Page:Ancient India as described by Megasthenês and Arrian.djvu/163

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chain run parallel to the shores of the ocean. They are free and have no kings, and occupy the mountain heights, whereon they have built many cities.^[1] Next follow the Nareæ, enclosed by the loftiest of Indian mountains, Capitalia.^[2]

↑ § These tribes must have been located in Kachh, a mountainous tongue of land between the gulf of that name and the Raṇ, where, and where only, in this region of India, a range of mountains is to be found running along the coast. The name of the Maltecoræ has attracted particular attention because of its resemblance to the name of the Martikhora (i. e. man-eater), a fabulous animal mentioned by Ktêsias (Ctesiæ Indica, VII.) as found in India and subsisting upon human flesh. The Maltecoræ were consequently supposed to have been a race of cannibals. The identification is, however, regected by M. de St.-Martin. The Singhæ are represented at the present day by the Sânghis of Omarkoṭ (called the Song by MacMurdo), descendants of an ancient Râjput tribe called the Singhârs. The Marohæ are probably the Maruhas of the list of the Varâha Saṅhitâ, which was later than Pliny's time by four and a half centuries. In the interval they were displaced, but the displacement of tribes was nothing unusual in those days. So the Rarungæ may perhaps be the ancestors of the Ronghi or Rhanga now found on the banks of the Satlej and in the neighbourhood of Dihli.
↑ II Capitalia is beyond doubt the sacred Arbuda, or Mount Ȧbû which, attaining an elevation of 6500 feet, rises far above any other summit of the Arâvali range. The name of the Nareæ recalls that of the Naïr, which the Râjput chroniclers apply to the northern belt of the desert (Tod, Râjasthân, II. 211); so St.-Martin; but according to General Cunningham they must be the people of Sarui, or 'the country of reeds, as nar and sar are synonymous terms for 'a reed,' and the country of Sarui is still famous for its reed-arrows. The same author uses the statement that extensive gold and silver mines were worked on the other side of Mount Capitalia in support of his theory that this part of India was the Ophir of Scripture, from which the Tyrian navy in the days of Solomon carried away gold, a great plenty of almug-trees (red sandalwood), and precious stones (I Kings xii.). His argument runs thus:—"The last name in Pliny's list is Varetatæ, which I would change to Vataretæ by the transposition of two letters. This spelling is countenanced by the termination of the various read-

[1] § These tribes must have been located in Kachh, a mountainous tongue of land between the gulf of that name and the Raṇ, where, and where only, in this region of India, a range of mountains is to be found running along the coast. The name of the Maltecoræ has attracted particular attention because of its resemblance to the name of the Martikhora (i. e. man-eater), a fabulous animal mentioned by Ktêsias (Ctesiæ Indica, VII.) as found in India and subsisting upon human flesh. The Maltecoræ were consequently supposed to have been a race of cannibals. The identification is, however, regected by M. de St.-Martin. The Singhæ are represented at the present day by the Sânghis of Omarkoṭ (called the Song by MacMurdo), descendants of an ancient Râjput tribe called the Singhârs. The Marohæ are probably the Maruhas of the list of the Varâha Saṅhitâ, which was later than Pliny's time by four and a half centuries. In the interval they were displaced, but the displacement of tribes was nothing unusual in those days. So the Rarungæ may perhaps be the ancestors of the Ronghi or Rhanga now found on the banks of the Satlej and in the neighbourhood of Dihli.

[p163-2] II Capitalia is beyond doubt the sacred Arbuda, or Mount Ȧbû which, attaining an elevation of 6500 feet, rises far above any other summit of the Arâvali range. The name of the Nareæ recalls that of the Naïr, which the Râjput chroniclers apply to the northern belt of the desert (Tod, Râjasthân, II. 211); so St.-Martin; but according to General Cunningham they must be the people of Sarui, or 'the country of reeds, as nar and sar are synonymous terms for 'a reed,' and the country of Sarui is still famous for its reed-arrows. The same author uses the statement that extensive gold and silver mines were worked on the other side of Mount Capitalia in support of his theory that this part of India was the Ophir of Scripture, from which the Tyrian navy in the days of Solomon carried away gold, a great plenty of almug-trees (red sandalwood), and precious stones (I Kings xii.). His argument runs thus:—"The last name in Pliny's list is Varetatæ, which I would change to Vataretæ by the transposition of two letters. This spelling is countenanced by the termination of the various read-

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