Page:A history of Sanskrit literature (1900), Macdonell, Arthur Anthony.djvu/442

 parts entitled Chaturvarga-chintāmaṇi, composed by Hemādri about 1300 A.D. It hardly treats of law at all, but is a perfect mine of interesting quotations from the Smṛitis and the Purāṇas; it has been edited in the Bibl. Ind. The Dharmaratna of Jīmūtavāhana (probably fifteenth century) may here be mentioned, because part of it is the famous treatise on the law of inheritance entitled Dāyabhāga, which is the chief work of the Bengal School on the subject, and was translated by Colebrooke. It should be noted that the Indian Smṛitis are not on the same footing as the lawbooks of other nations, but are works of private individuals; they were also written by Brahmans for Brahmans, whose caste pretensions they consequently exaggerate. It is therefore important to check their statements by outside evidence.

No work of a directly historical character is met with in Sanskrit literature till after the Muhammadan conquest. This is the Rājatarangiṇī, or "River of Kings," a chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, begun by its author, Kalhaṇa, in 1148 A.D. It contains nearly 8000 çlokas. The early part of the work is legendary in character. The poet does not become historical till he approaches his own times. This work (ed. M. A. Stein, Bombay, 1892; trans. by Y. C. Datta, Calc., 1898) is of considerable value for the archæology and chronology of Kashmir.

On the native grammatical literature see especially Wackernagel, Altindische Grammatik, vol. i. p. lix. sqq. The oldest grammar preserved is that of Pāṇini, who, however, mentions no fewer than sixty-four