The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-02-03

acknowledged. If properly handled. the
spade has supplied the safest foundation
for the ancient history not only OF Greece
and Italy, but of Babylon, Nineveh, Per-
STA. Phrygia, Egypt and the ancient
Kingdoms of the Arabian peninsula. The
one country where the spade has as yet
done least, and where the finds would
probably be larger than anywhere else, Is
India. Modern India is built upon sue
cession of ruins, and the rapid change OF
monuments into ruins is going on before
our very eyes. With the constant dust
and the moisture and the heat of the air,
such is the rapid growth ofthe vegetation
that in small numbers of years an an
Gent building is completely covered by
a new humus, Its masonry is destroyed
by the roots of plants and trees, and its
pillars and arches fall prostrate and are
buried under a new stratum OF fertile sur
face soil. The soil in many parts OF In
dia has only to be scratched and ancient
chaityas and dogobas, viharas and stupas
come to light again, and their lnsorlp-
lions tell of kings and sages who lived
thousands of years ago. A good deal has
been done in the way of excavation In
India by private individuals and like
wise by the government.
Ancient ruins have been dls1ntorred or
preserved from utter decay, but the area
is too immense for anything. as yet. like
complete survey of Indian antiquities.
The Archaeological Survey has done OK
cellent work of late years, bnt rs it adj
vances toward the Eastern provinces it
finds itself face to face with a world al
most unknown to the archaeologist, and
never before systematically explored. The
last annual Progress Reports" pub
lished by the Archaeological Survey
Commission. Is the first that deals with
India extra Gangem, with Burnah and
the valley Of the. Irrawaddy, with the
Dr<r Isrvs1S ~ L. L
Tenasserim division, the southern, CEN
trial and northern divisions, containing
list of ancient and modern monuments
in or near the towns Of Rangun. Pegu,
Prone, Taungu, Paagu, Ava, Segaing
Amarapura, Mandalay and Bhamo.
Most, 1T not all, Of the monuments in
that part of the world, are Buddhist. but
there is more and more evidence coming
forth, which shows that Indian oiviliza-
ton had reached Transgangetic India in
an earlier and, as yet, purely Brahmanic
form. There is a stratum of customs
still prevalent in Burmah and Siam
which cannot be accounted for, except as
a remnant of the old Brahmanic Sans
karas-i. .. domestic Institutions. The
very names that are given to the kings,
the princes and the nobility in Burmah
and Siam are taken from Sanskarit and
not from Pail; and the same applies to
many of the names of old towns and rlv-
ers. There 1s an abundance of inscrip-
tions, both ancient and modern, some of
them in ancient Gupta characters going
back to A. ID. 4l6, and recording the
foundation of new Hastinapura by Gopa-
IA. who had come from the old Hastina-
pura on the Ganges. There is q Burmese
chronicle, the "Mahayazawin, which
records the arrival of an indian king at
Manipura in the sixth century B. G.
Here there is still much to be done by
q sol 10
sible that the history of the Transganget
10 Kingdoms may in time reflect new
light on the history and chronology of
the ancient Gangetic kingdoms of India.
The people of Burmah, however, have
used their Inscriptions not only for re-
oording historical events. They have in
vented new use by erecting enormous
scrlptions containing portions or even
the complex texts of their sacred Scrip
lures. The sacred Scriptures of the
Buddhists are the largest in the whole |
world, but at Msndalay the father and
predecessor of the last King of Burmah, |
King Mindon Min. erected the Kptho
Daw, group of about $50 small brick
pagodas. each sheltering large marble
slab. These 730 slabs contain the com
plete texts of the Tripitaka--the Three |
Baskets, l.. e.. of their Bible, engraved in |
the rounded Burmese characters
Mandalay was the last capital of the |
Kings of Burmah, who seem to have de-
lighted in building new capitals and |
changing the seat of government with
every reign. Ava, or Ratnapura, was
founded in a. D. 1864. In 1889 Ava
was demolished and out of its materials a |
new capital was built Amarapura. AS |
the private buildings are mostly made
of wood there was no difficulty in bodily |
carrying away one city and building it |
up again in another place. Public build |
ings, temples and palaces only were of |
stone, and had to be erected afresh as |
memorials of a new reign of new dy- |
asty. AmarapuTa was deserted for |
Ava in A. d. 1928, but was made once |
more the seat of government in 1887, till |
it WAS finally replaced by new capital, |
Mandalay, built in 1860 by King Mindo n |
Min. 1t was this King, the predecessor |
erected at an enormous expense. This |
stone Bible contains, according to Rev. |
Il. Spence Hardy, no less than s, sos. 900 |
syllables, every one carefully revised |
by royal ommission before it was en- |
graved, and Mr.. Ferrars, to whom we |
owe our photographs, is prepared to re-
produce this text of the whole Buddhist |
Bible photographically, and to publish it |
at a comparatively small price, if some
learned society would come forward and |
bear the expense of taking Photographic |
plates. We hope that this scheme may be |
realized. 1t would spread and perpetuate
the fame OF Buddha far more effectually |
than the colossal monument of the Kutho |
Daw, the stones of which are already be-
ginning to decay. while but few ira vel
lers visit it who are able to read and to
understand the engraved words of Bud
dha.