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 reformer. In fact, during his brief residence in the valley, he secured over a thousand proselytes from the Brahman and Kehetrya castes, some of whom afterwards made names for themselves as disciples of the new religion. This event is said to have taken place about 450 B.C., during the reign of the Kirati king, Jitedasti, a ruler whose life was short but picturesque. He answered the call to arms to fight against the common enemy—the Kauravas—mentioned in that great Indian classic, the "Mahabharata," and, having advanced as far as Panipat in the Punjab, that fateful spot where has been sealed the fate of so many Indian heroes, seems to have been killed, for he never returned to his kingdom.

The Kirati dynasty continued, however, and, indistinctly through the mist of years, it is possible to conceive the general situation at this interesting period. Buddha had sown the seeds of his teaching among the Hindus of the valley, and several hundreds of his converts were left to spread the new religion. Below, in the great plains of Hindustan, slowly but surely Buddhism was gaining ground. For