Xatriyastill the rise of the Maurya dynasty in the person
of Chandragupta: they were succeeded by three Sudra families,
the last of which were the Andra, who reigned in the
year four hundred and thirty six after Christ ; a period of
obscurity succeeded,; after which Magad’ha is found subject
to the kings of Canouj.
Bengal-was a separate kingdom. From the time of the
Mahabharata to' the Mohammedan conquest four dynasties*
according to the documents translated in the Ayin Akfièri, 1
ruled oyer Bengal. Though under the empire of thé'sovè^
reign of Magad’ha, Bengal probably formed a separate kingdom,
and its. people a separate branch" o f'the Hindfi race,
since the language of Bengal or of Gaur’ is Reckoned as
one of the-fife great branches of the northern Indian Speech.
Paragraph 5,—Of the History of the. Hindoos from, the age
of Vikramaditya to the Invasion of the Moslims. - •
The history of the middle ages has
illustrated by numerous inscriptions collected in different
parts of Hindustan, and partly by written archive^ preserved
in the families of native princes. The Rajput chieftains
in the west of India, who were neVér conqtiëretf, by""the
Mohammedans, are well known to havé preserved medros,
from which principally Colonel Tod was enabled to coWjpfl'Se
his celebrated history of llajast’han.
Hindustan, according to Colonel Tod, had bèën divided
for some centuries before its invasion by Mahmoud between
four great kingdoms-.—first, Delhi, under the Tuars and
Chohans; second, Canouj, under the Rahtores; third, Me-
war under the Ghelotes; fourth, Anhulwarra, under the
Chauras and Solankhis. To one or the other of these states
thé petty princes of India paid homage and feudal service.
The boundary between Delhi and Canouj was the Kali-nadi,
or Black-Stream, the Calindi of Greek geographers. Delhi
claimed supremacy over all the countries to the westward of
this boundary as far as the Indus, embracing the lands
watered by its tributaries from the feet of the Himalaya to
the Aravali chain. The Chohan king enumerated one hundred
and eight great vassals. Canouj extended northward
teethe Srfowy Mountains', eastward to Kasl, or Benares; it
bordered on B%drelkhand and Mbwar. Mewar, the central
region, had the Aravali-to.the northward, and Anhulwarra to
the The latter reached to* the Indus, and had the
d el^Tt1 to ward s the norths*
1. Ayodhyaj br Oude.
Of afl tjjese, kingdoms .that of Oude “or Ayodhya seems
to have jaeen.the most ian£i^|pj It was there, according to
the puranas, that(;the/purya-vansas^ and Chandra-vansas, or
Children qf the Sun and of the Mjoon first reigned. From
these ,jaces thirty-six rpyal tiflaes descended, and from them
Jpa»e the various dynasties who ruled over the kingdoms of
Hind^tani^. From fifty to .seyejqty generations of the Solar
racefare said to have, preceded, Rama, the hero of the first
classical jpoem of the Hindoos. Rama led-an army to invade
the Dekhan, then inhabited by peqplei of different
manpers*».language, and religion? > from those of Hindustan,
and said in the Ramayan-idc hate been the abode of giants,
apdmonsters...', Thabjhe invaded Lanka or Ceylon is scarcely
prediple. The poets who Celebrate Rama perhaps transferredas
Mr. Elphinstqne observes, to their hero, exploits
which were only possible in their own time. Rama was
succeeded by sixty princes* of his race, ..but Ayodhya is lost
sight of, and the seat of this dynasty is supposed to have
been transferred to Canouj .f
2.—Canouj.
The Canyacubyas, subjects of.this ancient kingdom, were
one of the great divisions of the Hindu race. Their idiom
is mentioned among the five principal dialects of the north.
It is supposed by Mr. Colebropke to be the language which
* Tod’s Hist, of Rajast’han, vol. 2, p. 9.
t Ayodhya, as Mr. Elphinstone remarks, is not mentioned in the Mahabharata,
nor is Canyaoubya or Canouj : Panchala takes its place.—Menu., c. 2.—
Elphinstone’s India, vol. 1, p. 391.