Ladak.

Changchenmo.

The Changchenmo valley is situated to the north of Leh, which is at an altitude of 11,538 feet above the sea. The following images were obtained on a plain to the north of the Changchenmo valley, but under what circumstances has not been stated.1

Lk. 1.-A seated figure of Buddha, made of brass, but containing 0.2 per cent. of gold, according to Mr. F. R. Mallet of the Geological Survey, who has kindly analysed the metal for me. It is well-executed, and measures 12′′ 50 high. The figure is well-draped, but the right shoulder is naked, and the garment is ornamented with broad stripes with well-executed floral devices. The features are broad and Mongolian. The curls of the hair are represented in small sharp cones, arranged in lines, and the top-knot is large with a low pinnacle on its summit. In the palm of the left hand, which is upturned, is a lozenge-shaped figure, enclosing the lotus symbol, which occurs also on the upturned sole of the right foot. The pedestal is 3" high, 7"-20 broad, and is oval but with the front flattened. It represents a lotus throne. This figure is undoubtedly not of Indian origin, but is probably Tibetan. It recalls in its attitude the figure of the Dharm Raja of Bhutan in this Museum.

Found on a large plain, north of the Changchenmo, by W. H. Johnson, Esq., and presented by him to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 5th December 1866.2

Lk. 2.-A male figure, seated cross-legged, with a peaked coronet, long earrings, bead-necklace, and a long rope-like

1 Proc. As. Soc. Beng., December 1866, pp. 241, & antea, pp. 182-185. 2 Proc. As. Soc. Beng., 1866, p. 241.

cord thrown over the shoulders, hanging down the arms and below the legs, also with bead-like armlets and bracelets. The body is naked from the waist upwards. The left hand is held forward in front with the palm upwards, but not resting in the lap, and the right hand had been held raised above it, but it is broken off. The throne is very low, and on the two corners is the bust of a human figure with a very hooked, birdlike nose, long hair on the head, and the hands held in the attitude of adoration. From the back of the seat a broad plain band of metal curves upwards and joins the sides of the band-like nimbus that springs from the shoulders of the figure, and curves downwards over the head where it forms a pointed projection. The total height is 5"-7, and the breadth of the low seat 4" 75. Mr. Mallet has examined this and the following figure, and he informs me that the brass of which they are made contains lead and tin.

Found on a large plain north of the Changchenmo, by W. H. Johnson, Esq., by whom it was presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 5th December 1866.

Lk. 3. A small seated male figure, cross-legged, the left arm resting on the front of the left leg, and the right hand held in front, free of the lap, with a double four-lobed object balanced on it. The head is encircled by a coronet, and from the vertex a high pinnacle stands up. It measures 4" high, and is seated on a lotus pedestal.

Found on a large plain north of the Changchenmo, by W. H. Johnson, Esq., by whom it was presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 5th December 1866.

Chittagong.

This province of Eastern Bengal had a most varied history in early times, as it was occasionally claimed and

1 Blochinaun, Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. XLII, Pt.. I, p. 233.

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conquered by the Buddhist kings of Arakan, and by the Hindu kings of Bengal and Tipperah. One of the former, in the 9th century, made a raid into Bengal, and erected a pillar at Chittagong, which, according to the Burmese tradition, takes its name "Tsit-ta-goung," from a remark of the conqueror, "to make war is improper." Chittagong was probably conquered by the Muhammadans between the 13th and 16th centuries, but the Arakanese claim again to have annexed it, and, about the middle of the 16th century, the Governor of Chittagong was the son of the King of Arakan, and it had been made over to the Portuguese outlaws from the coast of India as a pirate harbour; but after the Afghans had been finally expelled from Bengal, the Muhammadans administered the province as a part of their empire.1

It was ceded to Great Britain in 1760.

In recess No. 9.

Cg. 1 (a.b.).—The following stone box, consisting of six slabs about 1' 10" to 2' square, is said to have been found near the surface of the ground by a villager of the island of Maskhal on the Chittagong coast, who was digging a hole for some posts. The police found the box in the villager's house at Hatkhola in Thakurtala, and two human figures that were found along with it, one in stone and the other in brass, both very roughly executed, in a kneeling posture, and with their arms tied behind their backs. It was afterwards ascertained that a copper box had been also found in the stone box, and it was surmised by the Mahunt of the 'Conf. Blochmann, ibid., XLI, Pt. I, p. 331, et Vols. XLIII and XLIV. Beveridge, Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. XLV, p. 71.

2 Proc. As. Soc. Beng., 1872, p. 191.

The brass figure was stolen from the Museum during my absence, on furlough, in 1880.

Adhinath, at Thakurtala, that the box had been discovered some two years before it had been reported to the police, and that its existence had been concealed, as it had contained some Burmese gold, or gold coins which the finder had appropriated.

It is recorded that the copper box was presented to the Asiatic Society, but it has not yet been made over to the Trustees of the Indian Museum.

I am indebted to Professor Forchhammer for the account of this box, which appears as an Appendix.

Presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal by A. Wallis Paul, Esq., 4th December 1872.

Arakan.

Little or no historical accuracy can be attached to the traditions regarding Arakan. Its oldest capital is said to have been Ramawadi, near the river Sandoway, and it continued so until towards the end of the 10th century, when the King of Prome invaded the southern part of Arakan, and the capital was consequently removed north to Mrohoung, 'Old Arakan,' inland, and north-east from the modern town of Akyab. Mrohoung continued to be the capital, with intervals, until it was finally removed to Akyab by the British, in 1826.

The Muhammadans appeared in Arakan in 800 A.D., and for many years of the 9th century, Arakan was either torn by internal dissensions, or impoverished by invasions of the races to the east of the mountain range that separates Arakan from the valley of the Irawadi. James Prinsep brought to light an Arakanese inscription at Buddha Gayā, of which a translation was made by Ratna Pala, and

Proc. As. Soc. Beng., 1872, p. 191.

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published by Prinsep,1 and another translation afterwards by Colonel Burney. General Cunningham has also given a facsimile of it, and Dr. Mitra has reproduced Colonel Burney's transcript and three translations of it. In this inscription, a King of Arakan, in the 12th century, is described as "Lord of a hundred thousand Pyus," or inhabitants of Pagan in the valley of the Irawadi, to which kingdom, however, Arakan was at that time subject. Later on, in the same century, Arakan seems to have attained a considerable ascendancy under a King named Gau-la-ya, who received homage from the Kings of Bengal, Pegu, Pegan and Siam, and who appears to have been the builder of the famous temple of Ma-ha-ti, a few miles south of the present town of Arakan. This supremacy seems to have been maintained until near the end of the 13th century, when internal feuds led the King of Ava to interfere and include the country as part of his domains; but the sway of Ava was overthrown about the middle of the 15th century, and Mrohoung was again revived as the capital. Peace seems to have reigned until the 16th century, when Arakan was assailed by the Portuguese from the coast, and by the Burmese from beyond the Roma, and at this time old Arakan was fortified and enclosed by a stone wall 18′ in height. The Arakanese about this period conquered Chittagong, and encouraged the settlement of the Portuguese at Chittagong itself and along other places on the coast, as a check on the encroachments of the Mughals, but in so doing

1 Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. III, 1834, p. 214.

2 As. Res., Vol. XX, p. 164.

8 Arch. Surv. Rep., Vol. III, pp. 102-103, Pl. xxxII, fig. 1.

• Buddha Gayā, p. 206; Vol. XXXXII, p. 97.

5 Phayre's Hist. of Arakan, Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. XIII, Pt. 1, p. 40. 6 For a summary of the literature bearing on the Portuguese in India, see Tolbort, Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. XLII, pt. 196: Conf. Beveridge Journ. As Soc. Beng., Vol. XLV, pt. 1, p. 71.