[Footnote 115: So a mediæval inscription at Mahintale of Mahinda IV records the foundation of Buddhist edifices and a temple to a goddess. _Ep. Zeyl._ I. p. 103.] [Footnote 116: Similarly in a religious procession described in the Mahâvaṃsa (XCIX. 52; about 1750 A.D.) there were "men in the dress of Brahmâs."] [Footnote 117: Rock Edicts, II. and XIII. Three inscriptions of Asoka have been found in Mysore.] [Footnote 118: The Manimegalei even mentions six systems of philosophy which are not the ordinary Darśanas but Lokâyatam, Bauddham, Sâṇkhyam, Naiyâyikam, Vaiśeshikam, Mîmâmsakam.] [Footnote 119: Kan-chih-pu-lo. Watters, _Yüan Chuang_, II. 226. The identification is not without difficulties and it has been suggested that the town is really Negapatam. The Life of the pilgrim says that it was on the coast, but he does not say so himself and his biographer may have been mistaken.] [Footnote 120: See art. by Rhys Davids in _E.R.E._] [Footnote 121: See Forchhammer, _Jardine Prize Essay_, 1885, pp. 24 ff.] [Footnote 122: Author of the _Abhidhammattha-sangaha._] [Footnote 123: Some have been published by the P.T. Society.] CHAPTER XXXVI BURMA 1 Until recent times Burma remained somewhat isolated and connected with foreign countries by few ties. The chronicles contain a record of long and generally peaceful intercourse with Ceylon, but this though important for religion and literature had little political effect. The Chinese occasionally invaded Upper Burma and demanded tribute but the invasions were brief and led to no permanent occupation. On the west Arakan was worried by the Viceroys of the Mogul Emperors and on the east the Burmese frequently invaded Siam. But otherwise from the beginning of authentic history until the British annexation Burma was left to itself and had not, like so many Asiatic states, to submit to foreign conquest and the imposition of foreign institutions. Yet let it not be supposed that its annals are peaceful and uneventful. The land supplied its own complications, for of the many races inhabiting it, three, the Burmese, Talaings and Shans, had rival aspirations and founded dynasties. Of these three races, the Burmese proper appear to have come from the north west, for a chain of tribes speaking cognate languages is said to extend from Burma to Nepal. The Mōns or Talaings are allied linguistically to the Khmers of Camboja. Their country (sometimes called Râmaññadesa) was in Lower Burma and its principal cities were Pegu and Thaton. The identity of the name Talaing with Telingana or Kalinga is not admitted by all scholars, but native tradition connects the foundation of the kingdom with the east coast of India and it seems certain that such a connection existed in historical times and kept alive Hinayanist Buddhism which may have been originally introduced by this route.