Page:A History of Hindu Chemistry Vol 1.djvu/111

 The mention of Nágárjuna by all these authorities would not remove him far from the 8th or the 9th century A. D., a date which is also confirmed by Albéruní, who says:

"A famous representative of this art [alchemy] was Nágárjuna, a native of the fort Daihak, near Somnáth. He excelled in it and composed a book which contains the substance of the whole literature on this subject and is very rare. He lived nearly a hundred years before our time.'—'India, I. p. 189.

But there are difficulties in the way of accepting this chronolgy of the age of Nágárjuna. Hiouen Thsang, who resided in India from 629 A. D. onwards, relying upon local traditions, speaks of Nágárjuna as a