Page:Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, Part 1.djvu/497

1838.] were ever intended to convey any meaning. These coins are of silver* and of the same size and value as the coree, the present current coin of the country : they are known to the natives, in common with others, as Gadhid paisd, a title which only belongs to those bearing the im- press of a donkey, as their name implies ; but the natives of Cutch be- stow this title indiscriminately on all numismatic relics ; the coree of the former Raos of Cutch alone excepted.

I cannot avoid remarking a very curious coincidence between the situation of the ruins of Badrdnagri, and those of Rdepur, or old Mdndavi, about 36 miles to the westward of the former ; they are about the same distance from the sea, and were both, according to popular tradition, seaport towns and nourishing places ; they are considered to bear the same date as to antiquity, and probably owe their abandonment and downfall to the same cause.

If the least reliance is to be placed on the traditions of the country, the present appearance of these towns would clearly indicate a gradual receding of the sea from the northern shore of the gulf of Cutch.

The Jain priests, better known in the province by their title of Gorjis, are to be found in small numbers at Mdndavi, Bhooj, and Anjiir, which location may be attributed to these being the great trading places, and banian towns of Cutch. Many of the banians profess the Jain re- ligion, and patronize the Gorjis as their religious instructors. Those of the Gorjis (or gurus), who carry the non -destruction of animal life to the greatest possible extent, are to be seen with a piece- of cloth tied over the mouth, and a brush in the left hand, to drive the insects from their path ; they do not wash their clothes for the same reason, and are distinguished by the title of Sddti. The Gorjis, as well as the Sad us y shave the head, and wear no turbans ; they are complete ascetics, pro- fessing celibacy and continence, but if they are not defamed they can lay little claim to the latter virtue.

Gorji Kantwajeh, before mentioned, is the greatest man of the class in the province, and very wealthy. I have never heard that these men can compete with the brahmins in learning or acquirements, nor is there much to be gained in the course of conversation with them, but

and vol. vi. pi. xiv. fig. 12.
 * They are of the Iudo-Sassanian series as depicted in vol. iv. pi. xlix. figs. 13-15,

. f The term gdru is applied to those of the sect who are Saniassis, renouncers of the world and its pleasures ; they profess to abstain from pleasure in any form, and are thus distinguished from the Brahmins, who marry and follow the doc- trines of the vedas : the persons above described are these Gurus, (corrupted into Gorjis.) For full particulars of this sect, see the learned papers by Colebrooks iend others, in the 9th vol. of " the Asiatic Researches."