DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0045
ixTTConrcTiox.
23
then that the blow was struck which eventually proved fatal, hut by
a dynasty which succeeded them in Central India. Being Hindus,
we know less that is authentic about their history than about the
Buddhist dynasties, who lived to inscribe their names on rocks and in
eaves; but there seems very little doubt that the great Vieramaditva
reigned in Malwa from 495 to 530, though the Hindus, in order to
connect his name with an era they thought fit to establish ;')G years
b.c., have done all they can to mystify and obscure the chronology of
the period. Notwithstanding this, it seems perfectly clear that about
this time there reigned in Central India a king who, by bis liberality
and magnificence, acquired a renown among the Hindus, only second
to that obtained by Solomon among the Jews. By his patronage of
literature and his encouragement of art, his fame spread over the
length and breadth of the land, and to this day his name is ([noted
as the symbol of all that is great and magnificent in India. What is
more to our present purpose, lie was an undoubted patron of the
Brabmanical religion, a worshipper of Siva and Vishnu, and do
tradition associates bis name directly or indirectly with anything
connected with Buddhism. Unfortunately we have no buildings which
can be attributed to him, and no inscriptions. But the main fact of
a Brabmanical king reigning and acquiring such influence in Central
India at that time is only too significant of the declining position of
the Buddhist religion at that period.
His successor, Siladitya, seems to have returned to the old faith,
and during his long reign of sixty years to have adhered to the
Buddhist doctrines.
In the beginning of the next century, after a short period of
anarchy, we find a second Siladitya seated on the throne of Canouge as
lord paramount in India, and, during a prosperous reign of thirty-eight
to forty years, exercising supreme sway in that country. It was
during his reign that the Chinese pilgrim, Hiouen Tbsang visited India,
and gave a much more full and graphic account of what he saw than
his predecessor Fa Hian. Nothing can be more characteristic of the
state of religious feeling, and the spirit of toleration then prevailing,
than the fete given by this king at Allahabad in the year 643, at which
the kings of Ballabhi and Kamarupa (Assam) were present. The king-
being himself a Buddhist, the first days were devoted to the distribu-
tion, among the followers of that religion, of the treasures accumulated
dining the previous five years, but then came the turn of the Brahnians,
who were treated with equal honour and liberality; then followed the
fete of the other sects, among whom the .fains appear conspicuous.
All were feasted and feted, and sent away laden with gifts and
mementos of the magnificence and liberality of the great king.
Pleasant as this picture is to look upon, it is evident that such a
state of affairs could hardly be stable, and it was in vain to expect
23
then that the blow was struck which eventually proved fatal, hut by
a dynasty which succeeded them in Central India. Being Hindus,
we know less that is authentic about their history than about the
Buddhist dynasties, who lived to inscribe their names on rocks and in
eaves; but there seems very little doubt that the great Vieramaditva
reigned in Malwa from 495 to 530, though the Hindus, in order to
connect his name with an era they thought fit to establish ;')G years
b.c., have done all they can to mystify and obscure the chronology of
the period. Notwithstanding this, it seems perfectly clear that about
this time there reigned in Central India a king who, by bis liberality
and magnificence, acquired a renown among the Hindus, only second
to that obtained by Solomon among the Jews. By his patronage of
literature and his encouragement of art, his fame spread over the
length and breadth of the land, and to this day his name is ([noted
as the symbol of all that is great and magnificent in India. What is
more to our present purpose, lie was an undoubted patron of the
Brabmanical religion, a worshipper of Siva and Vishnu, and do
tradition associates bis name directly or indirectly with anything
connected with Buddhism. Unfortunately we have no buildings which
can be attributed to him, and no inscriptions. But the main fact of
a Brabmanical king reigning and acquiring such influence in Central
India at that time is only too significant of the declining position of
the Buddhist religion at that period.
His successor, Siladitya, seems to have returned to the old faith,
and during his long reign of sixty years to have adhered to the
Buddhist doctrines.
In the beginning of the next century, after a short period of
anarchy, we find a second Siladitya seated on the throne of Canouge as
lord paramount in India, and, during a prosperous reign of thirty-eight
to forty years, exercising supreme sway in that country. It was
during his reign that the Chinese pilgrim, Hiouen Tbsang visited India,
and gave a much more full and graphic account of what he saw than
his predecessor Fa Hian. Nothing can be more characteristic of the
state of religious feeling, and the spirit of toleration then prevailing,
than the fete given by this king at Allahabad in the year 643, at which
the kings of Ballabhi and Kamarupa (Assam) were present. The king-
being himself a Buddhist, the first days were devoted to the distribu-
tion, among the followers of that religion, of the treasures accumulated
dining the previous five years, but then came the turn of the Brahnians,
who were treated with equal honour and liberality; then followed the
fete of the other sects, among whom the .fains appear conspicuous.
All were feasted and feted, and sent away laden with gifts and
mementos of the magnificence and liberality of the great king.
Pleasant as this picture is to look upon, it is evident that such a
state of affairs could hardly be stable, and it was in vain to expect