Pre-nineteenth-century prose and prose fiction in Hindi dialects. It is well known that the use of Sanskritized prose in Hindi dialects dates from long before the beginning of the 19th century A.D. The pre-19th-century prose texts which have been preserved in Braj Bhāṣā, Khaṛi Bolī, and Rājasthānī dialects have a collective importance for our subject as antecedents of the Sanskritized style of standard Hindi, based on Khaṛī Bolī, which emerged in the 19th century. Their existence demonstrates that before this time there were already recognized traditions of prose-writing in the main western Hindi dialects, and that within these traditions it was customary to use Sanskrit words to supplement the vocabulary of one's dialect, and to work in the Devanāgarī script.

At the conclusion of a paper dealing with the possible identity of the site of Kasiā with Veṭhadīpa, I expressed the hope that a continuation of my explorations on that site would lead to a final solution of the topographical problem. Owing to unforeseen circumstances, this hope has not been fulfilled. Last winter's excavations, however, have had the result of settling another question no less important for the ancient geography of India—that of the position of Śrāvastī.

The alleged influence of Christianity on the early development of Hinduism has long been a subject of investigation and controversy. Weber summed up in a masterly manner all that had been said for the one side; while with equal acumen Barth criticised and denied his conclusions. The discussion has had the effect of restricting the controversy to two points, both connected in the main with the worship of Kṛishṇa. The first relates to the Hindu doctrine of faith, or bhakti, as an essential condition of salvation, and has been dealt with by Dr. Grierson in a recent number of this Journal. The second refers to the origin of the child Kṛishṇa, his legend, and his cult, and is the subject of the present essay.

Among the tablets acquired by the British Museum in 1884, is one of peculiar interest. It is a tablet of unbaked clay, 6⅛ in. by 7¾ in., inscribed, on both sides, with two columns of writing in the Cuneiform or wedge-character. This tablet is one of a series which must have contained, when entire, a complete chronicle of all the important events which had taken place in Babylonia, Assyria, Elam, etc., in ancient times. The text (of which a paraphrase has already been published by the present writer) begins with the reign of Nabonassar (747 B.C.), and ends with the accession of Šamas-šum-ukîn or Saosduchinos, brother of Aššur-banî-âpli (667 B.C.). The subject of this tablet was continued on others of the series, a part of one of the tablets, referring to the reign of Nabonidus and relating the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, having been acquired in 1878.

Evidence to establish cultural diffusion is primarily sought in complicated material inventions, especially decorative motifs, because these give the best chance of ruling out independent origins. Since culture is usually diffused in complexes, rather than as isolated traits, we may then proceed to examine the deeper aspects of the civilizations concerned. In the case of religion, however, a difficulty that confronts us at the outset is that much of ancient religion was simple animism, too unspecialized to afford evidence of diffusion. Mountains, for example, either as homes of spirits or gods, oras being deities personified, are almost universal wherever there are mountains. Moreover, we have to bear in mind that such primitive ideas are liable to persist among peoples who are, or once were, influenced by more advanced religions.

The pergunnah of Chota Nagpore is about ninety-five miles long and eighty broad, and is bounded on the north by the pergunnah of Ramghur, to the south by Gangpore and Singbhoom, to the east by the zillah of Jungle Mehauls, and to the west by Sirgooja. A large portion of the pergunnah is uncultivated, and its aspect hilly and jungle; but there are parts highly productive and well peopled, such as Loadugga, Pitonia, Burkaghur, Govindpore, Tamar, &c., &c., the soil of which places is extremely rich and fertile; and owing to the rain which frequently falls in these parts, and the general humidity of the atmosphere, the ground produces the most abundant crops without the fostering aid of irrigation, and often in seasons when they fail altogether in the neighbouring pergunnahs. The climate, from the setting in of the rains until about the middle of December, is extremely unhealthy; indeed, to the inhabitants of other parts of the couutry who may be compelled by business to journey into and sojourn in the pergunnah at that season, it may be accounted deadly.

By way of a preliminary to some further remarks on the inscription on the Piprāhavā relic-vase, which I shall present when a facsimile of the record can be given with them, I offer a study of an interesting side-issue, the tradition regarding the corporeal relics of Buddha.

Inhabitants of the Mongolian Plateau have been staunchly nomadic. Cities rarely existed before the Russian hegemony, and at that point they first attached themselves to pre-existing Buddhist monasteries. The exception to this general pattern was the Uighurs, who had an empire in the eighth and early ninth centuries. They built several cities, extended and maintained a flourishing trade network, established sufficient agriculture and developed urban manufacturing. Although historians have pointed out these significant distinctions, few have fully considered the thoroughly revolutionary impact of this Turkish group on steppe culture. One result in the Orkhon Valley was the foundation for Karakorum, the only permanent seat of the imperial Mongols in the thirteenth century. That city occupied the same site and, in the early seventeenth century, served as building material for the major religious centre of Erdene Zuu accompanying the re-introduction of Buddhism. Therefore, the Uighurs affected the physical heartland of their empire for a millennium and the habits of the people to this day.

Magic has exercised the deepest influence upon mankind from remote antiquity unto our own days. It either formed part of the religion of the country, as it was the case in ancient Egypt and Babylon and as it is now in some forms of Buddhism (Tibet), or lived an independent life side by side with the recognized religion. In some instances it was tolerated, or rendered less obnoxious, by a peculiar subdivision into white or beneficial and black or evil magic, or was downright persecuted. Wherever we go, however, and especially if we turn to the popular beliefs that rule the so-called civilized nations, we shall always and everywhere find a complete system of magical formulas and incantations. The belief in the witch and wizard, and their powerful filters and charms, holds still stronger sway upon human imagination than, appears at first sight.