men cement of authentic history-iff the remote parts of Asia;
and to a date long preceding ,the origimof the Mado-Persian
empire known to the Greeks.*
Those who suppose that Zoroaster was *«onteinporary
with one of the kings of the MedesI and Persians of the
house of the Aehsemenidse, have generally adhered -to the
opinion, that Media was thetseat of the.Magian language
and literature.' This, by the writers above mentioned,-was
considered to be a fact hardly questionable, and it was*expressly
maintained by Professor Rask, who devoted himself
to the investigation of the-Zendish remains, and travelled? to
the East in; pursuit of that object; • Other writers have
adopted the hypothesis set forth by -Rhode?, according to
whom-the author-of the Zend'books lived^net in Media,
but in a remote region, in the eastern parts of: Asia, near
the Oxus, and perhaps in Balkh or Bactria. These writers
likewise assign a very ancient origin tó the Zendiiooks; and
* It may be useful to some of niy readers to refer to* the( table of Persian,
sovereigns of the two dynasties, according to Mirkhond and other Mohammedan
historians.
The First dynasty:—Pishdadians, Lawgivers and Kings. 1. Kejomaras, or
Cayoumers.—(This is the Kayomorts, the first crehted man of the Zendavesta,
or, at least,1 of the Boundehesh.) ; "
3. Siamek.
4. Hushang.
6. Tahmuras.
6. Djehrishid, the splendid and magnificent xnonarclr of Persepolis.'
7. Zohak.
8. Phridun, or Feri.dun.
9. Mauujeher, surnamed Firouz.
10^ Nodür.
11. AFfasiab, king of Turan, Scythia or Tartary.
Here ends the Pishdadian dynasty; and this seems to be the era of mg conquest
of Southern Asia, by the Scythians.
Second dynasty:—Kaianians, viz,, the Achsemenidse.'
1. Kai-kobad.
2. Kai-kaus,—Cyaxares.
3. Kai-khosrou,—Cyrus the Great.
4. Lohrasp, who must be Cambyses. He was a philosopher, who resided in
the Bactrian provinces, far from thereat seat of historical- events,
5. Gushtasp, or Kishtasp, Darius Hystaspes.
The remainder are unimportant to my subject,' The reader will find the
whole list in Sir, W. Jones’s Essay on Persian History, or in tlre öth vol. of the
Ancient Universal History, or in Malcolm’s History of Persia.
the representations'which they • contain. They suppose
ffeOse5compositions^ to Be older, by many centuries; than the
age -dfHh e 'Ac h e eme n iM. Eugene Burnouf, one of the
most* profound students and successful investigators of the
aB’cient literafcUrefof Persia,ffias b#come*a powerful advocate
fotftfcis Opinion ; and th e ^ tia s been of late -a very prevailing
disposition am^% the students, both of?the Zend language,
and ofe'tke'^pimt M the Vedas, to carry back
to a fVeTy remote age the antiquity of compositions in both
dfpthiese ^'idioms, ;wbicb -Ure' considered to be more nearly
alfiodthanuS the ZlindUo the'cla&sTOal:Sanskrit, and nearly
'coeval as to the period of/their existence as popular languages.
The VfedMhvefp supposed, by Mri Golebrooke, to
havOftllefeh compiled more than-*-fourteen < ceiiturieS- before
th^.'Ghtistidn era. The near-affinity of the Zend to the
idiom of-thoyedas-i affords," evidently,-<a strong presumption
in&favour o;f the high antiquity of the Zendavesta, and the
same consideration gives “countenance to the opinion,' that
tl®se"hboks weTe^cbmposedf, and that the idiom 5?b which
they Were written ^prevailed, in a remote part of Persia,
near fo India;-m KhorUSam, or in Bactriana.
I A tfe s^ a tteM id n ,however, tdcthe style of representation
which prevails in- the Zendavesta wilP display, if I am not
ffiistaken~so great a contrast between it and all the compositions
in the Vedasy that no unprejudiced person can fail
tn he convinced, that these todks had their origin in very
different times, and probably in distant places; But, in
order to furnish evidence in proof qf this remark, I must
take a brief survey ofthe contents of the Zendavesta.
Paragraph 2.—Of the books contained in the Zendavesta.
The principal portion of the Zendavesta now extant, is the
Vendidad, or the “ Law given”-hy/Ormuzd. It is in a tolerably
entire state, and is supposed to have been written by
Zoroaster himself. It consists of narrative and ipaprecative
passages in the form of express revelations from Qrmuzd to
Zoroaster, who consults him. In these passages are many