These dynasties which became totally blended in the succeeding generation and were finally destroyed by the deluge. The former epoch was Born A. M. 688. + Appear ruler about A. M. 900. about A. M. 1300, when the sons of God came down unto the race of Atri; and the latter, A. M. 1656; when, with the exception of the prince and his family, who were saved in the ark, all mankind perished. The division of the generations, will, I trust, be found tolerably correct. Should they prove otherwise, the clue is furnished, by which the errors may be corrected. For the dates are all to be found in the originals. To the division of the generation in the Lunar line, I have paid little attention, further than the sixth; the remainder having no relation to the subject, and being merely a matter of curiosity. That Bharata was of the same generation with Rama is certain; they being the sons of the same mother by different husbands; of which sons Bharata was the eldest, and consequently of the sixth generation. That Icshwacu was of the third is equally ascertained; because the Deity is said to have instructed the first created relative to divine truths, who informed his son Menu thereof, who again instructed his first-born Icshwacu, who commenced his rule as governor of a province, at the beginning of the second age, or from A. M. 400 to A. M. 419. This account is consonant to reason. For before the return of the race of Atri, the first created lived as the father of his family; all was harmony and love. But when the race of Atri returned, a new form of government became necessary; first, as the population was greatly increased thereby; and, secondly, as the mild patriarchal sway was ill adapted to the licentious race of Atri. Governors were therefore placed over each district, or, perhaps, towns; all being subservient to the general father of mankind, as lord of all, or sovereign prince: and, thirdly, as at this time Icshwacu and his contemporaries had attained to a proper age to become rulers. For regulating the age, by the scripture text, Icshwacu was born A. M. 236; and consequently, at the commencement of the second age, he had attained to the age of an hundred and sixty-four years. And since the life of man then averaged 857 years, it is not probable that they should have become governors, or rulers over provinces, at a much earlier age than 160; more particularly as the poet informs us, that "In early times to full an hundred years, The fostering mother with an anxious eye These lines apply equally to the age of the princes of the Solar and Lunar dynasties, as to the antediluvian patriarchs of Moses; each averaging 857 years. The parallel may be continued. The Hindu princes cease to form separate dynasties, after the beginning of the fourth age. No princes VOL. I. For 2386 were appointed rulers later than the eighth generation in the line of Rama Chandra. The princes who are recorded in the Mahabharat, or great war, being of the line of Jarasundha, the apostate son of Dasaratha. In like manner, the Hebrews record, that the family of Seth retired to the holy mount, leaving the rule of the world, to Cain and his descendants. Now although no rulers were appointed of the race of Rama, after the first century of the Cali age, we may admit that those of the eighth generation, who were appointed at the commencement of the fourth age, continued rulers for some time. And so the Jews record. although they inform us, that from the death of Adam, the world increased progressively in wickedness, so that all those that remained in the valley became corrupt, after the death of Enoch, yet they add that the total dereliction of piety, in the race of Seth, did not take place until 300 years after ; when the sons of God came down from the holy mountain unto the daughters of men, whereby the whole world became corrupt in the sight of the LORD. Whether Rhadacant intended to deceive, or whether his account was misunderstood, it is impossible to determine. But, in one instance, his date is evidently erroneous. So far as Vrihadrana* * Vide p. 148. the dates are correct; that prince being the last appointed during the third age; against whose name Sir William Jones, on the authority of Rhadacant, places the year B. c. 3100, answering to A. M. 920. Vrihadrana, of the Solar dynasty, was about one generation after Jarasundha, who does not appear in this genealogical table: he was a younger son of the ruler of the fifth generation in the Solar line, and consequently a brother of Rama. From him sprang a third race, who formed a separate dynasty. At this time, according to the Hindus, the world was divided into three parts, or kingdoms, named Ayodhya, Pratisht'hana and Magadha. These three dynasties became extinct at one and the same time; which account evidently proves that they were all three destroyed by the deluge. But, as the Chaldeans believe that the race of Ham, after the deluge, settled at Babylon, in Chaldea, which in the antediluvian world, had been the seat of empire of the race of Cronus, or Cain; so do the Hindus believe, that the race of Shem settled at Magadha, which had been the seat of empire of the race of Jarasundha or Seth. And as the Solar dynasty, which was continued after the flood in the race of Shem, did not become extinct until the usurpation of Pradyato in the year B. C. 2100, or A. M. 1902, the three former, or antediluvian dynasties, are, by mistake, brought for |