiy the very centre and chief seat of the high worship),
known by Israelites and Buddhists by that name.
That the introduction of Buddhism and the worship of
Godama into Bhotan and Tibet had reference to Bamahj both
as a place and a mode of worship, is seen in the name applied
there to the chief priest and his subsidiary ministers, that is.
Lama J for this word is spelt in Tibetan in a remarkable manner,
thus, J^; the L standing under the b expressing the dative
case, to signify that the person so designated belongs to Bamahj
so that though, from the nature of the Tibetan language, the b
is not sounded in pronouncing the name, it is always under-
stood as if written La-Bam.ah.
The universal prayer of the Lamanesque Buddhists is fre-
quently commenced with the mystic letters l^^; when in-
scribed on the mani and on other sacred things, meaning their
devotion to Bamah, This prayer is supposed to prevail in
proportion to its repetition, and devout Lamas write it on
paper and paste it on the praying cylinders, which are made to
revolve rapidly either by the help of a water-wheel or by the
hand, since they believe that every revolution is equal to a new
APPENDIX. 407
utterance of the wonder-working words^ which are thus sup-
posed to save the soul from low transmigrations or so much
purgatory, according to the numbers of turns the written prayer
may be subjected to — a contrivance and conception worthy of
the faith of those who pray by machinery.
In concluding this disquisition, it should be remembered
that the early Buddhists employed the word Bama, that is,
the High One^ as one of the three names of Buddha^ so that
probably the Tibetan Lamas use it in this sense as well as in
reference to their worship in high-places ; and it is not un-
likely that the Israelites also thus applied it in respect alike
to the place of worship, and to the Being adored. This em-
ployment of the title Lamay c." Blama, as of a person devoted
to Bama, the exalted Buddha, the God-man, and also to his
worship, is consistent with the foregoing observations.
The Jews in China^ and the Karens (see p. 377).
At the Oxford meeting of the British Association, held in
1860, Dr. D. T. Macgowan, from China and Japan, read a
paper on the Jews resident in China anterior to the Christian
era. Having shown that a temple, probably built by them
during the Han dynasty, existed in Yihchau, the capital of
the kingdom of Shuh (now Ching-tu), and that this temple
was burnt, he supposes that when the Huns were expelled
from China, the Jews retired to the mountain fastnesses of
the west. He then adds, ^'^If we are right in the conjecture,
then have we cleared up the mystery of the Karens. The
numerous Old Testament traditions of those tribes can be
easily accounted for; and if not actually of Jewish origin, it
seems conclusive that they were long in contact with Jews.'^
Dr. Macgowan does not advance any positive evidence that
the temple referred to was for Jewish worship, though doubt-
less built by a Hebrew people ; and from the remains of the
architecture, such as parts of lotus columns, a pool called the
Eye of the Sea, and even the quantity of pearls found, it
408 APPENDIX.
would, I conceive, appear rather that it was devoted to
Buddha.
This idea is not incompatible with the history of Buddhism
in China; for, though that form of Buddhism now prevalent
there seems to have been introduced by missionaries from
Northern India in the first century of our era, yet an earlier
introduction of that mysterious worship was probably effected
through the intercourse of the Hebrew tribes lying along the
great pathway of commerce from Persia to China.
But whether the temple was for Jewish worship or not, it
is evident that a Hebrew people were once widely scattered in
China, and that before the Christian era. But I conceive
it is important to distinguish this people from the Jews be-
longing to the tribe of Judah. The expulsion, from the cities
at least, of the Hebrew people known in China by the name
of Sabbath-keepers, accounts for the traces of Hebrew in-
fluence and descent among the mountaineers called Miau-tse,
who have by some hasty writers been supposed to be abori-
gines of China (see p. 382, supra).
The points of resemblance between those people and the
Karens have been already indicated; but I would further
observe, the mourning of the son for a parent through a week
of weeks, the sacrifice of the perfect and unblemished ox to the
Great Father, and the meat and drink offerings laid out on
an altar like a table, which are spoken of by Tradescant Lay*^
as an explanation of the phrase used in Isaiah — " Ye have
prepared a table for that number.^' The Hebrew cast of
countenance amongst their chiefs, at least, is no slight evi-
dence of their origin, standing as they do amongst a people
like the Chinese, so widely different in physiognomy .Y Their
traditions are worthy of closer investigation ; and it is to be
hoped that our missionaries in China will soon have the
opportunity of becoming better acquainted with this inte-
resting and remarkable people.
* The Chinese as they are, p. 310.
INDEX.
A.
Abhi-damma, Hebrew meaning of,
211
Abor, one of the names of the Che-
bar, 131; its various names, 132;
another Abor at the north-east of
Hindustan, ib.
Abraham, caUing of, out of Ur of the
Chaldeans, 60 ; the promise made to
him, ib. ; seed of, 81 ; the father of
the faithful, ib.
Abyssinia supposed to possess some of
the Lost Tribes of Israel, 8
Adi-Buddha, doctrines of, 180
Adonai, the Hebrew name of the Al-
mighty, 173
Adoni, a name applied by the Saxons
and the Hebrews, 287 ; its frequent
use by the prophet Amos, 341
note
Afghanistan, route of the Israelites
from Media to, 152 ; coins found
in, showing the connexion of the
Greek power with the Saxon, 156
et seq.
Afghans, descendants of the Lost Tribes
of Israel, 7, 8 ; their affinities, 143
et seq. ; Beni- Israel, or descendants
of the Ten Tribes, 143, 145 ; their
different names, 146 ; evidences in
favour of their descent from the
Ten Tribes, 154; their Hebrew
origin, 299
Africa, number of Jews in, 8 et note.
Ages at which diflferent races arrive,
82 note
Ahasuerus, reign of, 100 ; his intended
persecution of the Jews defeated,
101
Ahaz, King of Judah, 74
Ahom, the, 361, 362
Ajatasatta, King of Magadha, 317,
318
Allahabad, inscription on the pillar at,
315
Allora, vast temple at, 261
Afmighty, wisdom and love of the,
18
Amber-coloured brightness, symbol of,
25
Amos, the prophet, his warnings to
the rebellious Israelites, 336 et
seq. ; his prophetic denunciations in
Chap. VIII. illustrated by the his-
tory of Buddhism, 340, 342; de-
scribes the worshippers of Buddha,
344
Amra The, and Amra Kho, 360, 361
Anastasis, the, 59
Anglo-Saxons, Turner's History of the,
87—90. (See Saxons.)
Antelope of Thibet, 225 ; its symbolic
meaning, 225
Antimachus Nikephorus, 286
Arian characters, sepulchi-al inscrip-
tions in, 288 ; employed by the
Getse, 289, 290 ; their peculiarities,
290
Arian inscriptions are Hebrew, 299
Arian language and letters, 158
Aristophyli, the noble tribes, 147, 179
Armenia, anciently named Sakasina,
88
Arracan, historical notices of, 360
Arsaces, founder of the kingdom of
Parthia, 114
Arsaces, the Second, of Parthia, 154
Arsareth, country of, 119, 120
Ashurs, of India, 203
Asiani, allied to the Sacae, 155
Asoka, introduces the new religion of
Jina Sassana into Hindustan, 135,
136 ; King of Magadha, 185 ; his
410
INDEX.
religious teachings, 185, 186; the
different countries to which he sent
missionaries, 186 ; enforces his doc-
trines, 188 ; expels 60,000 heretical
priests, 190
Assyria, sketch of thie kings and
chronology of, in relation to the
Israelites and the Jews, 73 — 78;
exodus of the Israelites from, 133
Assyrians, Ephraim subject to the, 49,
50 ; lead the Samarians captive, 50
Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians,
345, 346
Athens, the pillared temples of, turned
into dust, 80
Avatar, Darn, a manifestation of the
Deity, 199; his different appella-
tions, 200
Ayodhya, country of, 202
B.
Baal, the god of fire, and the calf in
high places, 53
Babylon, captured by Cyrus, 76; by
Esarhaddon, 77
Bactria, 140 ; taken from the Greeks,
155; a district of Persia under
Darius, 229
Badh, signifies the incarnation of the
Deity, 255 ; name of, 296, 297
Bagava-Metteyo, prophecy respecting,
257—259
Baldness, a sign of mourning, 137
Bali- Rama, the Indian god, 201, 202
Bama-Dan-Budhen, 308
Bamah, a high place, 102, 103,
144, 324 ; country and religion of.
Appendix, 404—406
Bamath, explanation of the word,
255, 256
Beardlessness, a sign of mourning, 137
Behistun inscription, 107, 108, 110
Beni-Israel, styled the rebellious
house, 45 ; the prophet Ezekiel sent
to the, 332 ; the prophet's warning
to, 333 et seq., 341
Bhutan, in Koordistan, associated with
the Israelitish people, 129, 131 ;
derivation of the word, 129, 132 ;
another Bhutan at the north-east of
Hindustan, 132
Bible, the first one gave Englishmen
an interest in tbe East, 2 ; assumes
to be the record of divine teaching,
9 ; an authentic, inspired, and well-
preserved book of history, 11 ;
plainest evidence of the connected
history and interests of human
nature, 83, 84; the depository of
marvellous intelligence, 332
Binaya, Hebrew meaning of, 211
Birmah, on the name. Appendix, 403—
406
Blue chariot, a Chinese symbolism,
24
Bodhi, Hebrew meaning of, 210
Bodhi-tree, under which Sakya medi-
tated, 259
Bokhara, people of, descendants of the
Ten Tribes, 145 ; country of, 153 ;
its extent, ib.
Botans, of Northern India, 112 ; con-
sidered an honourable appellatiou,
146
Brahmins, their days of the week sym-
bolized by colours, 24 ; worship of
the, 200
Branch of renown, 259
Bucharia, number of Jews resident in,
152
Buddh alphabet, allied to the San-
scrit, 231 ; where found, ib. ; re-
marks on the. Appendix, 387, 388
Buddha, meaning of, 201; in many
respects like the Messiah, 248 ;
Godama's prophecy respecting, 257 ;
sublimity of his doctrines, 258 ; the
worshippers of, described by the
prophet Amos, 314; doctrines of.
Appendix, 385
Buddha-Bitha, bas-relief at the en-
trance to a, 179
Buddhii, the religious denomination
of, 178, 179
Buddhism, of Israelitish origin, 6 ; in-
troduced into India by the prophet
of the Sakai, 135, 136 ; suppressed
for a time by the Hindu kings,
158; inscriptions appertaining to,
174, 175 ; Sakya's triumphant trials
in support of, 176, 177 ; history
and doctrines of, 180 et seq. ; mis-
sionaries sent to different countries
for the promulgation of, 186 ; new
INDEX.
411
doctrines of, 190, 191 et seq. ;
Israelitish origin of the earliest
form of, 198; its three epochs of re-
ligion, ib. J its doctrines corrupted,
199 ; symbols and inscriptions of,
their origin and significance, 206
et seq., 220, 221 ; its high anti-
quity, 227 ; monuments of, 228 ;
its origin hidden in the mists of
time, 246 ; its connexion with Is-
rael, as shown by ancient inscrip-
tions, 249 ; its early connexion with
a Hebrew people, 257; its preva-
lence, ib. ; unmistakeably connected
with a people using the Hebrew
language, 260 ; its history illustra-
tive of the prophetic denunciations
of Amos, 340, 342, 344
Buddhist medal, representations on a,
196
Buddhist monks, 241
Buddhistic bas-reliefs, weapons por-
trayed in, 384
Buddhistic inscriptions and symbols
examined, 224, 225, 227 et seq.;
at Girnar and Delhi, 265 et seq. ;
at Girnar translated into English,
270
Buddhists, gems and colours honoured
by, as precious things, 24; their
origin and history, 161 et seq.;
their religion, 162; proofs of, dis-
covered in Northern India, 168 ;
early sects among the, 261 ; their
litany and religious formulas, 267,
268 ; their connexion with the Ro-
mans, 299, 300; their connexion
with the children of Israel, 379;
cardinal points and consecrated
places among the. Appendix, 401
Budii, the Israehtes dweUing in Media
so named, 105; account of the,
186 ; a tribe of the Medes, 229,
230
Byrath, Buddhist inscription found at,
*254, 260
C.
Cabolit^, tribe of the, 147
Cabul, mountain ranges of, 143, 144 ;
application of the name, 147 ; its
antiquity, ib. ; its inhabitants the
descendants of the Ten Tribes, ib.
Calf, in high places, worship of the,
53, 54
Cambogas, the, 137
Canaan, the seat of the worst forms of
idolatry, 61
Carbulo, the people so called, 113
Cardinal points among the Buddhists,
Appendix, 401
Cashmir, chronicles of, 135, 136 ; tra-
ditions of, 136, 137; historical no-
tices of, 139 ; taken possession of
by the Sacse and the Buddhii,
170
Caspian Sea, its neighbourhood the
early seat of the Goths and Saxons,
261
Caspians, the, 112
Cassivelaunus, king of the Cassi, 354 ;
meaning of the name, 355
Caucasus, Hebrew remnants of the
captivity resident on the eastern
borders of the Caucasus, 112 ;
mountains of the, J 43, 144
Cavern cathedrals of Kanari, &c.,
265, 266
Caves, Buddhistic, examined, 257 et
seq.
Celibacy, ancient vows of, 345, 346
Cessi, the, 354 ; invaders of Britain,
354, 355
Chaldea, Ezekiel goes into, 53
Chalebi, the head-dress of the Jewish
women in the East, 175
Cham, means wrath, 341 note
Chandra-Gupta, founder of the Mau-
ryan dynasty, 318
Characteristics, &c. of the Israelites,
124 et seq.
Chebar, a river of Kurdistan, 18, 20,
41, 42; Ezfikiel standing on its
flowery banks beholds the whirling
fiery cloud advancing, 20; its
geographical position^ 131 ; its va-
rious cognate names, 132 ; another
Chebar at the north-east of Hin-
dustan, ib.
Cherubim of St. John's vision simi-
lar to those of Ezekiel, 31 note ;
difierently distributed, 40, 41
China, characters of the deities of,
expressed by colours, 23 ; old races
412
INDEX.
of, throwing away their idols, 66 ;
revolutionary movements in, 382
Chozars, tribe of the, 148
Cloud, light in the, 17 ; in prophetic
language signifies a confused mul-
titude, 20, 21 ; a figure frequently
used by poets, 21 ; phenomena
thence resulting, 26
Coins found in Afghanistan, showing
the connexion of the Greek power
with the Saxon, 156 et seq. ; re-
marks on, 159, 160; discovered
where Buddhism prevailed, proof of
the Saka dominion, 223; emblems
found on the, 224; emblems of,
peculiar to the Buddhists and to
modern times, ib.
Colour, symbolical meanings of, 22,
23 ; heraldic uses of, 23 ; all the
colours of light among the ancients
expressive of truths, 23 ; symbolism
of, calculated to become a universal
language, 23 ; expression of the
different days of the week among
the Brahmins, 24
Common-sense believes in the need of
a permanent word or written re-
velation, 13
Consecrated places among the Bud-
dhists, Appendix, 401
Creation, account of by the Karens
similar to that of Moses, 368, 369
Creative Spirit, who made the worlds,
and inspired the breathing soul with
self-consciousness, 10
Crescent, the Mohammedan symbol of
religion, 2 — 4
Cross, the Christian symbol of reli-
gion, 2 — 4 ; is conquering'the ene-
mies of civilization, 6; a favourite
device of the Buddhas, 197; its
signification, ib.
Crystal, regions of, 36; the word
rendered ice in the books of Job
and Genesis, ib. note; "the ter-
rible,'* represented by the moun-
tain ranges of the Indian Caucasus
and Cabul, 143, 214
Ctesias the Mede, 110
Cunningham, Major, his Indian ex-
plorations, 170, 171, 174, 176
Cush, derivation of, 237, 238
Cyaxares, King of Media, 168, 169
Cyrus the Great, advance of his army
against Artaxerxes, 21; historical
notices of, 72, 73
D.
Dagoba, Great, building of the, 204
Damma, signifies worship, 248; ex-
plained, 270 note ; the Buddhist
word for silence, worship, 337
Dan, standard of the tribe of, 31 ;
meaning of, 3l7; the young lion-
passant the symbol of, 351
Daniel, the Gospel dispensation fore-
told by, 56; his elevated position
during the reign of Darius, 99
Darius, King of Babylon, Sec., 112
Davidic family, 113
Dead, wail of the Karens over the,
376, 378
Death, prevalence of, 209
Decay, prevalence of, 209
Delhi, Buddhistic inscriptions at, 265
et seq. ; in the Lat character, 301
et seq.; Hebrew transliterations of
the, 303, 306, 309, 312, 315;
translations, 304, 307, 310, 313,
316; critical remarks on the, 315 —
319.
Dewadatha, the, 186
Diblaim, Gomer, the daughter of, 56,
57 ; its signification, 57 note
Disease, prevalence of, 209
Dispersion of the human family, tra-
ditions respecting, 370
Divine Mind, expressed in man's united
history, 10
Divine order, development of, 47
Divine Power, symbols emblematic of
the, 27 ; use of the, 40 ; subdues
all things to eternal purposes, ib.
Dooranneds, a tribe of the Afghans,
148
E.
Eagle, figure of an, emblematic of
Divine Power, 27 j symbol of the,
221
Eagle-face, in Ezekiel's vision, 19 ;
expressive of keenness, &c., 32, 33
Eagle's wings, symbols of Divine pro-
tection, 20
INDEX.
413
East, the first Bible gave En^Hshmen
an interest in the, 2 ; reli^ons of
the, and their symbols, ib. ; kings of
the, 6 ; grand revolution now pro-
ceeding in the, 60
Elias, 294, 295
England in India denominated Sa-
cana, 90
Ephraim, standard of the tribe of, 31 ;
Hosea's prophecies respecting, 49 ;
greatness of, predicted, 62 — 66 ;
results of his idolatry, 6-4; fulfil-
ment of the prophecies concerning,
91
Ephraimites, exodus of the, 104 ; no-
table as bowmen, 110
Esarhaddon, King of Babylon and
Nineveh, 7
Esdras, his mention of the route of
the Ten Tribes, 69
Esther, book of, a beautiful episode of
history, 99
Euphrates, drying up of the, 6, 7 ;
banks of the, 69; ancient geo-
graphy of the, 132
Evangelization, the Karens remarkably
prepared for, 374
Existence, origin and end of, 47
Ezekiel, his vision of the light in the
cloud, 17 et seq. ; opened in awful
symbols, 18 ; on the flowery banks
of the Chebar, 19; foretells the
destinies of Israel, ib. ; his spirit of
prophecy, 43 ; sets his face against
the mountains of Israel, ib. ; the
object of his prophecies, 43, 44 ;
words of Jehovah to, 51 ; and their
explanation, 52 ; goes into Chaldea,
53 ; his vision of the fourfold living
creatures, 213 et seq. ; sent to the
rebellious Beni- Israel, 332 ; gives
them warning, 333 et seq-, 341,
343 et seq.
P.
Faces of the symbolic creatures of
Ezekiel's vision, 30, 32 j likeness of
the four ones, 42
Faces and wings on each of the four
sides of Ezekiel's mystery, 19
Feet of the symbolic creatures of
Ezekiel's vision, 19, 27, 32
Feroz Shah, King of Delhi, 320
Feroz's pillar, inscription on the, 302,
320 ; description and history of,
320 et seq. ; inscription translated
into English characters, 326 ; into
English, 328
Fire, in prophetic language signifies a
confused multitude, 20, 21 ; its
symbolic meaning when associated
with indications of evil, 22 ; fre-
quent reference to, in the Eastern
inscriptions, 336
Firmament, the, 36
Flint axe, represented in Buddhistic
bas-reliefs, 384
Flint implements of our ancestor^,
Appendix, 385
Four living creatures with four faces
and four wings each, 19; the em-
blems of the Israelitish tribes
therein united, 31
Friday, symbolized by colour among
the Brahmins, 24
Funeral ceremonies of the Eastern na-
tions, 378
G.
Gath, country of, 260
Gathites, or Gittites, the, 261 ; spoke
the same language as the Israelites,
ib.
Gems, honoured by the Brahmins as
precious things, 24
GetiB, sprang from the same source as
the Saxons and Goths of the West,
95 ; origin of the, 149, 150 ; land
of the, 260 ; Arian characters em-
ployed by the, 289, 290
Gliore, mountains of, possessed by the
Afghans, 145, 146
Girnar, Buddhistic inscriptions at,
265 et seq., 269 ; translated into
English, 270; Godama their
author, 285 ; inscription in modern
Hebrew characters. Appendix,
393 ; on the translation of the, 398
Giyah, the name of a place in Sa-
maria, 229
Glacier, tremendous effects of a, 245,
2 46
Godama, Godi\ma- Buddha, or Godama-
414
INDEX.
Sakya, the names of Salcya, l7l ;
doctrines of, 199 ; derivation and
sacred meaning of, 233, 234; the
founder of modern Buddhism, 237 ;
his connexion with Sakya, 238,
239 ; the name given to Sakya after
his death, 239 j his prophecy re-
specting Buddha, 257, 258 ; his
self-denying doctrines, 259 ; his
teachings, 267, 268 ; verses in
honour of, ib, ; inscription in honour
of, 270 ; his doctrines, 270—283 ;
noticed as the King of Kash, 285 ;
the author of the Girnar inscrip-
tion, ib. ; time of his death, ib. ;
called the Lord of the Golden
Wheel, 295
Gog, descent of, as described by Eze-
kiel, 21
Golden brightness, symbol of, 25
Golden calf, of Israelitish vv^orship,
49; w^orship of the, 54
Golden glory beaming from the fiery
cloud, 38
Golden land of the Karens, Appendix,
406
Golden wheel, Godama the lord of
the, 295
Gomatta, notices of, 256
Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, 56,
57 ; signification of, 57 note
Goth, the name transferred from Pa-
lestine to the neighbourhood of the
Caspian Sea, 261
Gothic architecture, whence derived,
243
Gothic races, well known in the East,
261; their early conquests, 261,
262. (See Saxon.)
Gothland, mentioned in the earliest
records of Buddhism, 260
Goths, early seat of the, 260 ; noticed
in the Girnar inscription, 284 ; be-
came Buddhists, ib.; a mongrel
mixture of the refuse of the, 356
Gozan, locality of, 130, 131
Grant, Dr., his hypothesis respecting
the exodus of the Israelites, 118, 119
Graves of the Hebrews, 173
Greek power, its connexion with the
Saxon, shown by the coins found in
Afghanistan, 156
Greeks, noticed in the Girnar inscrip-
tion, 284 ; their derivation of the
title of Deity, 286 note
Gwawd Lludd y Mawr, an ancient
Druidical hymn, 172
H.
Habamah, land of, 102
Habor, the river, in Assyria, 74, 131
Haman, punishment of, 100, 101
Hamath, situated beyond the Eu-
phrates, 340
Hands of the symbolic creatures of
Ezekiel's vision, 19, 29, 32
Hara, in Assyria, 74 ; use of the word,
130 ; province of, 138 note
Hasaures, of Indo-German history,
203
Hazara, country of, 120
Heap, Hebrew uses of the word, 173
Heap of ruin, its symbolical meaning,
287
Heaven, different names for, in dif-
ferent languages, 127, 128
Hebrew, employed in Cabul, the Pun-
jaub, &c., 299; the Girnar in-
scription in. Appendix, 393
Hebrew influence on India, 504
Hebrew inscriptions, 172; in a rock
temple in India, 235, 236 ; of the
Buddhist caves, 235, 239, 241, 243,
245, 249, 252; their elucidation,
249—253
Hebrew nation, its influence among
civilized nations, 8
Hebrews, their influence, 80; their
marvellous history, 83 ; their his-
tory is that of the world, ib. et seq.;
under the dominion of Nebuchad-
nezzar, 105 ; the Chozar sovereigns
descended from the, 148 ; of Mala-
bar, 379
Heraldry, colours in, expressive of cer-
tain trutlis, 23
High-places for idolatrous worship,
102 ; the Israelites practised idola-
try in, 126, 127
Himalayas, the Heavenly mountains,
127 ; Paradise believed to stand
in the, ib.
Himavat, geography of, 321, 322
Hindoos, their creed and their cruelty,
13; the commencement of a re-
INDEX.
415
markable era among; them, 135;
the religion called Sassana intro-
duced, ib.; chronological records of
the, 136
Holy Land, trampling down of the,
visibly the fulfilment of prophecy,
14
Horse, the ancient sign of a Saxon
clan, 357
Hosea, his prophecies in Samaria under
the name of Ephraim, 49 ; the whole
scheme of his prophecy, in the
first chapter, 57; prophecy of, ap-
plied to Israel in distinction from
Judah, 59; his description of Israel
and the Israelites, 125 — 128
How and where did the Israelites go,
67 et seq.
I.
Idolatry, speculative, which led to
the final dispersion of the Ten Tribes,
14 ; the Israelites upbraided on ac-
count of, 54; of the Israelites in
high places, 102, 103, 1 26, 127, 345,
346
Idols of the East will be thrown away,
66
Immanuel, faith in, 16
India, misgovernment of, 13 ; charac-
ters of the deities of, expressed by
colours, 23 ; old races of^ will soon
throw away their idols, 66 ; Hebrew
name of, 100 note; route of the
Israelites to, 152 ; varieties of creed
in, 184; oldest mythological com-
positions of, 200 ; Hebrew influence
on, 204
Indo-Cush, country of, 238
Indus, cataclysm of the, 245
Inscriptions appertaining to the Bud-
dhist religion, l72 — 177; examined,
224, 225, 227 et seq.; in Hebrew,
235, 239, 241, 243, 245, 249, 252;
their Israelitish origin, 250 ; sepul-
chral ones in Arian characters, 288
et seq.; at Girnar, 265 et seq.; at
Girnar translated into English, 270;
translations of, 293, 296, 297;
found at Delhi, in the Lat charac-
ter, 301 et seq.; at Delhi, Hebrew
transliterations of, with translations,
303 — 316; critical remarks on, 315,
316; on the pillar at Allahabad,
315 ; on Feroz's pillar, 302, 320 et
seq.; translated into English charac-
ters, 326 ; into English, 328 ; their
relation to prophecy, 332
Isaac, predictions concerning the seed
of, 58, 61 ; house of, 97, 99, 261 ;
tribe of, 164, 165
Isicki, the people so called, 112
Israel, prophecy that she should be
" sown among the nations," 8 ;
Ezekiel's prophecy against the re-
bellious house of, 18; its destinies
foretold, ib.; EzekieFs prophecy re-
specting the captives of, 37; false pro-
phets of, 44 ; her perversion, warn-
ing, and recovery, 47 et seq.; his-
tory of, testified by the prophets,
56 ; Jehovah reasons with, through
the prophets, 58 ; Hosea's prophecy
peculiarly applicable to, 59 ; de-
scendants of, to be looked for among
Christian nations, 65 ; new names,
105 et seq.; Hosea's description of,
125, 128. (See Ten Tribes of Israel.)
Israelites, Buddhism and other ancient
religions traceable to the, 6 ; their de-
struction and dispersion prophesied,
48 ; upbraidings of the, 54 ; a cer-
tain class of them not to be restored
to Palestine, 55; how and where did
they go, 67 et seq.; a bond of sym-
pathy between them and the Scy-
thians, 70 ; their removal into Tar-
tary and all parts of the habit-
able globe, 79; their history, as
found in the Bible, 83 ; their in-
fluence during their captivity, 99 ;
in Assyria called Sacse, 105; in
Media named Budii, ib. ; Dr. Grant's
hypothesis respecting their exodus,
118, 119 ; their characteristics,
traces, and names, 123 ; their ido-
latrous practices in high places, 125,
126, 345, 346; Hosea's description
of the, 128; localities associated with
the, 129, 130; their exodus from
Assyria,133; their route from Media
to Afghanistan and India, 152 ; the
prophetic warnings of Amos to the,
336 et seq.; their idolatrous and
rebellious spirit, 337; addressed as
the "house of Joseph," and the
416
INDEX.
** house of Israel/' 339 ; warnings
and prophetic denunciations of Eze-
kiel, 333 et seq., 341, 343 et seq.;
when outcast, despised the covenant,
374 ; their connexion with the Bud-
dhists, 379. (See Jews.)
Israelitish origin of the Saxon race,
94
Izakzie, the trihe of Isaac, 164, 165
J.
Jabans, 139. (See Yavanas.)
Jacoh blesses his grandsons Ephraim
and Manasseh, 62
Jagannath, a spiritual construction put
upon its hideous worshi]), 199
Jains, an early sect of Buddhists, 261
Japliet, descendants of, 140
Jara Saudha, king of Bahar, 202
Jareb, king of Assyria, 75
Javan, country of, 140 ; the western
world so designated, ib.
Javo, a contraction of Jehovah, 365
Jaxartes, the river, 180
Jehovah, words of, to Ezekiel, 51 ;
reasons with Israel through the
prophets, 58 ; means what He says
and does, 62 ; presence of the name
in the worship of any people a no-
table circumstance, 366; adjura-
tions to, among the Karens, 371
Jehu, son of Nimshi, 329 note
Jelalabad, tope at, opened, 290; its situ-
ation, ib. ; inscriptions found at,
293
Jeremiah, his explanation of the symbol
of the winds,22 ; tlie gospel dispensa-
tion foretold by, 56 ; his prophecies
concerning the captivity and resto-
ration of the Jews, 118
Jeroboam, his encouragement of idola-
try, 126
Jerusalem, destruction of, portrayed,
48 ; the mother church, 375
Jews, numbers of in Africa, 8 et note ;
their dispersion a testimony to those
nations who have received Chris-
tianity, 9 ; scattering of the, every-
where recognised as the judgment
of God for the rejection of his mercy,
14 ; are waiting for their restora-
tion, ib. ; what they are to Christen-
dom, so are the other outcasts of
Israel to the heathen in the East,
15; fearfully tested when the Prince
of Peace came amongst them, 50,51 ;
a wonderful people in respect to
their physique, 82 note; a large
number carried into captivity by
Nebuchadnezzar, 76 ; their return,
ib. ; the blest of all nations accord-
ing to Tacitus, 61 ; saved from the
treachery of Haman,101; Jeremiah's
prophecies concerning their capti-
vity and restoration, ] 18 ; those de-
scended from Judah and Benjamin
amount to nine millions, 119; num-
ber of, resident in Bucharia, 152
Jezreel, the true, 42 ; the seed of God,
57 ; the day of, 59
Jhelum, city of, 291
Joonur cave-temples, inscriptions from
the, 285
Joseph, the stick of Israel, 45 ; pro-
phecy respecting him and his chil-
dren, 63 ; tribe of, 145, 164, 165 ;
those Israelites who repudiated the
house of David, 337, 339 ; final end
of the scattered seed of, 348
Judah, standard of the tribe of, 31 ;
the dispersed of, sufficient to remind
us of our indebtedness to them, 82 ;
Saviour of men sprang from, 94
Judgments, are as the light, 34 ; their
characteristics, ib.
K,
Kadiphj:sh, identity of, 293
Kadphises, reign of, 158, 293, 294 ;
coins of, 299
Kanerki type, coins of the, 291, 292
Kapur-di-Giri inscription, 288 ; a
fac-simile traced by Mr. Masson,ib. ;
its elucidation, 289
Karens, their history and traditions,
359 et seq.; Mr. Mason's informa-
tion respecting them, 359 ; Israel-
itish characteristics seen in the, 363 ;
their habits, houses, industry, and
dress, 364 ; their language, 365 ;
their sacred words, ib. ; their tra-
ditions, 367; their views of the
Deity, 368 ; their account of the
creation, ib.; their traditions re-
INDEX.
417
specting Satan, 369; their moral code,
370; are trusting to a saviour that
is coming, 372 ; phraseology of their
traditions as Hebraic as their ideas,
373 ; remarkably prepared for evan-
gelization, 374 ; verses composed by
one of their prophets, ib. ; their wail
over the dead, 376; their funeral
ceremonies, 376, 378 ; country of
the, 377 ; their manners and customs,
ib. ; their offerings, 378
Kash, a very ancient name, 237 ; an-
cient city of, 243, 245; Godama,
king of, 285; destruction of noticed,
ib.
Kashi, the, 354
Kasyapa, the people of, 203
Khybere, tribe of the, 145
King of the Golden Wheel, 212, 213,
215, 218
Kings of the East, 381 ; we may look
to China for, 382, 383
Koordistan, why so called, 129; its
boundaries, ib. ; probably the resort
of the captive Israelites, ib.
Kowalea, empire of, 360
Krishnu, advent of in India, 219
Krisma, the Indian hero, 202
Kusites, tribe of the, 148
L.
Lamb, slain, 37
Laos, the, 361, 362
Lat character, employed by the Sacge,
290; inscriptions in the, found at
Delhi, 301 et seq.; transliterated in
Hebrew, 303, 306, 309, 312, 315;
translations of the, 304, 307, 310,
313, 316; critical remarks on the,
315—319
Lehi, burning of, 280 note
Leo Kanerkes, 294
Light in the cloud, Ezekiel's vision,
17
Lily, symbol of the, as used by the
Israelites, 5
Lion, face of a, in Ezekiel's vision, 19 ;
figure of a, emblematic of Divine
Power, 27 ; expressive of courage,
32, 33 ; symbol of the, 221 ; of
Israelitish origin, 222
Lion passant, the symbol of Dan, 351
Living creatures of Ezekiel's vision,
213 et seq., 281 note
Loammi, an offshoot of Israel, 58
Lord Jesus, as seen by John enthroned
on high, 37 ; his ascension into
heaven, 52, 53
LostTribes of Israel,! et seq., 6; traces
of the, 7, 8. (See Ten Tribes.)
Lotus, the Egyptian symbol of reli-
gion, 2 — 4 ; botanical description of
the, 5 note ; a symbol of the Bud-
dhists, 5 ; an emblem of Divine
Power, 181 ; fresco representing the
Buddlias springing from the, 182 ;
not borrowed from India, Appen-
dix, 381
Love, the best last name of the Lord
Jesus, 60
Love and light, symbolized by the
ancients in letters of gold and ver-
milion, 25
M.
Maba Sen, king, 204
M'lech'chas, from Scythia, 140
Magadha, central land of, 179; an-
cient kingdom of, 253 ; the early
seat of Buddhism, ib. ; the language
of supposed to be Hebrew, 254 ; its
geographical situation, and different
names of, ib. ; king of, 318 ; the
Mauryan dynasty of, ib. ; of He-
brew signification, 319
Magi, descended from the Sacas, 162 ;
of the East, 300
Mahabarata, Indian mythology of the,
200, 202
Mahomedans, in India, truer to their
prophet than Englishmen to their
God, 13
Makheth, explanation of, l74
Man, must believe in moral principles
as evinced in deeds and doctrines,
11; and have faith in God, 12; he
everywhere believes that there has
been or still is a revelation, 12; Eze-
kiel's vision of the face of a, 19 ;
figure of, emblematic of Divine
Power, 27 ; symbolic of intelli-
gence, &c. 34; surrounded by the
sevenfold harmony of pure light,
E E
418
INDEX.
36 ; brightness shining from the,
38 ; symbol of the, 221
Manasseh, greatness of, predicted, 62
Mani, the word explained, 256, 257 j
and Ruin-heaps, Appendix, 390
Manikyala, tope of, opened, 290, 291 ;
situation of, 291 ; inscriptions found
in the tope of, 296, 297
Manu, the author of certain Brahmi-
nical laws, 271 note
Mason, Mr., his information respecting
the Karens, 359, 360
Massagetae, history of the, 71, 72,
73, 110 ; country of the, 149
Masson, C, his account of the Kapur-
di-Giri inscription, 288
Mathia, pillar at, 308 note
Maury an dynasty of Magadha, 318
Maya, its meaning in Sanscrit and
Hebrew, 207
Medals of the Buddhists, 196, 197,
198
Medes and Persians, wars of the, 87
Media, kingdom of, 68, 69, 168, 169 ;
revolt of, 77, 78 ; extent of the em-
pire of, 78
Median colony, transplanted into Sar-
matia, 203
Meru, meaning of, 291
Mesopotamia, kingdom of, 68, 69, 168,
169
Metteyo, resemblance of to Messiah,
257, 258
Miou-tze, race of the, 382, 408
Mithridates II. of Parthia, 155
Monday, symbolized by colour among
the Brahmins, 24
Monuments of ancient Buddhism, 228
Moral law, necet^sity of a, 13
Mountains, promised greatness in Is-
rael connected with, 371
Mujnoo i unsab, an ancient Indian re-
cord, 154
Multitude of people, in prophetic lan-
guage, denoted by a whirwind, a
cloud, or a fire, 20, 21
N.
Namuchi-Maea, Hebrew meaning of,
210
Nanajah, 294, 295
Naneh Ghat inscription. Appendix, 389
Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Chaldeans,
77; carried into captivity a large
number of Jewish nobles, 76 ; ex-
tensive dominions of, 105
Negro tribes have well-marked Jewish
characters in their religious obser-
vances, 8 note
Nestorian Christians, 85, 86
Nethinim of Northern India, 112
Nikephorus, a title of Jupiter, 1 56
Nimroud sculptures, the religious em-
blems typical of Divine attributes,
27
Nimshi, meaning of, 329
Nineveh sculptures, winged figures of
the, 221 ; of Israelitish origin, 222,
223
Niran, the mysterious word, 296
Nirvana, Hebrew meaning of, 210
Noah, covenant made with, 37 ;ecl8
of, 238
Norris, E., his reading of the Kapur-
di-Giri inscription, 289
0.
Olives, Mount of, 53
0mm, meaning of. Appendix, 391
Orissa, early history of, 138, 182
Oude, kingdom of, its first foundation,
202
Owah, the eastern name of Jehovah,
365
Ox, face of an, in Ezekiel's vision, 19 ;
figure of an, emblematic of Divine
Power, 27 ; expressive of patience,
&c., 32, 33 ; symbol of the, 221 ; of
Israelitish origin, 222
Oxen, twelve, the whole of the Tribes
symbolized by the, 39
P.
Pali, the people so called, 178, 179,
238; the ancient dialect of Ma-
gadha, 253, 254; meaning of,
328 note
Palibothra, the ancient capital of In-
dia, 318, 319, 363 ; of Hebrew sig-
nification, 319
Panji, records so called, 138
Paradas, the, 137, 293
Paradise, believed to stand in the
INDEX.
419
Himalayas by the Eastern nations,
127
Parthia, historical notices of, 154, 155
Parthian kings, coins of the, 155
Parthians, the. 111 ; dynasty of the,
113; Arsaces their founder, 114;
probable derivation of the name,
241
Pattala, the river, 161
Pekah, king of Israel, 74
Perversion of Israel, 47
Philosophy has done nothing without
the Bible to improve the moral
world, 81
Pilgrim Fathers, 129
Pillar inscription written in Hebrew
letters, 219
Pillars before the great tope of Bud-
dha at Sanchi, 222
Pojah, a Buddhist religious service,
276 note
Pomegranate, the Tree of Life and
Knowledge with the Egyptians,
241
Poonah, district and city of, 235
Porus, the Indian king, 156
Pracrit, the word explained, 253
Prophecies, fulfilment of, to be looked
for among a people not known
as Israelites, 65 ; as concerns the
Chosen Tribes confirmed in the
Saxon race, 93
Prophecy, a picture of the moral con-
dition on which it is grounded as
regards the seed of Isaac, 61 ; re-
specting Joseph and his children,
63 ; fulfilment of in history, 141 ;
relation of the Eastern inscriptions
to, 332 et seq. ; period pointed to
by, 357
Prophets, false ones of Israel, 44 ;
the true ones testify of the history
of Israel, 56
Providence overrules and superin-
tends the movements of all, 36;
operations of, 40 ; mysteries of, 48
Pul, or Phul, the first Assyrian king,
73,74
Purai, one of the sects of Karens,
367
Puranas of India, 200
Putya, a Persian name applied to the
Israelites, 106
R.
Rainbow, set in the clouds of heaven
as a sign of mercy, 37
Raja Vigraha, king of the Sacambari,
321
Ram, worshipped by the Hindoos,
297 note
Ramayana, contains the mytholo-
gical history of India, 200, 201 ;
Rama the hero of the, ib.
Recovery of Israel, 47
Religions of the East, symbols of the,
2
Reuben, standard of the tribe of, 31
Revelation, the chief forms of, 12 ; men
everywhere believe that there has
been or still is a, 12
Rock monastery of the Buddhists, 240
Rock records of Buddhism, 265 et
seq.
Roman coins found in the tombs of the
ancient Buddhist princes, 299
Rome subjugated the nations with
iron rule, 14 ; the pillared temples
of, turned into dust, 80
Royal arms, their origin, 226
"Ruin, mouth of," 304, 307, 310, 313,
315; oddity of the phrase, 317;
general predictions associated with,
334 et seq.
Ruin-heaps, Appendix, 390
S.
Saca'bda, the era of Saca, 138, 139
Sacae, origin and history of the, 71, 72,
73, 161 et seq. ; a tribe of Scythi-
ans, 87 ; their belligerent: qualities,
91; sprang from the same source
as the Saxons and Goths of the
West, 95 — 97; the Israelites dweU-
ing in Assyria so named, 105 ; his-
torical notices of the, 106 et seq. ;
three classes of the, 109; on the
east of the Caspian, 111; known as
brave cavalry and bowmen, 140;
proofs of their being Buddhists and
Hebrews, 161, 284; proofs of dis-
covered in Northern India, 168 ;
their revolt from Darius, 256; Arian
characters employed by the, 290;
their Hebrew origin, 299; the words
420
INDEX.
of the prophet Amos applicable to
the, 342 j all destined to become
Christians, 355 ; Goths and mon-
grel mixture of, the refuse of the,
356; Saxons of the West descended
from the, 379. (See Buddhists.)
Sacai, synonymous with glutton and
drunkard, 104
Sacambari, the, 321 ; a Saxon race,
322 ; never conquered by the Ro-
mans, 323
Sacana, the Indian name of England,
90
Sacas, conveyed their religion into
Hindustan, 135 ; the founders of
Buddhism, 136 ; their identifica-
tion with Cashmir, 138; historical
records of the, 138,139. (See Saca^.)
Saca-suni, name and oiigin of the, 89
Sacca, Babylonian festival of the, 108
Sachi, kingdom of, 170 ; pillar at, 171 ;
topes at, 212, 216, 219, 221, 222
Sacrifices of different animals in the
East, 367; form of among the
' Karens, 368
Sacrificing of animals, disputes respect-
ing, 190
Sagara, king of Cashmir, 137
Sak, the Sanscrit name, 171, 172
Sakai, or Sacaj, the Saxons derived
from, 87 ; their conquests, 88, 89 ;
subject to Darius, 89; grand prophet
of the, 135; introduces Buddhism
into India, ib. (See Sacae.)
Sakai topes, inscriptions on the, 176
Saka-rauli, the powerful tribe of Par-
thia, 155
Sakas, their extensive dominion in the
East, 223 ; of the Saxon race, 324
Sakasina, a name of Armenia, 88
Saki, the Tibetans taught their re-
ligion by, 242
Saks of the East, 382, 384
Sakya, the founder of Buddhism, 162 ;
the Sanscrit name of Godama, 171 ;
monumental inscription represent-
ing his trial of skill, 176, 177; rise of
his religion among the Sacae or Saxon
tribes, l77 ; his moral doctrines,
184; substitutes his own ten laws
for the ten laws of Moses, 191 ; his
moral teachings, 192 et seq. ; of
Hebrew origin, 206 ; said to be the
son of Maya, 207 ; mythological
history of, 207 et seq.; his doctrines
divided into three classes, 211 ; his
connexion with Godama, 238, 239 ;
probable derivation of the name,
243 ; the teacher of Buddhism sup-
posed to be born in Magatta, 254;
doctrines of, 283; disposal of his
remains, 317
Sakya- Buddha, doctrines of, 180 et
seq. ; of the Sacian or Saxon race,
182
Sakya Sinha, adoration of the relics
of, 174
Salivanha Saca Hara, the conqueror of
Delhi, 138
Samapatti, a mode of religious morti-
fication, 210
Samaria, led captive by the Assyrians,
50, 339 ; occupied by the Assyrians,
340 ; sin of, 344, 345
Sambatioun, the river, 150
Sambhala, king of, tradition respect-
ing, 180
Sanaka-nika, kingdom of, 170
Sanchi, city of, 170; memorial pillar
at, 384
Sardochus, king of Nineveh, Babylon,
and Israel, 77
Sarmatia, a Median colony trans-
planted into, 203
Sassana, a new religion introduced into
Hindustan, 135, 136
Sassani, independent kingdom of the,
113, 114
Sassanian kings, coins of the, 299
Sassanidae, kingdom of the, 91
Satan, traditions of among the Ka-
rens, 369
Saturday, symbolized by colour among
the Brahmins, 24
Sav, Savath, Godama's play upon the
words, 286
Saviour, expected by the Karens, 370
Saxani. (See Sassani.)
Saxon Buddhists of the East, 243, 244
Saxon derivation and destiny, 349 et
seq., 383
Saxon-Gothas, house and lineage of
the, 260
Saxon kingdom, proofs of its existence
throughout the East, 178 ; extent
of its religious dominion, ib.
INDEX.
421
Saxons, and Saxon races, of the East
and the West, 1 et seq., 80; a
Gothic or Scythian trihe, 87 ; de-
rived from the Sakai, or Sacse, a
Scythian tribe, 87, 88 ; their wide-
spread dominion, 90 ; many of their
words of Persian or Hebrew origin,
91 ; revolutionizing influence of the,
91, 92 ; heirs of the world by Divine
favour, 93 ; prophecies concerning
the Chosen Tribes fulfilled in the, 93;
of Israelitish origin, 94 ; inquiries
respecting the, 121 ; their early sa-
vage characteristics, 122 ; coins
showing their connexion with the
Greek power, 156 et seq.; tribes
of in India, 170 ; their various
Oriental names, 179; our origin
from the Saxons of the East,
as shown by Buddhist symbols,
224, 227; their early seat in
the East, and their conquests, 260,
261, 262 ; those of the East became
nominally Buddhists, and of the
West, Christians, 262; their ex-
tended and beneficial influence, 263,
264 ; ancient country of the, 322 ;
of northern Germany, 324; same
as the Sakas of the East, ib. ;
the earliest period of their ap-
pearance in Britain not known, 353;
identically the same with the Sacse
of the East, ib. ; their ultimate
destiny as shown by prophecy, 357,
358; people akin to them found
in the East, 358 ; those of the
West were descendants of the Sacse,
379 ; will mingle with those from
the East, 383
Scythia, origin of the name, 114 ; con-
quests of, ib.
Scythian power, 68
Scythians, early history of the, 70, 71;
a bond of sympathy between them
and the Israelites, 70; seize the
empire of Asia, 72 ; overran Asia as
far as Egypt and the Indies, 78 ;
their conquests led to the ultiiiiate
removal of the Israelites into the
land of the Tartars, 79 ; their ex-
pulsion from Assyria, 103 ; from
Asia, 168 ; their belligerent career,
169
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 75 ; his
army destroyed beneath the walls
of Jerusalem, 76
Sepulchral inscriptions in Arian cha-
racters, 288 et seq.
Seth, the fourth son of Adam, 246 ;
his religion, 246, 247
Shaddai, the incommunicable name,
234, 296
Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, 75 ;
subdues the Ten Tribes of Israel,
ib.
Shambat, a family of Israelitish exiles,
99
Shans, the, 361
Shechinah of Jehovah's presence, 17 ;
its departure from the temple of
Jerusalem, 38, 41
Shem, descendants of, 141
Silence, prophetic allusion to the word,
337
Sin introduced by Satan, 369
Siva, worship of, 286
Smerdis, 256
Standards of the hosts of Israel, 30 ;
of the tribes of Reuben, Judah,
Ephraim, and Dan, 31
Stars, colours of the, symbolic of love
and truth, 26
Su, or Zu, disquisition on the word,
156; frequent use of the word in
the Girnar inscription, 285 ; its de-
rivation, 286
Sucki, or Sukhi, the people dwelling
by the Chebar, 74, 106, 107
Sun-worship, 278 note
Sunday, symbolized by colour among
the Brahmins, 24
Superintending intelligence, 10
Sutra, Hebrew meaning of, 211
Swastikas, the, 183
Sykes, Colonel, his examination of the
Buddh letters, 231
Symbols of rehgion, the lotus, the
crescent, and the cross, 2 ; their
influence, 3
Symbols of the mystery of EzekieVs
vision, 20; Buddhistic, examined,
206 et seq., 227
Syria, subdued by Tiglath-Pileser, 74
Syrian churches, evidences of their
missionary zeal, 86
Szu Scythians, 159
422
INDEX.
T.
Temple of the Buddhists, 243, 244
Ten Tribes of Israel, 7, 8 ; not in a
position to deny their Lord and
Saviour, 51; separated themselves
from the Jews as a body by apos-
tasy, 67 ; direction in which they
travelled through the eastern na-
tions, 70, 71 ; subdued by Shalma-
nezer. King of Assyria, 75; cir-
cumstances that tended to promote
their permanent separation fi'om the
Jews, 76 ; did they ever leave the
land of their captivity ? 115 et
seq. ; the country to which they
were deported, 131; the Afghans
profess to be descended from them,
143 et seq. ; evidences of that de-
scent, 154; Ezekiers warning to
them, 257; their wanderings as
intimated by Jeremiah, 265 ; wor-
ship encouraged among them by
Jeroboam, 337 ; addressed by Ze-
phaniah immediately before their
captivity, 348
Thai, the native name of the Siamese,
361
Tharana Goon, the essential attributes
in Trinity, 197
Theos, derivation of, 286 note
Thirst, api^lication of the word, 346,
347
Throne, likeness of a, above the fir-
mament, 220
Thursday, symbolized by colour among
the Brahmins, 24
Tibetan alphabet, derivation of the,
231, 232
Tibetan Buddhists, litany of the, 267,
268
Tibetans, their legends respecting the
origin of their religion, 242
Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria, 73,
74; deported the people of Da-
mascus, 72; subdues Assyria, 74
Tigris, banks of the, 69 ; its ancient
geography, 132
Topes at Sachi, 212, 216, 219, 221,
222; at Manikyala and Jelalabad,
and other places, 290 et seq. ;
inscriptions found in the, 293,
296
Trajan, extent of his conquests, 299,
300
Tree, the wonderful one of Tibet,
Appendix, 392
Tribes, the lost ones of Israel, 1 et
seq., 6 ; traces of the, 7, 8 ; the
representatives of Joseph and of
Ephraim and Manasseh, 15 ; their
symbolical representations, 43 ;
their revolt, and condition, 69
Trinity, representation of the essential
attributes of the, 197
Tuesday, symbolized by colours among
the Brahmins, 24
Turks do not own the Holy Land, but
only hold it in keeping, 14
Turs, a sort of wandering friars, 187
note, 190
U.
Unicoen, Buddhistic representation of
the, 224 ; not a mere heraldic in-
vention, ib, ; its origin, 225, 351 —
353; symbol of the SacsB in Northern
India, 351
V.
Vermilion palace of China, 24
Viaala Deva, King of the Sacambari,
322
Vision of Ezekiel, 17 ; opened in aw-
ful symbols, 18 ; relates to the after
captivity and ultimate dispersion of
Judah, 40
Voluspa, of the Saxons, Appendix,
405
W.
Wady-en-Nehiteh, rocks of the,
236, 237
Wall of loose stones, symbol of, 44
Warning of Israel, 47
Waters, prophetic allusions to the, 338
Weapons portrayed in Buddhistic bas-
reliefs, 384
Wednesday, symbolized by colour
among the Brahmins, 24
Week, days of the, symbolized by
colour among the Brahmins, 24
Wheel, its symbolic meanings, 39 ; the
four wheels with the four faces, ib.;
INDEX.
423
the golden one, 212, 213, 215, 218;
symbol of Buddha's supremacy, 221;
of Israelitish origin, 222
Wheels of the living creatures, 213
et seq.
Whirlwind, picture of the, 19 ; in pro-
phetic language signifies a confused
multitude, 20, 21; phenomena
thence resulting, 26
Winds, symbolical meaning of, 21, 22 ;
explained by Jeremiah, 22
Winged figures of the Nineveh sculp-
tures, 221, 222 ; of Israelitish ori-
gin, 222, 223 ; of Ezekiel's vision,
.222
Wings on each of the four sides of
Ezekiel's mystery, 19 ; of the sym-
bolic creatures of Ezekiel's vision,
19, 30 ; emblems of Egyptian and
Assyrian power, 134 note ; of the
living creatures, 214, 217
Woden, the Saxon deity, 235
X.
Xenophon, the country through
which he retreated with the ten
thousand Greeks, la^ ^^^
T.
Yahoodee, a term of reproach, 164
Yahoodeyah, city of, 1 53
Yavanas, historical notices of the, 137
—140
Yesdigird, the last of the Sassanide
kings, 113
Yod, symbolic meaning of, 234
Yoovah, meaning of the word, 256
Yousufzyes, the tribe of Joseph, 145,
164, 165 ; the Afghan tribe named
after Joseph, 288
Yoowah, the eastern name of the
Deity, 365, 367
Yuchi Scythianj, 223
Z.
Zagana, a royal Babylonian robe,
108, 109
Zalmoxis, probable derivation of, 149
Zamara, the wonderful heroine, 111
Zeus, derivation of, 286 note
Zim, the principle of all things, 282
note.
THE END.
LONDON :
BAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.
miércoles, 3 de diciembre de 2014
"The lost tribes and the Saxons of the East and of the west, with new views of Buddhism, and translations of rock-records in India"
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